queensland CIW Bream and Bass Report Jan 1 & 3 2010

[Rocket75]

C.E.D.R.I.C (my Hobie Sport) and I started off 2010 chasing Bream and Bass at Clear Island Waters on the Gold Coast.

First session was on New Years Day.

Launching at 4.00pm, the aim was to fish till dusk or until the imminent storm chased us off the wet stuff.

Conditions were not ideal, with a bit of wind chop on the surface, but the offending breeze did a great job of keeping the humid conditions from being too oppressive.

My plan was fairly simple. Troll small hard body lures along the weedy bank and close to the pontoons and jetties that line the canal estate.

There was a bit of boat traffic including a few morons who chose to ignore the well signed 6 knot speed limit. Whilst avoiding the wake from one such vessel I got my first strike of the new year :woohoo: The RMG Scorpion 35 does it again!

After a short but brutal fight on 4lb Braid and 4lb leader I had me a cracking slab of shiny silver bream ‘yak side and safely in the net.

Being fairly new to yak fishing I was then faced with the challenge of handling, measuring, photographing and releasing the fish...not easy to do with limited space and only one set of hands. :blush:

I had formulated a plan in case I was lucky enough to catch a photo-worthy foe.

Here’s how it goes;

The fish stays in the water (less the lure), still in the landing net that is secured under my legs, leaving 2 hands free to stow both rods and get the handily placed brag mat, lip grips and camera organized.

The fish is retrieved from the net where he has been happily soaking, and is put on the mat for a picture or two.

This is also quite hard.

There are very few flat surfaces to sit the mat on, so for want of a better alternative, it goes across the legs. This leaves the fish basically in your lap, so a well behaved fish is very handy, and the spikes all over a lot of fish makes me glad for the thickness of the good old brag mat.

With pics done quickly, the fish is then given a few quiet moments to think about what it's done to reach this predicament, before blasting off with a flick of it's tail leaving the happy angler with a big grin and an impromptu shower.

Hard to believe, but I put this plan into action and it worked like a well oiled machine! :woohoo:

With a new PB of 37.5cm (0.5cm bigger than the previous mark) I was a happy man.

I continued on my merry way, happy now just to be on the water.

The rest of the afternoon saw a number of hookups to small critters, just enough action to keep me happily trolling away the afternoon.

As day turned into night the storm loomed large and I headed for home, pleased as punch with a new bream PB, but without a decent bass for the session.

Next time my bass friends...next time.

Next time turned out to be 2 days later.

This session was to be an early AM start, and I was on the water and fishing by 5.30am.

I had the lake to myself and I used the gentle conditions and peaceful solitude to explore some areas of the system that were new to me.

After a relaxing peddle into uncharted waters I scored first fish of the day.

A little Bass, and I mean little, attacked or tried to suckle from yesterday’s successful lure only to feel the sting of its sharp trebles.

Quickly unhooked he darted away without a backward glance and I peddled on happy to have broken my duck for the day and hopeful of better things to come.

All I gained for my explorative efforts was a good leg workout and a lot of weeded lures, so I headed back to more familiar and proven locations.

This move eventually paid dividends, with 2 more thumping Bream gracing C.E.D.R.IC’s deck (or my lap as the case may be)!

Lure of the moment was a CRA-PEA Medium in purple.

The first of these fish did a great job of mangling the back treble on it, and the second fish broke it further leaving me with just one hook on the back treble...nasty little critters.

Both fish were really solid, but neither went as big as my PB fish of two days earlier.

Almost back at the launch site I hit a school of feisty little bass that kept me occupied

just long enough to get a decent sunburn and a call from Mrs. Rocket wondering if I had fallen in!

All in all a great way to start 2010.

Thanks for reading, till next time.

Rocket

[tomca]

Glad to see CIW still fishing well. Bass on poppers is my favourite pastime there.

Send me a PM next time you need company or carpool

[superstryda]

Great report mate, nice way to kick off the year!

[webbfunk]

Love your work Rocket!

I want to get a yak soon, and have told the Mrs I want to call it Cyril. She thinks I am wierd......I can now use you as an example that it is normal.

[rayke1938]

Thanks for report CIW is one of the locations that Dino and myself are planning to check out.

Cheers

Ray

[Feral]

Rocket, dunno about those weird yaks with the hole in the middle, but normal yaks you just move your legs out of the way and drop the fish in the footwell! Then deal with it from there.

Very nice bream by the way!

[Brian D]

Cool report Rocket, thanks. Those Bream are healthy looking fish while that bass needs a good feed.

I forgot about this place, maybe it's time for another group attack.

[Dinodadog]

well done Rocket sounds like you have that place sussed. On the measuring setup a peice of perspex with a right angle on one end and stick your measuring sticker on, the secret here is not to have it to long.

[ryanyoung]

I enjoyed reading that report Rocket, lots of info with the odd bit of slap-stick !

Well done on a good couple of days and your PB Breambo,

Ryan.

[benno573]

Congrats on the pb. Sounds like a couple of good sessions all up.

[Keen-as-fisho]

There some quality bream rocket! I've been meaning to hit CIW for a while now, I'd be keen for a group tour.

[Rocket75]

tomca wrote:

Glad to see CIW still fishing well. Bass on poppers is my favourite pastime there.

Send me a PM next time you need company or carpool

Hey Tom,

I didn't see very much surface action at all, but I'm keen to do some popper fishing there for sure.

Will let u know next time

rocket

[Rocket75]

webbfunk wrote:

Love your work Rocket!

I want to get a yak soon, and have told the Mrs I want to call it Cyril. She thinks I am wierd......I can now use you as an example that it is normal.

I'm not sure you can use me as an example of normality!

CEDRIC stand for Creeks, Estuaries, Dams, Rivers, Inlets and Canals....where does the name Cyril come from?

I can just see Cryril and CEDRIC out there, floating around complaining about their owners unfortunate choice of kayak names :laugh:

[Rocket75]

Feral wrote:

Rocket, dunno about those weird yaks with the hole in the middle, but normal yaks you just move your legs out of the way and drop the fish in the footwell! Then deal with it from there.

Very nice bream by the way!

Last time I tried that method I ended up with puncture wounds to the leg and the fish released itself before happy snaps....hence my new method

[Rocket75]

Dinodadog wrote:

well done Rocket sounds like you have that place sussed. On the measuring setup a peice of perspex with a right angle on one end and stick your measuring sticker on, the secret here is not to have it to long.

Yeh Dino, I had been thinking of something similar, just a bit short of storage area for things that don't fold or roll. You can only fit so much in a milk crate

[Rocket75]

Keen-as-fisho wrote:

There some quality bream rocket! I've been meaning to hit CIW for a while now, I'd be keen for a group tour.

Perhaps we need to get the yak and canoe flotilla organised for a Summer CIW Session? Late Jan or Early Feb would be good...nice and humid, maybe some surface action to be had? :woohoo:

rocket

[RichH]

well done Rocket ..some very nice bream there , congrats on your PB also!

[Keen-as-fisho]

Rocket75 wrote:

Keen-as-fisho wrote:

There some quality bream rocket! I've been meaning to hit CIW for a while now, I'd be keen for a group tour.

Perhaps we need to get the yak and canoe flotilla organised for a Summer CIW Session? Late Jan or Early Feb would be good...nice and humid, maybe some surface action to be had? :woohoo:

rocket

Sounds good to me, just pick a day

[yoyo]

Nice stuff, havent fished CIW yet, might have to get down there soon !

[yoyo]

hey rocket what section of CIW are you fishing/where are you launching from ?

[novrain]

good looking fish there rocket...

well done on the PB bream.... that's a horse of a bream!

love to join on you a yak trip one of these days. need to find a way to transport the yak first

[Rocket75]

yoyo wrote:

hey rocket what section of CIW are you fishing/where are you launching from ?

Yo yo-yo!

There is a Coucil Off Leash area on the shore of CIW just next to a round-a-bout where Boowaggan Rd meets the Robina Parkway.

Launch is done on a grassy/gravel slope leading down from the carpark to the water.

I normally fish the area to the left of the launch site and down to the weir.

It's well worth a look, and pretty unique to be catching bream and bass together in fresh water so close to the sea.

It is a stocked waterway (bass), and I normally practice c+r in there.

rocket

[fisherjack1394]

soem thumper bream there mate, i bet y had some fun hauling them in

[fergie]

good read rocket and some good pics there

on ya

cheers

ferg

[kiwifisho]

Another excellent day was had by the looks Rod :woohoo: , awesome PB mate. Will havta get the "Noe" down there and dont 4get your skipper this time

Kiwi

[Rocket75]

kiwifisho wrote:

Another excellent day was had by the looks Rod :woohoo: , awesome PB mate. Will havta get the "Noe" down there and dont 4get your skipper this time

Kiwi

Thanks Kiwi.

I'm just waiting for my mail order Skippers hat, and then I'm there

rocket

[kiwifisho]

Rocket75 wrote:

kiwifisho wrote:

Another excellent day was had by the looks Rod :woohoo: , awesome PB mate. Will havta get the "Noe" down there and dont 4get your skipper this time

Kiwi

Thanks Kiwi.

I'm just waiting for my mail order Skippers hat, and then I'm there

rocket

Trial run b4 skippers cap mate

kiwi

[tacklebox]

congrats on your PB rocket! they're some good looking bream.

what colour scorpion did the damage?

the key to kayak fishing is having everything close at hand. i found the spare paddle holder on the side of the hobie is a great place to put a ruler and I have my camera behind my seat in a waterproof box.

[Old Scaley]

Nice fish and great report, Rod. Sounds like you are really getting yourself organised on the yak.

[Rocket75]

tacklebox wrote:

congrats on your PB rocket! they're some good looking bream.

what colour scorpion did the damage?

the key to kayak fishing is having everything close at hand. i found the spare paddle holder on the side of the hobie is a great place to put a ruler and I have my camera behind my seat in a waterproof box.

Good tips there TBox, I'm learning more on CEDRIC set-up each time I go out.

The Scorpion that scored the PB was in H59 "Brown trout"

rocket

[tacklebox]

Rocket75 wrote:

The Scorpion that scored the PB was in H59 "Brown trout"

rocket

thanks rocket.

brown trouts and cra-peas hey. i'm detecting a poo theme here!

[Rocket75]

tacklebox wrote:

Rocket75 wrote:

The Scorpion that scored the PB was in H59 "Brown trout"

rocket

thanks rocket.

brown trouts and cra-peas hey. i'm detecting a poo theme here!

well they are bream after all :silly:

[tomca]

Keen-as-fisho wrote:

Rocket75 wrote:

Keen-as-fisho wrote:

There some quality bream rocket! I've been meaning to hit CIW for a while now, I'd be keen for a group tour.

Perhaps we need to get the yak and canoe flotilla organised for a Summer CIW Session? Late Jan or Early Feb would be good...nice and humid, maybe some surface action to be had? :woohoo:

rocket

Sounds good to me, just pick a day

Ah! Remember the last yakking flotilla there? I got smashed by that absolute horse of a bass and those 35+cm bream all day.

Novrain, I always have room for a yak or 3 when we plan an assault on a body of water

[Keen-as-fisho]

^^^^^^^^^^^Why don't we organise a weekend (saturday preferably, but doesn't matter) say towards the end of January :fishing:

[Rocket75]

K.A.F, Tomca, Yo-Yo, Novrainm, Kiwi and all others who expressed interest...

How about a PM session Sat 30th January ? Open to other dates / option if need be.

That date works for me, if we can get a date that works for a few people we will start a new thread planning the details.

Please advise by replying to this thread for the time being.

Thanks for all the positive feedback for my report guys and gals.

It really does make the effort worthwhile when you realise people are reading and enjoying the report.

[mongrel jack]

Awsome report Rocket! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and info on fishing this spot and the awsome photo's. Pencil me in tentativelty (just in case the boss has other plans for me :blush: - I'll check tonight!) but Saturdays are normally good for me. Am yet to do the social thing with anyone from AFO so would be good to put some faces to names.

[kiwifisho]

Rocket75 wrote:

K.A.F, Tomca, Yo-Yo, Novrainm, Kiwi and all others who expressed interest...

How about a PM session Sat 30th January ? Open to other dates / option if need be.

That date works for me, if we can get a date that works for a few people we will start a new thread planning the details.

Please advise by replying to this thread for the time being.

Thanks for all the positive feedback for my report guys and gals.

It really does make the effort worthwhile when you realise people are reading and enjoying the report.

Keen as Rocket Open to any date as long as its a saturday

Kiwi

[Freshy]

Great read Rocket, some nice fish there bro... and a PB have to be happy with that.

Mate I might have to jump on board also. Have not really fished down the coast. I'd need a fairly solid date though so that I could arrange the roster at work and word up the minister. I think I'll start planning anyway.

I know what you mean also about the whole catch the fish, measure the fish and model the fish... after our last trip up the Stanley I think I'll just yak with others and them give me hand... may be even hand line the fish in... lol

Anyway mate great work and I think a worthy entrant for report of the month.

Brett

[Rocket75]

Thanks Freshy, teamwork is the way to go when landing them big'uns

Cool,

so with Mongreljack, kiwi and freshy we have a few interseted parties already, so I'll start a new thread tonite and we'll go from there.

EDIT

new thread is created!

/>http://www.australianfishing.com.au/forum/15-fishing-events/240766-ciw-social-fish-jan-30-2010-rockets-birthday#240766

rocket

[Rocket75]

rayke1938 wrote:

Thanks for report CIW is one of the locations that Dino and myself are planning to check out.

Cheers

Ray

Ray, You and Dino are welcome to join me on 30th Jan for an arvo session, got heaps of others joining in too, should be good fun

There's another thread somewhere with all the details.

Hope to see you there.

rocket