At the time it was flattering but also a bit of a pain that several anglers and journalists worked out a handful of my pet kayak jewfish spots on the NSW south coast.
The upside is that it has forced me to explore further afield and has made me a better angler. So far I have confidently identified a dozen new places to catch these prized fish, but they are still hard enough to make it fun.
Rob’s weekly FISH’N’TIP Wednesday 30/9/2009
( A huge flathead materializes beneath Robs hobie)
FISH’N’TIP 0500 Five Hundred Fish’n’tips
This week I have the pleasure of penning my 500th weekly Fish’n’tip for all the loyal readers out there.
Phil Brumby has been catching a few nice murray cod down at Lake Tuggeranong in his Hobie Sport. Phil has a memorable battle with a 30 pounder and has promised to send me the pics in the near future.
At home on his Kayak: Rob with a nice trevally landed just 100 meters from the beach.
The boom in the sport of Kayak Fishing has not yet hit Australia’s Tropics, but after a recent trip up north to test the waters I found there are some scenarios that are absolutely perfect for ‘the yak’.
At first I was talked out of kayaking in the tropics by people who were concerned about the dangers of crocodiles, but I soon figured that tropical fishing isn’t all about chasing barra in the estuaries, which is where most big crocs hang out!
My little hobie continues to be a revelation in my fishing and boating lifestyle and what I got up to on a brief holiday, this time around on the south coast of NSW, will give you an idea of why I am so happy with this little craft. On the first morning I woke up at sparrows fluff and was keen to get out on my own and breathe in some fresh sea air while the rest of my family had a sleep in. I launched at a place known as Corrigan’s Beach at Batemans Bay and peddled out around Observation Point. Easterly winds and a soild swell were coming directly into the bay and as a result the water was quite murky. I started out looking for bream around the shallow rocks using a 4 inch long stick bait on a 4 gram jig head. I cast along the inside edge of Observation Point but in the murky water I couldn’t quite see the killer strike zone where the shallow rock ledge meets the snag free sand so I decided to go out around the point and rustle up a few salmon and Tailor instead. I fished from behind the breakers casting back into the wash. I lost a couple of softies to the Tailors sharp teeth but a few nice 1.5 kilo sized specimens made it home for breakfast-tasty and healthy at the same time. As far as tackle is concerned I was using a Rapala Braid Concept 702 SPL rod, a 40 sized Okuma Salina Reel with saltwater gears (ideal in the kayak.) I spooled up with 8 pound Braid, and used 12 pound fluro carbon leader. This sized outfit is ideal when fishing from a Kayak and I use it on everything from bream to Snapper and jews.
Last week I looked at the first few days of my hobie holiday where I snuck out early each morning and flicked around some softies and caught a swag of species including salmon, Tailor and Snapper. This week I continue looking at what was a most memorable and healthy few days off all thanks to my little kayak and a new years resolution to try and incorporate a little more fitness into my fishing outings.
On day three I took my eldest girl 9 year old Caitlin for a dink in the back of my hobie sport. Caitlin and I explored a reef off Caseys Beach and while she did get a little wet because I forgot the rear deck plugs, her wet suit helped her stay warm in what was a quite coolish summers day. She really enjoyed learning how to use her half of the two piece paddle.
Rob Paxevanos and family enjoying some kayak fishing on the NSW south coast.
CONJOLA
I spent a few days fishing in the lower reaches of Lake Conjola last week and was pleasantly surprised with quality and quantity of estuary fishing on offer at the moment.
First up the kids and I burlied up some yellow eye mullet in the shallows. The slight current was perfect for dispersing the readily available pre mixed burley mixture and before long massive numbers of big mullet were following the scent right up to out feet. Other species like bream and flathead were also in the trail but it was the mullet we were after on this occasion.
A float one meter above a pea sized ball of bread on a size 8 long shank hook soon produced a dozen fresh mullet for the BBQ. Mullet have a few bones in them but apart from that they are as good a table fish as any estuary species when caught from such clear water-YUM!
Rob’s weekly FISH’N'TIP written for the week of Wednesday 29/4/09
Within just a minute of launching we had paddled under a jetty to avoid a rain spell that had crept up on us in the dark of the night.
It was a very low jetty at that and crouched there looking upwards at slowly dripping gaps in the planks my camera man Gary Dixon and I had to wonder just how we got into this predicament.
It wasn’t the best start to a kayak review but heck we were still the first two people on these shores to sit in the all new Hobie Pro Angler and the rain was not going to stop our adventure.
A few hours earlier we stopped in to pick the craft up from Rob and Rene Hook at Adventure Marine in Batemans Bay and our first impressions were much the same as any kayaker: it is huge!
A mini revolution is taking place amongst some groups of anglers and that is using a kayak to get into places that have never been fished before! The result is they are catching bigger fish in amazing numbers.
Bream are one of many popular species that anglers are targeting; they are available around the entire coastline and are particularly poplar with anglers in the southern half of this continent.
One example of the sort of fishing you can get is when some friends and I four wheel drove into an isolated estuary on the south coast of NSW last summer.
I won’t mention the name of the estuary; don’t need too-the map is dotted with stacks of them and the thing they share in common is that you can’t get a boat in there so a kayak is ideal.
We didn’t use any hot new techniques; there was simply more fish and less fishing pressure.
