# VIC - 06/03/11 - Tarwin River (Mud wrestling)



## FazerPete (Mar 10, 2009)

Well eric, TFM, Surfanfish, Surfanfish's French Mate (SFM) and some other guy I didn't get the name of agreed to meet up in Inverloch at 8:30 this morning for a day of fishing in new and exciting locales. I turned up at the agreed bakery at 8:28 and spent approximately 2 1/2 minutes talking to everyone before we all headed off in different locations. I'm really glad that I stopped off for that fairly ordinary coffee and 30 seconds of chat with the boys. 

Anyway eric, TFM and the other bloke (sorry, still don't know his name) decided to go and play in the surf but I decided to be a bit of a wimp with forecasts of a reasonably windy day so I joined Surfanfish and SFM on the mighty Tarwin river. None of us had been there before so we headed down to the boat ramp and set up the kayaks on the nice green grass before Surfanfish had the idea that it would be easier to launch off the bank so down goes the Esprit but not before a couple of slips so we left SFM to it and decided to do the sane thing and launch from the boat ramp. 


















We paddled downstream for a few hundred metres before changing our mind and heading upstream in search of structure, snags and fish.

I paddled for about 30 minutes and thought I might stop to answer a call of nature so paddled over to a nice open stretch of bank, stood up and disappeared up to my waist in the mud. I did the full commando thing and made it up the bank, did my business and then did a high speed backwards re-entry into the water with the yak. All good except my brand new kayak now has an inch of gluggy black mud all over it. I managed to wash most of it off but there are still stains on it even after a good wash at home! 

We probably paddled about 4-5 km upstream and guess what? There was no structure, no snags and no fish...well not for me anyway. Surfanfish got a couple of little salmon but I didn't get so much as a touch all day.









So in summary, I had a complete doughnut with the fish and got the new kayak plus all my gear covered in mud but it was nice to paddle somewhere different and the weather was good. Don't know if I'd hurry back any time soon though.


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## FazerPete (Mar 10, 2009)

I think you win eric. A hot surfer beats a Frenchman on a green kayak which is all I caught all day.

I can't wait to see if Surfanfish has my muddy beach landing on film. It will show that I'm clearly SAS material! Mind you those blokes probably don't cry when they get mud on their landing craft :?



SurfanFish said:


> packing up was pleasant and not to be rushed given the many attractive sights basking up the sun.


You're right, I forgot to mention the lovely scenery lounging on the ski boats. Definitely an improvement over the sights of Sunnyside last week!


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## TheFishinMusician (Feb 5, 2007)

Ok, first of all, lets get one thing straight......
I'm still not entirely sure what was in my small take-away cup but that was NOT Coffee!

My day started at stupid o-clock after waking up every hour to see if it was time to get up yet and eventually deciding to put myself out of my misery & just go @ 5am. Since i had done absolutely no preparation the night before, it was 6.15 by the time i had the AI on the roof & a small tackle store in the boot 
A brief stop @ the Leongatha Maccas Drive thru for what i'm calling as the best bacon & egg McMuffin ever, & a cup of hot & i'm back on the road to hit Inverloch @ 7.30, a whole hour before the decided arrival time. Not to worry, i had a still warm cup of caffeine with me so some reconnaissance was called for. I'm pretty familiar with the Andersons inlet/Tarwin river parts of Inverloch but i'd never ventured round to the surf beach side, so off we go....

I followed the beach road & wound up @ the surf club on Inverloch beach. A quick scout down the path to find a surf launch that is about as easy as it gets. It's a nice long flat beach with only small gutters = gentle long sets just rolling in. The only hard part of launching here is a little soft sand between the well made path & the harder sand down the beach. I know where i'm heading..
Returning to the front of rod-bendings to meet the others, i see that the café next door is still closed, however a steady stream of people are coming out of the bakery over the road holding take-away coffees so i make my first real bad decision of the day & order a latte. The rest of the crew started to arrive about then & soon after we descended en-masse upon hobie world. Once we'd run out of drool plans were made re:who was fishing where... surfanfish, fazer & SFM decided to hit off the ladies tee up the tarwin whilst myself, Eric & Dutchbloke chose the the hairy chested, hormone infused manliness of the surf launch!

As is the norm with the AI, i'd already scored a few phone numbers before i'd even launched & after a brief pause to film Eric make a textbook exit & watch Chris come as close to flipping sideways off the top of a breaking wave, without actually flipping as ive ever seen, i was away. Ive decided the AI is a piece of piss to launch in surf.......as long as the wind is on your side, which it was. A nice 10-12 knots blowing parallel to the beach meant all i had to do was wait for a flatish bit, hop on, hoist the sail & power out. Too easy! (this time) A quick chat with the lads & i decide to go check out petril rock, a ncie outcrop about 1k off the end of the beach with reef on one side & a good drop to 10m on the other. Looks fishy..........but not today. Back into sailing mode & i tacked in & out from the beach to make my way back towards the entrance of Andersons inlet where i can see Chris bobbing around out the front. Upon meeting up he tells me about the scary waves he's discovered "just over there" and that Eric has made the portage via the beach into the inlet. I in turn tell chris about all the action i had seen on the sounder "just back there" & we decide to do some circle work in the general vicinity with the result being 1 barracouta on a plastic for me from the next hours fishing! Stumps got pulled on that idea & we made the trip back over to petril rock for another look. A couple of boats with divers had the same idea so i decided to stay on the other side of the rock to avoid a leg knife being thrust up my drive hole. it was around here that chris started being harassed by the local wrasse population.

Following texts from Eric about garlic prawns for lunch and a gentle strip search by the Inverloch LAC Dutchbloke & i returned to the beach. I hung out the back with the pretence of stowing this & that whilst Chris made his approach & all was looking good, until it wasn't & over he went. I ummed and ahhed for a while deciding on the best way to do this as the wind had dropped a bit & i wasn't sure if it would have enough power to drive me in. Eventually i decided on a sail/pedal combo & made what i think was a very elegant landing, the right way up, with no bent fins or rudder! All of which i failed to get on video. After that it was ski patrol time & despite me not having a rashie, Eric kindly let me take turns practising exits & entries on the stealth. They are fun. I can see the attraction.....

Thats it for me, Sorry for the lack of photos, i had every intention of filling the camera but stowed it in the pocket behind the seat instead of its usual place on the pfd & promptly forgot about it!
Shame about the almost total lack of fish too, this place Looks Really fishy with reefy bits & deep water access....... maybe next time.


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## FazerPete (Mar 10, 2009)

eric said:


> The speed of the beach dwellers running to touch you after your landing was amazing to watch.


You sure it wasn't Greenpeace running to roll him back in?


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## FazerPete (Mar 10, 2009)

I live in a popular beach zone during the summer and it never ceases to amaze me what people will walk around in. They pop over to the shops from the beach and don't bother to get dressed and I must say there are some magnificent sights among the absolutely horrifying. My eldest has a part time job at Woolies and he has some great stories.


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## FazerPete (Mar 10, 2009)

mingle said:


> @FazerPete,
> 
> You'll be wanting to have a good look at this site in that case :lol:
> 
> http://www.beachcreeps.com/


Seen plenty of that Mike. Didn't really need the reminder but thanks anyway.


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