queensland Winter Yakking On Samsonvale

[basshunter1987]

I've been lucky enough recently to get out in the yak at North Pine Dam quite frequently, and haven't had a bad day yet! The fish are pretty easy to catch, and not too hard to find. Even if I don't find any congregations, a lazy troll for a few hours still gets a few.

The winter mornings are pretty brutal though, and it takes some courage for me to open the car door once I'm at the ramp, knowing that it's shockingly cold outside! And setting up the yak isn't exactly the most warming procedure, but I'm always eager, and usually man up enough to get going

I only pick the very calm days to head out, because I like to travel up and downstream a fair way, and everything is just easier when the wind is right down. Thanks to many trips by myself and with Dino, I've got a heap of spots now that I like to hit up, and mostly have a planned route in mind for my outings.

I've recently made up a new DIY sounder rig for my Garmin Echo 300c and Lowrance Elite-4X HDI, and have really been enjoying seeing what they come up with. A sounder is a very handy toy!

I like to troll lures while I'm moving, and then stop at spots along the way to flick spinnerbaits and metal blades out. Casting and retrieving for a fish always makes my day

So here's some pictures from my last few trips, there are some absolute whoppers out there at the moment! The weight the Bass put on in winter is phenomenal, and I really hope I find my 60cm trophy Bass during the winter months...it'll be a monster!

[basshunter1987]

Thanks for reading!

Luke

[Luvit]

Some big girls there Luke.

So hard in the cold mornings with your body saying no and mind saying this could be the day.

[Binder]

Just got to wait for that rainbow end to hit the water and get the lure in there quick when it does

Might need a wider yak for when you do get that unicorn though.

[Dinodadog]

Well done,he who listens learns.

Dino

[rayke1938]

Do not think that there are many major cities with a such a great fishery on their doorsteps the dam has sprung back to its old glory days.

Cheers

Ray

[Surfingant]

Nice mate, how do the 2 sounders go together? I've been toying with the idea but was unsure how the electrical and sonar beams would go together.

[basshunter1987]

Nice mate, how do the 2 sounders go together? I've been toying with the idea but was unsure how the electrical and sonar beams would go together.

Ant man, they work almost flawlessly My Lowrance freezes and switches off now and then, which I haven't worked out yet (might be to do with voltage drop or being a more sensitive unit), but they always show real nice crisp images with no interference that I'm aware of.

I could be wrong, and I'm not at all an expert on frequencies, but I reckon as long as the sounders are on different frequencies, you'll be good. I might try putting them on the same and report back with results! Mine obviously are on different frequencies because I have the Lowrance on the DownScan imaging at 800kHz and the Garmin just on sonar imaging at 200kHz.

They both run off the same 7Ah battery and cables are all bundled together. Haven't managed to drain the battery yet either, and I think longest trip was 6 hours.

I was thinking of writing up a bit on how I did it all, and results I've had, but may not interest anyone haha. I like it though

Here's the setup when I first tested them. Cables and battery are now in the hull, and transducers are external...that's just what I wanted. I like to take everything off the yak at the end of the day

[Surfingant]

Mate that's awesome, thanks. I've got the 4x dsi on my yak and just wanted to throw a cheapy on there purely as a fish finder, the dsi isn't great at that but it is brilliant for structure, as you've obviously found out