brendong Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 (edited) Been away on this trip and then away with work most of last week so sorry for the later post. Got some vids too so I might post them up at some stage. Anyway, after several months of anticipation and planning our plans to head north to the Clarence River suddenly changed when news of less than encouraging numbers of bass being caught came through. It didnt take long to formulate a new plan to head south instead of north to the sleepy Victorian coastal town of Mallacoota. Having fished it in July of 2009 with an awesome south coast guide we were hopeful we could replicate our efforts of last year which saw massive numbers of blue nose black and yellow fin bream on blade. But heading down a couple of months later than last year we doubted we could perform as well as 2009. The 6.5 hour trip and departure @ 5am saw us arriving in Mallacoota (Coota) around 11.30 am to a fairly windy day but that wouldnt stop us from sneaking in an afternoon session. We hit the bottom lake first up and struggled to slow our drift down and had to employee the use of our trusty leccy to ensure we werent pushed off the banks before our first casts hit the water. Armed with a myriad of blades (our blade of choice being Ecogear VX35s which we had to bring from Sydney as the south coast tackle shops saw no need to carry them) we bladed our buns off for a pink snapper, Treva and reasonable bream...hmmm less than impressive start....so we made the move to the snags in the top lake which only saw us pull a few flathead. Cold and disillusioned we headed home for the night to hatch a plan for day 2. Bright eyed and bushy tailed (and based on a whisper from our friendly south coast guide) we targeted the top lake first up and marked heaps of bream about 7 ft off the bottom....hmmm not feeding grrrr....we did manage several quality flathead but our target fish of horse breambos were few and far between. The first decent fish to speak of being Coyotes 46 cm treva that went like the clappers and arced around the boat more than a couple of times. Figuring we marked fish that werent feeding we decided to hit the snags in the reaches of Coota with a hard body assault that saw us throwing Tiemco Stick Minnows and SX40s. Battling a strong wind and having never thrown sinking or diving hard bods in snags it took us a little while to find our range. Before long my SX was smacked and before I could even get a wind on him, he pinned me to the timber grrrr. Coyote made the change to his Tiemco and it wasnt long before he was smacked on almost consecutive snags by a 38cm brute and then a 35 both Blacks and our faith in the Coota bream was restored. In the later afternoon we moved back into the many shallow banks the top lake holds and Coyote encountered a 37cm black that gave him plenty of curry So at this point Im still bream-less and feeling like my cousin is belting me left, right and centre....much to my joy we found a great patch of fish and I managed to get on the board with a respectable 32cm unit which lifted my spirits immensely. A few more each along with a good black fish and Andy Capp (or so it would appear from his picture) and I called it quits for day 2. Day 3 saw us launching from Gypsy Point (as we did on Day 2) to a magnificent looking morning and very little breeze to speak of. This meant no drift so it took a little while to find the fish again and with no drift once you find them, you can hang off them for quite a while. Some good bream caught and released and a respectable blackfish before a howling wind kicked in and saw us running for the snags again. After navigating many shallow banks, submerged logs and rock bars, we deployed SX 40s on the troll and proceeded to attract some nice bream and solid Flathead as we cruised up river. I picked up a 56 cm and 60 cm as we slow trolled several drop offs on our way to snag central. We managed to video the 60 cm capture see link below. You tube link flathead to come We pulled up to the snags to a light zephyr of breeze and bright sunshine. Peppering the snags we managed plenty of 25 cm to 30 cm breambos on the sxs and Tiemcos again and much to my surprise a nice couple of EPs that smacked my SX with great aggression. Finishing day 3 very content we cruised on home. Youtube EP link to come Day 4 saw us looking for somewhere else to fish as the predicted 75 km wind gusts were less than appealing. We decided to head north and fish somewhere sheltered....the plan was the upper reaches of Conjola (Fishermans Paradise) or perhaps the upper Shoalhaven for a bass. But as we arrived in Pambula (south of Merimbula) the wind was nowhere to be seen (yet). In the pouring rain we launched and worked the oyster rack banks on the low tide for very little result. (Man gotta get back there with the poppers in summer me thinks) Sighting a few fish busting up on the surface we quickly tied on the Zippin Ziggys (an 8 cm pencil style popper) and hurled them at the broken water. Walking the dog back to the boat we both got hit by freight train Sambos that saw our bream gear put through its paces and with reels screaming. Coyote boated his pb 58 cm Salmon gave it a swim and off it went. One or two more and the bust ups vanished so we moved on. Sambo vid to come We peppered the drop offs with plastics for 1 Treva and the wind began to strengthen. We figured a move was required and began to look for some sheltered water. As we approached the same spot as wed pulled a few sambos earlier, the water erupted with bust ups in every direction. What transpired over the next 4 hours was a truly incredible and gobsmacking moment. We boated 39 Salmon and 3 tailor all on bream gear with all but 3 or 4 occasions double hook ups occurring. Amongst the mayhem I did manage my PB sambo of 60cm and the fish ranged in size from 40 cm to 60 cm with the average prob about the 50 range. The surface strikes were incredible and can I say if you like your high speed metal fishing next time you see a frothing school of tailor or salmon reach for your bream stick, spec up your leader, buy yourself a popper or two and hang on for the ride. The mind blowing strikes and screaming reels is something that has to be seen to be believed and will have you leaving your metals in the tackle box. A couple of other mind blowing moments occurred that I thought Id share. One salmon that was released that went high 50s didnt quite earn his freedom. We were being followed by the local pelicans and one unsuspecting salmon swan straight at a pele who eat the entire fish whole despite being swooped on by the resident eagle and several other peles having a crack at him. He was so weighed down by the fish that he was sitting a good 5 cm lower in the water than this mates. Talk about needing a quick eze!!!! We also werent completely out of the wind with one of the strongest gusts ripping the middle windscreen completely off its hinges which we fortunately grabbed and stopped it from being thrown into the water. So the total number of fish caught and released for the 4 days went like this: - 39 Australian Salmon to 60 cm - 24 Bream to 38 cm - 16 flathead to 60 cm - 5 tailor - 3 trevally - 3 EPs - 2 blackfish - Total Fish 92 Edited September 11, 2010 by Poddy Trapper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taloyoak Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 Holy Mackerel!, You really cleaned up on your trip. All of those fish are superb- especially those big bruiser Bream. Thanks for the report and ESPECIALLY the excellent photos of the catches. Cheers, Nanook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krispy ! Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 Thats a haul anyone would be happy with mate...Welldone.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigtempo Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 wow can i come next time craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 Another sensational report fellas! :yahoo: A great assortment of quality fish and some fantastic photos. Congrats on a cracker of a week. Cheers Hodgey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotty1856 Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 Well done mate I hope to get there next year. Great pictures also. All the best. Scotty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim77 Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 Great fishing guys well done. And superb photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul.kenny Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 Wow, great report and congratulations on your PB Sambo . It appears that you made some good decisions and were rewarded as a result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tide'n'knots Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 thats an awesome report and some sensational fishing too! I imagine that surface popping for sambos on light bream gear would be a little like gearing up big for GTs in the north, it must have been a mindblowing experience. pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooker435 Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 Fantactic Report Great Reading, 92 Fish in 4 Days thats sensational!!!!!! Congrats on a new PB well done!!!!! Definately a week you will remember for a while Regards, Nathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wannabefisho Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 1 word- AWESOME! Def one of the best reports and piccies I have had the pleasure of reading this year... Congrats on some stonker Bream, Sambo's and flatties Tight lines Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Iceman Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 Great report with some great fish caught Interesting to see you guys are using tiemco stick minnows Dont think I could throw them at snags prefer to use them over flats and sinking beside pontoons My favorite colour 007 seems very hard to get Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Day's Fishin Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 I've seen trawlers come in with less fish. Top read mate and good pic's. Did you get the blackies on lures also?? Regards Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendong Posted September 11, 2010 Author Share Posted September 11, 2010 imagine that surface popping for sambos on light bream gear would be a little like gearing up big for GTs in the north, it must have been a mindblowing experience. pete Hmmm GT's on popper are high on the hit list....I'll let you know once I've done that....but it's great to put your good gear through its paces. Great report with some great fish caught Interesting to see you guys are using tiemco stick minnows Dont think I could throw them at snags prefer to use them over flats and sinking beside pontoons My favorite colour 007 seems very hard to get We actually started using them about 3 years ago but they first came out as Trick Trout and then we couldn't find them for about a year and then they came out as Tiemco. Also deadly when throwing into floating oyster racks in the nambucca system. not sure what colour has a hyragliphic image and has an awesome fluttering action...we found them again in Nowra at you know where... I Did you get the blackies on lures also?? Regards Jeff All black fish were taken on Blades and went like the clappers, must give black fishing a go one day... Thanks for the kind words....we loved it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piscatorial Pursuit Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 Enjoyed the read. Thanks for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 What a trip. Great read and some sensational fish there Poddy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tumra Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 mate they are monster bream!!! great work... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewhunter Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 Terrific report & pics PT!! Those bream look unreal & all the other fish in great condition as well. Thanks for sharing mate & well done! Cheers, Grant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvbigfish Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 wow what a top report and top fish , lmao with that pelican story,well done fellas cheers paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FISHARK Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 Well done guys that sounded like a great trip ... Well done with the amount of fish too you guys cleaned up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arpie Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Well done, Poddy - terrific report, great pics, too!! Such a great range of fish caught & all in superb condition!! How much fun was that??? Congratulations to you & your buddies for having such an exciting adventure down at 'Coota!!! Cheerio Roberta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray R Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Fantastic report, mate what trip it is soo good to get away and fish like that. Top pics and fishing, all round top time. Good onya.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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