2 outings - 1 good one bad

[Razzell]

Hi all,

Had my girlfriends' cousin down from Birsbane for the weekend so we (myself, Longfish, and the missus who was armed with a large book to keep her occupied) decided to take him out on Sunday the 22nd in Pittwater. We hired a tinny, which was a first for us. A few weeks previous we had a fairly unproductive outing there on the kayaks, but it did produce my first king, so we were hopeful.

Weather was rubbish, but the sea was calm when we set out around 10. We headed along the western end where I trolled in hope of a pelagic, but we stopped in the bays and shallow areas to see if we could land a flattie which were our primary target. No dice. We then headed to a little inlet and had a bit of joy. The cousin got a pinky snapper, I managed a small flattie, Longfish got a nice sea pike and a flounder (dropped before landing). It was slow going, though.

We then headed round scotland island and drifted the flats, but again with no joy. On the way back, we stopped off in an Eastern bay to find a huge bed of sea grass and a lot of activity. Longfish managed a small sea pike, but by that time it was 4pm and time to head back. We have vowed to hit it with the kayaks to try it with surface lures.

All in all, pretty disappointing day. Slow going and we were hoping for much better...

This morning, the 26th, I found myself with time for a fish before work owing to meetings elsewhere, so I loaded the kayak last night. With the weather looking still, the tide dropping, and the swell heading from the SE (finally!) I thought I'd hit the waters around Chowder bay. I only had a couple of hours to fish, but I had a blast. The jetty in the bay was rammed, so I headed away from there as I know that gets hammered, anyway. Paddled round the head while flicking, but aside from some smallish fish jumping near me (assumed taylor or salmon) and a penguin, I couldn't really get the hang of it, so I headed round the corner.

Once round the corner, I could see a lot of baitfish activity and having checked navionics the night before I knew where to fish. I only had an hour left before I had to be back in the car, but I made the most of it... I was flinging SPs and once I'd figured where the predators were I hooked on to something. Got a nice little fight out of a small mac tuna (pictured), which is a first for me. He was only about 25 - 30 cm, but he was great fun on the light gear. Of course, I threw straight back out and while I'm retreating my second cast I get a massive hit. I was using a 2-4k rod and a sienna 1k with 10Ib leader (the lighter of the two rods I had with me), so I eased off the drag slightly and settled in for a fight. I didn't know what I had until the 5 - 10 minute fight was over, and I'd landed my second king (edit - users have kindly informed me that my ID was very much wrong; it was a sambo. I'm an idiot!) . He really went for it, taking half my line and giving me a nice tow - such fun to play because I knew I had to take it easy. He measured at 53, which I was more than happy with given the circumstances. The poor thing was absolutely shattered and I was worried he might perish as he was floating and looking very sorry for himself when I put him back in. I held him the right way alongside the kayak for a bit until he built the strength to flick back to the depths.

After that I had a few more flicks at the panicked baitfish, but only managed a reasonable sized flatty (about 45 by my eye) which shook before I could get him in the yak (as is often the case). Then I had to begrudgingly paddle back for a meeting

So that's the way it goes... You can plan an all day trip and get bugger all, but head out on a whim and have a whale of a time.

Edited February 26, 2015 by Razzell

[OldMateJon]

Great report Razzell, still waiting for my first king! Reminiscing on that must have got you through that meeting!

[night_rider]

Awesome report Razzell. I've been umming and arghing about taking my yak out to Chowder bay and surrounds.. Starting to think I should do it!

QQ: Is the 2nd photo above the king you were referring to? I could be mistaken but that looks like an Australian Salmon to me.

Either way sounds like a great day on the water!

[Mr Squidy]

Great work on a quick session, shame you didn't manage a few better the day before.

Second photo is definitely a Sambo.

R

[Ojay Samson]

Awesome report Razzell. I've been umming and arghing about taking my yak out to Chowder bay and surrounds.. Starting to think I should do it!

QQ: Is the 2nd photo above the king you were referring to? I could be mistaken but that looks like an Australian Salmon to me.

Either way sounds like a great day on the water!

2nded, I to would like toclarify this, as it looks like an aussie salmon to me in that last pic to. Congrats and well done on the dedication nonetheless! Great to know there's still activity out there. I'm still trying for my first king on lure, what soft plastics were doing the damage for you?

[Razzell]

Aaaah my bad guys! I'm very much a novice! Truth be told, I did question myself because it didn't look entirely like my original one from Pittwater but I put it down to it being a rat. That's what wishful thinking does to you! Still, he was a nice size and gave me a great fight, so i'll take it