# Mummuga Lake - 21st June



## Ado (Mar 31, 2008)

After a few week's lay off due to family commitments and a bad cold I was more than a little excited to be swishing around on some water again. My wife and I headed down to our holiday house at Dalmeny, with the kids off doing other things with relatives (ahhhh, quiet). Unfortunately, my wife was now suffering from the same lurgy as me, so was not particularly in the mood to get up at sparrow's. I wasn't particularly happy with stealing the car from her, leaving her and the dogs trapped. So I did the the chivalrous thing and left her the car. That left me with but one option; Mummuga lake, about 600m down the road. The road was not particularly flat either, which meant my legs and lungs were well and truly warmed up by the time I got lake side. A very early start (awake at 5:30am) got me to the lake and on the water by around 6:20am. I wore a headlamp for the first 30 mins just to be sure that no-one hit me in the pre-dawn light. Not that there was anyone else on the lake that I could see (or couldn't see for that matter). In fact, the first stink boat didn't arrive at the boat ramp until about 8am.

The forecast was for strong south westerly winds and big seas. The former got me out of bed early. The latter kept me to the lake rather than trying the ocean. I could hear the surf belting the beach on the other side of the dunes from the lake, but the wind was little more than a zephyr. I had no idea where to start, what to target, or what lure to use to target 'them'. The only information I had was an overheard conversation between two 'old salts' some months ago. "Isn't it great fun catching flatties off the dropoff with squidgy's". Armed with my clue, I headed towards what I thought could be the "dropoff"; the end of the the inlet channel that links the lake to the sea.










I find it hard to be on the water and not be fishing. However, I was not willing to risk an sx40 to poor local knowledge and very poor light. Out came an orange Micro-Min, the lure voted least greif-worthy. I trolled it for about 50m before I felt it bumping along the bottom. As the light become stronger the shallowness of the lake revealed itself to me. A diving lure was not an option. I needed still more light before I could judge the elusive dropoff, so I decided to try my yet to be christened orange and green flouro Bubble-Pop. After a couple of casts, I found myself zephyr propelled into the shallows. So shallow in fact that the paddle was required (egad). So I paddled the Adventure out of harm's way, back to slightly deaper water. I decided to explore the area a little more waiting for some sunshine to reveal the sub-surface to me.

I'd never heard of anyone trolling a popper before, but I decided to explore the possibility, casting it out behind me and 'blooping' it as I pedalled. I had perhaps 20 seconds of quiet contemplation before the Bubble Pop was silently *monstered* behind me. The headshakes and lack of a run suggested a flathead. The weight and general rod curviture suggested a large one. My pulse rate quickened, and my boat speed slowed as I turned both the Hobie and the fish around to gain proximity. I saw a boil about 20m behind me, and my anticipation grew. The headshakes continued but the drag remained silent. But as I got it within 5m, it broke the surface momentarily. It was no lizard, but what was it? The distinct bronze colour and large scales suggested nothing to me but ..... carp  ??? In salt water :shock: :shock: ??? How could it be? But disappointment soon turned to glee when it surfaced again and I realised what it was; a very large and very very dark black bream. Well, I presume it was a black bream because there wasn't a hint of yellow on the anal fins, but I welcome a correction from the forum. The enviro-net was extracted with a shaky left hand, but dexterity prevailed and my prize was won.










Further dexterity was required to extract the mirage drive, shimmy forward, and secure the fish in the front hatch. I measured it an hour or so later at 42cm. Not only a PB bream  , but a PB fish  . It was also my first salt water fish on a popper (be it a trolled popper).










The shananigans had allowed the sun to rise. I decided to chase the sunlight and the sub-surface structure it revealed. I trolled the popper for about a km without a touch, so changed back to the Micro-Min. I continued my circumnavigation of the lake, starting with the north east arm. The gentle breeze had dropped to nothing and the sun revealed a mixture of weed and muddy sand. I soon got frustrated with removing weed from the diving lure, so reverted to the popper, while I searched for somwhere fishy to try a Squidgy. However, the lake's edge drew me onward, until it turned into more of an exploratory pedal that a fishing trip. I got one more hit on the popper after another km, but otherwise the senerity was broken only by the occasional wingbeat of the resident ospreys.










I moved into the northern arm, continuing my shorline navigation. I passed a large camp site to the north, then around into a very fishy looking creek with a couple of squatter caravans (nice). A bladder break and a fish measure was followed by a more concerted attempt at fishing. An sx40 was cast towards the snags for no result. I ventured to the head of the creek, where something was terrorising bait fish in a few inches of water. A few casts of the popper did nothing but scare the baitfish further. I switched to a Killer Tomoato Sqidgy and 1/16th jig head. I had to supply my own drift, but after 500m I gave up and headed back to the only place I knew hads fish - the dropoff. I persisted with the Sqidgy, then back to the Bubble-Pop. I could see fish breaking the surface everywhere, but pop as I might, I couldn't raise a strike. I cast and cast but despite a few bow waves, whatever they were werem't interested. My guess was mullet, but they may have been small whiting. I decided upon further exploration, so headed back to the nothern shore to try to complete the circumference navigation. Stink boats were moored everywhere by this time, but no-one seemed to be having any luck. I tried the sx40 this time, trolling slowly while imparting as much action as possible. Nothing but serenity (not that I have anything against serenity).

My phone buzzed and my wife told me she was feeling better and was heading my way. I told her I'd meet her at the ramp. At 11am I cut my exploration short and pedalled in a bee line across the lake directly towards the ramp. Soon I could see my dogs splashing in the shallows, and my wife casting a line off the point. By I was distracted by a hit on the sx40 in open water. Not surprisingly, it was a chopper tailor, perhaps 30cm in length. I never bothered to measure it before release, even though it was my first yak tailor and therefore a PB.










Another 100m and another strike resulted in another tailor. I somehow managed to destroy the treble while trying to extract the hook with my pliers. Are sx40 trebled particularly brittle? Just another excuse to visit a tackle store. There was no further action on my return journey. I gave the hounds and unnerving experience in the rear well as I pedalled around the boat ramp for about 15 mins, then packed up, cleaned the bream and headed for home. Sliced and grilled with lemon and pepper, it made a good meal for both of us the next day.

New water, new fish, new techniques, new PBs. In short a worthy return to the land of no land. Now, what to do tomorrow ........


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## andybear (Jan 15, 2006)

A thoroughly enjoyable post, and a great mission

Cheers Andybear  

Proudly sponsored by rusty bearings


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## ArWeTherYet (Mar 25, 2007)

:shock: :shock: Thumper beam while trolling a popper :shock: :shock: great work mate I'll have to give that one a go to. 

SX40 trebles do tend break easy, I replace mine with owner trebles no.12.


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## craig450 (May 11, 2007)

Great report as usual Ado, and what a fantastic result!! that is a sensational bream!!

Well done mate.


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## paffoh (Aug 24, 2006)

Nice work mate, top Bream...

I have broken plenty of SX standard trebles and Owner upgrades on Flathead, Tailor and even Bream ( mainly Tailor though ). Trolling poppers worked for me in Durras, enjoy the peddles and turn around to watch. Amazing watching Whiting change colour and slash at your lure, why they dont hook up for me more often is anyones guess.


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## Ado (Mar 31, 2008)

Thanks eveyone. It was a very pleasant change from all my recent domestic duties. It was also the biggest bream I've caught in a long while, rivalling the blue noses you catch off the rocks, only in very good condition. I'd guess it was approaching the 1kg mark, but I haven't weighed a fish in so long it's hard to tell.



patwah said:


> We're taking Lily down the coast for her first trip this weekend, so I'll be hoping to emulate your feats.
> 
> I actually read it 3 times mate, really enjoyed that!


If you're reading my reports three times, then you've got it worse than me. You HAVE to get out paddy. Have you got a DIY floating baby capsule rigged up yet (that'd be one for the Wiki) :lol: . It's good to see you're already doing road trips with the new born. Great effort.

Here's a copy of my trip. It totalled just under 10km, but felt like nothing.


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## Marky10 (Apr 25, 2008)

Hey Ado

Nice report and a super bream.

Exactly the same thing happened to me on Sunday with an SX40, a 30cm tailor and a shattered treble!

Bought some replacements some time back, so just need to put them on.

Cheers


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## Ado (Mar 31, 2008)

Marky10 said:


> Exactly the same thing happened to me on Sunday with an SX40, a 30cm tailor and a shattered treble!


It was your post Mark that got me thinking. So I asked the question in your thread and here to see if it is a common problem. It seems to be. Maybe sharpness (hardness) and brittleness are proportional.


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## Ado (Mar 31, 2008)

Hey. I just realised that 42cm is a HOF contender. Now it's even more important to get an identification. If it's a Black Bream, then it's equal 3rd, but if it's a Yellow Fin bream then it's equal first.










So can anyone identify it from any of the photos? How do I become legendary in my own shorts by posting to the HOF?


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

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.

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## .329 (Apr 17, 2006)

Bit late getting around to reading this one, but well worth it! Great fish Ado. I would have thought being that far south, with a bream that size and bulk it would have to be a black bream?

Edit - just found this link:
http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/DPI/nreninf.n ... 9FB67?open


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## Ado (Mar 31, 2008)

Thanks for the ID attampt Ant.  I know it's a bit hard from the photos. I can't say I counted the scales :shock: , but I did take note of the darl colour of the anal fins. There was just a tiny hint of yellow, but a yellow fin bream would normally be fairly obvious. Having said that, it was hard to tell for sure because I'd never seen any bream that dark (the photos don't do justice). Interesting that the link said they aren't found in the ocean. I caught a big blue nose (probablt longer, but not as heavy) off rocks in Mullumorang (Batemans Bay) about a year ago. I presume it was a yellow fin, which shows that they do grow that big down this way too.


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