NEW 'FISHING AUSTRALIA' VIDEOS ONLINE

Well known fishing Identity and TV personality Rob Paxevanos has been a busy, busy man. In between hectic filming schedules he maintains and runs http://www.fishingaustralia.tv, an online site dedicated to the show and his fishing exploits. Recently in his spare time Rob has managed to upload some videos showcasing Kayak Fishing in verious destinations around Australia. From Mothership adventures angling for big Barramundi in QLD to Bass fishing South Coast NSW impoundments there is plenty on offer to view. Tips and tricks are offered along with special guest appearances and worthy captures.

http://www.fishingaustralia.tv/videos/

Rob assures me there is plenty more crazy antics to come, hopefully the KFA crew can get a chance to catch up with Rob soon. I for one would love to be involved in shooting some local freshwater footage from our Pro Angler kayaks. KFA has been following Rob's exploits via print media since the early 1990's, Rob Paxevanos is an enthusiastic advocate of kayak fishing. As such Rob and the Fishing Australia team have explored and broken much new ground in the world of kayak fishing and Hobie remains his kayak fishing platform of choice

For more information on Rob and Fishing Asutralia, please visit:

http://www.fishingaustralia.tv/

NEW 'KAYAK FISHING SYDNEY' DVD

One of the most anticipated Kayak Fishing DVD’s has been released recently; Carl Dubois and Adam Ford bring you ‘Kayak Fishing Sydney’. Showcasing a couple of years worth of footage its sure to prove a wise purchase, either for archiving purposes (When visiting Sydney) or an addition to any library. The following information can be found on Carl’s blog, http://kfsreports.blogspot.com, but his friends at Kayak Fishing Adventures thought it deserved a friendly nudge towards infamy. Here is what Carl (Aka Cid) has to say about the new DVD release:

“Finally, Adam and I have finished the DVD we've been working on the last three years! With fishing being such a fickle thing, it took a lot longer than expected to get the footage that covers most of the fish you'll catch around Sydney. Here's a run down of what you'll see us catch on the DVD - Bass, Bream, Tailor, Kingfish, Trevally, Salmon, Flathead and Mulloway (Jewfish)”.

“Adam and I run through the lures and techniques needed to catch these species which can be used throughout all locations Australia-wide, so don't think that this is a DVD that's only relevant to Sydney. But for those that are Sydney siders, or even potentioal visitors, we've include maps that show locations for all the surrounding waterways, like the Nepean, Cowan Creek, Pittwater, Sydney Harbour, Parramatta River, Botany Bay, Georges River and Port Hacking.”

“Also on the DVD is a brief description of the set up on my own Hobie Sport, a segment on installing a sounder and a fish photo ID page covering the main species I've caught throughout the Sydney area from my kayak. "

Running time is 82 minutes with 10 minutes of extras. RRP is $24.95, which includes postage and handling to anywhere in Australia. To purchase, please visit the main websites online store @ http://www.kayakfishingsydney.com/

NSW - SOUTH COAST WEEKEND 10/11/09

Squidette and I booked accommodation for Saturday night in Bateman’s Bay, so had two wonderful South Coast days to look forward to. Unfortunately it was a touch on the windy side, but we still got some good paddling in, got our first touch of sun of the season, Michelle caught her first few South Coast fish, and we brought home a feed, so despite the weather the weekend was full of win. Saturday saw us venture to Spot X.1 on The Clyde, where Craig450 was already there, having launched an hour or so before us.

Craig had caught a couple of bream on hard bodies but rated the action as pretty quiet. We started plugging away diligently with plastics, but the only action on offer was in my guts, as the gigantic steak (plus Paddy’s cauliflower) that I consumed at the AKFF gathering the night before made its presence known. All of a sudden I felt like I was the star of my favorite TV show ‘Seconds from Disaster’ ……… doubled over and sweating, I made a beeline for the nearest bankside vegetation, and emerged 10 minutes later feeling like a new man . The incident seemed to improve my mojo as well, as I caught my first bream, a nice fish of about 28cm, soon after.

Craig caught a lovely garfish on a surface lure, which he sheepishly presented for a photograph (see above). Craig kindly donated his garfish for Michelle to use as bait – I rigged her up a float rig, and using pieces of garfish flesh as bait, she soon caught a couple of cannibals. I had a bit of a splurge on some new lures that I wanted but didn’t really need last week, and on its fifth cast I managed to catch an almost-legal bream on my new ‘Super Sledge’ suspending minnow which I can’t wait to use up at Narrabeen next month.

Day 2 saw us rise to a breakfast of champions (bacon and eggs), and then seek out a land based spot, as the wind wasn’t playing fair…….some Craig450 wisdom saw us on our way to the Moruya River, where suicidal poddy mullet provided hours of fun, and eventually a ripper tailor on the last cast of the day. Highlight for me was spotting a school of small trevally from the bank, then sight casting a plastic to the school, and watching them fight each other for it.

NSW - SOUTH COAST BASS 5/10/09

I met up with Josh from AKFF this morning for our first session on the Bass this season, there was a bit of a break in the bad weather we have experienced over the whole long weekend so we were keen to make the most of it. We were on the water just after 7am and made our way upstream casting to likely snags along the way, i was working the west side of the river with surface lures while Josh worked the east bank.

I had a Lucky craft Bevy prop on, casting underneath overhanging trees and only a few casts into it i got a solid strike which missed the lure. Another cast into the same spot and the Bass came back for another shot and connected this time, the lure went under and as soon as i got weight on, the lure popped back up, it felt like a reasonable fish but after 5 or 6 more casts I moved on.

About 100m up from the last strike, i threw the lure in behind a shrub up against the bank and only got one twitch of the lure before it was hit, it was only a smaller Bass at 29cm but the first for the season so that will do. The surface hits went very quiet so i changed rods and started to throw the Spinnerbait around and got 3 more about the same size as the first, Josh finally caught up to me and we discussed the session so far and both had similar results, we were getting plenty of follows from bigger bass but none were striking the lures.

The water was clearer than ive ever seen it and the level was down a bit too which wouldnt have helped our situation, but we kept at it and decided to try further upstream in my favourite spot. To get there it involved dragging the yaks accross some rocks and shallow sections but we eventually got in there and no more than 5 metres in, in amongst the shallow weeds a school of around 10 good sized Bass scattered all around me which was quite a sight!

Josh was still getting his yak accross the shallow section and i fired a cast into the corner of the pool and as soon as i started the retreive with the Spinnerbait it got smashed, i forgot how hard these wild Bass fight, i hooked him close to a pile of submerged timber so there was a few tense moments but eventually got him in safely, Got a quick measurement of 42cm, and Josh took a few pics and we sent him back in to catch another day.

A few minutes later, Josh's lure got smacked hard but after a short fight the Bass won and got him behind a big log and managed to shake the hook which is a real pity, i reckon that one would have been the winner for the day. We kept at it, getting plenty of follows and some very small strikes but no more fish. A storm started to roll in and quite suddenly everything went dead, we hadnt spotted a fish, or had any follows so we pulled up stumps and started the very long paddle back just as the rain started.

It was nice to have a few hours without rain this morning and great to get back up to the freshwater after a long closed season...

ACT - GOLDEN PUBLIC HOLIDAY 5/10/09

Canberra is starting to warm up, about bloody time...

I have been itching to hit one of my favourite Golden Perch spots for weeks, a break in the weather found me launching the Impoundment proper. In the warmer months weed growth can be problematic when using my favourite trolling techniques but early spring offers an opportunity to avoid the closed season Murray Cod and target Yellowbelly. Water temps still a little fridget for multiple action but with massive surface busts early (Murray Cod) my heart was set a flutter, only one way to avoid these Goodoo here and thats to downsize lure size and stay in the upper water column.

Overcast conditions with sprinkling rain saw the barometer drop, not an ideal native fishing scenario. Skirting the beds in super shallow areas was deemed the correct approach but avoiding the fouling weed proved difficult. Lures like shallow Chubbies, Wee Wops and tiny R2S Baby Cranks usually come up trumps in anything under 2.5m with deep Chubbies, small AC Invaders and Baby Extractors deployed in depths over 3m. Golden Perch are easily my favourite fish to target, sometimes it can take a huge effort to find one but covering large amounts of water is usually my saving grace.

I switched to a Viking 40mm Crank Minnow which floats, deep dives and has a sonic rattle. Trolled perfectly around the 2m mark and as it pulled free of the first weed bed foul it was smashed by a large Golden. Easy to tell the species from the immediate head shakes but unfortunately on the third tug the hooks pulled. Kept covering the area before moving towards more familiar trolling lanes and deeper water. After an hour or two I decided to call it quits, last arcing turn before the run to the car brought some light to a rather dark day. A small Golden scoffed my Ayu Chubby, couple of photos and it released well.

My first Golden of spring and I avoided the Cod (Open season December 1st).

NSW - ABERCROMBIE NAT. PARK 26/9/09 (O.T)

One of the coldest days on record for our region,

Saturday marked the journey of two brothers united in law north towards the mountains known as Blue. Many others intent on star gazing had proposed a trip into the Abercrombie National Park just outside of Oberon, these ‘Others’ happened to be members of www.offroadsubarus.com. With the chance to finally meet and ogle each other’s rides (Nope, not the WAG factor) many attended with myself and Oliver ‘Old Balls’ Coakes driving up from Canberra. A typical uninteresting drive made more alerting when conditions became extreme, snow commenced to fall!

The drive in via convoy was enjoyable, kind of like a tame Bendethera trip. While it had been raining, snowing and sleeting the hard stuff was still firm enough to allow access down the steeper sections. We checked out ‘The Beach’ campsite and the greater Abercrombie River, fishing is allowed during Trout season (Check classifications) but alas we were one weekend early. Moving onto ‘Silent Creek’ involved a water crossing and some more fun stuff, all cars handled it with ease proving our modifications worthy (An easy way to justify expense).

While Oliver and I couldn’t stay for the overnight campout with the ‘Others’ we still took the time to chat and inspect the majority of vehicles. It was pretty damn interesting to see cars in the flesh I have only had the chance to view online previously, after all many of these cars were inspirations towards my over the top Forester ways. Most importantly I discussed snorkel installs; given that this is really the last remaining modification I wish to carry out (Apart from diff breathers etc).

We headed out early afternoon and arrived back on base about 11 hours after we departed. A long days driving was made easier dreaming of warmth, turns out this day was the coldest in September in Canberra for 40 years. The ‘Others’ got shat on overnight making previously tameable terrain difficult, one even broke an axle/CV/stuff (Unlucky Eden, loved the Outback mate). Luckily for Eden he was in solid company and got towed out without incident (A huge effort from Alex).

Was great to meet up with other members of www.offroadsubarus.com and look forward to combining our adventures again. There was talk of venturing into my neck of the woods early next year and taking advantage of the reopening of Mt. Corree and nearby Power line trail. The Goodradigbee below at Gentle Annies would make a great camping spot; heres hoping future recon will convince others of the trips merit (Easy trip down from Sydney).

Full Images, reports and social aspects of the trip are available here:

http://www.offroadsubarus.com/showthread.php?t=1119

NSW SOUTH COAST FISHING REPORT 3/10/09

With the increasing spring temperatures we have been experiencing down here around Batemans Bay the water is also starting to warm up and the fish are starting to come on the bite with a bit more consistency, this time of year is a good time to be on the water.

Estuaries:
Bream have been the most reliable catch for me in recent weeks and can provide some great fishing once you put the time in to find where they are feeding at various stages of the tide. At high tide Bream can be found over and around oyster racks, shallow weedbeds and sand flats in good numbers, and on the run out tide try the edges of weedbeds and sandflats where they drop into deeper water. Soft plastic lures are excellent for this type of fishing, you can adjust the depth of your lure by simply tying on a lighter or heavier jighead depending on how deep you want to fish or strength of the current.

Rivers such as the Clyde demand slightly heavier jigheads in the main parts of the river, i find a 1/12oz jighead ideal in this situation. Flathead catches are also increasing now, and they can be found on sandflats or drop offs, your best chance of a good flattie is to use soft plastic lures or live poddy mullet on a drift.

Offshore:
Snapper are a regular catch for those that have managed to get out in between the strong winds and swell we have been having down here over the past few weeks. Fishing depths of 20 - 60m off most headlands along the south coast have been producing results with both lures and fresh baits. Some Blue Morwong are being taken by anglers targeting Snapper. Salmon and tailor are still around and provide some excellent sport on light gear.

Beaches:
Not much has changed along the beaches, there are still plenty of Salmon and tailor in the deeper gutters especially on the rising tide and some good Bream closer to the ends near rocky headlands. Ganged pilchards are good bait for Salmon or Tailor, or pilchard peices and cubes of stripey tuna on a single hook for bream.

There are plenty of options for both the dedicated anglers or the family that just want to head out and soak some bait. For any additional info or to send in some photos, mail to ccoughlan7@bigpond.com

NSW SOUTH COAST - CLYDE RIVER 3/10/09

The weather forecast for the South coast was pretty crappy for today and for once they got it right, thunderstorms came through last night which forced us to cancel the original plan to head upstream for some Bass. The road up to the freshwater reaches gets a bit slippery after a good downpour and given we only had 2wd vehicles we decided not to go and risk getting bogged. The rain had eased off to a light drizzle so i met up with Patwah and Koich from AKFF at 8am just outside of Batemans bay so they could follow me up to the chosen launch site on the Clyde river near Nelligen.

We were all on the water at around 8:30am and got straight into it, we all chose slightly different locations with Koich fishing the Mangrove lined edges, Paddy fished the edges of the weedbed while i drifted over the top of a shallow weedbed casting an Atomic Hardz lure that i shaved the bib down to make it into a shallow diving HB. It worked a treat, i was the first to hookup after about 10 minutes of casting to a nice little bream of 25cm. Im very happy with how the modified lure worked so i will do a few more of them now!

Every few minutes i was getting Bream, but all of them the same size, i swear the same fish must have been following me around. After the 5th 25cm Bream i decided to try the SP's on the edges of the weedbeds into slightly deeper water to see if i could find any of the bigger bream but to no avail. A few dropped flathead close to the yak and some decent taps but still no decent bream to be found anywhere so back over to the shallow weedbed to pick up where i left off catching more just legal bream and after and hour or so of constant casting i finally found a slightly bigger fish that went a whole 28cm!!

Eventually met back up with Paddy who had landed a decent flathead and had a few dropped fish, and Koich who unfortunately had one of those days where nothing went right, losing fish to broken trebles etc. We were all pretty well soaking wet by this stage so we started to make our way back slowly, i looked over to see where everyone else was only to see Paddy with a loaded up rod, and just as i pulled my line in and got the camera ready the hook pulled and the fish swam free. That was the last sign of any fish for the day...

The weather could have been nicer and the fish a bit bigger but its always good to get out, so hopefully next time it might be better.