kayak drummer

[HenryR]

My second winter with a kayak and I'm definitely still figuring winter meets kayak out. The last month, probably more, has been a string of doughnuts. Kayak doughnuts anyway. There have been a few excellent and relaxing days catching luderick from wharves in between the kayak doughnuts - thanks (again) DerekD for patient guidance in the ways of let's not over-finesse, let's just catch fish luderick-techniques - but I have badly missed catching fish from the yak. It's been made all the more painful because, it's seems the worse the fishing gets the more I want to go. No amount of changing spots, target species and people to fish with has helped.

Last winter was similarly troublesome. The whole of September with barely a fish landed. So, this year, as winter approached and I started fretting about the lack of prospects, I hatched a plan. Drummer from a kayak, I decided, was the mission to undertake.

My first trip out was a bit of an eye opener. North Head, somewhere I knew pretty well, and on a very flat day. I wasn't expecting things to be easy but trying to get a kayak close enough to cast a 00 ball and bit of bread into washes is properly unnerving and immediately I could tell, full of complexities I didn't understand and pitfalls I didn't yet know.

I've stuck at, going out on very quiet days and bobbing round watching what happens, slowly inching closer to washes that seemed, I won't say safe .. washes where the risk seemed manageable.

This week's drop in the wind and swell (0.6m swell, yes please!) beckoned. How could I not cash in some accrued extra work hours for a midweek fish?

I had no expectations, the plan was just to go for a bit of a paddle and check out a new bit of coast.

Pre-dawn at Long Bay, I was surprised to see the lights of two kayaks already on the water. It was two guys who usually fish Moli Pt for kings. Has been a fishless few months over there they told me. They were doing similar to me, taking advantage of the mild conditions to try new grounds. As the sky started to light up I left them still chasing squid, and paddled to Long Bay's northern headland hopeful that I might find some early morning salmon.

No salmon, instead loads of what I assume were mini barracuda (I've never caught them before). They were fun enough for a while.

The barracuda thinned as the sun lifted. I slowly drifted and paddled north sizing up the waves and the rocks and the zone where they meet each other.

It's definitely not sit back and relax fishing. I watched what seemed like a good spot for close on an hour, working my way towards and around it before properly giving it a go. I think more attention and effort goes in to keeping track of where you are, adjusting position, and watching the rocks and waves than into the fishing. I kind of like that. Anyway, eventually I decided it was okay to paddle in close and throw casts before quickly backing back out.

At first I didn't realise I had a bite. I thought the line sucking off the reel was just the pull of the surge. Then when I stopped it going out I could feel the pulse of a fish on the other end. As the fish ripped drag I back-paddled to get clear enough of the danger zone, to be able to concentrate on the fish.

Bobbing round in waves and backwash, tied to a fish that's dragging you around almost as much as you're dragging it around it's hard to tell what's solid, what's the waves, and what's the fish. A minute or two into the fight I had the sense that I was no longer tied a fish, it was the bottom I had on the line. I've been through that before with kingfish and knew well enough, that that's the time to stop playing tug of war. I backed the tension off and grabbed the chance to get myself well clear of the rocks. When I tightened back up, the bottom was gone and the fish was back - cool :). Then I learned something new, don't play the fish with the reel and rod, play the fish with the kayak and the rod. It worked well. Within a couple of minutes I had myself and the fish in the safety of deeper water.

I've half joked, and half hoped it'd work as persuasion (it didn't), to Krause that drummer might be like little winter kings.

In the last stages of the fight, I was absolutely willing to buy in to the drummer are kingfish theory. The fish's stubbornness was amazing. I'd reef it up from the depths and as soon as it got within a sniff of the surface, it'd charge back down and circle for a minute or two before I could reef it back up, then we'd do the whole thing again, and again. When I did finally get a look at it, I understood why. My first black drummer was an instant PB. A smidgen over 56cm.

I don't generally like to keep 'good' fish but it was bleeding from the gills so I popped it in a keeper, bled it properly and headed straight back to the car and some ice so as not to completely disrespect it by letting it spoil in the sun. It kinda cut my adventure tour of some new coast short but I'm not complaining!

 

 

 

 lucky to land it I think. The line looked like this all the way to the leader knot

Edited August 23, 2017 by HenryR

[ARC H]

Awesome mate

Well done on that

[Regan]

nice drummer mate,

yeah that is a baracouda

Edited August 23, 2017 by Regan

[MattGb1989]

Well done pal, top effort and some really good looking fish. Congrats

[xerotao]

Good effort. Cant wait till im allowed to take my ebay special kayak out

[dirvin21]

drummer from a kayak you are one gutsy fella

[savit]

Nice catch. What rig did you use ?

[justonemorecast]

Nice looking drummer there 

[LuckyFil]

At 56cm that's a big drummer, so you might wait a while to improve on that pb! Well done to get one that size in any circumstances but out of a kayak sounds even more challenging

[HenryR]

ta all for comments
 

On 24/08/2017 at 3:09 PM, LuckyFil said:

At 56cm that's a big drummer, so you might wait a while to improve on that pb! Well done to get one that size in any circumstances but out of a kayak sounds even more challenging

yep, when I got home and jumped online to see how 56cm sized up, I realised there's a good chance I've well and truly hit my drummer peak before I've even really begun. Gotta say, I'm still looking forward to going back and doing the required ground work. They are a really beautiful fish and they live in amazing places.

I notice you fish for drummer. I've been wondering about the blood from the gills thing. When I saw it assumed the fish must have been either gut hooked or hooked in the gills. Then, when I got the fish back to the ramp and dug the hook out I discovered the though the fish was hooked deepish , it was hooked in the mouth.

Any any ideas on what the bleeding might have been? It's troubled me a bit. It seems unlikely but I've wondered if the bleeding is just something that happens to drummer?? Has left me wondering if should have put the fish back

 

On 24/08/2017 at 1:40 AM, savit said:

Nice catch. What rig did you use ?

The rig (almost the best of all possible rigs, no?):

Has been a while since I have but I love fishing a free floating bait. Basic. Pure.

I have been carrying a few bobby corks too. Am still working up to the added complexity of using them.

 

On 23/08/2017 at 5:40 PM, xerotao said:

Good effort. Cant wait till im allowed to take my ebay special kayak out

well, if whoever does have final say ever let's you loose on the water, if you can't find anyone else to paddle with, you could always fire me a pm

 

Regan, thanks heaps for the species clarification

Edited August 25, 2017 by HenryR
put the missing should in where it should have been in the 1st place

[LuckyFil]

7 hours ago, HenryR said:

I notice you fish for drummer. I've been wondering about the blood from the gills thing. When I saw it assumed the fish must have been either gut hooked or hooked in the gills. Then, when I got the fish back to the ramp and dug the hook out I discovered the though the fish was hooked deepish , it was hooked in the mouth.

Any any ideas on what the bleeding might have been? It's troubled me a bit. It seems unlikely but I've wondered if the bleeding is just something that happens to drummer?? Has left me wondering if have put the fish back

Henry

If it was bleeding from the gills it was almost certainly done for, so no point in returning him. My guess is that it was initially deep hooked and in the fight (which sounds quite protracted given the circumstances) the hook pulled out of its gills and then embedded into the mouth.

The only time I've had  a drummer bleeding from the gills its been hooked deep.

I use the same simple rig as you. I notice that's a nice solid hook you've got on - you'll need it with the bigger drummer as they'll bend or snap the standard hooks . If the bottom is very rough and I'm getting hooked up a lot I use a bobby cork but prefer to going without if I can.

Happy pig hunting!

Fil 

[HenryR]

10 minutes ago, LuckyFil said:

 ... My guess is that it was initially deep hooked and in the fight (which sounds quite protracted given the circumstances) the hook pulled out of its gills and then embedded into the mouth.

thanks Fil that seems like a very good theory.