Keflapod Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 (edited) "Once upon a time they lived happily ever after". Well that's the shortest story I know, but I'm not known for my short stories. This story isn't short but unlike the fairy tale above, it's true, informative and Dare I say it, entertaining. Friday last week (December 9th) had me dreaming of fine fishing over the weekend. The currents would be brisk (due to approach of full moon) and the tide was rising. Also the storm water would have had time to clear up so I was bracing myself for a good catch. Saturday morning saw me racing down the river, looking for floating debris and getting ready to turn my steering wheel hard port as the 2m tinnies with no lights on board (except for the cyalume sticks on their rod tips) flash a half-dead-battery torch at me to warn me of their presence. How many times do I have to do the last-second-veer-away ? Too many times. I don't fancy myself making the evening news. I got to my spot and I plonked the pick on the elephant's trunk. This isn't my quirky name for a secret spot – it's an area at Carter's Island on the south bank of the entrance to the Georges river. A friend of mine two weeks earlier caught some nice bream there…Me being the eternal spot-pincher, went there before him but neither he nor the fish ended up showing up there. In goes the lines and out comes 7 shovel nose rays ! I was getting a bit tired of this, but every time one came up, I was convinced THIS one was a monster lizard. Finally I hooked a fish. I got a thumper of a trevally that spat the hook at the net. I only needed 5 more seconds dammit. Then one rod takes off at the speed of sound. I fair dinkum heard a sonic boom as he hit overdrive. But my years of experience told me I was "dooooooiiiing the eaaaaaagle rock". Eagle rays are fun for 2 minutes but after 5 minutes I got stuck into it and redlined the 4kg catana graphite stick and got him in – eyeballed him and bust him off. So much action for NOTHING in the esky. But I was still pumped for action…. Off into the bay I go, into the shallows of quibray bay, 0.5m to be exact. Only a few undersized whiting went back in. I thought I needed a distraction until the tide changed so I tried burleying the oil wharf for trevally. After 47 tiny reddies and the approach of the ports authority boat, I left there as well. Still nothing in the esky. I was getting desperate and fishless! I tried a spot in 6m west of the drums where I have caught bream in seasons past - no dice. Only a couple of bite-offs from Tailor - that's it. So I went into Quibray bay again into another spot. By this time the skies were getting a bit dark and most folk fled for the safety of the boat ramp. But not stupid me - I wanted fish. Rain, shine or shine (I won't fish in hail, would you?). This is, however, the best time to fish because the noise levels drop off and the fish start to play. And play they did. First spot, after 5 minutes, the baitrunner screams. Lovely….I was getting tired of listening to Marcel Marceau's greatest hits and I jumped on that rod. Half way into the fight, the next rod goes off and the pitch of the scream of that other reel was higher.I was busy, that rod had to wait. The first fish was a nice bream of mid 30's. The account had been opened. I landed the fish and dropped everything (except my pants) to get to the other rod. The second fish fought much harder, with headshakes all the way in. It tried to bury me in the ribbon weed all the way in, but his days were numbered. The second fish went late 30's and I was stoked. Finally I had something to prove to the missus that I went fishing and not visited the secret pub. The storm clouds were closing in. I could see heavy rain over Kogarah and looking closely, I saw what appeared to be the makings of a tornado. I have seen waterspouts before and this one looked very real but it was too far away to tell. Anyone see anything? The big waterways cat boat came over for a visit and to give me some pamphlets. Very nice chap – nice boat too. We had a chat and he told me he knew of one boat that fished all night and got 20 fish off brighton. Another friend told me people were spinning up bonito off brighton beach…I don't know how accurate all this is….. The fishing was slow for me but enough fish hit the deck to make it worthwhile. One boat came past mine and drove so close, he drove over all 4 of my baits. The bay was COMPLETELY EMPTY. I think his head was the same…. One of my baits had a fish sitting on it. The other guys boat spooked it (as expected) and my reel screamed. I pulled that fish from under his boat as he watched me. He then took off in the opposite direction… It was getting late so I started to pack up. I pulled in a silver biddy (rare catch) and released that, but the next thing that happened was a bit weird. As I pulled in a line, I noticed there was some kicking on the line but there was some splashes as well. As it got closer, I realized that there was a wing flapping. What was this? It seems that a cormorant (shag) had grabbed my fish and was wrestling me for it. It got to within 10m of the boat before it let go but it wouldn't leave. The bird must have been starving. I measured the fish at 24cm so I had to release it but the bird had fatally injured it. So I thought I had better do the right thing and release the fish to the bird. As soon as that fish hit the water, the shag pounced on it. You could see the thin neck of the bird expand to 4 times it's diameter to get the fish down. But I still hate shags. I only hope that I created some good karma. Overall, 10 bream, 4 whiting and I kept 2 shovelnose for flake. Some technical notes. All mature fish I caught were in spawning condition, even the shovelnose sharks. Wind prediction was NE but it blew S / SE all day. Water temp was 20.5 degrees. Water clarity was reasonable after heavy rains due to stronger currents moving more water to sea for salinity restoration. Barometer would have been falling to LOW all day. Most fish caught were resident in the weeds due to the bronzier colouration of their bodies. Edited December 11, 2011 by Keflapod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plazmaman Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 Good read as usual fron you Keflapod. Im happy you caught a feed. I was out there too and seen that big waterways cat, and thought it was a good looking boat also. A ordinery day for me fish wise with conditions that looked promising with the approaching storm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 A very well documented story Keflapod. Glad u ended up with a feed, u deserved it. Well done, Big Neil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjchen Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 well done as always tony, it was a hard days fishing, care to enlighten us all? whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuffy Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 (edited) Love the Marcel Marceau comment - very funny. That's the kind of noise I like when fishing as well. Tuffy Edited December 11, 2011 by Tuffy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hookmeup Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 Great report, well written, good catch too,but I disagree on one thing...........I dont mind the occasional shag if the fishings slow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amatuer Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Thanks for entertaining report Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keflapod Posted December 12, 2011 Author Share Posted December 12, 2011 well done as always tony, it was a hard days fishing, care to enlighten us all? whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy lol Ah Mr Chen, Nice to see you're still around. I haven't seen you post a catch for a while. I'm sure you're getting your fair share of fish though... I think there was a multitide of reasons, for example: 1. Water still a bit stormwater affected 2. Barometer was low. The theory is that this causes the fish's swim bladders to expand and push against their stomach making them lethargic. 3. Spawning activity for some fish causes them to stop biting 4. Spawning activity for some fish causes them to congregate in areas we don't know about - ie they are not in our spots in the first place. We will never really know, but it's the uncertainty that gets me back every time - as well as the need to enjoy the aqautherapy we call fishing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingfishaholic Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Awesome Catch Keflapod! Even in the worst conditions you still managed to put a nice feed on the table Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhype Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Tony - if a bucket full of quality fish is the result of a " hard day" I can't imagin what you would end up with on a "good" day! Most people would thank the fish gods for 1/2 that catch.... I know I sure would! Well done on the great catch as per usual.. Your are botany bay's bream master! ps. I think I saw your boat being visited be the maritime at towra... Were you there at around lunch time? I was flicking plastics in closer to towards the restricted zone... we should catch up for a fish one day and have a jolly chat. Cheers Trung Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luringbream Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Great catch mate. Can you assistn with location? Regards, DAN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjchen Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Ah Mr Chen, Nice to see you're still around. I haven't seen you post a catch for a while. I'm sure you're getting your fair share of fish though... I think there was a multitide of reasons, for example: 1. Water still a bit stormwater affected 2. Barometer was low. The theory is that this causes the fish's swim bladders to expand and push against their stomach making them lethargic. 3. Spawning activity for some fish causes them to stop biting 4. Spawning activity for some fish causes them to congregate in areas we don't know about - ie they are not in our spots in the first place. We will never really know, but it's the uncertainty that gets me back every time - as well as the need to enjoy the aqautherapy we call fishing. ah, my catches are nothing worthy of posting.. unlike yours!! same old, flathead and trev, can never be consistent with the bream.. too lazy to pump for nippers too if i do well this school holiday i will definitely post something and i would like to join in the jolly chat with dhype as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pongrass18ft Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Great read tony , Sounds like you put in some entertaining hours to bring home a great feed. Look forward to seeing the eagle rock moves Great catch as always be back on the water soon Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keflapod Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 Tony - if a bucket full of quality fish is the result of a " hard day" I can't imagin what you would end up with on a "good" day! Most people would thank the fish gods for 1/2 that catch.... I know I sure would! Well done on the great catch as per usual.. Your are botany bay's bream master! ps. I think I saw your boat being visited be the maritime at towra... Were you there at around lunch time? I was flicking plastics in closer to towards the restricted zone... we should catch up for a fish one day and have a jolly chat. Cheers Trung Hi Trung, I was wide off quibray bay when the big cat pulled up - not off towra - but yes around lunchtime. The guy was also working alone and we had a good chat. I wouldn't quite call myself the bream master. I know some guys that know the bay better at night than I know it in the day. They fish 2 guys and both get close to bag limits. There are more fish at night as they tend to congregate more then - probably to avoid predation. Find the schools, burley them up and you get more fish. But fishing alone at night is very risky. You may get sleepy and disoriented and make the wrong moves. Also, I have 2 young kids so leaving the wife home alone at night is a marriage breaker. So I honed my skills for gentlemen's hours and I catch more fish after sunrise than before sunrise. ..but I am improving my pre-dawn results slowly. You have to do a lot of thinking and experimentation. Eg if the tide is high early morning, go into the shallows first, unless you've had lots of rain whereby you would stay in the deep. Each set of rules has plenty of exceptions and dependancies.....so keep trying different things until you find them. Sometiomes the barometer will be very low (like last weekend) and the fishing will be poor all-round, shallow, deep, river, bay, even ocean to moderate depths.... Jeez why does this fishing thing have to be so complicated ! Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjchen Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 (edited) heyas it sure is complicated, i've started a journal like yourself i usually have a hard time getting a feed when its running in, have been fishing the shallows but no good. don't know why, the run out seems to get them on a lot more shallow or deep are you still burleying for the run in? i find there isn't much current during the run in and the burley isn't going anywhere thus no fish is coming around any theories on this topic? Edited December 13, 2011 by cjchen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RADZ2413 Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 GOOD CATCH AND I LOVE THE POSTS ALWAYS AN ENTERTAINING READ, KEEP EM COMING RADZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leonardgid Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 No body does it better, just a question about the bronzier bream , do you find that they taste different to the normal yellowfin bream? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim bream Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Hi Trung, I was wide off quibray bay when the big cat pulled up - not off towra - but yes around lunchtime. The guy was also working alone and we had a good chat. I wouldn't quite call myself the bream master. I know some guys that know the bay better at night than I know it in the day. They fish 2 guys and both get close to bag limits. There are more fish at night as they tend to congregate more then - probably to avoid predation. Find the schools, burley them up and you get more fish. But fishing alone at night is very risky. You may get sleepy and disoriented and make the wrong moves. Also, I have 2 young kids so leaving the wife home alone at night is a marriage breaker. So I honed my skills for gentlemen's hours and I catch more fish after sunrise than before sunrise. ..but I am improving my pre-dawn results slowly. You have to do a lot of thinking and experimentation. Eg if the tide is high early morning, go into the shallows first, unless you've had lots of rain whereby you would stay in the deep. Each set of rules has plenty of exceptions and dependancies.....so keep trying different things until you find them. Sometiomes the barometer will be very low (like last weekend) and the fishing will be poor all-round, shallow, deep, river, bay, even ocean to moderate depths.... Jeez why does this fishing thing have to be so complicated ! Tony ggyigycgy.bmp Hi Tony good catch and yes very hard conditions to fish in you done well here some info on barometer which will help a few people i had another but i can not find it you will find interesting cheers Jim . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keflapod Posted December 15, 2011 Author Share Posted December 15, 2011 ggyigycgy.bmp Hi Tony good catch and yes very hard conditions to fish in you done well here some info on barometer which will help a few people i had another but i can not find it you will find interesting cheers Jim . Very interesting Jimmy, I see why fish would like to go to deeper water when the air pressure is very high or very low. Water is far more dense than air. Fish may use the water above them as a shield against extreme air pressures - high or low. The air pressure extremes could be felt more by fish when they are closer to the surface (the water shield is thinner) so they move deeper / shallower according to the barometer. I guess they go to the right depth that properly equalizes or negates the pressure exerted upon their swim bladders by the air pressure. This would make them feel more comfortable and more likely to feed. There are other complications though. If the fish need to go deeper but the current is going against them, would they swim against the current to do it? Perhaps they will just endure the pressure until the tide changes and then go to deeper in the same direction as the current. What if the deeper water has some undesirable characteristic when they get there ? It's too cold, too silty or it's a full moon and they can be seen at night ? Maybe they will then go back to the shallows - but wait, the tide is now against them ! Life is tough for a fish, eh Jimmy ? But it's this kind of thing that keeps me interested - learning and pondering the thought processes and decisions of fish. Why ? So we can head them off at the pass ! Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keflapod Posted December 15, 2011 Author Share Posted December 15, 2011 No body does it better, just a question about the bronzier bream , do you find that they taste different to the normal yellowfin bream? Hey Leonardgid, You know I have to admit I think they taste the same. But it just might be my pallet is not as discerning as some. It was just the other day my 4 year old daughter was asking me why I like avocados, because they're yuck! I told her we all have different taste buds so what is yummy to someone is yucky to others. She just asks "Why?" to every answer I give her.... Hmmmmm....how to better explain it to her.... So I told her we all have different noses and eyes and ears and everything....and tastebuds..... She smiled and nodded her understanding. I was so relieved.... and then she said ..."and different boobies daddy"..... Kids say the darndest things.... Moral of the story? We both have different taste buds so what may appear the same to me is different for you. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil D Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 Hard day in botany, love to see your good Days Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N11 Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 Great catch champ! It did seem a little slow that day. Managed to catch 2 bream 27 and 29 along with a few flatties. Saw quite a few dolphins in the bay earlier in the morning too. We also saw that water spout....freaky man. Thanks for the report. Post #1 - joy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrelxr6 Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 fishing may have been slow !!!! BUT WHAT A GREAT READ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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