Canberra - Googong Dam 13/5/07

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.

Casey's Beach & Moruya River - 5/5/07 & 6/5/07

Friday 4th May 2007

After missing out on the Congo trip due to some minor issues ( Adequate camping gear, personal organizational skills and possibly brain power ) Claire and I decided to venture to Bateman’s Bay for the weekend hoping for some decent fishing and a relaxing getaway, leaving straight after work on Friday we arrived at our Hotel around 8:30pm and headed straight to ‘Sam’s on the Water’, our favourite boring Pizza restaurant for a quick feed before raiding Woolworth’s and bunking down for the night.


Saturday 5th of May 2007

Bart 70 ( Rob to most people ) had sent me a few PM’s on the forum mentioning he and his wife Therese were up for a fish and had the same idea in mind, find somewhere calm to launch close or at Casey’s Beach allowing for kids to be ferried to a babysitter plus finding decent fishing grounds ( Followed by a quick snooze, actually that was my agenda ) before having a BBQ around 6pm, I must thank Rob once again for organising and inviting both Claire and I for an evening BBQ saving us from more Pizza and drunken neighbours in the Hotel room next to us.

Launched at Casey’s beach opposite the Caravan Park into very calm waters and commenced a quick troll and scout of the area, Rob and Therese were running a little late so we headed around the headland and back followed by a run along the beach in search of positive soundings on the fish finder, wasn’t long before millions of fish started filling the screen to a point were it was filled with symbols from the FISH ID feature on the Pirahna Max10, A massive school of Slimey Mackerel were roaming the beach looking for a feed and were only identified as the mentioned species when Claire hooked a larger specimen caught on a piece of frozen Pilchard. Rob and Therese arrived and started hooking into them with their soft plastics with Therese scoring her first fish from the kayak before hooking many, many more…

Rob ventured in closer to the rocks and found a usually inaccessible patch full of just legal Flathead, this part of Casey’s is normally swelled up to the point of whitewater plaguing the zone but not today. Scoring plenty of Lizards with Therese ( She was on fire ) we moved in closer to the sandy section and landed a few undersized fish before I managed a 39cm Flathead which I kept in hope of a few more to grace a plate sometime in the near future ( Got to love Flathead fillets from the freezers ), the water was gin clear which made for some exciting takes in 3m of water with polarized sunglasses aiding in sighting fish and enjoying the take even more all whilst avoiding the small Stingrays moving in for the kill.

Rob took us to another spot some hundred meters away on the Ocean side of a rock platform mentioning the fact he had secured a Snapper and decent Flathead the previous days trip, on the way over we all trolled lures with Rob boating a toothy Pike and a few other species, sitting behind the rocks I changed baits and started using sections of the Slimey Mackerel with immediate effect as Claire and I got slammed by many BIG fish returning to their rocky lairs resulting in plenty of lost paternoster rigs.

Therese caught the first ‘Ooglie’ of the day before heading in to fetch the kids, Rob escorted her in to shore then returned to us for some more action, we ran out of bait after I caught my first Pike ( Smelly things aren’t they? ) so we switched to Slick Rigs much to Claire’s dismay ( She only likes using bait, guess who had to put it on her hook though? ), her facial expression changed when she was almost bricked by a BIG Rock Cod but her 20lb leader saved the day… Started telling Rob how much of an ‘Ooglie Whisperer’ I was when Claire hooked an even BIGGER Rock Cod followed by another one, then another one before I landed a few in quick succession ( All were just as big as my Barlings specimens ). Kept two ‘Ooglies’ and the Flathead and called it a day after 6 hours on the water, went back to the Hotel for a quick snooze before returning with Claire to meet our hosts for a nice BBQ evening in the grounds of the Caravan Park, Rob and I discussed many things throughout the night and decided on a small yak trip to Moruya River early Sunday morning before we had to check out of the Hotel.


Sunday 6th of May 2007

Woke early after a crap nights sleep ( Good TV and drunken neighbours ) and arrived at the launch site at 7:30am spying Rob on the water in the distance, rigged up quickly and headed over to say hello while trolling 2 SX40’s and opening various packets of Gulp in preparation for a feeding frenzy, Claire got some big hits early but dropped fish on her Lime Tiger 3” Gulp minnow so we went trolling upstream towards the culvert, no go zone in there today due to low water levels so headed back to Flathead spot #56892.

Didn’t have much luck here either so paddled down towards the bridge hugging the road side of the river trolling our Ecogear’s looking for snags, a few snags showed positive signs of life and I managed to hook a cute little Bream followed by a smaller one as I rounded the sunken timber… On the way back Claire had a good hit on the troll but once again failed to hook up for some unknown reason, running out of time we decided on one more quick bash at spot #56892 before departing the River system. Baitfish were getting smashed and large symbols started appearing on my sounder, Claire retrieved her Soft Plastic on one occasion so fast a big fish performed a surface strike next to the yak but missed the hook, the common consensus was these were big Tailor or Salmon bruising the population of Whitebait, Claire finally raised an undersized Flounder which self released while I was searching for the pliers.

Rob, myself and Claire pedaled to shore to pack our things before we dashed off quickly hoping to avoid any late fees incurred by our late checkout, I must say if anyone is heading down Bateman’s Bay way either solo or in a group I urge you to PM Bart 70 and check if he is down this way, most weekends he is available and around these locations and is always up for a fish ( Helps that he is one top bloke ).

Thanks again Rob and Therese for the company…

My Hobie Quest Kayak ( Mary Jane )

Picked her up a few months ago after a quick trip down the bay, dealer installed rudder and once home I actually drilled the Hobie rod mount in myself without hesitating too much ( Was really simple, even after 6 months I still pondered for awhile ), love the granite green so much and she was a pleasure to paddle for the few hours in windy conditions on Lake Tuggeranong ( Unfortunately no fish ).

Long, sleek and potent what a green machine she is after I installed a dedicated in-hull sounder and new fishfinder that is mounted permanently in the tray holder below along with the GPS mount for my Garmin map 76s ( Will keep old Piranha max10 FF for my Outfitter ).

My other kayak ( Hobie Outfitter tandem ) is a pig of a yak and with a J - bar on I can just fit both kayaks on securely, It was a hard decision not to get another Mirage drive Hobie which came down to one major factor, money... Quest was a great buy and the SWMBO gradually was won over on that fact alone but I must say I wanted a paddle craft for the experience and fitness aspect ( Legs have done very well after 6 months of mirage drive training ), I also eventually wish to try beach launching in surf conditions...

Even though a Hobie Outback seems to maintain constant speed easily with the Mirage drive system the Quest absolutely cuts through the water like a knife, so much easier than the Outfitter ( Especially solo ) so was very happy with its maiden voyage, how it compares to other paddle kayaks I don't know but next time I get a chance I will swap paddle craft with someone for awhile and get a comparative view for all.

8" hatches are an optional extra these days ( $$$ ), picked one up for about $80 from Great Outdoors and Funda and I installed it, Still getting use to the paddling aspect but enjoying it heaps, just don't like drifting away and not being able to hold position, might start using the anchor and burying it into the weeds, sand or reef.

The Ram mount for my GPS ( #RAM-HOL-GA6 ) is behind the fishfinder on the slant section towards the end of the tackle tray, very happy and nice feel with the Ram... Because I sit above eye level these seem to line up without getting in the way of each other allowing my line of sight on the GPS to be perfect.

Added the Scotty light mount on top of the rear hatch, mounted with 316 grade stainless steel bolts and sikaflex for a tight finish... Can still use the hatch and open it 90% of the way for a small dry bag stash spot or perhaps something not needed on an hourly basis.

Also bought a 1.5l camelback hydration system and mounted it onto the Quest seat by tightening buckels and threading on through arms of system, Quest seats have nothing behind or attatched to them and I sit nice and forward... I always have the forward seat straps pulled as far as possible to force myself to sit up while paddling so this creates a small ammount of room behind the seat even while sitting in it.

No more drink bottles for me!

Hmmm what else to do, I dont like crates so....

Canberra - Anzac Day 25/4/07

A Public Holiday of historical significance... After a good response in the fishing trip suggestion thread, I woke early this morning ( Well not too early, around 7am ) and packed the car heading off to the Black Mountain ramp on the Peninsula, Red and Adrian were already on the water in the distance working hard for a Native ( Alas no luck so I am told ) so I rigged the yak up quickly, Granpop arrived half way through and rigged his Outfitter on the ramp after politely refusing my assistance to help move it to shore ( Obviously saving him many to and fro trips from the car ).

It was cold, overcast and the gods were dampening my day off with light rain scattered over the first few hours, angled my tracking to take me into Redfin Land and hoped to target some bigger models before the typical Canberra winter sets in basically writing off fishing the local lakes for a good few months ( Yes, even the feral Redfin will hide ) unless you want to target Carp... Nothing wrong with that as long as I don't catch you filleting!

Tacking away from the morning rowing squads was hard for the first hour and the Redfin were scarce, water temperature was at a chilly 16 degrees and even my all time favourite Perch lure ( Silver and red stripped Viking Talisman ) was having trouble finding its mark in the dark murky waters just shy of the 4m mark, eventually once I rounded the Peninsula a 20cm Redfin made it aboard the good ship 'Mary Jane' shortly followed by another once I exited the Perch alley.

Allan and his daughter Amanda rocked up around 9 o'clock, After a few comments regarding kayak issues we passed a departing Adrian and he briefly remarked that Dave ( Granpop ) was on to a horde of Redfin somewhere towards the island's, quick scan of the horizon revealed poor Dave being shadowed by two bath tubs ( Plastic and alloy tinnies with electric's ), news must travel fast round these parts. Dave had about 17 decent Redfin in a keeper bag prompting many words from my mouth which were encouraging but crass to say the least, he was owning these fish left, right and centre... Managed to squeeze the fact he was using a Jackal out of him and before you could say anything else I was jigging the crap out of my Jackal loaded Nitro around the anchor mark he had indicated, after that I just drifted in between the mainland taking a few fish just shy of 30cm but not the huge beast's I was hoping for ( Managed a 34cm model trolling the Talisman before disembarking ).

Quick time check revealed it was almost time to head back to the Peninsula and meet the ladies who had kindly donated all there time and effort into securing a table at a now busy site, Black Mountain is a popular tourist destination and also visited quite often with by the locals on weekends and public holidays, by this stage Victor and partner, Suzi, Kim, Adrian and his family had all arrived for a feed slowly followed by the lake stragglers ( Including myself )... Squidder rocked up after a frantic morning baking with some of the nicest tasting treats I have ever eaten, one delicious Lemon Meringue and a tantalising Key Lime Pie. Master chef Leigh and Suzi were on BBQ duties and produced a lovely mixed grill including a nice size Burley Griffin Bream and some Redfin fillets fit for a king, Claire and Kylie supplied some salad and plenty of fluid as well as most of the meat ( Thanks Kylie! ).

A great day off and a nice turnout by the Canberra connection...

My Easter Long Weekend 2007 ( Archive )

Holidays may be good for some but I hate public holidays...

After cursing the loss of income all week ( To no ones surprise really ) I started warming up around Wednesday for a good old South Coast trip after I got over my moody blues, running a small business is fickle at the best of times but when your entire customer base ( Public Servants ) head for the coast its time to follow suit and be thankful you received any time off at all.

Thursday night saw plenty of small tantrums thrown as I searched the house top to bottom for all my fishing gear that I had been fiddling with all week only to find it had been neatly packed the night before and was sitting in the garage ready to be packed and freighted to Merimbula via Cooma, Nimitabel, Brown Mountain, Bemboka, Candelo and Wilumla... With a family gathering occurring ( All be it a small one including my Nanna ) I decided to test out the new Thule roof rack system and strap the Outfitter and the Quest on the car in anticipation of my first solo offshore excursion.


Good Friday 6/4/07

After the alarm went off at 5am we set off around 6am in search of minimal traffic, the road towards Cooma was very quiet which helped my nervous companion negotiate the slightly overweight / top heavy load on her Mazda Protégé towards the previously mentioned townships, Claire did a wonderful job driving and in no time she had us descending the Brown Mountain ( To the tune of many Anthrax songs ), passing through the smaller communities and arriving at Merimbula just in time for breakfast.

Unpacking and organising myself seemed harder than expected but managed to get the tackle sorted and gear rigged just in time for lunch, it was at this stage I realised I needed a quick nap before I sent the troops to summon some nippers from the flats at low tide, coincidently whilst they worked the muddy structure a paddle was conceived in the adjourning water in the Bottom lake opposite.

Launching at around 3:30pm just down from the ramp I worked the channel against the tidal flow, dodging many seasoned and amateur stink boaters plowing through the shallow weeds in need of a quick escape before they were left high and dry behind the oyster leases... Once I reached the end of the channel I set about looking for sandy patches interspersed through out the weed on the edges, having no luck keeping my soft plastics out of the ever snagging weed I snapped on a Ecogear CK chubby style lure and trolled / drifted with the current slowly enough to maintain decent action on the rod tip.

Giving some sand flat anglers a wide birth and waving at Claire, Dad and my step brother Chris behind them my Caldia Kix 3500 started to scream in the opposite direction bending and stretching my Procaster rod like crazy, wasn’t too sure what I had snagged but with 20lb Fireline I proceeded to drag it towards the yak while amassing a decent amount of onlookers including family members... Grabbing the net when the leader knot went through the top guide ( 2m 12lb Ande mono leader ) I was met with a very angry Skippy that fought like buggery next to the yak, I was pretty stoked to net a 45cm Silver Trevally and quickly pulled onto the sand flat to survey my catch and dispatch of this unlucky fish.

Realising that Trevally school my Dad quickly bled and gutted the Skippy and sent me on my way with orders for more, with only half an hour to go till disembarking it was a tuff call but I plundered on in search of bigger models ( do that get much bigger than that? ), got another huge hit on the way back to the ramp and assumed I lost a decent Flathead due to the immediate headshakes once rod was brought into hands out of the rear rod holder, called it a day and paddled into the beach just down from the ramp excited that my first trip had resulted in a PB.


Saturday 7/4/07

Dad and Chris were keen for a paddle in the same channel the following morning so on the roof racks went both the Outfitter and Quest, after arriving at the launch point some general briefing in how to use the Hobie's controls was met with pure enthusiasm so I set up the sounder and GPS and sent them on there merry way only to realise once underway that the seating arrangement should have been reversed, the two of them had the weight capacity well and truly reaching breeching point with Dad close to swamping the rear end, he is a salty sea dog in every sense of the word and I wasn’t about to forbid him from captaining the vessel so I went out trying to seek out Skippy and his mates.

Spying another Hobie yak fisherman I paddled over to say gday, whilst striking up conversations on what fish were around my Dad managed to rake in a Flathead that went 40cm on the Fisheries sticker, dodging stinkers they maneuvered up and down the channel plugging Gulp Pumpkinseed 4" Turtleback Worms on 1/4oz Jigheads all over the shop for many, many hits but alas lost the remainder on retrieval to the yak... I wasn’t faring to well on Squidgys after dropping a fish so I tried trolling Sx40's for nada, I switched over to Pumpkinseed worms in hope of some lizard activity managing to find hordes of undersized Flathead that raped my offerings but with no result what so ever, I returned to the ramp a dejected man failing to raise a fish for the session promising to avenge my performance in the afternoon session ( I fell asleep after lunch and woke up before sunset, scratching the chance ).

Checked the weather / swell report and rigged up heavier gear for an early offshore sortie backed by my support boat crew ( Fishing themselves from Dads Quintrex 540 spirit ), the following day was looking picturesque with ideal conditions and no wind which helped settle my nerves, I have only been offshore twice before and never exited / entered a bar before so my mind was going a million miles an hour when I finally went to sleep...

Managed an hour or two before I received a drunken phone call before midnight madly exclaiming about his partners terrific efforts on the fishing front and mumbling something about finding Davey G's mojo.


Easter Sunday 8/4/07

Alarm went off at 5am and immediately I sprang out of bed, something was different about me this morning as early rises aren’t usually my thing but fear and excitement of the unknown had well and truly set in, fueling my body with cigarettes and coffee accompanied with some travelcalm I motioned Claire to wake up and drive me to the launch spot before the support crew hit the ramp, this gave me ample time to paddle the 3km's or so towards the bar before the rest of the family arrived in the Quinny to check the conditions.

Dad made sure I was confident by giving general directions in how to navigate this bar crossing before he flew on ahead and awaited on the other side, just under 1m waves greeted me on my way out but the Quest handled it like a pro punching through and over any chop, swell or wave dished out to me by mother nature, I had managed to get out while maintaining a fairly dry state and commenced another paddle of a few km's out to sea following in the wake of the family stink boat...

Looking constantly at the sounder I noticed plenty of fish hovering at the 10 - 15m mark close to the rocks so after being informed the southerlies were up a bit past the point I decided to drop the paternoster rig full of pilchards over the side and try my luck. First drop and I snagged the bottom, pulling the braid hard I lost my first rig and my 20lb leader as well, having no urge to try and tie a leader in 2m swell my braid connected straight to the three eyed swivel of the next rig and I moved out away from the rocks into the 20-25m mark looking for reef structure, fishing with the next rig brought on plenty of bites and eventually a small Trumpeter came aboard...

Hmmm not what I was after but wasn’t long till I lived up to my reputation as the 'Ooglie Whisperer' hauling aboard plenty of small Rock Cod easily put to shame by my Barlings specimens.

Pulled out the Nitro setup and reef bashed some 130mm Technicolor Slick Rigs in search of the monster 'Ooglies' for no result, Hmmm back to the Pilchards I went and almost immediately started getting huge bites, what were these fish and when was I going to get one?... Drifting towards the support crew I could hear the cries of joy as members started pulling aboard legal and not so legal Snapper, having been spoon fed inspiration I moved away in hope I could secure my first yak Squire / Snapper and low and behold my rod doubled over and prompting a decent fight on my Caldia outfit ( Unlike the brick nature of Red Rock Cod ), I’m sure you could have heard me in West Wylong when I yelled out at the top of my lungs 'Snappppppeeerrrrr!'.

Having secured my first Legal keeper fish for the trip and a new PB ( Well first legal fish of any species is a PB right? ) I plugged away for some more encountering another Snapper just shy of 30cm who was released immediately, encouraging signs pointed to more snapper but my drift had put me onto a school full of 'Ooglie' students wanting to play with this twisted young mans pillie ( Erm, I mean bait ), finally avoiding the half a dozen or so pointy spines from juvenile Rock Cod I snared a Flathead that would have been close to legal only to lose it next to the yak as I reached for the net behind me.

Paddling towards Dads boat while avoiding the many aluminum craft leaving the headland I could hear a commotion on the deck of the 540 Spirit, I couldn’t make it out clearly but it sure as hell sounded like a celebration so I paddled swiftly hoping to spot the 'Catch of the day', turns out the prize catch was a bout of seasickness caught deep by Chris who commenced chundering like on cue once I arrived close to the boat.

Dad pointed toward the lakes entrance indicating a return across the bar, having a ball I was a little disappointed in returning but knowing I still had about a 6km return paddle plus a bar entry to negotiate I quickly headed back pondering over all the information I had gained from this site on dealing with any form of surf break and luckily I did as the bar had calmed ever so slightly but waves close to 1m still occupied the position...

Looking behind me I waited for a flat section in between sets and commenced a solid but stable paddle into the bar, almost straight away I felt the yak coast and noticed I was surfing down the face of a wave so I lent back, slightly into the wave and put my paddle ever so gently dragging on the outer edge of the break. The Quest's rails locked in and I managed to surf down and across the front of the wave ( Akin to my Body Boarding days ) for a good 10 - 15 seconds before the wave disappeared into the deeper section, with my family hooting from the safer waters I realised I wasn’t out of trouble yet so a few more solid strokes and a tiny wave later and I was in the surrounds to the entry to the lake, paddled over to the boat and said 'Lucky I have a forum to learn from, I just negotiated my first surf entry without stacking!'...

A long tiresome return journey to the ramp seemed to take forever but with the days accomplishments only just kicking in I was pretty happy to take my time, if I could have given myself a pat on the back I would have ( My arms were getting pretty tired by this stage ). Reached the departure point just as the family retrieved the stink boat from the ramp and loaded up the yak, heading back to my parents house I could tell Claire was pretty happy to have me back in one piece ( So was my Nanna ) but I was lost for words, pretty much fell asleep as soon as we got home around 11am and didn’t wake until my alarm went off at 3pm due to my brothers keenness to get out on the Outfitter and fish with some bait ( Guess he was feeling better by this stage eh? ).

Waking up I sculled a coffee which didn’t touch the sides and discovered the car and Outfitter was packed ready to go, rigging up some lighter leader we headed off to Pambula Lake and arrived around 4pm to be greeted with water-skiers and very shallow oyster leases, paddling off around the channel markers we reached the bends in the lake towards the Ocean entrance in about 20 minutes and commenced trolling Sx40’s .

Chris had a strike early but failed to hookup to a suspected Tailor while I once again failed to raise a fish, switching to Prawns and Pippi’s the bite became fast and furious in between losing rigs to a snaggy bottom… Many small Squire ( Some as small as 5cm ) and some average sized Bream around 15 – 18cm were brought aboard, Chris started throwing his Sx40 towards the rocky shoreline and was rewarded with a slippery little Tailor who decided to maul my Hobie seat before he was returned to the 3m water level that inhabited most of the surrounding body of water, was getting dark quickly so we headed back and made it with perhaps 5 minutes of light to spare…

With no torches, lamps or lights apart from car headlights we threw everything in the boot and loaded the yak motoring home just in time for the Easter Sunday roast Pork dinner.


Easter Monday 9/4/07

Considering the amount of people in town from the National Capital we decided upon an early retreat home instead of opting for another day on the water, bidding my family farewell we left around 11pm and we were glad we did as the roads became chocked with cars and there occupants returning from there long weekend, not long after we passed through Nimitabel a fatal accident occurred rendering the remaining Highway closed.

Poor sole, I really feel for the families of loved ones lost to tragic road accidents especially over holiday periods, this made me reflect on how lucky we were to have such a great safe weekend away… I felt a sigh of relief when we pulled into the driveway, this was one trip I won’t be forgetting in a hurry and enjoyed sharing it with you all.