Yakabout - Smith's Lagoon, The Basin

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Smith's Lagoon, The Basin

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Sunday, 20 January 2008

Big fish heaven

Sunset over Smiths lagoon

The more I've been, the more I'm coming to find the most prolific numbers of fish in my area in Smith's Lagoon, which harbours an infestation of the noxious weed, Caulerpa. It's really very shallow here and these two factors combined have made it unattractive for power boaters. The Caulerpa factor has also quarantined it as a no-anchor zone. Fortunately, that's not enough to stop a determined kayaker... even one who does indeed want to come to a dead stop. Because it is so shallow, an anchor isn't actually required. A stake-out pole, I've found, is just as good, if not better.

The Hobie Stake Out pole is pretty handy in the shallows - especially in a no-anchor zone

There really is a hell of a lot of fish around here - Flathead, Bream, Tailor, Whiting and Sting Rays. All that and a hell of a lot of bait fish. For sure, many of the Tailor and Whiting would also qualify as 'bait-fish' by definition due to their size. And that's why I call this place Big fish heaven. Any hungry fish of a respectable size is absolutely guaranteed to get a good feed here. Unfortunately, I'm yet to see many, other than a bunch of Sting rays and one rather large Snook. That doesn't mean they're not here though. In fact, I lost a big Flathead at the side of the kayak not far from here (70 - 75cm) just the other week, and I' m confident I'll find some here eventually. Not today though. All I managed to reel in this day was a bunch of small fish, all of which were way too small to keep (all Tailor). The Flathead pictured here is the biggest fish I caught, which took a lure whilst casting from my stake-out position. That's a 3" Gulp minnow hanging out of it's mouth, which gives you an idea of it's size. I didn't take photos of the others, favouring rather a hasty return to the water.

Pint-sized Dusky, released to live another day

Today's trip was a real minimalist event, taking out just one rod (the Ultra Bream Nitro) and a handfull of suitable lures. Instead of taking out the Hobie Adventure, I took out the Lanai, which is a paddle only kayak. It's small, light, and was the perfect fit for my intentions today. I was fishing in only a foot of water for most of the day, and for some of that time in the very narrow mouth of Wandandian creek (where it meets up with Smith's Lagoon) so a nimble paddle-only kayak did the job nicely. The Lanai hasn't been designed for fishing as such, but I found it to be quite capable of doing so.

Wandandian creek... a haven for small fish... and big fish that might want to eat them

Being a minimalist outing, I wasn't as anywhere near as particular about gearing up as I usually am. Sometimes this is a good thing. But not when you're so casual about it that you forget to pack a drink, which is what I did today. In fact that cut my trip shorter than expected. Perhaps I may have caught something bigger if I stuck around for another hour, which is what I was planning to do. But I was getting thirsty out there so I decided to cut it short. Drinking water is not the sort of item one wants to leave behind.