Posts
Today was a good day,
My staff member Pat has been working with me on and off for the past year, with my incessant ramblings on kayak fishing finally taking its toll he insisted it was time for some extra curricular staff training. Being north side born and bred I figured a run after work on his home lake would be a great idea, I changed my mind when I reviewed my track history of said location (It was seriously not good).
A few smaller impoundments lurked near by and with some recent good success (Both landed and lost) I had high hopes of getting him onto a good fish. Patrick is quite the novice fisherman but keen as mustard to learn some good technique, obviously angling from a kayak is a whole new ball game but I decided trolling a lure around would be easy enough. The Outfitter was ready to go an hour after shutting shop, quickly pointing out the features of the yak was enough to cover the basics (Drive goes here, don’t stand up etc).
It was quite calm for the first hour but a few large raindrops threatened to spoil the adventure, a quality storm was brewing in the distance. Small medium diving Chubby imitations were deployed port and starboard, these lures (With upgraded Owner trebles) are cheap enough to lose and have proven to be deadly on Golden Perch and Murray Cod. Hopes were high and the depth achieved was exactly what we were looking for, not too deep but enough to just avoid the tips of the weed plague.
Must have been the day for fishing as the banks were building with hopefuls, I forgot to check the barometer before leaving but building storms were sure to bring the fish on the bite. A couple of kayaks practiced paddling with another sole fishing the wall, accompanied by a lone tinny with an electric motor (Ignoring the ‘No Boats’ sign). Siding a weed bed I felt a tap rapidly followed by another and then I struck, coming up solid the fight was a little easier than usual but I still had no clue as to its species.
Pat was keen to help and with prime seating position was carefully passed the net, followed by (In his words) ‘That’s totally hectic’ digital camera. The fish appeared long but the water was clear enough to see past the initial shape, a lovely Golden Perch over 50cm graced the net with Patrick’s new found skills. The lure was completely engulfed and I sensed trouble from the new trebles, luckily for the fish it ended up being extracted quite easily.
Got a few good shots on the camera and showed Patrick why I enjoy releasing these fish the most, the Perch settled once the lip grips were loosened and I was promptly soaked from the rough beat of its tail. I really wanted Pat to hook up and enjoy his maiden yak fishing experience; spying my top spots up ahead we trolled a path that was sure to initiate another bump. Sure enough about two minutes later I felt that repeated touch through the braid then nothing, normally I wouldn’t strike when trolling and even after loading the rod early last time I doubt it would have made a difference.
The wind pushed in hard about 8pm and made life interesting, at one point a gust almost spun us around (Considering the 170kg on board it was quite a feat) so we retreated to points out of the bellowing breath. My friend Jason came down for a chat and a cast or two, while he had no luck he did manage his first Cod on surface lure the night before (On of all things, a Strom Hopper Popper). The Light started to fade fast which formed a dual opinion, why not pack up while one can still see?
It was a great bonding exercise and one I approved (Unlike ‘Staff vs. Boss’ Paintball event), Pat is off to University next week and will be sad to see him go. He has helped me out when we needed him most and ultimately helped shape my store into what it is today. He is also a 19 year old kid who likes to drink slabs while attempting to catch Carp (Quite often while swimming apparently), he was totally stoked to come face to face with a Native species. Before he left work today he had a funny look in his eye and asked if I was going fishing again, should I take the hint?
I think he is hooked…
My staff member Pat has been working with me on and off for the past year, with my incessant ramblings on kayak fishing finally taking its toll he insisted it was time for some extra curricular staff training. Being north side born and bred I figured a run after work on his home lake would be a great idea, I changed my mind when I reviewed my track history of said location (It was seriously not good).
A few smaller impoundments lurked near by and with some recent good success (Both landed and lost) I had high hopes of getting him onto a good fish. Patrick is quite the novice fisherman but keen as mustard to learn some good technique, obviously angling from a kayak is a whole new ball game but I decided trolling a lure around would be easy enough. The Outfitter was ready to go an hour after shutting shop, quickly pointing out the features of the yak was enough to cover the basics (Drive goes here, don’t stand up etc).
It was quite calm for the first hour but a few large raindrops threatened to spoil the adventure, a quality storm was brewing in the distance. Small medium diving Chubby imitations were deployed port and starboard, these lures (With upgraded Owner trebles) are cheap enough to lose and have proven to be deadly on Golden Perch and Murray Cod. Hopes were high and the depth achieved was exactly what we were looking for, not too deep but enough to just avoid the tips of the weed plague.
Must have been the day for fishing as the banks were building with hopefuls, I forgot to check the barometer before leaving but building storms were sure to bring the fish on the bite. A couple of kayaks practiced paddling with another sole fishing the wall, accompanied by a lone tinny with an electric motor (Ignoring the ‘No Boats’ sign). Siding a weed bed I felt a tap rapidly followed by another and then I struck, coming up solid the fight was a little easier than usual but I still had no clue as to its species.
Pat was keen to help and with prime seating position was carefully passed the net, followed by (In his words) ‘That’s totally hectic’ digital camera. The fish appeared long but the water was clear enough to see past the initial shape, a lovely Golden Perch over 50cm graced the net with Patrick’s new found skills. The lure was completely engulfed and I sensed trouble from the new trebles, luckily for the fish it ended up being extracted quite easily.
Got a few good shots on the camera and showed Patrick why I enjoy releasing these fish the most, the Perch settled once the lip grips were loosened and I was promptly soaked from the rough beat of its tail. I really wanted Pat to hook up and enjoy his maiden yak fishing experience; spying my top spots up ahead we trolled a path that was sure to initiate another bump. Sure enough about two minutes later I felt that repeated touch through the braid then nothing, normally I wouldn’t strike when trolling and even after loading the rod early last time I doubt it would have made a difference.
The wind pushed in hard about 8pm and made life interesting, at one point a gust almost spun us around (Considering the 170kg on board it was quite a feat) so we retreated to points out of the bellowing breath. My friend Jason came down for a chat and a cast or two, while he had no luck he did manage his first Cod on surface lure the night before (On of all things, a Strom Hopper Popper). The Light started to fade fast which formed a dual opinion, why not pack up while one can still see?
It was a great bonding exercise and one I approved (Unlike ‘Staff vs. Boss’ Paintball event), Pat is off to University next week and will be sad to see him go. He has helped me out when we needed him most and ultimately helped shape my store into what it is today. He is also a 19 year old kid who likes to drink slabs while attempting to catch Carp (Quite often while swimming apparently), he was totally stoked to come face to face with a Native species. Before he left work today he had a funny look in his eye and asked if I was going fishing again, should I take the hint?
I think he is hooked…
