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While still flying under the Hobie banner, and run in conjunction with, this event was executed by the Gamakatsu Team Series. It may normally be a division of boating tournaments up and down the east coast of Australia, this year however sees kayaks included filling voids left by the now defunkt SSBS. The weigh in was different, some of the faces were new hat (Both boater and kayaker) but the venue was still clearly a classic favourite.
Over 40 kayakers turned up on a bleak sunday morning overlooking swirling winds and sodden grounds. Everybody's spirits were running high though as in reality any technique goes at the Basin, be you a seasoned topwater freak or the depth blader from hell. One thing's for sure prefishing tales were varied and recent rain activity had dropped water temps and fooled fish left, right and centre.
My game plan was simple, once again find the fish and don't leave them. Normally my go to spot is fairly obvious and filled with a mixture of legal and large fish, or soaking in the shallows. Unfortunately by the time I made the 40 minute pedal over there they had either moved on or had their fill, I only caught one squeaker cranking. Foraging around further towards the entrance I eventually made the call to go deep, taking solace in the fact the Lowrance HDS 5 would see me true.
This was the first time I had fished the Basin with a quality sounder/gps combo capable of such features as structure scan. I found some likely looking gravel undulations and commenced a drift pattern over about 800m that was repeated over and over again. During every drift I caught fish, long time between some but they were there, evident by the two terminal bus toffs from large specimens (One assist hook, one ping above leader not). Both of those failures was due to terminal tackle so I picked out my favourite Impact Tackle Brown Suji pattern, changed the stingers and treble, and applied some megastrike (Poor man's S Factor).
The technique was simple really, 10m of water, double drogue drift, plenty of slack out to start and moving rod in an arc from 12 oclock to 3 with assistance from the wind. The rest, well dumb down a vibe retrieve so much that lifts and drops are barely evident and there you have it.
With an hour to go I moved closer to the start line to save fatigue and dropped another legal, failing to once again rid myself of the smallest fish in my bag. Having three fish in the well is great, so satisfying, failing to secure another legal after not so much. Really didn't phase me too much as I guessed most people would have similar size bags, with a few bound to cream the crop.
Much to my surprise a few personal favourites struggled but tournament veteran, mate and fellow traveller Craig Coughlan finished 8th while I secured equal 12th (Aimed for top 10, missed it by that much). More than a few kilo plus horses weighed in from the kayakers with Stewart Dunn's 2.72kg three bad limit taking the win. Props must also go to the other four anglers who also weighed in 2kg +, an incredible bag in any location (And superb for the Basin).
Were all off to the Narrabeen round this weekend (9th/10th March) with a four fish limit required each day. Love it or hate it Sydney make sure the turnout is big or lose the ground at your own peril.
Bring it on...
