# Autumn Dreaming Forster 18/19/20 May



## Fishing Man (Oct 4, 2006)

looking forward to this one i tell ya......best of luck guys hop you all nail them big bream among the racks down there


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## paffoh (Aug 24, 2006)

BOOOOOO! HISSSSSSS!


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## Guest (May 19, 2007)

paffoh said:


> BOOOOOO! HISSSSSSS!


It reads better like this Derek :wink:

BOOOOOOO! HISSSSSSS!

 :lol:


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## polylureosis (Jul 24, 2006)

Either it's very, very quiet and there is nothing to report. 

or

They are having to much fun and don't want to rub it in :evil:


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## Cuda (Sep 18, 2006)

Is this the calm before the storm folks :roll: 
Are we going to be hit by a deluge of rip roaring reports from the Forster trippers, or will it be a tale of woe :twisted: 
We can only wait in anticipation.


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## squizzy (Mar 3, 2007)

Hi Folks,
A brief run down on squizzys forster visit followed by the details.
An eventful trip I must say.
Day 1 & 2 Left melbourne and stopped in Ulladulla to pick up a rod from Ian Miller. Took my new Squizzy bream buster kayak classic to lake Burill and nailed a 51cm flatty followed by a 71cm beast that had me thinking "i gotta get a bigger net next time I fish here"
Day 3 Travelled up to Sydney then on to Forster.
Day 4 & 5 Forster sydney melbourne.

Met up with Tryhard and set up the marquee for the weekend, knowing it was going to be wet early the marquee was going to be the unofficial base for the akff crew. Thanks for your help Sean, Matt, Doug & Bill in setting up, its quite hard work and there assistance was greatly appreciated

On Friday morning some windy conditions and rain had us all working hard for fish and looking for calm waters I think we all caught fish but I will leave those details to the guys that caught them. I wasnt up with popper techniques or gear and went the soft plastics option which saw a few nice flatties and some small tailer caught & released.

Early afternoon Friday whilst I was out buying food for the weekend the camp site was hit with 15 minutes of very strong south easterly wind squalls which not only blew a few kayaks around but picked up my marquee and spun it like a top and dropped it some 50 or so feet from where we set it up. The strong wind gusts were then followed by around one hour of torrential rain, then calm. Absolute calm.

I arrived back at camp and couldnt believe my eyes, people working to cover up all my gear and secure a runaway marquee now on its roof.
The cleanup operation started straight away and the bent & twisted marquee was disassembled and put away, my now demolished tent (crushed by the runaway marquee) was given a quiet burial in the bin and all of my now soaked worldly belongings were packed in the car.

The 5 minutes of wind devastation probably took around 1 hour to clean up and I cannot thank enough those who helped clean it all up. I wont name those who helped in case I miss anybody aswell as the fact that some of those who pitched in I hadnt even met or knew yet. In absolute pouring rain, they all helped and got drenched.
Thank you all very much.

Its funny in a way, I was looking forward to fishing Forster so much and thought my reports would be about massive bream, poppers and bommies, not about bad luck and damage.

But most of all I have really been humbled by this trip, everybody who chipped in to help in the pouring rain and all the generous offers of a place to say dry clothers and bedding were truely wonderful. I made the hasty decision to take my cold wet arse home, a decision I deeply regret now. Last week I thought I would be writting about the size of bream instead I am writing about akff'ers generosity of spirit and help a much better report than I could have ever dreamed of.

Once again thank you all for your help, I look forward to reading about the fishy adventures.

Tryhard has certainly opened a lot of peoples eyes to popper fishing & I think given us kayak fishos' a whole approach to bream fishing aswell as showing us how to fish in very shallow and weedy waters, probably a waterway most of us would paddle over! Im sure this thread will be populated with plenty of popper glory! Stay tuned its a very exciting way to fish!

ps If you NSW yakkers organise an ulladullah trip, I cant guarantee I will bring the marquee, but the new rod and bigger net will definitely be in attendance. I have attached a pic of the Ulladulah beast.


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## OutbackDee (Oct 6, 2006)

Ecogear Grassminnows in pink seemed to be working for me. Was good to catch with up everyone.

Excellent location and good park facilities too.

Matt, thanks again for organising the trip, pizzas and popper techniques 

Thanks also to Eastcoast (Mick) for the ample supply of lures!!! I was like a kid in a candy store - too many to choose from!

No Doubt there'll be more pics to come as they all get back so here's some I took.


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## paffoh (Aug 24, 2006)

Oooooh this is gonna be good... HUGE BREAM!

Well done so far guys, I want some 'Tale of Woe' Action!

<rubs hands together>

PS - Pretty cut I missed this, hope the Canberra lads got home safe and sound and everyone else for that matter...


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## rawprawn (Aug 31, 2005)

Yes, thank you Squizy I wish I had been able to thank you personally but maybe next time. Thank You Matt for organising. Great weekend.


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## sulo (Apr 9, 2007)

Ooops,I posted my entry on the fishing trip page before seeing this one.Silly me.


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

Like everyone else, I want to start with a big thankyou to Squizzy for all his efforts - marquee, posters, stubby holders, microwave and huge enthusiasm. We were all saddened that we didn't get the opportunity to appreciate your efforts fully.

As for the fishing, I came in high hopes but low expectations, and my expectations weren't disappointed. Focussed on poppers and find some spots where I would regularly get interest but time after time failed to hookup. Tally was three legal bream and one undersized. And that was in about 40km of paddling and drifting.

Good news is that the hot spots (hitwise of course) that I did find have taught me a little about this style of fishing and about shallow water bream structure.

Finally, a big thankyou to our host Tryhard. Following on from last years event of five AKFFrs, Matt was worried that he wouldn't be able to step up to the mega event that was Autumn Dreaming. You came through with flying colours mate. Also thanks to Victor an Matt for being genial cabin mates


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## paulb (Nov 12, 2006)

Thanks to everyone involved in organising the weekend - we had a great time.
I'll start my report with the trip up - which had the scariest moments of a car trip that I can recall. Travelling up the F3 at 5ish in peak hour traffic, we came up behind a small red Corolla, that was only doing 90 in the 100k zone, but was starting to sway across his lane. The swaying got worse, as he would drift 2/3rds into the inside lane, then back to the middle, then half into the right. At first we dropped a few cars further back, as overtaking seemed too risky but after another 5 or 10 minutes, I couldn't stand waiting for the inevitable carnage - so we timed our overtaking, to coincide with his swaying. I was in the passenger seat and looked across to see what kind of jerk was behind the wheel - only to see this guy with his head tilted back, jaw wide open and eyes completely shut. He was sound asleep and doing 90....... the car did not have a driver anymore. :shock: 
We used the horn, waved and shouted and did our best to rouse him from his slumber, which after about 10 seconds he opened his eyes again. We sped on ahead, trying to put as many cars between us and him as possible - only to see him overtake us again, some 10 minutes later (doing 120-130 in the outside lane this time). 
Thankfully we didn't see him after the Gosford turn off.

So to the fishing - Friday late afternoon I landed a couple of small flatties, but nothing from the weeds in the shallows. Saturday I went for an excellent 'journey' starting at the channel on the inside of Sandy Island, down through Brekenridge channel to Hells Gate (remind me not to assume large yellow signs are only about submarine cables - they're also about High Voltage cables overhead, which I only noticed after casting a little high one time). Fished all the way back to the resort. Had a couple of hits on the plastics and poppers, but couldn't hook into anything.
Sunday morning, met up with Kraley & OTE at Elizabeth Beach and did some ocean fishing, managed to hook two small kingfish approx 40 and 50cm respectively - but no keepers. Still, they learn young, and managed to put up a terrific fight for their size. I had one tense moment, just before hooking the second kingy, a school of them started breaking the surface all around me and in the 10 or 20 seconds it took me to wind, cast and start to retrieve, I had drifted uncomfortably close to the rocks, where a 2 meter swell was washing. A quick grab of the paddle and some back paddling, got me out of the danger zone. I then closed the bail arm of my reel, found I had a fish on and towed him well away from the rocks, so that I could fight the fish in comfort.
No further fish for me this morning, but a great day (and great weekend) all the same.
Bring on the next one!


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## squizzy (Mar 3, 2007)

I would like to second Perils comments and try something never performed on forums around the world.
Everybody who was lucky enough to put foot and paddle in Forster would have to agree that the welcoming the preparation and the genuine friendship and effort Tryhard (Matt) put in to the weekend was fantastic and even though he does drink foreign beer he deserves......something never done before on the net....a virtual 3 cheer. Good effort mate
Hipp Hipp....
:lol:


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## Sir Bob (Jan 29, 2007)

HOORAY!!! Well done Tryhard aka Matt it was a great weekend, especially for those who arrived friday night, after the carnage. Top place Forster. Have to go again sometime. Will post a report when I get a little more time. Far too tired right now. Must ssllllleeeeeeeeeepppppppp zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Hipp Hipp .....


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## aleg75 (Dec 20, 2005)

A BIG THANKS TO;

Matt for organising the whole event! I will be back! your a champion for the work you did!

Paul, for the stubbie holders, banners, maps and sorry about the big tent mate, glad you got back to Melb safe and sound!

Leigh and Jason, for letting me tag along behind them, without them I would have gotten lost! and also for showing me how to catch live bait with little more than a headlight!

Mick, your an artist, those lures are top notch! thanks for the freebe! think it's going to go on the wall rather than the tackle box!

Well done to Arpie for getting Biggeth! and Leigh for the big Flathead!

It was a fantastic weekend, I really enjoyed my stay and enjoyed catching 11 Bream (new PB of 33cm) on homemade poppers, a flathead on softies, and there were many missed hits, bumps and takes.......of big note was two salmon that I hooked in the channel smashing up bait fish on the surface, was very exciting on 6lb line, got one to the yak, but not in it, 99% positive it was salmon, looked right, and jumped out of the water many times! regret not being smart enough with the net to take pics!

Was fantastic to met everyone! great to put faces to names....even though I had forgotten them rather quickly!


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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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QlpoOTFBWSZTWe+Ep70AAA7XgAASYAEAQACAL+/egCAAaDVP0SeoG0RkbUBqn5TImIaANMQqbwRs+FFBhokNIfo/MkzUSIufaKZwhZ4rn28LCtWo5kd6MJL54CHN4va95zif7V0RSaiBZpOUnOqCAwLuSKcKEh3wlPeg


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## DiveYak (Feb 5, 2007)

Mat.....well done mate. Everyone seemed to have a great time. Work stopped me this time but won't the next!! :lol:

Looking fwd to reading more reports.

Paul....glad your still with us and that that car didn't take anyone out!!! :!:


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

*FRIDAY.*

Left my place at 7am and then spent 3 hours getting ACROSS SYDNEY in THE WORST peak hour traffic I've ever experienced!!!! So by the time I hit the freeway at Hornsby I was stressing out. However after another 3 hours I was in Forster and in full relaxation mode. Upon driving into the caravan park I ran into Peril and Tryhard who filled me in on the 'Flying Marquee of Doom" saga and I arrived at the campsite to find Squizzy, OutBack Dee, Paul B and MAngoX all helping Squizz to pack up in the drizzle. Top work champs!. Met up with a few others and decided to get my tent and tarp up before the weather started getting worse, however the drizzle abated and the tent was up in no time. TIME FOR A FISH!

Ever had one of theose days when you simply cant get out there quick enough??? I was in that mode - trying to get all my stuff organised as quickly as possible and fumbling, dropping stuff and generally running around in circles in the excitement of Autumn Draeming!!

FINALLY I was rigged up, with wet weather gear on and UHF radio turned onto channell 25. However I couldn't get the damned thing to work  , so headed off into the unknown by myself with great expectations of the MASSIVE FLATTIES and MEGA BREAM that were soon to be MINE! :shock:

My first thoughts were.....jeez this waters a bit shallow.... So I continued paddling out into the 'depths' of Wallis Lake. By the time I was about 500 metres off the banks of the campsite, the water had plunged to a massive depth of about 60cm :shock: :shock: I soon realised that my sounder wouldn't be required on this trip!

The wind had by now backed off to nothing and the plip, plip, plip of the raindrops on the lake had me mesmerised. It was great to be here! I was just starting to get into a trance with the rythmic cast and retrieve of the popper when BOOF BAM BLURP erupted behind the lure, only metres from the yak, scaring the crap out of me   Sadly, it was the first of many, many 'strikes but no hookups' that were to be experienced over the weekend.

As the sun started going down, some of the most stunning cloud formations started appearing with various shades of purple, red, crimson and orange lighting up the sky. The several yaks scattered around were all reaching for their cameras, and rightly so, it was spectacular!

Soon as the sun went down, the mozzies came out and my bare legs were getting munched by squillions of the little buggers so I made a hasty retreat back to the campsite, and wandered across to the meeting area where pizza and beer were being consumed and a lot of weather predictions were being discussed and 'Bigguth" plans were being hatched. Tomorrow was going to be a great day!
*
Saturday next.*


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## DiveYak (Feb 5, 2007)

Dave...look fwd to the next installment.

That last photo is great ........


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

*SATURDAY*

An early breaky, then onto the water by about 6.15. The morning was absolutely perfect - not a breath of wind and a lovely pink tinge to the sky reflecting on the water. I paddled out a couple of kms and just as the sun started coming up I realised that I'd forgotten my sunnies....d'oh. Back to the campsite and start again!

The plan today was to paddle around and not only fish, but have a bit of a look around the area. Heading up to Hells Gate and the Step, I bumped into RedPhoenix, Aleg75 (ash), Squidder and On The Edge(Paul) and we all hung around for a while before Ashley, Paul and myself headed off to check out the oyster racks. I ran into Clarkos (Steve) who'd caught a couple of bream trolling along the edge of a dropoff so I employed the same technique and straight away caught a small bream and a couple of chopper talilor. Trolling was a frustrationg exercise due to the floating weed which would foul the lure every 50 metres or so. However trolling was probably the most productive way of catching fish for me over the weekend with seven or eight bream and lots of chopper talilor (albeit small ones) caught with this method.

Polaroided a few bream over some weedbeds and threw the popper at them, with one fiesty 33cm model taking a liking to one of Mick/Eastcoasts black poppers. However that was to be the only popper caught fish for me this weekend.

Stopped to pump some nippers and then headed over to the oyster racks with my nipper baits accounting for one fish per nipper. Smallish (20-25cm) bream were the main takers - no bigger fish wanted to play. Also caught a leatherjacket on a gulp sandworm.

After 6 or so hours 'in the saddle' my arse and legs started complaining so paddled the few km's back to the camp, had a feed and lazed around for a while.

Later that arvo, I headed out again for an evening fish, using some extra nippers that I pumped just off the campsite. Again, small bream were the main takers and a lone whiting which wasnt much bigger than the nipper itself. Paddled back around 6pm after hooking up with Peril, Tryhard, Victor and JustCruising who had been across to Wallis Island and were returning in the dark..

NOTE - I finally got the UHF to work today and must say what a benefit it was to be able to talk to, and locate others on the water. There was plenty of chat amongst members and it was a really good tool.

Saturday night headed into town to grab some groceries/ice etc and then had a few beers around the BBQ. Heading back to the tent I spotted Red, Squidder and Ashley gathering prawns and they had a coupe of dozen after 10 minutes, so I also decided to give it a go. So after 15 minutes of freezing my arse off in shin deep water, and having caught only one prawn, I gave up. The lake, the weed, the tiny bream and the bloody prawns had all sent me the message 'you're not worthy' so I accepted my defeat and decided to head offshore in the morning where, hopefully I could redeem my lack of fish catching skill.


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

more pics from Saturday


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

SUNDAY.

Woke up to the flapping of the tent in a light breeze, which was blowing acoross the lake (from the NW?) and would mean that it should be directly offshore at Elizabeth Bay which was the launch spot for the offshore session. Got there at around 7 and drove the car onto the beach to unload the yak at the waters edge. PaulB, On the Edge and Kraley were all disappearikng from view around the point when I got there so I knew I wouln't be alone out there.

Launching through the massive 1 foot shoredump I put out a couple of trolling lures and started paddling on the big blue wobbly. The wind was a little stronger than I thought, and there was a bit of swell, especially near the rocks where the backwash made conditions a bit tricky. There was also a fairly stiff southerly current running along the headlands which made paddling back into the breeze/chop/current a bit difficult. Paul B hooked up to a small kingie (40cm?) and On the Edge managed a tailor however, despite schools of small slimy mackeral being around, we couldn't raise anything else.

After a while we were joined by a few other yaks (sorry I don't know names but they were on scupper pros - maybe Keza??) who also weren't having much luck. Around 9.30 i pulled the pin and headed back to the campsite to have some breaky and pack up. Said my goodbyes and headed back to Sydney at around midday.

What a great weekend - to those that I met for the first time it was nice to put faces to names, to those I met again, great to catch up, and to those I didnt get the chance to meet - next time!

Thanks Tryhard for your efforts and thanks Squizzy for your HUGE efforts in getting the banners, maps, stubby holder etc all done up. Thanks to Squizz's generosity we will now be able to draw MORE comp winners each month who will receive stubby holders. We also have a great AKFF banner (I'll post a pic later) for future gatherings. Also, thanks to Mick/EAstcoast for donating the lures and most of all, thanks to all who turned up as the event was a great success due to your participation.

CANT WAIT TILL THE NEXT ONE!!!


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## Squidder (Sep 2, 2005)

Wow, it was a great weekend, and all I can say is CATCHING FISH ON POPPERS IS REALLY FUN!!

It was a revelation to me and many others I'm sure, and a technique I'll be concentrating on a lot more in the future. Seeing your lure get hit on the surface, and occasionally seeing the fish beforehand, is bloody addictive and a real heart starter.   I can't believe the numbers and quality of fish that are available so shallow (<0.5m), makes me wonder about the great waters I've overlooked in the past.

Tryhard, Squizzy, Eastcoast Mick and the other organisers did a sterling job which was greatly appreciated by all of us. It was great to meet some new faces, and renew acquaintance with old ones :wink:  Thanks Leigh for being a great cabin buddy, and for navigating us safely to and from Canberra. Those late night pillow fights in the spa were really fun! 

I caught 5 bream and a flathead on poppers over the 3 days, and missed LOTS of hits. :roll: The standout lure for me was an Eastcoast 'Rack Rat' in purple (the lure in most of the photos, which now has some nice teeth marks! :twisted. Leigh, Ash and I spent an hour catching small prawns for bait on Saturday night, and converted them to a nice whiting and lots of small bream on Sunday morning. I also had an encounter with 'something big' in shallow water on Saturday afternoon while paddling back to the cabin - it moved a lot of water and bumped the kayak as I spooked it in shallow water - I didn't see the beast but we think it was probably a turtle or a big bull ray :shock:

A few photos:


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## Squidder (Sep 2, 2005)

A few more pics:


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## Clarkos (Oct 11, 2006)

Left Sydney about 4 hours later than planned due to a Thursday meeting being rescheduled to Friday. Anyway family packed and off we go. Relatively uneventful trip up. The usual accident at Mt White (thankfully no-one hurt) slowed us up for only a few minutes and we arrived at our Luxurious cabin at around 5pm. Blue skys and little wind so things were looking good so far.

Went over to AKFF headquarters to do the meet and greet. Heard about the events of the arvo. Glad we got there late. Squizzy did a great job with the banners and the stubby holders. Shame about the marquee dude. Beers and pizzas for dinner then an early night before the big day. Realised I'd left the sounder at home. Was assured I wouldn't need it.

6.30am Sat morning and a few are already on the water, but the majority are still setting up. Beautiful morning. No wind or clouds. Amazed at the water depth. Only a few ft deep about 100m's from shore. Saw some fish jumping so threw the popper everywhere. Pretty sure all the splashes were choppers, so after no touches I moved on. All of a sudden I'm over a HUGE dropoff. It must have been at least 1m deep. Lucky I wore the pfd. Thought I'd give my new shallow chubby a run, and not 20 meters later off she goes. Felt like a good sized fish so played it calmly. Nice breamy went 33cm. Good start. Little bit further picked up a chopper.

Back to popping. Couldn't raise a touch. So I thought I'd paddle out to the channel markers were I'd troll up to the next point, then drift back on the wind poppering as I went. Couple more choppers and a just under legal bream were the result. As Davey found, the weed was a bit of a nuisance, but pushed on. Met up with Davey and a few others and compared notes. Started the drift back. Got a couple of good hits on the poppers, but no hookups. Finally a decent hit results in a hookup. This one goes harder than the 33cm one from earlier on, so excitement builds. Finally in the net and the reason for the hard fighting becomes apparent. Hooks are lodged in the little fellas side fin. He's well below legal. So still a popper virgin.

A few more touches but no more hookups, and it's back to base to spend the arvo with the fam. By Saturday night, the virus I thought might be coming on has arrived and I'm feeling like shit so early night (8pm) and late start. Vacate the cabin, and starting to feel a little better.

A short fish is in order, so off to headquarters. Have a chat to Ash just before he heads out and Sulo who wonders over for a chat then Matt. Stayed just out the front and drifted with the wind over the flats. After an hour or so the wind had started to build and drifting wasn't really what I'd call it. I'd cast out and by the time I'd wound in the slack line, the lure was yak side, so time to call it quits. Ash was pulling the pin as well so in we go.

Thanks to Matt and Squizzy for all their hard work. I had a blast, and although technically I'm still a popper virgin, it was good fun trying. Thanks for Mick for bringing the toy store along, and to all the others who went for being such a friendly bunch of people.

Here are a couple of pics


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## Clarkos (Oct 11, 2006)

A couple more


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## OutbackDee (Oct 6, 2006)

Squidder said:


> I also had an encounter with 'something big' in shallow water on Saturday afternoon while paddling back to the cabin - it moved a lot of water and bumped the kayak as I spooked it in shallow water - I didn't see the beast but we think it was probably a turtle or a big bull ray :shock:


Was definitely a ray - I went out for a paddle saturday arvo and they were cruising around everywhere in about 30cm of water or less. could definitely see the wake they were making in the water.


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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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## 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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## 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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## Blaen (Jul 4, 2006)

That was a hell of a lot of reading to do, but hey I am at work and I am getting paid fo it :lol:   :? 

Nice reports guys and girls, it looks like it was an awesome weekend.


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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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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

With all the comings and goings I'm not entirely sure who was in attendance, but I'll start a list. Here goes (please don't get offended if i've left you out - but if I have, make sure you add your name onto the list)

By the way, if its not too much trouble, can everyone mail me back the lanyards and name tag holders (I meant to grab them on Sunday but everyone was either out fishing or gone by the time I started thinking about it).  OOPS

My address 93 Ellesmere Road, Gymea Bay. NSW 2227. Thanks.

Attendees.

Davey G
Aleg75
RedPhoenix
Squidder
JustCrusin
MangoX
Clarkos
SaysMe
TryHard
Arpie
Peril
Occy
Graeme
OnTheEdge and Bec
Kraley
JT
FlyRod
Squizzy (briefly)
OutBack Dee
PaulB
VictorVictor
RawPrawn and MiniShrimp
Eastcoast
GregV?
Sulo??
SirBob
Sean
?????

aaargggh...too many faces that I can't remenmber names for.

others?


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## justcrusin (Oct 1, 2006)

Gday all, 
What a great weekend, Turned up of friday lunchtime and had just got the tarp up when the squall hit, turn out pretty good after that but the sudden weather change took the fish right off the boil.

Friday saw this little fellow hop on a popper, 50mm popper 80mm bream :shock: gutsey little bugger








Lots of hits on the poppers but nothing would take so i trawled across the lake to the other point for this choppy








Really nice sunset Friday night which had me hoping it would be a good day tommorrow.








Squider in the senset









Red paddling back in with the fleet behind









Saturday turned out a great day, headed off down the south bank with mango x and ran into Tryhard and Eastcoast, so we all headed for the south end of yahoo island. Matt hooked a big flatty apon arrival when the waterways opened up into a barage of insults as his line broke 

More of the same frustrating bream tapping at the poppers, but not taking them. On the way back and just rounded green point when my fizzer went for a run as i went to set it, spat it again. My turn to barrage the waterways with insults.
I think Mango X had the quote of the weekend as we returned on saturday from the back of yahoo island fishless, "Nice day for a paddle" :roll:
Mango X paddling back









Saturday Night I headed of with Tryhard, Peril, and Victor Victor for some abandoned oyster racks. Bream again were just tapping at the poppers but i managed to land this little bloke.










Headed back after sundown to cry's of a gooney's song. :shock: Didn't seem to help my fishing but, will have to come up with a song of my own

Sunday

After listening very closely to were Red got his fish myself, Flyrod, Peter and Blackant headed off to find this secret spot. Luckly Red and squider paddled in and were only to happy to show us the way, or unluckly as it turns out we were about to head round the corner to a spot only one person fish and got heaps but i'll let him tell that story.
I kept losing them after the tap very frustrating but managed a 28cm bream on the way there









After some lunch went out again until dark and the only thing around was a fantastic sunset


















Monday morning came up with only another small bream and headed home tried but happy.

A big thanks to all who helped organise this, great job

Cheers Dave


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## PoddyMullet (Aug 29, 2005)

What a tale on this thread. Sounds like a tough weekend with some hard earned rewards, and some top organising efforts.

With the poppers ladies and gents, for those familiar with PPB and WP do you see any unused applications for em in those waters. Ya don't here of southerners using em much, but working some of those WP channels or PPB shallows may throw surprises. Whattya reckons :?: 

Great pics on this thread, Red that Squid's series is a fine effort. And I know how slow that fella moves so nice one for being so patient over a 5 hour shot :wink:


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## evarn (Jul 10, 2006)

Great pictures and excellent report.

Poddy. I used to use poppers successfully as teasers for some of the pelagics.. like couta and salmon. i'm sure they could just as easily be put into use to catch the various species around, but i've not really tried them recently.

Perhaps it's time to experiment...


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## Squidder (Sep 2, 2005)

PoddyMullet said:


> for those familiar with PPB and WP do you see any unused applications for em in those waters. Ya don't here of southerners using em much, but working some of those WP channels or PPB shallows may throw surprises. Whattya reckons :?:


Possibly the really shallow reef in close at Mornington might be worth a pop, Westernport likewise but you'd want fairly clear water ideally, and some weed/rock/structure to work em over. I know the flatties would have a crack at a popper, and bream if they're there, but I'm not sure what other PPB or WPB species would be on the hit list - pinkies, pike/snook, big gars even? I reckon if the water looks fishy, but is too shallow to work effectively with any other method, then poppering's the go :wink: 



PoddyMullet said:


> Great pics on this thread, Red that Squid's series is a fine effort. And I know how slow that fella moves so nice one for being so patient over a 5 hour shot :wink:


 :evil: :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## Y-Knot (Sep 26, 2006)

great sounding trip and some nice popper action too from reading the reports ...

i wont harp on about it but i really feel for ya Squizzy - you were so deadset keen, put so much effort into the trip (banners/stubbie holders/ marquee) as well as the distance you travelled, to hear of the disaster that befell you was outright dissapointing ... from all reports though your efforts were greatly appreciated SO GOOD ON YA :wink: oh and it wasnt a total disaster, that 71cm flattie is a top catch mate.well done.


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## squizzy (Mar 3, 2007)

Hey Squidder,
i am going to give patterson river a go with the poppers, aswell as the yarra at Burnley just opposite heron??? island, i reckon plopping one of those eastcoasts beauties along the front of the bullrushes and reeds on the bank will bake my potato maybe even get the bream excited. i think I might even have one loaded on a spare rod ready to fire at bait fish busting up in ppb, I reckon the aussie salmon might have a crack aswell.


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## Squidder (Sep 2, 2005)

squizzy said:


> i reckon plopping one of those eastcoasts beauties along the front of the bullrushes and reeds on the bank will bake my potato maybe even get the bream excited.


Ha ha ha "bake my potato" :lol: :lol: :lol:

Yeah there are some spots along the yarra that look the goods 

Just sent you a PM Squizz :wink:


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## MangoX (Feb 18, 2006)

great trip, thanx again to all involved 










poppers :roll: yeah.... didnt really work for me I'm afraid. Got one hit on Friday after the rain, that was it. Did not see any fish follow, swirl or whatever they're meant to do.. :x

I must admit I not the most patient fisherman and like to troll and paddle more than flick lures for 2 hrs :?

I did have a good day on Sunday when I paddled out the "The Step" which is a drop off about a 5 km paddle from the camp site. Caught a bit of everything...pinkie, tailor, whiting, flaties, longtom, bream, lost a good sized salmon and dropped a mullet from the landing net when trying to photograph it.

 Caught 25 bream  3 over 30cm (biggest 32cm) another 10 were legal (25-27cm) and rest were just under (22-23cm)

Got busted off twice (by salmon I suspect) taking my 2 good deep diving lures :evil: ...but had a ball as it was non-stop action all day.

Trolled around the edge of the drop off with deep diving lures until I had none left (another 2 had trebles broken off), then flicked shallow divers for some good results as well.

here are a couple of pics


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## MangoX (Feb 18, 2006)

notice how high he's holding the paddle in the air  :shock:  
what a novice :roll: :wink:


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## MangoX (Feb 18, 2006)

more piccies 

*JC32*


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## MangoX (Feb 18, 2006)

some more


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## MangoX (Feb 18, 2006)




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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

Nice pics Steve


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## T-curve (Feb 19, 2007)

Heres my contribution (Late), to the forster weekend,had my back end hanging out since i got back and what a top weekend it was. Was only a hop, skip and a jump for me but still didnt make it down till around 6.30 saturday morning and missed all the hype and initial meeting of everyone plus the pizza fest. Must say though, shame about fridays weather and the mishaps it caused with all the effort put in, but as you can see by the posts it turned out a cracker of a weekend :lol: and for those i did meet was great to put some faces to the names we hide behind here on the forum and with everyone on the same wavelength there was always gonna be fun to be had. Anyway heres some of the results i come up with over the stay and hope there isnt to many photos (just as well i didnt put them all in) :roll: ...ENJOY!!

Saturday ..arrived 6.30...met up with a few of the lads..a quick chat and then it was on!!










everyone took off in little groups and i was in no mans land and had no idea where i was going :shock: but ended up in some canals as the weed and sand scared me as it was so new to me and got some action in there but nothing of any size.



















these bastards were everywhere..still good fun none the less !!










anyway with a popper on one rod and an sx40 on the other headed back out onto the flats and found an abandoned oyster least with some better fish holding there.




























Kerrie (Crazy) turned up late saturday night and we continued to have a few ales and talk poppers with some of the guys back at one of the cabins and decided to take a different approach on sunday and we headed up one of the rivers(Wallamba) that runs in to wallis lake.










Again a few nice bream and flatties




























This one hit the mark at 51cm...Look out RED...i snuck up on ya !! :wink:










not having far to travel home on monday we hit the water again this time in the lower reaches of the lake where the leases where more concentrated again with a few nice fish and i had a ball in the racks...definately a first for me.

First to fall to sx40 was another critter of the teethy kind...damn pike where everywhere under the racks :roll:










then the bream action started...i was getting nailed left , right and centre!!










On the move from spot to spot and picked up a nice chopper talior.










Tried some floaters where you could hear the oyster thieves going at it in relatively shallow water and decided it was back to the poppers. Gees they didnt let me down...if they didnt nail it soon as it hit the water, they would race it back to the yak. For some reason they didnt spook even after a few catches.










And a flatty for the end of the day on the way home


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

Hi All,

first off thanks to all who organised a great weekend.
I arrived on friday late afternoon just after the rain stopped so things were looking good from the start.
After unpacking and setting up it was starting to get dark but how could i not get on the water. It was to dark to see clearly so the fact that my paddle kept hitting the bottom was a bit of a suprise (and it wasn't looking good for the sx40).
Had a bit of a play around but no contact with any fish.
After the pizza and meet the teacher evening i scurried off to bed in anticipation of the next morning.
At this point it is worth mentioning that this is the first time i have gone away for a break with out the family so i wasn't going to waste any fishing time.
Saturday
Set off early in the morning and as soon as i hit the deep water out came the sx40. Trolled all the way to the step with no luck so i change from an orange to a green.
As soon as i hit the step i was on i trolled up and down the step and over the next hour caught about 12 fish.
I also pulled around a gulp nuclear chicken and at one point after releasing another small bream i thought i should take a moment to bring in the gulp and remove the lump of weed that had been on it for the last 10 mins, the weed turned out to be a flathead just under 40cm.
I got 2 keeper bream, one whiting, the flathead and i was plagued with pike. I kept moving to get away from them but i think they were following me.
I eventually paddled on to look for bigger fish and the only one i found was a good sized tailor that came boatside before chewing through the last of my line and waving goodbuy.
On the way back i kept think i had better try there and there and there and before i new it it was dark again and i had been paddling for 11 hours.
Sunday
After packing the car i headed off to meet up with the guys off charlottes head. Paddling out the conditions looked good and it looked promising. I trooled a CD7 and dropped down a SX40 to see what happed also. Something did hit the SX40 but the hooks pulled.
At one point i pulled in the CD7 and could believe my eyes when i had another bloody pike on it, these things had now followed me out into the ocean.
Anyway this guy became live bait and walked him up and down the cliffs for another hour or so before giving up for zero.
It was 11.30 to early head back to sydney but would it be crazy for me to nip back to forster and get back on the lake ???
Off i went headed off down the breckenridge to hells gate. The plan was to paddle down to the gate and then drift back with the current, unfortunately the wind came up and the paddle back was by no means a drift.
Couldn't troll as the weed was everywhere and the only fish i picked up was a bream about 8cm long (a new PB :roll: ).
Headed back to sydney absolutely exhausted.

My only regret was that i didn't spend more time getting to know more of the other members but as i said it was my first trip away and i paniced.

Great bunch of guys and look forward to more trips

Kerry

few pics attached


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## crazyratwoman (Feb 26, 2007)

ok i'm finally getting around to writing my report for Forster! only got back at about 6pm tonight....

Firstly to everyone that organised the event, it was great! unfortunately i didn't get there til bout 10pm sat night so i missed meeting most ppl. The ones i did meet were all fantastic!

Red, i got there as u were prawning... lol

So, T-curve and i set up camp, opposite my brother (Sulo). the next day we travelled to umm.... somewhere else? lol Not sure of the name, but was just on the main road into Forster. Anyhoo, bloody waterskiers were around...

i found some locals to talk to...









and found a nice lil creek but it was time to go, was getting late!









i didnt' really catch anything worthwhile mentioning, only that i did hook something big, i cast out, line went whizzzzzzzing, knot in line, reeled in and couldn't! so i pulled it in by hand but just as "it" got near he went for another run and snap.... gone, along with my 2nd sx-40 in 2 weeks! so i cracked the sh!ts and started for home lol!

Next day was a corker! We packed up camp and left, headed for just a the bridge at Tuncurry.. T-curve was in heaven... oyster racks everywhere! i made my way elsewhere - Crazy does not play well with oysters...

so... i didnt catch a friggin thing til T-curve cut up the pike he caught and i used that as bait!

got this tailor, 30cm









then about 10 bream later (3-4 legal) we headed for home. This was my best at 29cm









We went back to T-curves place for the night then i got home the next day (after hitting the shops at Taree lol) at about 6pm. i must say, nice to have a good shower and can't wait to hop in my own bed lol


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

sx40 pics


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

How about a bit of of post-match analysis? We all knew it would be weedy, with loads of flats and some channels with big currents. I guess we all had ideas of how we would deal with it. So what did you try and how did you go?

*Habitat*
I had planned to spend a lot of time fishing weedy flats and to try the racks. That's pretty much how it worked out, but I also hit some jetties while in transit.

*Lures*
Surface lures were definitely top of my priority, especially over the weedy flats. I also tried trolling som diving minnows in the racks, but quickly abandoned that due to weed. Plastics were also tried in the racks, on a worm hook because of the weed. No hookups but a couple of takes.

*Lessons*
Should have tried the poppers more in the racks - fish were breaking the surface. Unfortunately I had expectations of diving minnows and sps but was frustrated by the weed.

All my fish (yes all three of them) were taken over the flats, using poppers. I tried fizzers with no success.

The real eye-opener for me was the different kinds of weed and the difference in hit rates. Previously, I have had success wading along the edge of ribbon weed beds and casting sps. So I thought ribbon weed would be a good target. I got some hits, but with a lot of casts in between.

In my wandering on Saturday morning I crossed an area that I was going to pass by, but there were fish breaking the surface regularly so I had a couple of casts and got a couple of hits. Still didn't like the look of the weed - sparse dark brown weed covering the bottom with long strands of a light brown weed , the upper part of which floated just under the surface.

Coming back, I tried a small bay with the same weed formations a got a few hits. Hooked up, then my leader (I hadn't kept an eye on it) gave way. Replaced the lure and got some more hits. Moved back out to the area I described above and was getting hits continuously. Eventually hooked up and landed my best fish for the weekend. Revisited this spot the next day with similar results - lots of hits, one hookup and a just keeper landed.

It was apparent that the bream were holding under the floating weed, whereever it was. This weed pattern started about 20m from the bank and extended about 50m, almost to the middle of the channel between Yahoo and Wallis Islands. There didn't seem to be any part of it that drew more hits than another.


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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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## woopie (Mar 18, 2007)

A big thankyou Mat and everyone else for organizing a great fishing and camping trip I had a great time except for friday in the rain and the big wind squal that blew Squizy's marque over luckily no was hurt. The rest of the weekend was trully magic weather Caught alot of flathead and bream 1 leather jacket 1 flounder and my First ever Popper caught BREAM 34cm. Thankyou to all Had a great Weekend 
Woopie


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

*Habitat/Lures*

I had anticipated a much 'sandier' system with some shallow weedy - bottomed flats surrounded by deeper channells. So my 'pre Forster' plan was to hug the edges of the channells slow trolling lures, casting soft plastics (Gulp Worms and 3" Powerbait Minnows) for flathead and throwing poppers out over the shallow weedy flats for bream.

My main hope however was that I would be able to gather 'live bait' such as nippers and poddy mullet and drift these unweighted along the dropoffs.

However what I found was a different story - the weedbeds covered a LOT of the system and the water was incredibly shallow and with lots of floating weed which fouled the lures and made using sp's near impossible. Nippers were hard to come by (I spent about an hour total looking for them with only about 20 nippers pumped) - however they were definitely the 'gun' bait with literally one fish per bait (unfortunately all small bream/whiting/tailor). While pumping nippers I also pumped up some blood/squirt worms. Even though there seemed to be baitfish jumping everywhere none of them wanted to make a home in my poddy mullet trap  Even my efforts at gathering prawns at 10pm saturday night were ordinary - with only one tiny prawn gathered in 15 minutes of wading the shallows.   

I also wanted to fish the racks, but the only racks I found were in the midst of a swift current (at Hells Gate) which made fishing with soft plastics/dibving minnows a 'challenge' to say the least.

*Lessons Learnt*

Popper fishing is an 'active','visually exciting' and fun form of fishing.....BUT....in terms of producing fish, it sucks! Over the weekend I caught one bream (33cm) and a tiny choper tailor using poppers despite spending I reckon 5 hours in total chucking them around (I also had a few other hits and plenty of swirls, but none others connected).

In contrast during the limited time I spent trolling (when the lure wasn't fouled with weed) I caught half a dozen bream and a few small tailor.

Using nippers and blood worms produced the most fish, with around 15 fish caught, however they were all undersized.

Finally - hats off to those who visited for the first time and managed to catch good fish, as this is a system that would take some 'figuring out'. Unfortunately for me in my short time there I didn't manage it.  :wink:


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## victor-victor (Jan 12, 2006)

My report starts by me leaving Canberra on Thursday morning heading to Hallidays Point (20 minutes north of Forster) to catch up to my Mum. Loaded my car Wednesday Night after Annette finishes work (The Car, Forster is her car that she uses for work, and the car has to be negotiated). She brings home another toy for me to play with, a Tomtom. Just the thing to get through Sydney, I always miss the M7 motorway. This time I missed it again. Tomtom told me just that, ... "in 800 meter do a U-Turn and sit in the right lane". I followed the silly voice and was back on track. This was the only eventful thing o my way North on Thursday.

Arrived in Hallidays and the weather was perfect ... time to sneak in a quick fish? ... NO I promised to spend sometime with Mum and I have to wait until the next day when I catchup with the AKFF crew at the resort.

*Friday*

Lazy start, Storm has gone through and it is still raining, arrive at the resort 1 pm and having phone problems. Catchup to my roomies for the weekend, Peril (Dave) and Tryhard (Matt). Start the unpacking weather starting to look better, little rain but the wind and settle down. The resort and cabin was perfectly located, unload my prowler on the waters edge and I don't have to worry about packing and packing the Kayak and fishing gear each time I go fishing.

I am busting to go for a fish rain or not, quick hello to fellow AKFF's but I wanted to hit the water. Finally on the water around 3:30, sky is a little grey and noticed others are going out to get their lines wet. Water is nice and shallow with hobies having a few problems and having to get their paddles out to find deep water, 2 foot deep.










I am in the water and noticed everyone going for a big paddle out of the protected bay in search of fish. This must have been a bit of an eye opener for many as the water was shallow and much weed. Hard work for plastics but ideal for surface lures. I decided to hang close to launch spot (outside our cabin) and hang a right near the shore (about 100 meters away). Tied my little river2Sea bubble pop 35 and testing out my new Okuma rods to see if I can cast some distance.

Popping away at the surface swells, first strike 25 cm bream, just legal, in the fish keep container for now.










Over the next few hours hooked into 6 bream four legal and one lizard. These fish just don't like being caught and fight to the very end, especially on light gear (4 lb line). The technique I was using was slowly retrieving the popper with plenty of stops in between. If I saw a fish attacking the lure, a little twitch just to keep the bream interested. The Bream would attack the popper, I waited until the popper was under the water and give it another twitch to strike, bream would attack the popper serveral times before hooking up. This was the technique that seemed to work for me most of the weekend.

I decided to keep two bream (27 and 29 cm) and 45 cm Flattie (PB), no monsters but great fun. My little river2Sea popper was doing all the damage and I am very happy with my new 7' Okuma Rod. Time to call it a day and see how everyone else is going - The truth it was getting dark (5:30) and I am a sucker for the one more cast or ten.

Back at shore, heard of squizzy's story of woe (sorry about the weekend for you but the effort you put in was amazing).

Checking out the friendly competition, Red has the largest Bream 36 cm.

Time to help Matt to become is Pizza Delivery assistant but first sneak in and see Eastcost Mick's collection, $$$ later I have a pocket of surface lures to try next day.

35 Pizza's, four bottles of fizzy drinks being delivered in the common room. The frenzy was on for pizza. Saying many hello's and catching up other familiar faces from Barlings, I noticed Mick has started his own frenzy for the big and little boys and gals. His latest creations and some familiar one were up for sale on the pool table. Not one to be left out, more lures had to be had.

One river2Sea Bubble Pop is in there as well, tonights little wonder - Tomorrow, only Eastcoast Lures for the trying :lol: 








Bottom three Lures where my most successful, Friday River2Sea 35 Bubble pop (had no Eastcoast Lures YET), Eastcoast popper /Fizzer Sat and Sun, Eastcoast Micro Pop (Black & Purple - lost to a mighty Lizard), Monday.

Lights out at 10 pm in the common room, time to cleanup and becomes Matt's garbage assistant then get ready for another fish in the morning


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## victor-victor (Jan 12, 2006)

*Saturday*

Early Start, Wake up 5:30, have breakfast and ready to be on the water 6:30 am.

Watching everyone again paddling for distance and heading towards Wallis Island, I decided to stay within the Pipers bay and give EastCoast surface lures a go. This weekend my plan I was only going to fish surface lures because I don't have many opportunities and these waters are ideal.

I started to test the range of lures, I had many strikes but no hookups. I was working out how these lures should by fished and was not having much luck. The frustration was there was many fish attacking these lures but none netted. I decided to change to a single prop fizzer (first time using fizzers). This fish where a little more aggressive to this lure. First fish was a pesky 50 cm Longtom after three hours. Being persistent I was able find a suicidal 24 cm Bream. After this my luck changed.

Paddled to western side I got my first trifector, 29 cm Whiting, 35 cm Flathead, all undersize!.

Finally on legal whiting 30cm, again on the single blade fizzer and a 30 cm bream - Dinner.

Eastcoast Fizzer (not sure on the final eastcoast name of this lure?)









This morning session was hard work but fun trying new lures, working their action and not going back to familiar ones, persistence was the key.

Back for BBQ lunch and ready for an afternoon session.

Convinced by Peril, Tryhard and Justcrusin32 to paddle to Wallis Island and Yahoo Island to attempt some old rack for that bigguth Bream to be had, 4 km paddle one way.

Leaving at 3:30 paddle straight to "the location" that Peril found in the morning, struggling to keep up. Looking around at all the fishy spots on the way but the racks where I must go to follow the troops. I could not resist casting an odd popper or fizzer along the way. UHF radio that Peril loaned was a good way to communicate and keep in touch. Few strikes but one legal bream landed (28 cm).

Peril decided on going west, I decided to stay with Tryhard and Justcrusin32 and fish their wake when we arrived at "the Racks" and the sun is rapidly going down.

Hanging Back, casting into the surface swells ... a ripper hits my fizzer. This is one angry fish, Bream? unsighted it was going into the thick weed slowly dragging it out, now it was heading to underwater oyster encrusted thingy. Time to tighten my drag, paddle backwards and hope the battle goes my way. Victory at last, I see the wee little monster, yes a wee monster 32 cm Bream, not bigguth but a my prize for the effort. I lookup its dark time to follow the troops back to safety (secretly I wanted to cast one more or ten).

Following the singing Tryhard silhouette 








and I forgot my ear plugs, laughing to the sound of "Frigging in the rigging" and an old goonie song that happily skips my memory. Rounding up the troops (Tryhard, Justcrusin32 and myself) we find Peril in the darkness, we paddle back towards the red lights (or was that the green ones). Luckily someone knew which lights to follow and Peril had his trusty GPS just in case.

Me with a sore arse and shoulders  , we met with Davey G in the dark for the last 1km.

Finally happy to be back on shore (6:30 pm) ... I need a drink or two to recharge. :lol:

A another good day :!:

A special thanks to Peril and Tryhard for healthy Salad to add to my wee offering (skinless sausages) to the BBQ.

Victor


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## victor-victor (Jan 12, 2006)

*Sunday*

Sunday's plan was to a gentleman's morning, easy wake up and fish a few hours before cleaning the Cabin for 10 am checkout.

Today's weather was a little cool to start with little wind to compete with. Keeping with the plan, two hours on the water and primarily fishing the eastern side of Pipers Bay. Armed with my luckily weekend fizzer, a little chop on the water off I go in search for dinner tonight with Mum.

In the two hours I happily hooked 3 Legal Bream (31 cm, 28 cm and 30 cm) and one undersized.

Time to head in, pack up and say good by to all the travelers leaving today.

Nice to See Bigguth was taken by Arpie on the Last day, nice to see the winner with a smile from ear to ear in excitement. Congratulations to Red for the Biggest Flathead closely followed by Squidder.

*BIG thanks to Tryhard to organisating the weekend and taking people out of their comport zone, Squizzer for the Banners and Drink holders, EastCoast for supplying his hand made surface lures and Great Lakes Tackle for supplying the prizes for Bigguth. The Main Thanks for all those AKFFer's who could make the weekend successful by being part of the event.*

PS.

*Sneaky Monday*

I enjoyed the weekend so much and I wasn't planing to travel backup to Canberra until Tuesday, I decided to try again this afternoon.

I decided to give my gift from Mick of Eastcoast a go, Black and Purple Micro Pop. In the First 30 minutes I lander 3 good size Bream (two at 31 cm and 29 cm) and then promptly lost it to a razor necked lizard. The Lizard must have been around 50-60cm mark and it swallowed popper, had it close to my net and decided for another run. It kept the pressure on and finally snapped me off. I was not happy about losing the popper *(MICK do have any left, Black and Purple ones??)*.










After this water was very still and not a ripple. Plenty of Fish feeding the surface but not interested in my hardware.

Had to call it a day as it was getting dark and need to get home to mum's ready for tomorrow's trek home.

All in all the weekend was brilliant

Victor


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## victor-victor (Jan 12, 2006)

Arpie,

I used Adobe Elements using Artistic filter, Dry Brush as the original shot didn't look so good.










The original Shot









Now looking at it, the shot is not as bad after first viewing 

Victor


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## rawprawn (Aug 31, 2005)

Does that picture show the most effective way of getting a Hobbie around? Did his legs get so big from peddling that he must now stand to paddle?? :shock:


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## justcrusin (Oct 1, 2006)

Post Mortem

Habitat/Lures

My intent was to work the weed beds the same way i do in Woy Woy. The game plan was popper all the way.

Lessons

The different shallow areas had me perplexed, in woy woy the weed comes right in untill it gets to shallow to even paddle. But along that southern shore the weed started in around 300mm water but didn't get really thick till around 600mm deep and around 100m out.

After the Friday storm the bream seemed to be out around the 1m deep mark and stricking very short on the poppers. Matt was picking them up in close with the rak rats, but my lack of these saw me confined to the larger poppers and twisters.

I really should have been more willing to out up with the weed and trawl out deeper, i think i would have picked up more fish than i did.

I should have realised that in the weed around home i know the spots to work for a fish put up there i had a lot of ground to cover and should have had a bit more of a game plan than just fish the weed :?

Can't wait till i get back there again

Cheers Dave


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## victor-victor (Jan 12, 2006)

Arpie or anyone else,

You have a free rain with the pics I have posted for the Forster trip report. The pics are for all to enjoy.

Victor


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## eastcoast (Mar 12, 2007)

hi all 
i was talking to dave seamon on the weekend about my lures and he wants to feature them in is next dvd, daves first dvd was called big river bass
anyone interested in fishing should get this video as it is a cracker,one of the best productions ive seen on bass fishing 
dave ask me to put a quick report of what happened at the forster weekend,so it will be in NSW FISHING MONTHLY in the forster section with the mention of the australian kayak fishing forum, good shit hey


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## Clarkos (Oct 11, 2006)

Nice work Mick.

Have seen a bit of Dave's work on AusBass.


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## DougOut (Dec 31, 2006)

what a Hoot that trip must have been  
if it's going to be an annual event, I'd love to make the next one
great reporting "all"
keep those photos coming ( we all love to see your "shots")
this one is very typical
how the Hell was this fish going to get away
with "The Treble" pin'n him like that (the greedy bugger)?
Love your work Men 8)


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## SeanAtCrescent (Apr 13, 2007)

Great seeing everyone's trip reports and pics - a few more pics from the Forster trip - will do two posts so to include about 10 - sorry about late delivery - best wishes


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## SeanAtCrescent (Apr 13, 2007)

A few more pics - some around Greenpoint (across the bay from Lakeside Resort where we stayed) - regards


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## SeanAtCrescent (Apr 13, 2007)

Paul I was lucky and found a great spot while more or less exploring and looking at the bird life up a quiet stretch away from the crowds & came across a clearing in an area otherwise full of weed - I must have caught about 20 bream, mainly smallish but 3 of good keepable size on East Coast's poppers and Ecogear usual stuff - I was so excited & anxious to get them back into the water I didn't think to take any shots, it was where the lake/lagoon split into two dead-ends above the launch ramp closest to the marina development - Forster Keys I think it is called - it doesn't look like much and is amazingly close to all those marina folk - I am sure they motor within 400m of it every weekend - I thought I had better leave it alone after such a good session but put Flyrod on to it a day or two later, but have yet heard if he had any luck. I also gave the details to Matt to put on the chart I think he is compiling of hot spots arising from the weekend. cheers, Sean


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## Blaen (Jul 4, 2006)

Wow Sean they are great photos, well done! 8)

And Mick Grats on the 52cm Bream and getting the write up under way, great work.


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## SeanAtCrescent (Apr 13, 2007)

thanks & yes, as someone said earlier in this thread that place and the lighting was at times made for photography ! cheers, Sean


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