# QLD-Wivenhoe YELLOWBELLY



## WhipperSnapper (Jun 2, 2012)

Hi everyone 
last weekend I found myself fishing the wivenhoe kayak competition and Brisbane river basstastic cup.
little back story my dad and I had been looking forward to this competition all year and just our luck my dad throws his back out and can't compete.Until the day before I believed I wasn't going, but after a calling to let them know I can't compete, we were offered that I could pair up with someone else to take me out on the lake which of course I accepted with a huge grin on my face ( Thanks to the organizer and the people who offered to take me out on the lake with them).
so after packing all Thursday night we finally left for wivenhoe on Friday.

Friday - set up camp prepare kayak meet some other competitors have a bit of fun.

Saturday- straight into the action as we found birds working less then 200 m from our camp me and the guys I've been paired with (thanks guys) a good couple of blokes start by dropping blades vibes spinner-bait soft plastics anything to try and get them interested but for me no luck, but Jason tells me he's sounding some big bait schools and less then 20 sec later BANG! his bait caster is bent over bigger then anything I thought a bass could do so i called it a cattie and a tough fight later he tells me it's a bass .. and BIG! he said its in the fifties (I later found out it went 51 cm) but the thing was IT WAS FAT! his stomach was huge , you could tell he'd been ripping into these bony bream after that we all went in search of yellow belly around the rock-walls. Unfortunately nothing came up for the rest of the day but got a long paddle in 

Sunday- after finding out 43 competitors caught bass and 9 caught yellow belly it came with out saying the bite was going to shut down a lot. after 4 and a half hours still nothing for me and I was preparing my self for the dreaded donut I found some big bait schools moving quickly and in one last chance to redeem my self I drop the blade right on top of them not expecting any takes, 2 lifts Bang i'm on it's not a monster but its putting up a good fight it doesn't feel like a cattie and a short anxious fight a small golden perch joins me in the yak YES! fish measured 29 cm and put a great fight up for its size But of course its 1 cm off legal (although I had no intentions of keeping him) I was ecstatic I'd never caught a golden perch and to catch it at lake wivenhoe through all the bass and catties and most through the other yakkers fishing there I couldn't believe it i was one of the 17 anglers to catch a yelllowbelly... out of 107

conquered a few firsts, first yellowbelly first fishing comp I've dodged the donut and first real time using the sounder loving it btw

I'll try and put in a few photos overall it was a great weekend  (this is my first post)


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Josh, well done on landing a fish at the convention and sounds like you had a good time out there in company of some good blokes.

Also notice you are paddling a Swing, so if you post some pictures of your yak in the Rigged Kayaks Forum I will include it in the Swing Collection with all the others.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5628


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## Ado (Mar 31, 2008)

Great report WhipperSnapper. I could feel your passion in every word. It took me a very long time to get my first Golden, much more prized than those dime-a-dozen 50cm Bass. If that''s the sort of trip report we will see from you in the future then we will have a lot to look forward to. I hope your dad feels better soon.


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## Scott (Aug 29, 2005)

Awesome report mate, thanks for sharing. I particularly liked your early morning photo. Keep them coming.


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

Great first post WhipperSnapper and congrats on your first fishing comp, I'm sure we'll see you on the podium soon.


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## Mobynick (Jul 10, 2012)

Nice pics!

I had a neigbour who used to "bob" for yellowbelly in the dawson river. His hi tech set up was a length of bamboo with nylon tied to the end. He'd go out early morning and come home with a feed each time.


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## Squidder (Sep 2, 2005)

Great report and photos, and congrats on your first golden! I can't wait for it to get warm enough to chase goldens down at my local.


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## bazzoo (Oct 17, 2006)

Well done Josh , gee your keen mate and thats great to see , keep those reports coming Champion, your a very welcome asset to AKFF, looking forward to your next report Josh , keep up the great work mate


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## paint (Aug 23, 2010)

well done Josh keep up the good work keep sending in those good reports


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## Seadog (Nov 5, 2007)

A nice Yellowbelly Josh - I was the old fella in the yellow swing at Wivenhoe


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## gcfisho (Oct 31, 2009)

A very enjoyable read and some nice pics thrown in for good measure.Congrats on the fish i look forward to reading future reports.


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## AJD (Jul 10, 2007)

Way to go Josh. Good to see you getting out there with or without dad!
Congrats on the yellow belly they are a cool fish to catch at any size.


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## maca1957 (Sep 23, 2012)

Well done mate, great photos, great report.
Cheers.


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