After not having much luck trolling lures behind the AI I have decided to change tactics and use more soft plastic around the headlands and drop offs. Today I planned to head to Outer Newry Island and cast around the rock ledge and try some jigging in the deeper water. I never reached my intended desitantion, however. Upon reaching Victor creek boat ramp I saw that the tide was already heading in and the wind was very still - this means pedalling against the current to get out.
The weather was sensational: clear skies, calm seas and steadily increasing wind. It did still take a long time to get out of the estuary/channels. I had been trolling a Rapala CD11 out my way out and was deciding whether I should change to a deeper diver when I had a solid strike. Line peeled off at a rate of knots and by the time I got the sail furled and the yak turned, 50 m of braid had been taken. Taking the rod I applied more pressure and knew straight away that it was a decent sized trevally and after a short but hard fought fight I had colour. A nice Golden trevally appeared yak side and was using the tidal current to prevent me from lifting any closer so I could grab the leader. Finally it conceded and I had the leader, as I reached out to release it (bigger then I like to keep) it flipped around and damaged itself, immediately bleeding heavily. I then decided that it was going to be dinner and dispatched it quickly.
Biggest golden I have ever caught
Resetting myself and the sail I decided to keep with the Rapala but was keen to get out the front and start throwing some plastics. I soon realised that my time was quickly running out and the tide and winds were fighting me all the way. There was another less attractive rock ledge closer and as I changed direction I got another strike, this one was way bigger then the first making it hard for me to remove the rod from the rod holder.
Again I called trevally, but much bigger this time. The fight was on and I can truly say that I had this rod fully loaded and the fish was still taking line. Pedalling after it, I was able to gain much of the line back and as I got closer the fish started to play dirty by trying to drag me into some shallows rocks. I held on to the spool and pedalled like mad to get away and after a minute or so stalemate I was able to turn the fish and it bolted past me. Still with a tight drag I gained enough line to see colour and there was the biggest Golden trevally I had ever seen - it must have been close if not a metre long. I was able to easily release this fish and it actually stay with the yak of a short while before it swam off.
It was getting on so decided to make my way slowly back to the ramp, working with the tide and wind the trip back was easy and I managed to hook and lose 2 more smaller fish. I was going to cast and retrieve but the sandflies were maddening and soon left. Gee it was nice to get my arms stretched and to have new found confidence in trolling lures.
Prepping for launch from the new boat ramp at Woody Head
I wasn't fooled when I looked out upon the calm seas from the boat ramp at Woody Head today, with comforting morning rays shimmering off the water. It looked like perfect conditions. But that's how it looked last weekend to, and well, the fish just didn't cooperate. And even though I did boat a fish today, as well as hooking onto something large and lethargic that towed me around for a short while, pickings were pretty slim once again. The window of opportunity for Holger and I was also pretty slim, having to be back on land by midday. On the water just after 8AM, we didn't get off to such an early start.
Launching the Island polyneisan style
Our initial plan was to just head out north into shark bay, find a reef and fish it with plastics, trolling along the way and as always, keeping a keen eye out for bird activity. There wasn't a lot of that today so for the most part we were looking for most of our cues through the sounder. It was when we first stopped over a reef in 8 metres of water that I caught some kind of cod (swiftly released) and soon after hooking onto what I suspect was a turtle (most likely it's shell - it didn't fight as much as it did just tow me along leisurely). It dragged me around for a short while before the lure broke free when I put on enough pressure. Although I didn't know it at the time, whatever I'd hooked was only a few metres under the yak when it bust off. Had I gone a little easier I would have got it a little higher and at least seen what it was.
We made the mistake of moving away from here soon after (distracting by something jumping in the distance) and later decided to try around the rocky outcrops of Woody Head. I was hoping to find a snapper here, but numerous cast towards the edges failed to raise a strike. Giving up here was then decided to troll back to the reef we first visited and then drift back into the landing area. We followed that plan to a T, with the only deviation being an incoming pod of dolphins which I decided to spend some time filming.
All told we covered some 9km of water in about 3.5 hours, trolling for the most part and otherwise drifting. It was a pretty disappointing result really, but not entirely unexpected. I do think we would have stood a better chance at Sandon, though we both agreed to save that for next weekend. Holger, Doug, Troy myself and perhaps a few others are embarking on a kayak camping expedition into the Sandon river next Saturday. With a planned departure of just after midday, Holger and I are entertaining the idea of arriving on daybreak and paddling out wide to the shoals for a morning session. Next weekend is going to be an interesting one and I think my new tramp is going to come into great use for that. Speaking of which, I've just uploaded a new video with a bunch of clips from the past few weeks fishing, and there's some good footage of the tramps in use (including footage of the incident that made me decide tramps were a must-have addition).
When Vaughan finally received his new Adventure Island I was on hand to help him take delivery, set up and load on to his tralier. So today it was off to Cape Hillsborough for his maiden voyage. Getting there early I had set up and was ready to go when Vaughan turned up so I helped him rig up as well. Gee it was nice to see an un-clutted deck as Vaughan is not yet a fisherman. Vaughan has been out on mine twice before now and it didn't take him long to get everything sorted and off we went. Seas early were calm with 4 – 6 knot winds making for easy sailing, bearing south on the morning westerlies. Checking on Vaughan to find him very relaxed before we rested up for some lunch, just bobbing away like corks as we ate. By the time we finished the wind came more southerly 8 – 10 knots so we headed east, offshore. The swell mostly ranged in the .5 - .7 but there were also sets of 1m+ also coming through. To be honest I was playing chicken with Vaughan to see when he would say 'when' and was impressed on how far he felt comfortable going. Turning back west we headed in, Vaughan choosing to chase the fast and wet ride and I the wise one taking the down wind approach, riding in the calm.
Cape Hillsborough has been fishing poorly for a while now and now I know why. Trawlers, working back and forth, scrapping the bottom and sucking up everything in their path. Getting closer I saw tons of birds fighting for the by-catch and at least 2 schools of dolphins in the melee as well. Not that I mentioned to Vaughan, but in the turbid water shark like shapes streaked through the clouds of stirred up silt. Tuna also made their presence known but resisted all attempts to be hooked or tempted by my offerings.
Hide and Seek-The hunt for down unders biggest barra
From left to right: Rob Pax, Mal Gray, Big-Ass Barra, Steve Fields
I'm pleased to report that there is a an episode of Fishing Australia airing on the tube this weekend that will be of interest to kayak fishoes - especially those who find the concept of catching barra from a kayak strangely arousing. Whilst I haven't yet seen the footage behind this particular episode, I have seen the photos. Rob Pax and co do pull off an episode-worthy achievement, so be sure to be watching. Airing times are below (check your local TV guides for exact details):
WIN Nationally: 5pm Sat (nb 4:30 pm in WA plus some variation. Channel 9 Adl: 5 pm Sat Channel 9 Pth: 5pm Sat Impargia: 13:30 pm the following sunday NBN: approx 2:30 Sat
Here's what Paxy had to say about this particular episode: The show was filmed at Monduran Dam near Bundaberg in QLD with local Barra Guide Rob wood and Guests Steve Fields and Mal Grey from Hobie. 10 year old Tom Wood has since got the Hobie Bug and is catching plenty. In some 13 shoots around the country each year this is the sort of one that stands out most: good friends, local characters, calm water and the hunt for big big fish all from your own space-your hobie. Can't wait to do it all again sometime soon - Rob Paxevanos Host Fishing Australia
Its a bit tricky to confidently form a good yak fishing plan for the weekend because the previous weekend didn't leave me many clues as to what to try next. And for all I know it'll be a completely different scenario this time anyway. With acceptable winds and waves predicted an off shore trip is definitely on the cards. Holger and I will be joining up for an AM excursion out wide on Sunday, though as of now we're tossing up between chasing snapper at Sandon, or sharks at Woody.
Actually, if we do go to Woody Head, I'm not sure what Holger will choose to fish for but intuition tells me that reef sharks are a good possibility this weekend and if it looks that way when we get there, that's what I'm targeting. They seem to just adore the Rapala Magnum lures I've been trolling, so I picked up a larger CD18 to try and tempt them even more. I'm not doing this for the flake, mind you, though if I do pull a reasonable specimen in, flake there shall be. But no... my real motivation for catching a shark is Holger's presence. Or to be more precise, the presence of the Shark Shield he's fitted to his yak.
An ideal scenario (in my mind at least) would be to pull in a reefy of 4 - 5' and have Holger paddle over and get up close and personal with his Shark Shield buzzing away. Even better, for Holger himself to catch a shark and sit back and observe what happens when he brings it close enough within the effective range (though I'm unsure if Holger would think that was 'even better'). Either way, I'm pretty eager to see what would happen.
There very well might be some plastics cast towards the rocky outcrops of Woody Head in the hunt for snapper as well, or otherwise similar tactics at Sandon. Another option is to head out wide to the 'shoals' which is where I'm told is probably the best spot to try for snapper right at the moment. I'll be taking a break on Saturday though as I need a bit of time to catch up on everything I was supposed to spend some of last weekend doing :-/
