Topwater Fishing With Newbie Richard

[arpie]

Hi all

On Tues i got out on the lake with Richard/RIch - he had expressed the desire to go out in the yak & try pencils! He normally fishes with bait. The tides in the main lake were all wrong, so we headed to the Keys (where the tide is about 4-5hrs 'behind' the main lake, so it was coming off an evening 'high' tide, which was good!

We didn't have to go far to get to the shallows & I showed Richard the technique ..... his rod wasn't really 'wiggling' enough, so I borrowed it to see if it was the rod or the technique that was wrong ....... blow me down if on the 2nd 'test' cast a small breambo jumps on!! That was a good sign, as I couldn't catch a cold the day or so before!! Nothing wrong with the rod!!

He took to the yak like a pro & was zooming round, casting around the clock in the shallows, of which there are many!

It wasn't long before he was onto his first fish.

It was a feisty trevally!

We both caught our fair share of Long Toms - this one was a baby but still had a good set of fangs! Finally he tired of chewing on me & 'GOTCHA', got himself!!

Some more small bream came on board- this one was so eager he got the whole treble in his gob!

Then I landed a nice 40cm flattie, which went into the bag for feeding the troops that night.

Then Richard caught his first bream & he was really chuffed!! Smiles all round!

nice breambo

I caught another couple of small bream, then headed to a 'drop off' & got whallopped by a trevally! He went round the yak a couple of times & finally I brought him to the net!!

It was almost time to head home after a fun few hours on the water, when RIchard hooked another bream!! He was really happy - he'd mastered the technique & caught 2 of the designated species (as well as some others .....) so all was good!!

We had had a great time at the Keys & I thoroughly enjoyed Richard's company! I know that he will take the Sammy with him next time he goes out, whether he uses bait or not!!

Cheerio for now

Roberta

[Daniel Frost]

G'Day Roberta , Good to see they are still hitting the surface lures and it's always good to see a fellow angler catch their fisrt fish on a surface lure congrats to you both .

Im not sure if you fish this spot but if you haven't it's a must . Where we saw you in the keys on the weekend , if you go up to the entrance of channel[ that leads inbetween the islands and out into the lake ] on the shore opposite the red and green markers there is a small bay . There is a small island that is only just under the water and it is maybe only 3 meters or so from the shore . That is the Honey hole for me . Have pulled whiting over 44cm and quite a few over the 35cm mark as well as bream and flathead. Usually I cast around that underwater island and bay for 5 or 10 mins at least , it's a great topwater spot and can be easily fished shorebased .

You love that sammy and I bet it pains you when winter really hits and it rarely comes out of the tacklebox , im sure your shedding a tear just thinking about it but at least the big ones will be around more often.

Great report Roberta , cheers

Bubba

[arpie]

Thanks for that, Dan - I've tried in that bay & had lots of hits for not many fish, so will try harder next time!!

Yes, I'll be very sorry when the pencils stop working - but I will keep on trying them 'just in case' every now & then!!

... it's always good to see a fellow angler catch their fisrt fish on a surface lure congrats to you both ..... That is for sure!! Richard has already told me that he will take it out with him all the time & give it a go in waters that he would normally just drive past!

CHeerio

Roberta

[GregL]

On ya Roberta!

Great to see ya getting others out there into some nice fish.

Nice little big eye trevally's to, great little scrappers on bream gear.

Greg

[johnny doi]

your at it again roberta,showing people around forster & getting em onto some fish too. good onya.il be sure to let you know if i come up your way. keep em coming roberta,love reading bout your outings.

cheers johnny.

[stylo]

Roberta, those Sammy's are a top lure .. thanks for sharing !

[jahajo]

Nice fish

Well done for putting a newbie onto his first topwater fish, not long till hell be hooked

In the picture it looks as though you have a black loop attaching your line to the lure? How do you attach them to your leader?

Harry

[stylo]

They'd be Decoy Round snaps or similar.

They are cheap, saves re-tying loop knots when changing lures but friggin hard to unclip with your fingers as they are so small. You then tie a uni knot direct to the clip.

[arpie]

Hi Hazza

Yeah, I'm lazy!! Nothing wrong with your eyesight!! I think they are called 'quick snap' or something - no working parts, so very strong. THe black ones are salt water, or you can get silver ones for fresh water. Some lures have the attachment to fat to fit them, so just add a split ring. THe lures still swing & get the action. I even use them on sps, (bigger ones.)

Just use a uni knot to tie them to the leader. You get 3 to a packet for about $3

cheers

Roberta

[slinkymalinky]

Nice session Roberta and Rich. Great to see some nice fish still coming to the surface lures. That Long Tom looks pretty agro at being caught... trying to chew off his own tail

Cheers, Slinky

[Richard Warren]

Roberta,

Thanks again for taking me out and showing me the ropes. I really enjoyed the morning. It is a very addictive style of fishing. I went out again on the Friday and tried around the padocks area as I had caught 6 bream (26 to 30 cm) the evening before on bait so I figured there would be some around. Unfortunatly I didn't have the same success as the session with you. It was a bit windy which made it hard to see the lure so I went back into Breakeneck channel which was out of the wind. I got one follow from a squid and a couple of swirls near the lure but no hook ups. I think the bigger boat made it harder to get into the shallow water effectively but it is amazing to think I was out there for four hours. Didn't catch anything but the time flew by so quick. I'm back at work now but I'll definatly be giving it a go down here. The method just opens up so many areas I would have looked at as unfishable. A big THANKYOU again and I might see you next time I'm up that way.

Regards

Richard

[arpie]

It was my pleasure, Richard - I had as much fun as you, I reckon, & was just pleased to put you onto some fish! I've had days on the main lake where I hook nothing but have lots of swirls & bloops!! Very frustrating!! Give me a yahoo next time you come up & we'll try a couple of other spots in the main lake if the tides are right! I always like doing this on the lead up & top of the high tide & hour or so after! Some areas only start firing once the tide has turned!! It pays to try one spot for the whole time - shame to leave 5 mins before they come on the chew!!

You picked the action up so quickly, i was surprised that you were new to it!! The fish liked it, anyway!

Tight lines

Cheers

Roberta

[tide'n'knots]

great little topwater session roberta and good on you for sharing your knowledge and getting a fellow raider on to some fish

pete.

[monch]

Hi Hazza

Yeah, I'm lazy!! Nothing wrong with your eyesight!! I think they are called 'quick snap' or something - no working parts, so very strong. THe black ones are salt water, or you can get silver ones for fresh water. Some lures have the attachment to fat to fit them, so just add a split ring. THe lures still swing & get the action. I even use them on sps, (bigger ones.)

Just use a uni knot to tie them to the leader. You get 3 to a packet for about $3

cheers

Roberta

Hey Roberta, i tried out the quick snaps, not sure if they were the decoy brand or not but they looked just like your ones and were quite expensive as well. Tried them out and was happy with them but then i lost a pencil lure on the cast with it That really gave me some doubts and i haven't tried them since. By the way, which size ones do you use? I didn't want to go too small cause they looked flimsy, didn't want too big cause they had a larger gap and seemed bulky for the smaller lures.

Monch