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Thursday, 04 October 2007 |
An ode to my DMH sleeping bag:For many months, you have kept me warm in the cool of night,
hugging me tightly when I pull you close...
Your soft brushed cotton flannelette lining,
so velvety soft on my skin...
But now that heat has replaced the cool,
the time has come for us to part ways for a while...
I'll always miss that smothering warm embrace,
when things finally cool down between us,
I'll come back to you with a welcoming smile  DMH Montague
That's one of the reasons I was so interested in the DMH Montague - it's one of the few models left on the market that you can buy with a brushed cotton flannelette lining. Because it breathes a whole lot better than the above mentioned synthetic linings, it's much less likely to produce inadvertent perspiration. It's also more comfortable on the skin.
 Roughing it in style  Be first to comment this article | E-mail | Read more...
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Monday, 01 October 2007 |
Kayak fishing options aplenty
 Sunset over Burrum Heads
As far as kayak fishing destinations go, it's pretty hard to look past the Burrum river. And as far as ideal places to base yourself for a kayak fishing-fest holiday, the Burrum Heads Beachfront tourist park is pretty much impossible to overlook. Positioned right at the river mouth, or Burrum Heads, as it's known, access to the northern stretch of Hervey Bay is a mere few minutes paddle away. Access to the river itself is as simple as it gets: just select one of the boat ramps to launch from (there are three of them within relative arms reach - one that looks suspisciously made for kayaks and canoes) and away you go. It's not often that weather will prove a showstopper for kayak fishing at Burrum Heads. Strong easterly winds combined with an outgoing tide will generally make for uncomfortably choppy conditions, however.
 Count on catching a Flatty or two Kayak Fishing Around BURRUM HEADSDue to it's accomodating proximity to the river and bay, depending on your tastes or weather, there are numerous options on the table at Burrum Heads. Flathead is probably the most likely of catches around the river mouth, with large specimens caught regularly - often right out front of the tourist park itself. It's worthwhile inspecting the beach flats at low tide, which reveals some large crevices left behind by Flatties that were resting up during the high tide.
Many other species can be caught in the river mouth, however, including Queenfish, Trevally and even Spotty Mackeral are known to venture past. Bream are also present, easily visible on a clear day from a stealthily gliding kayak. These are also commonly caught on the opposite side of the river, where reports of Mangrove Jack captures are also made.
 Fringefin Trevally caught near the channel edge close to the tourist park
Downstream of the mouth a myriad of potential fishing spots reveal themselves, many of them only really accessible by canoe or kayak at lower tides. Depending on how far you are willing to go (playing the tides would be a good idea) Gregory river might be worth a visit and may just produce a nice Jack or two (look for deep holes and rocky edges). Even further downstream there is a stretch of deep water just south of Buxton that is known for holding Jacks and Barramundi. Almost anywhere between there and the river mouth could produce Flathead or Salmon (Threadfin or Bluefin). You never know your luck in a big river system.
 Spotty Mackeral caught near the beacon markers
The fishing possibilities are just as interesting amongst and beyond the Burrum river heads as well. Mackeral of various species are commonly caught (Spotties being the most likely) as well as Queenfish, Golden Trevally and Tuna. Whilst visiting Burrum Heads the local Bakery owner told me that he'd hooked onto a Black Marlin in the heads vecinity, yet few people believed him. I had no trouble believing him, however, because the very same day I saw one leap out of the water. Although I failed to hook up to any of them, I also spotted an active school of Yellowfin Tuna (3 days in a row) that were rounding up baitfish.
Given time and determination, the Burrum river heads is a very likely destination to hook up to that monster pelagic. Make sure your rigs are well tied and line tough enough to deal with them, however, because some of the fish you might encounter here could very well give you a very serious challenge.
To the south of the heads is a long stretch of beach that is well known for producing Whiting in numbers. This area can be reached easily by kayak, regardless of the tide conditions. Loggerhead turtles and Dugongs are frequently found here as well, so if you're a happy-snapper, be sure to have your camera ready.
 Nice Golden Trevally, caught on the opposite side of the river
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Monday, 01 October 2007 |
Round Hill and Eurimbula creeks
 Daybreak over Eurimbula creek
Self described as the birthplace of Queensland, Agnes Water / 1770 is a place that is loudly proud of it's historical origins. At the heart of the aptly named Discovery coast, 1770 is the second place that Captain Cook anchored (after Botany Bay in NSW) and later explored by Captain Mathew Flinders. Surprising to me, however, was that I'd never even heard of it until I started traveling the Aussie coastline (high school history teachers, you failed me miserably). It was when I was camping at Iluka that I was first told of 1770. 'If you like this place, you'll love 1770,' I was told.
Upon arriving at Agnes Waters (the township residing a few kms out of 1770) I could see why I was told to come here. What I wasn't warned about, however, was that school holidays was exactly the wrong time to plan a visit. Not only are most of the waterside accommodation options filled, idiot hour on the water seems to be a persistently 24 hour phenomenon. I wasn't quite prepared for the sheer numbers of Biting midges (sand flies) either. For these reasons combined, my visit to 1770 was shorter than it otherwise would have been. That said, however, I'll definitely be making an effort to return at a more opportune time. It's just another one of those places that has a lot going for it as a kayak fishing destination and by all reports generally boasts very accommodating weather throughout all seasons of the year.Be first to comment this article | E-mail | Read more... |
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Monday, 01 October 2007 |
Multi-tasking anchor system New anchor rig
The lesson was learned, however, which was that the business end of an anchor rope really needs to be tougher than the kind I was using (5mm polyester). I didn't waste any time making good on my mistake, stopping in at a hardware store on the way back to camp. Not only did I replace the polyester rope with a nylon variant (they make fishing line out of that stuff for a reason) I also picked up 5 meters of nylon coated 7-strand wire. This is now my anchor tracer line, which I'm pretty confident will stand up to the kinds of conditions that annihilated my previous anchor rope at Gatakers Bay.
 5kg dumbell, 7-strand wire nylon coated cord & 15 meters braided nylon main line Be first to comment this article | E-mail | Read more... |
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Saturday, 29 September 2007 |
One knot to rule them all
I've been paying a lot of attention to knot tying lately and through trial and error (a lot of error) the results of my experiments have changed my thinking completely. Several months back I wrote a brief article describing the knots that I was typically using and the reason I gave for adopting them wasn't because I thought they were the most reliable, but because I thought they were the easiest to tie. Admittedly, that was a very lazy approach to take, even if it did make some kind of sense to me at the time. For the most part I was tying the full blood knot (or whatever you want to call it) but since then, I've had more than my fair share of bust offs. In almost every case it was the knot that failed to hold true. Not just with joined line knots (braid to mono) but also at swivels and lures. Although the knots I was using had served me well in my home turf of Victoria, they simply weren't good enough to hold tight on some of the fish I've been hooking up further north.
At a recent soft plastic lure training night (held by pro angler Scott Mitchell) the subject of knot tying came up and I took a lot of notice of what was said. It was pretty clear that Scotto was rather partial to the Uni knot , partly because it is simple enough to tie and also because it's generally quite reliable. Curious about what he thought of the albright knot I asked the question and a deep frown etched across his face. His response was that he'd only ever resort to using it if he had to connect a main line to a wire trace and that he simply wouldn't trust it under any other circumstances. This surprised me a bit, because I've found that the albright does do a pretty good job of holding true on lighter rigs, with braid joined to mono. Despite this, given his credentials I thought I'd change tact and start using a double uni knot to join the main line to the leader and so far it's working for me pretty well.
It goes without saying that I no longer tie the full blood knot and have now replaced it with the uni knot. So far I haven't had any problems with it either and based upon a few simple tests I've done, there's a good chance I'll be sticking with it. Not only is it very easy to tie, it certainly seems to be more reliable than the full blood knot. I've even used it to replace the Perfection loop (or Rapalla knot) which is what I was using for swimming style lures (such as minnow soft plastics and bibbed lures). Instead of sliding it down to the eye of the jig, I just pull it tight a cm or so in front of the eye. I wouldn't have ever thought of doing this if Scott hadn't pointed it out, but I definitely have more confidence in it than I do the perfection loop (which when you think about it, isn't likely to hold any better than a full blood knot). In the event that a fish does pull the knot from it's secured position, the worst that is going to happen is that the knot will slide down and stop short at the eyelet.
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Tuesday, 25 September 2007 |
Not without my kayak There's lots to do at Hervey Bay
Hervey Bay is big - really big. Large enough to play host to a plethora of awe-inspiring aquatic wildlife, including various species of Sharks, Turtles, Dolphins, Dugongs and Whales. So big is Hervey Bay that one could paddle around all day and not see a single one of these. The likelihood, however, is that a kayaker would be likely to see at least a few Sea turtles, Dolphins or even a Dugong. Spotting the resident Humpback whales by kayak is a much tougher proposition, however, because they are typically found in the broader northern stretch of the Hervey Bay area, closer to (the also impressively large) Fraser Island. Seeing the whales by way of a tour is something you will want to do while visiting Hervey Bay and for any dedicated kayak fishermen, my suggestion would be to do so on one of the rougher days (if one occurs during your stay) when kayak fishing isn't such an attractive option. According to some of the local experts, whales will be more likely to be active when a notable swell is current.
Don't hold your breath for rough waters in Hervey Bay though, because being protected by Fraser Island (particularly from the predominant south easterly winds) the water is usually surprisingly calm. This makes for an ideal kayak fishing destination. If you were to take your family along for a holiday and they weren't interested in going kayak fishing with you, there are no shortage of other recreational and tourist past times that they could occupy themselves with: anything from relaxing on one of the many golden beaches, jet skiing, sky diving, snorkeling or of course whale watching. There is no shortage of things to do in Hervey Bay. There aren't many holiday destinations in Australia that have quite as much to offer.
 Humpback Whales love this place
Hervey Bay has been described as the recreational fishing capital of Queensland, not to mention the Whale Watching Capital of the World and I think these titles are well deserved. As far as the fishing goes, not only are there loads of places and means of catching them (by boat, land or kayak) there are also a myriad of desirable species on offer. These include Bream, Cobia, Coral Trout, Flathead, Estuary cod, Mackeral, Mangrove Jack, Marlin, Mulloway, Snapper, Sweetlip, Whiting and more. Nearby rivers (such as the Mary river) also offers those tasty Burramundi and Threadfin salmon. Any kind of angler - whatever their ilk - is guaranteed to have a memorable fishing experience in and around the bay. The only real difficulty is in knowing where to start and where to go next.
Kayak Fishing Around Hervey Bay
Opportunities for kayak fishermen in and around Hervey Bay are endless. To do see and do it all one would have to spend months, if not years here. It's difficult for the most dedicated among our ranks to visit and not want to leave. Personally speaking, I could see myself returning to Hervey Bay to live, largely for that reason. A few of the local tackle shops are more than happy to point out some of the more accessible areas, however, and this is a pretty good place to start. In doing so I was able to pin point a few areas that made for simple launches that offered productive fishing.
 Large Grunter, caught at Gatakers Bay Be first to comment this article | E-mail | Read more... |
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Saturday, 22 September 2007 |
More than just hands free fishing
 Hobie Miragedrive
For starters, it allows you to move along at a respectable and steady pace without having to paddle, which requires the use of both hands, not to mention considerable strength and endurance for certain conditions. A paddler can't take photos while moving forward, nor can they sip on a drink. It's also impossible to hold your rod while trolling to, which I've found to be a major advantage in some situations. The ability to be holding onto your rod while trolling allows you to feel each bite as they occur, giving you the opportunity to set the hook, as opposed to hoping for the fish to hook itself. It also allows you to twitch the rod and simulate more of an injured fish action on the lure.
There have been many times where I've wanted to tie on lures or hooks, but haven't wanted to stop in order to do it (lest I get swept back with the tide) and pedaling along allows you to do just that. That's not the case if you have to paddle in order to maintain momentum.
Those are just some of the obvious advantages to the Miragedrive system, but in the course of time some not so obvious advantages have become apparent to me. One of them is the fact that because the Miragedrive negates the need to paddle, it is easily possible to have your rods mounted forward towards the bow as opposed to well behind the seat of the kayak, which is the norm for paddle-only kayaks. Having rods mounted in front of the seated position allows you to keep an eye on them, not just to detect bites, but also to know when the line has inadvertently hooked small fish or weeds. This is more difficult when the rods are positioned behind. In my experience rear mounted rods are typically more prone to having water splashed up onto the reels as well, flicked on by the paddles as they exit the water at the end of a stroke (*this comment really only applies to calm waters - choppy waters are more likely to result in water splashing up from the bow, and these conditions, no reel will stay dry). This won't happen with the Miragedrive in calmer conditions though, affording the user the luxury of mounting rods wherever they want.
Regardless of wherever the rods are mounted, when a fish is hooked, the first thing a paddler needs to do is think about storing the paddle. A precious second or three might be lost in the process - not so when being propelled with pedal power. When a strike occurs the only thing a pedal kayak user needs to do is think about the rod and fighting that fish.
This fish was landed easily by pedalling towards it
There are also advantages to fighting a fish with a pedal powered kayak - especially if it's big and strong. In the event that a fish is peeling line and may otherwise spool the reel, the angler can pedal towards the fish at the same time as reeling it in. This can make a huge difference to being at the mercy of the movement of the fish. A fight that might otherwise take 20 minutes (and have you towed god knows where) can be made much easier by shortening the distance between kayak and fish, simply by pedaling towards it. A related advantage is that is is also easy to move and steer the kayak while fighting a fish, so it's not difficult to keep your rod pointed where you want it. You can control the fight more than the fish can. Comments (12) | E-mail | Read more... |
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Wednesday, 19 September 2007 |
Whale of a time with Whalesong Cruises Splish Splash I was taking a bath
I'd heard about the proliferation of the mighty Humpback Whales here at Hervey Bay and the very first thing I did when I got here was paddle/pedal out as far as I felt comfortable to try and find them. I traveled about 10km (just outside Moon Point) in search of these glorious gargantuans, but I wasn't able to locate them. After putting in a bit of research I soon discovered that I'd have to travel much further to get to them... too far to do so from a kayak from the township of Hervey Bay. I was determined to get as close and personal as I could, however, so my only remaining option was to go out on a whale watching tour.
As I do religiously, I put a bit of research into which tour would give me a great experience. There are many to choose from, but by talking to local tackle shops and bayside cafes I was able to narrow it down to a select few. After looking through their respective brochures and then contacting them all individually, I settled on Whalesong Cruises, largely because they responded quickly and with a friendly tone that made me think that they'd likely be equally pleasant during the trip. Not only that, but they also offer a complimentary breaky and morning tea for their AM trips, and lunch and snacks on their afternoon voyages. Free food? Thats me sold!
I turned up to the Urangan boat harbor at 7:15 AM (right after having a run in with a whale harpoon statue that drew blood - I walked straight into the business end of the harpoon while watching a large fish under the jetty) to find the crew dressed up like pirates. It was 'International speak-like-a-pirate day' they informed me, which made me feel a little less out of place with blood running down my face. I was one of the first aboard, so I did a quick tour of the boat, inspecting the lower and upper decks, bow and stern. There was plenty of room to move, which would suit my photograph ambitions nicely - even with a large posse of school children aboard. The pirate day theme went down really well with the kids... even the big ones.
 Bottlenose Dolphin saying hello to Whalesong Cruise boat
As the cruiser pulled out of the harbor I settled in at the top deck to have a chat with skipper Jason Brigden and it didn't take long for the conversation to find it's way to the topic of kayaking and fishing. Keen on doing both, Jason started picking my brains about fishing kayaks and I returned the favour by picking his brains about where I might find whatever kind of wildlife. I was interested in fish species, dugongs, whales (of course), sharks and dolphins. Speaking of dolphins, we were no more than a kilometer out of the harbor before being visited by an active pod of the bottlenose variety.
At the beginning of the cruise the crew provide an informative talk on various facts on humpback whales and it's well worth listening to. By the time their done you're really drooling to see them in action. Throughout the cruise they often comment on some of the activity that is being observed, which gives participants a better insight into what the whales are really doing, and why. Along the way the keen-eyed skipper will point out anything he sees, including pod locations, as well as dolphin, turtle or dugong sightings. So even if you're not terribly observant (I can tell you most of the kids weren't) you can rest assured the crew won't let you miss anything worthwhile.
 I suppose this is why they're called Humpback whales
Some 20km and 30 minutes later we were face to face with the first (of many) pod of humpback whales. As always, it was an awesome sight to behold, even though the calm waters seemed to have a sedating effect on them. They weren't breaching playfully, more so just cruising leisurely along the water surface. The skipper seemed intent on locating a more active pod, however, so soon after he continued on in a northward direction to find them. As he did so I listened closely to the radio chatter between the various whale tour operators on the water. Although there were plenty of pods about, it seemed like they were all in siesta mode.
I took advantage of the free food in between sightings, feasting myself on party pies, toasted sandwiches, kiesh (yes, some men do eat it) and coffee. They were all power snacks, however, because pod sightings were many and every time it happened, I was out there taking photos. There were a lot of compact cameras in use but most on board were jealous of my camera, which responds quickly and allows me to take hundreds of shots in RAW format. Most of the time I was shooting in continuous mode, so I didn't miss much at all. I did, however, do a poor job of capturing good photos of one particular whale, which was breaching the water for a short time.
 Nosy bugger aren't ya!
I also managed to film a quick video on my compact camera, which gives a pretty good impression of how lazy most of the whales were this day. Although not as explosive as they often get, the gracefulness is portrayed perfectly and is well worth viewing. I'll be watching it again from time to time, which will let me relive the experience over and over.Be first to comment this article | E-mail | Read more... |
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Tuesday, 18 September 2007 |
Securing the kayak for peace of mind Stick Protection Technology
 Security and peace of mind
Although they aren't cheap I reckon they are worth their weight in gold, custom built for people just like myself. Unlike any other tie down strap I'm aware of, these ones are fully lockable and certainly make you feel safer about leaving your car parked in unknown territory with the kayak sitting on top of your roof racks. It's not just the lock that provides the confidence, however, but also the fact that the straps themselves have 2 steel cables running through them. These are fully covered with soft polyester webbing though, so there's no fear of scratching your car with them. So even if someone didn't even notice the locks and tried to slice through them with a knife, they'd only be met with frustration.
 This kayak aint going anywhere unless I say so!
The locks themselves seem to be pretty robust and thankfully they are plastic coated, which means no nasty paint job scratches. The locks do not need to be engaged for the tie down mechanism to work properly, however. Just like any tie down system worth it's salt, once the straps are pulled through the securing mechanism, those straps aren't going anywhere until the securing device is disengaged. Just feed the straps through, pull tight and it's good to go. In the event that you feel like taking that extra step of security, just put in the key, turn and lock it. Easy, peesy lemon squeezy. Comments (7) | E-mail | Read more... |
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Friday, 07 September 2007 |
Bream, Flathead and Whiting highly accessible for kayak fishermen Bucket-mouth bird Famous for it's resident population of dolphins (including the rare Indo-pacific humpback variety) Tin Can Bay isn't backward in coming forward about it's affinity to anything remotely fishy. Just take a look at the following street names, which a keen eye will note while driving into town: Anchovy st, Barramundi st, Bass st, Bonito Cr, Bream st, Cod st, Coral trout dr, Dart st, Dolphin av, Dory st, Drummer st, Dugong st, Emperor st, Gaff ln, Gar st, Groper st, Herring st, Jew st, King st, Kingfisher ct, Luderick ln, Mackeral st, Marlin way, Oyster pd, Perch st, Sailfish st, Salmon st, Saratoga ct, Snapper creek rd, Sole st, Squire st, Sweetlip circle, Tailor st, Threadfin st, Trevally st, Tuna way and Whiting st... welcome to the end of this sentence.
Does anyone else think this town was built by keen fishermen? By the time you've driven in from the start to end you'll be so keen to wet a line you be thinking of anything else. Kayak fishermen will observe the water with enthusiasm due to the highly accessable nature of the water. There are literally hundreds of spots where one could launch a kayak, although perhaps the most accomodating is the boat ramp close by to the coast guard at Snapper Creek (right where the dolphins come to feed). Being a concrete ramp, this allows for a sand-less entry and exit from the water. It's also nice and close to a nearby commercial fishing company jetty, which the Bream seem to be rather fond of.
I happened to come into Tin Can Bay right in the middle of flooding rains, which came in two parts - both of which lasted for days on end. As has been the case with the entire south coast of Queensland, this has resulted in a lot of muck being washed into the bay with gushing fresh H2O and thus muddying the water. Tin Can Bay is severely effected by this, however, due to the nature of it's geographical make up. Although the dirty water is washed out somewhat by outgoing tides, incoming tides tends to bring a lot of straight back in. Ergo, it takes longer for Tin Can Bay to clear up whenever floods occur. Be first to comment this article | E-mail | Read more... |
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Thursday, 06 September 2007 |
A better way to attempt paddling back through the surf A couple of weeks ago I performed a surf re-entry across the bar that connects Noosa river to Laguna Bay and those of you who watched the resulting video would know that it got a little messy. As much of a thrill as it was, I'd rather avoid having that happen again. I've had a fair bit of advice on how to go about doing it better from several people now, not just on how to avoid getting dumped, but also on what measures to take to avoid getting hooked or skewered. In hind sight, the sheer amount of mistakes I made there was pretty significant and with that in mind, I've been paying attention to the advice that's been coming in. Obviously opinions will differ on the subject because as with all other aspects of kayak fishing, there seems to be several ways to skin that cat. I think the best summary of advice I've been given to date has come from KayakFishingStuff.com member Jesse Johnston, who responded to a post I made there in the 'mistakes I've made' section titled 'surf re-entry gone bad'. I've copied what he had to say below. This is advice I'm taking on board. Just as soon as this weather clears up I'll be out there doing a bunch of practice runs in an attempt to master the manuever. Moving forward will drop the nose of the board/yak and help slip the vehicle into the wave, but once you start to drop in, you need to shift your weight back to avoid a pearl (digging the nose of the board/yak into the bottom of the trough and getting pitched off the board/yak.)
to avoid getting broached, (which is what happened to you by the way, you nearly pearled twice but you would have been fine had you kept the bow pointed straight in.) you will need to forget about the rudder when surfing in a kayak - in fact you should stow it before you get into the surf zone. it'll just screw you up if there is enough water on it to steer - and like as not there won't be enough water on it to steer anyway. you will need to use your paddle to steer. drag your paddle on the side you want your bow to turn to, but be careful a little bit of drag can go a long way when it comes to tweaking the bow around a little. also be aware that the mount of force on the paddle will require quite a good grip to avoid having the paddle getting ripped from your hands.
just in case you start to get picked up by a wave and don't want to surf it, you almost always abort the pickup by dragging your paddle deep "snap snap" right and left while simultainously leaning as far back and as quickly (to the point of almost laying down and banging your head on the crate) as possible. Be first to comment this article | E-mail | Read more... |
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Thursday, 06 September 2007 |
Type III PFD 
There was really nothing wrong with the Ultra Gorge PFD that I parted with recently, other than the fact that it was looking really very grubby with blood stains all over it. That's not why I switched over to the Hobie High Back Vest PFD (Personal Floatation Device) though. What attracted me to the it's design was the very feature that has inspired it's name: the high back. While mooching around the Melbourne boat show I got curious, tried one on and then parked my backside in one of the display kayaks. Instantly I noticed that it was significantly more comfortable than my other PFD. Given that I was planning to be wearing a PFD for hours on end day after day (over the period of at least a year) I figured that extra comfort would be a really good idea. Despite being an upgrade that I really didn't have to make, I'm glad that I did. The high back design means that the lumbar region of the back sits more neatly into the backrest of the seat. The difference it makes is more noticeable in the new (2007) seat design that all Hobie kayaks are supplied with, due to the extra padding that has been incorporated. I suspect larger framed paddlers would notice even more of a difference than I do. Instead of thick floatation padding in the lumbar area, the High back vest has thin but tough air mesh sewn into nylon webbing. I was surprised how comfortable this feels, especially with all of the compression straps pulled neatly into place. Be first to comment this article | E-mail | Read more... |
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Articles 
I've been a fan of the RAM tube-style rod holders ever since I saw them, offering what I figured to be a more simple design than the Scotty holders I was previously using. Above that, however, I was fond of the height they stick up and away from the water. This, I figured, would help keep the salt water away from my precious reels. So when I moved on from the Hobie Outback to the Hobie Revolution it felt like a good time to switch to the RAM holders as well. 
