YAKABOUT.COM.AU (THANKS FROM KFA)

Recently, KFA headquarters was broken into and a lot of important equipment related to our pursuits was stolen. To say myself and my friends were gutted is an understatement. What really hurt more than knowing someone had been in your private and personal space was the fact I lost most of my archival tools, my off-road GPS, all of my cameras and my business laptop. Sure, loads of other important things went missing but my creative side that makes me the person I am today was completely crushed and missing. Still trying to dust myself off and also still finding things missing, even over two weeks later.

The support from friends and acquaintances has been outstanding; I truly feel the love more than ever in Kayak Fishing and friendship circles. From support from my sponsors, Faraz @ Ugly Fish and Steve @ Hobie Australia down to people I have met once or twice, their good vibes really helped. AKFF members posted lovely supportive comments and in some cases replacement products (Or offers of loans) to my door (Thanks Skorgard, Blueyak, Feel the Sting and others). Claire and I were blown away with your support; it’s kept me smiling through this world of pain.

One touching gesture stood out from the rest, one by fellow Hobie Fishing Team member (Factory) Josh Holmes. Many of you will know Josh from his website http://www.yakabout.com.au and his approach to Kayak Fishing and reporting his adventures. For many years Josh and I owned the same model camera, a Canon G7 but recently Josh has seriously upgraded his arsenal to include HD Video capture and Digital SLR stills. My G7 was stolen with the rest of the loot and left a huge void in my life, Josh offered to sell me his now unused G7 to me at a highly, highly discounted rate. It arrived today; I skipped round the shop like a kid in a candy store.

I have learned to use this model camera flawlessly over the years and even though it lacks RAW mode, its predecessors (G9, G10, and G11) all seemed unworthy of a very expensive upgrade. All the underwater accessories remain from my previous camera so the obsolete ruling is out, at last I feel like I can move on. If you are reading this Josh I really do appreciate the thought, knowing full well it would bring a smile to my face. Not only have you saved me a lot of money but you have enabled me to be able to follow in your footsteps, I hope to also be shooting HD video very, very shortly.

Kayak Fishing Adventures is an expanded effort on my initial blog, mimicking in ways the success of my peer’s effort to portray this hybrid sport in a positive light. While united somewhat through company sponsorship this bond of passion and representation blows boundaries far away, Kayak Fishing Adventures is proud to be a supporter of http://www.yakabout.com.au and endeavour to follow up with an interview of the man responsible and a proper website showcase showing just what effort gets put in to the number one (Non forum) Kayak Fishing website in Australia… Yakabout.

Thanks from all at KFA for helping us find our feet again!

THE KFA KITCHEN - ATLANTIC SALMON KEBABS

Atlantic Salmon is often considered one of the finer fish you can buy from the supermarket. Fresh fillets or steaks are often easier to buy prepared for cooking than to catch for the table bit areas are available to tangle and secure world class dining (Sometimes right at your door). A native of European and North American rivers draining into the northern Atlantic Ocean, the Atlantic salmon has been introduced into Lake Jindabyne and Khancoban Pondage. No wild populations occur since most of the natural life cycle is spent at sea. The Atlantic salmon is considered a great sport fish and is keenly sought by anglers and farmed heavily in the southern state of Tasmania.

Char-Grilled Atlantic Salmon Kebabs & Vegetables with Lime Mayonnaise :

750g thick sashimi-grade Atlantic Salmon fillet, skin off (see notes)

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

8 bamboo skewers, soaked in water for at least 1 hour

⅓ cup whole-egg mayonnaise (see tips)

1 tablespoon lime juice

3 zucchini, trimmed and sliced lengthways into 5mm-thick strips

3 Japanese eggplants, trimmed, sliced lengthways into 5mm-thick strips

1 red capsicum, seeded and cut into thick slices2 small red onions, quartered

1. Cut fish into large even cubes, place in a bowl and toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Thread the cubes onto the skewers, cover and refrigerate until ready to cook. Combine mayonnaise and lime juice; you may not need all of the juice, but it should taste lightly tangy. Set aside. Heat a barbecue or char-grill plate. Brush the zucchini, eggplants, capsicum and onions with remaining olive oil, salt and pepper, and cook for 2-4 minutes each side, until well coloured.


2. Remove and set aside.Cook the skewers for 30-60 seconds on each side, until the flesh is opaque almost all the way to the centre. Don’t cook them all the way through, as they’ll continue to cook after they are removed from the heat. Arrange the vegetables in the centre of each plate with the skewers on top. Drizzle with some of the lime mayonnaise and pass the rest separately.

KFA Kitchen tips:

• Sashimi-grade fish is normally sold trimmed, if it is not, trim off any skin and dark muscle and check for bones before cutting it. If you don’t want to make your own mayonnaise, use one made from whole eggs such as S&W or Thommy. Japanese or Lebanese eggplants are long thin purple eggplants, sometimes also called slipper, or baby, eggplants.
• Alternative Species: Albacore, Bonito, Mackerel, Marlin, Swordfish, Tuna.

CANBERRA - MOLONGLO RIVER 29/8/09

Eating too many Molonglo donuts makes me rather crabby and rude,

Outlook for this weekend seemed crappy everywhere, up the coast, down the coast and inland all had severe cases of gale force wind. One of the only local places I know that is sheltered in all but the fiercest of storms is the Molonglo River, even Craig 450 had made the journey to Canberra to fish it land based and from a stinker. Thought about the pike and enjoying the home heating when Jason rang and mentioned two species of fish Craig had already caught since arriving, Golden Perch and Murray Cod. Even though it was raining I could hear the interpolation in Squidders voice, he was keen as much as I was game.

When it rains it pours, blows it gales and chills it freezes. This wasn’t easy going but it was out of the majority of the wind, unfortunately it was in the path of some serious thunderstorms. They past slowly and had me searching for a barometer onboard, something I must purchase soon in the form of a feature on a watch. Craig lost a few after they launched the boat and after four hours I eventually got whacked once, no sticky lips though but far different to the snag pulls received hours previous. With the willows removed on the Duntroon side it can be hard to judge what remains in the water and where but even a basic depth sounder can pick up high horizontal structure.

Squidder munched on donuts too, most probably the same fate as Craig’s mate Alf. A quick visit and inspection from the Water Police plus a friendly wave signalled my chance to head for home. After farewelling Jason I paddled hard, testing speed and fitness against an increasing channelling wind. An average speed of 7kmph was held for a lot longer than I expected, perhaps it was the dark gloomy clouds increasing my pace or the anticipation of more savoury donuts for dinner. I slowed for the popular snags but the large Viking Talisman or the 90mm AC Invader bothered no one, their presence only seemed to annoy the racing skis who use this avenue for fitness and physical exertion (Along with inane conversations about bugger all).

The latest issue of Freshwater Fishing features an article on targeting Golden Perch in Canberra. Probably a good idea to follow up on some of Ben Caddeye’s tips and techniques from the magazine, my free well earned advice is to definitely downsize lures and be aware Golden Perch are notorious followers, sometimes hitting on the pause or an arcing lures turn (Keep them guessing, predictable paces when trolling lose out).As of Tuesday 1st of September next week the Murray Cod season in Canberra will be closed until Tuesday December 1st. While by-catch can be an issue its worth noting that immediately releasing any hooked Cod is in their best interest (And yours in the long run).

BLF SOUTHERN BREAM SERIES 2009 # 5

Southern Bream Series 2009 # 5 Kayak Section

VENUE : Clyde River
Starting at the shores behind Nelligen Caravan Park
Briefing will be at the shores behind Nelligen Caravan Park .

DATE : Sunday 20 th September 2009

FISHING TIME : 6.00am – 1.00 pm

FINISH LOCATION : At the shores behind Nelligen Caravan Park

ENTRY FEE : $25 per kayak (one angler per kayak)

Cash prizes awarded based on entries received. The competition will be an individual event for Kayaks with separate cash prizes to the boating section. All kayak anglers will also be eligible for the Biggest Bream prize.

RULES:

• Fishing will commence at 6am. All kayaks must be at the finish location with key tag returned by 1.00pm otherwise they will be disqualified.
  
• The boundaries for this event will be The Clyde River and it’s tributaries. No boat is to cross theOpen Waters Limit. No fishing in the Marina and no fishing in the Sanctuary Zones. Fishingoutside these boundaries will result in disqualification.
  
• Life Jackets must be worn whilst kayak is on the move.
  
• Propulsion is by under water kick or paddle power only.
  
• 2 bream only per individual to be weighed live at the weigh in location.
  
• All fish must be Fisheries Legal Length (to tip of tail) to be eligible for weighing.(250mm)
  
• All fish must be released after live weigh in.
  
• The weigh master’s decision is final.
  
• It is the responsibility of the angler to hold a current NSW recreational fishing licence
  
• It is the responsibility of the kayak owner to comply with current NSW Waterways rules and regulations.
  
• Lure and fly only. No bait or burley permitted.
  
• Anglers may fish with one hand held rod at any one time.
  
• Failure to comply with the rules will result in disqualification. It is the angler’s responsibility to ensure the survival of the fish until weigh in, a live well or aerated tank is recommended.

For more information and entry forms please visit:

http://www.basinlureandfly.org.au/images/Southern%20bream_5_%202009Kayak.pdf

http://www.basinlureandfly.org.au/competition.php

NSW SOUTH COAST - DURRAS 22/8/09

Jason 'Squidder' Price with a nice 55cm Blue Morwong

The weekends forecast was looking good for a session on the Snapper so i met up with Squidder in the early hours of Saturday morning and we headed for the launch spot near Wasp island. The wind was quite a bit stronger than predicted and the current was pushing in the same direction which made drifting difficult but we kept at it hoping to score some big Snapper.

We sounded up some good ground and some large bait schools but not much was happening, not even the usual rubbish fish, we tried deeper up to 25m of water, then in close in 7m of water and everything in between until eventually Squidder landed a Snapper that measured 45cm's. Still nothing on the scoreboard for me so a few changes of lure and colours later i hooked onto a reasonable fish which i dropped after a short fight so i opened the bail arm and dropped the lure back down and hooked up again immediately, but after another short fight the hook pulled again!!

I persisted in the area for a while after that with no more luck so we paddled south towards a headland that looked promising and started a new drift in about 15m of water. I started getting some solid takes on my first cast but again was not getting solid hook ups, i heard a noise to my left and looked over to see Squidder in a battle with a good fish, it was fighting hard on the light gear and made several good runs before he eventually got colour on it for the first time and it turned out to be a good Mowie that measured at 55cm's.

We continued drifting south with me hooking and dropping fish every couple of minutes and still had no fish on the board. Squidder then lands himself a nice Snapper that went about 60cm's, shortly after that local gun fisho Greg Lewis turns up and lands a 6lb Snapper from under our nose to show us how its done. The wind was only getting stronger and we had quite a distance to paddle to make it back to our starting point so we all decided to call it a day at that point.

So another fishless trip for me makes it 3 in a row and counting, surely my luck has to change soon!!

YAK FISHER MAGAZINE #47 (SPRING EDITION)

Issue #47 spring 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, AKFF website news plus the complete run down on the KFT tournament series wrap up and comes with bonus 90min DVD footage. It also features many articles by industry stalwarts covering new products / innovations / gear reviews, plastic tactics, ‘A yak with’ section, Melbourne shallow water spots, Which kayak for me (By yours truly) and much, much more.

Available at all good newsagents or by subscription,

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

CANBERRA - LAKE BURLEY GRIFFIN 23/8/09

Some group therapy with good mates and nice weather,

It had been ages since I ventured onto Lake Burley Griffin, for most of the early parts of the year the lake had been closed due to Blue Green Algae. I used to know this place like the back of my hand, its weed beds, old river runs and potentially profitable snags. All it takes is a few months away from your favourite haunt and presto, you feel naked. As mentioned above this was not by choice mind you, there are other impoundments that drew my attention away but in mainly wavered due to closure.

Late August spells Wattle blooms and the early signs of windy wafts and warm weather approaching. The Golden Perch tend to venture out around this time, mingling around weed beds in shallow confines before returning to slightly deeper water and snag lines structure early in the New Year. A good way to check out wether it is worth a visit is by paying close attention to water temperature and Carp surface activity. Today saw below average water temps of 11 degrees and little Euro instinct.

Most of the weed beds had died off over the winter periods so finding fish proved difficult, the sounder showed promise but well worn lures scouring the underwater breadth failed to establish their prey. Koich, Squidder and I put in a grand effort and enjoyed the balmy conditions, slight wind and a vacant disposition. After a few hours the Ayu Chubby came up tight passing in shallow water between the Spinnaker island and Yarralumla Bay, nothing extravagant but any fish will do today (Sub 30cm Redfin).

While the wind blew harder, my mind grew stronger. I was chasing Yellowbelly but knew by this stage hopes were fading fast. After dropping another Redfin I commenced a drift towards the cars and the departure point. The same rod, same lure buckled over and an identical English Perch graced the deck. Squidder kept belting over to get photos, guess wbetween three of us over 4 hours any two fish was as exciting as it could get. My handling skills have been commented on, yes I released it.

Slow starts in August can change in as little as a week, I spoke with another kayaker (Cammers?) and some blokes in a tinny that hadn’t received a touch. Constant warmer weather will obviously warm water temperatures, my prediction is when it hits 16 degrees solid all hell will break lose. It has done this last year, the year before, the year before that… Its pretty much a given. Be aware by this stage Murray Cod season will be well and truly over till December 1st, time to downsize those lures!

BAGO STATE FOREST - NIGHTMARE 14/8/09

From adventure to nightmare, all before the camping began...

This was supposed to be a trip report like no other, a weekend visit to one of my favourite places on earth. Where the Trout are thick and the Brumbies are wild, where the countryside is rugged but the drive in forgiving. The Snowy Valley townships are bound by ice and snow half the year and the weather forecast was fine, seemed like a perfect opportunity to flow over the Brindibella Ranges and to weekend freedom.

Our destination was Paddy’s River Dam, just outside of Batlow and nestled deep within the Bago State Forest. It had been many months since I first was shown this amazing place, Christmas period last year to be precise. Even back only 8 months my memory was as vivid as the oversaturated images I managed with my digital camera. The car was packed to the brim, gleaming with all its shiny do dads and what nots. The motza feeling appeals even more when its taken off-road, I had pride and it felt like it had its place. Leaving Canberra at 3:37pm we aimed for a 3.5 hr trip only interrupted by sheer brilliance and awe along the way… This was not to be.

Everything was smooth, bar the last 30km till we reached our destination. This road into the Dam is heavily soiled with logging truck reminance and slush puppy mud, not the kind of place you want to be travelling to in low light conditions with your mind set on erecting the tent (Quickly I might add). All of a sudden I lost control of the vehicle and mounted the bush, literally. It all happened in slow motion too, slow enough for me to realise what was going on. I braced for the worst, encouraging my partner to do the same. As we hit the closest tree we careened onto the next, snapping it in half and coming to a dead stop.

I feared the worst but realised Claire was shaken but unharmed, my mind quickly turned to the damage on my car. I have been in this position before and was kicking myself so hard for making another mistake that would harm ‘Big Willie’. I reversed out and quickly shut him off, inspecting the outcome and scratching my bruised ego. To say I was relieved initially would be an understatement, it was dark and any damage appeared minimal. Apart from a small ding in my upper bar I figured we were getting away scot free, the pored in money and SubaXtreme had done their job. Accessories aren’t only for posers like me but they seem to protect too.

Cautiously moving onward to the camp site the road grew worse but my awareness of trouble seemed to become stronger. The smell of rubber filled the cabin every time we drove below 20kmph, something was eroding away. The campsite loomed and a started looking round for the high powered torch even as we pulled in to grounds. ‘Big Willie’ had indeed taken more damage than I first thought, the front bar had almost fallen off and my rear left strut was bent enough to scrub out my tyre. I was humiliated but honoured no one was hurt in the progress of once again learning from a mistake. Our eagerness to arrive, descending a tiny incline and the muddy ruts had taken its toll. Luckily for me I was being followed by the king of all bush mechanics.

Needless to say many drinks were consumed that night; I was a smidgeon away from topping a whole bottle of Jack Daniels. This seemed to numb the brain but reality was sure to kick in the morning, best case scenario is I would limp home on Sunday; worst case was a flat bed truck tow home on a Saturday (A likely outcome). I chose to ignore the car most of the following morning, choosing to fish for Trout using my kayak and land based methods. The going wasn’t easy and it took me all day to land the prettiest fish I had seen in ages, complete with par markings and an undersized stature. After releasing the fish I spied my wounded warrior through the trees, neglect him I could do no more.

Those that know me know I am mad, spend thrifty and completely obsesses with this car. My mechanical skills are non existent and servicing even seems out of my league. Nothing but the best will do, I am a show pony in a world of big horses and my trick count is little or none. Still, having poured my wallet out a few times I felt sorry for my partner and any future incurring costing due. I had been emotional wreck for weeks before, this definitely wasn’t helping. Enter Oliver Coakes and his FC101 Land Rover and gross mechanical skills. The man tried everything to win me over, applying undulating loads of 8 tonnes of winching pressure to realign the bar and gradually straighten any worry out from my minds bend. Turns out the bar was only just holding on by the nylock nuts, he shunt had bent it down and away and it had definitely saved my radiator and subsequent panel squashing.

The strut was criminal; he bent it back enough to allow travel without damaging the others. The decision was made to drive for additional hours on the journey home and give up trying to rush progress (And get this car home). Considering Sunday rained from the moment I woke to the moment I arrived at our abode I was in good spirits, even if the strut was less than 2 weeks old and the wallet had only just refilled. As we woke on departure day the heavens opened and the downpour began, while bearable the temperature drop was a nightmare on the bare hands. Packing as swiftly as one could we needed to retrace our footsteps to the crash site and beyond rather slowly, our Geolander AT-S excel in anything but muddy terrain. Slippery dipping around we found my offroad trail and located my missing Narva light cap and surveyed the scene.

As it all happened in slow motion and was dark I was getting the bigger picture almost immediately, even in slushy light conditions. A rise was encountered which created a decline and a slight bank left, as we descended our horizontal vision was diverted forward rather than below. The car was extremely loaded and recovery of the four wheel spin impossible. Still, we drove away with no injury to ourselves or massive deconstruction to the vehicle. The drive home was slower and diverted; we bypassed more dirt roads to combine speed and safety with the margining of the Barton Highway. My left hand rear tyre was scrubbed out due to the bent strut and supplied us a wafting, melting smell for many kilometres. I was happy to limp back into Canberra and looked forward to the diagnosis on ‘Big Willie’. Craig Hall Automotive booked it in the following day and kept him overnight, turns out the only real damage was yes, a bent rear strut.

$1000 later and he is back sitting in my driveway, on closer inspection he has a small ding in his front bar which missed my driving lights by millimetres. I started writing this report as I was excited of the images we took of the bush mechanics and the area and wanted to showcase them online. Unfortunately my house was robbed yesterday and amongst the $10,000 worth of stuff missing were my beloved cameras.

Woe is me, alive but woe…

SOUTHERN BREAM SERIES - BURRILL LAKE 9/8/09

The Southern Bream Series organisers recently (Start of the series) decided to include a Kayak section in their tournament rounds. While the first few went unnoticed and numbers were nonexistent, the fourth series attracted a few members from AKFF who made the pilgrimage down to Burril Lake (South Coast NSW) to sample the atmosphere and enjoy a social competition amongst some obviously gifted anglers.

Having fished in all of the inaugural Hobie ABT series rounds during the beginning months of the year I was keen to get my game face on. Rumours abound that the next tournament series offered up by Hobie and ABT will be massive, the more practice one can get before these kick off, the better.

The organisers did a wonderful job arranging accommodation discounts at the local Big4 van park with the parks main beach being the start and end of days competition. Breifing was at 6:45am with a 7:00am start and the turnout from all was quite good. Many boats had launched from other facilities on the lake and made their was over to the starting point (All whilst observing the 8 knot rules).

It was at this stage I realised many Kayakers who had shown interest previously had not showed up, there were only five of us competiting. Things started bad for me when I realised my Live Well battery wasn’t charged properly (I double checked everything else, thrice!) but with the lakes water temperature so cold the decision was made to hand cycle water and take a risk instead.

The fishing was deemed tough by local Hobie Fishing Team member Greg Lewis, for the first part of the day I wholeheartedly agreed with him. It wasn’t until the later parts when the sun came up that I noticed massive Bream skirting round the old racks using the channel as a highway. Most of the boats were fishing deep water so Paddy Curran and I gave it our best shot (To get one hit and a Tailor monstering between us).

The seven hours took its toll; I was struggling to land anything. Only watching boaters pull healthy fish using blades and plastics offered me any encouragement. The strange looks we initially received waivered until the return to the weigh in station and even then I felt they were justified. Only Greg Lewis managed to land a legal fish of just over 500gms and what he christened his ‘Last cast’.

Greg has the knack; it’s his backyard after all. He was wrong about a few things though, massive amounts of fish were weighed in with many being over a kilo (That’s a seriously big Bream folks). I was in awe at the bags weighed in, some great fish caught by some great anglers. It was a well run event and one series I will try to keep competing at this year and beyond.

Fore more information on the SBS Southern Bream Series:

http://www.basinlureandfly.org.au/southernbreamseries.php

NSW - DEPOT BEACH 15/8/09

Five intrepid kayakers from AKFF converged on Depot Beach this morning: Slacker, Craig450, Fishwhisper, GregL and myself, and were met with picturesque conditions, small swell, a light breeze and a cracking hangover (for some ). Slacker was already on the water when I launched at 7am, with the others arriving soon after.

I think it was a little too flat and calm, as the snapper were very quiet. I count myself very fortunate to have landed 2 out of the blue amongst the stream of Sgt Bakers and ooglies. First fish was modest but the second made some good runs on the 6lb outfit and ended up going 62cm and in very solid condition. Both fish took a 5" Gulp Jerk Shad in Glow - this white coloured plastic has been doing very well of late, I think it mimics the pieces of cuttlefish which make up a large portion of the snapper diet this time of year.

Although he was fishing under severe duress, Fishwhisperer did admirably well to pull a ripper of a bream off a big cuttlefish floater in the shallows just before we called it quits at around noon, leaving Slacker to plough the seas alone in search of the snapper he richly deserved after a mega drive from Wagga and sleeping in the car - I hope you got it mate.

The afternoon was spent chasing drummer off the rocks with the Coughlan brothers, and a few smaller specimens were landed before I had to head back to Canberra and leave the boys to catch the big ones.

NSW - DEPOT BEACH & SPOT X 1/8/09

Unable to stay away from the tremendous South Coast fishing on offer at present, I headed back to Depot Beach again early Saturday morning, and was greeted by flat seas - once I paddled out from the shelter of the headland it became apparent that there was a fairly stiff breeze blowing.

With the drift as strong as it was I used 3/8oz jigheads, and was still struggling to keep the plastics down deep enough. After giving the 14-20m area a good going over and catching just about every variety of rubbish fish there is, I paddled in to start a drift in 9m, and immediately hooked something that felt a bit more susbtantial - the fish was taking line, but different to a snapper and with few head shakes, after a few minutes I was surprised and delighted when my first ever blue morwong surfaced. A gorgeous fish, I hope it tastes as good as it looks.

Shortly after I hooked what felt like a good snapper, but the hook pulled after the first run. I free spooled the plastic back down and hooked up again immediately to a smaller fish. This was the first fish I've caught on the 'Satay chicken' coloured 5" jerk shad, which has to be the ugliest coloured plastic ever (pumkinseed/chartreuse).

A couple more drifts and I'd had enough, and managed to convince Craig to take me to some of his secret drummer spots. A quick trip to the tackle shop was in order first, to buy an 8 foot rod for fishing lightly weighted bread and cabbage baits, my choice to go for the 6kg instead of 8kg version was foolish, as the rod snapped a couple of hours later on a big drummer when we were both pulling in opposite directions with all our might. Prior to the snap, we managed a good mixed bag off the rocks with leatherjackets, bream, drummer and 'cockies'.

As the shadows drew long I was keen for a quick session on the squid with some new jigs I just bought, so dropped Craig home and raced to Spot X, where I managed 4 nice shallow water inkers (and dropped 5) just as darkness fell.



The problem I now face is cooking a meal of morwong fillets and squid, which is so delicious that my girlfriend goes easy on me about the ink stains all over her previously pristine kayak (which I had borrowed for the day. The south coast is definately the place to be this time of year, with many species biting well.