seasponge Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 I took the opportunity one morning last week to take the kayak out for a few hours before work. It had been a while since I’d launched it so I was just glad to be out paddling on the calm waters on a beautiful morning. I launched at Parsely Bay and had a float around the moored yachts just off the breakwall for a bit, but no luck. I then headed south and fished across the front of Dead Horse Bay. I was fishing soft plastics and picked up an undersized flathead. A few casts later I hooked something a bit more solid with a good run. Got it to the kayak and it was a good sized tailor. It had a funny looking skin ulcer on its back about the size of a 50c piece so I wasn’t up for keeping him for a feed, but I did keep it for bait to try next time. I took the fillets off and salted them down to go in the freezer. I kept heading south towards the next bay along, Sandy Bay. I found a nice little rocky point which I was hopeful of picking up some bream. First flick in to the rocks and I’d hooked up. A good little tussle away from the rocks ensued. On first sighting coming to the surface, I thought it was a good sized bream, but turned out to be either an Estuary Perch or a Bass. Being so far down towards the mouth of the system, I was thinking it was an EP, but doing a 2 minute search on google has me thinking it might be a Bass. Either way, it was caught on SP, put up a good fight, measured at 35cm, and was put back in the water afterwards. I had a few more casts in the same spot with SPs before switching to a hard body diving lure and trolled around the shallows of Sandy Bay. No luck trolling, and was getting time to head back in, so headed back to Dead Horse Bay and changed back to the SPs. I ended up with a nice 46cm flattie to round out the morning and ensure I ended up with dinner. Would’ve stayed out longer as it was looking like the perfect flattie time and place, but by now I was well and truly making myself late for work. Here is the link to a map of my outing https://www.relive.cc/view/1245559928 Would be keen to know the consensus on whether this is a Bass or EP. The encounter with the flattie has finally convinced me to buy a kayak landing net - too many anxious moment trying to juggle rod in left hand and fishgrips in the other, trying to land the flattie without either my rod snapping, my leader busting, or me ending up with flathead spikes on the inside thigh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFoosh Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 That's an EP mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regan Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 great report mate i would defineatly buy a landing net, i got my one for $12, and landed heaps of fish in ti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARC H Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 good onya mate, good to see you catching fish in those bays Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 Dinner sorted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzybass Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 (edited) A nice EP. What did you catch it on? Edited October 30, 2017 by Ozzybass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seasponge Posted October 30, 2017 Author Share Posted October 30, 2017 What distinguishes it as an EP over a bass? It was caught on an SP - powerbait nemesis. 12 hours ago, ARC H said: good onya mate, good to see you catching fish in those bays I need to get out there more often Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFoosh Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 Plenty of references online about how to distinguish the two, however, at a very high level the EP's are more commonly silver compared to the bronze colour of the bass and the EP's have a concave forehead whereas the bass have a concave forehead. They are closely related and are often found together in most rivers at certain times of the year. Right now though the bass have moved further up to the fresh water after spawning and will be at the further reaches of the brackish water and above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaddyT Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 EP's are salt/brackish water only , bass migrate between the two, concave head is a give away for the EP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seasponge Posted October 31, 2017 Author Share Posted October 31, 2017 7 hours ago, PaddyT said: concave head is a give away for the EP I couldn't really tell looking at the photo afterwards whether mine had a concave enough head to call as an EP. Going off this comparison photo I found online, I was calling mine as a bass (in the photo below, EP is on top with a much more noticeable concave head and deeper body shape, bass on the bottom). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARC H Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 11 hours ago, seasponge said: I need to get out there more often yeah i havent been around there for ages now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nbdshroom Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 EP mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzybass Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 It is harder with the angle of the photo you took, but I'm convinced its an EP with the deeper body and large eye. If you look at your comparison pic, the EP has a larger eye than the bass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernando Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Great report and nice idea of posting a map link with the video! I’m keen to put a GoPro mount on my yak and record some fishing adventures. Have you ever fished in a yak in the night time? cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam bros Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 Very well written report Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seasponge Posted November 5, 2017 Author Share Posted November 5, 2017 On 1/11/2017 at 7:07 AM, Fernando said: Great report and nice idea of posting a map link with the video! I’m keen to put a GoPro mount on my yak and record some fishing adventures. Have you ever fished in a yak in the night time? cheers The video is a cool idea I've started doing recently. I use the Strava app on my phone to gps track my activity, then the Relive app automatically creates the video from the Strava activity. I haven't tried the kayak at night yet. I haven't had it long so am still getting the hang of fishing out of it in the daytime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernando Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 (edited) 21 hours ago, seasponge said: The video is a cool idea I've started doing recently. I use the Strava app on my phone to gps track my activity, then the Relive app automatically creates the video from the Strava activity. I haven't tried the kayak at night yet. I haven't had it long so am still getting the hang of fishing out of it in the daytime. Cool, I’ve never heard about these two apps. I will take a look at them, not a big fan of the gopro app. I’m also very new to these yak adventures but looking forward to fishing at dusk. If you’re keen to a joint session, let me know. I usually go fishing in the early morning with some time flexible. Got my anchor a few days ago so now the yak combo is officially complete! cheers! Edited November 6, 2017 by Fernando Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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