# Mackay Dumbleton PB's



## mackayaker (Aug 14, 2010)

With a small window of good weather this weekend on Saturday morning, I took the opportunity to head up to Dumbleton with my good mate Pedro aka. Qwikdraw for a Yak session.

My day could not have started any worse, with preparations made the night before I was confident that when I departed at 5am I had everything I required for a great day out on the water. I arrived at the launch site and fitted out the yak at the waters edge, everything was in its place&#8230;.ready to rock! Now just grab my paddle and away I go&#8230;.my paddle &#8230;OH NOOOO THE PADDLE!!! Luckily another positive for the Dumbleton area is that it is only 10 minutes away from my house which is where my paddle was happily leaning against a post, oblivious to my distress. (It can happen to the best of us). So after a quick, frantic drive I was soon launching from the muddy shoreline with the all important paddle in hand.

There was not much action to speak of during the first hour, a couple of large fish breaking the surface and a few large mullet jumping. So I decided to bait up one of my three rods with some squid to see what I could conjure up, meanwhile I threw my Rapala skitter pop around trying to entice a strike from any quality fish lurking beneath the glassy surface. My little Shimano with the squid bait screamed as a good fish took a solid first run, I called it early as a Catfish and my prediction was correct with a 30cm (approx) Catfish getting a snapshot then its freedom.

Pedro and I then moved further upstream throwing lures at any likely looking snags and peppering the rock bars. I had a big hit from what I thought was a Mangrove Jack but did not hook up and I couldn't persuade it to replicate its original interest in my popper. Then I detected some commotion coming from Pedros direction and could tell instantly he was on to a good fish. Fighting out in open water he made it look easy and boated a very solid looking Mangrove Jack of 44cm. To see my good fishing mate land his first Mangrove Jack from a kayak was priceless and we were both ecstatic. A quality fish and a new PB for Qwikdraw.

With our morale well and truly boosted I was feeling positive that today was going to be a good one and that maybe, just maybe, a new PB was just around the corner for myself. I had been working the rock bars with poppers and shallow diving lures with a few touches but nothing solid, so with the frustration getting the better of me I decided to try the deeper holes on the other bank with a Rapala X-Rap. This immediately paid off when I landed my lure adjacent to a partly submerged log and twitched it twice, it exploded in a violent strike and started peeling line so fast that I had to take a quick glance at the spool to see how much line I had left. Two to Three minutes into the fight and I was thinking "if this is a Jack, its a big one!" but then I saw the flash of silver and realised this was not a Mangrove Jack. Barra? Queenfish? No, as the fish finally succumbed and the net slid under its 58cm frame, a Trevally was sitting in the Kayak. To be honest at first I was a little disappointed, it may not have been the PB I was looking for but a PB none the less! My biggest Trevally from the Yak so far.

Cheers Scotty


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## bungy (Jan 1, 2008)

Nice fish fella's...Would have been my spot to have a flick session over the weekend. Those jack are getting ready for the cold period and comming on the chew.

Dumbleton is like a box of chocolates ..you never know what your going to get.. 

Congrats fella's on the PB's...I had a moist moment up there with Scotty some time ago and look forward to baging another jack.

Cheers

Stevo....


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

theyakshed.com


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## mackayaker (Aug 14, 2010)

Yeah Con, There is definitely a large bull shark population up there. I have seen them jumping out of the water even. Also had about a 4 footer circle my Yak. Never have caught one but I think A few of the other boys have and Bungy once had one take a fish yak side, I try and keep my feet inside the yak!

Cheers


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