It should have been a Tailor Session ....... but

[arpie]

Hi all

Seeing as how the tailor were 'on the chew' last Sunday (even tho I didn't catch any! ) I DID have a great time dropping them!! So, thought I'd have another bash on the rising tide late Sun afternoon, yesterday!

Beautiful calm, sunny afternoon, not a breath of wind - so I went a-huntin' big tailor!!! It wasn't long before I realised they didn't appear to be there!! I kept chucking my topwater lures around, hoping for a miracle, when I had a few bloops & whaddya know ....... a very nice breambo jumps on! It went 35cm

I continued with my topwater & missed a couple of good bloops, then came up onto this smaller version

Next cast & I had a REALLY good hit - but had to whip the lure away, as a bloody tern or two would dive onto the lure, trying to pinch it, so missed heaps of good bloops, cos I couldn't leave the lure in the one spot long enough to hook up! This became REALLY annoying!! I eventually found a spot where I couldn't see any terns & continued casting, only to have them come in from behind me & try & grab the lure! THen I found a spot where I could put in a shorter cast ..... and the water erupted - and I was onto the fish I'd targeted originally!! A nice 40cm tailor. Unfortunately, dusk was approaching fast & I reckon I would have had a lot of fun had Keith not been waiting back at home for dinner ....... so reluctantly, I packed up & headed for home! You can see one of the bloody terns in the photo here - the blurry bit!!

Still had a great couple of hours on the water tho!

CHeers & thanks for reading

Roberta

In those famous words of a now 'not so famous' person ....... I'll be back!!

[james7]

Great to see another report from you Roberta. Looks like it was a lot of fun.

Did you smoke the tailor?

Love some of the bream photos too. Brilliant close ups of those "toothy critters"!

Those terns must have been annoying. The birds that drive me crazy are those !*@!# mutton birds! I hate it when they dive down and grab your bait.

Anyway, looking forward to the next report when ... "you're back" ... chasing those tailor.

Cheers

Peter

[arpie]

Thanks Pete - I've kept this tailor fresh so far - may just grill the fillets with some lemongrass squeezed on it - always YUM! THe breambo went back to grow bigger! I know where he lives!

I think most of the tailor have headed out to sea with the mullet - so I think I'll be testing my theory of bream on topwater during winter (instead of just summer) which I intended to do last winter, but Keith got ill & I wasn't out much for most of the year! Yep - nearly 12 months since his surgery already!

I've caught a couple of terns (and a few other birds) before today - I had the lure in the water, right up at the yak & they still came in, trying to grab it! Last year, I was using the rod to shoo them away & they were still chasing the lure on the end of it!! I reckon those mutton birds would be annoying - they dive quite deep, too, don't the?

Cheers

Roberta

I had frozen the last lot of tailor & samson fish that I smoked, so have them thawed & will be making the fish pies tonight!! Will take some down to Mum when down at the end of June. She loves them too!

Edited May 30, 2011 by Roberta

[Hodgey]

Hey Roberta

Good to see the bream still interested in surface stuff. It is being reciprocated down here as well, but with plastics worked on the surface as opposed to HB's. It would be great to fish the surface all year round, wouldn't it?

The bigger tailor were here recently but seem to have moved on for the time being. The smaller 30-40cm models make an occasional appearance. I hope the big schools of salmon venture back into the lake again this year. That was mind blowing on bream gear!

Cheers

Ian

[arpie]

Hi Ian - I may have to resort to SPs to beat the Terns! Annoying little things they are! I had a 70cm tailor jump & toss the lure the week before! I was AMAZED at it's girth! Way bigger than the 60cm I'd caught the week or two prior (which was made into smoked fish pie last night & we now have 3 more pies in the freezer for us & 2 x 2 serves for my Mum when next in Sydney.) Lots of salmon offshore, apparently. I think the mullet have finally migrated out of the system now, so pleased that I got the 1 tailor! I think I missed another one too.

Hard to believe yesterday was so horrible compared to Sunday evening! Gorgeous! Still looking dodgy today. Just hope the bream stay there all year (which I have a sneaky suspicion they will)

so will make it my mission to harass them.

Cheers

ROberta

[tide'n'knots]

sounds like your having some good fun when the terns leave you alone. i remember fishing for bass many years ago at north richmond where I grew up and a bloody water dragon kept jumping off a log and chasing my bass bug -amazingly it didnt get caught, probably due to their extremely hard mouths but in the end I had to fish another spot because it just wouldnt quit! The first time it was funny then it just became very annoying. I feel your pain!

sounds like there are some cracker tailor in the lake at the moment.

pete.

[Guest DanT]

Gooooo roberta!! mike and i will come and up to foster soon and have a fish with you!

i justtt neeed to get myself a kayak hahaha

nice report! and great pictures

[arpie]

....mike and i will come and up to foster soon and have a fish with you!...

Any time, Dan - I have a spare sit in yak you can use, too! Just a bit cold these days!!! Let us know when you want to come up!

Hey Pete - i've actually hooked a water dragon - he just loved my topwater lure & came chasing it til he got it! It was hilarious! Luckily, he dropped it before it reached the yak!

Roberta

[Langa]

I know how you feel about those terns, they are an absolute pain, I have been forced to stop fishing on a couple of occasions due to their harrasment

I have also been bothered by water dragons while bass fishing and know a chap who swears he had a red bellied black snake chase a surface lure at Oberon fishing for trout.

Interested to see your bream catches, I have become a surface lure addict having virtually not used anything else for the last 18 months. Last winter I caught a few bream, plenty of EPs, some tailor, and a monster salmon, this winter I have only caught 1 bream, more tailor and EPs. The whiting however seem to completely shut down on the surface in the colder months. After seeing some recent posts of success with unweighted plastics fished on the surface I think I will give this a go.

Cheers, Langa