Mackeral Fishing

Well lately the offshore conditons on the Northern Rivers have been pretty ordinary with the recent rain and severe winds, but on Saturday the wind has eased and a clear window of oppurtunity to tackle some offshore fish.

Launching the boat at Woody Head around 6am, we made our way to some waypoints we had saved where we find quite a bit of bait for livies. No luck with catching any livebait so we ended up trolling out into Shark Bay where a few boats had gathered under a group of birds.

Motoring over there we discovered there were fish busting up some whitebait, which the birds were hovering over.

Casting around raider style slugs past the busting up fish which readily scoffed down our offerings and the fish ended up being Spotted Mackeral all larger

than 70cm long, bigger than the fish we encountered the previous trip.

After about 2hrs of chasing the schools of fish we had bagged out and decided to head back home, a great morning fishing with 10 mackeral greater than 70cm each and the largest at 90cm.

Gold Coast Bass

Well on the 22nd January I travelled North about an hour and met up with a mate of mine, John who was in charge of putting me on to some bass within the Clear Island Waters (CIW) on the Gold Coast.

The water was slightly dirty after all of the recent rain and flooding, but there was quite a large amount of bait swimming around. It was also very windy which prevented much surface fishing for the day.

Clear Island Waters is a subdivision based on constructed canals, the water is freshwater though pre-exisiting boat launches and pontoons indicate is was once salt or at least brackish. There is lots of pontoons and extensive weed banks along the concrete and rock walls.

Well at a lesuirely time of 10:30am John and I launched via a small park and peddaled South slowly trolling an Atomic Hardz Deep Crank 38 in Ghost Gill Brown, though I was more interested in the possibility of surface fishing underneath the jetties and pontoons. Which did result in a good follow underneath a pontoon at the Southern limits of CIW.

John had picked up a few small bass so far until I landed my first, as we went along I found some more bass willing to play and the biggest at 32cm TL.

There are bream living in this waterway and proving this were two at 31cm and 35cm for John, who had now landed all his fish on a Dark Green Maria crankbait.

At around 1pm we decided to head back in and I preceded to pack up and drive to Hinze Dam which is in the hills West of Nerang.

Here I met up with Chris another KFDU member and we started out slow downstream jounery in search of some bass which apparently were biting according to some paddlers that were already on the dam.

After a pleasant 4hours of fishing I finally got a hookup on a large something which buried me in the lilypads, losing my beloved Lucky Craft MS Black Sammy 65.

Well following a nice day fishing for bass I packed up and headed for my accomodation for the night.

(Photo credit John C.)

Hinze Dam

Afternoon Bass

Lately I have been using the Revo as the bare hull whilst fishing for bass in some local creeks with a bit of success. Just taking one rod, half dozen lures and using the paddle I have been enjoying the simplicity that kayak fishing can provide an angler.
The creek I have been fishing in is crystal clear, tidal and the upper reaches of the brackish section of creek, therefore bream have been encountered on some of the trips.
The main tactic I have been employing with improving success is using walk-the-dog surface lures like the Lucky Craft Sammy 65's.
I have mainly been trying to walk them correctly and varying the speed of retreive with varying success according to the conditions on the day.
The latest time I went down was this afternoon, where I landed 4 bass all over 35cm fork length and the biggest estimated at 40cm. Using pauses and slowly working the lure seemed to be the best way at enticing a strike, even when the lure was travelling in 'open' water simply slowing down or allowing the lure to sit for a few seconds reacted in a savage strike from a fish.
With the recent success with these walking lures, I am quite sure that they will feature in some future reports especially when the local waterways heat up at tad more, bringing the surface fishery of the North Coast into full swing.

2010 Wivenhoe Kayak and Canoe Convention

Well this year I again travelled to Lake Wivenhoe, which is about 1 west of Brisbane or 3 1/2hrs from Ballina for the 3rd Annual Wivenhoe Kayak and Canoe Convention which commenced on the 11th September.

A bit of info about the competition first:
- The Convention as its known by the regulars is a 2 day fishing competition where bass and yellowbelly (Golden Perch) are the main targets for the competition.
- Its a catch, photograph, measure and release style comp where competitors lay the fish on a bragmat or a ruler and take a photo of it with their individual 'token' visible in the photo. This style of comp is the best practice for fishing as the fish are returned relatively quickly to the water instead of being held in a livewell which on a kayak can be unsuitable. The major prizes are given away as lucky door prizes, though some good prizes are given for 1st, 2nd and 3rd overall place marks and biggest bass and yellowbelly for each day.
- The proceeds from the entry fee, BBQ's, raffles and donations all go towards the Somerset Wivenhoe Fish Stocking Association which is the main group which stocks Somerset and Wivenhoe with silver perch, yellowbelly, saratoga, Mary River Cod and of course the Australian Bass.

Well on the 10th of September my start to the weekend started slowly and due to a few mixed messages I ended up having to catch up with the NSW convoy of Pete, Kerrie, Adrian and Geoff. Off we went on our journey up to Brisbane (and stopping off at Fernvale for some groceries we finally drove into Captain Logan Camp and began setting up home for the weekend.

I quickly set up the kayak and went out for a pre-fish to try and find some schools of bass and to work out how to use the new GPS I bought recently. Lake Wivenhoe is a huge body of water and due to the strong northerly winds (20knt gusts) some large waves came over the bow and darkness approached the wind began to die down indicating some good conditions for the weekend.

While walking around the campsites with a beer in hand I caught up with some fishos from the previous comps I had enetred such as the Clarrie Hall Dam comp and last years Wivenhoe Convention. The moderators from one of the major kayak fishing forums in Australia (www.kfdu.com.au) provided a BBQ that night in which the proceeds were given to the stocking program the Convention is created for. Well I willingly donated 16 fish to the dam that evening!

Staying up late into the night drinking home-made scotch, beer, sambuca and for some people (Kerrie) passion pop did not help with trying to wake up early the next morning in preparation for the 7hrs fishing ahead.

I wandered out on the lake mainly to explore the new surroundings as last year it was only 60-something percent full and now at 95% there was a lot of water between fish. Trolling a newly-acquired Jonesy Elle my first fish which was a fork-tailed catfish of 50cm came aboard. These fish hit the lures surprisingly hard and gee do they put up a decent fight!

100m further along whilst trolling over a school I had marked the day before a fat-ass bass of 34.9cm decided to engulf my Jonesy's Elle. I had finally caught a bass from this forsaken lake!


A few more hours of trolling and I had moved up past a small island aptly named Pelican Island (that place stinks literally!) and began trolling along a cliff face at around 8.6m deep. For one moment I was pedaaling along nicely and then all of a sudden the lure 'snagged' on something that stopped the kayak dead in its tracks! I thought I had snagged the lure up, but as I turned around and gave the 'tree' a good whack it took off, taking 30m of line with it!

A good fight ensued with the fish taking me under the kayak a few times and after a few fumbled netting attempts I had the new pb fish of 46cm in the net. These Wivenhoe fish are unbelievably fat and are well deserving of the nickname 'footballs'. After de-hooking the fish and taking the length photo for the comp I pedaled over to a fellow kayak fisher some hundred metres away from me so he could take a portrait photo for me. Thankyou to you sir.


After releasing this fish back into its watery home, I trolled around Pelican Island and slowly made my way back to camp, where I handed in my catch card and rang the fish bell under Fitzy's command.

Meeting up with a bloke I know called Peter back at camp, I went and set up a shrimp trap (for my fish tank not for fishing use) and some red-claw pots.

I then rigged the kayak for 'show mode' and dragged it up to the oval where most of the competitors had lined their kayaks up for display to other participants to have a look at with brands such as Ocean Kayak, Hobie, Viking and various other stables of yaks. I found this event quite interesting as I know have a good idea of what kayak will be next on the list (Old Town Dirigo 120 and Hobie Adventure Island), personally I fielded questions about my set-up left, right and centre, most likley because I was wearing a Hobie Fishing Team shirt at the time.

Another BBQ was running that night but before I tucked into some tucker I went and checked the redclaw pots and found I had caught my first redclaw with a total of 5 in only one pot, so I moved the others near to the one which caught them and left them overnight.

That night the BBQ was again great (no cooking or washing up!) and certainly drew in a lot of people. Another late night drinking around the camp fire session and I woke up to the calls of Peter and Geoff telling me I was late to that days briefing. I quickly ran up to the event HQ and grabbed my catch card and number and set-off to a glassy lake morning. Checking the redclaw traps again I found nothing had become trapped in the pot so I chucked them back in and moved off.

The 2nd day I trolled for 18km and another 5km of mucking around, and for that 23km of non-stop pedaling I was 'rewarded' with two massive forkies and busted off one of my new best lure a Jonesy Elle on a tree in 10m water.

At about 11am on the 12th, I decided that was enough for me and I pulled into camp and began packing the tent, esky, chair, fishing rods, kayaking gear, clothes and all the other junk that goes along with a weekend camping trip into the car ready for the 3 1/2hr drive home. After the prize draws were all done and dusted the NSW convoy again moved off and stopped for a final pie at Fernvale, before heading off on our separate ways as I went to visit some family at Arundel before walking in the front door at 7:53pm.

Thanks to Fitzy and his helpers for providing such a great weekend and the kayak fishers making it worth the drive from Mexico (as some people call it). I hope to be there again next year!


Photos to come soon :)

The Clarence Gorge 2010

Well after driving 2 1/2hrs on highway and rough dirt roads we arrived at our campsite approx 1km downstream from the infamous Clarence Gorge. Quickly setting up our campsite we packed our kayaks and began our paddle upstream, fishing along the way. As dusk began to devour us Dad called out for the net as he had a 'spotted bass', so I rushed over and helped him net the accidentally hooked Eastern Cod of 10cm (please not that this species is totally protected under NSW Fishery law and was not targeted), a quick photo and he was off back into his snag.


We fished until 9pm that evening and retired after a hearty meal of heated chilli and pasta to the deluxe accomodation only a tent and sleeping bag can provide.

Arising at 5:30am the next morning, the air was chilly though a warm breeze from the Northwest had rolled in, a sure sign of some fish to be landed that day. The aim for this session was to reach the very top of the Gorge, which require us to kayak to the furthest navigable section of river and hop out and hike the rest. We fished our way along the Western bank of the river and passed 2 waterfalls before reaching the shallow and complex section above the Gorge for no fish so far, so we turned around and made our way back. The Clarence River breaks into separate streams here and we crossed the shallow river where they rejoin just downstream of the falls to gain access to the 'island' between the two parts. It had began to rain now and the majority of the stone around these parts is granite so with tedious steps we scaled the small cliffs to gain access to ledges just above the waters surface to fish.

Within accessing one ledge, Dad had hooked into a big fish and it was my job to climb (slide really) down the cliff face to net the fish with my hat! The fish went 48cm total length and was very skinny from its upstream migration from the estuarine spawning areas around Yamba/Iluka.

It was my turn next with a reasonable 36cm bass, my first decent fish from the Gorge. Meanwhile Dad was on again with another 45cm fish which was also very skinny in body shape.

All of these fish came from the same rocky point that acted as a trap for the foam created by the upstream waterfalls.
The fish seemed to go off the chew then, and we moved further upstream to discover another waterfall we couldnt cross to move upstream again, so we decided to head for camp and fish along the way into some holes that provided hits beforehand.
Landing another 4 bass with the largest at 20cm, we jumped into the kayaks and pulled up into camp for some breakfast/lunch/dinner and a sleep.

A late start to the next day at 6am saw us back in the kayaks for another fish, but we did not venture any further than the first set of rapids due to time constraints. Only luck for this day was a large eeltail catfish that dad caught on a live shrimp.
So there was our 2010 Clarence Gorge trip and now we have an idea on how to tackle it next time as Im actually going again later this year.

Snapper on soft plastics

Well the snapper season has begun on the North Coast and after recent reports of decent snapper from the Illuka area, Dad and I decided to head down that way for a fish on Sunday morning. But as luck would have it successful snapper catching friend (Mark) was looking for some fishing partners to go offshore with him from Ballina, so we jumped at the chance.

Launching around 5.30am and signing on with Ballina VMR, we crossed the bar in search of some snapper over the shallow reefs.

With Mark showing us how to work the plastics oiver the reef, we began casting and bouncing our jigs as we drifted over the structure. Mark quickly landed two snapper about 50cm each.

Not wanting to be left behind, I changed from the bigger 7" jerkshad down to the 5" model Mark was using and after about 4 annoying Red Rock Cod my lure was smashed by a snapper of 68cm, which put up quite an account for itself.

Changing spots and lure patterns, we decided to not go ahead with motoring out wider as the wind had began to whip up some decent chop and wasn't worth the cold wind and chop.

So from this trip we got to catch some good fish and see some whales as they made their way along the Australian coast to the Great Barrier Reef for the Winter Migration.

Thanks Mark for taking us and showing me (seeing Dad didnt catch a thing, haha) how to successfully use plastics on the offshore reefs.

Discovering new grounds of the Oxley River, Murwillumbah

Recently I was asked to join some fellow kayak anglers on one of the streams they have fished with success.

Never fished this waterway before we organised a time and place to meet, which I unfortunately missed due to sleeping in (sorry guys!)but once I got into gear I was on the water 50mins later launching from a causeway which crossed the Oxley River the waterway I was to fish. Due to the 1hour difference in launch times I missed my fellow anglers and decided to fish my way upstream to try and meet up with them.

Well making my way upstream I discovered that this waterway was quite similar to one I usually fish such as the Wilson River upstream from Lismore. But it was quite shallow along the majority of the stream and there were many portages between pools.

The water was very cold and a cool breeze was blowing in from the South West so bass captures were not expected to be high, so the trip became a recon for future trips.

Working my way upstream I ran into a few large rocks so repairing the torn fins and slightly bent masts on my MirageDrive.

Eventually I recieved a hit and hookup from underneath a spectacular on my ever productive Atomic Hardz Shad which pulled from the hooks.

Upon reaching a time halfway point I came across a pool in the eddy of the stream littered with logs and tree stumps, in a secluded corner of this pool my lure was immediately taken savagely as a nice bass of 32cm became caught around my rudder and numerous logs in the pool.

Releasing the fish I peddaled over to the area where it came from and found it was less than 40cm deep! Surprising seeing most bass which are caught are found in deep shadowy areas of pools/streams.

After catching this fish my MirageDrive became irreparably field damaged (unable to repair in the field) and to use it required my to remove one fin and use the remainder as the primary propulsion. Using the MirageDrive like this causes the kayak to rock from side to side due to the swinging fin below.

Sick of the rocking motion I removed the drive and began my agonisingly slow paddle back to the launch ramp (some 3 1/2km away) with my measuring board (it is attached to a piece of wood about 50cmx15cm) because I negated to bring my paddle along.

3 hours later I made it to 500m from the launch ramp and found a paddle laying on the bank with an abandoned fibreglass kayak, so thanking my lucky stars I borrowed the paddle and paddled the ramaining 500m with relaxation.

Thanks to Silver_19 for inviting me to fish the Oxley River even though we didnt meet.