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Saturday, its a Saturday ( Five days of work, 2 more days to play )...
It had been a while since I had the gratification of paddling on Lake Burley Griffin due to cold and wild weather so when I awoke to a rather balmy Canberra morning ( A still, foggy 2 degrees ) I lept at the chance. Arriving around 11am to a calm bay at Yarralumla I set out in hope of a Redfin or two, bringing a minimal amount of light gear and three of my favourite English perch lures... I also took my new camera and waterproof housing for its Kayak debut, thinking if the fish were quiet I would cruise the shoreline in search of some amateur photography opportunities.
Pushing across the weed beds around Black Mountain Peninsula proved simple enough with no wind but fish were showing on the sounder few and far between and there was plenty of weed on the surface creating havoc with my early trolling runs, no Redfin were extracted from this location ( A first in a long time I might add, this is usually my rock ) so I headed towards the Yarralumla rowing platforms taking photos of bird life and moored boats a long the way.
After an hour of mooching around I moved over to the small Island's weed beds and finally hit pay dirt, trolling my lucky silver and red Viking Talisman in depth varying around 3.5m I saw a violent jerk of the rod tip out of the corner of my eye, turning my head I was pleasantly surprised to see the Daiwa Heartland arching with excitement. Putting up a spirited fight I finally landed my first Redfin of the day, a healthy looking model around 28cm in great winter condition... While handling the fish for release and operating my new camera at the same time I managed to get water on the lens housing, blurring small sections of the image.
Wiping dry the housing, I zig zagged to and fro hoping to replicate my actions and encounter more virulent Perca fluviatilis around the same area. Moving around the opposite side of the Island I managed to get some good photographs of a Cormorant while leaving my lure idling behind the Kayak, during the photo shoot of said bird I felt the familiar rap on the line through the hull and was promptly taken into the weeds and bamboozled by a small English Perch ( Estimated size approximately 20cm ), needless to say safe handling of the camera was at the time the number one priority and the fish was lost.
While Phoning Claire at 2pm when the wind slowly picked up, beckoning to be collected, I managed to ensnare another Perch while once again drifting the lure in the shallows with no motion or movement, this time a small Englishmen had engulfed both sets of trebles and subsequently was netted, losing the battle to regain his freedom ( Or so he had thought ). Eyes weary from a spate of X box gaming the night before I headed into shore, celebrating the cameras wonderful performance and the slight pre-spring capital weather...
A great day out on the water, I had the lake to myself.
