Flinders 28/10 and Kirk Point 29/10
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Flinders 28/10 and Kirk Point 29/10
On Wednesday I headed down to Flinders in the hope of a few squid, some whiting and maybe a trevally for the species comp. The forecast was suggesting the wind would be coming over the peninsula so I thought I'd get some shelter as long as I didn't head out too far. Wasn't to be the case unfortunately. I launched just before sunrise, with just enough light to get away with not having one of my own.
As it got lighter the wind picked up, you can see the difference between the last pic and this one taken not long after as the moon set over the town.
I tried the method that worked so well for me at Shoreham and let the squid jigs suspend a meter or so off the bottom and let the motion of the waves move them up and down, unfortunately the tide was running pretty hard and I couldn't get the down far enough. After persisting for an hour and losing my last white sephia ( :down: ) I had a go at soaking some baits. I didn't get snagged but which was a pleasant surprise but the pickers were out in force and I was just in time for breakfast. By this stage there was a decent swell coming in from the entrance and choppy waves coming down from the north, made worse because the wind was blowing against the tide. Getting the anchor up was a challenge, balancing the yak side on against the waves while extracting the anchor from a big clump of kelp is tricky. I mooched around the area for a bit hoping that the wind would die off, I saw a seal mucking around with some floating kelp.
Eventually I pulled the pin and headed back to the ramp. As I was packing up I was mobbed by a bunch of seagulls and this cheeky raven that perched on the car door and ate bits of my lunch out of my hand.
This morning I went the other way and took the yak down to Kirk Point near Point Wilson. Got there a bit after 5am and we made our way down a goat track (calling it a road doesn't seem accurate) to the launching spot. The plan was to troll some hardbodies to the Arthur The Great Spit, soak some baits and then troll back the way we came. I'm a bit light on for hardbodies so I trolled a couple of stumpjumpers.
There was a bit of a breeze blowing when we started out which made us work for it, it was still a lovely morning to be out on the water though.
We got to our destination without incident or fish and baited up. I got bites pretty much straight away. Something hit a chunk of squid head pretty hard and tore it from the hook so I was pretty sure something good was about to happen. Not long after one of the rods buckled over and a decent size pinky was on the other end. Not long after I got the biggest wrasse I'd ever seen, was pushing 50cm. One more smaller pinky (about 35cm) and the bite dropped off and it was time to move. We paddled further along the spit a ways and set up again. Shortly I had another big wrasse, a female this time. Then a rod went off and I started pulling it in, a few headshakes from time to time but mostly very little resistance until I got it to the surface and I found myself looking at a gummy that must've been close to a meter in length. As soon as it saw me it went berserk and eventually spat the hook as it dived under the yak. In hindsight I should've worn it out a bit further from the yak, but the initial fight gave no indication that a fish that size was on the line. Oh well.
It was turning into a ripper day, but Keith had to head back so we trolled a bit along the way where the water was deep enough. After a quick pit stop I headed back out, this time to the spoil grounds to soak my remaining baits. Nothing much exciting happened there, I got an undersize gummy, a tiny flathead and a banjo. The wind picked up so I chucked the last of the bait and headed in.
I've just finished cooking the two wrasse, and based on that experience they'll be safe from me in the future.
As it got lighter the wind picked up, you can see the difference between the last pic and this one taken not long after as the moon set over the town.
I tried the method that worked so well for me at Shoreham and let the squid jigs suspend a meter or so off the bottom and let the motion of the waves move them up and down, unfortunately the tide was running pretty hard and I couldn't get the down far enough. After persisting for an hour and losing my last white sephia ( :down: ) I had a go at soaking some baits. I didn't get snagged but which was a pleasant surprise but the pickers were out in force and I was just in time for breakfast. By this stage there was a decent swell coming in from the entrance and choppy waves coming down from the north, made worse because the wind was blowing against the tide. Getting the anchor up was a challenge, balancing the yak side on against the waves while extracting the anchor from a big clump of kelp is tricky. I mooched around the area for a bit hoping that the wind would die off, I saw a seal mucking around with some floating kelp.
Eventually I pulled the pin and headed back to the ramp. As I was packing up I was mobbed by a bunch of seagulls and this cheeky raven that perched on the car door and ate bits of my lunch out of my hand.
This morning I went the other way and took the yak down to Kirk Point near Point Wilson. Got there a bit after 5am and we made our way down a goat track (calling it a road doesn't seem accurate) to the launching spot. The plan was to troll some hardbodies to the Arthur The Great Spit, soak some baits and then troll back the way we came. I'm a bit light on for hardbodies so I trolled a couple of stumpjumpers.
There was a bit of a breeze blowing when we started out which made us work for it, it was still a lovely morning to be out on the water though.
We got to our destination without incident or fish and baited up. I got bites pretty much straight away. Something hit a chunk of squid head pretty hard and tore it from the hook so I was pretty sure something good was about to happen. Not long after one of the rods buckled over and a decent size pinky was on the other end. Not long after I got the biggest wrasse I'd ever seen, was pushing 50cm. One more smaller pinky (about 35cm) and the bite dropped off and it was time to move. We paddled further along the spit a ways and set up again. Shortly I had another big wrasse, a female this time. Then a rod went off and I started pulling it in, a few headshakes from time to time but mostly very little resistance until I got it to the surface and I found myself looking at a gummy that must've been close to a meter in length. As soon as it saw me it went berserk and eventually spat the hook as it dived under the yak. In hindsight I should've worn it out a bit further from the yak, but the initial fight gave no indication that a fish that size was on the line. Oh well.
It was turning into a ripper day, but Keith had to head back so we trolled a bit along the way where the water was deep enough. After a quick pit stop I headed back out, this time to the spoil grounds to soak my remaining baits. Nothing much exciting happened there, I got an undersize gummy, a tiny flathead and a banjo. The wind picked up so I chucked the last of the bait and headed in.
I've just finished cooking the two wrasse, and based on that experience they'll be safe from me in the future.
2015/16 Fisting Victoria Species comp total: 289cm
Brown Trout: 37cm
Flathead: 51cm; Squid: 36cm; Australian Salmon: 51cm; Snapper 46cm; Silver Trevally 23cm; KGW: 45cm
Major Sponsor: Rim Master Tackle
Brown Trout: 37cm
Flathead: 51cm; Squid: 36cm; Australian Salmon: 51cm; Snapper 46cm; Silver Trevally 23cm; KGW: 45cm
Major Sponsor: Rim Master Tackle
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Re: Flinders 28/10 and Kirk Point 29/10
Nice report mate getting lots of yak time atm. At Flinders next time try some jigs in the deep configuration and try cutting the bottom half of the prongs off when fishing snaggy ground. You will lose less jigs this way abs doesn't affect the hook up rate.
- 4liters
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Re: Flinders 28/10 and Kirk Point 29/10
Yeah, I'm holidays from uni at the moment and I've been getting out as often as the petrol money allows me to. I'll have to work on squidding at Flinders, maybe with some crap jigs until I've got the technique sorted. The tide wasn't such and issue at Shoreham and the launch was much the same (as long as I don't bog the car again lol) so maybe I'll just get my squid from there.
2015/16 Fisting Victoria Species comp total: 289cm
Brown Trout: 37cm
Flathead: 51cm; Squid: 36cm; Australian Salmon: 51cm; Snapper 46cm; Silver Trevally 23cm; KGW: 45cm
Major Sponsor: Rim Master Tackle
Brown Trout: 37cm
Flathead: 51cm; Squid: 36cm; Australian Salmon: 51cm; Snapper 46cm; Silver Trevally 23cm; KGW: 45cm
Major Sponsor: Rim Master Tackle
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- Rank: Garfish
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- davek
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Re: Flinders 28/10 and Kirk Point 29/10
Good report with plenty of pics 4 litres, keep at you'll get on to some rippers soon enough, cheers davo :a_goodjob:
It's an exhilarating feeling catching a fish
But it's an even better feeling releasing them
But it's an even better feeling releasing them
- bowl
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Re: Flinders 28/10 and Kirk Point 29/10
Ripper ...report...also ting n squid r around kirks point...
To many boats kayak, helicopter , catch a fish,catch a fish
- mazman
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Re: Flinders 28/10 and Kirk Point 29/10
Nice Report Ian. although I'm pretty sure you legally need a light any time between sunset and rise which appears to include when you launched (not 100% as I can't tell from photos but it looks that way).
Cheers Alex
Cheers Alex
- 4liters
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Re: Flinders 28/10 and Kirk Point 29/10
Probably, but I wasn't too worried about running into the water police in the half hour or so between the launch and when the sun came up, and from a practical perspective it was light enough to see a big bright orange kayak.
2015/16 Fisting Victoria Species comp total: 289cm
Brown Trout: 37cm
Flathead: 51cm; Squid: 36cm; Australian Salmon: 51cm; Snapper 46cm; Silver Trevally 23cm; KGW: 45cm
Major Sponsor: Rim Master Tackle
Brown Trout: 37cm
Flathead: 51cm; Squid: 36cm; Australian Salmon: 51cm; Snapper 46cm; Silver Trevally 23cm; KGW: 45cm
Major Sponsor: Rim Master Tackle