Windamere Yellas 21/22-11-20

[Brendan Monks]

21/11: After talking about it with a close mate for a few years now, and always keen to try something different, the opportunity finally arose to chase a Golden Perch! We didn’t have any real plans, and I only finally decided on the Friday morning to head out and meet him at Lake Windamere! He already had the chance to fish it the previous 2 days and had some success!  

Friday afternoon was a rush buying lures, (Way too many – I ended up only using the one! LOL) packing gear, and booking a site at Cudgegong Waters park. I finally managed to get away and turn the 3 hour 45 min drive from the coast into a 5 hour drive after stopping for food and supplies for only the 2 days. 😆😁

Rolling into camp just after 12:00am, my mate had B & E rolls already cooked and gave me a rundown on how and what to fish, the plan was for an early start to get a crack at these fish before the wind picked up!

With the rods already rigged, and froth levels super high we were on the water by 6:30am. The morning was very uneventful for a few hours and we were mainly fishing the edge of the weed lines on the edge of sloping banks. We slowly motored the Minn Kota into a small bay where my mate said he had hooked fish on 2 occasions near a tree but not landed. Within a few casts he was tight! Finally on the board, we had a healthy Windamere Perch at 55cm. 🥳

Feeling a lot more confident we peppered the area for another 30 minutes before moving to slightly deeper water off a bank, it wasn’t long before I felt a bump on the drop! Giving it a bit to allow the assist hooks in his mouth, I struck quickly and felt weight! I couldn’t believe it, after short fight a solid fish at 58cm popped up. Yeewww! High fives all around that I had finally broken the drought, and only 15 minutes before the cut off time we bet $50.00 I wouldn’t get one by! 🤑

With the wind now pumping we quickly head back in for a shower and feed of steak and sausages to get ready for an arvo sesh! Back on the water at 4:00pm, expectation was high to get a quality fish. We fished the same sort of areas before I came tight on 6lb leader. With the wind still blowing steady, and the fish playing up in the weed we finally had it on board!

Conditions not getting any better, I quickly hooked another fish. We worked out there was no point hanging around after we pulled one fish from the area. We slowly cruised into another bay, with massive clouds rolling in from the storm that was due that afternoon we wanted at least one more before dark.  We marked some fish holding up against a tree…”Watch this” my mates goes, sure enough, first cast in the new zone. Fish on! An absolute cracker slowly came to the surface, going 61cm after a short fight.

We run in at dark, getting covered in bugs and watching an amazing lightning storm over the hills, quite a few kms away. Sleep came quick after a quick feed of homemade beef kebabs and a few cold ones, and having been cooked in the 34 degree heat all day. 😴

The plan for the next day was an earlier start, and to move areas after hooking a fish as we were only wasting our time.

22/11: Up at 5:30am we were quickly on the water. We were both confident, and I was hoping to upgrade to a magic 60cm model. I mentioned to my mate that we would be onto a fish in the first 20 casts! We pulled up to a bank we had success on the previous morning (Where I hooked my first fish) watching my mates lures hit weed, I pushed my 5^th cast slightly wider. I knew I had to be in the zone, a felt a small nibble and struck quickly. Running only 6lb leader, and with hooks pulling easy, he quickly had me in the weed. After some maneuvering with the electric, and cupping of the spool, I soon had a chunky shouldered 56cm model in the net. 

My mate hooked another 2 good fish as the wind and rain picked up. We were back into camp around 1:00pm again to back up the gear for the drive home. I only tied on the one vibe all trip (Only changing the assist hooks to a slightly bigger gape) An awesome weekend away while we wait for the Marlin to turn up off the Central Coast! Next time I won’t take as much food as we spent most of the time fishing. We calculated we put in over 400/500 casts each over the 2 days for only 8 fish, with a few missed hookups as well. Still, definitely worth it and can’t wait to be back out there to crack the magic 60cm! 

Most fish were in the morning/afternoon, although we still hooked up in the middle of the day.  🍻🤙

Cheers, Brendo

Edited November 25, 2020 by Brendan Monks

[Rebel]

Great report. Well done and Super photos.

[dirvin21]

Great fish mate

[big Neil]

Hi Brendo. 8 fish from 500 casts is a very good result, especially quality fish like those ones. Fishing for natives in the dams can be very hit and miss and getting consecutive days of good weather, even more so.

 

Cheers, bn

[jenno64]

Quality fish and great pics ....well done!

[Aerialangler]

Awesome story and fishing report

nice photos to go with it!!

want to try that form of fishing one day based on this experience 

[Smobaby]

Great report well worth the effort 

[Blackfish]

Great report and great photos to go with it 👍

[Brendan Monks]

18 hours ago, big Neil said:

Hi Brendo. 8 fish from 500 casts is a very good result, especially quality fish like those ones. Fishing for natives in the dams can be very hit and miss and getting consecutive days of good weather, even more so.

 

Cheers, bn

Thanks Neil! Sorry, that was 400/500 casts each. haha

It got windy during the middle of both days, and raining after 1 session, but we stuck it out after most, if not all boats went in. Still got fish during that! 

I've been to Copeton now 3 times for nothing, keen to chase a river cod sometime. 👍

Cheers, Brendo

[Brendan Monks]

15 hours ago, Aerialangler said:

Awesome story and fishing report

nice photos to go with it!!

want to try that form of fishing one day based on this experience 

Cheers 🤙

Definitely worth the travel and casting!

[Brendan Monks]

21 hours ago, Rebel said:

Great report. Well done and Super photos.

 

20 hours ago, dirvin21 said:

Great fish mate

 

15 hours ago, jenno64 said:

Quality fish and great pics ....well done!

 

14 hours ago, Smobaby said:

Great report well worth the effort 

 

6 hours ago, Blackfish said:

Great report and great photos to go with it 👍

Thank guys!! 

[mrsswordfisherman]

We just went there too and Copeton. 
1000’s of casts over several days

[Brendan Monks]

10 minutes ago, mrsswordfisherman said:

We just went there too and Copeton. 
1000’s of casts over several days

It's a small world Donna! How did you guys go on the fish?

We were the other side of the amenities building 🤣

[mrsswordfisherman]

1 hour ago, Brendan Monks said:

It's a small world Donna! How did you guys go on the fish?

We were the other side of the amenities building 🤣

I know that is why I put the pic of van 🤣

It was the only site left and it was the best! You were at the camp kitchen near the jumping pillow. It was a popular spot for swags!

Windemere is 29.7% full. We were very disappointed. We tried everything. Nobody else was catching either. You did well. 

Copeton same. Had a few hits only. The dam is 16% full and clarity poor in places. 

Very glad to see you were lucky this week. Good report @Brendan Monks

 

[Brendan Monks]

29 minutes ago, mrsswordfisherman said:

I know that is why I put the pic of van 🤣

It was the only site left and it was the best! You were at the camp kitchen near the jumping pillow. It was a popular spot for swags!

Windemere is 29.7% full. We were very disappointed. We tried everything. Nobody else was catching either. You did well. 

Copeton same. Had a few hits only. The dam is 16% full and clarity poor in places. Very glad to see you were lucky this week. Good report @Brendan Monks

 

Thank you Donna! Yes it was hard fishing, but I'll definitely be back out there to crack that 60cm fish.

Just out of interest, just wondering what techniques you used? (Can PM)

I'll shoot you a PM when we are out there next. 😁

[Scratchie]

Great report! Well done Brendan 👍

[big Neil]

9 hours ago, Brendan Monks said:

Thanks Neil! Sorry, that was 400/500 casts each. haha

It got windy during the middle of both days, and raining after 1 session, but we stuck it out after most, if not all boats went in. Still got fish during that! 

I've been to Copeton now 3 times for nothing, keen to chase a river cod sometime. 👍

Cheers, Brendo

Plenty of rivers North of you that will provide you with the experience of catching a Murray Cod Brendo. If all else fails and you don't mind a long drive, pop down to the Riverina and I'll put you onto some Cod. bn

[austwave]

Great work, I did it really tough the last run up there, over the long weekend in October, was busy too.

Fished the same VX40, soft plastic grubs and even give the fly a go.

[masterfisho7]

Nice report well done some top photos 

[Brendan Monks]

On 11/27/2020 at 4:49 PM, austwave said:

Great work, I did it really tough the last run up there, over the long weekend in October, was busy too.

Fished the same VX40, soft plastic grubs and even give the fly a go.

Interesting...My mate stayed until Monday night. He fish Sunday arvo session (Until 2:00am LOL) and managed 11 fish by himself! I did have the fly rod packed but fishing was slow! How did you go with the fly?

We focused on fishing the edge of the weed line, and that's where we got most of our fish.

On 11/28/2020 at 11:05 AM, masterfisho7 said:

Nice report well done some top photos 

Cheers, Thank you! 🤙

[Jew82]

Great report 👍 .  I'm heading up there in a few weeks to try fresh water fishing for the 1st time, is there any tips you are willing to share

[Brendan Monks]

20 hours ago, Jew82 said:

Great report 👍 .  I'm heading up there in a few weeks to try fresh water fishing for the 1st time, is there any tips you are willing to share

Good luck mate, it was hard fishing when we were there!

Try find the same lure we were using (Pic in the report) - You may need to upgrade the assist hooks. The only other real tricks are be prepared to cast a lot! 😅😂 We found fish early morning, and late arvo. 

It was also very weedy when we fished it, try target the edge of these beds (Normally off the slow rolling hills). In saying that we also got a few bigger one around snags.

Hope some of this helps. 🤙

[Jew82]

11 hours ago, Brendan Monks said:

Good luck mate, it was hard fishing when we were there!

Try find the same lure we were using (Pic in the report) - You may need to upgrade the assist hooks. The only other real tricks are be prepared to cast a lot! 😅😂 We found fish early morning, and late arvo. 

It was also very weedy when we fished it, try target the edge of these beds (Normally off the slow rolling hills). In saying that we also got a few bigger one around snags.

Hope some of this helps. 🤙

Cheers thanks mate . I will grab that lure and a few others. We will see how we go I’m looking forward to trying something new