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MIA no more

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Friday, 28 December 2007

See me now

Bream of Basin View

Its been at least a couple of weeks since I've made an update of any kind, which is largely a result of me canning my wireless connection and then establishing a landline connection - a process slowed dramatically by a delay in finding a suitable place to live. Said delay was hosed even more when after the modem arrived... it was established that there was no dial tone in my new home. Westnet support were right on it though, continually sending me messages and phoning me for updates on an ETA of connection. Although I've had to wait longer than I would have liked, I'm back online... and kind of wondering where the hell to start. I have a lot of catching up to do.

I do have a web connection at work, but in recent instance, only a short window of opportunity (all of it consumed by email) to use it during peak periods such as most of December. As such my access has been limited at best for the past couple of weeks. As of today, however, I'm back online. Relax... your goats are safe!

A few things I should mention before getting back into the rhythm; I sold my kayak to a good friend (who also owns an Outfitter, my original Sport and soon also an Outback apparently). That would leave me without buoyancy if not for my new job, which pretty much gives me access to all of the Hobie kayak range - a fringe benefit I will take advantage of over the course of time.

Only days after parting with the dearly beloved I was given enough rope to select a kayak and choose from a variety of parts and accessories with which to fit it with - for (now) my own use. Oh boy, did I go to town. Based on a few recent experiences I figured that the 'safety' orange Adventure was a good way to go. Add a couple of RAM mount tubes, one of those RAM mount fly rod holders (which work very nicely for most bream/flatty outfits), a molded flush mount rod holder extension tube, 2 rod leashes, a paddle leash, 2 gear keepers, Lawrance sounder installation and Lawrance IFinder GPS... oh yeah, and RAM mounts for the sounder and GPS as well. That lot, with all of the other bells and whistles that come with these kayaks (gear buckets, etc) makes it a fairly well sorted kayak-fishing beast 'o lovin. I haven't yet fitted it with a larger rudder blade (an upgrade that I think is well advised for the Adventure for fishing), nor have I opted for ST or Turbo fins either. I'm torn between the two and given the geography of my new home, you might understand why. One thing I didn't have to think about was the certain inclusion of the safety flag... too many close calls wih other boats recently (a fact that influenced me towards the orange kayak when given a choice).

Currently I'm living within the small community known as Basin View, which is a short drive away from Huskisson and other parts of Jervis Bay. 300 meters from my doorstep is a waterway known as The Basin, which is a protected estuary system. Being the closest and most convenient kayak fishing location, I'll be experimenting here a lot, diversing away from some of the habits I got into while travelling. There's a lot of Bream here, as well as sizable Flathead, Tailor and I've seen a lot of Sting Rays and Snook as well... not to mention loads of baitfish, from minnows to gars. Lots of prawns in the creeks branching from this patch of the Basin as well. It reminds me a lot of Port Phillip Bay... but kinda nicer

No need for the Nitro Godzilla in the estuary (unless you want to target rays of course), but the Viper and Ultra Bream rods do make for a lethal combo in this stretch. By no means have I explored it all yet either but so far the Nitro UB rod has accounted for several fish, being rigged with an SX40 lure (although a 4" Gulp Power Minnow took some names from the Viper as well). Indeed, I've only hit the Basin twice since arriving so far (managing Bream and Flathead on both sessions) so there is much for me to explore, including numerous creeks that fork out from the estuary, as well as the artificial reefs. It doesn't look that exciting at 1st glance, but it grows on you fast.

Only 15 minutes drive away is Jervis Bay itself, which certainly does present the need for the trusty Godzilla. It is here I'm hoping to bring in my 1st Kingie from a kayak as well as reel in a Marlin (for release of course) and get some smokin photos of Humpback whales. I'm not holding breath on any count, but it's all possible.

While I get busy catching up, I've got some brief reports to add (both from Basin View and Jervis Bay), a closer look at how I rigged up the new Adventure as well as a bunch of overdue housekeeping chores. Now that I'm connected again, regular updates will resume as normal. Obviously I'll be on the road a lot less than before, but there's a whole lot of NSW to explore (not to mention Aus) so the ball will continue to roll as it has done.