Round 13 Abt Kayak Breamtournament Camden Haven

[arpie]

Hi guys

What a lovely place Camden Haven is!! Kim & I set up camp on the Wed and drove around, checking out the lay of the land - the view from North Brother Mountain over the whole estuary system is awesome! If you have never visited the area, I highly recommend it!! It is less than an hour from home (cut off about 1/2hr if bypassing Forster) and I reckon if we ever 'downsize' from Forster, Dunbogan or Laurieton would be the place to go! The area I fished was to the right of the estuary (behind the trees in the pic.)



We had a bit of a 'prefish' on the Thurs & Fri - but instead of deliberately catching the fish, I would wait for the 'bloop', then rip the lure away from the fish, so as not to 'sting' them & make them wary for the weekend competition! Kim & fellow yakking buddy, Rob, got onto some good fish whilst fishing further up river than where I went (around the shallows on the left ...... until I tried up the right as well!) - as there were heaps of oyster clumps from old abandoned leases all over the place to the right! Kim was going to fish 'socially' only, not in the comp.

It absolutely poured during the night - so much so, that Scott's tent collapsed under the weight of the deluge ....... and he had to decamp & move in with his mother ..... Michelle!! We had hoped that it had fully vented itself & so wouldn't rain the next day ....... little did we know!!

We had glorious weather on the Wed-Fri, but bad weather was forecast for the weekend ...... 90% chance of 1-5ml rain on both days ...... so we weren't too worried - only a spit or two!! It was going to be Bart70/Rob's first tournament & as he so eloquently put it when he learned of the rain forecast .... "I ain't gonna pay $150 dollars to fish in the rain!!"

A beautiful morning greeted us early on Sat morning - Josh & Doug, the boys from Mclean Hobie were there with breakfast, coffee & tea & 'lunch snacks' to take out with us - those sesame bars were really yummy!.

A young bloke came up to me & identified himself as 'Luderick Luke', Tristan's fishing buddy!! I didn't know he was coming up to fish ........ and he didn't know that the total fish to aim at was 3 ....... so had put back about 5 other 'legals' that could well have put him up amongst the leaders .......

The day before the comp, during the prefish, my $20 water pump shat itself, so I was left without a pump for the comp! Luckily, our campmate, Michelle, had brought up her spare aerator & as both their fish finders had also shat themselves, we had spare 12v batteries for 'my' new aerator! All I had to do was to just keep adding fresh water every now & then & check on the fish's state of health along the way! If they look sickly or not well, they are eliminated from the comp! On Day 2, I also lost the little red bit from the top of the aerator on the way from the car to the water ....... I'd spent ages walking back & forth as it gradually became lighter, looking for it before we launched, as, it was needed to keep the fish alive and had to make do with a bit of plastic that I found on the ground ...... which actually worked better than the red bit So, after Jon found it when packing up as the tournie wound down, I suggested that Michelle use the bit of plastic that I had found instead of the 'newly found' red bit & keep the red bit as a spare!!

Within an hour of starting to fish on the Saturday morning, it started raining, so I was surprised to not see Rob heading back to the start! Then it started bucketting with rain! So much for the '1-5ml' forecast!! Even putting on my rain jacket didn't really help much, as I was sitting in about 1" of water anyway, on the seat!! My hands had gone white & puggy from all the water & it was difficult to tie knots & change lures!!

I made my way up to the shallows where there were the heaps of abandoned oyster leases - submerged poles (of which i reckon I ran into about 99% of them,) submerged 'tram tracks' (empty parallel lengths of 'dual fences', upon which the actual racks of oysters sit) and actual 'filled racks' as well! On high tide, the water covers most of them, making them almost invisible in the water due to the murky conditions, until you virtually run into them! Both my fins had the masts sticking out of them by the end of day 1, requiring lots of cable ties to repair them! Very 'technical' water to fish, as, when you hook a fish, you have to either skull drag them out of the mine field of oysters, or coax them out in any way you can think, otherwise you are busted off in an instant ...... with about $25 worth of lure decorating its face.

Lots of small fish (tailor & bream) came on board & was pleased when I targetted a pole & was rewarded with my first legal fish of the comp by 7.30am! I was on the board! I had my first legal fish in the live well - 30cm to the fork.



Within another hour, I had my 2nd fish in the tank & it was a real 'kicker', so was confident that I could get a 3rd fish within the final 4 hrs!! After I hooked it, he ran thru a zig-zag section of oysters & I could feel the line rubbing on the oysters! I pedalled furiously towards the fish, holding the rod out in front of me, giving him line, to prevent a bustoff!! It worked - I managed to steer him out into the clear & finally got him to the net! Yoohoo!!! NICE BREAMBO!! I didn't even measure it, as I didn't want it to jump out of the yak into the water whilst taking pics (it would have been in the high 30cm's) ..... so I just bundled it into the tank with his mate & went out looking for the 3rd fish (to have any sort of chance, we had to have 3 fish on both days to weigh in!) Every ten minutes or so, I would add water to my livewell, where the 'exit' hole would allow the overflow to vent. At one time, the bream started thumping the side, a sure sign that they are in distress, so I must have replace pretty well all the water in the one 'fill up'! The aerator was picking up the poo & sand that the bream vent when captured, so wasn't aerating all the time! I kept having to turn round & try to remove the suction caps from the base of the livewell & clear the inlet valve, to get it working again! finally, i managed to use a small bungy cord to keep it off the bottom, so working better!

About an hour later, I hook into another 'kicker', but this one stayed in the oysters as I ran into a clump of oysters on my way to 'play him' & couldn't prevent him from wrapping me around numerous sharp bits as he wove his way thru the oyster maze! I tried to release the line from the first obstacle & next time it happens I will just open the bail & let him run or just 'high stick the rod', so he can't take the line thru the oysters ........ as he did another surge & I was busted off!!! It was at least as big as my previous 'kicker' & would have given me a terrific bag if I'd managed to land him! The rest of the session, I could only land either minnows (some barely as big as the lure) or tiny tailor, dreaded long toms & once again, I managed to hook a cormorant!! He was a bit tricky to remove the hook & retrieve my lure as he was making it his business to try & bite me with every effort of mine to release him! Shame I couldn't get a pic of him with his mouth open as they have huge mouths!! His whole head disappeared when he had his bright orange mouth opened wide

Back at the weighin, I was first to put my fish forward for weighing & I also submitted my bigger fish as 'Boss Hog' contender - a $100 daily prize up for grabs for the biggest fish of the day. It went 750g & my total for the day was 1.25kg. I was pretty pleased with that, but my losing that 2nd fish was going to come back to haunt me late the next day! Unfortunately, 2 other blokes came in with gun fish, too, going up to just under a Kilo, so my fish was relegated to 3rd place! I was, however, in 5th place overall at the end of Day 1, having beaten many more experienced fishos than me, most of whom had already qualified for the Grand Final in Mid May! But I really needed a 'better' bag on Day 2 to secure my place in the GF!

How my fish 'really' looked ...... without the 'now, hold it a bit closer to me' angle!

The 'official' pic of my 'big bream' here - and yes, they DO get you to hold it closer to the camera, making it appear even bigger!!! The 'official' pic would have it looking bigger than the actual fish that won 'Boss Hog' on day 1!!

Rob weighed in 3 fish & was happy with his bag

Dylan (Rob's son) took great delight in being able to hold my 'big bream'

and then releasing him

Heading back to camp, as I was clearing my gear from the yak, I managed to catch a treble in my trousers & whilst managing to retrieve it from the pants, it sprang back at me & lodged in the side of my forefinger, up past the barb!! Michelle (a trained nurse who has done the procedure at hospital) then used the 'stong line' & 'pull quickly' method of removing the hook & all was well!

Back at camp, we were kept busy repairing our fins, & I decided to re-tie my leaders (I went bigger still from, 10lb to 14lb) & bemoan our losses (both fish & lures) and stragegised our plans for the next day's fishing. Off to bed to dream of bigger things!

Day 2......

The next morning, up at 4.30am ..... again ..... we head off to the start to see if we can better our previous day's catch. This 2 day tournament was different than most, in that you get to nominate which day's fish you want to count as your 'best bag'! Little did I know that I would have no choice in the matter!!

Hmmmm, I was not sure if this was a good omen - washed up on shore overnight!!!

Once again, it started raining within an hour of setting out, so once again we got saturated! I'd worn a pair of waterproof trousers this time, but sweated heaps after the sun came out, so was just as wet as if I'd not bothered putting them on! Finally the sun came out & that made it even hotter out on the water - my clothes had turned into a sauna!!

Yet another Miserable day on the water! (Keith says it didn't rain the whole weekend at Forster in daylight hours - only at night!!)

The tide was running 'out' for much longer than the day before & unfortuately for me, the 'in' tide was even lower on Sunday than it was on Sat, so the bigger fish weren't in the spot where I had caught them the day before! I had a cast of thousands, knowing that just 3 casts were actually needed to land 3 legal fish. My shoulder is still hurting from all the casting! I just couldn't find those 3 legal fish!! Unfortunately, all I could land were 'non-legals' & long toms & pike!

Scott & I were fishing similar territory - probably why we both got doughnuts!

So back to 'weigh in' I go, knowing that I scored a 'doughnut'!! There was one guy ahead of me from the day before (also from Forster) who had qualified (unless someone came in with a terrific bag on Sun) & that meant that if 2 others had bags bigger than 1.25kg on the Sun, I would be beaten out of a place for the GF. On Day 2, Luderick Luke pulled in another 3 nice bream, so has now also qualified for the GF!! He will be up here within the next couple of weeks for a personal tour of the lake, as the GF is being held in Forster in Mid May!!! Then, another buddy, Jon, snuck past me by the smallest of margins ....... and that was it - I was out of the GF!

Luderick Luke came in a fantastic 4th place!! Well done Luke!

I ended up coming in 7th overall, and Michelle & I had had a good 'social' tussle during the weekend, ending up only being 5gm difference between our 'biggest bags' and as her 2nd day's bag was bigger than her first bag, she was elevated from 10th place on Day 1 to 8th place overall. Rob came in 9th overall, whilst Scott enjoyed the company of some of the 'pros' and other yak fishos. Michelle's Big Bream took out the "Boss Hog' for Day 2, (with the only fish nominated) & won the $100 & a lot of prestige as well!! We both received cash rewards for coming in the top 8. Funnily enough, her fish was a tad smaller than my '3rd place Boss Hog' of the previous day! Good fishing, Michelle!!

Boss Hog with $100 cheque!

Dylan got to release Michelle's fish, too!

Would you believe it, I missed out on a position in the Grand Final by just 14.5gms!! Gee my maths is terrible - it was only 10.5gms!!! This could have been the residue in bottom of the livewell, as both fish had 'pooed' their way home, clogging up the aerator on day 1 ....... Ne'er mind, I gave it my best shot & even many of the 'pros' and other self considered 'top fishos' ended up way below the three of us!! I will now be helping out with cooking breakfast & lunch for the GF anglers with Max Frost on both days in the Grand Final!

There was only .005g between Michelle & I & only 7gms separated the 3 of us!! I had taught both Michelle & Rob how to do topwater 'my way' & here they are, nearly beating me at my own game!!! Rob lives in Port & has fished the area a few times, too!

Final Placings at the end of Day 2 (2nd number indicates place position from Day 1 .... anyone without fish is 'equal last')

1 1 Jason Meech 3 1.995 3 1.995

2 2 Mark Thompson 3 1.700 0.925 3 1.7 $250

3 3 Greg Lewis Yes 3 1.480 0.845 3 1.370 3 1.48

4 9 Luke Kay 2 1.050 3 1.445 3 1.445

5 4 Peter Woods 3 1.355 1 0.615 3 1.355

6 14 Jonathon Chen 3 1.345 3 1.345

7 5 Roberta Pearce 2 1.240 0.765 2 1.24

8 12 Michelle Carmody 1 0.475 2 1.235 0.715 2 1.235

9 6 Robert Simpson 3 1.170 2 0.750 3 1.17

10 7 Chris Hunt 3 1.165 3 1.165

11 8 Steve McCormack 3 1.075 3 1.075

12 10 Andrew Hillyard 2 0.740 1 0.390 2 0.74

13 11 Kevin Winchester 2 0.665 1 0.510 2 0.665

14 14 Simon Hill 1 0.530 1 0.53

15 14 Dave Hedge 1 0.455 1 0.455

16 13 Michael Maas 1 0.350 1 0.35

17 14 Ben Thompson 0 0

17 14 Brian Rutledge 0 0

17 14 Dave Jones Yes 0 0

17 14 Scott Baker 0 0

17 14 Scott Carmody 0 0

17 14 Scott Lovig Yes 0 0

The 'three amigos' at the end of the comp - happy but tired!! We'd fished hard & were now looking forward to a good nights sleep in our own beds!



All up, a terrific 5 days away - in a lovely spot with good buddies & some good & not so good, fishing!! We had found a campground that had mainly 'permanents' in it & was originally told that they didn't want 'yakkers' staying there, upsetting their clientelle ...... until I told them that Michelle, Kim & I were all in our mid 50s & unlikely to burn the midnight oil!! So they let us stay!! If you are looking for a quiet little caravan park to stay at in Laurieton - put The Haven on your list. It was terrific!!

That's it for me - my hands are covered with cuts & nicks & small infections (from being spiked by the fish whilst our hands were all white & puggy from the rain, i reckon) so pretty well anything I try to lift, makes them hurt like hell ......... a small price to pay for the fun we had!

Unfortunately, an overzealous cast created a disastrous incident - resulting in busting off about .3m of my favourite rod - my Starlostix Pro Tournament lite! I also lost the tip, as the reel had developed a big birds nest & I'd cut off the lure & wound off the line, so the tip sunk! I was devastated! It would now be more like a jewie rod than the finesse fishing rod that it was! It tossed tiny lures a long way & my favourite 'sammy' lure, a 'country mile'! I have replaced it with a Shimano "Catana'' rod, but it will take a little time to work out it's premium performance factors!

Cheerio for now - I think I will take a break from bream fishing (and fishing in general for a while) & then, go back to my other favourite style of fishing - blackie fishing!!!

Roberta

Edited April 20, 2010 by Roberta

[james7]

Congratulations Roberta on finishing 7th! Top effort! ... and you were so close to making the final!

I know you had your "ups and downs" during the week, and just missing out on the final would have been disappointing, but I hope overall, the "good times" outweighed the "bad". Sorry to hear about your rod too.

I hope everything will balance out in the long run.

Fantastic report!

Cheers

Peter

[The Iceman]

Great result Roberta a pity you have missed the grand final

I was talking to Steve Fields(you may have met him)yesturday at the tournie at St Georges Basin and he is really happy with the way the yak series is going He is a mate of the guy I fish tournies with

[arpie]

Thanks guys - yeah - shame about the GF & the rod, but there is always next year, if I decide to try again!! Maybe I can help Luke get into some good fish to win the GF, seeing as how he hasn't fished here before!

Yes, Andrew - i have met & spoken with Steve quite a few times now. I half expected to see him at Camden Haven - now i know why he wasn't there!! St Georges Basin is a lot closer to home than Camden Haven is!!

Cheerio

Roberta

[luderick59]

HI ROBERTA

GREAT Effort 7th place you would have given it to them on your home turf at forster never mind thers allways next year

i think with you showing luke around the lakes should put him right up there in the GF

ive met luke and he knows how to fish so good luck luke

peter

[bassboy888]

Roberta thats awesome. Congrats on the 7th place nothing beats catching cracker bream, especially in a tournament. The bream really do look bigger closer to the camera

[jenno64]

Roberta,

What afabulous post and congrats on your personal result! You really have developed into a top bream fisho and you deserve the credit. Enjoy the blacky fishing for a break!!

[Jewhunter]

Terrific report of the tournie Roberta!

Thanks for the rundown.

Congrats on the 7th for you & to Luke on the 4th. Hopefully you'll get a wild card into the G/F.

It wouldn't suprise me as you were SO close!

Well done on some cracking bream. It's always tough in a system that you haven't fished before & you did very well.

Now for the blackie reports. I'm sure it won't be long!

Cheers,

Grant.

[Luke K]

Hi Roberta,

Awesome report and some fantastic pics there as well. How good is that view from the mountain ay! I went up there after day 1. Great spot for a picnic. It was great to have finally met you in person and I look forward to catching up with you in forster for some local knowledge. Should put me in great stead for the G.F. I also hope you get a wild card entry.

Will speak soon

Luke

[arpie]

Thanks again, guys! Can't wait to read YOUR report, Luke!! Make sure you put one up!!

Cheerio

Roberta

[roosterman]

sounds like it was a nice time had by all in trying conditions..

well done Roberta but pitty 2nd day turned out a bummer,praying for wildcard for ya

luke.well done mate.thats a great result and with the local knowledge roberta will share should have you in with a real chance in GF. .

have to catch up for blacky session soon...

cheers....steve.......

[Hodgey]

What a fantastic achievement Roberta! In less than favourable conditions you managed to catch some fine fish, and to finish anywhere in the Top 10 is a real credit to you. To miss qualification by such a small margin would be the ultimate in frustration Your Boss Hog was a terrific fish mate I was thinking of you on Sunday but couldn't check my messages as my phone had gone flat and the charger was at work Surely it's only a matter of time before everything falls into place and you finish in the Top 5! Enjoy your break. I look forward to reading one of your famous blackie reports VERY soon

Cheers

Ian

[Richard Warren]

Congratulations on 7 th place finish. Great report as usual with some beautiful photos. I use to go to Dunbogan for my annual holidays when I was a kid. It really is a pretty spot. I look forward now to the blackfish reports from Forster. The blackies were probably just starting to feel safe again after a Roberta free summer and now they will be shaking in their fins.

Regards

Richard

[Tiger Cam]

Great read Roberta - Congrats on acheiving a very credible 7th in trying conditions

Congrats Luderick Luke on 4th position - Good luck at the GF.

Cheers,

Cam

[ElwoodBlues]

What an awesome read and congrats on a the 7th position.

Its a real shame about your rod and you missed out by 14.5g on making the GF.

I really hope you get the wild card.

Regards,

David

[Daniel Frost]

Great result Roberta , glad to see you have a a crack at the comp side of fishing and also to do so well , top effort and hopefully you will make the GF next time . Cheers

Dan

[paul.kenny]

Well done Roberta - great result and an excellent post. You have to be a dedicated fisho to endure those conditions in such great spirit

I wish you all the best for the 'wild card' entry