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Set the alarm for an premature awakening around 5am but failed due to time spent the night before watching some rousing fishing DVD's ( Think 'Cod Almighty' & 'One Perfect Day' ), luckily for me the Wattle birds, Magpies and my early weekday body clock were still tuned to a strict 6am rise.
Packed the Forester hurriedly and soon arrived at Yarralumla Bay for the coordinated 7am launch, Craig and Koich ( Josh ) appeared on time and we all rigged up fairly swiftly. The Swan commotion has been fairly chaotic of late with strips of weed ripped up and disposed, littering the surface and making trolling an extremely intricate proposition. Lake Burley Griffin resembled an Airport departure / arrival lounge, Wetspot Watersports were out in force demoing goods while legions of rowers sculled the lakes width, girth and extensive surrounds.
Immediately Craig met a girl on the waterway, striking up a polite conversation on why it is important to look both ways before crossing the street ( Or should that be look both ways before sculling the lake? ). Sound travels well over water here, many rowers were commenting on our fishing activities and chosen location ( “They shouldn’t be allowed to fish here!” ). I was in a good mood after a productive week at work, rather than force the point via some plastic persuasion I recommended to Craig the other side of Spinnaker Island might be a prolific gamble ( Safety in numbers ).
Josh was developing a number of sounder tribulations, feeling confused and a little out of his depth ( Sorry, that pun was awesome! ) he moved out of the way and over towards identifiable Golden Perch bank territory. Craig and I continued to round the Islands weed bed confines while avoiding the floating shenanigans. Dropped a small English Perch before netting a 28cm model on the subsequent run ( Short 50m troll, turn around, repeat etc etc ), took a photo for this months AKFF fishing competition and started looking for decent trolling options.
Heading over towards Josh I coincidently swapped his exact location while pausing briefly to survey the weather, I went for a return trolling trip down memory lane, knocking on the many timber entrances of snag city along the way ( No one appeared to be home ). Upon revisiting the rowing populace I noticed Craig drifting slowly through the open gates of Redfin land, hoping to firmly slam the door on his topical freshwater kayak fishing curse.
Even in depths of around 4 – 6m the weed beds rise high around the peninsula, housing all matters of fish species while controlling a habitual feeding ground for all things great and small. This area has had small amounts of Redfin activity of late ( Almost unheard of the previous year ) so I don’t think any of us were expecting instant accomplishment. A tell tale series of small bumps resulted in a small 15cm Redfin midway athwart, releasing said fish I ventured on for a split second before life got a little awry.
My 1 – 3 kg outfit almost ripped out of the Scotty triple rod holder, braid commenced peeling off at a steady rate while the ‘Set and forget’ drag started a screaming rendition of an epic ‘Howling Furies’ ballad. I knew from the take this was not a Yellowbelly, Murray Cod or a Carp, big tail beats or violent head shaking was not immediately apparent nor was the Tuna like hullabaloo only a Carp can provide in such shallow water.Taking my time to repossess line I waited for the leader knot to pass through the top guide before reaching for the net, the fish took a few final runs next to the kayak before it was lucratively boated amid many hoots and hollers.
Luckily for me, Craig was once again ‘Johnny on the spot’ with his digital camera, eager to capture the image and preserve the moment in time. “What’s the biggest Redfin you have ever seen?” I yelled to Craig whilst removing the Lively Lure minnow ( In bleeding Mullet pattern ). Holding my prize catch aloft, I stopped chuckling long enough to look towards the lens during the photo shoot. We both were fairly impressed with the size of such a beast, its length easily exceeding the 40cm measuring device ( 43cm Redfin PB ).
By this stage Josh had headed over to the bank to meet some mutual acquaintances from FangACT ( Canberra Fishnet Anglers group ). I paddled over behind to relay the catch while leaving Craig to fend for himself amongst the rowing contingent, I did however offer to return the photography favour should he come blaring with news ( Thanks again mate ). After a small hiatus on the shoreline I phoned Craig announcing my plans to revisit the prior location, Craig eventually hooked onto a 30cm English Perch while I moved over to repay the framed goodwill.
Canberra’s forecasted weather moved in around 11am, It started to drizzle, rain and drop a few degrees ( Including a drop in water temperature ). The decision was made call it a day before the wind picked up a few knots, we headed back to the launch position at Yarralumla Bay passing a group of swimmers reveling in the inappropriate conditions ( Rowing regattas, storm like conditions, discoloured water ).
Overall it was a great day on the water minus the traditional hazards, over daylight savings and the warmer months the lake becomes clogged with traffic throughout the morning periods, pushing many anglers to fish the dusky epoch or relocate to another urban body of water ( Think Ginnenderra, Gungahlin, Yerrabi or Tuggeranong ).
