NSW - SOUTH COAST BREAMING 28/5/11

I made a quick trip down to one of my local spots on Saturday for a morning session to try out a few new lures that i havent had much of a chance to use yet, so packed minimal gear to stop me from using my usual favourites and really work these new lures hard. The weather was perfect, with only a light breeze blowing it was a beautiful morning, and with not another person in sight made it even better.

My first choice of lure, was a soft plastic on an unweighted hook, the SP was a izumi pintail 3" japanese lure, these lures look great and i have a lot of confidence in them even though i have only used them a couple of times so far. Casting over a shallow weedbed using a darting action typical of a flickbait lure, it wasnt long into the session i got a very small tap, followed by another then on the pause the SP got hit and a nice 35cm bream soon ended up in the net.

I managed a few smaller fish from the same spot before it went quiet so i ventured further upstream casting at anything that looked fishy with only a few more small bream along the way. Eventually i found some fallen trees to cast at in a few feet of water, and on the 2nd cast i saw a bream dart out from the snag and hit the lure hooking up straight away, i really didnt think much of it at the time as the fish didnt fight too hard and came in with little resistance until it saw the yak and took off in the opposite direction.

After a solid run, the fish stopped so i applied some pressure but felt the line rubbing on something, guessing it was a snag i thought it was all over but as i pedalled to the spot the fish had just buried me deep into some thick weed. With some gentle pressure, i eventually got the fish out of the weed and into the yak for a quick measure and photo, it went 37cm fork length and was quite thick too.

I did manage a couple more from the same area that went a little smaller and lost one to a snag that i think might have been a touch bigger. On the way back i fished a bit deeper, up to 2m with some sinking stick minnows, which i have only just started to use and managed a few smaller fish between 25 and 30cm. It was only a short session but one im very satisfied with.

The pintail plastics really worked a treat, and i have a few other things i want to try with them so when i get a chance to, ill post up some results.

DAIWA-HOBIE ABT RND 12 NARRABEEN 11-12/6/11

Round 12 of the Daiwa-Hobie ABT series rolls into Narrabeen for a massive two day event. Showcasing the best of the best kayak tournament anglers from around the country, its an event on the calender not to be missed. Last years event had plenty of just undersized Bream but with the new measurement system nearly every fish you land will be over the magical mark. The turnout is sure to be huge and the Sydney crew are super keen to draw blood on home turf (Bring it on).

With only four events left on the calender before the Grand Final this is the last NSW event you can enter (Apart from the State Titles at St. Georges Basin in August). Dont miss out on securing a spot in the GF as all the following events (Sans NSW S.T) are in QLD, S.A and VIC.

• June 11-12th R12- Narrabeen Lakes 3 GF spots 2 Day Event



• July 2-3rd R13- Redcliffe (QLD ST) 5 GF spots 2 Day Event



• August 13-14th R14- St Georges Basin (NSW ST) 5 GF spots 2 Day Event



• September 17-18th R15- Westlakes 3 GF spots 2 Day Event



• October 2nd R6- Hopkins(Rescheduled) 3 GF spots 1 Day Event - Sunday



• October 29-30th Hobie GF (Port Macquarie) 2 Day Event

For more information, please click here

SQUIDGIE SOUTHERN BREAM SERIES - ROUND 6

Round 6 of the Squidgie Southern Bream Series is on this Sunday the 5th of June. Just over half way through the series and with only two more rounds to the Grand Final it's a must attend event (Especially if you havent qualified). Start and finish location is Adelaide St Reserve, Greenwell Point. Please note parking is limited so best to arrive early and snare a spot.

For entry form PDF file with all the details on the round, please click here.

For more information, please visit:

http://www.ssbs.basinlureandfly.org.au

YAK FISHER MAGAZINE #54 (WINTER EDITION)

Issue #53 winter 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 toparticles from seasoned sport fishing journalists such as Steve Starling, Shane Mensforth, Al McGlashan, Scott Gray and Nigel Webster, Lee Rayner, Neil Schultz just to name a few.

YAK Fisher Kayaking Magazine has Yak news plus articles on sailing a fishing kayak, Mulloway Masters, The Bays of Barrington, Currarong, Peddals, paddles and salmnoids, Egi Inc, Yakkin about Natives, Winter Estuary (By yours truly) and much, much more (Including a lovely article by on a favourite location, Tuross).

Available at all good newsagents or by subscription,

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

ACT - CARP, CARP, WEATHERING CARP 29/5/11

So, what do you do when the weather has locally has been crap, the free time coastal jaunts have revealed ordinary forecasts and a trip into the mountains gets canned due to inclement weather?

Well round these parts we go Carp Fishing, and with so many local lakes to bag a Euro from the hardest part has been just making up our minds where to fish. Take your pick, there all full of them and in large numbers. Firstly we recently went down to the upper parts of Lake Tuggeranong (Opposite Bunnings) and wailed them, The action started off pretty slow and we were a hairs width away from moving on to find some place more promising when they mooched on in. Rigs of choice were the fabled Jindy Rig (1m leader, split shot, running ball above) and a Canadian hair rig (medium hook, braided hair, bait threader, small leader, large sinker).

This was the first time I had used a hair rig and I was a little sceptical at first due to the open gape and especially the Power Pro braided leader and hair. Needless to say the specialist Carp rigs worked really well and we landed around 8 fish and lost 3 or so more. Bait was mainly corn kernels but Chartreuse Powerbait nuggets were employed either stand alone or combined with the Corn. I was fishing with Tim and his mate Serge (Two Canadians) so hopes were high of an Australian victory on what was once bogan home soil (Since graduated to Northside standing). Serge landed a cracker after an hour of scattering berley, followed by Tim, then Serge, then Tim, oh wait I'm on, no I'm not, then Tim, the Serge... You get the drift, nil result for the local. Still, great times with the Maple leaves and learned the subtle art of the hair.

Secondly a bunch of us decided to take the better halves and kiddies for a picnic morning/day to another arena known as Lake Ginninderra (This time, Northside Canberra). Over the years there has been a particular possie that always seemed to be inhabited by those in the know (Long rods, fancy bite alarms, slingshots) and after a brief suss out the day before it was decided it would be worth staking a wintery claim. Conditions were great, little wind, cold start but the barometer was most likely too high for impressive results (That's what I am blaming anyway). With new found hair rig skills and a profound tier of them onboard we donned them proper and awaited the onslaught. Factoring in the one or so hour berley trail wait we held our ground but relaxed our gaze, focusing on family rather than fishing.

Activity on the water slowly started picking up but it wasn't until early afternoon before things got interesting (We arrived at 10am, long wait). Schools of Goldfish started appearing, at first a dozen or so, followed by a school football oval sized flock (Well, scattered around in large numbers anyway). Jason switched to a size 8 Mosquito hook and tried slow sinking small clumps down to them, eventually hooking and landing what looked like a small Carp but was in fact quite a large Goldfish. It's at this stage we packed up and threw in the towel, just when things were starting to get interesting. As a resident of Canberra I forget we have our own sportsfish, I guess I'm scared to label them as that (No, not the Goldfish) due to the bad publicity they so rightly deserve. I'm sure you get some sort of glowing reputation and bad karma points when you glam up days chasing Carp, but when the weather is foul, it is what it is and you don't leave the hub.

(Image courtesy of Tim Allard - www.timallard.ca)