POLL RESULTS (RECENT) - YEARS YAK FISHING

Well the results are in, thanks to the individuals who voted. The purpose of polls on KFA is to provide feedback on readers, allow readers to scope what others may have been doing/using and to provide interaction. The choices may be limited (Depending on the question) but in most cases they, and the answers, will be genuine enough to gauge an overall feel/result on the subject.

What is really interesting to note is the newcomer and seasoned results. Over 30% of visitors who voted have been fishing from their kayak for over a year and under three. What would have been even more interesting is if the poll reflected choices of 0 - 1 years and perhaps one year increments. The same could be said for all over categories including a 'missing' 10 years + category.

No matter the result its clear each and every one of you enjoy kayak fishing as much now as you did when you first started. The newcomers of the sport, I remember exactly what you are feeling and words can't really capture that (Except perhaps 'enjoyment' or 'exhilaration'). It's a wonderful hybrid sporting activity and thoroughly enjoyable when participated with close friends and family.

To the seasoned yak anglers, who I am sure enjoys sharing his experiences as much as we do, I can see why you stuck around. Physical conditioning aside the fishing can be so much better than the days of old, trudging a bank or negotiating a slippery boat ramp during your waters 'peak season'. Most people I speak to mention they have caught more fish in the last 10 years than the last 20.

Archived Result:

POLL - HOW MANY YEARS HAVE YOU BEEN YAK FISHING FOR?

1 - 3 Years: 35%
3 - 5 Years: 23%
5 - 7 Years: 11%
7 - 10 Years: 29%

NSW - LAKE JINDABYNE (KALKITE) 28/8/11

Jason's Brown on a soft plastic, dont know how he does it...

Was indeed great to vacate the house and conditions were superb (for humans anyway). If I was to reflect on the day we arrived about an hour late, so missed out on succesfull jointed lure flatlining. Switched to tassies/cobras and had a solid hit straight away on brown bomber, cycled colours to yellow winged brown rebel indigenous lofty (Yellow Winged Corroboree - Thanks Geoff) and purple clown and rigged up heathy hooks (oppossed).

Snuck into a rocky bay and trolled over a near surface sip and sure enough, bend and big run. Great fish earning it's great freedom, forgot I had tightened drag to retrieve lure earlier (video footage will not be released!). Needless to say apart from a hit on the clown that was it, fish rose till roughly 11am then stayed deep till around 2pm.

Couldn't believe squidder was on a grand slam roll (Atlantic, Brown & Brook - Just needed Rainbow), so i stole his profitable brown bank. Jase had cleaned the fish here earlier and as karma would have it the seagulls flocked in and wouldn't leave the shallows. Climbing a boulder for a good look around I found I was fishing a relative underwater forest, meaning I was bound to fail (hooking up would have cost me dearly).

I could see the ramp in the distance and hear bells every 20 minutes so made the pedal over to our usual possie. Bumped into a fellow kayaker Alan (from CAA), using a sinking fly line and wooly buggers (couple of hits). Set up shop and started off well with a school of bows moving in, hooking one and seeing it's mate cutting a rug as the fish came in. Next fish took line like a, erm, line thief and launched itself skywards numerous times. Ended up a great fish, top 5 rainbows of my jindabyne experiences (went 56cm on the glad wrap). Soon as I rebaited other rod shook violently, no weight unfortunately.

Couple of things I did different this trip, trolled with fluoro straight through (famell and vanish) and forgot the GPS. The line returned a couple of seriously snagged lures and worked well with the tassies but didn't rate it with the minnows, jointeds and crawdads (braid provides better feel, lacks abrasion resistance though).

GPS really gives me the confidence to troll effectively at speeds conducive to lure action, rod tip action and fluoro didn't cut the mustad.when I troll I'm interested in covering ground, not covering landmarks counting trees to gauge walking speeds. To those that don't know, the difference between 3kmph and 5kmph is pretty critical, especially when flatlining away from the bank (in my experience anyway).

Top stuff Jase, sorry the truly remarkable feat of the jindy grand slam on plastics didn't occur. Man, all four fish on one of the hardest techniques to master on trout would have been truely regal. New issue of yak fisher is out and I couldn't help but think while I like McGoverns articles on trout on plastic (in freshwater fishing/SFA) I think you could do a better one from the kayak. You definately have a skill mastered that needs to be shared, I know your far to humble to admit it but you do... Man.

KAYAK FISHING MAGAZINE ISSUE #41 (ONLINE)

The latest edition of Kayak Fishing Magazine has just come online, packed with all the quality features and articles that make them the largest and most read kayak fishing website and publication anywhere. From featured articles, interviews, angler of the month, gear guides and a world wide tournament calender, Kayak Fishing Magazine has a lot to offer our fishing community and best of all its free!

(This issue has an informative article on phone apps for yak fishing)

To view the latest edition of KFM, click on the links below:

Magazine - http://www.kayakfishingmagazine.net/home.html

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kayak-Fishing-Magazine/119502353056

SQUIDGY SOUTHERN BREAM SERIES - ROUND 8

The last round of the SSBS 2011 events was held last weekend in Mallacoota, Victoria. From all reports the fishing was once again tough but those that caught fish did so with impressive results. Matt Petrie from Victoria amassed a 3kg + bag on day two to jump a few rungs and find himself on top of the podium (Great result Matty). Bay and Basins Sports fishing guide Darryl Head also broke the three kilo mark on day two, climbing from fourth to second place. The ever consistent Dave Hedge took out third and Brian Rutledge rounded out the top four.

Conditions were supposed to be appalling but it sounds like the entrants had a small reprieve. The end result marks the final qualification points possible for the SSBS Grand Final in late October. Somehow Jason and I managed to scrape the bottom of the barrell, great news considering Squidder is the defending title holder from 2010. The Year to date points have been updated and are available from the following link:

http://www.ssbs.basinlureandfly.org.au/points/ytd-points-2011/

KFA team member Craig Coughlan reviews the tournament in detail here.

THE PERILS OF A ONE TRICK PONY (CHAPTER ONE)

Given my recent state of competitive disappointments I thought it best to reflect on tournament yak angling and discuss ways to avoid the dreaded donut. Before I begin though let me state this isn't a pat on the back, or a shoulder to cry on, more a way of sharing my experiences, the ups and downs of the rollercoaster ride called my tournament career. Straight off the bat I still consider myself a tournament newbie, while I would love to progress into a non boater role on the near horizon lack of time, success, glory and god damn responsibility all get in the way.

It's not a goal of mine, but as I love gathering as much fishing experience as possible I would love to give it a shot one day. Who knows, if I did well I might become hooked, buy a tournament boat and become a fully fledged addict. Then again, who am I kidding here. I'm in my mid 30's, 1 year old daughter, 10 year+ de facto relationship (With the girl of my dreams I might add) and my employment title credential is currently listed as 'Daddy Day Care'. Mister DIY coming up in the suburbs, living life to the fullest, mountain of debt, all whilst staying a true brother of the angle.

Freedom, escapism, kayak fishing, fishing, kayak fishing, freedom, the mindless wander. A couple of words/phrases instantly spring to mind, more my wants and needs to survive this rat race as an individual. The love for fishing never wains, it truely rewards (And not just in the fishy sense). Time clutches all though and I find myself missing out on those little trips, the ones were the big one didn't get away (It was caught by your mate). Sometimes even packing a car for a simple trip seems to have lost its lustre, but surprisingly not when the kayak fishing tournament calendars roll around.

Human beings are naturally competitive, competition not only drives us every day to do better than those we consider to be our equals, it also allows us to strive to be the same as, and then better than, those we see as superior to us. You see, notice that at no time did I mention 'I'm better than you' or 'I'm the best', that's not what drives me to participate (Not at all). I like making up numbers, I like being one of the gang, those social aspects that encourage friendship. Most of all though I like to perform under pressure, to better past achievements and strive for a personal accolade.

This is a way of saying you like to win you might say. Everyone likes to win but in my case, well you couldn't be further from the truth. This isn't about defeating 50 armed plastic seated bastards on some blood lake, hell this is all about man vs man, mano e mano and all that crap (Me vs Me). In many ways I'm my own worst enemy, far too hard on myself when failure looms, far too quick to sneak in a fist pump when the cards are stacked against me. Sometimes, oh sometimes I perform better than expected. 'Practice makes perfect' I keep telling myself, but in reality google would translate that as 'How can I allocate time to perfect those skill sets required to win tournaments?'.

It's no secret the best fishermen I know fish often, in fact some of them get out 5 days a week. Coincidently, most of these guys fish Bream tournaments and clean up the prize pools. They live on the water, breathe on the water, live off the what lays beneath the water, heck there practically amphibians of some sort of genus. About 6 years ago Bream was a fish I caught trolling for Flathead (By-catch, so to speak), easy to come by and horrible on the plate. When the poppers on Whiting/Bream phenomenon exploded most of my mates had already mastered it and I was patting my head, rubbing my tummy trying to catch up. Through their tutelage I finally got it, it was the first decent technique I could apply from the kayak to catch fish in shallow water.

As I started to amass the years fishing from a kayak I became confident when fishing socially, learning to deploy a certain technique in the right place at the right time. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said about my Bream tournament results. My local haunts differed greatly to, as an example, the Queensland canals we visited and I really struggled to read my surroundings (On a regular basis). Frantically searching for a systems fishable top waters I would hope for an edge bite, overlooking sinking options. For some reason I found the whole jig head, plastic choice too rushed in tournament scenarios and never gained confidence using that approach. After being monstered by Mangrove Jack after Mangrove Jack cranking mid waters I became hesitant to prospect with a hardbody, instead looking for super shallow sandbanks to walk the dog.

I had become a 'One trick Pony', and even that didn't work on unknown waters (How I longed for the South Coast of NSW). Then came the deep water technique I so needed to learn, the art of blading for Bream. My good mate and KFA member Craig happily provided the right tools for the job, explained his technique, the bite and why it worked at this particular location and then suddenly bang, I'm on to a good fish. That particular day resulted in my first tournament top 10 (Seventh place), given I was new to the technique and the quality of the field I was a little blown away. The best feeling though was realising both Craig and Jason had made the top 5. Craig using his shared blading approach and Jason flourishing on the surface.

A couple of months later at the same location, during a different competition, using the same blading technique I took out first place. But, it's a big but too... Fast forward to present day, same venue, cooler water, two day tournament event, same technique and the dreaded double donut occurred. I'm not new to them (Donuts that is) and I got completely sick of them, blaming myself (As one does) for not learning those important past lessons. To avoid more calorie laden sugary goodness (Or evil soul cursing performance, both are bad for you) I stumbled purely by accident on a technique that got me out of the donut van on more than a number of occasions.

Combining super shallow water, a patented edge bite (Tide dependant) and shallow running suspending hard body's, the art of shallow jerk baiting got me out of the donut van on more than a number of occasions. Pulsing the lure ever so slightly, rod held high, slow rolling back with a super aggressive rod shake would bring the Bream on. Make no mistake, if they were/are around they will eat it. The spasm like action of the suspending lure (In most cases a silent Zip Baits 'Khamsin') basically resembles a baitfish that has had way to much caffiene. The vibration (Sans rattle) and technique keeps the bib down slightly while the pulse of the rod tip offers a 'Now or never' result.

Armed with what at the time seemed like the mother of all techniques, off I would trot, returning venue, different tide, same area, epic fail. Different arena, same lure, same technique, favorable tide, top 5 finish. Sometimes all techniques fail, sometimes some waterways are deficient in the features that one needs to excel in. Blame your tools, trade or focus all you want, it won't make up for a lack of experience on the waterway in question. Australia's top tournament anglers spend more time preparing for a pre fish than the actual tournament day. Prefishing an area before a tournament helps immensely, even if you can't get up/down to the waterway in question and just throw various lures around randomly on a local.

Be it Black or Yellow, donut or podium, Bream fishing can be the arsiest of sports. I guess that's one of the reasons why they implemented tournaments for this species in the first place. Think about it, what's the one fish you can catch when you don't want or even need to that's hardy as all hell, pulls like a demon but yet supremely elusive when a catch is warranted... Sure as hell not a Flathead.

Love, one jaded Bream fisherman.

PS - Just in case your wondering what the image contains, mainly epic fail meters, a pony, some lures, angry colours with splashes of vivid dissapointment. Shit, I am truely a blogger now, who would have thought?

CAA - LEARN TO FLYCAST EVENTS 2011 (FREE*)

Canberra Angler Association once again holds its annual free fly casting lessons/advice on the lawns of Old Parliment House in Canberra.
The tution encourages amatuers to prolififc casters to attend and hone their skills. If you have existing casting skills your more than welcome to assist the new players.

Location: The lawns of Old Parliment House
(Corner of King Edward Terrace and Parkes Place West (just across the road from Questacon)
Session Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 Noon

Session Dates: 11th, 18th and 25th* of September
*(Please note the third weekend may move to an optional day on water (this may be trout stocked water near Lake Eucumbene, if so the property owner will charge individuals) – more details available.

Remember, if you have a flyrod/line bring it along. CAA will provide loan outfits for those that dont. Also, please remember to bring and wear sunglasses and bring and wear a hat.

RAFFLE FOR FLIES AND SURPRISE MAJOR PRIZE

MEMBERSHIP (FOR THOSE INTERESTED) AT MODERATE RATES

CONTACT: secretary@canberra-anglers.asn.au

www.canberra-anglers.asn.au/

DAIWA-HOBIE ABT RND 14 ST.G.BASIN 13-14/8/11

Round 14 of the Daiwa-Hobie ABT is on this weekend at St. Georges Basin, NSW. The event is the 2 day state title event for NSW and features 5 qualifying spots for the Grand Final. Winter at the Basin should prove quite competitive with the deeper water sure to hold good size fish, hopefully in good sized numbers. Past events here have shown its 'Go deep or go home' with some bruiser specimens gracing the weigh master. A typical bag here is just sub 2.0kg with 4kg bags easily possible. Pack the blades, wobble like crazy and come compete in the last NSW event before the GF.

• 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.

http://bream.com.au/abt/2010/Hobierules1011.pdf