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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.
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.
