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!

Since arriving at my new home in Maclean a couple of weeks ago, any spare time I’ve had has been spent fishing or thinking about fishing. Although I have fished the general area a few times previously while passing through, the sheer size of the mighty Clarence river – not to mention a vast coastal playground with which to discover – dictates a very exploratory approach. In an attempt to familiarise myself with the local fisheries that’s exactly what I’ve been doing, dividing my efforts in time on the water, time talking to locals and time exploring maps and google earth. The more I look the more I find and as each day passes it becomes increasingly apparent that I have a whole lot of exploring to do. The downside to this is that it’s going to take some time before I can confidently say that I’m intimately familiar with the area. The upshot, of course, is that hands-on kayak fishing exploration is a whole lot of fun and I’m not about to run out of new fishing grounds in a hurry. From bream to tuna, from estuary to open water, my wide-ranging piscatorial tastes should be well and truly covered. 2009 should be an interesting, if not highly entertaining year for me.

The majority of my efforts since arriving have been centred around the local waters of the Clarence river at Maclean. While I’m waiting for the tuna and mackeral to show up off the Clarence coast I’m taking the opportunity to try and find the most productive spots within a liesurely paddle distance from the Maclean boat ramp. On the whisper of long-time locals I’ve been directed to a fairly small rocky reef-like area that can be found about a km downstream from the boat ramp in the centre of town. It takes me all of 3 minutes (if I take my time) to walk my kayak to the ramp from home, so it’s been easy to get out whenever I can spare a couple of hours. It hasn’t taken me long to figure out that the local trawlers have pretty much gutted the central passage of the river but as quietly advertised, the rocky shallows has certainly produced the goods for me so far.

There are two spots specifically that I’ve found to hold good numbers of fish downstream from the ramp. One of them is the afore-mentioned patch of rocky shallows, which is a couple hundred metres upstream from the McFarlaine bridge. It’s a pretty easy patch to find, highlighted by a small mound of rocks that protrudes a few feet from the surface. Water flows past powerfully as tides rip in or out and fish can always be found on whichever side is protected at the time. I’ve found success here by gliding the kayak into the calm eddies created by the wall of rock and casting around the edges, as well as holding position in the current with a slow pedal stroke. I’ve also been able to anchor up by using the Hobie stake-out pole to hold position in the heaviest of currents.

I’ve already lost count of the amount of bream I’ve hooked here and am precariously close to losing count of flathead boated here as well. Success has come at the hands of a variety of lures, with the most productive being Ecogear SX40s, SX48s and olive-coloured Rapala slashbait hardbody lures. Soft plastics have also achieved results here, most notably small sized black & gold Squidgy Stealth prawns. Whilst I’m told that jewfish can also be caught here I’m yet to confirm that for myself, though admittedly I’ve spent most of my time working smaller lures in an effort to improve my finesse-fishing ‘bream-fu’ (with a view to prevent embarrisment at the up-coming ABT events).

A bit further downstream on the opposite side of the bridge is another rocky patch that seems to be equally productive. To add to the bream, tailor, flathead and catfish I’ve caught here, I’ve also had 2 very strong bites that I suspect came from jewfish. I can’t be sure unfortunately because lures were spat out on both occaisions. As the full moon nears I’ll definitely be earmarking this spot as one to try for hungry lunar-driven jews.

I have also ventured several km upstream to Harwood bridge, which has a reputation for consistantly producing mulloway. Along the way I hooked a few fish while trolling along the man-made rocky shoreline. The closer I was able to get, the more bites came. Though I haven’t yet employed the strategy, here locals favour live-baiting with herring. With plans to give that a try this coming weekend, I’ll also mix it up a bit by casting surface lures around the pylons and working the depths with appropriately sized and weighted soft plastics.

Only on one occaision so far have I car-topped the kayak and driven to another destination, making a beeline for the river mouth at Iluka. It was notably quiet that day, although a flighty big-eye trevally took a liking to a stealth prawn lure and tried to swim away with it unsuccesfully. With the tide running out fast I did expect to catch more than I did, although I think dolphins played a part in shutting the fish down. This is another kayak-friendly area I’ll be fishing often – especially during weekends whenever the weather is too rough to venture offshore. 
———
Josh Holmes – Hobie Factory Team

Dirk Hartog Hobie Yak Fishing Trip ‘09

Written by Josh    
May 2009 
*Envy*
Newly announced Hobie factory Fishing Team member (and Melbourne Hobie kayak dealer) Scott Lovig has uploaded a new video that features some of the highlights of the recent kayak fishing adventure (undertaken by a group of swiss-bank account holding yak fishos) at Dirk Hartog, Western Australia. When you watch this clip I think you’ll understand why the guys were so willing to spend up and travel as far as they did in search of picatorial glory. Great video from Scott once again.