Fishing forster in a yak

[roosterman]

Hi guys,

Had to take a fridge up forster long w/e for the outlaws so arranged a fish with Roberta.

Plan was to fish from yaks,i was looking foreward to it heaps as ive never sat in one let alone fish in one.

Met up early sun morn and loaded yaks and after a crash coarse on how to not drown lol we set off for the leases.

We started off tossing lures for bream and i was getting hookups nearly every cast first hour or so, just wish it was something with fins not wood.. Lol .

Currents pushed lures under racks while retrieving so i prob needed more experiance to stop hooking racks. Had 2 hits but pointy bits didnt stick.

Roberta on other hand has a very different story to tell but ill let her tell it ..

Off next to target blackies and soon enough downs are happening. Got my first in the bag wooohoooo , not huge but a keeper . Was not hot fishing but enough downs to keep interested and 2 keepers from the yak on my first session was good feeling and getting smashed by the bigger brutes who dart out steal everything while heading straight back under racks was exciting. I think 6lb leader gave them way too much advantage. Started at about 9am and watched an amazing sunset while cleaning fish and my dodgy back held up fine which was my only concern.. Thx heaps Roberta for an amazing day out on a perfect winters day in a very beautiful place. God i miss forster.. Sooooo much fishy water to escape the crowds.

I now understand how guys get right into yak fishing ..

Cheers..steve...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bassboy888]

Sounds like you had a ball in the yak steve, nice blackies as well

[arpie]

Hey Steve!

It was terrific to catch up with you in Forster on the weekend (so to speak!) & many thanks for the weed & cabbage too!! It must be nearly 10 years since the Blackie Challenge up here when you fished for them last!!

Mate, you took to it like a duck to water!! Anyone would have thought you were an old hand at it!! Well done!! I think we may have a new Kayak Convert in the making!! THo you may need to get one for each the boys too!!

Being Steve's first go on the water in a yak, I didn't want to go out into the open spaces where we would get the full effects of the wash from any boats going past - so figured that being in a lease would be the way to go - plenty of fish (even tho plenty of snags as well ......) and away from any boat wash!!! It is where I learned to do accurate casting (out of necessity) and it has stood me in good stead ever since!!! You have to allow for the wind & the current & actually 'lay the line' down in a specific way to prevent it getting caught on the oyster racks & wire ........ and Steve had a couple of wayward ones (like the rest of us) then got the hang of it!!

I started out getting a few small bream on a 2.5" Damiki Monster Miki (mini!) in dark olive green on a HWS 1/28th jig head! It has a close resemblance to the old Berkley Hawgs that are no longer available - and has lots of wiggly bits hanging all over it!!

Then, I get a solid hit & I am pulled back towards the lease (I hadn't tied up! ) I shoved my rod tip into the water, to try & avoid the underneath bits of the rack & thought that I was winning the war as I was bringing in line without losing drag ..... when sadly the line must have hit the far edge of the lease underwater - and PING! GONE - busted in the leader!! Simultaneously, a huge fish busted up on the water top, between my rack & the one to the left of me ......... it had popped out of the water after the line had broken, such was the force he was putting onto my gear!! I was using Mark's 4-8lb rod at the time with 8lb SAS line & 12lb leader, which I had put in the yak as an 'afterthought', thinking this was mainly to be a blackie outing!! It was bent in half going under the yak towards the edge of the lease that I'd been pulled over to by the fish! Steve saw & heard the commotion of the fish & was amazed, as it really looked BIG & made a HUGE splash!

I re-rigged & continued casting the mini miki at the lease edge! Once again, the smaller specimens came out to play, proving their liking for the SP (I didn't bother taking pics of the other smaller ones, so here is another one of the first one on board! )

Even after it had been chewed by leather jackets & lost it's arms - I was STILL getting hits!! Then - ANOTHER big hit!! Once again, it went under the lease .... this time taking drag - but it was over in an instant this time - the fight was shorter, sadly! Instead of the leader, this time the braid broke as it came in contact with sharp oyster bits! Once again I re-rigged and continued casting my lucky SP of the day ........ with more tiddlers landed and you guessed it - then ANOTHER biggie jumped on AGAIN!!! They all know where to go when hooked - and this one was no exception - it headed under the same lease again, sadly for the same result as the previous 2 'biggies'! GONE in a matter of seconds!

Steve, in the mean time, had changed to a Squidgy Lobby but still not had many hits - I hope to get him onto better ones next time he comes up!!

Then we headed across the channel to have a go at some blackies! The cabbage that Steve had brought was amazing!! I'd never seen sheets of it like this before & the blackies really enjoyed it as well!! Steve is a top blackie fisho & was in his element!! He landed his first fish and was soon busted off by what he called a 'stonker'! (The really big ones love hanging around the edges of the leases, hence I had upgraded to 20lb braid & 12lb leader) - whereas Steve was running about 6lb leader & main line - which sadly resulted in another bustoff soon after!! My best fish went a tad over 36cm. (this one was from a previous outing - same size - I forgot to get a pic of Sun's biggie - tho you can see it in the pic with Steve cleaning the fish!! )

I had dropped a few blackies & then they'd gone 'quiet' so I drifted down the channel chucking the miki at any structure I could see, getting some hits & I even shot it up under one of the oyster Lease Buildings, in amongst the poles (aka suicide alley) ..... and hooked a fiesty tiddler!!! Moving on to the next lease, I hooked up to the biggest 'landed' bream of the day - it also took me under the fixed lease & I really thought I would bust off ......... but somehow, I managed to coax it out!!

We worked our way back to the car, fishing for blackies just opposite where we'd put in & I landed another nice blackie. So now, we had 4 between us - if we'd landed all the legal fish we'd hooked (bream & blackies), we'd have had a terrific bag!!

SO .... all up, a terrific day on the water - as Steve said, we'd put in at about 9am & here we were, watching the sun go down!!

Many thanks for joining me on the water on Sun, Steve - it was terrific fun & we were so lucky with the weather! A beautiful calm sunny day (unlike right now, I am watching a big thunderstorm take place as I type!!)

Cheerio & see ya next time you are up!!

Roberta

Edited June 12, 2013 by Roberta

[manhands]

Great mutual post, nice dark bream there, feisty indeed. Great way to fish.

[arpie]

I fished the same area a couple of days later with heavier line & leader & only caught a couple of fish - 1 bream & 1 whiting - so just goes to show that fishing 'finesse' really gets the results, even tho you may get busted off more readily as well!

Yak fishing really is the best fun you can have sitting down - especially in estuaries & bays - it is SO much fun!! You really deserve every fish that you land, as it totally changes the logistics of hooking, playing & landing a fish .......... often it is in the fish's favour & they get off - other times, the angler 'wins' and bags a beauty!

If you haven't tried it, you should give it a go!

Cheers

Roberta

[Davemmm]

Sounds like you both had a very enjoyable day.

The yaks arent for me though, I can't see anywhere that I can make a cup of tea

Dave

[arpie]

.... I can't see anywhere that I can make a cup of tea......

ALWAYS got room for a thermos - whether tea or hot soup!
cheers
Roberta

[tide'n'knots]

wow what a great session. bad luck about the big one roberta - thats what goes with the territory unfortunately!

good to see steve enjoying the company of a great raider! dont feel to bad steve I think roberta would out fish most people on soft plastics in her own back yard I think she probably knows every snag and has probably lost a fish or two on each of them!

pete

[bluefin]

Love reading your reports from Forster! Barbara and I need to get up there again!

Howard,

[arpie]

.....I think she probably knows every snag and has probably lost a fish or two on each of them!....

You are not wrong there, Pete!! Ya keep going back, hoping you will nail them the next time, just like you the jewies on the Hawkesbury!!

cheers

Roberta

[beachwormer]

Great stuff guys.

Can't you increase the breaking strain of your line and leader and skull drag the big bream out of the leases? Or do they just not bite on the heavier line? Just wondering - a friend of a friend used to use handlines 20 lb BS with chicken fillet on the Georges - throw to the oyster leases and then give them no quarter when they struck and drag them back to the boat - kilo plus fish.

[arpie]

....Can't you increase the breaking strain of your line and leader and skull drag the big bream out of the leases? Or do they just not bite on the heavier line?......

I went back a couple of days later with heavier line (about 10lb braid & 20lb leader) using the same 2.5" Damiki Monster Miki - and hooked NOTHING! I DID catch a bream on a small topwater NW pencil & also a nice whiting on a Fish Arrow SP ..... yes, they see the heavier line & just scoot, particularly as we only use lures & soft plastics!! It also doesn't cast as well as the lighter line. For this outing with Steve, I was using SAS Tasline in 8lb, and it is about as thin as other brand's 4lb braid ..... and it casts a mile!

It is a totally different story when using bait tho! The fish become totally aggressive to get the bait (chicken is always a top bait here in the leases .....) and handlines are often better than rods, as you are in direct control of the line, where as rods can actually allow the fish to get under the lease & busting you off, just due to the flexibility of the rod!

One day, when I get sick of being busted off on lures - I may just give some chicken a go!

cheers

Roberta

[SMn]

Great stuff! Can't wait to get yak out again myself. What were those soft plastics you were using Roberta? I've never used plastics before but will do next time I'm in the yak...

[arpie]

Hi SMn

The ones catching that day, were 2.5" Damiki Monster Miki in Olive Green & I will be using them again for sure!! I used about a 1/28th Hidden Weight System hook, which really allowed it to just 'glide' under the lease! They have lots of dangly bits hanging off them which gives them plenty of movement, hence they are noticed quickly by the fish ...... (that is my theory, anyhow!)

Any of these colours would work - plus I added some Squidgy goop on them as well

They work particularly well around poles & any structure! Be brave & chuck it as close to structure as you can ..... and HANG ON!!

Good luck

Roberta

Edited June 25, 2013 by Roberta

[SMn]

Thanks Roberta, very much appreciated!

Will be trying soft plastics for the first time from the yak (and ever really) over the next week, while I'm on holidays down the far South Coast, will be giving them a shot for sure!

Cheers!

[arpie]

Forgot to mention that with the lighter jigheads & small SPs - you really do need a fairly light & responsive rod tip - or you won't be able to cast them very far! So any 1-4kg rods should work!!

cheers

Roberta