# NSW 09/05 - High Brow



## Ado

I have a new local.

Well it's not exactly new. I guess it's been around since at least the last ice age. I'm sure the real locals, the Koori, have known about it for at least that long. Even I, a recent ring-in, have known about it for half a decade. However, it wasn't really discovered until yesterday.

Its relative obscurity was due to the fact that it was more than 1km away, much further away than two of my three other locals. The ocean and Mummuga Lake require veritable seconds of driving (harsh I know). My third local, Wagonga Inlet, is around five minutes away, requiring driving faster than 40 km/h and therefore the absurd effort of proper tie downs. This renders it as 'the change up' local, after I get board with the smorgasbord on my doorstep. My new local, the fourth, is no further away than Wagonga, but has until now been totally ignored by me and (I guess) all the other locals because, well, it's such an ordeal to get to. Egad, it even has a section of dirt road; totally uncivilised.

But even this is not what's prevented its discovery by the modern world (at least as I know it). I once inquired about it on this very forum and was told that it was very shallow, was mostly sanctuary zone (due to misplacement of the sanctuary signs) and generally barren of fish. That was enough for me. I wasn't about to embark on an expedition requiring 10 minutes of driving and the need to turn my air conditioning to recycle when there was little prospect of fish.

I'm not going to mention its name here for reasons that will soon become obvious. Anyone with two brain cells and access to Google Earth will find it in less time than it takes me to drive there. There is also a big hint in the report title (shhh, don't tell anyone). I'm just not compiling the name in binary so search engines won't find it. If you are reading this, then you can, if you could be bothered. You should.

This local is a lake that is typically isolated from the ocean. It only opens up after very heavy rains and typically for only days or weeks at a time. It is bounded by National Park with public road access to only one small section of shoreline. Best of all, it has no ramp. I think I may have to start a pilgrimage of rampless lakes of the south coast. The experience I just had was extraordinary and compelling. But I'm ahead of myself.

Last weekend was my birthday. I got the flu as an early birthday present, followed by a secondary sinus infection a week later. This week I got conjunctivitis to complete the set. After more than a fortnight wallowing in various forms of mucus, I really felt like freshening up my orifices. As I wasn't feeling full of beans, I contemplated such drastic action only after I'd gauged the weather. The ubiquitous weather bimbo had excitedly informed me that a warm front was about to hit the south east of the country, a phenomenon usually confined to the tropical north. I had no idea what a warm front was, but I was quite capable of identifying high twenties, clear skies and absolutely no wind.

By the time I'd made the decision, and packed the car, it was 11am. Parenting duties required me home by 4pm. Mummuga was old, the ocean was swelly, Wagonga was &#8230; well, Wagonga. I decided to try Corrunna Lake, though that was half a world away (30 minutes). I loaded the yak on the roof, neglecting to first fit the front and back tie-down loops. Without front and rear tie-downs, highway speeds were out of the question. That long and convoluted lack of planning is what led me to my new local. A short section of highway was negotiated at 60 km/h, then dirt at 40 km/h &#8230; then bliss.

The lake was picture perfect. We've all witnessed glassy lakes. But most of these have a flutter, some boat wake, or even a swan wave. Not this one. It was a giant reflective mirror, so photogenic that my camera decided to call it quits in shear reverence. My iPhone camera did it no justice at all. I could make out fish boils hundreds of metres away. It was extraordinary.










I wasn't even sure if it was deep enough to use the mirage drive. I selected a shallow diving lure. Paddling was so pure that I almost thought the mirage drive a contamination - almost. After five metres of paddling, the depth increased to over a metre. The high tannin content of the water meant visibility was limited to half this depth. Soon it was over 3 metres. So much for it being too shallow! I wondered what other lies I had held so long as truths. I didn't wonder for long. After less than 100m my trolled shallow diver got absolutely smashed. A hearty and somewhat weighty fight finally revealed a tailor, bronzed by the water colour and emboldened by the lack of angling pressure. At 38cm it was neither a chopper nor a greenback, but somewhere in between. It was definitely a meal, but not to my taste so it was returned with a flourish. It was a PB for me, pathetic I know, but not the last for the day.

Despite the depth, I was too lazy to change lures. Instead I searched for shallower water. The occasional garfish masqueraded as miniature marlin, tail-walking entertainers, dancing atop the surface tension. Other than that, the surface sheen remained largely unbroken except by me and the occasional bug buzzing loops atop the mercury. It dawned on me that there were no mullet to misguide me. Each boil, no matter how few, was worthy of investigation.

I slid across the solitude. The deep tannin, the cries of the eagles and the robustness of the surrounding forests made the scene somewhat Jurassic. The water colour especially added eeriness that conjured thoughts of plesiosaurs that kept me strangely on edge. What would emerge from those tea coloured depths?

My sounder noted a change in depth. My lure noted it soon after, bumping bite mimics through my rod tip and raising my pulse further. Then a snag. Bugger! But bugger me it moved. Headshakes confirmed my target species. The water colour delayed final identification. It was almost beside the yak before it revealed its true colours. Big! Adrenaline. Net, bugger, NET! Off it charged pealing line from my Sedona. But she was mine. At 50cm, she was hardly a trophy, but she was still by far the biggest Flathead I'd caught since moving down here. Like the Tailor, she was also very fat, healthy and feisty. This was no time for the iPhone. It took quite some time to extract the trebles from the net. All the while her gill slashers stood proudly, poised for attack should I lose concentration for a second. The front hatch beckoned. The water beckoned more. But a wet towel and a lot of prayer saw the former win out. I was less than 20 minutes into my adventure and I was already fulfilled.

I found another drop-off. The HB was retired and a Sqidgy Fish deployed. My second cast was monstered. The significantly larger fight belied a slightly smaller model at a mere 45cm. Dinner for the family was taken care of and I'd only been fishing for 30 minutes.

I lost two others soon after. I started wondering what I should set as my bag limit. But this was the day of days. Why be troubled with bag limits when such tasty morsels had eluded me for so long. I cast the Squidgy from deep water to shallow. It was smashed on the drop. This one had real weight. It also pealed line during half a dozen hearty runs on its way to the yak. Silver! Bream. HORSE! I held the net as still as my breath as I guided the leviathan into its clutches. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was HUGE! I didn't know how huge, as I wasn't about to risk a measure. I did risk a photo however, just in case I failed in my manoeuvre to the front hatch. It wasn't until hours later back at the launch that I confirmed what I knew the moment I laid eyes on it. It was a PB. At 44cm it was only 2cm bigger than my previous best, but the difference was like comparing a horse to a pony. It was 7cm thick and must have been well over 3kg (Edit: OK it's probably not. Got too excited).

And it was only 1pm.


















I was in a state of constant wonder. It took me back to my first ever day of kayak fishing. I was alone in a world of wonder, intrigue and tranquilly. My spider senses were tingling. I concentrated on taking it all in, knowing full well it would be impossible to recapture. My random acts and lack of planning had led to a world I had dreamed of but never thought would materialise, let alone 10 minutes from home. I sat in the middle of square kilometres of glass, no wind, no people, bellbirds interrupting the silence and monster fish to add the passion. There was nowhere I would rather be.

The bite fell away, as Flathead bites often do with no rhyme or reason. It wasn't as though there was a change in tide. There was no tide. It wasn't as though there was change in wind. There was no wind. It spelt a change in location, so to the far side of the lake I trolled. A deeper diver was deployed, but with no result.

Approaching the opposing bank revealed remnant beaches, craggy rocks, reedy grass and timber. I sounded around for a while but revealed little in the way of structure. The Squidgy Fish didn't have the slow roll action required of the shallows. For some reason I opted for a five inch Gulp Crazy Legs, a snapper lure. My kayak occasionally produced a boil off the bow. There was life, but in what form? If I stopped pedalling I would sit, absolutely motionless. There was neither wind nor tide to propel me. It was like floating in a vacuum in space. The combination of sandy bottom and tannin water brought back memories of Tasmanian Highland Tarns. I half expected to see a Brown cruising through the reeds.










I decided to mimic a bream specialist (I'd heard about such creatures though never aspired to be worthy). I cast my Crazy Legs towards the shallows. The braid lay web-like on the highly tensioned surface. It twitched. I struck. Nothing. A slow roll, more hits, a constant weight. This time my strike came up tight. A massive boil broke the serenity, then slack. Bugger.

Two revs of the mirage took me 3m further on, still parallel to the shore. Another cast, more twitches, a strike, tight line. The fish felt small, but such is the case given what I had to compare it to. Sure enough it was a veritable pipsqueak at a mere 36cm.

I continued to impersonate a bream hunter &#8230; and it worked. I landed another at 39cm and dropped maybe half a dozen more, a product of using an oversized plastic and a 2/0 hook. None seemed juvenile. Other than the tail walking Garfish, I never saw or felt an undersized fish all day.

At 2pm I began my slow cruise back. I trolled and flicked a few times, but I was too satisfied to hold the hunger necessary. My tip runner also kept falling off my flick stick. It was a sign to say farewell. The pedal back was in the same conditions that had greeted me when I arrived. A buzzing made me look skyward, just in time to see a car fly over me, hanging below a powered hang glider. That'd do me. None of it was real. That included the ridiculous weight of the bucket I managed to extract from the front hatch after landing.


































I didn't want to blink for fear that I'd wake up and find that none of it had happened. But happened it did. I know I will now spend considerable effort to try (unsuccessfully) to recapture it.

Anyone else want to try too?


----------



## bunsen

Sheer magic.
Nuff said.

The high vis flag may have been overkill!


----------



## onemorecast

What a Bream! - well done to land that mutant monster! 
The other "little" one ain't bad either :lol:


----------



## Junglefisher

We nearly stopped at that lake when we were looking for camping areas on the South Coast.
What an awesome day, flatties can be funny like that eh?


----------



## Squidder

Monster bream Ado :shock: With the utmost repsect though - it's not 3kg


----------



## Ado

Junglefisher said:


> We nearly stopped at that lake when we were looking for camping areas on the South Coast.


The camp site is awesome, one of the best on the south coast IMO. Do it next time JF.


----------



## Ado

Squidder said:


> Monster bream Ado :shock: With the utmost repsect though - it's not 3kg


Fair enough. Got too excited :lol: .


----------



## Junglefisher

Ado said:


> Junglefisher said:
> 
> 
> 
> We nearly stopped at that lake when we were looking for camping areas on the South Coast.
> 
> 
> 
> The camp site is awesome, one of the best on the south coast IMO. Do it next time JF.
Click to expand...

We were told not caravan suitable.


----------



## theGT58

Wow. Just wow!

Late birthday present by the sounds. Great trip report, had not considered that spot as yet as it's just beyond my local haunts and, being completely honest, did not consider it would hold such fish being a 'landlocked'. But I may just have to drop in for a few casts now  . No boat ramp is a big plus too. Once again, great report Ado


----------



## Ado

Junglefisher said:


> Ado said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Junglefisher said:
> 
> 
> 
> We nearly stopped at that lake when we were looking for camping areas on the South Coast.
> 
> 
> 
> The camp site is awesome, one of the best on the south coast IMO. Do it next time JF.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> We were told not caravan suitable.
Click to expand...

Probably right. It's more your car camping area.


----------



## Ado

bunsen said:


> The high vis flag may have been overkill!


I missed that comment. It does look a tad rediculous. :lol: Scared the Garfish though.


----------



## Dodge

Adrian a special outing it seems, and a nice result.


----------



## southcoastmatty

Ado said:



> Anyone else want to try too?


  me please


----------



## Brez

A great write up of what was obviously a pretty special session 8) well done on the pb also , what a cracker of a fish


----------



## RedPhoenix

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

----

QlpoOTFBWSZTWYZ6YMAAABTfgAAQYAEAALCgUAA/796gIAB1EU/VPTRPQjQBoHqCKn+gp5KbUP1R5EDanqGhkFzPGMWr1YkfTY04a3vWlCMdA8RNpNwYKPozz0ZDR5fd4eweCzY1W13mUTRt9iMNfJ04LdRLAKIO7Yr8D6XuIVc0nKt22u6LuhkOUsaERk7oorBfxdyRThQkIZ6YMAA=


----------



## Wrassemagnet

How unreal, what a great spot and the fish are even more spectacular than the lake. You be a lucky boy for sure!


----------



## kayakone

Squidder said:


> Monster bream Ado :shock: With the utmost repsect though - it's not 3kg


I thought that too.....it's only 2.95 kg! I have never, never seen a bream that big, including several 'monsters' caught in the surf 40/50 years ago.

Amazing discovery Adrian, and very well written. Amazing day.

Trevor


----------



## Ado

You should see what today brought  . All will be revealed.


----------



## koich

Ado,

It's about time.


----------



## Ado

koich said:


> Ado,
> 
> It's about time.


... it's about space,
About two men in the strangest place....


----------



## koich

I hate that I know what that joke means.


----------



## Ado

koich said:


> I hate that I know what that joke means.


How could you possibly know. You're only 12.


----------



## koich

Misspent late teens watching obscure dvd boxsets into the wee hours of the morning.


----------



## Ado

RedPhoenix said:


> Any prawns? I heard rumors it was stocked many moons ago..
> Red.


I heard the same rumour just this morning. Proabably a little too cold to find out now.


----------



## kayakone

Ado said:


> You should see what today brought  . All will be revealed.


Go on - tell us, NOW!

Trevor


----------



## scater

A lot of blokes here fancy themselves writers. Ado, you are one, that was really well captured. I for one hope you continue to get such good subject matter! I can't wait to hear what's next...


----------



## Showbag

What an enjoyable read and great pics. I hope you are going to enter some of those in the Photo comp.

Tony


----------



## Ado

kayakone said:


> Ado said:
> 
> 
> 
> You should see what today brought  . All will be revealed.
> 
> 
> 
> Go on - tell us, NOW!
> 
> Trevor
Click to expand...

http://www.akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=54905


----------



## paffoh

Give me a couple of weeks, maybe 6 or 7...

Wow.


----------



## Ado

paffoh said:


> maybe 6 or 7


Are you sure that's weeks? :lol: 
When's the big date forecast?


----------



## paffoh

I wrote weeks? lol

Pretty sure it was Friday past, then again im drinking loads of beer...

Definately be heading to Pambula soon after, should get a leave pass in the middle of winter.

Monster Bream dude, looks like great country.


----------



## Ado

paffoh said:


> Pretty sure it was Friday past


Awesome man. Congratulations.


----------



## paffoh

Not yet man, soon, due date last Friday, waiting waiting...


----------



## Beekeeper

Ado... if there are all those monster fish in your lake, there might also be monster whiting. I've seen articles in fly-fishing magazines a few years back, about huge whiting being caught on popper-flies made from 1/4inch foam with hook attached, in land-locked lake situations similar to the one you're talking about.

Perhaps using conventional gear with mini-poppers could yield substantial whiting... of course if you don't like whiting, disregard the above.

Cheers, Jimbo


----------



## Ado

Beekeeper said:


> Ado... if there are all those monster fish in your lake, there might also be monster whiting. I've seen articles in fly-fishing magazines a few years back, about huge whiting being caught on popper-flies made from 1/4inch foam with hook attached, in land-locked lake situations similar to the one you're talking about.
> 
> Perhaps using conventional gear with mini-poppers could yield substantial whiting... of course if you don't like whiting, disregard the above.
> 
> Cheers, Jimbo


Love whiting, love poppers for whiting. Unfortunately whiting don't like 14 degrees and poppers. I can assure you that I will try next summer.


----------



## john316

somehow I missed this one when it was fresh... I have often driven past and had that thought in the back of my mind "I'll have to stop here one day" but have been put off by some of the same thoughts that you expressed - too shallow etc. The biggest thing for me was the one time I did go in was from the other side and as I got there the netters were launching their boat. I can not imagine the thought processes that would make anyone think that netting a closed system was even remotely sustainable...

one day I won't drive past

cheers

John


----------



## Artie

Damn, Ive just found this as well.... and Ive managed to work out where it is.... looks like summer may require a trip down, the missus wants to paddle around in Narooma so sounds like a deal...I dont suppose Adrian would like to act as guide???? (I dontbelieve Im considering this with somany spots so close to home..ah well...greener grass et al)

Ive got to say that the Whiting in Durras were amazing after sooo long being sealed, horses on poppers was a mind blower, flattys also were in giganticus mode... cant wait to hit them down there ..... aye brou?


----------



## Ado

john316 said:


> The biggest thing for me was the one time I did go in was from the other side and as I got there the netters were launching their boat. I can not imagine the thought processes that would make anyone think that netting a closed system was even remotely sustainable...


Everyone down here talks about 'the netters'. How's the form eh! Lets set half the lake aside as a sanctuary zone and then allow the other half to be gang raped repeatedly. Still, the bream I've been catching out of there are older than Noah. The netters must just rid us of the mullet.



Artie said:


> Ive got to say that the Whiting in Durras were amazing after sooo long being sealed, horses on poppers was a mind blower


There's just something about Durras and surface action. I'm yet to find another lake where it works so well. There are lots of bream boils on this one. It will be interesting once the water temp rises about 18oC next summer (autumn?).


----------



## brant78

I've often wondered about that lake. My grandparents lived in Kianga for many years and I fished wagonga a bit but not Corunna.
Great fish and photos. Well done.


----------



## Artie

Ok..... today I was returning from Narooma with yak on board and I spied the turn off to this little gem, it was another hour til dusk, so I flipped the indicator on, and peeled off the road....

Some sealed road which quickly ended and then I found that Ado is serious about making sure his new fav spot isnt overfished....(in vain, as I was to learn)










Nice try mate, but not good enough....

Found it....










And its a real beauty...










I flicked a 1 gram jig with a 2 inch piece of Gulp sandworm threaded on around. I had a couple of half hearted touches, but I wasnt disappointed with a doughnut as I only had an hour or so and the beauty of the place was amazing.....

Anyone care to have a guess and tell us what this (poor) photo depicts....? I didnt realise the flash was on and by the time I had it sorted this had run off the screen, I didnt think about stopping the scan until it was too late and I wasnt about to make another pass as its owner got pissed with me as it was....

As this is Ado's thread, Im sure he will come up with some prize for the first correct guess.... (shouldnt be too hard as the pic has a title...)










Its a net which was set while I was on the water, he set it almost right around me, I had to cross it to get back to the car, I feathered the fins up against the hull to slid over it. As I said he wasnt impressed and shook his fist at me from his boat.. Im surprised at the length of these things... I know its a contentious issue but the end of the net, I think, was in the sanctuary zone.

I was very tardy getting off the water so it was after dark.. then I heard a diesel engine, but couldnt see any lights, rattle clunk and another tinny emerged from the gloom of the shore, zipped way across the lake, came back 20 mins later (enough time to shoot a net) and rattle clunk then the diesel engine fired up and off it took, still no lights.. the sceptic in me suggests that perhaps this guy wasnt completely legal.... It was sad to see this seemingly pristine piece of water treated like that.... perhaps one day.... I just cant see the point of a sanctuary with legal netting allowed right next to it...


----------

