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.

This big journey started in roundabout way when I decided to see if I could catch a jewfish from a kayak 5 years ago; something that got me lots of ‘your kidding me’ looks at the time. 

Interestingly it has turned out to be the very best way to catch jewfish and I’ve cottoned onto a stack of stuff that I would’ve missed in a bigger boat.

For a start experienced jewfish anglers typically agree that these fish have a lateral line that can ‘feel’ noise a mile away, especially in a quite estuary.

It is one thing to read this but quite another to see it turn into results.  I have found that the small footprint and stealth of a kayak means far more jewfish ‘if’ you peddle quietly and keep noise to a minimum.  

This is much in the same way modern day bass boats with carpeted floors and electric motors are better on wary fish than bare hull tinnys with clunky 2 stroke outboards.

There are exceptions around bridges, marinas and ocean bommies where noise is accepted by the local jewfish population, but when chasing them in quiet estuarine locations you want them to sense your lure first, rather than your boat or a clumsy mate.   When used properly Kayaks are without a doubt the quietest and least obtrusive craft of all.

Too make things even more interesting, I am seeing more jewfish fining with the tide from my kayak than I do in larger boats.

This is helping me appreciate how jewfish are masters of the current; they move with the flow when migrating or coming out to feed, and lay up in the prime real estate for the rest of the time, which is often.

Perhaps what has helped the most of all is that in my kayak I have leaned to understand flows properly because I spend energy feeling the current, rather than not paying attention because I have petrol or electric power at my fingertips.  The subtleties of tidal flows are proving to be a real key to success. 

You can not only work out holding stations of a jewfish, which are usually structure or hole orientated, you are in pole position to work our where they move first when the tide slackens off, or where they end up when the tide starts to pick up.

Fair dinkum we have their bite time down to the half hour in some of the new spots, and now catch them consistently even in what I thought were the harder months such as summer and winter.  It is an absolute eye opener, even to some older friends of mine who have been catching jewfish out of bigger boats successfully for over 30 years! 

One of the downsides to the amount of jewfish that kayakers are catching is that power boats sometimes pull up nearby.

This is rare but disappointing when it happens, especially considering there is loads of good jewie spots in most estuaries. 

That and one of the benefits of having an outboard is that you can easily catch up to the tide change if you turn up late or an opposing wind turns the tide earlier than the charts predicted.

Most anglers know that bream and flathead can be found in suitable habitat throughout a system, especially when there has been no recent floods to push them down to the sea.  After a while you will find jewfish, while in much smaller numbers, are really no different.   

Whatever craft you use, give your fellow anglers some room and look for your own patch, it’s worth it.  And if you are struggling to understand tides, borrow a kayak and give it red hot go; if it’s not your cup of tea at least you can use what you learn when you get back in a bigger boat. 

From there you can even lure jewfish from the bank, albeit for a short amount of time on the slack tide.  However snags and losing bigger fish is a pain, especially when your kayak is strapped to the roof of your nearby car!

The icing on the cake is that south coast jewfish are getting easier each season for everyone thanks to recreational fishing havens where the pros can’t move in and net the schools you’ve been enjoying.  

With more education on where, how and when these fish they will hopefully grow into a more popular target fish like bream and flathead. 

You can use the search function on my web site www.fishingaustralia.tv to find more information. 

See you on the water. 

Rob Paxevanos

I just got back from one of the best impoundment barra fishing trips I have ever been on and much of the enjoyment and success had to do with being able to park and live on a house boat right next to the best fishing spots.

In all the previous trips getting to a good spot involved getting up at 4 am, stuffing down some breaky and then driving up to the local Barra Lake (eg Monduran, Proserpine, Kinchant, Temmburra) to launch a boat and then speed up to the best spots before daylight arrived.

This process can take some 2 hours! By 9 am you have only fished for 3 hours and are facing a lot of hours in the sun before the next good bite time starts at 5 pm! However, with the tips that we picked up from Steve Fields (B1) proved invaluable in us catching fish this time around.

With a house boat you simply wake up and fish nearby from 4 am to 9 am and then come back for a big breakfast. Too easy!

From there we spent the middle of the day in comfort while comparing lures and knots, sounding out new spots, having a nap, catching up on writing, or baiting for barra from the back of the house boat.

Interestingly enough a whole 6 pound catfish got smoked by a barra! The barra spat the bait and we didn’t see it but we could only imagine how big it was…

By the time 4 pm rolled around we simply headed out to the best spots with our reflexes fresh and ready to catch big barra, and this along with no curfew for dinner back at camp meant we could really concentrate on the fishing.

This is why we got our best fishing ever: 12 barra over a meter for 4 anglers over 3 easy days. Quiet a few more were lost while we waited for the camera boat to catch up; electric powered bass boats are much slower than a hobies mirage drive.

You can google up my article “barramundi nights” for lots more info on Monduran Barra and the tackle and lures needed, but since that article (mid 2009) I have learnt a few more valuable lessons.

Having a few hobies tied up to the back of the house boat made life really easy; you simply jumped in and went to which ever near by spot you wanted to fish and started casting without having to wait for anyone.

A meter plus barra is something pretty special to experience from a kayak, and much easier than you would think thanks to all the mod cons of the large stable Pro Angler Hobies we were using.

Along the way I did learn a few new tricks about using the new Hobies, including poking the stake out hole through the cart hole-this is easier and quicker than using an anchor if you are in shallow water.

If we had to anchor tying off the rear end was best; it means you are comfortable and facing where you are fishing. Simply pick your anchoring spot so that you are directly up wind of where you want to cast;

A few times I also placed the built in bungy cord around a tree and a mate docked nearby so we chatted quietly and fished at the same time.

You always have to minimize noise and stay stealthy when impoundment fishing but I really enjoyed having barra not get spooked as easily thanks to the kayaks small footprint. Most of the time we were anchored just 20 meters from the edge of the weed and the barra strikes came half way back to the kayaks: spectacular stuff!

The technique was pretty straight forward; pick a place where the wind is blowing directly onto a point: wind creates heck of a lot of water flow and the points divide the water and food past these spots. Barra move onto the front corners of such spots to ambush their prey, especially at dawn dusk and at night.

A lot has been written about moon phases and bite time predictions, but fishing a point that is facing into the wind, especially a warmer northerly wind, in the low light periods is far more important. Any moon phase is good for dawn and dusk fishing providing you haven’t had lots of cold southerlies, and even then our guide Rob Wood still catches plenty of Barra.

Rob mainly uses Storm Bait ‘n’ Switch lures and methodically makes 50 or more casts to each point. Each cast is aimed at the edge of the weed and slow rolled back occasionally touching the bottom. This lure allows Rob to quickly change the lure colour every ten casts of so (hence the name bait n switch) to see what the barra prefer on the night.

To top things off 10 year old Tom Woods fought and landed a whopping 120 cm barra estimated at some 66 plus pounds! I followed him around with a camera as his little sport travelled at some 4 knots through the timber. Great footage for next years Fishing Australia Series and we are all looking forward to seeing it.

The houseboat costs around $300 a night; you can get more info at http://www.lakem.com.au If you need more help to catch one of Mondurans Mega Barra contact Rob Wood http://www.hotelgingin.com.au or 07 4157 4342. For more info on the Hobie Pro Angler check out www.hobiecat.com.au/fishing/proangler.html

[View with PicLens]

Rob Pax (blog)

Readers may have noticed a friendly comp has broken out as to who is B1 ie Barra 1 and who is B2, B3 etc.

And while all the adults fought it out for this title; young 10 years old Tommy snuck up on us with this 120 cm 66 pound plus monster hooked in his hobie sport.

It towed him some 200 meters through heavy timber, at night, but he did a Stirling job and got the fish beat, after which his dad Rob Wood (pictured) came over with the landing net.

Look at the size of it-Now that is a barra!  

Rob Pax

( 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.

This is the place where I cut my teeth on newspaper fishing journalism, and it all started with just one column in a wonderful little newspaper known as the Queanbeyan Age. 

With lots of dedication and enthusiasm, all motivated by the fact that I had to go fishing to get the good oil, this has grown steadily to be a feature column in the Rural Press network of newspapers around Australia and is also the longest running weekly column on the internet where it can now be viewed at fishingaustralia.tv  

Funnily enough the internet presence made it possible for people around the world to read the column, and you would be surprised at how many  people write in from OS happy to hear stories from their home country.

The column hasn’t missed a week for 500 weeks straight, and have been flattered along the way to have people mimic the sayings and types of fishing I have developed.  But before I the ego gets too inflated…I too have had the pleasure of fishing with many great fishos from whom I have learnt heaps!  You guys and girls know who you are-thanks!

I have had all sorts of wonderful experiences to write about, from giant cod on fly, to the still talked about marlin from my hobie kayak, from fishing with celebrities and heads of state to helping out those in need of a cheer up via a day on the water.

Of course there is much much more…too much to detail here, but suffice to say if you google up “Rob Paxevanos” followed by the fishing topic you can get stacks of material on any technique from around the country. 

Most of all though people write in saying thanks for helping them catch their first fish or for getting them into a new type of fishing. 

I would like to celebrate the next few weeks by writing about lure fishing for the humble flathead- our most popular and easy to catch saltwater fish that is within reach of anyone along the coast.  AND it is the perfect time of year to catch them.

FLATHEAD

I’ll mainly be talking about the species that live in the estuaries, inlets and bays in the Southern Half of Australia.  In particular I’ll be concentrating on Dusky and Sand Flathead that inhabit the shallows and thus can be targeted from the bank or from a small boat; but bear in mind that all flathead can be caught using the same strategy.

THE SHAPE OF THINGS

Flattys as the name suggests have  broad flattened heads and bodies and they can camouflage themselves extremely well or even bury themselves in the sand with just their eyes showing. 

From this sneaky position they watch the traffic going overhead until a tasty little fish, prawn or other snack comes too close…then BOOM  the Flathead explodes out of hiding and inhales its prey in the blink of an eye. 

Flathead are typically solitary predators too – each fish does their own thing.  However, in prime habitats, you can sometimes find many individual fish inhabiting the same area.

WHERE

 Being ambush predators, flattys will often move into position somewhere near cover so they can surprise attack their prey as it comes around the corner.

The best places to find them are where the broad sand or mud flats meet a feature, such as an oyster lease, rock bar, shallow gutter, undulating gravel bed, steep channel or drop off.

Another classic ambush zone is where bait pours out of channels as the tide drains off the flats. 

Flattys also like to lay in small sand patches amongst heavy weed, or conversely hide near small weed patches on a vast sand bank.

Their low profile also means that if needed they can sit on the bottom where the current is strong and barely raise a fin!

Cripes they can be found just about anywhere, so the real trick to finding them is to cover plenty of likely spots.  Drifting with baits is good, but lures are even better; and this is exactly what I’ll be looking at next week in detail.

For the 500^th time it’s my pleasure type: see you on the water.

Rob Paxevanos.

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!

There are plenty of places away from major rivers where crocs are not a threat, for example offshore islands in the dry season.

My adventure began in the Torres Straight where there are a good number of croc free fish yet fishy looking islands to choose from, all with nice warm winter temps in the high twenties.

The next hurdle was that no one up there had a half decent kayak let alone one of the pedal powered Hobies that I prefer to use because they leave my hands free to fish.

Shipping a yak up was looking like an expensive and time consuming exercise until I came across an inflatable hobie that packs up into its own large suitcase and can be checked in with the rest of your baggage on the plane. How cool is that!

Before I knew it I was wheeling the case down the beach on the tiny Island of Poruma, while locals looked on wondering exactly what this little white fella was up too.

After just 5 minutes I had the yak unpacked, pumped up, on the water and into some small to medium sized Queenfish on 3 kg spin gear. Queenfish are awesome; great fight and even better acrobatics, especially when viewed from water level! All this and I could see the pristine reef and sand below me the whole time!

At one stage a school of Queenfish circled me like I was a fad (fish attracting device), this was a great experience and something I have never seen out of a larger powered craft. Once again the yak was proving to be an intimate and fun way of doing something I have done plenty of.

To catch the Queenfish a small white soft plastic retrieved quickly was the stand out technique.

The warm up in the shallows served two purposes: getting to know the 12 foot long craft and building up the confidence to fish the drop off just 100 meters away where bigger fish lurked.

Good fishing spots around tropical islands sometimes go and in hand with sharks, everything from small reefies up to bigger whalers, hammer heads and tigers.

As usually happens current, wind and waves were more important than worrying about shark, so I took my time until it was obvious it was safe on the edge of the first drop off in 18 meters of water.

It was all a learning experience. I didn’t burley from the yak, so my toothy friends didn’t come too close. The whalers sometimes stole a hooked fish from me which was good; I knew they were about and what they were interested in!

I was not nearly as game as the snorkelers and divers who actually get in the water in the same areas! It’s all about putting things in perspective and once you’re out there you soon start to realize that it’s far more fun than fear.

Once settled in I had an absolute ball landing trevally to around a meter long, Coral Trout to 5 kilos, and numerous other species.

While poppers, knife jigs and metal slices all work up north, a tray of buck tail jigs from half an ounce up to 5 ounces covered every depth and species and I only had to work them gently which meant I could save my energy for kayaking, fighting fish and taking in the scenery.

I could’ve happily paddled around exploring the island and catching fish every day for a month. I felt as happy, fit, warm and adventure bound as I have in months.

Kayaking fishing will definitely catch on in the topics, after all it goes hand in hand with warm weather, palm trees and that idyllic island holiday many of us are looking for.

Special thanks to the Torres Straight Regional Authority, queenslandholidays.com.au, hobiekayaks.com.au, and poruma.com.au

You can catch the start of my Torres Straight adventure this week followed by a snap shot of my Kayak Adventure at Poruma next week on WIN Televisions Fishing Australia, 5:30 pm Saturdays.

See you on the telly just after the sun goes down.

Rob Paxevanos.

Stay tuned……..for more action from Rob Paxevanos

The next morning I launched at Corrigan’s again and peddled all the way across to Square Head which took me approximately 20 minutes, the idea was to do a little fishing and to burn up a few of excess carbs ingested over the holiday season. My little hobie sport has foot pedals (the Mirage Drive) and the standard paddle. I usually use the foot pedals exclusively because they are more efficient and leave your hands free for fishing but about halfway into the morning I pulled the paddle out to give my upper body a bit of a work out. There is something magical about getting some light exercise while out on the water, and while sometimes I go hard at it this time around I preferred to go easy but spend more total time at it-a perfect combination when re-acquainting your self with a fishing spot.

Again the water was still a bit murky which suits Tailor and I manage to troll up a few Tailor around the 40 cm mark on the beach between Square Head and Maloney’s Beach. The next day the swell had backed off the water had cleared up and it was time to get a little more serious so my Hobie Mate Mike Nicholls and I launched at South Durras and headed out around the nearby headlands and islands. Heaps of species came our way such as wrasse, Red Rock Cod, leather jackets, slimy mackerel, and a lovely 2 kilo Snapper-a real buzz on light tackle when fishing at water level. We used the new 6 inch long silstar slapstix softie on a 7 gram jig head in 5 to 15 meters of water. The slapstix has an extremely firm but flexibly rubbery consistency; possibly the best textured plastic on the market at the moment and I was pretty happy to be testing them out. The lures dense plastic meant that it withstood all the above fish without even having the old pants pulled down; very practical indeed when the fish are on the chew. The brilliant white color did all the damage. The large southern calamari in the area also went berserk over the lure, and one XL specimen wouldn’t leave it alone and then took a liking to the flippers on the Hobie and sat watching them while I tied on a squid jig to catch him. What an amazing experience at close quarters. This squid went straight into the ice filled esky I keep behind my seat and it won me some good brownie points come dinner time back at camp. Next week I will continue looking at the diary of one of my best family holidays to date and along with a brief encounter with a school of Hammerhead Sharks that I’m sure the more experienced anglers and kayakers will be keen to read about.See you on the water.

Rob Paxevanos

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.

My younger daughter Emily also loves the kayaks and together we put the foot pedals into action to get over to the amazing pebble beach on Snapper island, a fun 5 minutes peddle from Corrigans beach. What a great little spot and the conditions were perfect to hear the smooth pebbles rolling back down the beach as each wave slide back down to sea level. If this sort of stuff isn’t natural therapy for the soul I don’t know what is.

I have access to whatever size boats I like any day of the week but the kayaks are great way to teach kids about the basics of boating because they are so easy to understand and fun to use. They also make for real quality time with the littlies, not to mention the memories that can be made when things like dolphins swim over to say hi.

The next morning out it was time for the dads to get in some serious fishing so Mike Nicholls and I launched our hobies on a beach inside yet another of the many headlands along the south coast and did a little exploring along a deep drop off. It was interesting to see that the larger boats couldn’t make it to the sheltered spots because the seas were up and the nearest ramp was around 10 kilometers away.

My slapstik softie was nailed on the 4th cast in 15 meters of water and judging by the large tail beat the fish didn’t even know it was hooked. I turned the hobie towards the line so when the fish took off I could give chase and boy didn’t the reel sing when the fish woke up.

I survived the first smoking run and the fish turned back towards the craft and I survived that too. Again the fish headed out to sea and my little salina reel hummed as 8 pound braid weaved its way off the reel.

The whole time I was thinking big old man Snapper, especially given the history of the slapstick lure and the classic Snapper clunk when the fish first bit.

However this part of the adventure ended prematurely and I will never know what the fish was because the line got cut clean right near the lure.

About a minute later Mike also got done but his fish headed towards shore. The change of tide was about to finish and I was beginning our first really big kayak Snapper of the year had just gone begging.

A minute later a school of school of Hammerhead Sharks popped up just 10 meters away, they were only a meter or two in length but what a buzz to have these stealth machines utilizing the same bait school as I was.

I have never felt worried about seeing sharks this size while in the Kayak, in fact I reckon it’s the surfers nearby who are the mad ones-I don’t think I could cope with my legs dangling in the water when shark fins are slicing through the water all around you.

While seeing shark fins is not new to seasoned ocean kayakers it was quite an introduction to Kayaking for young Jason Hennah who was along for very first Ocean outing. He got used to it pretty quick when he could see that he was safe, and this just magnified the adventure- he was stoked to be out there fishing.

For the record if you don’t like the thought of sharks being nearby then it’s pretty easy to avoid the known sharky spots. Alternately you can look into products like shark shields.

The day then glassed off for an hour or so and we could see the bottom in 14 meters of water! We caught a good variety of reef and pelagic fish-what a hoot!

The first really warm currents of the year had pushed in close and it was like an aquarium with even pairs of mowies clearly visible as they cruised past in mid water.

Unfortunately it was my last day out but what a booster the trip was and I’ll be back for more a.s.a.p.

See you on the water.

Rob Paxevanos

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! 

If you haven’t tried this type of fishing before it does work in most south coast estuaries and is practically guaranteed in places like Conjola.

The big tip is to use fresh bread for bait, it stays on better, use light gauge chemically sharpened hooks and keep the bait moving slowly so that the line is tight when the mullet mouth it. 

This fishing normally takes place in knee deep water and most of the time you can see the fish biting so your fishing skills will grow in leaps and bounds.   Add to that the fact that the kids are fully entertained when they can see what they are trying to hook and you have a recipe for a great summers outing for all ages.

A sneaky little trick that Kayak anglers might like to employ is a little cross current berley. This involves releasing a steady tricky of burley from your hand as you cross the channel. By the time you reach the other side you will have covered a lot more mullet and will also have the school to yourself, particularly if you stop in a no boating zone where the bigger boats can’t go!

I also got to try out Hobies Rod Tube extension holders. These kept my reels high and dry and saved me a lot of time washing salt of them later in the day. Worth their weight in gold.

I then took a snorkel from the Lake Side Van Park to the drop off and spotted more species including luderick, garfish, small prawns and some XL flathead.  What impressed me most though was the number of sand whiting in the system at the moment. 

Anywhere with sand flats had whiting and I saw hundreds of them of all sizes including some which were so big I had to look at them twice to confirm they were whiting!

We caught half a dozen on storm hopper poppers which believe it or not is considered slow; sometimes cricket score numbers are possible when they are aggressive on the poppers.  The whiting were on the chew at 7 am when we started, but soon slowed up when the sun came up.

I would’ve liked to have been fishing at 5:30 am, this is when the waterways are coolest and quietest and the smarter fish like whiting are less likely to be line shy or lethargic.   Mullet are the exception; they bite almost anytime at this time of year which is great if you are planning your fishing around your families day which typically doesn’t start at 5:30 am!

The whiting hanging on the bottom in 6 to 8 feet of water will bite during the day but need some solid bloops from poppers around the 7 cm mark to get their interest. If they come up they are ready to bite so it’s up to you from here. A more flickering retrieve will ‘usually’ turn a looker into taker, so long as you don’t pause which ‘usually’ puts the whiting off the chew.

The typically calm waters of Conjola are a good place to practice standing up in your Hobie. I was able to do this for hours while my mate in the front of my Outfitter paddled (gently…). We took it in turns standing up as it is easier to bloop a popper for extended periods when your higher off the water. Some hobie side kicks might be very handy if you plan to do lots of poppering.

BASS FISHING BONZA

The Far South Coast Bass Stocking Association are holding a canoe and kayak bass fishing comp at Brogo Dam on the 21st and 22nd of February with proceeds going to the stocking of the dam.

There will also be a few hobie kayaks on display so if you want to check out the amazing foot powered mirage drive system it is a good chance to do so.

Brogo Dam is a scenic pristine and extremely well stocked waterway that offers up some of the very best bass fishing in the country.  The event offers everyone from complete newcomers to experienced bass anglers the chance to learn from each other and most of all will be lots of fun.  For more information contact Darren Redman at darren@bermifishinghut.com.au

SNOWIES

Up at Lake Jindabyne Steve Williamson reports that the fishing is all about beating the heat.  Fly lure and bait anglers are doing best very early and late in the day and at night. 

Trollers have done well during the middle of the day but are trolling their lines way down around the 35 feet deep mark where the water is much cooler. 

A small handful of Kayakers have been enjoying the warmer summer temperatures but always check the forecast as extremes of temp are common at this time of year and more importantly winds can change quickly.  Know what is expected and plan accordingly.

With safety matters taken care of you can relax and enjoy trout fishing, clever yakers that are onto this have lots of good fishing to themselves at the moment.

Rob Paxevanos

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!

Coming in at 4.17 meters long, 0.97 meters wide and x 39 kilograms (un rigged) this is a Texas sized single person kayak.

At about 39 kilograms heavier than my two man Hobie Outfitter the next question you ask is how would you load this onto the roof racks? 

Interestingly Gary and I loaded it easier than the outfitter thanks to the brilliant beefy x handles at each end.

I can see how just one reasonably fit person could with a bit of practice and effort pop one end up on a car and then slide her up onto the roof racks. 

In the USA where the craft was spawned anglers are using their XL pick up trucks and trailers to lug these things around.  Down under anglers will also find your average house hold 6′ by 4′ trailer holds her no prob and Hobies is bringing out a specialized trailer to our shores in the near future.

However you transport her, the little bit of extra effort is all worthwhile because once on the water this is a full on bass boat with a mirage drive rather than a kayak.

For example you have 6 horizontal rod holders that keep them low and out of harms way and protect them from your feet as well!

There’s also a spacious and comfy cool x seat, built in tackle boxes, cutting and mounting boards and a squillion features that you can see were designed on the water not at a desk.

Best of all she’s super stable and you can stand up with confidence and stretch or sight fish when ever you like.

As the rain started to ease we relocated under the Princess Highway Bridge and Gary went to get a jacket from the car.  I threw in a line and as luck would have it hooked a large fish which smoked of 70 meters on 15 kg braid and cut me off on a mooring! 

I would’ve got the fish and the lure back if I was in the kayak…

The next day was the sun was shinning, we could see the craft in her full glory and it was all systems go.

Because I didn’t want to be tethered to a camera man on the shore I took him with me.  We simply propped up the front carry hatch with a small esky so the lid wouldn’t buckle under his weight.  The Pro Angler is not designed for this but it worked and also helped us check how much weight she would hold. 

With 60 kg of Gary on the front, 60 kg of concrete bags on the back to counter balance him and my big bum in the middle we were getting up around the272 kg max payload. 

So how does she handle?  Well at first it was disappointing, I am used to the other Hobies in the range where you turn the rudder hard one way when needed and then turn the other and it responds. 

On full lock the Pro Angler would rip astonishingly hard one way but would take forever and a day to swing back the other way…

We eventually figured out that all you have to do during a hard turn is put the rudder straight for a second or two before turning the opposite direction and you are in full control…make that more nimble than ever! 

Yep that’s right the position of the rudder and design of the hull makes this craft more monaoverable than any yak ever; it’s delightful.

By now the current in the Clyde was howling out but with the speed to burn of the Mirage Drive and the super sensitive steering accustomed too I was playing like a fish in the current more than ever.

Holding downstream of a Pylon and casting to it was getting easier by the minute and I found a tiny incremental movement of the comfy x rudder control would change my line of direction slightly as needed.

A big tailor around 2 kg came my and there were flatties and bream on tap so I popped a nice lizard on ice in the easy to get too x tub. 

Becoming a part of the constantly water flow really helps you work out where the biggest fish have been drawn towards and l found but dropped a nice jewfish in the limited time I had left.  Next time big fella…

If I had to sum up the Pro Angler up I can fish and position quicker, quieter and more easily in the current than a bigger boat with an electric motor yet still have all the comforts I need.

A quick hose down, no batteries to remember to charge, no motors to fuel up, no boat licences needed, zero maintenance etc.  I just went through my normal routine of flipping her up side down to rinse her off and then back on the roof racks she went. 

I seriously can’t wait to get her back out on the water; she’s a full on freedom machine this baby!

See you on the water.

Rob Paxevanos.

Robs Column Proudly Sponsored by the Hellenic Club of Canberra.

Loading the Pro Angler

Here’s a few photos from the Sailing Scene

 Now, load the gear……and hit the water…..

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.

Each of us caught dozens of bream, quite a few of which were over 40 cm and several even pushed the 50 cm mark! There was also lots of flathead, estuary perch and even the occasional bass that day. The trek in was not easy but it was half the fun and phew what a blast once you’re on the water!

It is not just the south coast of NSW that has sneaky little lagoons that don’t get fished. These sorts of places exist right around the country.

And it isn’t always independent systems you are looking for either when putting a yak into use. Many of the larger rivers have little off shoots and anabranches where the bigger boats haven’t been able to muddy the water. Black bream in particular can get big and fat in such places.

Even more surprising is that the sneaky spots that hold the lions share of fish are not always that far from civilization. Keen Sydneysider friends of mine are putting their yaks so far up under the big wharfs that it ridiculous. Again the fishing has been outstanding in many instances!

The most important thing is getting in somewhere fresh and not fished by the masses; the numbers of fish you spot will have you fast tracking your own breaming skills big time. That being said Bream fishing from a kayak does have some specific factors you need to consider.

If it is calm and you are fishing spots with little or no tide/current then most types of kayaks are able to lure fish effectively.

If it is windy or if there is some current yakers using paddled craft might for example want to look for a large shallow area where they can line up long drifts. This helps reduce the need to put your rod down to paddle.

A stake out or drogue can be very handy for slowing up or holding position in some scenarios.

Of course if you are in tight to structure you can sometimes hold that structure to keep the yak in position, eg pylons, trees, long weed, snags etc.

Conversely those with Hobie Mirage Drives will have found that it is possible to work whichever way you want, even directly into the wind and current, all without putting the rod down. This allows you to focus more on the red hot spots like reefy edges, bubble weed areas and of course snags.

I also use my mirage drive to help me hold in the wind or current over the deeper holes where the bream are sometimes in big thick schools.

Effective bream lures do not change much when going from a big boat down to a smaller kayak, but you will really have to narrow down your favourites into smaller tackle boxes that will both fit in the yak and are easily accessible.

As a standard yak bream kit I usually take a wallet or two full of my favourite softies and a small box of various sized jig heads.

Another small box is chock full of hard bodies and poppers. Blades and lipless crank baits go together in the one box and lipless stick baits are in the last box. That has me well and truly covered.

Leader, braid scissors, pliers and the like need to be at your finger tips, and my yak has a neat little netted area that stops them getting washed overboard when cranking through any chop.

Most of all though you will need a sense of adventure and with the start of summer upon us and the bulk of the years work almost behind us it comes as no surprise the itch to go exploring some fun new water is reaching fever point.

See you on the water.

Rob Paxevanos