# Kangaroo Island Queen's birthday week-end-Thumper *****



## Drewboy (Mar 18, 2008)

We were in for a very wet wind swept 4 day session, we knew that, but we were still keen to get over there as it is such a versatile place for fishing in all conditions.
Skorgard and I got of to a windy start with the AI's under sail and a bit of trolling at Baudin Beach. We were hoping for snapper but it looked like the season had already been and gone and all we could muster was 1 snook 70cm whilst being rained on and buffeted when the low clouds came through.
On our way back to the house we decided to drop in at Pennington Bay for a bit of a reccie, and decided that a dawn session, beach casting for salmon could be in order.
Here was my opportunity to get a lesson in beach casting with an overhead.
Paul was keen to show me the attributes of these reels, however, I had always been concerned about the dreaded birds nest that awaits any laps in concentration.
After one doozy of a tangle trying to get my casts right, I managed to get the feel that a few casts brings... even caught a couple of fish. Thanks Paul for the bait-caster lesson and letting me fish while you deftly sorted my first "bird's nest".
Home to dry off and then get into some much anticipated Scottish throat liniment whilst planning our kayaking strategy for the next 3 days.
With the wind holding its pattern, it was time to find a spot with a bit of shelter from a stiff northerly.
Bay of Shoals, a picturesque, spot above Kingscote curling around on the north coast and ideal in such conditions, is right where big salmon gather, according to local legend.








It is also very shallow...average 1.5 meters, which didn't concern me until I realized what awaited me.
To set out in an Adventure Island with the full kit is to be setup for any eventuality, 
Sometimes I reduce the gear load, often venturing out with just one outrigger.
Today would have been perfect with no outriggers... just the bare kayak, as the wind was so minimal even 300 meters off shore.
Setting out with 2 trolling lines... on one a 7cm shad soft plastic on 15 lb flourocarbon/nylon hybrid YoZuri line and the other a small green "Mag Minnow" on 8lb braid. Both had 10 lb flouro carbon leaders.
After a 25 minute sortie over a bottom 4 feet below, I found myself with something giving me a very solid fight on the heavier of the 2 lines.
Surprisingly after peeling a fair bit of line off, and me having little chance of holding it at bay, the fish had turned, giving me the opportunity to play catch-up.
I reckon the beast must have come pretty close to the kayak and probably done a quick lap around me, before trying to head off again.
The tension on my line went weird though and I figured it had wrapped me around a rock or something... little did I realize the kayak was the culprit. 
After thinking of the options, the mirage drive was the first thing I blamed and within a few seconds it was out of its mounts and off my check list. Next was the rudder, but this didn't make sense as the line seemed to be caught more centrally beneath me.
With each moment I was in fear of losing this seemingly large fish and was praying that what ever was responsible was not going to sever the line.
Then it hit me...of course... the centerboard which had been folded back due to the shallow water, must be acting as a cleat under the boat, and as the fish had passed on its lap, not far from the surface, the line was bound to slide under the boat and thus get wedged.
As soon as the centre-board was removed this baby was off again.
Constantly worrying about a stressed line and giving it room to move, I was surprised at how little fight it had left. Probably spent itself whilst being snagged.
About another 3 or so minutes and it was boat-side and netted, then released after a couple of snaps.
Biggest salmon I've ever caught...65cm... or did my centerboard catch it?
Great testament to the line though.

















The new camera mount on the aka arm near my starboard pontoon was something I wanted to test. I'd seen Josh's (Yakass) great work and thought I could reciprocate a little.
So I set the Ixus rolling and simply set off.
15 minutes of trolling and I was on to another one... this time on the 8lb braid, so I was much more careful about boat snags in such shallow water. Without any depth these fish have no where togo.
The other direction they try is "up" and it was great to see a salmon leaping out of the water and feeling it putting some real tension on the braid.
This was a 5 minute job and I enjoyed every second.
Once this 55cm ***** was netted and released, and with my fingers crossed that the video worked on its maiden voyage, Paul joined me to tell me he'd had some luck with a nice snook.




This was a good spot, put the bottom was also catching the lures, and I lost a couple of my favorites this way. So it was time for some deeper water sailing.
Sadly, nothing to report but for a great sail and a fair bit of weed, so with that, our second day's kayaking was tranquilly wound down as the sun's late afternoon glow brought with it a beautiful scene to bid us farewell.

The next day, with Paul's trademark bacon sandwiches inside us, it was back to Baudin beach as the wind had swung 180 degrees and straight off the South Pole. After one big snook for me and more long sailing legs, at the same time trying to stay warm and dry, it only took us about 3 hours to decided on an early minute and the refuge of a warm fire back at the house.

With 40 k winds the following day Paul and I decided to go out fishing with one of the local charter characters, Ian King. I'd been out with Ian before and as we were setting out, I thought I'd push test our relationship. I knew he was able to put us onto some good whiting spots so I asked his permission to take some gps marks with my hand held Garman.
Without a moment's hesitation he gave me his blessing and we had not only 3 new sure-fire spots recorded, but also a dozen whiting each. I always say, it pays to be up front about these sort of things.
Home to the wives with lots of laughs, great memories and good fish and the promise of a frequent return.
Thanks for the great company Paul.


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## riverrat (Jun 3, 2009)

great trip and great report good work :lol:


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## Big D (Apr 28, 2007)

Great report, thanks for sharing it with us. I thought it was complicated enough trying to fish from a yak with limited space and difficulty in landing a big fish. Seeing you adjusting the sail and playing with the outrigger all the time fighting a fish was pretty amazing, but I think I'll just keep with my paddle yak for now!

Big D


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## Marty75 (Oct 23, 2007)

Congrats on the nice *****'s Drewboy. That sounder does look familiar! How you finding it's performance?

Great report

Marty


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## Ranger (May 31, 2008)

Excellent report! Methinks I might also have to partake in a trip to the island! Brilliant place, fish in abundance, and whatever the weather throws you can always find somewhere reasonably sheltered.

You'll easily get the hang of overheads. The most important thing is the setup, so that the spool isn't running too free to start with, and don't try casting to the moon. With each cast try to lob the lure just a little bit further, and then with practice you can start to loosen the spool control and you're away.

Slack line during the cast is your enemy, so instead of flicking with your wrist, cast the rod with a large round pendulum action keeping the line tight all through the cast until your release.


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## waldo (Aug 19, 2007)

nice work drew, personally would've had one of those sambos in the smoker.



Big D said:


> I thought it was complicated enough trying to fish from a yak with limited space and difficulty in landing a big fish. Seeing you adjusting the sail and playing with the outrigger all the time fighting a fish was pretty amazing, but I think I'll just keep with my paddle yak for now!
> 
> Big D


x 2


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## Buff (Dec 31, 2005)

Sounds like a great time even if you had to do a trip on a stink boat :lol: ;-) 
Wish I could have made it but with only a couple more weekends worth of work to go I'm definitely going book some holidays


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## Drewboy (Mar 18, 2008)

Marty75 said:


> Congrats on the nice *****'s Drewboy. That sounder does look familiar! How you finding it's performance?
> 
> Great report
> 
> Marty


Yes Marty, the fish are far more identifiable with the Eagle colour sounder even though the original bw transducer is what sees the bottom.
Although, I reckon anybody would be pushing it to see a lightening fast salmon 4 feet beneath the hull.


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## solatree (May 30, 2008)

Terrific report Drewboy - and a very nice salmon. KI - What a great place !


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## Guest (Jun 10, 2009)

Nice fish there Drew - Sambos are always fun to catch... they're one of the only things I miss about Victoria. Great clip there to mate. That track... was that Tangerine Dream by any chance?


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## mattyp (Mar 7, 2008)

Ripper vid Drew!
Looks a beautiful place to be.
Good size Sambos too


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## Drewboy (Mar 18, 2008)

Yakass said:


> Nice fish there Drew - Sambos are always fun to catch... they're one of the only things I miss about Victoria. Great clip there to mate. That track... was that Tangerine Dream by any chance?


Great guess Josh.. but no ... Jon Michelle Jarre..."Equinoxe".
That and "Oxygene" are old favourites of mine.


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## suehobieadventure (Feb 17, 2009)

Great video Drew, easy to see you are very comfortable / familiar with your AI. I need more time on the water but it is really cold here now so I wussed out this weekend. Love KI.


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## skorgard (Oct 6, 2007)

It was a great trip and we managed more fishing than we thought with the forecast. It was quite a spectacle watching Drew bring in what initially seemed the bottom - seeing the bend on his rod and the fact that nothing seemed moving - then dissembling his boat bit by bit - finally getting his fish free. I dont know who was more exhausted - him or the fish.

On Friday against our better judgement we launched off Baudin Beach as that was where I caught my snapper last trip - one of the locals saw the masts and came in to see who was silly enough to go out in that weather - but the AIs were very stable. Did not feel extra good trying to tackle up when at anchor though.

Already looking forward to the next trip.


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## fisher (Aug 30, 2005)

Well done Drew - 'busier than a one armed paper hanger'! Big salmon in shallow water would be right up there in terms of fishing on offer in SA. good stuff.


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