Topwater lessons with Derek

[faker]

Sunday Original plan was to fish the only part of tide i have not fished in near Spit Bridge Marina for data gathering practices. From my perspective that place is just out of current with back eddies on a run-in tide so should hold fish at that time.(granted i did fish it in winter for rest of tide). would love feedback from people who fishes there normally(send me DM for advicein area). i am also aware of a couple of rocky areas on the bush path but only fished one of the areas at the moment and have not taken time to explore the rest of it. Up till now i only had chopper tailor on the surface

Instead, i rang Derek for a topwater Session at Narrabeen Lakes

Spent next 2 hours working on casting and walking the dog action. Couple of notes and takeaways

For casting

• keep eye on rod 100% of time when doing movement
• take time to wind up
• Try use the whole body in movement to cast
• get more efficient in winding up to just enough line to switch hands efficiently for recast
• get used to messing around with bail without looking at it

For walk the dog

• Do not rely on the wrist as it gets tiring very quickly
• focus movement on the arm
• move it side to side vibration but not in circles
• chuck in erratic pauses to bait the fish to bite and generally don't make it rhythmic and predictable to tease fish
• DO NOT ADD Assist hooks on sugapens as they do tangle up on trebles on 70 mm( i will try it on knock off 85 mm though since it should clear the trebles. I will use one with trebles for kingfish)

Didn't catch anything on the day but got to the point where a seagull wanted to grab my duo realis pencil lure. I guess if it fooled the bird it will fool the other fish which rely less on vision😅

The average cast on 2 hands was around 25 m on back wind if i get things right

Probably going to use Meadowbank as training sessions on walking the dog.

Will probably need to find sand flats in middle harbour outside of clontarf that are frequented by whiting/bream as test subjects. I don't normally eat whiting so may as well grab a feed of elbow slappers on the way

Edited October 10, 2023 by faker

[Pickles]

You’ve got a great mentor in @Derek - applying the techniques will pay dividends (can’t expect to catch fish every outing - at least I don’t)

[Little_Flatty]

Seems like you are getting the hang of it. Good you got out with Derek. He’s one of very few people who will take the time to teach you in person as thoroughly as he does.

[faker]

6 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said:

Seems like you are getting the hang of it. Good you got out with Derek. He’s one of very few people who will take the time to teach you in person as thoroughly as he does.

Yea I am going to need live subjects to test techniques. 

[DerekD]

Hi @faker

Nice report. In this digital age with platforms such as YouTube we have an opportunity to learn more about different subjects at a faster rate than ever before. I'm impressed at how far you've come since our first brief session.

The hard thing with this sort of fishing is knowing when you have reached a point where you have mastered something and there is very little left to improve on. It is why I still watch how others do things. If someone is catching more fish consistently than me. How? If someone can cast further. How? If someone can work a lure more effectively. How? It is more satisfying working stuff out yourself and you may work out things that other people miss but sessions like the one we had are a great reality check too.

I'm glad all those little details we discussed bought out some noticeable improvements in your technique on the day.

I also hope that you get good enough at it that you can help others in the future as they go through a similar journey.

Regards,

Derek

Edited October 13, 2023 by DerekD