Lake Eppalock

Well a last minute decision this morning saw me heading for the fresh rather than salt, I'd decided I wanted another crack at some yellows before this cold weather really sets in. With the kayak loaded I headed off towards Bendigo planning to hit the lake around 11am, not the greatest of times but hey it's a public holiday it's meant to be relaxing. Oli decided he wasn't feeling to great and was staying at home so it was a solo trip for me. I decided to trust the new gps and follow it's directions despite having made the drive countless times before, lousy new toys. It seems it wasn't aware the highway was finished a number of years ago and the turn offs it wanted me to make soon saw it getting turned off. Eventually I did make it and hit the water around 11:30.

The recent rains have really flowed on and had I bothered to check the lake levels my plans would have been very different, the water is up about a metre over the bank and there's an abudance of freshly covered ground and plenty of food about. As I'd decided to bring a collection of shallow divers and work the edges today suddenly my plans weren't looking so good, I've found in previous years as the water level rises the fish really only feed morning and night, coming up onto the newly covered grounds before retreating back to the depths through the day. It seems this year things are pretty much the same with three hours of trolling the edges and flicking everything I had on me resulting in 1 carp around a kilo and not even a redfin to show for me efforts. I spent another 2 hours working my way back around the lake and by 4 o'clock I still only had the one carp to show for my efforts and a few less lures. It was my first carp from the kayak and it soon presented an additional problem, I don't like dragging carp around in my kayak while I wait to dispose of them...

Gorgeous day out on the water, terrible fishing, oh well there's always next weekend.

East meets West Round Up

Well the car was all packed (almost) and the doggies had finished off Adelaide and I was slowly falling asleep with thoughts of the day to come... The alarm woke me at 4am and it was time to finish off all those little packing jobs I hadn't quiet done last night. Forty minutes later I was finally on the road a piece of toast between my teeth and a sense of excitement growing. These get togethers are always great fun with a nice relaxed social atmosphere mixed in with some healthy growing rivalry and competition. Arriving just before six i began unpacking and catching/meeting up with new people. It's always good to put some faces to the different names you meet on the forums.

After getting setup and registered it was still not first light so I grabbed my night light only to discover the kids had raided it for batteries through the week - check before leaving home not once I get on site. One day I'll learn, so a bit more chatting and finding out what the fishing was like and it was shortly light enough to head out safely and get a start. My plan for the day was based around running three rods, one heavy trolling rig that would double as a squid rod, one light trolling rod that would become my plastic rod once I started drifting and another light rod that I'd rigged with a double paternoster in case I ran across some whiting. As I headed out towards the edge of the drop my plans fast fell apart, trolling a small vibe my light slickstic had a heavy strike and as I cleared the rod from the holder that brutal "crack" sound filled the air and my one piece was now a two piece, I managed to grab the second end before it disappeared down the line but in the process busted off on whatever it was I'd hooked...not a good start and I was feeling far less cheerful than five minutes ago. Putting the pieces in the back I started reconsidering my plans. By this stage I'd drifted out to the drop off area near the red channel marker and it was time for a new plan.

 I rigged the bait rod with a plastic worm and dropped that over the side while I re-rigged my heavier outfit with a squid jig in the hopes of scoring some fresh bait, all the while drifting further out past my target area, after about 10 minutes of drifting I'd had no luck on the squid jig and only managed a couple of 20cm pinkies and a red mullet on the plastic bait rig.

Deciding in favour of plastics over trying for some fresh bait I paddled in trolling both rigs on the way for no success before re-rigging again (so much for all that effort the night before getting rigs done). Now I was ready, readjusting my position as the wind picked up and shifted direction I began my 1st drift getting numerous hits and landing two pinkies just over 30cm's that were released along with a flathead of 34cm's that was my comp winning hopeful for the moment. Two more drifts over the shallow sections and not much had changed with a few smaller pinkies and even smaller flathead all going back I decided to try out wider having had a bit of success with larger flathead moving out of the shallows at this time of the year.

 This time my drift took me through 6-8mtrs of water and I travelled along having a chat to a few of the others out on the water who were having similar results. After awhile I found myself alone (not due to my part I'm sure, just reports of pinkies in shallow) and looked up to see my second outfit in the rod holder bend over. Grabbing the rod I set about with little real enthusiasm and as whatever it was started playing as a dead weight I started to call it for a banjo, as it got closer to the yak and I could see it it also saw me and a decent looking flathead came alive and began a relatively short but exciting fight as he ran under my drogue line and then popped up on the surface for awhile skipping along before taking off under the kayak. Lifting him into the yak I called it for a 50cm and my previous effort was looking a bit embarrassing alongside but between them at least dinner was taken care of. At this point time was running out for the comp weigh in so I set on one last drift with only a small flathead to show for it before tying on some x-raps and trolling in hoping for a decent pinkie or salmon to go along with the flathead. Unfortunately it wasn't to be and I returned to shore with only the flathead to show for my efforts but a great time on the water with plenty of like minded fisho's. At the measuring table I was rather happy to find that the largest flathead to this point was 46cm and managed to top this by 3cm's with the big boy coming in at 49cm, not my greatest flathead catch of late but certainly one to be happy with.

A big thanks to the sponsors and those that contributed to the prize pool (I managed to win back my own plastics)  Rob and the yakfisher boys for their efforts on the day,lots of dvd watching for me now and Neil May for the bbq and drinks,. Was a great chance to catch up and share stories with like minded individuals and that adventure island is still up there on the toys I'd love but probably shouldn't buy list. For more info on the day visit the Vyak Forums. I'm sure there'll be plenty of similar sessions in the future so keep an eye out for trip plans.

unfortunately most of my pictures came out like rubbish so I'll see what I can do with them and get them up, fortunately there were plenty of others out there taking shots on the day.

Altona Assault

No not that kind of assault this time. This weekend sees the first East meets rest of Melbourne gathering (plus us country types) at Altona. Around 50 kayakers are planning on hitting the beach and braving what was initially forecast as "not a chance I'm going out there" wind but has since been downgraded to "okay I'll follow you out"
type weather. Should be a great day with a bbq thrown in courtesy of Neil May at Westvic Kayaks and Kampers and there's also the chance to try out a few demo models for those interested. Final weigh in is 11am, we'll have to see how the west goes vs the east vs the mountain boys. I'm sure we'll get a few on the board despite our reduced numbers.

Halls Gap Day 2

Well when we got back from our evening fish my brother in law and his family had arrived so we spent the night around the campfire enjoying a drink and making some plans for the morning. With only the two kayaks with me (see honey I told you I need another) Oli volunteered himself for a sleep in and we were all set. Managed to get on the water about eight with the sun just beginning to climb above the mountains and paint the far cliffs with some light, this gave us another thirty plus minutes on the water before the sun actually touched it, one of the nice things about fishing in a valley.

We set off with Adam in the mini and myself and his youngest Ryley in the Tarpon, Ryley has been in the kayak a few times before but never fishing so after a few interesting moments with him crawling around and rearranging himself we got settled and underway. I had visions of an early morning dip a few times there but the tarpon does have great secondary stability as long as you don't panic... We headed out through the mists along the dam wall where the guy the day before had been fishing, trolling a range of lures including a tassie devil, a vibe and a small minnow, all in either bright reds or blacks. The water is very dirty with all the recent run off and rain in the area.

Without to much success apart from a couple of exciting snags it was looking like being a bit of a bust when I heard the call from the back "What's happening" and turned to see Ryley onto a decent looking fish. Working the kayak back to the fish as much as possible we soon had a nice fat redfin alongside who proceeded to take one look at us and take off back into the depths and the fight continued. A couple of it's to big can you bring it in nows later and he soon had the reddie alongside again and this time I was ready with a waiting net instead of a paddle in my hands. At this point Adam paddled over to see what was going on and it was great to see that proud parent face as we held up what turned out to be Ryley's first solo fish, first fish on a lure, first redfin and first fish from a kayak. Not bad for a mornings paddle

 

Halls Gap

Easter Weekend
Well Good Friday saw the cars loaded up after a late night with the parents catching up for birthdays and the first Easter we aren't home for. We headed of early - about 12 before we were finally on the road with all those last minute "oh did you get?'s" and headed up to Halls Gap. I hadn't stayed at the camp ground before, tagging along with some friends and their family for this trip and after getting to Halls Gap decided I'd better actually find out where Takura was. The camp grounds are located out the back end of Halls Gap just next to Lake Bellfield, the camp is relatively small with about 150 sites and cabins and has a decent camp kitchen and all the standard amenities, was very impressed with the size of the camp site with enough room for our large tent as well as the boys small tent and our two cars. Always nice to be able to camp and not feel like you're on top of your neighbours all day long. The campsite also had a big open paddock that kept the kids amused when not on the water and a number of walks and climbs straight out the back of the site. Really happy with the camp grounds and would recommend it to anyone headed that way.

Once we were setup we headed out for a wander around and I took Jasper for a drive to look at the lake, while the campsite is right next to the lake it's below the dam wall and an easy enough walk but not a kayak friendly one so it meant loading the car and driving up. I've never really fished Bellfield seriously before and had initially planned to spend most of the week at Fyans chasing trout amongst the weedbeds but I figured it was worth checking out and getting Jasper some time on the water, he has runs of loving fishing and not being bothered so the plan was to get him out on the kayak early and then we could sort the rest of the week out.

 With the lake sitting at about 30% it still has plenty of water but it's a long way from the road (as far as I knew at this point) so lugging the kayak up and down the dam wall made the mini x the obvious choice. While Jasper went for a paddle I walked the shoreline casting a few celtas after some redfin for tea. It wasn't long before I found a school and soon had a few small redfin and one decent one that was marked for tea in. At this point Jasper came in from his paddle looking rather wet but otherwise happy with himself and we walked the shore together for awhile with Jasper picking up two more redfin before we decided to pack up and head back to camp to see if the cousins had arrived. On the way back I got chatting to a local that had been fishing for the afternoon and whose bag consisted of three redfin to a kilo and one nice trout of about 50cm's. Ideas for an assault on Bellfield were fast forming in my head as I got back to camp...

Quiet Week

With a school camp last week leaving me ready for bed on the weekend and some other family commitments coming up including my little godson Ned's christening I didn't get out this weekend. Being the final week of school before the holidays means the nights are fairly hectic as well so I may manage to sneak out for a few hours Thursday night but otherwise it's not looking promising. Weather wise the weekend looks decent and should be able to get the boys out for a few hours in between soccer games and other weekend joy, then it's two weeks of fishing, and the garden, but mostly fishing... Family is off camping with some friends in Halls Gap for a week so planning to give Fyans, Wartook and maybe even Bellfield a bashing. Last time up there my eldest managed to outfish me for the first time in the fresh and I'm hearing about a repeat performance already. It's been a good chance to sort through some gear and rearrange a few bits and pieces, amazing how much "junk" you manage to collect over the summer.

Sunday Session

Well the initial plan to go chase some gummies went out the window with the doggies taking the NAB cup last night and some small celebrations that were held. The backup plan and brownie point earner kicked in and it was time for a family Sunday drive. Time to check out the Loddon, up around Bridgewater and see how it's looking.

The car was quickly loaded and a couple of rods thrown in along with the mini x strapped to the roof, a few snacks to keep the tribe preoccupied and we were on the road. Along the way we made a few little detours to check out a couple of the reservoirs and some side streams. Unfortunately pretty much all of the feeder streams are non existent and despite the heavy rainfall last week little has found it's way to the reservoirs, plenty of farmer's dams looking healthy though so another decent downpour and that may change. Laanecoorie is holding a bit of water, 12% and talking to a local caravan park resident is fishing fairly well, but what that means is anyone's guess, wasn't much for conversation. Cairn Curran and Tullaroop are around 5% and looking fairly said compared to days gone by.

Back in the car and on the way to Bridgwater the tribe's stomachs were rumbling so first stop was some food and a session below the bridge, we stopped off to grab some pies and sausage rolls and were greeted by the option b small town milk bar owner, the grump ( always seems to be one of two kinds; either incredibly polite, helpful and friendly or, the grump, I'm yet to meet an in-between, everything's just okay type at a country milk bar) We made our way down to the river with our grudgingly supplied pastries and had the pleasure of watching a couple of skiers running their laps (anyone remotely connected to kayaking would know of our undying love of all things ski, jetski and wake creating related). To be fair it is a designated ski area with lanes, ramps and slaloms set up, but still...

After chucking a few lures along the bank we decided to head above the bridge to the "historic swimming area" where we dropped the kayak in and tossed around a few plastics and spinner baits. The fishing was pretty quiet (dead) so the boys amused themselves in the kayak. While I walked the bank for a few minutes playing with a new surface lure I'd gotten, with the boys complaints and growling at each other as one got splashed, dunked or poked with a paddle ringing in my ears I had one last cast in mind before heading back to deal with the usual chaos of two kids and one kayak. Being the middle of the day I hadn't really expected much if any action on a surface lure and was really just trying it out to see how it's action was, so I was taken completely by surprise when the water behind the lure disappeared and a roughly 50cm cod rolled over and managed to dodge every treble on the lure. I fired countless casts back into the area for no joy, but seeing even a smallish cod smash the surface like that has certainly got me hooked on the whole surface lure bug. The trip ended with no fish landed but it's an area I'll be sure to return to with a serious fishing plan in the near future. On a side note I never did manage to sort the two kids one kayak issue out, normally there's no problem but I have the feeling they're getting to that point of needing one each, at least that's what I'm telling the wife...