2009/10 HOBIE BREAM KAYAK GRAND FINAL

ABT Hobie 2009/10 Kayak Fishing Series (Kayak Tournament dates):

• Round 1 - Sep 19-20 (Glenelg River, VIC)*
  
• Round 2 - Nov 7-8 (Narrabeen Lakes, NSW)
  
• Round 3 - Nov 14-15 (Gold Coast, QLD)
  
• Round 4 - Dec 12-13 (Redcliffe, QLD)
  
• Round 5 - Jan 9-10 (Noosa, QLD State Titles)
  
• Round 6 - Jan-23 (St Georges Basin, NSW)
• Round 7 - Jan-26 (Bemm River, VIC)
  
• Round 8 - Feb 6-7 (West Lakes, SA)
• Round 9 - Feb 13-14 (Walpole, WA)
  
• Round 10 - Feb-28 (Scamander River, TAS)
  
• Round 11 - Mar 13-14 (Forster, NSW State Titles)*
• Round 12 - Mar 27-28 (Marlo, VIC State Titles)*
• Round 13 - Apr 17-18 (Camden Haven, NSW)
  
• Grand Final - May 15-16 (Forster, NSW)*
  
  * Prefish ban is in place for this event.
  

For more information, please visit:
http://www.hobiefishing.com.au/category/abt/abt-hobie-events-200910/

Well the rounds have gone and been run and won by some of the best in the business, now its down to end games. KFA was lucky enough to qualify for the Grand Final with both Jason and Craig excelling at the St.Georges Basin round. I received one of the wildcards for the event and so did Paddy so was blown away all four of us will be attending. Forster is a wonderfull place to fish for Bream but for the first timers in the area it can be a little daunting. While prefishing bans are in place there is an official prefish on the Friday before the event, giving the tournament hopefull a chance to purge unprofitable spots and develop a game plan.

We look forward to reporting on the event and of course competing, it will be a class field and given we are all good mates it will be a weekend extravaganza like no other. Fishing Monthly, ABT and Hobie have a downloadable .PDF file with all details on the event. Its worth a look, even if your not competing as it highlights the effort the entrants, sponsors and affiliated buisness management it takes to make a Grand Final possible. To be honest I secretly hoped the event would be a little closer to home, but given the class of Bream Forster seems to turn on, plus the valid structure available, it was a very wise choice (With a past ABT Hobie legacy).

For more information on the Grand Final, please visit:
http://bream.com.au/abt/2010/Hobiegf.pdf

PERSPECTIVE - RESPECTING THE SOUTH COAST

The South Coast of NSW is really firing early this year; big fish are coming in super close and within reach. Large Snapper, Kingfish and even Tuna and Marlin are on the cards from a kayak, also best to add species like Shark to that equation. Had a few reports and emails come to attention recently, mainly from around the Batemans Bay area and a little further south. Some have tangled with dozens of Bonito and XOS Salmon on recent sorties but most, if not all, have been targeting Snapper. There has been enough written on Snapper on hard bodies and Snapper on plastics from boats and very similar principles apply from a kayak. Its great and easy to learn but the best part of all (Techniques aside) is they are close enough to cast blindly to off the rocks or target them just past the breakers from a kayak.

This time of year most fishing grounds begin to get crowded with visitors from interstate looking to get in on the action, some of the best results over the years have been from repeat visits. In recent times KFA received a small amount of worrying complaints about kayak anglers (In general) disrespecting local wants and wishes when it came to visiting and fishing certain locations around the Batemans Bay region. Areas like Depot Beach were often populated by anglers fishing from kayaks last year (And even the year before), parking was at an impossible premium and upsetting local concern was noted (From numerous individuals).

It’s at this stage I hope to influence each and every one of you on why respect for an area is so important when following another’s footsteps. Believe me these places are very popular with the majority of the fishing fraternity and while they are just like you and me they are not in the minority. Kayak Fishermen stand out from the crowd and locals, given continual frustration, could relegate us to ‘The worst of the worst’ when it comes to being seen as perceptual offending over and over again.

Just keep in mind even locals are visitors to these areas, some places only fire for certain times of the year and any perceived angling pressure will be taken into account when the blame game starts. Using Depot as an example, If organising group trips make sure you park your car correctly and DONT park in the steep angled ramp, people use this as a reversing area for boat launching. Keep in mind that while you all want to park together its not the right thing to do, use your kayak trolley and walk the distance if need be but don’t permanently contribute to the road load. Pay your park fees (If visiting a National Park), nothing worse than contributing to the problem and your vehicle donning a yellow envelop for all to see.

Break up your visits, continual pressure on the one area will see you seen as a threat. Take a few weekends to visit other product spots (Chances are they hold fish too) before returning, no matter how successful. Keep GPS coordinates, maps, and sounder images off the net, describing and sharing in person is far better than archiving information for all to see. Nothing wrong with images and names of locations, even tackle used and so on but plots and breadcrumbs should never make it into internet reports IMO. Google is a very powerful tool but sometimes it’s just a little too useful, treat it like a spot X, share exact details with good friends only.

The rewards for keeping all this in mind will be all of us collectively learning from any perceived past mistakes and keeping any wanting pirates at bay, now and ever.

NSW - JERVIS BAY (OFFSHORE) 5/4/10

Late last week i was invited along on a trip to Jervis bay by a couple of mates Greg and Stewie to chase Marlin and Kingfish from the yaks, i have never fished for marlin before so i just had to go along for the experience at the very least. We arrived at the bay in the early hours of Monday morning and set up our yaks, Greg supplied pre-tied trace's for the Marlin so we geared up our combo's and set of to the bait grounds to collect some livie's.

Once we located a school of baitfish we sent out a burley trail and soon had hundred's of yellowtail yakka's underneath us, along with some rat kings that occaisionally took the small peice of pilchard intended for the baitfish and gave us trouble on our light hand lines. We got enough yakka's, but no Slimey Mackeral which were the preffered choice so we made do with what we had and set off. The Yakka's were bridled then sent out behind us while we trolled across the bay towards Point Perpendicular.

Once we arrived at the point, there were baitfish everywhere in big school's but there didnt seem to be anything else around them showing on the sounder. We trolled through the school's, then tried stopping the yaks and letting the livie swim down deep but the little yakka's received no attention so we continued our troll from Point Perpendicular down towards the landbased game spot, 'the tubes'.

We eventually made it down as close to the tubes as we could get with out disturbing the keen LBG anglers, still without any luck and hope was starting to fade. We all knew the Marlin were definately no guarantee but we were suprised we had not seen any Kingfish. We back tracked back up towards Point Perpendicular with the plan to leave the bay and round the point into the open ocean. As we neared the point Stewie's yakka got hit and for a moment i thought we may have found some Kings but disapointment followed shortly after as he pulled up a Salmon.

We worked that general area for at least 15 minutes hoping the Kingfish were around as well but it was not to be. Again we continued to troll, and as we rounded the point into open water, my livie got hit, but again, disapointment followed as a Salmon launched itself clear of the water. It was a fairly good size, but not what we were after and not what we had put so much effort into chasing. So once again, i bridled another yakka and continued to troll north along the cliff faces with the small amount of hope i had left of getting some decent fish.

After trolling north for a little while longer, we turned around and headed south to try around Bowen Island, and about halfway between the point and the island Stewie got hit again bit the fish didnt connect, and a few minutes after my livie got hit as well but without a hookup. Whatever it was hit good enough to kill the yakka but didnt eat it unfortunately, so another livie was sent out and we continued towards the island.

As we approached the island Greg commented 'ok, here we go, our last chance', and my spirit lifted as we got close enough to the island to see hundreds of baitfish close into the rocks, i thought that maybe some predatory fish may have been nearby and forced them in close, but again we passed through and then back again without a touch.We called it a day and slowly trolled our way back towards the ramp, i was disapointed the King's were quiet but thats fishing i guess.

Hopefully we get another shot at them soon, but with better results next time.

NSW - LAKE JINDABYNE (EASTER FRIDAY) 2/4/10

It had been far too long since I visited Jindabyne; pretty sure the other KFA boys were in the same boat (Erm, kayak?). Patwah suggested a run down on Easter Friday but pulled out at the last minute, leaving Jason and his partner Michelle, Luke (Mr Fish Whisperer), myself and Craig Co. (Craig and Alf) to fend for ourselves. Craig, Alf and Luke camped overnight at Creel Bay while Jase, Michelle and I made our way down for a gentlemen’s hour session on the Friday.

The campers had no luck through the night and struggled to land anything the following day using kayak and boat trolling methods. The report was hardly exciting although Craig had dropped a fish early. Luke hadn’t had a touch and the word from the shore anglers I passed on route to our bank was hardly surprising (“Nope, not a touch” or “Only the one, slow going”).

In a fit of uncharacteristic dedication I left the kayak at home, was all set to give the Stealth Serpent its opening blatt but my hangover got the better of me. Instead I packed the Powerbait, rod holders, seat and some munchies and rigged up where I set up (Another uncharacteristic approach). After about 30 minutes I had netted my first Bow, nothing enormous by anyone’s standards but a healthy mid 40’s. Jason and Michelle arrived and set up Yabby traps along the opposite bank to collect some tasty freshwater crustaceans.

They joined me on the bank about 20 minutes after my second Bow (Identical to the first) and rigged up some Powerbait and settled in for a chat. Michelle’s rod went off before they had even cast the second baited rod in the water, she played it like a pro and another almost identical fish graced our presence. This was Michelle’s first Trout, a superbly conditioned Rainbow that was destined to have a mate. Like my second fish, it took a few hours before her other reel started screaming.

Once again she held her own (With some basic coaching from Jason) and netted another beauty. Here is where statistics come into play, two fish on Powerbait Lime Twist (1 @ 9am, 1 @ 11am) and two fish on Berkley Gulp ‘Chunky Cheese’ (1 @ 12:15pm, 1 @ 3pm). Seems the later the day wore on the more the cheese pleased, just half an hour after the last fish Jason was on to an unstoppable one.

Taking line and line I even watched him slightly muffle the spool to try and create additional drag, there was a pause in its run before it continued and it didn’t come to the surface. This bank is steep and Browns don’t seem that eager to rise from deeper water but the problem was it had buried Jason around some sort of structure (Rock, Tree, what have you). After a couple of minutes it was all over but the strangest thing was all tackle remained intact upon retrieval, including sinkers, leader and the tiny Mosquito hook.

This was hard to believe as the way the drags set, the presentation in the water and the previous hook sets all permitted a safe gut hooking. Many things may have happened, the fish could have brushed the line when it took it in its mouth and spooked early, or perhaps the hook was somehow embedded in the side of the mouth (Or roof even) rather than the floor.

Perhaps it was my fault, after all I had only just found a discarded Banana skin on the bank and tarnished Jason with its effects, muttering the words ‘I Tarnish you with the curse of the Banana skin’. Top mate I am and kind of feel guilty, all is fair in love and war (Dried animal droppings, dead birds, sand) but the dreaded Banana hurl was probably over the top (Sorry mate, couldn’t help myself). I had an appointment with the relatives for Easter Friday dinner so left soon after, from what I can gather the two lovebirds weren’t too far behind.

It was a great day on the water, a little slow, a little hot, a little windy and then far too glassed off. My quest for a full bag was denied by the time of year rather than my approach, still it was enough to satisfy my freshwater urges and convince me to drink less and kayak fish more (Live by the sword, die by the sword).

ABT HOBIE KAYAK SERIES - MARLO REPORT

Kayak Fishing in Victoria has a rather strong following, with equally strong willed tournament attendance at both ABT Hobie Kayak series rounds (First Bemm River and now Marlo). The Victorian state titles were held in picturesque Marlo, home of the exiting Snowy River. Multiple lakes, rivers, creeks, mouths and slow tidal flow, Marlo was found to be a typical kayak angler’s wet dream.

Mixed weather hampered solid pre fishing but not everyone was sharing their well rounded results so freely (Business end of the season and all), with five qualifying places on offer for the ABT Forster grand final, plus amped up financial incentives (State results, two day event) the available stakes were higher than ever. The word from the water was five pound ‘Blacks’ were not uncommon, with skills honed it turned into a well matched affair but whose Bream would reign supreme?

Light conditions were unfavourable for the scheduled 6:00am start, due to the ever closing daylight savings period meant the start and finish times were delayed by almost an hour. With no ABT adjourning boating round (Due to Mallacoota shuffle) there was no pressure on adjudication at or during weigh in. The two obvious choices for competitors were up or down stream. One direction held the lakes, flats and rivers whilst the other held deeper water, schooling fish and the iconic mouth. Many of those who did manage a Friday pre fish struggled, not with the conditions but the system itself.

Those that learnt from the lesson, became ‘In the know’ and firmly put any Friday woes behind them. Some absolutely smashed previous ABT kayak records clean out of the water which not only included biggest Boss Hog but biggest day one and state final bag overall. The end of day one saw coy Dave Hedge submit a generous bag of 4.36kg, full of three swine’s (With the sow of sty weighing around 1.6kg). Believe it or not this wasn’t the biggest Bream submitted on day one, Jeff McDonald caught, presented and released a 1.72kg specimen (Could only imagine how well it fought on light gear).

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