The Eildon challenge

With the family fishing competition sitting at Dad 2 wins (Nelson, Winter snapper challenge) against my 1 (Bemm river) for the year, the Eildon trip would either tie up the year or give Dad a near unassailable lead.

We decided to head up Saturday morning rather than head up Friday night and got to the lake at about 7.15. We launched and put out a spread of lures. I had my old favourite the pink Tassie devil (Backwards this time for a bit of extra wobble and flair!), Dad had a clown pattern Tassie devil, Will had a RMG bibbed brown trout and Ben had a tiger minnow pattern poltergeist, so we should have had the water column fairly covered, at least for a boat without a downrigger! With no electric motor we maintained a speed of about 1.5 knots all day by both stopping and starting the motor if it got too fast, and also trailing a drogue. I’m not sure what the appropriate troll speed is (I’d love for someone to enlighten me!) but we did manage a few fish.

We didn’t actually deploy the lures until we were about to enter the Big River arm, and about 15 minutes in I had a thud and line started peeling off my reel. I thought I must have hooked some weed or a stick as for all but the last 5 metres of the fight the brown trout I hooked did nothing. Whilst Dad fumbled with the net (Will was standing on it) the trout woke up and took a jump and a bit of a run, but with 2 barbs embedded we got it to the net. It went 62cm and weighed 4.06lb. Not a monster, but the biggest trout that we have managed from the lake!

As the competition is on the length of your best fish, I was already crowing about the win, as not only was it the biggest we have ever gotten out of the lake, but I think that you would have to get an 8-10lb fish from the Pondage to be 62cm, as they are generally fatter.

We trolled unsuccessfully for another couple of hours, with Will having a hit on the bibbed brown trout pattern and the fish jumping off before we pulled over onto the bank for breakfast. Not only did Dad cook up some sausages, bacon and eggs but he also handed over the red jersey as he started with it as the “carry over champion” but I was now in the lead.

After the cook up we kept trolling up the Big River arm without much success until we hit the corner where we managed about 5 fish last year. There were two other boats trolling near us and as we exited the section Dad was driving and we were going to turn around so I went to pull in the rods. I said “I’ll leave yours out until last just in case you get a hit!”. As it turns out in the minute or so it took to pull in the other three rods he did get a hit and landed a 42cm brown trout, which managed to loop around a tree but we managed to manoeuvre the boat and get him unstuck. Again the fish was quite docile.

We headed in about 3pm and hit the coffee shop and checked in. We walked the pondage for about 30 minutes however Will in that time managed to run through all the water and be covered in mud so we headed back to the cabin. Some fish and chips for dinner followed by watching the Hawks Vs Cats rounded off the night nicely.

The next morning we packed up the cabin and returned the keys, then hit Bourke St where there were already a few anglers around. We threw in some bait rods with powerbait on them and cast lures around, but after an hour or so the weather closed in and it was pouring. The kids (And the bigger kids!) weren’t having much fun so we hit the café for a sausage roll, coffee and the paper. We made the trip home and with the 62cm trout the competition now stands at 2-2 for the year. It should be a good next few trips!

Winter on the Glenelg river

Another trip to Nelson and another round of the friendly family competition. This time we purchased a Berkley long sleeved fishing shirt, not because of the design (I personally would have gotten one with subdued colours and a nice bream on it!) but because it was the brightest red, and it has become known as “The red jersey”. This was awarded to the competitor who was currently leading the competition and Dad got to start with it due to winning the last competition at Corinella when he nailed a good snapper a month or so ago.

We also had Patto come along, as well as two of my sons, who at 4 and 2 years of age also entered the competition with gusto!

We arrived at “The Shack” after the obligatory McDonalds stop at about 10.00 on Wednesday evening and had to put the boys into bed and settle them down before casting in off the back deck. The shacks along the river, particularly at Donovan’s landing are awesome! We were using the squid for bait that I had caught earlier in the week and almost instantly I was onto a mulloway, the first of 3 for the night and Dad had only managed to hold onto the red jersey for about 15 minutes before losing it. The mulloway were from 42cm-45cm so I was on the board with 45cm.

A later than expected start the next morning as intermittent showers and cold winds had put us off (Fair weather fishermen who enjoy a good breakfast) and we took the boat to Nelson to launch, where it was extremely windy. Hindsight says that we should have launched at Donovans however you can’t get a good gauge of how windy it is there as the cliffs protect you. Patto, myself, Ben and Will were in the boat whilst Dad was doing some recon for the first half an hour. I managed a 27cm bream and a 25cm EP on a strike pro cyber vibe but the rules of the competition stated that the fish have to be size to count (Except mulloway as they are respectable at any size!) so we were still at square one. We saw Dad at the ramp so went to pick him up and it turns out that the Canoe hire place wasn’t open so he had been sitting at the general store with an egg and bacon sandwich and a coffee. Reluctantly he left these nice surrounds and joined us on the boat for about an hour and a half of fruitless lure casting before they dropped myself, Ben and Will (Who were both a bit over it by this stage) at the car and we drove back to the shack for a rest. Dad and Patto met us at the shack later that afternoon and had not managed to trouble the scorers, except for one lost mulloway.

All of us went out for the afternoon session where we managed a few fish, with some more undersize mulloway coming in (Dad on the board with 42cm) and a few near misses. Still no decent bream though.

Friday morning was another leisurely launch and the fishing was a bit slow, but I managed a couple of EPs to 36cm and some more mulloway. Dad got in on the action with some soapies as well however failed to upsize.

Back to the shack for some lunch and a change of plans saw us on the river with some pilchards and I took Ben and Will’s rods. They both managed to catch fish, with Ben nailing 2 mulloway to 44cm on lightly weighted pilchard cubes and Will getting in on the act with some small bream, and managing to photobomb the first picture of Ben with his mulloway.

Ben didn’t understand the significance when I told him that it took me almost 30 years longer to catch my first mulloway! Patto got a few small bream as well.

Saturday morning saw us all put on the vibes and heading towards Dry Creek. Again it was the mulloway dominating with Dad and I getting a few each – Dad upsized to 44cm and mine were all again 42cm-44cm. The boys once again needed a rest so we returned to the shack and Patto and Dad took out the bait rods. We started by driving into town for some supplies and I found the canoe hire place open so went in to get some local advice. They agreed that vibing was the best method and all the recent rain had all but driven away the decent mulloway and put a few fish off and I left with their #1 recommended lure – A strike pro hummer in black with an orange underside. I got a coffee and the boys played on the park and Patto and Dad returned about 5 hours later, whilst myself and the boys fished off the shack intermittently, with Will getting on the board with a 42cm mulloway and a 29cm bream - I even managed a 29cm bream and these were the first fish kept for the trip as we were having fish and chips for dinner. When they did return it was an ominous sign – Dad had managed mulloway to 45cm, a 38cm bream on a pilchard cube and in a couple of casts of the vibe just before they left nailed a 27cm EP to give him the red jersey! Patto was also happy with a 44cm mulloway and 31cm bream. Patto was tired so Dad and I headed out for the last hour of daylight. My new strike pro hummer was nailed first cast but failed to hook up and didn’t have another sniff for 45 minutes, whilst Dad managed two small EPs. Then just before dark I pulled in 2 mulloway in two casts, both around the 44cm mark.

Sunday morning was our final session with us having “lines in” at 10am. It started exceptionally slowly and we were about 1km north of Dry Creek and it was about 8.30am before we found a school of fish to cast to. I then got about 4 fish in 6 casts (All on the new hummer), with a few good EPs and an upgrade of my bream to 31cm. Dad was a bit slow, but suddenly his line went tight and after a short fight he landed a 35cm EP and was suddenly 6cm ahead. I landed a few more fish, including another bream of 32cm to take the lead down to 5cm however the quantity of fish was not enough for the size of Dad’s one, with his 38cm bream (Controversially caught whilst I was stuck at the shack with the kids!) putting him ahead and giving him the championship.

The final tally was as follows:

Winter on Westernport

When you plan a trip a few months in advance there are always variables, however this time it worked out for us. The weather was kind and there were even a few fish around! We also counted it in our annual fishing competition so there was more than pride on the line.....

It started last Friday night when I picked Dad up from his house and we headed to Coronet Bay, via the obligatory McDonalds apple pie and coffee stop. It was decided to have an early night and fish first thing in the morning. We launched about 5.45 and headed just north of Pelican Island. Casting out two rods each for not much as dawn broke I decided to throw out a little rod with a squid strip and a healthy 36cm whiting took a liking to it. This competition we had decided to count the total length of our 4 biggest snapper, gummy, whiting and (yeah right!) mulloway. This had been a good start! 

Soon after that we moved up near Freeman's point and sounded around, stopping over some likely looking arches. Although we didn't manage any reds, we did manage a lot of yakkas and salmon on the smaller rods, with some coming aboard for bait. We then went looking for warmer water to try and tempt a snapper so headed up slightly north of Jam Jerrup where we have launched the kayaks in the past. It was dead, with a couple of moves for zilch. The highlight was the bacon and egg sandwiches, cooked on the portable stove. Just as the outgoing tide was slowing to a halt and we were reeling in the rods my only remaining rod out had a bump.... then another bump. It soon loaded up and I was finally onto a gummy. It came in very easy until it saw the boat where it screamed off. I had it to the boat a few more times, where I swear that Dad was doing his best to knock it off with the net and he finally got a good net shot in for a gummy of exactly 1m in length. If you're wondering about the photos you should know that apart from being excellent fashion statements, the hats are mandatory Winter fishing attire!

We cast the other rods back out and sat out the low tide change hoping for another gummy but it wasn't to be so we moved in to the other side close to Spit Point. We sounded up an arch and cast out. After a while we cooked up lunch (Sausages in bread) and kept waiting, knowing that the yakka fillets were wafting temptingly in the current. Dad had an inquiry and managed a 79cm gummy, putting him on the board in the competition. Shortly after his rod loaded up again and he had a massive run. After slugging it out for 5 or so minutes I had cleared out all of the other rods and the burley pot he decided it was a ray. It broke the surface about 2m behind the boat in the current and I saw the biggest snapper I have ever seen. Dad got one that was 94cm a couple of years ago and I think this may have challenged that for size! Unfortunately, it got a second wind and flicked its tail for another run. About 15m into the run it spat the hook. Slightly dejected, Dad cast back out and within a few minutes was on again - This time to a 65cm snapper. 

He missed one more run then caught another snapper of mid fifties. It did get its revenge because as he was attempting to cut it he sliced his finger open - Because the fish were on we decided it didn't need a stitch so we got out the first aid kit and bandaged it up.

Just before sunset I had a small bite that could have been a snapper but it didn't hook up. Dad had caught all of his fish on the same rod, which was not attaining legend status. By now the water had flattened out and we were treated to a nice sunset.

As we had been on the water over 12 hours we decided to call it a night about 7pm and headed back in.

The next morning we headed straight to the area and sounded up a few fish. We sat for about 3 hours, including the bacon and eggs but only managed a small gummy and a small port jackson shark. Two of my sons came down so we picked them up at the ramp and went back to Freeman's Point at about 11am and had some more fun on a dozen salmon and some flathead and then called it a day, keeping the salmon as bait for our next foray.

In the end, Dad won the weekend by 8cm, thanks to my complete inability to tempt anything red!

As I prevailed at Bemm River earlier in the year it makes the score for the year 1-1. This will make the next trip to Nelson very interesting as we are heading there in early July!

Mornington squid hunt

An early start to the day today with a squid hunt. Was on the water just after 6 and it was a little lumpy. The wind was about 5 knots, which was enough for a quickish drift. The first 4 or 5 casts produced nothing and as I drifted out further I started getting them. This may be due to the water being very shallow as it was low tide and my usual productive spot was about a metre shallower than normal.

It was hard and fast and I had bagged out by 7.20, with a few good ones amongst them. I went home to show a couple of my sons who were clearly impressed with the capture!

They are in the freezer awaiting a secret silver over the Easter weekend where they will be re-introduced to the water at Corinella.

Bemm River annual trip

Another trip to the fabulous Bemm River and this time the kayaks were left at home as we had a few newish fishermen joining us. My sons Ben and Will decided to come camping so we needed the boat (However all are now in agreement that “we ‘re gonna need a bigger boat”) after the fun that was had.

As it was the Labour Day weekend we expected it to be busy, however nothing like what greeted us when we arrived at the ramp at about 1pm Saturday afternoon – Pandemonium! Trailers taking up all spaces, plus both sides of the road to the ramp and some even on the main road near the pub. Apparently two boat clubs had annual tournaments there.  As Dad was towing the van he had taken the scenic route through Lakes Entrance (We powered through Bruthen) so we arrived earlier than him. The boys and I saw Mark at the general store, purchased some prawns and hit the fishing platform. It was a bad start when Ben’s hat blew off on the way out and sunk just when a nice gentleman’s Labrador had almost swum out to it but it improved with many bites. We got a few small bream and lost what felt like a good flathead.

We made our way back to the caravan park to agree on the species for the family fishing competition and decided on bream, EPs, flathead, trevally and tailor. Once again we would take the best fish of each species and add them together for a total length.

As it was still blowing a gale Saturday afternoon we hit the fishing platform again. Not much to report except for a small bream and I pulled up a massive conger eel which bit me off when I got it to the platform.

Sunday morning was a bit blowy but with a 6am wakeup call (And the kids in bed being babysat!) we hit Sydenham Inlet. Motoring towards the entrance you could have been forgiven for thinking this was the Carrum outer artificial reef during snapper season, as the approximately 100m square weedbeds just out from the entrance had 15-20 boats fishing it, some within 10m of each other! It turns out Mark at the general store had live prawns and they were fishing them under floats for perch. We decided to sit out from the river and drift over the drop off. As there was still a fair breeze blowing we deployed the drogue and started casting. Dad had on a 3” fry in banana prawn and I had a strike pro cyber vibe. Within the first 10 minutes Dad had managed a nice flathead of 42cm, a bream of 30cm and another smaller bream so I made a switch to the fry. This meant his early competition total was already 72cm and I was yet to trouble the scorers!

After about 15 minutes I finally managed a hit and pulled aboard a 30cm bream. We both followed that with a few flathead, Dad increasing his best to 44cm and I pulled out a 45cm flathead. At about 9am we headed in so I could pick up the boys from the caravan park (And cook up some bacon and egg sangas) and Dad kept fishing, landing a 31cm bream. After many deliberations, this fish was allowed in the competition and this gave Dad a current total length of 75cm (44cm flathead and 31cm bream) and I was also on 75cm (30cm bream, 45cm flathead). Below is my 30cm bream.

I had picked up some live prawns on the way so we went to the entrance where we anchored and whilst Dad and I flicked plastics around the boys got to put out some bait. It was absolute pandemonium on the live prawns with the boys each landing multiple flathead and bream and having a ball. Ben got a good chance to practice his lift and wind!

We kept a few flathead for the table and all of the bream were released for the day. Back at the ramp I think the most enjoyment came from feeding the pelicans! One great thing to see is fisheries at the ramp checking everyone’s catch, and I had a chat to the fisheries officer and he said that they had already caught a few people with undersize bream on board.

We had a relaxing afternoon and the boys were tired so went to bed about 7, and Dad and I hit the water again. It was quite windy but we persisted for a bit in Sydenham Inlet where Dad managed a 48cm flathead, bringing his total to 79cm. We then decided the wind was a bit strong and headed into the entrance, where it got dark without another hit. As it was dark I tied on a vibe and actually managed a fish – A 31cm yellowfin bream. According to Dad, the self-appointed rules master “a bream is a bream” so it didn’t get added to the total length as we include black bream and yellow fin bream together.

The next morning was Monday and we had until midday, and once again got up early and left with just Dad and I on the boat. I nailed an early 34cm bream taking me to 78cm, still one shy of Dad. We both caught numerous flathead and Dad soon after landed a 33cm bream, taking his total to 81cm. I managed a 46cm flathead soon after but this only got me to 79cm. We both at various stages were bitten off by tailor which it would seem were going to be the competition winning fish!

We moved to the entrance where we drifted from one side to the other a few times and got an enormous amount of fish. Most casts we had hits and landed heaps of flathead and numerous bream every drift. About halfway through the second drift I hooked up and had an extended fight, and at the end surfaced a lovely 34cm trevally. This took me to 114cm (34cm bream, 46cm flathead and 34cm trevally) against Dad on 81cm (33cm bream, 48cm flathead). We decided to head in and get the boys.

When we got the boys we once again got some live prawns and headed back to the entrance. Almost immediately they were on, and below is Ben netting a 32cm bream that Will had on, and the subsequent fish.

Soon after Ben’s rod went off and he managed a 45cm flathead whilst Will got a 22cm bream, and both proudly posed with these fish.

We called it quits at midday to pack and head on the long drive back to Melbourne, and the final results are as follows:

A great trip was had with 3 generations all getting into some fantastic quality fish.  The only disappointment was that we didn’t find the EPs this time, but that’s why we will be back soon!

Australia Day squid bash

A quick trip out today with my eldest son Ben, who is nearly 4. I awoke at 4.45 and stayed in bed for about 10 minutes worried what it would mean to take him on the poor old Perception Swing and how stable he would be. We had a practice run at Aura Vale Lake the other day so I decided if we stayed in close we would be ok, so I got up.

I made breakfast and did a final pack of the car and woke Ben up and put him straight in the car. We were off to Mornington by 5.15 and launched about 6.15.

First cast he got a bit of a fright and wobbled a bit but after that it was absolutely fine, plus we were within about 50m of the shore at all times. Second cast we were on to a squid and he even helped bring it in, until it got near the kayak. I handlined it in for the last few metres and made sure it wasn't pointing at Ben. It was abundantly clear that it wasn't pointing at him as when it broke the surface I copped a face full of ink! I quickly dispatched it to the tub behind me and had another cast for the same result.

Although we were only out about 30 minutes before he was done we managed 5 quite good squid and then had to come home via McDonalds. We arrived home at 8.15 meaning that for a 3 hour round trip we got about 30 minutes fishing time - Lucky the squid were on!

Glenelg River Holy Grail 2013

This year was our third trip to the Glenelg River. Over the past trips we have caught some amazing estuary perch, great bream but never a mulloway so that was our target species. I was also keen to actually land a fish in my new Hobie Outback. We headed there on wednesday afternoon and arrived at the shack near Donovans Landing about 8.30pm and unpacked. I quickly threw a couple of rods off the balcony baited with the fresh squid from last week's trip and within half an hour I had about 10m of line stripped from the reel. Last year I struck here and lost the fish, so I played out more line. I knew he was still there so reeled in the slack and struck, and by this stage the mulloway had swum under the next door neighbours shack and got me stuck amongst the pylons.

When I lost a mulloway at this early stage in the trip last year it turned out to be our only opportunity for the entire time we were there - Luckily this was not to be the case this time!

The next morning we awoke at 5.30 and headed to Nelson. The boys went in the boat and I took out the new kayak. As vibes were successful last trip when I got to a spot I flicked them around for 5-6 casts. With no hits I turned to my rod with a 3" fry in the peppered prawn colour. Second cast with this and I was onto my first fish in the new yak - And after a spirited fight on my 3lb line up came my first ever mulloway! Although it measured at 49cm and was well undersize, it was a massive thrill and a culmination of hundreds of trips!

 

Shortly after that I flicked the plastic near the old jetty and was on again - This time to a 30cm bream who was also quickly released to fight another day after a quick picture. I managed one more bream and it was time to head in to the general store for a coffee and egg and bacon roll (The highlight of each day's sessions, mulloway notwithstanding!).

 

That afternoon it was decided to launch the boat at Donovans and head up river. I took a seat in the boat for this trip and didn't get onto anything myself, but watched Dad pull in his first ever mulloway, which was caught on a turtleback worm and measured 51.5cm.

 

Friday morning saw me back in the kayak near the mouth at Nelson and it was time for an explore, so I headed right up towards the entrance. There were a few boats collecting bait and I threw around a 3" fry as I explored and managed a small bream and half a dozen salmon. The guys in the boat weren't successful and we again had the standard coffee with egg and bacon roll at the General Store.

Back to the shack for a rest and then once again we took the boat upstream. We played with the new sounder (Lowrance HDS 7) and figured out some settings so we sounded along as we went. We marked up a good school of fish and I threw in a 5" jerk shad in peppered prawn (Recommended by Brett and the boat hire place).This resulted in another mulloway (My first in SA as it turns out because Donovans is over the border!), and despite sounding up a few more for the afternoon there were no more hook ups.

  

Saturday morning I took up the offer of heading out in the boat (It was windy, raining and I am a bit soft!) and it turns out that it was quite a good decision. We sounded around "The Poles" area and marked up a tightly packed school. Upon casting into them I had a hit and managed another mid 40's mulloway. It went a bit quiet then so we went to meet some mates who were staying at the shack with us for the customary brunch.

We then headed back to "The Poles" and had only just rounded the corner of the river when the sounder lit up with fish. We quickly anchored and in the next 10 minutes myself and my Uncle nailed 4 between us, including a double hook up at one stage. It was chaos but died off after this until about half an hour later I managed another one. With 4 for the day I was pretty confident, however all fish we had caught were between 44-55cm, and although great fun on light gear we were after something bigger. 

My Dad (Unusually quiet through all these fish and had not troubled the scorers at this stage) finally hooked up. As you can see below he was quite excited.

  

This excitement lasted about another 5 seconds  when he realised a couple of things:

1. This was a bigger fish.
2. 3lb line with 6lb leader may be underkill for a big mulloway.
3. A Stradic Ci4 FML does not hold nearly enough line on its spool.

This led to me upping anchor and backing up on the fish as Dad could now see his bare spool. This continued for about 10-15 minutes, during which time the fish decided to head into the shallow bay (Rather than around any of the poles near us) the back into the main channel. It finally came up and was gleefully netted. The plastic had just pinned it in the corner of the lip meaning that it didn't manage to bite through the 6lb leader, and at 77cm was our best (And only legal!) mulloway of the trip. We headed in shortly after for a rest.

Saturday afternoon saw us back in the same spot, sounding until we found the school again. In the two hour session I managed another 2 mulloway, but both were around 45-50cm yet again. Dad had switched off a bit by this stage and was messing around making coffees and flicking a turtleback worm up the banks catching small salmon!

Sunday morning was the last opportunity and we had to be off the water by 9.30 so a quick session was the order of the day. It was quite uneventful, with the only capture being my 9th and final mulloway of the trip.

All in all this was our most memorable trip to Nelson and in our 3 trips we have experienced the river holding its 3 main target species in a variety of different locations so I think that local knowledge or a little bit of luck (Preferably both!) are the order of the day if you intend on paying the Glenelg River a visit.

Mornington 04/04 - Squid vicious!

A quick report for my first fishing session from the Outback. I absolutely loved it, however over the short distance managed to feel cramped (I'm 6'1" so I'm sure there are taller blokes in Outbacks - Suggestions?) but it more than made up for itself with the hands free fishing!

I awoke at 5.45 and ate a quick breakfast and arrived at Mornington about 6.45. It was still a bit dark (Forgot my light) so I messed around setting up for 15 minutes or so then launched at 7am as the light was appearing. First cast was nailed as soon as it hit the water. As was the second, third, fourth and so on. No massive squid, but the perfect bait size (Heading to Glenelg next week so will have some "million dollar bills" for the jewies). They were attacking anything that I threw at them. I kept my bag, probably caught 15-20 in all with many released and was off the water by 7.30 (Half an hour) so that I got home before 8.30 in order to keep some brownie points with SWMBO and possibly negotiate another trip on sunday.

I don't think it mattered what I threw at them, but the yamashita naturals in 2.5 did the damage - One with the light brown stripes and the jet black one was the other jig.

In the half hour session I think I had 4 casts without hooking a squid, and I even forgot the net and still didn't drop one for the day. I think you only lose them when they are scarce!

An interesting side note is that when I got home I had to spend longer cleaning squid goo off the yak than the time it took to catch them all!

Now to attempt to convert one to a secret silver......
 

The new beast

Well as my 30th is coming up (8 months away) my wife decided (With a few suggestions in her ear) that it would be a good idea to get me a new kayak for my present. That was about 2 weeks ago, so with almost 9 month to search it took me a good week and a half to find what I wanted, get it secondhand and it was dropped off today.

A Hobie Outback 2009 model with upgraded sailing rudder, ST turbo V2 drive system, depth sounder, RAM mount and 2 scotty mounts.

Now all I have to do is convince her that I need to take it out for a few trips before my actual birthday......

It'll never be beaten!

I couldn't make the trip yesterday, but Dad and a mate went out from Coronet Bay.They fished most of the day, landing about a dozen nice whiting and a large calamari during the day, As dusk was settling, they threw some fresh calamari strips out in 6.5m just out from Coronet Bay.

Dad had an almighty run and was nearly spooled. A short time later this absolute beast came to the side of the boat:

94cm, estimated weight of just over 9kg. They managed a few more nice pan sized reds and a keeper gummy, but this was the story of the night.Oh - And despite the fresh calamari strips wafting seductively in the current, it was caught on a dirty old servo pilchard!

I don't think we'll ever get one bigger so I'm back to the jewie quest!
 

Cup day trifecta

Although it has a happy ending, to fully tell the story I should start by saying that we had the family at the Coronet Bay house on the weekend, and in between playing cricket, wimming, weeding, painting  and mowing we managed a couple of trips. Once again, it was in the boat as we had a bit of a full house a few times - You can't fit 5 kids in my poor kayak!

I was under the strict "You're on kid duty until they go to bed", and my children have never had an earlier bed time than the past 4 days! We arrived saturday afternoon (03/11) to beautiful glassed out conditions - Conditions that would stay with us for basically the whole of Cup Weekend. I checked the records and we haven't had a wind-free Cup weekend since 1837!

After putting the kids in bed at  about 7.30, Dad and I were at the Corinella ramp at about 8, and in a channel near Freeman's Point at about 8.30. We sounded a few promising arches in bout 7m of water and dropped the pick. Then we waited. And waited. Weed, weed and more weed - It was terrible! Dad managed a small port jackson and I managed an even smaller westernport cod for the night - From our only bites. We dejectedly headed in at 1am.

The next day I had a troop of kids down at the beach around midday for the low tide pumping bass yabbies. We got quite a few and launched the boat at Coronet Bay around 4pm. We anchored in about 3m of water and I baited up and cast out Ben, my 2 1/2 year old. As I was baiting mine up his rod buckled over and I pulled it out of the rod holder and gave it to him, assisting him to pull in a 36.5cm whiting. I told him it was a "horse" whiting and he repeated the phrase ad nauseum to my Dad who was fishless for a lot of the session, and he wasn't overly impressed with this. My first cast I hooked another one and gave it to one of my nephews (We had 2 nephews, my son and my Dad on the boat!) and he expertly pulled in another whiting of similar size. We did miss a lot of bites and lose a few mid fight, but the kids had a ball and Dad even managed a couple of whiting soon after. As I was winding in at one stage the biggest pike I have ever seen grabbed my bass yabbie and I got him to the surface before he bit through the 10lb flurocarbon leader. We also got a small banjo shark, but ended up keeping the 4 whiting.

On Monday Dad had to work and I was again followed around by 5 kids. By the time he got back about 7pm I was ready to hit the water, and he had brought Graham, a mate of his along with us. We launched just after 7 and hit the whiting mark armed with the day before's bass yabbies, looking a little worse for wear as the aerator battery had died some time during the day. Nonetheless, we started well and managed 8 or so really good whiting, a few pinkies and one lonesome yakka before dark. When dusk came, we headed out into about 7m of water where we immediately sounded up a solid arch. We threw the rods out with an assortment of yakka fillet, pilchards and whiting heads and sat back. We didn't have to wait long as my rod baited with yakka fillet started bouncing in a fashion that was definitely a gummy shark. I waited for it to load up fully and set the hook. After a very lively fight I brought aboard a nice gummy of approximately 1m in length. It was good to have the relatively tide free (And therefore weed free!) conditions of Coronet Bay back again!

 Although not our quarry in the first snapper trip of the season, it was a very welcome bycatch. I re-baited and threw it out again. About 2 minutes later my other rod, baited with a pilchard screamed off. I picked it up and the fish had spat the bait, but this was unmistakable: I had just missed a red. Again I re-baited with a pilchard and threw it back out. Ten minutes went by and the same thing happened, however this time I struck and was rewarded with some solid head thumps. After a tense fight I brought aboard a very plump 68cm snapper - Not huge, but our first for the season.

It went a bit quiet, then Dad had a nice bite that turned out to be a port jackson shark. He had been getting very excited for a little while! My rod baited with yakka went off again and there was a sense of mutiny on the boat as so far I had had all the luck. Luckily (for me) the culprit turned out to be a massive skate, that took a lot of coercion to get off the bottom and to the boat, where he was cut off and released. We waited a little longer, and at 11.30 we headed for home.

Only then Dad reminded me that I had done what we call the "Westernport trifecta", which is a snapper, gummy shark and whiting in the same trip. I wasn't quite as lucky in the Melbourne Cup the next day!

Day 4 - Sunday 30/09

As we had to be off the water at 10am today, we thought we might launch at the Nelson boat ramp in the hope of getting out to "The Poles" for a final crack at the mulloway. As we launched, we knew this was hopeless as the wind had not abated so we went back opposite the ramp and anchored up (As we were drifting too fast). First cast I hooked what felt to be a nice EP, however the hooks pulled. This was a good sign, however after another hour of fruitless casting it may have been a fluke!

A few moves, and all I had was one small bream so we headed upriver, trying to sound up some fish. We found a few solitary fish, but none of the schools of EP's that we had located further up near Donovans/Dry Creek so we tried to head out near The Poles. It was very choppy, windy and intermittently raining so we called it a morning and headed back to the shack. 

Below are the final results:

Despite me managing about 25-30 EP's for the week, Dad struggled and didn't get one. We decided that they seem to like it if the vibe is left on the bottom for longer periods then worked slower. The other boys were fishing bait and got one size bream between them for the week, however they were in an open boat and didn't get out as much due to the inclement weather. This meant that I actually came out on top for once (78cm), Dad second (33cm) and Mauro third (With a 32cm bream he caught off the landing at the shack!).

I have to say that bait is no longer going to make it into the kayak/boat for any future bream fishing trips, as we had too much fun flicking vibes at the fish!
 

Day 3 - Saturday 29/09

Another start about 6 this morning, and again it was very windy. We started fishing opposite the ramp at Donovans and almost immediately I got onto a couple of EP’s around 30-32cm. Dad managed a small bream, then I caught a healthy 32cm bream as well.

The wind got up and intermittent rain was coming through and we headed south from Donovans against the bank. I cast the cyber vibe out towards a snag and on about the third lift it was absolutely smashed. We were drifting into the bank and things got a bit hairy, but I managed to get the fish’s head up and a lovely 38cm bream hit the net, making it the biggest for the trip. 

Just after I released the bream, Dad hooked up to what seemed to be a very big EP, and it would have been his first for the trip. However it headed for an underwater snag and the line came up tight, then to add insult to injury Dad had to break the line, losing his second vibe of the day.

We kept heading south and sounded up a nice school of fish. The wind was right up by this stage so we anchored and cast at the school rather than drift at over 2km/h which was making casting difficult. I missed a hit on my first cast and my second and third casts were rewarded with a pigeon pair of 32cm EPs. A few casts later I hooked another EP which gave a far better account of itself, and it came up to the surface – All 34cm of it. Although we were yet to get any big EP’s, this was so far the biggest of the trip.

Another move, another half an hour of casting and the wind was really roaring and the rain was horizontal so we went back to the shack for some bacon and egg sandwiches and to view a bit of the AFL Grand Final preview. As it turns out, this was a good move because the rain set in and didn’t let up until during the last quarter.

After seeing the Swans win, we pulled out the boat at Donovans and re-launched at Nelson. We went straight across from the boat ramp where Dad had a hit almost immediately. I cast near where he had the hit (Much to his displeasure) and was soon into a nice EP (Which added to his displeasure) which went spot on 40cm. 

 Fifteen minutes later Dad had a hit and missed it. Then the fish hit again and he missed it, then a third time and he hooked up. It turned out to be a bream of 33cm and the last fish of the night, as dusk was approaching so we called it a night.

Day 2 - Friday 28/09

Another night with no mulloway, and another early start in wet and windy conditions. Dad and I went out and headed down towards Taylor’s Straight. Quite quickly, I managed a tiny bream and then 2 very small EP’s. It’s good to see so many juvenile fish around – Surely this is a good sign for the system! We went back to the car that was parked at Donovan’s Landing, and drove to Nelson where we re-launched. Dad hit the scoreboard with a 32cm bream, an upgrade for him. 

I followed this with a couple of EP’s at 34cm each and we headed to the mouth. As the tide was incoming some really nice blue water was coming upstream, but it was way too exposed with frequent squalls and driving rain. We went back around the corner to opposite the ramp and I snagged a nice 32cm perch. 

We went back in when Paul arrived and had a coffee and got some bigger plastics from the shop, however the owner warned us that there was a lot of water between mulloway at the moment. Back out there the fishing was slow, and despite a lot of casts we only got some small bream.

When another storm hit we went back to the ramp. Then we drove the boat up to Dry Creek to check it out, and we launched the boat to moor it at the shack. After the storm had passed we went out again for the afternoon session, however not only was the fishing incredibly slow (Dad got a tiny bream and that was it for a couple of hours) it was also very windy and every few minutes driving rain would pour in. We decided this was a sign and called it a day to head to the pub for dinner, where we found that even they couldn't get any mulloway so it was off the menu!

Day 1 - Thursday 27/09

After the rest of the night went by without further incident, Dad woke me up just before 6am and we launched the boat and headed upstream. About half an hour later, Dad hooked up on a Berkley Gulp 3” fry in banana prawn. He lost it near the boat and it was about another half an hour until I hooked up on my Strike Pro Cyber vibe, and I landed an estuary perch of about 30cm. 

We covered a lot of ground, and after another quiet half an hour I caught a small bream, my first in many months, and as you can see I am highly excited by 15cm bream!

After moving further upstream I managed another nice EP of 33.5cm, which unfortunately had swallowed the lure and was bleeding profusely so he made the trip back with us for dinner. Then we decided it was time for breakfast so headed back to the shack for some bacon and eggs. Below is the view from the shack where we are staying, and as you can see my swag is set up in prime position!

In the afternoon, we launched again just after 1pm. We stopped about 500m upstream from Donovans and immediately I was into a nice EP of 34cm. About half an hour went past and I had 2 more, however they were both incredibly small!

At this stage Dad was getting despondent, as he hadn’t troubled the scorers for the day. He put on a black strike pro cyber vibe and first cast was onto a nice bream, that went 28cm. As he was unhooking it he somehow managed to not only keep the fish hooked but also embed the back treble in his hand. This took quite a while to extricate, and we were almost considering a visit to the hospital to get it out!

 We then motored right upstream about 10km to find the other boys tied up to the side. After hassling them a bit we moved about 100m away and first cast I managed a 31cm bream on a black ecogear ZX35. The disappointing thing for this was that at $24.99 the first fish I hooked ripped off one of the back hooks, and it wasn’t even big!

We went back towards the shack and couldn’t sound up a fish for basically the entire length of the river, so went back to the shack and threw around a few unweighted cubes. 10 minutes in I had about 5-6 undersize bream and I hooked a nice one, but trying to lift it up to the top deck it fell off. This inspired Dad who also started fishing. I then hooked another good one who was running a fair bit, so I sent Dad to the bottom landing. A few minutes later he netted a 37cm bream.

At the end of the first full day this bream gave me a total of 71cm (37cm bream, 34cm EP) and Dad and Mauro were each on 28cm (A bream each). Paul was yet to trouble the scorers….

Glenelg begins - Wednesday 26/09

After spending the morning packing the boat, we headed towards Nelson, the venue of the next fishing challenge about 3pm and arrived after an eventful trip (Most of Australia’s coat of arms are now closer to extinction) at 10pm. We immediately deployed some rods off the balcony and started to set up. The target fish for this trip were bream, estuary perch and mulloway. The totals would be the combined length of the biggest that we caught of each species. 

When we arrived, I set up my swag on the deck as the alarms weren’t working (We usually have some rods out for mulloway and they have an alarm system for when you get a bite, but it seemed to have rusted over). We started having some bites, but nothing of major significance. A couple of decent takes on some half pilchards, but that was it so we completed the set up. 

At about 1am Thursday morning when I was heading into the swag to sleep my rod, baited with a whole squid took off. I could hear the ratchet of the charter special screaming and then it stopped. I got to the rod and the line was slack but I saw the line swimming steadily upstream. I waited until the line loaded up and struck, and missed! My first mulloway bite and I missed it. I brought the bait back in and the squid was perfectly intact, however had been moved up the line about a foot. The mulloway had spat it out with some aggression it seemed. I think if I have another chance I’ll let it fully take it, as the theory that generally works on gummies of waiting for it to load up didn’t seem to work.

Trip on the sweetwater

Since we got the kayaks and the boat, freshwater fishing trips have been few and far between. Today we decided to change this, and got up at the way too early time of 3.15am and headed to Eildon. When we arrived about 6.30, it was still quite dark and we went to the Upper Pondage, coming down Cemetary Rd. This has been very productive for us over the years, however I had to carry Ben through the marshland and when we got there it was all mud and the old goulburn riverbed was flowing extremely fast. After an hour we gave up and headed into town. I had managed to get some powerbait and maggots yesterday, but Dad wanted meel worms so we checked out the fishing shop. The extremely helpful owner told us that (Apart from not having meel worms) they had released 10,000 yearling trout into the Pondage about 2 weeks ago, plus 200 ex brood stock from between 2.5-4.5kg. However, as the Pondage was up and down like a yoyo, the fish were very uncooperative and since their initial stocking they had become very sluggish and not willing to take bait or lures. We decided that even with the fish put off with that many fish stocked recently we had to catch one! We picked up some mudeyes and went back to the Pondage (With a brief 30 minute stop at the bakery/cafe for bacon and egg rolls and coffees/OJ for Ben).

We looked in Nursery Corner and some other spots in the Lower Pondage (Trying to get out of the current flowing through!) and talked to a few people. None had even sighted a fish so we went to Burke St, as even without a fish there was still a lot of space for Ben to run around.

It was very slow, and Dad and I each had one on the bottom, one under a float and Ben had one on the bottom. I was using maggots on both and Dad and Ben both had powerbait on their sinker rigs. Ben was having much more fun actually putting the maggots into the berley cages than fishing, so at least he was having fun!

About 11am when Ben and I were messing around, Dad yelled that I had a bite (On my rod on the bottom). When I arrived at my rod a fish had run with the bait and was a good 50m away to my right. Dad obliged by pulling in my float rod and then the fish decided to run the other way. I could tell straight away that it was a big fish, however my 15 year old (Bought during an NZ trip in 1998) no-name reel is quite sick. It has old, very untrustworthy 6lb mono on it and the drag is the jerkiest thing that you have ever felt. Fighting this fish made me happy that I usually fish with my nice stradics! As I couldn't put much pressure on it at all, the fish ran about 50m the other way and Dad had to reel in the other 3 rods. A couple of minutes later a nice rainbow trout came in, however with me not being able to put much pressure on it, it constantly took off again. By the time I got it near for the 5th or 6th time a couple of people were watching, and to get it in I had to walk backwards and beach it, surf fishing style.

It turns out that it was a nice rainbow (Probably my biggest for 10 years with the dearth of freshwater fishing I have been doing). It measured 64cm and weighed in at 5.5lb in the old scale (Or 2.5kg, but pounds sounds bigger than kilos!). More importantly Ben enjoyed his first encounter with freshwater fishing, despite the fact that we continued fishing until about 2pm without another sniff (However, we didn't see one other angler land a fish all day so we didn't feel too bad!).

Note: It had warmed up significantly since the start of the day, and by the time this picture was taken Ben had stripped to his thermals and "Bob the Builder" gumboots, hence the outfit!

A necessary purchase

Things have been a little quiet since the Wonboyn trip. It's cold, windy and Winter so the fishing for me has been in hibernation mode. That will all change soon when Dad, myself and a couple of the boys hit the Glenelg River at Nelson for some bream, EP's and (fingers, toes and everything else crossed) a mulloway.

With 3 and a half weeks to go I have been reviewing my tackle situation and remembered that just prior to the Wonboyn trip I misplaced all of my vibes and hardbodied lures. I think I left them on the edge of the boat when I drove it to get some new tyres. Silly, silly man. On the plus side, for my birthday recently I have received some vouchers for motackle.com.au so I think I'd better put them to good use!

Below is my current order:

I haven't really replaced any of my hardbodies (Ecogear SX40's, Atomic hardz, etc) as I have never really put in enough time with them to do well, but I think that I'll concentrate on vibing, hence the strike pro cyber vibes. I have also got some berkley gulp fry as these accounted for a lot of EP's last year and some squidgy pro critters just because they look plain enticing.

Hopefully this is a good start to restocking my new tacklebox and a sign of things to come when we head off on another jewie hunt!

Lake Wonboyn, NSW

The challenge was on – Dad and myself had to catch flathead, bream, whiting, estuary perch, trevally, salmon and tailor (Or as many of them as we could) and add together the total length of the biggest in each species. Our location this year was Lake Wonboyn, on the southern NSW coast.

Day 1: Sunday 8^th July

After arriving at the house on Lake Wonboyn and settling in on the Saturday, Sunday morning was spent readying the boat, and we also went in to Eden to get some supplies (Including NSW fishing licenses). This meant that Dad and I didn’t get to launch until about 3pm. We managed to take Ben with us; however he was more interested in the biscuits and cans of soft drink than the fishing. We went up into the river mouth and started flicking some plastic around. I was trying a turtleback worm in pumpkinseed on a 1/24^th jighead and we cast rather unsuccessfully for about half an hour before I hooked up to a nice 40cm flathead. We crossed to the other side of the river and I managed a smaller model and Dad latched onto a 30cm one. The duskies here in NSW need to be 36cm, however we imposed a boat limit of 40cm. I hooked up to another really nice fish that was taking line, before it spat the hook. With darkness descending on us, we called it a night and headed back in.

Day 2: Monday 9^th July

On Monday we had an early start and headed right up the river. We sounded up one school of what we assume were bream, but even after casting vibes, hardbodies and plastics at them for no result, we moved on. There were a lot of good areas up the river, including steep banks, overhanding trees and a lot of structure. However, a distinct lack of fish was notices and we didn’t get any hits for the couple of hours we spent up there. We headed back into the lake and drifted along some oyster leases. I hooked up on a 3” minnow in the peppered prawn colour and pulled in a nice flattie. Next cast I caught another one that measured 50cm. Dad then caught one about 34cm on a 3” fry in the banana prawn colour. I started pulling in quite a few between 34-36cm which call went back. When I was up 10 fish to 1, Dad decided that his lure wasn’t working so we swapped rods. He did hook up immediately, but so did I. In order to keep the peace back at the house with the family we returned home. At this stage we had only caught flathead, and I was up 50cm to 40cm.

In the afternoon we took Ben to Baycliff, the surf beach for a spot of surf fishing. It was dead low tide and we didn’t manage many bites, except for the sand crabs which were abundant and stole all of our baits. The surf poppers didn’t do any good either. Just before dark Ben’s rod went off and we pulled in a double header of salmon. One of these was converted to fillet baits and just on dark my rod went off, with everyone’s favourite shark, the draughtboard shark coming in. It fought similar to a log and was big and ugly. We went home for dinner with neither of us adding to the competition scores.

Day 3: Tuesday 10^th July

We had another early morning on Tuesday. Immediately we headed to the oyster racks. A bit more of a breeze was blowing which gave us a drift which was way too fast. We motored back up to them and anchored. First cast I was on, with a 34cm duskie coming aboard which was quickly released. Dad then hooked a nice fish which gave a good account of itself and measured 44cm, bringing his total for the competition up. Over the next hour we got a few more flathead, all between 34-38cm. To change it up, we headed towards the entrance. On the way we flicked around a few leases and likely looking spots. I managed one more flattie about 34cm which went back and we continued on to the entrance. Dad got some burley going as we tried to attract some other species, like salmon, trevally or tailor. After about half an hour I had a hit on my turtleback worm which had made its way back on. 

It ran about 30m before I even got to turn the reel. I was dreaming about my first mulloway as the system used to be full of them (So the locals say), however it was heading in the wrong direction so I had to concentrate. My poor little stradic 1000 with 3lb line was having a massive workout and for the next few minutes I didn’t get any line back. After a while (And a nervous lap of the boat and almost anchor rope) I finally got up a silver trevally, which eventually slid into the net and measured 42cm. 

We each managed a few more average flathead before heading back to the ramp. The trevally added to my largest flathead of the previous day had me at 92cm for the competition, with Dad having 44cm for his biggest flathead.

Day 4: Wednesday 11^th July

Wednesday was a day where the girls wanted to go into Eden, Pambula and Merimbula to do some shopping, so we only managed to venture out twice. These sessions were short and sharp, first thing in the morning (Well, 7.30-8.45) and in the afternoon (3.30-5.15). In the early session we hit what was now our usual flathead spot. I managed 6 flathead (On the 3” minnow in peppered prawn) and Dad caught 4 (On a turtleback worm in pumpkinseed), with all fish being released. Dad upgraded his PB for the week to 44cm. We decided to try a new area with about 20 minutes to go and motored over a shallow sandy patch and found a dead flathead upside down that I netted. It went 86cm and was by far the biggest fish of the week.

As it had definitely turned and was a bit on the nose, we released it in the same condition in which we caught it. In the spot we then had a couple of really good, hard runs but no hookups.

In the afternoon we got out again and tried the last spot from the morning session. Almost immediately Dad caught a flathead, then I managed one to level it at 1-1. I brought another one up on the next cast but dropped it as I was lifting it into the boat. We motored back to the spot that we had drifted away from and started the drift again. I quickly managed 3 more to make it 4-1. Just before dusk Dad cast out then turned around to put some burley out. He picked up his rod and a flathead had swallowed his 3” minnow, which he reeled in and it was a new PB for him for the week of 47cm. This made the session 4-2 to me, and we tried unsuccessfully for about another 10 minutes but the fish seem to shut down when dusk comes. I think they are far more active with some sun on the water when it is colder.

Day 5: Thursday 12^th July

Another day, another start where we were on the water about 7.15. Today Ben came with us again, although once again he was less interested in the fishing and more interested in the “chicken in a biscuit” and looking through all of the soft plastics. By 9.30 Dad and myself each had 3 flathead on board, with 2 of them above 40cm. 

We dropped him back at the pier where he was picked up and tried some new ground. We had heard that the tailor were around so started trolling – Dad with his rebel fasttrack jointed minnow (The “Glenelg river special”) and I had a good old Berkley FS6 in the mullet colour. As soon as the lures hit the water Dad was on and pulled in a tailor of 42cm, which brought the competition to equal terms. We started trolling again and Dad hooked up immediately. As he was pulling it in I stopped the boat and began pulling my lure in, when it was also hit by a tailor. Dad lost his halfway in and I managed to get mine to the boat – 39cm and extended my lead overall to 42cm. We started trolling again and again Dad hooked up within 10 seconds, and had a very large tailor boatside quickly, when it made one last dash for freedom and bit through his 10lb leader. Needless to say he had to put a new lure on and we trolled unsuccessfully for another 15 minutes or so.

We then decided it was time to stop and drift. It was quiet for a while before I hooked up to a flathead, then the next cast a nice trevally of about 38cm. Dad and I then both landed a couple of tailor each and it went quiet again. We headed back near the oyster leases where we have had success over the past few days. Dad soon managed 4 flathead in 5 casts, including one of 50cm which became his new biggest flathead and meant he was now only down by 39cm. I finally managed a couple of flathead, but my biggest was only 42cm. Then Dad had a good hit almost as soon as his 3” fry hit the water. It took quite a bit of line and then came back towards us and headed for the oyster leases. He managed to turn it at the last minute and after a few more frantic moments it was safely in the net. It was a 37cm yellowfin bream, which was a new species and closed the gap to 2cm overall. We moved down the leases a bit and I put a cast in towards them and had a good hookup. 

The fish ran and stayed deep – I was hoping for a bream (As I had yet to get one) but when it finally came up it was another trevally. We both snared a few more flathead and then it was time to call it quits just before 3.30, with the total fish count 14-13 (My way) for the day but Dad with the nice bream. Overall there is a 2cm difference in length for the overall bag for the week which should set up an interesting Friday’s fishing – Dad still is yet to catch a trevally and I am yet to manage a bream. 

Day 6: Friday 13^th July

Another early start this morning – To look after the two boys as my wife woke up with a bit of a cold. Although it was meant to be stormy, we awoke to clear skies, no winds and Lake Wonboyn looked like a millpond. Itching to go fishing at about 11am we finally got permission to take the eldest (Ben, 2 ½ years) to the piers to throw around some plastics. On the first pier we found some absolutely enormous bream cruising below it. Despite a passing interest in the turtleback worm I dropped down first cast, they refused absolutely every offering, including all of the plastics in our arsenal plus some vibes. After seeing the disdain that these wily old bream showed to the lures, we continued on for a while around the piers and moorings, but with no success. We went back to the house for lunch.

After managing to get both boys to sleep we snuck out for another session that lasted for about an hour and a half. Dad got a flathead early, and then I managed one as well. He then got another two and I dropped one boatside as I was lifting it in. As we were releasing all fish I may have become lackadaisical and probably should have used the net! Dad cast towards the oyster leases and hooked up straight away. The fish ran and ran and nearly went back to where it came from in the leases as Dad’s 4lb leader was stretched to capacity. As he led it towards the boat it stayed deep and he called it for a trevally, which would have been a new species for him for the week. As it came up into the net, a 36.5cm healthy yellowfin bream came aboard. Whilst Dad was releasing it I cast in again and hooked up, unfortunately not to a bream but managed a 38cm flathead. This meant that Dad was up 4-2 and we decided to try a troll for a tailor. Within a couple of minutes we got a call from home that the boys had woken up and we needed to resume our babysitting duties. As we cleaned up the boat Dad dropped over his ever-reliable 3” fry in the banana prawn colour and again hooked up. As we were now over the deeper section he called it for a trevally but once again after an extended fight he pulled in another yellowfin bream, this one measuring 37cm. Dad won the day convincingly 5-2, but this doesn’t change the overall standings with me up by 2cm. We do have an opportunity for a final 2 hour session tomorrow morning before we pack up and head for home, so will have to wait one more day for the final results!

Day 7: Saturday 14^th June

An earlier start today and we were on the spot by 7am, as we had to be off the water by 9am to head for home. After Dad landed a flathead within the first few minutes we moved closer in towards the oyster leases. I was still motoring the boat in when Dad had his first cast - And hooked up as soon as it hit the water! It was a cast right into the leases and we expected to see a good bream come up, but a 39cm trevally was soon netted, which meant that Dad now led the competition by 37cm. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it as we released it before I thought of taking one in my shock of being behind! A few more flathead and by 8am it was 4-2 Dad's way, with all bar that one fish being flathead. In the deeper section (About 5m)  that we ended up at we started flicking the plastics for not much luck until I hooked a nice tailor. It was almost at the surface when it bit through my 4lb leader. Dad then cast into the same spot and managed to land one, meaning that he had boated 3 species for the morning and led 5-2. I put on another plastic and cast out again.... For the same result. My leader was now so short I had to use my other rod that I had pre-rigged. I then finally managed to land one, and just before 9am Dad and myself each landed another tailor which made the final score for the day 6-4 to Dad, and the overall competition was won by 37cm, by Dad:

A hard fought competition all week, but the winner of the inaugural Lake Wonboyn Fishing Challenge was Dad by 37cm. I'm already plotting my comeback at Nelson in late September....