# Long Reef 29/12



## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

Occy, MangoX, Flump and myself set out from Fisherman's Beach this morning. Contrary to the expected condition, a NE swell was rolling in (but quite small) and it looked quite sloppy. I was first to try launch and manged to get the yak broadside. No tipping. Straightened up and got on again and got out only to discover that the slew broadside had caused my rudder to be jammed hard to port. Back in to free it and back out again.

Once clear of the little bay at Fisherman's Beach the true conditions became clear - 15-20 kt southerly, 1m NE swell with about 1.5m of slop on top. It was just plain uncomfortable out there, and Flump Occy and I decided to pull the pin. Hope you got onto some good fish, Steve. You deserve it for perservering in that.

A quick council and we headed to the back of Narrabeen Lagoon. I had a couple of suitable plastics which I slow trolled and tried casting to no avail. I was using weedless jigheads due to the amount of weed all over the floor. Quite a few hits, some of them solid but could not hookup. Seemed to be a lot of whiting over the very shallow sandy flats. Reckon the sandworms might be the go next time. They were hitting the peeler crab hard so that might work too. (Trouble with the peeler crab is they are wide - might be worth trying them on a small treble)

I also tried trolling Bombora's fly (meant for outside) but it fouled too quickly.

Flump and Occy managed a fish or two.

Finished off at the pub to review the day. A pleasant, if frustrating outing.


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

Nick's PB bream


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Well done for giving it a go in the prevailing conditions fellas.

And agree on occy's opinion of Nick's boat, looks great in the various pics


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## Flump (Apr 17, 2006)

Peril and Occy have said it all. Long Reef was just a bit too lumpy and I'd forgotten my life jacket  so wasn't feeling too comfortable.

Narrabean Lake was by complete contrast almost flat calm when the three of us set out, which was pretty amazing considering what we had at Longie :shock: .

We all set off from Jamison Park at headed to the back end of the lake. I was trolling a 3" gulp minnow cut down to 2" and an SX48. Never got a touch on either all day!

I had a bit of bait in the shape of prawns, baby squid and pillies and soon found myslef offering it around to Occy and Peril due to the lack of action. Started a drift across the back of the lake and had a small Bream first cast, second cast produced a 22 cm Bream. Carried on drifting a bit more and a couple of Prawns later due to missed takes managed to pull out a 25 cm PB Bream     . Carried on drifting after a photo (thanks Dave  ) and pulled out another small Bream. Had a load more missed takes and that was it. After a bit of a kayak swap (both Occy's and Peril's yaks are great to paddle) I realised I gotta get me a padded seat to save my back!!!!!

Trolled back to Jamison Park without a touch on the SX48 or Gulp minnow. All up a nice day out and a PB Bream to boot


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## MangoX (Feb 18, 2006)

:? no luck on the kinggie front...

boy, was it lumpy out there.....

As Dave said, I stayed for a couple of hrs in hope of a decent fish...

Technical difficulties forcing Dave back to the beach










The wind did die down a bit later on, but was still drifting pretty fast...
so I deployed my sea anchor and started using the bait I had as berley..
Set a line with squid and strips of pilchards and immediately got hits...
I assume they were these Darts I caught along with Trevs.










Managed to hook up 3 or 4 Darts (if thats what they are) and lost a couple of trevs at the boat (didnt take my landing net) :x










Also hooked a couple of these Sargent Bakers (40 cm+) but are like dead wait with a couple of head shakes......worse than a flattie fight.. :?










In all, shame about the weather....
didnt really have any other gear with me so I was stuck trying for the bigger fish...
Got off the water at 9.30 with an easy landing as the sea went flat about that time.

Speaking with some of the locals on the beach, as they came over and check out my yak  , they mentioned water temp had dropped quite a bit in the last couple of days and the fish had gone off the bite completely.

Next time


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

Glad to hear you had a bit of action and no surprises out there Steve.

I think the fish is sweep. Definitely not a dart


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## MangoX (Feb 18, 2006)

thanx Dave

ahh the bloody sweep !!! :x :x

they're good at pinching your squid :?


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

a frustrating day outside by the sounds of it. some days it's just not meant to happen.   still, good on you all for giving it a go and getting out there!

next time the fish will cooperate I'm sure!


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## bazzoo (Oct 17, 2006)

Nick, {flump}, have you posted photos of that lovely looking wooden kayak in rigged kayaks, would love to see several photos of it, am intertested in building a timber kayak


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## troppo (Feb 1, 2006)

1 m swells having 1.5 m of slop on top is not nice for yak fishing. Steve, you stuck it out and got something for your efforts. If I was there I would have done the same as you 'cause I'm tough. Kidding, I probably would have left my yak on my car and just watched  . Nice to see the pics of various fish and yaks. Flump, that wooden craft of yours looks sweet.


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## bazzoo (Oct 17, 2006)

Steve , it looks like you have a spinner, or a celta attached to the soft plastic in the seargent baker photo, is it ? or is it just an old farts failing eyesight


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## justcrusin (Oct 1, 2006)

Didn't come out to bad after all, 
Steve caught a few fish, and narra lakes seemed to treat you guys ok.
So a good day had buy all. Nice report guys

Cheers dave


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

I forgot to mention. Before the launch at Long Reef I spied a banana sitting on the deck of Paul's yak. Nothing more to be said really.


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## MangoX (Feb 18, 2006)

:shock: I wont say it either ...

Barry: the jig heads have spinner blades on them....to make them more appealing... Sargent Bakers seem to like them :? :x :?

they're made by TT Lures and called Rev Head










Paul: yeah I was worried myself out there.....but it wasnt that bad...
gotta get ourselves some VHFs... maybe for my B-day


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## JT (May 25, 2006)

Well done MangoX. Tell me, wHaT Camera were you uSing ouT THere? Some of THosE SHoTS are greaT. I am STill geTTing uSed To my OlympuS 725. If THaT iS wHaT you HaVe do you HaVe any TipS on uSage?

PleaSe exuSe ThE cAPs stUFF. sOMEthING hEAvY hAs hAPPEned To my keyboard :roll: wHiCH I am yeT To reSolVe :evil:

JT


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## MangoX (Feb 18, 2006)

:lol: :lol: I was wondering what was up with the caps... :shock:

You're right mate its the 725 model...

as far as tips go, don't have any as I've tried it only a couple of times...

one thing I can say is that the "Underwater Wide 1" mode seems to have the better resolution for some reason (I think the flash has something to do with it)

Oh, and the lens claims to have some sort of protective coating to repel the water off the lens....
dosent always work (as you can see in my Windy Wednesday post). If you've got a drop of water on the lens, it will create a huge blurry spot in your pic. Just give it a shake and check before you shoot "the fish of your life". 

cheers


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