YAK FISHER MAGAZINE #48 (SUMMER EDITION)

Issue #48 summer edition of Sport Fishing Australia (Incorporating YAK Fisher) is out in stores now, just in time for the onset of seasonal change. The Sport Fishing Australia section features many top articles from seasoned sport fishing journalists such as Jason Metcalf, Shane Mensforth, Brent Hodges, Roderick Walmsley, Nigel Webster, Lee Brake, Daniel Kent just to name a few.

YAK Fisher Kayaking Magazine has Yak news, AKFF website news plus the chance to win a Hobie Pro Angler worth over $3000. Apart from new features like a Yak Tournament calender and dedicated Kayak test rundowns, it also features many articles by industry stalwarts covering new products / innovations / gear reviews, Snapper on Hardbodies, Kayaking Cania, Tournament roundups, Natives from a Kayak (By yours truly) and much, much more.

Available at all good newsagents or by subscription,

http://www.afn.com.au/cms/details.asp?NewsID=114

NSW - BENDEELA WEEKEND (KANGAROO RIVER)

Another trip to Bendeela (Tallowa Dam), another great weekend...

Since the kayak tournaments began in earnest late 2009 I have found little time to enjoy lazing around in a destination without the rigours of competition (Travel, time congestion mainly). When the Canberra Anglers Association put off another trip to Brogo Dam near Bega due to the low water level I made the suggestion to Bill Blair that Tallowa Dam could be an option for members looking to tangle with a Bass or two. The fish ladder at the Dam wall is no complete and the camping/picnick area is open once again but the lure of Wombats, larger camping areas and more relaxing surroundings brought us to Bendeela camping area on the banks of the Kangaroo Arm of Lake Yuranga (Tallowa Dam proper).

Last time I had visited this free campground it was the Easter long weekend and everyman and his dog (Expression only, no pets allowed) were camped along the generous sites breaches. It was quite a refreshing site to see vacant blocks among the designated zones but other campers, schoolies and fishermen had the same idea as we had and the grounds were quite busy. Arriving early I was greeted with a cup of coffee by Ian (President of CAA) and met his good mate Pete. Another member Alan was present too but was still exploring the river arm from his inflatable kayak.

From their accounts the fishing had been hard with no fish caught on Friday or early Saturday morning. We waited for another member Lyall to arrive before unloading my tandem kayak and rigging up both the Outfitter and the tandem Canoe and heading out for my first fish. With Alan on the front the Outfitters capacity load was tested at first but decent freeboard remained. Enough to ensure a drier ride than Alan was used to. With Alan waving the fly rod I was content to just travel between lagoon like bank lines and position the kayak for profound wand work.

Almost immediately Alan hooked up to a little Bass and was happy the pressure was off, neither of us were looking forward to a self proposed nudie run if we failed to secure a catch. Took almost three hours before I hooked my first trolling but by now it was the dead middle of the day and the heat was almost unbearable. We did however see a large moth flailing in the water for a minute or two and just as Alan commented on how he couldn’t believe this insect remained on the surface it was completely smashed by a rather large Bass in a flurry of wings and water.

Returning to the campsite we found CAA member Lyall who had arrived a little late, we also found Ian and Pete returning with a rather mirrored report, two small Bass and not much else. While they went upstream towards the bridge we had ventured downstream towards the pumping station. We all agreed the nightfall would bring on quality sippers of the rise and eagerly awaited cooler conditions and setting suns. I had brought the Quest for Lyall, planned on solo use of the Outfitter, Alan brought his Diveyak for fly rod work and Alan and Pete had hired a two man Canoe.

So there were four, very keen anglers refreshed after a long lunch and a few Nanna naps. Finally the temperature dropped and the surface lures were donned, I was really looking forward to tonight. To be honest I haven’t had much of a chance to fish this area during darkness but with most campers happy to sip alcohol and enjoy dinner we basically had the waterway to ourselves. Throwing an Ecogear PX45 I had three fish within 10 minutes, then it went quiet rather quickly. Just when the last light began to fall I switched to a rather large River 2 Sea Rover 75 and collected four more.

This was quite a result considering I had spent a few minutes before fishing commenting on my lack of confidence with something so large. Might have been the larger profile or slight lack of action (Doesn’t seem to walk the dog as well as other lures). My guess was colour and rattle, dark purple and black hues accompanied with a rather large rattle brought on a hat trick quickly. First cast, fish, second cast, fish, third cast, fish, fourth cast, tree, fifth cast, fish. Darkness had enveloped the system so I caught up with others and was fascinated to hear that nobody had secured any Bass.

Mind you all I was doing is walking the dog with surface lures while others used fly, trolling techniques and cast and retrieve. Spinnerbaits that work so well in areas like Shallow Crossing on the upper Clyde failed miserably all weekend. The water was quite warm and very dirty, before I arrived on Friday some wind and rain swept through the evening and god knows how many days it had done that previous to our arrival. Still, we had another good mornings fishing ahead so early to bed, early to rise before packing up and heading home.

Breaking in my new swag I genuinely Wombat proofed the immediate area before attempting to sleep. Luckily I did as the fence I tied up to shook a few times when Wombats made their way through with one stopping for a toilet stop on the tarp over my feet (Yes, I slept through it). When I got up Alan was already on the water so Lyall and I ferried the two kayaks down to the edge and started prospecting. Lyall paddled upstream while I went looking for Allan downstream, turned out that was my best decision of the weekend and finished the trip with another three Bass.

Once again the PX45 did the damage but even the size 12 trebles failed to hook about six attempts and a surface gobble. When I found Allan I found the fish, when a fish would miss the lure I would wait a minute or two and re-present in the same area. Sometimes it would take multiple attempts but the fish would eventually stick. The only disappointment of the weekend was the size of the Bass, biggest going 25cm and the other 12 barely breaking the 20cm mark. I kind of wished we had gone down to the dam wall and fished the larger Dam but every waterway deserves a scout and only adds to its magical appeal (Fish or no fish).

Unfortunately after I departed the others and hit the highway near Exeter I suffered a broken Thule J bar carrier due to headwind and sail like conditions. Stopping three times to check the load I heard a loud crack upon final departure. The bottom high density moulding snapped right through and left me stranded on the roadside north of Goulburn. No choice but to ring my partner Claire and convince her to make the 1.5hr journey and save the day. Props to Pauly from Sailing Scene in Sydney for stopping on his return trip from Canberra home.

I guess its pretty hard to miss my car on the side of a highway with hazard lights on and two Hobies on the roof.

(More photos up shortly)

NSW - GOOGONG GOLD TRIPLE 15/11/09

A great day on the water, considering how hot it got and how bright it was...

Boiling Redfin, Yellowbelly schooling and monster Cod shadowing it was a sight of firsts at Googong (For me anyway). Left my Redfin skills in the car and concentrated on Golden Perch, only got the one smoking hit which was lost once rod was removed from its holder (Three seconds of hell, enternity of hatred). Everytime I would get a decent trolling run sorted around the very thick weeds (Sounder batteries went flat) I would get the call indicating Jason was on again. The man can do no wrong at the moment, barely an excuse needed to pedal over as a new camera was sitting in my lap most of the morning (Canon 450D, 17-85mm IS lens). Got some good shots and then saw the biggest fish of the day take two swipes at my Daiwa Provibe and then swim away (Murray Cod estimated 90cm +).

I still hate Googong and I now hate Jason (Here is what the loser had to say:)

"Koich, Paffoh and myself hit the 'gong first thing this morning, to try and have an early fish to beat the heat. It was a gorgeous warm morning with a very light zephyr ruffling the surface - after a bit of trolling and working the weed beds, it was clear that the redfin were strangley absent. That is until we spotted some surface action reminscent of salmon or tailor in the salt, gambusia being smashed by what turned out to be a big school of sub-10cm redfin. The water level in the lake is fantastic at the moment and there are a lot of shallow weed beds around."

"We worked our way down the bank, and I picked up a reasonable redfin on a suspending hardbody. Reaching a previously very reliable redfin spot, we jigged our hearts out. I was trying something different, a 1/4 oz TT bladed jighead with a dirty 2" gulp shrimp - working this for a while, I got a few little taps, then a solid hit and line started peeling out. Solid headshakes suggested golden perch, and soon a lovely specimen surfaced. I was stoked to have finally landed my first native from googong, and also my first golden on a soft plastic. I kept working away with the 2" shrimp and landed a decent redfin from way down near the bottom in about 16m of water."

"I kept with the bladed jighead, and tried a few different plastics. But I didn't get any hits until I went back to gulp, this time a 3" minnow in pearl watermelon. I had just changed plastics when a school of BIG goldens appeared right under the kayak and just milled around. Dropping the plastic in the middle of school provoked a lot of interest from a lot of fish, but just little taps and short takes - eventually one of the smaller fish commited and I was on again. After a quick photo session Paff and I kept trying to tempt the fish, it was very bizarre almost sight fishing for them in very deep water, when the fish were holding in the top 2-3m. Eventually the school dissappeared and we started drifting back towards the launch site."

"Drifting parallell to the bank, I was throwing a little suspending hardbody over the weedbeds, twitching it back erratically when it got smashed in quite shallow water and the reel screamed again. It was difficult to put much pressure on the fish with the light gear I was using, but after a few nervous moments around the weeds I had another golden in the net. It was awesome morning's fishing, and I am totally gobsmacked at the crazy run of Movember luck I'm riding at the moment."

TROUT FESTIVAL - A KFA MEMBER CLEANS UP

The Snowy Mountains Trout Festival for 2009 has been and gone and from all entrant accounts it was a superb event that rivalled previous years. 600+ adults submitted entries and fished the waters of Lake Jindabyne, Lake Eucembene and the river surrounds. With higher water levels that last years festival some found the going a little tougher than they hoped, what was working so well last year either failed this year or only tempted their prey late in the week.

Thats not entirely true but from a trolling perspective using the kayak as a stealth machine I struggled to land many fish on day one. The jointed Rapala J5’s and J7’s run shallow early mornings snared miniscule size Rainbows, no matter what colours were deployed. Predatek Min Mins were slow too until I tied on the Perch pattern and lost it to a bruiser (Knot failed, a first in a long time).

Rebel Crawdads and Big Craws got a run, Rebel Crickhoppers and smaller jointed lures also deployed in the bays. The high water levels had perhaps risen too fast this year as the weed beds hadn’t really moved up the banks, this was evident from the lack of usual dynamite Powerbait action when resting from trolling or fishing overnight. With myself, Craig, Jason and mates armed with kayaks and boats between us we should have had a horde worthy of contention.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom as KFA members did weigh in some corker fish, infact Jason ‘Squidder’ Price almost got the fish of the comp. A 3kg gilled and gutted Brown came out to play and being on netting duties I was nervous. This fish had power to boot and kept us on our toes for a good 10 – 15 minutes, with rocks around and snags the light line luckily stood the test of time and was dispatched for weigh in.

We weren’t sure how others had gone on day one but when Jason weighed in it took out the biggest Brown of the day at our nominated weigh station and earned him a set of respected Trout Fest glasses (A sentimental prize if anything). Craig had also weighed in a Brown that while only 4cm smaller, weighed almost a kilo lighter. Fishing as part of the FangACT fishing team was great fun and once again (Same as last year) we dominated the team’s efforts from our kayaks.

Once again this is not really true but it’s not a lie either, I only weighed in the one Rainbow on Saturday and one on Sunday. I got some advice from one of our teams Trout guns on Tasmanian Devil styled lures and colour selection (Thanks Lynnie) which got me on the board on day two, along with a few mates. I had been looking forward to this trip all year and was disappointed with the fishing on opening weekend as I had to return home to work during the week. Apparently it picked up later in the week with many team members from Fang securing Trout Fest glasses.

On Saturday when Jason, myself and Craig were fishing the ABT Hobie Kayak Fishing Series at Narrabeen Lakes Jason got a phone call. The Fang team captain and committee attended the presentation on Friday and they had called Squidder to let him know they had picked up the major trolling prize for the competition on his behalf. Jason had won the Basser Millyard prize pack consisting of a Scotty Downrigger, lures and trolling attractors and a massive tacklebox.

Jason was humbled and modest at the same time, I think he was as surprised as I was that he won. It was a freak of a fish that was easily his personal best Brown Trout and was the second biggest fish of the entire tournament. To think there are even bigger fish in Lake Jindabyne and Eucembene just waiting to be caught, still it was hard to imagine anything bigger than the behemoth shown below:

For full festival and tournament results, please visit the following link below:

http://www.troutfestival.com

MY HOBIE PRO ANGLER - TOURNAMENT KAYAK

Recently I picked up a kayak for use in tournament situations (Both fresh and salt), after considering the options of portability, usability versus manoeuvrability and a million odds and end usages it was decided a Hobie Pro Angler would be a better option that the choice I had been pondering on for a few months. At first an Outback seemed like the logical choice, it was nimble and pack ready and served me well in the inaugural Hobie ABT series. However, the more I thought about what I required and where it would be used the more I fell in love with the idea of taking a bare bones Pro Angler and thinking of ways to tweak and enhance my own performance from a kayak.

My needs revolved around casting access, trolling ability, buoyancy and capacity. While fishing bream tournaments may be as easy as a couple of rods, some lures and a net one must not forget the 30kgs of water in a live well located behind the seat. My Hobie Quest works well enough in a live well scenario but when aiming to cover large amounts of water easily I found paddling took too much energy to maintain over long periods of time. The Outback I used during the QLD ABT rounds earlier this year was great, pedalled well with the extra weight and provided a greater deck layout.

Freshwater Tournaments I enter involve catch, photograph, release or gut, gill and weigh (Species dependant) and have no real restrictions. The field is made up mainly large boats decked out with casting platforms and downriggers offering their fisherman the best of both worlds. The Pro Angler offers the chance of a kayaking parallel, the large flat hull deck space provides enough stability to stand and pepper casts while the forward mounting options are suited perfectly for trolling rods horizontally. There is also significant room to upgrade to more advance options like downriggers, GPS mounts or additional ram style holders.

Basically for Bream tournaments (Example – Hobie ABT Bream series) I need the front of the yak free for casting , to the point of 270 degree access available at all times. For freshwater tournaments (Example - Snowy Mountain Trout Festival) I need the rear of the yak free for trolling, allowing line travel over the rear of the yak when arcing and turning. Sure a combination of the above works well in many different scenarios but this was not the reason I had a pro Angler in mind. Any kayak can be over pimped to offer the best of both worlds (And anything in between) but the fact that these yaks can be used minimally to greater effect is a godsend.

The sheer multitude of features available straight off the factory / showroom floor without being an optional extra also helped firm a decision. Its well publicised turning circle, casting platform, below deck rod storage, mirage drive (Turbo fin equipped), built in tackle tray system, comfortable seat and flat hull bottom design places in more in a functional punt category. Many other kayaks provide confines that can be limiting to forward facing cockpit restriction, this I found to be a hindrance when competing for long periods of time. Being comfortable in your surroundings and housing leaves time for tackle refinement on the water and a more solid state of mind.

To the right in the menu bar are some videos via the youtube.com feature I made of a basic install and the reasons behind them, it’s really just a beginner’s guide to how a simple setup approach will have specific benefits. The Hobie Mirage Pro Angler will really excel in a variety of situations and is already the kayak of choice for the Hobie ABT Kayak Fishing Series. Only time will tell if this is the kayak for you, paralleling peoples views and opinions and viewing them in action will entice and provide suffice. All information provided above should be taken with a grain of salt and is offered as my opinion only. I look forward to competing in the rest of the ABT series and enjoying the Pro Angler beyond tournament state of affairs.