1st Bream On Hb

[yakfishing]

I managed to pull myself away from work for 4 days and needed to get away from the rat race for a bit. So on Roberta’s invitation, I opted for a trip up to Forster with the plan to give HBs a go for a breambo.

I grabbed some ridiculously expensive surface lures including a Luckycraft NW-42, a bubblepop and another walk the doggy lure that I've never heard of. Even the guy at the shop said he likes everything about them but the price, and I said I don't care if they catch me fish and I don’t loose them in the first 5 minutes (I can hear Roberta giggling right now)

It was a real snafu leaving Sydney as the were a million things to do and most of them went wrong, so I didn't get up to Forster until Saturday arvo too late for a fish. Figured I'd still get all sunday and most of monday, so it wasn’t too bad. Roberta came and visited me at the caravan park and we went over the map and planned out an early start in the morning.

We met up at around 6:30 am and had a quick practice of the walk the dog technique. I cast out no where in particular to gave it a go and *smack*. All I saw was the splash, I never felt any weight but I pulled in a frayed leader missing about a metres length...... you are kidding me We reckoned there must have been a nick in the line. It was a new leader tied the night before, but maybe something happened when I pulled the rods out of the boot in the morning. Also bad idea using 8Lb.

Roberta very kindly gave me one of hers to replace it and we set off to her secret spots around the racks. I was enjoying using the surface lures to start with. We got a few hits but failed to hookup. I'd heard this about surface lures. As time drew on this grew more and more frustrating. And it was so hard to not strike when I saw a splash, I’m sure I missed many because of my reflex actions to strike hard and fast at just about anything. We did both manage a couple of little bream and a flatty, but this appeased me only slightly (I don’t count undersize fish). I desperately wanted to go back to familiar grounds and put a plastic on, but I left them back at camp so I was forced to get used to the HBs.

After about 4 hrs I was slipping into the no fish depression, but my hopes were raised as Roberta finally pulls up tight to a solid fish. I will let her describe the battle.

This raised my spirits, but after a while longer, a few more hits and by now even having better discipline not to strike, I was still not being rewarded. I just felt like throwing my rod in the water and going home. So I took some deep breaths and said ok, bugger this. I’m just going to enjoy the beautiful surrounds, enjoy the company and forget all about catching fish. This was not a strategy to help catch fish, it was purely to prevent myself from ruining a day out on the water. I settled down and started to enjoy myself again. And in 10 minutes it happened. I couldn’t see the lure as a light chop had formed and sun was starting to disappear behind a developing storm cloud, but I felt it. I felt the weight, and good weight. I almost struck, but held out a split second longer and it went slack. I did a couple of jiggles. Another tap…..……... Leave it……………… then it took off for real and it was a good fish. After an admirable battle I netted him, heart pounding and grinning from ear to ear He was a nice solid 32cm. After a couple of pics I sent him packing. That was as good a fish as I could have hoped for, and all I needed was one to scratch that itch. The stupid thing was, I was still excited on the next cast and wasn’t thinking straight. I got another tug and whipped up my rod feeling like an idiot that I’d already forgotten the golden rule. Oh well, I was still happy.

We continued flicking for a bit too long and eventually the storm caught up to us. Needless to say from the pic we got soaked to the bone.

Plan was to have a blackfish the next morning, but the crappy weather persisted and I had already been wet all night sleeping in a leaky tent. I opted for home instead. So only 1 fish, but it was great learning the ropes and the territory with a great fisho. Thanks Roberta.

[Ray R]

G'day mate, very well written report, full of interestingly explained fishing attitudes,

good to see you snared your fish to make your wet day a good one.

Roberta would've been a great guide too she knows all the little nooks and cranny's..

Congrats buddy..

[slinkymalinky]

Nice work, YF... you couldn't have had a better guide to take you out at Forster. It's amazing how the more we try really hard and get really serious about catching a fish, the less we seem to catch. All my best fishing is done when I'm relaxed and just having a good time.

Congrats on the first HB bream ... you'll learn to deal with the sting of losing $20 lures and then you'll start buying new ones that cost $40

Cheers, Slinky

[arpie]

Hi all

Wow! What an action packed day! I had a heap of fun fishing with Tristan - such a shame about the rotten end to the day & the 'write off' of Monday for blackie fishing!

Tristan made contact a week or two back, hoping to pop up to Forster for a few days on his days off! He was keen to give Top Water lure fishing a go, as he hadn't hooked any fish using the method yet and was getting a bit frustrated! The weather forecast wasn't looking too crash hot, but he decided he would come up anyway! As you know, I don't need much incentive to get out, but if someone else drives up from Sydney, it would have to be a howling gale to prevent me from heading out!

I popped over to his campsite late on Sat afternoon & admired his rods & reels! And I thought I had a lot!! I'd recommended he bring a couple of quality lures along, eg NW52 & small bubblepop type poppers, which he had done. We were looking forward to hitting the water early the next day.

What Piscatorial Pleasures would await us on this Picture Perfect day? The water was millpond smooth and there was not a hint of even the slightest zephyr!

Tristan was keen to hit the water at dawn ....... so I said I'd meet up with him at about 6.30am! (Dawn is WAY TOO EARLY ..... even for me!) We worked our way up towards the shallows (which were pretty well everywhere, as the lake was nearing the bottom of the tide!)

Not far from where we met up on the water, Tristan tied on his brand new NW52 & tossed it towards the shore. Immediately, there was a splash as a bream took interest in it & when there was no more action, he retrieved the line - only to find that that was all he had!! Empty line!!! There was no wiggly tail, so the knot had held ..... then he realised that he had also lost half of his leader! I checked the line & sure enough, there had been a nick in the line, as it came to an obvious crisp end & then the line became a slither! We couldn't believe it!! It was obviously still in the fish's mouth as it wouldn't have needed a strong hit to bust it!! I gave him one of my NW52s & we continued on our way.

At various spots along the way, we tossed our lures around with gay abandon - some casts showed bream enquiries by splashes & swirls, others had no reaction. I usually prefer fishing the top of the tide & the change to out, so fishing the bottom of the tide was unusual for me, but a learning experience! We were in such shallow water, we had to paddle a lot, rather than pedal! I am not used to that!

I was getting lots of takes, but not many hookups & even the hookups were only small. Tristan's Starlostix Tournament Pro was casting the small lures a country mile and every cast should have been a winner! We had the lake to ourselves - absolutlely beautiful conditions to be on the water.

We went up the eastern side of Wallis Island & across to some flats that had floating leases, where I had never fished before, but had been keen to try. There, we could hear the bream 'kissing' but once again, only got enquiries, not hookups, as there were ropes everywhere & you couldn't get a cast in without snagging one. Then Tristan shouts "I'm on!'' It wasn't a huge bream, but it was a bream!! The targetted species!! The water temperature by then was up in the mid 20's (it peaked at about 27 degrees) and had been rising steadily since mid morning. It was now about mid day and the tide had finally turned & started to come in.

As we left that lease, I cast towards a pole & the water exploded! Unfortunately, the bream missed the hooks! We both cast around that area for a bit longer before leaving, in case he had mates hanging around!

We headed over towards another nice lease & Tristan was tossing his clear top water lure around & hooks up to a small flattie! Even more amazing, as this was in less than .3m of water and we had been poling ourselves along, not even paddling!

Finally, we got to a nice looking area that looked promising. I'd been explaining to Tristan that you need to leave the lure alone after it initially lands & especially if there is a splash or a swirl, indicating a fish is interested in it! He was finding that pretty difficult to do, having come from a ''strike hard as soon as you see or feel action'' background! Numerous times, his 'strike reaction' was so fast, he actually ripped the lure either out of the bream's mouth or pulled it away from them before they got it into their mouth!

I suggested to Tristan that he toss his lures towards any pole or structure and I tossed my own Sammy towards a pole near me & there was a slurp! I watched as it tried to eat the lure & finally, he got the hook in his mouth & I felt his weight! The area was fairly clear, apart from a few poles that were a reasonable length apart, so I released the drag a little, as it didn't seem to be a very big fish.

WRONG

It took off, racing towards the first pole, stripping line from the reel at a spooky rate. I tightened it a smidgeon - then I had to pedal my way towards the pole, lifting the rod tip high, to prevent it wrapping round the pole. He scooted towards the other pole, taking line again. I pedalled away, around the other side of the pole, trying to get out of the danger zone! Thank God for the Hobie Mirage Pedal System! In a paddle yak, I reckon I would have been in serious trouble! Tristan was taking heaps of pics of my fight as it was all unfolding & by now, I knew I was onto a serious fish! He swam around the back of the yak & I had to lift the rod high to get the line over the flag & other rods in the rear rod holders & continue the battle on the other side of the yak, in open water. He still kept trying to get back to the poles tho. After a few minutes, I finally had him under control & after a few missed efforts, brought him to the net. I couldn't believe the weight of the fish! It would be well in excess of 1kg! A big Blue Nosed breambo!

I had to put a lot of pressure on it to turn its head - on 6lb braid & 3lb leader!

It was determined to get back to that pole!

The fish scoots around the back of the yak

a last minute dash round another pole

Out in the open, I can play him more safely

Finally in the net

One Happy Fisho

on the ruler (thanks RayR for helping with the pic! )

A couple of quick pics on the measure stick showed it to be over 40cm to the tail.... and I know that I now have a new PB Bream. It took up the entire length of the Ruler measure & I guessed it would have been about 42-43cm, so was surprised to check the ruler at home to find it was only 41cm! Not a PB in length, but definitely a PB on Weight! Woohoo!!

Many thanks for such a terrific set of actions pics, Tristan! He was just as stoked as I was! Now he wanted one too!

Talk about a cast of thousands .......... we could see fish slurping things from the surface & we were casting towards them, towards poles, towards no-where in particular in our quest to catch Tristan a decent bream. Sometimes we had 'takes', sometimes, not. A little while after, Tristan was onto another small bream and I caught another one too, that went about 27cm to the tail, but only 24.5cm to the fork, so FFC legal, but not ABT. I know it is a small one, Tristan, but the important thing is that you got the action right & it took the lure! Even the small ones put up a good fight, too!

By now, the wind had come up a bit & it was affecting our casting, so we moved over to the other side of the flats which was protected by some bush and almost immediately, Tristan was getting good hits on his lure. Aaaaaagh! Damn, he says!!! I pulled it away from the fish again!

Then, minutes later, he hooks into a really nice bream - this one going over 32cm! It put up a spirited fight & I think Tristan was surprised at the fight in the fish, given that we were in such shallow water! A smaller blue nose, but a beautie! That one is bigger than the fish I caught on the Sunshine Coast to come 10th place in the KFT Bream Yak Tournament!

Nice Fish! Big smile on the dial

On the lie detector

Boy! Tristan was one happy chappy!! By now, we could hear & see a big storm forming up Nabiac way ...... it was coming towards us, so we started heading back towards my vehicle ....... tossing lures along the way. Again, we had some hits, but no hookups.

The water temp was steadily dropping now, back into the low 20's and falling. I figured the reason for this is that the tide was on the rise & being replaced with fresh sea water, hence the temperature drop.

As we made our way back to my car, we felt the first few drops of rain, that rapidly became a downpour! We were fighting against both wind & current & we didn't seem to be moving very fast at all!! It was tough going & with lightening strikes all around us, we lay our rods down to lessen our chances of being hit by the lightening.

Hard work Heading Home!

Finally, I reach my car & drag the yak from the water, thoroughly drenched! Tristan still had another 10-15mins paddle back to camp!

I was stoked that Tristan had caught 4 fish on his first serious session of top water luring - even I haven't caught a flattie on a TW lure ....... I wouldn't even let him put soft plastics onto his yak that day, as it is all too easy to revert back to what you already know when things get tough! Same if you come from a bait background - if you want to learn lures, DON'T TAKE BAIT WITH YOU! It is the only way to learn.

I reckon Tristan has well & truly caught the top water bug now & will be testing it out on home waters very soon, with more success coming very quickly!

We were planning on hitting the breakwall first thing Monday morning for blackies, and then yak in the afternoon before he left for home ..... but it bucketted with rain all night & was still drizzling in the morning, so we called it quits & Tristan packed up his soggy tent & left for home! He now knows the pointers to look for to get Top Water Fish ..... and it is so exciting whilst frustrating at the same time with every hit or miss!

Many thanks for your company, Tristan, you are a real trooper & you stuck with the tough times, to come out a winner!! It was a pleasure to fish with you - not many would have put up with the frustrations of the day & that yucky rain at the end without spitting the dummy!! I just hope you had as much fun as I did ..... I can't believe that we were on the water for over 8hrs ..... and not even a sore back!!! Time always flies when you are having fun! Imagine how knackered we would have been if we were in a paddle yak!

I look forward to seeing you up here again soon so we can discover some new water & get stuck into those blackies and flatties as well!

Cheerio

Roberta

Those pics really show the benefit of having a flag on the yak (for safety) when fishing areas with lots of boats around!

Edited October 27, 2009 by Roberta

[Gee]

I thoroughly enjoy reports from Tristan and Roberta, always appreciated!

[Catchin Jack]

As always, a great report and fantastic photos.

You make Forster area look so so good for a fish Roberta.

Cheers,

Leo

[james7]

Magnificant report Tristan and Roberta!!!

An amazing read with incredible photos!

Cheers and thanks

Peter

PS Congrats on the pb Roberta

[padfoot]

I thoroughly enjoy reports from Tristan and Roberta, always appreciated!

Ditto that. And I picked up some rather interesting tips. Great read!

[arpie]

hehe Thanks guys - it was a really fun session. Much patience & discipline is needed!

Keith went for a swim today so I got him to drop me off at the bottom of Little St, so I 'fished my way' back up to the Red Spot. Up near Barclays Oysters, I was in a world of my own, casting the sammy out & 'walk the dog' retrieving it back to shore ....... when a bream hit with an explosion of water, taking the lure with it ...... scaring the be-jesus out of me ..... and I did a 'Tristan' and ripped the lure out of his mouth!! That was the only hit I had in the next hour! But it was still fun. I watched as a few bream came out from under a boat & inspected the lure, but I couldn't entice them to strike! All good fun!

Cheerio

Roberta

[yakfishing]

Great report Roberta! Yeah I've been itching to get out and try the topwaters at Narra. Funny, before I got that fish I was saying to myself I doubt I'll be doing this again. Amazing what just a bit of confidence can do, it's a psychological game as much as anything else.

Jeez that fish is nice! I'd never seen a bluenose before. They look chunkier than the yellowfins.

[arpie]

I look forward to hearing of your success at Narrabeen, Tristan!

Just found this on Youtube - showing how slow the Luckycraft Pros move the sammy 65 (the one that caught my fish.) I will have to slow mine down a lot more! I was going heaps faster than that!

This one for lots on the use of Luckycraft Pencil

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type...+lure&uni=1

Cheers

Roberta

Overcast today, but at least it is not raining!!

Edited October 27, 2009 by Roberta

[Hodgey]

Magnificant report Tristan and Roberta!!!

An amazing read with incredible photos!

Cheers and thanks

Peter

PS Congrats on the pb Roberta

What a great report. I can empathise with you Tristan ... some days you feel like you're not going to get into the fish, no matter what you try, especially when trying something new. "Am I working the lure right?", "Have I got the right colored lure for the conditions?", and many other questions go towards diminshing your confidence BUT ... you stuck at it, mate, and were suitably rewarded with a very nice fish on surface lures. It's only a matter of time before you catch them on a regular basis

Great report, terrific photos and a new PB as well. Another successful sojourn, Roberta. That was very kind of you to sort Tristan out with another lure! Congrats to you both

Cheers

Hodgey

[slinkymalinky]

Great perspective on a great day, Roberta. Those flags are a great idea. I'm amazed more yakkers, rowers and surfers aren't hit around here with the way a lot of boaties drive.

The conditions (up until the rain) look great and congrats on your PB bream... it's a honker

Cheers, Slinky

[mako1]

Great reports Tristan and Roberta.

Congrats on the new PB

[Budikarn]

Well Bro, for a day, You did alright, I give you a buzz when we get the boat back, we will take to the salmon runs that will cheer you up .

PS,

I beat you again

Edited October 28, 2009 by Budikarn

[yakfishing]

Well Bro, for a day, You did alright, I give you a buzz when we get the boat back, we will take to the salmon runs that will cheer you up .

PS,

I beat you again

Hey Dylan, you've still gotta catch up with the other species yet matey . You should do a report next time, you're getting some nice fish! Seeya soon.

[Day's Fishin]

Hey Roberta, great read as normal. You should think about making a doco on fishing from a yak. I'm sure your experience & ease of writing would put some of the so called experts to shame.

Regards Jeff

[arpie]

...... You should think about making a doco on fishing from a yak....

I don't think so!! But thanks for the compliment, Jeff! Whenever I HAVE to catch fish, they become invisible - I just enjoy getting out there & having fun! I am still learning myself and look forward to getting out with Dan BUBBA Frost over Xmas in his Skeeter tho! He is a top breamer & I know I will pick up some pointers from him! He got me onto some great whiting on lure last year!

Roberta

[The Iceman]

...... You should think about making a doco on fishing from a yak....

I don't think so!! But thanks for the compliment, Jeff! Whenever I HAVE to catch fish, they become invisible - I just enjoy getting out there & having fun! I am still learning myself and look forward to getting out with Dan BUBBA Frost over Xmas in his Skeeter tho! He is a top breamer & I know I will pick up some pointers from him! He got me onto some great whiting on lure last year!

Roberta

Wear a pair of goggles when in the skeeter it helps you see without the wind in your eyes and keeps your sunnys from flying off your head

[Jack Jeff]

Hi all

Wow! What an action packed day! I had a heap of fun fishing with Tristan - such a shame about the rotten end to the day & the 'write off' of Monday for blackie fishing!

Tristan made contact a week or two back, hoping to pop up to Forster for a few days on his days off! He was keen to give Top Water lure fishing a go, as he hadn't hooked any fish using the method yet and was getting a bit frustrated! The weather forecast wasn't looking too crash hot, but he decided he would come up anyway! As you know, I don't need much incentive to get out, but if someone else drives up from Sydney, it would have to be a howling gale to prevent me from heading out!

I popped over to his campsite late on Sat afternoon & admired his rods & reels! And I thought I had a lot!! I'd recommended he bring a couple of quality lures along, eg NW52 & small bubblepop type poppers, which he had done. We were looking forward to hitting the water early the next day.

What Piscatorial Pleasures would await us on this Picture Perfect day? The water was millpond smooth and there was not a hint of even the slightest zephyr!

Tristan was keen to hit the water at dawn ....... so I said I'd meet up with him at about 6.30am! (Dawn is WAY TOO EARLY ..... even for me!) We worked our way up towards the shallows (which were pretty well everywhere, as the lake was nearing the bottom of the tide!)

Not far from where we met up on the water, Tristan tied on his brand new NW52 & tossed it towards the shore. Immediately, there was a splash as a bream took interest in it & when there was no more action, he retrieved the line - only to find that that was all he had!! Empty line!!! There was no wiggly tail, so the knot had held ..... then he realised that he had also lost half of his leader! I checked the line & sure enough, there had been a nick in the line, as it came to an obvious crisp end & then the line became a slither! We couldn't believe it!! It was obviously still in the fish's mouth as it wouldn't have needed a strong hit to bust it!! I gave him one of my NW52s & we continued on our way.

At various spots along the way, we tossed our lures around with gay abandon - some casts showed bream enquiries by splashes & swirls, others had no reaction. I usually prefer fishing the top of the tide & the change to out, so fishing the bottom of the tide was unusual for me, but a learning experience! We were in such shallow water, we had to paddle a lot, rather than pedal! I am not used to that!

I was getting lots of takes, but not many hookups & even the hookups were only small. Tristan's Starlostix Tournament Pro was casting the small lures a country mile and every cast should have been a winner! We had the lake to ourselves - absolutlely beautiful conditions to be on the water.

We went up the eastern side of Wallis Island & across to some flats that had floating leases, where I had never fished before, but had been keen to try. There, we could hear the bream 'kissing' but once again, only got enquiries, not hookups, as there were ropes everywhere & you couldn't get a cast in without snagging one. Then Tristan shouts "I'm on!'' It wasn't a huge bream, but it was a bream!! The targetted species!! The water temperature by then was up in the mid 20's (it peaked at about 27 degrees) and had been rising steadily since mid morning. It was now about mid day and the tide had finally turned & started to come in.

As we left that lease, I cast towards a pole & the water exploded! Unfortunately, the bream missed the hooks! We both cast around that area for a bit longer before leaving, in case he had mates hanging around!

We headed over towards another nice lease & Tristan was tossing his clear top water lure around & hooks up to a small flattie! Even more amazing, as this was in less than .3m of water and we had been poling ourselves along, not even paddling!

Finally, we got to a nice looking area that looked promising. I'd been explaining to Tristan that you need to leave the lure alone after it initially lands & especially if there is a splash or a swirl, indicating a fish is interested in it! He was finding that pretty difficult to do, having come from a ''strike hard as soon as you see or feel action'' background! Numerous times, his 'strike reaction' was so fast, he actually ripped the lure either out of the bream's mouth or pulled it away from them before they got it into their mouth!

I suggested to Tristan that he toss his lures towards any pole or structure and I tossed my own Sammy towards a pole near me & there was a slurp! I watched as it tried to eat the lure & finally, he got the hook in his mouth & I felt his weight! The area was fairly clear, apart from a few poles that were a reasonable length apart, so I released the drag a little, as it didn't seem to be a very big fish.

WRONG

It took off, racing towards the first pole, stripping line from the reel at a spooky rate. I tightened it a smidgeon - then I had to pedal my way towards the pole, lifting the rod tip high, to prevent it wrapping round the pole. He scooted towards the other pole, taking line again. I pedalled away, around the other side of the pole, trying to get out of the danger zone! Thank God for the Hobie Mirage Pedal System! In a paddle yak, I reckon I would have been in serious trouble! Tristan was taking heaps of pics of my fight as it was all unfolding & by now, I knew I was onto a serious fish! He swam around the back of the yak & I had to lift the rod high to get the line over the flag & other rods in the rear rod holders & continue the battle on the other side of the yak, in open water. He still kept trying to get back to the poles tho. After a few minutes, I finally had him under control & after a few missed efforts, brought him to the net. I couldn't believe the weight of the fish! It would be well in excess of 1kg! A big Blue Nosed breambo!

I had to put a lot of pressure on it to turn its head - on 6lb braid & 3lb leader!

It was determined to get back to that pole!

The fish scoots around the back of the yak

a last minute dash round another pole

Out in the open, I can play him more safely

Finally in the net

One Happy Fisho

on the ruler (thanks RayR for helping with the pic! )

A couple of quick pics on the measure stick showed it to be over 40cm to the tail.... and I know that I now have a new PB Bream. It took up the entire length of the Ruler measure & I guessed it would have been about 42-43cm, so was surprised to check the ruler at home to find it was only 41cm! Not a PB in length, but definitely a PB on Weight! Woohoo!!

Many thanks for such a terrific set of actions pics, Tristan! He was just as stoked as I was! Now he wanted one too!

Talk about a cast of thousands .......... we could see fish slurping things from the surface & we were casting towards them, towards poles, towards no-where in particular in our quest to catch Tristan a decent bream. Sometimes we had 'takes', sometimes, not. A little while after, Tristan was onto another small bream and I caught another one too, that went about 27cm to the tail, but only 24.5cm to the fork, so FFC legal, but not ABT. I know it is a small one, Tristan, but the important thing is that you got the action right & it took the lure! Even the small ones put up a good fight, too!

By now, the wind had come up a bit & it was affecting our casting, so we moved over to the other side of the flats which was protected by some bush and almost immediately, Tristan was getting good hits on his lure. Aaaaaagh! Damn, he says!!! I pulled it away from the fish again!

Then, minutes later, he hooks into a really nice bream - this one going over 32cm! It put up a spirited fight & I think Tristan was surprised at the fight in the fish, given that we were in such shallow water! A smaller blue nose, but a beautie! That one is bigger than the fish I caught on the Sunshine Coast to come 10th place in the KFT Bream Yak Tournament!

Nice Fish! Big smile on the dial

On the lie detector

Boy! Tristan was one happy chappy!! By now, we could hear & see a big storm forming up Nabiac way ...... it was coming towards us, so we started heading back towards my vehicle ....... tossing lures along the way. Again, we had some hits, but no hookups.

The water temp was steadily dropping now, back into the low 20's and falling. I figured the reason for this is that the tide was on the rise & being replaced with fresh sea water, hence the temperature drop.

As we made our way back to my car, we felt the first few drops of rain, that rapidly became a downpour! We were fighting against both wind & current & we didn't seem to be moving very fast at all!! It was tough going & with lightening strikes all around us, we lay our rods down to lessen our chances of being hit by the lightening.

Hard work Heading Home!

Finally, I reach my car & drag the yak from the water, thoroughly drenched! Tristan still had another 10-15mins paddle back to camp!

I was stoked that Tristan had caught 4 fish on his first serious session of top water luring - even I haven't caught a flattie on a TW lure ....... I wouldn't even let him put soft plastics onto his yak that day, as it is all too easy to revert back to what you already know when things get tough! Same if you come from a bait background - if you want to learn lures, DON'T TAKE BAIT WITH YOU! It is the only way to learn.

I reckon Tristan has well & truly caught the top water bug now & will be testing it out on home waters very soon, with more success coming very quickly!

We were planning on hitting the breakwall first thing Monday morning for blackies, and then yak in the afternoon before he left for home ..... but it bucketted with rain all night & was still drizzling in the morning, so we called it quits & Tristan packed up his soggy tent & left for home! He now knows the pointers to look for to get Top Water Fish ..... and it is so exciting whilst frustrating at the same time with every hit or miss!

Many thanks for your company, Tristan, you are a real trooper & you stuck with the tough times, to come out a winner!! It was a pleasure to fish with you - not many would have put up with the frustrations of the day & that yucky rain at the end without spitting the dummy!! I just hope you had as much fun as I did ..... I can't believe that we were on the water for over 8hrs ..... and not even a sore back!!! Time always flies when you are having fun! Imagine how knackered we would have been if we were in a paddle yak!

I look forward to seeing you up here again soon so we can discover some new water & get stuck into those blackies and flatties as well!

Cheerio

Roberta

Those pics really show the benefit of having a flag on the yak (for safety) when fishing areas with lots of boats around!

great bream roberta

from fishfinder707