KFA - THE DIARY OF A TOURNAMENT PRE FISH

ABT Hobie Kayak Tournament
Bemm River, Victoria (Round 7):

Having stopped briefly at Bemm River during my Christmas ordeal (Slash holiday) I was a little concerned on the tournaments location. A small and initially bleak town offered little or no tourist respite during what should have been their busiest time of the year (In hindsight, probably a week early). Sussing out the waterways of the Bemm proved pointless, it was howling a gale and housing an unflattering stench. “Can’t always be like this?” I muttered to Claire, realising that not only had we booked accommodation for the tournament but the whole family had chosen to follow me 4 days prior for the long weekend (Six powered sites and one unruly clan). With the sixth round of the tournament series at St Georges Basin on the NSW South Coast held on the Saturday I had a lot of ashphalt to cover to make the first of the Mexican competitions held on the following Tuesday (Australia day).

A large field gathered from near and far, Victorians embraced the round while the usual suspects (Now tournament veterans) travelled from Nothern NSW waters. With fabled big Black Bream on the cards in shallow environments many arrived days earlier to enjoy pre fishing success. With pre fish bans on the Marlo round (VIC State titles) this was many visiting anglers first and only opportunity to test a Gippsland lake system, it was also many kayak angler’s first encounter with a big black. Sharing attributes with their Yellowfin cousins, they are predominantly thicker and larger fish and a voracious to the point of accepting all presentations.

Overcast skies and picture perfect conditions allowed a dominant technique to develop during the prefishing opportunities, all whilst encouraging variation. Slow rolled crankbaits, high sticked shallow runners, flickbaits and Prawn style plastics all worked successfully. Noise and colour replaced any perchance for profile and action. Mottled green SX 48’s, Atomic Hards and custom shallow diving Jackal Chubby’s attracted planty of interest (And good fish) but the Squidgy ‘Pepper Prawn’ and glitter styled dark plastics secured the larger fish. Keeping jigheads as light as possible was a given, considering the majority of the lake was 0.7m – 1m deep.

Tight lines with Jerky, erratic rod lifts equalled strong tussles with XOS specimens. Little fish were lost quickly and certain areas seemed to fish better than others. All expectations were met and solid plans had been forged for comp day. The wind that created havoc before my arrival did manage to muster stronger gusts overnight, though it didn’t affect our time on the water actually fishing each day provided a different problem in the same areas (Weed blown debris). As the fish were still there multiple fouled casts hassled us more than the targets, removing weed from trebles became the norm.


Squidgy Southern Bream Series,
Clyde River, Batemans Bay (Round 1):

Buckets and buckets of rain had fallen over the south coast region weeks prior to the tournament, in some places it was a record fall (A welcome relief anyway). Unfortunately water conditions would rapidly deteriorate, making an area which we had finally mapped out a little slow come game day. With the other members getting down for a pre fish two weeks before the competition a few of us decided to return and see what damage had been done. These are the times for new lures, varying techniques and breaking tournament moulds, not the time for the usual offering.

Sometimes thats easier said than done but it was a little easier due to the discoloured water and sheer amount that had fallen. Red, burgundy, claret, merlot the water was the colour of wine (But suprosingly clear), debris scattered the shore and remained way up on the tree line (Buckets 8ft above high tide mark). The pre fish was timed with the rising tide and while proved successful was the complete opposite of what tournament days tidal chart predicted. I lost a couple of fish early in some shallow creeks (Due to rusting trebles) but it was a good sign, the Bream were still up for top water action in shallow water.

Some of the fishier looking locations (Very similar to the Bemm) held no species of fish, not even a lonely Mullet. I am sure in better conditions this area would be a haven but one sip of the water showed the amount of fresh in the system as opposed to salt. Other small creeks held surface smacking Bream, a Towadi and PX 45's secured smaller fish but none of legal stature. Jason landed a nice 29cm fork length Bream with an aggressive Hopper Popper retrieve along a ledge (The take from this fish was awesome). Using blades in deeper water I struggled to fight the current ripping through hard so proceeded to bombard the rocky ledges with a purple shallow running Atomic Hard instead.

While it wasn’t a fish a cast I managed a bag limit of legal Bream by casting in close, twitching once and rolling back. If the lure wasn’t taken in the first five seconds more often than not it failed to raise a scale. The funny thing was some fish were sighted loitering below or behind the crankbait far from the confines of the ledge. I should have added some scent to the rear of the treble but was content on leaving these fish for a week (Not wanting to sting any prospective targets before comp day. The day was a success but would conditions differ or deteriorate any further?

TREADING WATER IN MARINE PARK MAYHEM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

On Thursday 11 February 2010, Kayak Fishing columnist Dan Bode was angling within the permitted Habitat Protection Zone inside Cape Byron Marine Park (CBMP) when Marine Parks Authority (MPA) Rangers marshalled his vessel and falsely accused him of fishing inside a Sanctuary Zone.

While physically demonstrating lines of sight as zoning references from the MPA dinghy, Mr Bode says the MPA Ranger made it known that in the opinion of those onboard, he was breaking the law. "The two officers presumed my guilt by evidencing invisible lines of sight that could easily have stretched from a backpacker at Wategos to a cannabis plant in Coorabell". Mr Bode believes the accusation forced him to prove his innocence or risk the $500 fine.

"By predetermining my guilt based on a series of arbitrary visual waypoints to back a verbal accusation of zone encroachment, the officers could not feasibly encourage my enjoyment, appreciation and understanding of the marine park... What transpired was a circus of fear and harassment that continued for up to twenty minutes".

As events took an unfathomable turn, Mr Bode was directed by the Fisheries Officer onboard to make his kayak immediately available for inspection. Mr Bode stated, "The Fisheries Officer couldn't tell me how he proposed to inspect my kayak but insisted on an inspection. To make my kayak immediately available, I voluntarily dismounted in the middle of the ocean, pushed my craft towards the Officers on the MPA dinghy and risked my own life in the name of Fisheries compliance. After a couple of seconds in the water, fear set in. I was on my own in lumpy seas with no immediate offer of direction or support coming from either of the Officers". With his kayak now in the custody of the NSW MPA and the liability for his personal safety now in the Authority's jurisdiction, Mr Bode was literally left treading water, more than one kilometre from the closest land mass for a period of up to a minute. "Surely there's enough questions on Duty of Care, OH&S procedures and ethics contained in this incident alone to fully investigate the heavy handed enforcement practices dished out within our NSW Marine Parks", Mr Bode concluded.

After being instructed to reboard his fishing vessel, the kayaker's innocence regarding marine park boundaries continued to be questioned by the MPA Ranger. Mr Bode was so certain about his exact proximity within CBMP that he referenced his fully functioning GPS unit. "When I viewed the onscreen display, I had proof positive that I was fishing legally at all times. My GPS proved that the Rangers visual markers were up to 30 metres wayward of a $500 fine and a certain public prosecution". Mr Bode stated. "At one time, the Advisory Committee approved the placement of marker buoys to be installed every 100 meters along the borders of this Habitat Protection Zone to help park users. I don't know why the MPA placed only one isolated marker buoy but it's currently assisting the MPA to arrive at inaccurate zoning determinations. From my experience I can only suspect they use this marker buoy as an excuse to initiate a compliance check that leads to the harassment of legitimate park users", He said.

Expressing the opinion of many NSW anglers, Mr Bode suggests the co-ordinated and often hard line stance adopted by officers representing NSW Fisheries, MPA and Maritime severely erodes the MPA's reputation as responsible, fair and ethical enforcers of regulation.

With almost twenty MPA directed vessel interactions under his belt in two years and his second MPA encounter in six weeks, Mr Bode questions the regularity of overzealous and inappropriate compliance checking. He then cites the story of two holidaying kayak anglers that reported six separate compliance based interactions with MPA appointed rangers inside CBMP over six consecutive days during the Christmas break. "If these anglers weren't getting fined, what were they getting each day? Harassed! That's what!".

The physical landscape that surrounds many popular fishing spots like those seen in CBMP, provide perfect vantage points for rangers to conduct and coordinate shore and water based surveillance and implement evidence based enforcement functions. Ranger vessels are also equipped with the latest communications equipment and scientific tools to detect accurate zone breaches and professionally enact fisheries offenses. With so much intelligence at their immediate disposal, local anglers are seriously questioning the massive disparity between the small number of infringement notices issued versus the massive number of ranger encounters they experience each year with MPA officials in Marine Parks across the state.

Since the inception of CBMP, the well known fishing columnist has made various attempts to lobby Cape Byron MPA to seek a more balanced marine park for park users. "If our MPA is committed to the continuation of trust among stakeholders, they'd consider the events of 11 February as the benchmark of all wrongdoing." He said.

Mr Bode will lodge formal complaints with all relevant Ministers, the NSW MPA, NSW Fisheries and the NSW Premier.

MY SOUNDER - CHEAP AND NASTY 'AA' BATTERIES

The boys decided another pre fish at the Clyde was on the cards, rain, hail or shine (Well rain anyway, bucket loads of it). By the time I had arrived at Braidwood I realised I hadn’t purchased AA batteries for my Lowrance X67c sounder (Yep, still using the Hobie Fishfinder kit install). No biggie, just stop at the local IGA and buy a bulk packet like I normally do. Im not big on battery quality and have only had leakage or failure once (In my GPS of all places, dang) so a 20 pack of red Eveready batteries for $12 didn’t sound half bad.

Rigging up quickly under the bridge at Nelligen the batteries popped into place and the dry bag was sealed before moving off to find the others. After an hour in sopping wet conditions I noticed the sounder was off, turned it back on and it would turn off immediately. I was here pre fishing so depth information would help but as it was not critical, I was well upstream from the launch spot.

Thinking it was water ingress of some description I unplugged the sounder and fished the remainder of the day without forcing it to try and generate power. Last night I figured I would peep the unit and make sure everything was all ok before Sundays tournament when I noticed the dry bag was well and truly wet on the inside, not a good sign. Again thinking it was a water ingress issue I removed the battery and housing, disconnected the power cable and filled the dry bag with water to check for leaks. While it stayed drip free in did house a black smelly sludge, similar smell to mud from the river.

It had stained the bag with this black substance and my skin was feeling slightly irritated... This was an odd experience. Then it clicked, inspecting the power source for corrosion of conformity I found 2 x AA batteries had split and emptied, melting a small section of the battery housing and spewing its load in the bag. Luckily I have plenty of 8 x AA Digitor battery housings in my garage (Cheap from DSE) from previous sounder wirings so after a little clean up, fresh batteries and a bag wash the unit seems good as new, even if I haven’t powered the unit on.

I have 12 of these AA batteries left, brand new in box but will turf them before the weekend. Having used Rocket, Energizer, Digitor, Eneloop and various rechargeable batteries before I am a little disappointed but only because I put my faith in a quick and cheap solution that could of had negative and disastrous effects on a rather expensive and important part of my kayak fishing kit. Don’t get me wrong, I love the quick and handy setup and know I can get a whole tournament off them without dying halfway through. While there is a cost associated with purchasing its part and parcel with my tournament fishing and much easier running power (Due to convenience) than using anything else.

Protect your gear and beware the cheap and nasty IGA special...

KFA SSBS PREFISH - DIRTY TIMES IN THE CLYDE

A few KFA members fished the Clyde yesterday, in preparation for the SSBS Clyde River round in a couple of weeks. The whole South Coast has been getting a fair drenching over the past few days (inland from Moruya got 200mm in 24 hours ), so it was no surprise that the river was running quite dirty. Meeting Craig in the morning, we slowly fished our way upstream, meeting up with Paddy and Josh..

I personally found the bream fishing very tough, with the dirty water none of my favorite shallow water techniques were giving up good fish, and I was shown up by Craig who put together a great bag of comp-legal bream on his new rod, and using a variety of deep and shallow water techniques. I caught a couple of bream that were nowhere near legal, and managed to catch just about every other species that inhabits the Clyde including flathead, snapper, garfish, Estuary perch, trevally and a honker of a whiting.

Using brightly coloured surface and suspending sub-surface offerings, the bycatch was willing but the bream were elusive, and I will be crossing my fingers for no more rain before the comp! Paddy told tales of an enormously productive snag and a 'secret lure', which I'll most definately be trying to steal ASAP! He then cooked up a massive hotplate of sausages for the annual FANGact Nelligen Jewfish trip, which we were all grateful for after a long day on the kayaks. Looking forward to a great turnout for the SSBS Clyde River round in a couple of weeks.

THE RIGHT AND THE WRONG WAY TO COMMENT

One of the oldest abd standard features on the KFA website is the comment feature located at the bottom of every post. We dont get millions of comments or emails but we get a few every now and then, some good and some bad (Some constructive and some sad). After a reader makes a comment it must be approved by admin and wont go 'Live' until it is, this step alone reduces spam and unwanted material that in no way realtes to kayak fishing or fishing in general. You dont have to be a registered Google user to post comments (Our native support CMOS) but unless you want to do so you will always remain 'Anon'.

This poses no real issue and is harmless to a point, I am always quite happy to approve any 'Anon' comment as long as it relates in a contructive way and provides a form of tangent. If users wish to add their name under their comment (Or username from another website) this can help with relation, such as a passionate south coast local was prepared to do (And I appreciated it, no sarcasm here). However, if you choose to add fuel to a fire and provide links in comments that are in no way directly related to the subject matter they will not be approved (Such is the recent case with a comment from 'Tony').

While I could understand his amazement concerning the topic he was commenting on I felt he actually had no idea on what he was commenting on, the subject related to behind the scenes, not the everyday enviroment he was used to (Anyway, subject is dropped). Any view expressed by a member of KFA or information of any context posted on KFA does not always reflect the nature of the site as a whole, every one person is treated as a singular identity and has the right to express their views. The main reason for bringing the above to light is KFA is always looking for contributions of a positive nature but will curb anything that fails to adhere to our Terms of use or Privacy Policy.

To end on a positive note I reported on a fishing trip on Lake Burley Griffin way back in 2007. Rather than rabbit on about another Redfin caught I adapted the report into poem form (Sourcing a poem 'The Hunter' from an online site). Recently the original author who I adapted my report from (And credited mind you) visited the site and saw my post, leaving a comment and a suprise for all at KFA.