Maloneys Beach - 26/5/07

On this day let it be known that Squidder ( Jason ) embarked on a truly dope adventure taking in the seaside town of Longbeach and its sister beach named Maloneys, now before I begin to ramble on in the same fashion as yesteryear ( Previous trip reports ) I must elaborate on how truly magnificent the weather really was… Words wont do this justice but by comparing the 7:00am 2 degree start in Canberra to the 9:30am absolutely perfect launching condition and warm, still weather may help.

After arriving at Bateman’s Bay and heading to the local Marine dealer to pick up rubbers ( Nope, not some gay porn shoot ) we arrived at Maloneys and spied Itchyant ( Anthony ) and Caught2 ( Kim ) mooching around offshore anticipating our late but gentle start, quickly rigging up the yaks and tackle we headed off towards the duo who were working the local bombie closest to shore, Immediately Jasons Squid perception skill kicked in and rather than greet the invited guests he proceeded to try and level up on his brethren.

Anthony had already pulled in some decent Flathead including a ripper of an unknown documented size some 20m off the beach while Kim landed a legal Snapper as I arrived for a chat, the water was Gin clear even in 9m of water making structure easy to spot even without the aid of a fish finder so I eagerly threw a few plastics around hoping for a fish early in the day.

Got worked hard on the first cast of the day and lost half my plastic to some toothy critters but the good news was that the Leatherjacket plague were out for an extra long lunch and would not make an appearance today much to the pleasure of the locals and interstate guests alike, saving the Gulp and the Slick Rigs for later I switched to Pilchards and clipped on a Paternoster dropper… The wrasse hammered my offerings to the point that I got reefed many a time, I quickly learned once the snapper sinker had hit the bottom to turn the reel twice allowing the sinker and the angler ample time to stop the run towards home.

Squidder failed to raise a Squid but soon had a present fit for a Mother-in-law ( Red Bass? ) and a few wrasse to his name, conditions were that good he headed in to collect his dive gear and commence a dive of the yak hidden behind bombie section number 2 ( some 300m left of the first set ), I switched to Squid bait and hoped to hook an Ooglie or two but alas found myself dropping fish left, right and center mainly due to my oversized hooks and pickers struggling to get the mouths round my presentation, m and Anthony headed towards Yellow rock while I followed gingerly behind testing the depths further out.

Where are these so called Kingfish close to sure? What about these pan sized Snappers members seem to harvest from this fishing destination?

While watching Squidder disappear into the depths I moved on to Yellow rock while dragging a plastic way to fast, the big Hot Tomato Squidgy was smashed by something with a yellow tail, perhaps I had found the species I was looking for or PERHAPS it was the dreaded smelly toothy critters I had been doing so well to avoid over the past few years, a frown appeared quickly followed by a sigh of relief as the Pike was landed with the aid of a net and Boga grips, relief that I had finally boated my first fish for the trip some two and a bit hours after initially launching.

Met Kim and Itchyant behind Yellow rock as the wind picked up slightly and the swell rose an inch or two ( Was still an amazingly clear day ), spotted a Trevally following my Squid bait drift but failed to entice him, perhaps we wanted some Pilchard but keeping these away from the offending reef scum would be hard, moved back following the bread crumb trail on the GPS and set adrift again but this time I was smashed by a 33cm Silver Trevally who decided he didn’t want to become dinner and tried to bust me off on the reef below…

This model put up more of a fight that the 45cm Skippy I caught at Easter easily pulling drag on the Caldia Kix and bending the Heavy Procaster tip into the water, poor fish lost out to my 20lb braid and 20lb leader and was quickly bled inside my Hobie dry bag stowed securely inside the middle hatch on the Quest, checked the time on the Garmin and decided to troll various lures along the rocky edge back towards Squidder to see how his dive fared and to ask when the Hamburger Deluxe mission was scheduled for.

Squidder seemed pleased but a little miffed at conditions on the day, a few Leatherjackets ( Jealous Davey G? ) and a nice Black Drummer were speared but no Abalone or Crayfish were discovered, these conditions made for perfect sailing and boating weather but perhaps forced the fish into deeper water where conditions are murkier and safer for fish and crustaceans, Diving from the yak looked fun and the Fish ‘N’ Dive was used for its intended purpose for the first time since Jason moved from Melbourne to Canberra.

Itchyant had to head off and Kim seemed to never want to come in so it was burger time, a plan of packing up the gear and going for a shore based fish / dive was hatched but only after one of these so called super burgers was munched alongside a minimum chips and many a coke beverage, must say the burgers were quite nice and it was pleasant to taste a good, crisp flavour ( Sign read ‘ We use Soy Linseed oil in our cooking ‘ ) I have not experienced before.

Running out of time we headed back to the beach with bloated bellies just in time to meet Kim loading her yak on her roof racks, Jason offered assistance while I bludged about enjoying my ciggie and perplexed over when sunset would actually occur, Kim thought we had about 1 hr left so we bid farewell and went left along the shore towards a reefy point and Squidder entered the water immediately spooking a few monster Flathead in his first five minutes of diving, I cast plastics from the beach hoping to secure a fish of any species but found nothing but rocks and weed which claimed the life of a few Gulp laden jig heads.

Moving away I kept hoping plastics till I found a Stingray holding ground at my feet, I had not noticed this Ray before so was amused and took some photos before testing its response with plastics, It was interested but I was not going to hook this little beast so I just teased it on and off for a few minutes before I noticed Jason exiting the water empty handed exclaiming that once the sun had set behind the hills that eyesight had become extremely poor, he was pleased that he saw the big Flatheads and estimated a few close to 80cm in size.

Packing up we headed for home and arrived at my house for a feed prepared lovingly by my partner Claire, she made me proud cooking up her famous Lasagna & garlic Bread combo followed by Chocolate Pudding, Offering Jason free veggies and poultry plundered from her sisters rural property we sat down for a good feed and a tale or two… Thanks to Jason for his driving skills and invitation and to the others for spending time with me on a body of water I have not fished before.

Canberra - Googong Dam 13/5/07

Mothers Day, my mum lives in Sydney ( So I went fishing )...

Typical start to the morning this time of year, it is getting bloody cold in Canberra and must have been around the 4 degree mark when Funda arrived to pick me up complete with Thule carrier to house my Quest for the journey through Queanbeyan out towards the Dam, a few heart flutters as we were pulled up for a breath test but Allan laid off the grog more than usual opting for a headache free launch onto the gin clear waterway.

Arriving at the gate about 7:45am, which was open early, we opted to meet Craig ( Newest Canberra AKFF member and old friend ) at the ramp which is totally out of the water creating a muddy exit, Craig arrived bang on 8am complete with his cute orange Ocean kayak ‘Frenzy’ and we all rigged up in hope of a native fish or two, was a bit surprised to see Craig’s kayak had no seats and no rod holders ( And scupper holes located in the seat position ) so felt sorry for him till he remarked the kayak was a gift from his sister, nothing like a FREE yak no matter which brand or model.

Paddling / Pedaling past Shannon’s Inlet behind the island we moved off in search of shelter as the wind was blowing ever so slightly creating a cold and overcast morning, a journey to the far reaches of Wells inlet was on the cards looking for the rocky structure and decrepit dirt cliffs to cast Spinnerbaits along, on the way we trolled amongst the 4-5m mark for a good half an hour parallel to the shallow weed beds often sighting large schools of active Redfin on the sounder, these fish were either high in the water column or lying on the edge of my sonar beam hugging the bottom hard in numbers.

The water was deep in parts with 36m registering often so staying tight to shore was the only option till structure was established, removing weed from trebles was a common occurrence so in frustration at lack of sunshine and shoreline cruising Golden Perch we spilt up with Allan powering his Adventure ahead while Craig remained central in deep water following slowly behind, I moved on to the opposite side of the Dam hoping to catch some fish off guard in untouched water ( We had the whole Dam to ourselves ).

Rounding a significant point I noticed Craig had caught up to Funda and from a distance they seemed to be having a chat, I watched them from afar occasionally but I was too busy trying to focus my energy on trolling and the GPS / Sounder to pay much attention, out of the corner of my eye I saw Craig jostle to the side and remain patiently alongside Cod Whisperer below some steep rocky structure, I knew this only usually means one thing so pulled in my Viking Talisman and franticly paddled the 700m distance hoping I wasn’t to late to witness the catch ( The time had just passed 9am, catch of the day already? ).

Seems the fight had been going on longer than I thought ( Around 10 minutes before I arrived on the scene ), as I got closer Craig was waving me over and Funda smiled and remarked ‘ Get your camera ready, biggest fish you will ever see ‘, I asked him if it was a Cod but in hindsight realised that was a stupid question as his Heartland Z was buckled to breaking point, the battle continued and was watched by a well traveled bank angler who had made the long trip from the carpark, he was caught mid step in awe when he saw / heard Funda coaching / coaxing the fish from the bottom.

After 20 – 25 minutes the leader knot appeared and a MASSIVE Murray Cod measuring 1m + ( 115cm to be exact ) was secured with the Boga grips, we quickly moved over to the bank and its angler offered some assistance grabbing Funda’s paddle which allowed for perfect controlled handling of the fish and the opportunity for 20 seconds of photos as I drifted by, I must say I am getting better and better at taking photos of Allan with Cod and think I captured the moment superbly with my 3.2mp Olympus Digital Camera.

Funda joked that it was time to go home but promised to stick around for us newbies to get a shot at the title but with a fish like that we new are chances were slim to nil, I mentioned I was off to get a Redfin and departed the duo thanking the bank angler again as I moved back to the other side of the lake I was working previously before I was so rudely interrupted, after I could hear Cod Whisperer mentioning to Craig what a poor bastard I was being only able to catch fish with red colours, English Perch, Red Rock Cod and Sgt. Baker ( Don’t forget the occasional Snapper mate! ).

Deployed the silver and red Viking Talisman and commenced trolling once again only this time I hit a large school of Redfin on the head cruising the foreshores, a quick check on the rod tip indicated I was on to a 20cm Specimen much to the amusement of Funda, I was determined to at least catch a horde of the English invaders but as time took its toll ( About 45 minutes later ) I only managed to land a slightly larger model around 25cm… Wonder how Craig was faring?

Caught up with Craig who exclaimed ‘No glory’ so we had a nice chat, was great to catch up with Craig as he was around when I first started Dj’ing out at Raves and Dance parties and lived with some good mates of mine back in the day, we both spotted some fishy looking rocky ledges in the distance ( Known locally as ‘The Cliffs’ ) but before we could both head over we realized Allan was already there throwing Spinnerbaits in search of Perch ( I don’t think he was targeting Cod anymore by this stage ).

Well and truly entrenched in Wells Inlet we pulled over on a bank for some lunch and a few brews while we talked smack, I finally had a chance to show Allan the photos I was so happy with and the look on his face said it all, he mentioned he was still shaking from the experience and was on cloud 9 at the moment, I mean who wouldn’t be… Some people go Skydiving, some people go Bungy Jumping and some people just catch metre plus Murray Cod ( Enough said really, don’t you think? ).

The wind had dropped for the most part but was starting to pick up so we headed back towards the ramp following roughly the same route but with slight variations, I moved on ahead of the duo who were eagerly swapping fishing stories and tried my luck trolling different lures and casting Jackals into unknown small Inlets, at one stage a fish appeared on the surface next to my yak and headed deep into a weed bed but I was only able to sight the trailing fin breaking the surface, I was running out of time to get a decent comp entry ( Feral species or not ) but knew today was not my day… Somehow I didn’t feel too dejected after witnessing such an awesome spectacle beforehand and I felt extremely proud that Craig and I witnessed such a feat, what a way to welcome a new member to the forum.

Arriving safely back at the ramp we packed our things, bid farewell to Craig and departed Googong Dam, this was only the third time I have taken my kayak out here and hope once the weather returns to make many similar trips, I do not wish to catch metre Cod ( Or any Cod mind you ) until I am ready and am quite happy to support Allan on future endeavors till its my time, till then its ‘Reddies’ and ‘Ooglies’ only… Lucky for me both species taste superb!

Yours truly,

The Redfin Whisperer.

Casey's Beach & Moruya River - 5/5/07 & 6/5/07

Friday 4th May 2007

After missing out on the Congo trip due to some minor issues ( Adequate camping gear, personal organizational skills and possibly brain power ) Claire and I decided to venture to Bateman’s Bay for the weekend hoping for some decent fishing and a relaxing getaway, leaving straight after work on Friday we arrived at our Hotel around 8:30pm and headed straight to ‘Sam’s on the Water’, our favourite boring Pizza restaurant for a quick feed before raiding Woolworth’s and bunking down for the night.


Saturday 5th of May 2007

Bart 70 ( Rob to most people ) had sent me a few PM’s on the forum mentioning he and his wife Therese were up for a fish and had the same idea in mind, find somewhere calm to launch close or at Casey’s Beach allowing for kids to be ferried to a babysitter plus finding decent fishing grounds ( Followed by a quick snooze, actually that was my agenda ) before having a BBQ around 6pm, I must thank Rob once again for organising and inviting both Claire and I for an evening BBQ saving us from more Pizza and drunken neighbours in the Hotel room next to us.

Launched at Casey’s beach opposite the Caravan Park into very calm waters and commenced a quick troll and scout of the area, Rob and Therese were running a little late so we headed around the headland and back followed by a run along the beach in search of positive soundings on the fish finder, wasn’t long before millions of fish started filling the screen to a point were it was filled with symbols from the FISH ID feature on the Pirahna Max10, A massive school of Slimey Mackerel were roaming the beach looking for a feed and were only identified as the mentioned species when Claire hooked a larger specimen caught on a piece of frozen Pilchard. Rob and Therese arrived and started hooking into them with their soft plastics with Therese scoring her first fish from the kayak before hooking many, many more…

Rob ventured in closer to the rocks and found a usually inaccessible patch full of just legal Flathead, this part of Casey’s is normally swelled up to the point of whitewater plaguing the zone but not today. Scoring plenty of Lizards with Therese ( She was on fire ) we moved in closer to the sandy section and landed a few undersized fish before I managed a 39cm Flathead which I kept in hope of a few more to grace a plate sometime in the near future ( Got to love Flathead fillets from the freezers ), the water was gin clear which made for some exciting takes in 3m of water with polarized sunglasses aiding in sighting fish and enjoying the take even more all whilst avoiding the small Stingrays moving in for the kill.

Rob took us to another spot some hundred meters away on the Ocean side of a rock platform mentioning the fact he had secured a Snapper and decent Flathead the previous days trip, on the way over we all trolled lures with Rob boating a toothy Pike and a few other species, sitting behind the rocks I changed baits and started using sections of the Slimey Mackerel with immediate effect as Claire and I got slammed by many BIG fish returning to their rocky lairs resulting in plenty of lost paternoster rigs.

Therese caught the first ‘Ooglie’ of the day before heading in to fetch the kids, Rob escorted her in to shore then returned to us for some more action, we ran out of bait after I caught my first Pike ( Smelly things aren’t they? ) so we switched to Slick Rigs much to Claire’s dismay ( She only likes using bait, guess who had to put it on her hook though? ), her facial expression changed when she was almost bricked by a BIG Rock Cod but her 20lb leader saved the day… Started telling Rob how much of an ‘Ooglie Whisperer’ I was when Claire hooked an even BIGGER Rock Cod followed by another one, then another one before I landed a few in quick succession ( All were just as big as my Barlings specimens ). Kept two ‘Ooglies’ and the Flathead and called it a day after 6 hours on the water, went back to the Hotel for a quick snooze before returning with Claire to meet our hosts for a nice BBQ evening in the grounds of the Caravan Park, Rob and I discussed many things throughout the night and decided on a small yak trip to Moruya River early Sunday morning before we had to check out of the Hotel.


Sunday 6th of May 2007

Woke early after a crap nights sleep ( Good TV and drunken neighbours ) and arrived at the launch site at 7:30am spying Rob on the water in the distance, rigged up quickly and headed over to say hello while trolling 2 SX40’s and opening various packets of Gulp in preparation for a feeding frenzy, Claire got some big hits early but dropped fish on her Lime Tiger 3” Gulp minnow so we went trolling upstream towards the culvert, no go zone in there today due to low water levels so headed back to Flathead spot #56892.

Didn’t have much luck here either so paddled down towards the bridge hugging the road side of the river trolling our Ecogear’s looking for snags, a few snags showed positive signs of life and I managed to hook a cute little Bream followed by a smaller one as I rounded the sunken timber… On the way back Claire had a good hit on the troll but once again failed to hook up for some unknown reason, running out of time we decided on one more quick bash at spot #56892 before departing the River system. Baitfish were getting smashed and large symbols started appearing on my sounder, Claire retrieved her Soft Plastic on one occasion so fast a big fish performed a surface strike next to the yak but missed the hook, the common consensus was these were big Tailor or Salmon bruising the population of Whitebait, Claire finally raised an undersized Flounder which self released while I was searching for the pliers.

Rob, myself and Claire pedaled to shore to pack our things before we dashed off quickly hoping to avoid any late fees incurred by our late checkout, I must say if anyone is heading down Bateman’s Bay way either solo or in a group I urge you to PM Bart 70 and check if he is down this way, most weekends he is available and around these locations and is always up for a fish ( Helps that he is one top bloke ).

Thanks again Rob and Therese for the company…