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.
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