last weekend at SWR Back Creek

[arpie]

Hi all

Keith & I headed to SWR last Thurs as Keith was competing in his 2nd (and last) triathlon this year ......... the comp was on Sunday, so I really only had Fri & Sat to hit the water and just targetted the Back Creek, where our Camp Ground was based. We had NICE BIG TIDES, so I was able to go a-hunting deep into the mangroves ......... for some fun!

Keith did really well in the triathlon, winning his age group, and had 3 or 4 competitors in his 70+ age group, so that made it a bit more interesting! The Trial Bay triathlon is a fairly tough one, with lots of winding hills & the final km or 2 being run on sand ........ he really knew that he had raced THAT day!! He is having a break from Tris now, til the season starts again after winter, now.

In the meantime, back in the yak ....... First capture was pretty special - a PB from my yak for this species ..... matter of fact, first time I've ever landed one of these critters ....... a BIG MUDCRAB!! It must have weighed 1kg+, I reckon, but I wasn't going to hang it on my scales to check!!

I took it back to camp (and was planning on eating it .....) but Keith said to put it back, so I did!

I was deep into the Mangroves when I found it

& as I drifted over it, it didn't even move, so I went back & tried to scoop it up with the net .... but missed - so next time I came back with the net, it had it's claws up in a defensive mode, trying to block the net!! None-the-less, I got it in & left it in the net!! As I headed back to camp, I cast to one of the Channel Poles and had a hit from a reasonable sized flattie, so chucked a 'Uie' and tossed the SP again ...... and it was snaffled up by said flattie!! It was a beautie - it went 58cm ...... and I can tell you that I had some fun getting the flattie into the net with the crab in there already!! The crab wasn't too fussed on the flattie, either!

I had hooked a couple of small bream on topwater lures, but was extremely disappointed that no bigger specimens turned up! Most other anglers were complaining of the same thing! Down below the Bridge, there used to be about 4 busted up jetties on the left hand side & a couple of OK ones on the Wharf side ..... but these had all been removed, destroying the bream structure that had been so good to us in the past! Shame.

In the mangroves, I found some lovely bright coloured crabs hiding in some submerged logs

I continued in my quest for bream, by going right up to the road that leads to the Tavern and boatramp on the Macleay River, expecting to find flatties or bream once the tide changed & started pouring out from under the road - but alas, this did not happen! The conditions were perfect for good fish - but where are they?

Gradually I accepted the fact that I wasn't going to get any decent bream, so drited back towards camp, tossing sammys towards the mangroves along the way! There were a couple of explosive hits that were only on momentarily, so no idea what they were! Then finally, I hooked up and brought a small whiting to the yak ...... check out the colour of my sammy & the colour of the whiting's back! They are identical, even down to the pattern!

The next whiting was a much better size and was returned to the water once the photo was taken.

The final whiting landed was not much bigger than the lure!! Amazing how they will attack a lure not much smaller than themselves!!

All up, a good couple of days on the water - I look forward to going back to Trial Bay Camp Ground this coming weekend, where I will be meeting up with a mad bunch of yakkers who go there this time of year for a week .... to try catch marlin, cobia & tuna. So far, a marlin has been caught by one yakker on each occasion - so will it happen again this trip???

HobiePaulo/Paul (of kayak marlin fame) will be there again - if you want some excitement, read his Marlin from Yak report here .....

http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.php?showtopic=28912

Paul has been fishing with Rob Paxevanos (Fishing Australia compere) and together they have landed some marlin down south of Sydney, using a tandem/double Adventure island, the largest of the hobie yak fishing fleet, complete with 2 outriggers & a self furling sail! They are terrific for offshore fishing & with the sail, gives backup power for returning home, when speed is of the essence!!

Cheerio for now - I need to go downstairs & prepare myself for a week of fishing fun!! bass, Bream & flatties - watch out!!!

Roberta

Edited February 24, 2011 by Roberta

[lukedfluke]

Congrats Roberta!

Sounds like a beauty of a day out. Great fish and aren't those whiting fun on the surface! that hit when it smashes your lure causing a big splash really gets your heart rate going doesn't it?

i must say when i saw that crab i was licking my lips as it had my name all over it! hahahah But kudos to you for letting him fight another day

Edited February 24, 2011 by Tight lines

[james7]

Gotta love SWR Roberta!

I sure wish I was up there now!

Top report. Beaut muddie, nice whiting and a great flattie!

Good luck with the other yakkers up there this weekend.

Cheers

Peter

PS Congratulations to Keith. What a recovery!!!

[roosterman]

well done to Kieth ..

even the big "C" cant stop him from giving the younger guys a touch up..

he is a true champion and role model for people struggling with obstacles in life..

if you put the hard yards in you can achieve anything.. .

as for yr fishing exploits,very nice surprise with the muddie eh..

he woulda been straight in the pot for me.yummo..

good luck with the yaks ,not that ya prob need it as theres some awesome fish on up there atm...

cheers...steve.....

[luderick -angler]

Seen some monster blackies come out of there!!! nice job on the fish Roberta

[jenno64]

Robe,

Your reports always have an X-factor! Great post once again and I'm glad Keith is on the road to good health once again!

[arpie]

Thanks guys

Keith really is amazing! A real star! His GP nearly had heart failure when he told her of his 1st triathlon - "I told you to only do light walks!!" So he didn't tell her about this one ...... hope she doesn't read the local rag when it gets written up next week!! Actually there was a doco on Catalyst tonight about heart problems & some top performing athletes, particularly triathletes! Made very interesting watching!

We always enjoy SWR & the campground on the back creek (Top Tourist I think it is) is far superior to the Gaol in our mind, but i have fun there with all the yakkers, so don't mind going there too. On those really hot days at the end of last week & over the weekend, we had a lovely cool breeze going thru the camper when we had the rear door up overlooking the water - when we went to the Gaol for the race - no cooling breeze at all! Stinking hot! Both have their 'pros' & 'cons'. Huge kangaroos & goannas at the Gaol camp ground tho!!

I'll be down in Sydney after the Social, Stewy - hope to hook up then

Oh dear, Royce - I hadn't thought of taking my blackie gear up there as well ........

Hey, if it doesn't rain, it will be a bonus! Every year, we've been bucketted on for at least 2 days!! Talking of which, it bucketted on us on Sun night there - huge thunder & lightening storm that went on for hours! It would go away, then come back louder than before! At least there were no big winds!!

If it is REALLY calm, I may put in from the beach ....... it is just such a pain getting the yak down to the water tho! Too much effort required!

CHeerio

Roberta

Edited February 24, 2011 by Roberta

[Spanker]

Thanks Roberta, love the report and the pictures.

I took my young family camping at Cresent Head last year with great anticipation of fishing the creek there. To my great distress I was told by locals that someone had recently illegally netted and cleaned out the system, it was a desert

Spanker