Defishensea

Woollamia - day time Monday 24 June Stayed at Jervis Bay Holiday Park at Woollamia. Monday plan was to paddle down Currambene Creek to Huski and then start the day’s fishing with some trolling to Callala Bay. There was a pretty strong wind though which would have been a killer on the way back as well as on and off rain showers, so instead I flicked SPs in Currambene Creek on the rising tide. Landed three flathead and one bream. Water temp started at only 12 degrees and rose to 14 as warmer sea water came in, so still pretty cold. Flathead were caught on a mix of pink glitz and pumpkin seed 100mm flick bait on 1/6 jig heads and 3/0 hooks. First hooked was sitting in the middle and deepest part of the water flow, second on an inside edge sand bank and the third in very shallow water near the little island. I hooked the bream almost by accident when I was eating lunch. I thought I’d change tactics a bit and drift with a heavier jig head (also with a pink glitz) through a couple of the deeper corners, just lightly lifting the rod but letting the boat drift move the lure instead of casting and hopping. Sure enough, I’d hardly taken my first bite of my Nutella sandwich and the bream was on. Huskisson Wharf and rock wall - night time Monday 24 June Went for a short flick on Monday night. Landed one undersized flathead. It was sitting well back from the main channel flow, where the whale spotting boats moor. Nothing more that night. Georges Basin 25 June Launched at St Georges Basin Boat ramp on Island Point Road. Plan was to fish around the two islands plus also go and explore other parts of the basin and Sussex Inlet. Complete contrast to the Monday – bright and sunny and so little wind the water was very clear and the fishing tough. Spent about 1.5hrs trying various SPs in various depths around the islands, but donut. Paddled to Sussex Inlet and went about a third of the way up the river. I thought I’d try a Motor Oil GrubZ in 3.5 inch with a 1/16 jig head and see if I could hook a bream as I drifted back down the inlet to the basin. First bite was a jacket, which had a couple of nibbles as the lure was almost back at the yak, but didn’t get on (which I didn’t mind). Second hit was from a bream and only about 3m from the yak, but I’d left the drag too loose. It hung on a bit, but when I went to set the hook, it just pulled line off the reel and that one got away. Things got a bit quiet over the weed beds and the sand, so I decided to try some water about 30cm deep at the very edge of the river. Flat head engulfed the lure on the second cast into the area and took the lure so deep I needed my long nose pliers to get it back out. After that, I spent the afternoon back in the basin at a few different locations, but no hits. Total of 15k of paddling and the only fish boated was the flathead at Sussex Inlet. I ate a Nutella sandwich before caught the bream on the Monday and another Nutella sandwich just before I almost caught the bream on the Tuesday. I’ll keep trying that technique.

Patchy, but much better than a week or two ago when there was both heavy rain the day before and a southerly, which stirred up the northern side of the bay. Today, it was generally OK as long as you didn't go any closer than c.20-30m from the sandy shore lines, where it was quite murky looking.

Went for a troll on kayak, starting 6.30am today at La Perouse. Had two lures – Slashbait 10 in olive green, and slashbait 12 in glass ghost. Tide was in second half of rise with very light NW breeze. Had a quick first hook up going around Yarra Point, but it got off. There were about 10 people standing on Yarra Point and one of them asked if I could please move around the corner to wind the fish in, which I thought a little odd, given they weren’t actually fishing. Turns out they were taking photos of a model to make an advertisement or something. Second hookup was closer to the seawall at Prince of Wales Drive. Landed a low 50s tailor. Then trolled back to La Pa, before deciding to go and do one more pass of Yarra Point (photography crew had moved on). Sounder lit up, with a school of something decent sitting about 10-15 metres off Yarra Point on the bottom (depth 5m). Trolled through the first time and hooked up on one line initially. Kept paddling and managed a double hook up. Landed two c.50cm tailor. Made a second pass and caught a smaller model (mid 30s). Then two more passes for two more mid 30s models. The fish were still there, but I’d run out of time. All up 6 tailor, 3 decent 50s versions which pulled well, plus 3 mid 30s. Good fun for 1.5hr session. Got back to the shore just before the rain and the yak got a rain wash on the way home on the car roof.

Launched kayak at La Perouse at 6am. Set up two trolling rods hoping to hook a couple of tailor, which I’ve been catching a bit lately around Yarra Bay. One lure further back and deeper, one shorter and shallower. Headed across Frenchmans, then Yarra and out to end of Moli. Then back across Yarra followed by over top of FAD. No hits after that, so pulled the hard body lures in at about 7.15am and drifted flicking a SP for flatties from few hundred metres off Yarra drifting down towards the beach. Got pretty close to the beach and was running out of water and time and began to wonder if it was to be a donut session, as had to head home pretty soon. Then, hooked a tailor on the SP I was targeting flatties on, which was funny, as I had just paddled round trolling hoping to hook tailor, but caught one when I started targeting flathead. Trolled one lure from Yarra back to La Perouse. Briefly hooked something, although lost it pretty quickly. Good to hear the drag scream though.