Lunchtime Quickie

Catch Report 27/11/2006

Went out yesterday for a lunchtime quickie to test out a Smilin Jack lure that I modified. It was the one Chen bought for me. To my surprise, the front bib which was of the old design, wasn't causing the lure to swim in a sexy fashion, damn! Anyhow, I sprayed some stimulate and began intense casting for a big fat zero on this lure. After getting tired of this lure, I changed to evergreen again and had a hit of some sort. Suddenly, saw a small mullet cruising slowly along the bank and took a short video of it.

As the wind was picking up and my lunchtime is running out, I opted soft plastic with a heavier jighead to counter the wind. The tide by then had just started to run-out. Using 2g just makes it easier to get tangle with whatever crap that is present in the sea bed. Anyway, still managed one decent hit and hookup of a 42cm flathead which didn't put up much struggle at all.

Soon, it was time to pack up and head back to work. Sigh..

Ronald

Almost Got Fine $400

Catch Report 25/11/2006

Yesterday night I managed to rush finish my 2nd draft journal to be sent to my supervisor as i incidentally told him in the meeting that I can finish by the night! Stupid me, end up having so much editing to do and only managed to send him after 2am! He must have been asleep by then but a promise is a promise and "4 horses hard to chase" (chinese idiom). End up sleeping around at 4.

Suddenly woke up today at 8+! Funny me, when it comes to weekends, I tend to wake up early even though I don't mind sleeping in. So, had a strong espresso for brekkie and headed to office to see what I can do. Didn't do much, as fishing started to cloud my mind. A quick check of the wind and tide and I was off to Hen & Chicken bay.

Upon reaching there, the wind was still ok. Although the forecast was gonna be a northeaster. The tide was pretty high and so some fieldtest will be carried out. 1st up was the Jackall Bros Chubby that I got from eBay and hadn't used it. I did some mod to it since it floats up pretty fast and the added weight enables longer cast. This deep diver was ideal for today's highest tide. I was surprised being only 38mm lure it still managed to touch the bottom. Soon, I got the 1st fish for the chubby with a Silver Biddy! Haha, my fourth biddy and man.. they really strike the lure hard-on!

I usually change lures after getting at least one but thought might as well continue with it. Had wanted to spray some Stimulate but afraid that the mat surface will be hard to wash off the oil. After a grim persistence, it finally tempted a 35cm flattie which took it very near the bank.

It was a very sunny day today, I was afraid my 30+SPF sunscreen had no effect. I'm becoming so charcoal-ed nowadays and got more worried with the recent tv ad on skin cancer! Think I better go buy the 50+ I heard about and apply more! Anyway, the wind was breezy and somewhat cooling so I wasn't sweating like hell. Thought that the chubby had enough fun so I opted to go soft plastic. Took out a previously used watermelon bm and sprayed on some stimulate. Began casting with the aid of the wind to get a further distance. Tried every opportunity to hide under a tree for shade to get away from the direct sun. Without long, got a funny take and didn't realised it was a bream until it swam sideways! It was only a 24cm bream.

Now, everytime after I caught a fish, I give the lure a respray. I find that it works for me, maybe it's psychological? Roughly moving a little, I got another take but it turns out to be the smallest bream of today! Such small buggers can take almost its same size!

By then, the bm was surprisingly still intact. So, another respray and was continued. Same thing happened and luckily the wind wasn't affecting the bites detection and it got hammered big time and my kix gave a hard burst. Sadly, that was the only burst. Today's biggest 28cm bream had not much struggles in it but I still enjoyed slowly tiring it out.

To my amazement yet again, the bm was still intact! Maybe because I played them out nicely without violent reeling and that's how my leader and lure can be saved from their constant thrashing. Not long later, it was bream no. 4. This fish made a hard burst too and I thought it'll be a bigger one but turns out as just an undersize! Haha.. funny how every bream can behave differently regardless of sizes.

By then, the tide is getting quite low. I work my way back to where I parked my car and strictly used only hardbodies. Tried with my EverGreen Spin-Move Shad (eBay) and goldie but no takers. While I was packing up my gear ready to go, a policeman came up to me casually asking me how was my catch today. I replied nothing spectacular and we just had a casual talk. As soon as I walked over to my car, he and his collegue pulled up along side and asked me if that was a pair of scissors on my left shoulder pouch. I told yes it is and he said it's an offence to carry around scissors or knives as they're considered weapons if we're walking on the streets and warned me it'll be a $400 fine! But he kindly explained that it's a warning since he knew I was using it for fishing purposes and told me that it's ok to carry a scissors around for fishing purposes but just make sure it's kept in the bag. I thanked them for this notice and drove off knowing I might be innocently fined $400 just in a day's luring at Hen & Chicken Bay! Guys, if you read this, remember that! Phew!!!

Ronald

Jialiang, The Chosen One

Catch Report 23/11/2006

Took me quite awhile to get these flash files up and running from a faster server so I guess I'll just let the videos cover the blog.



He has done it again, by doing the "LUCKY" thing he always do. We call him the GONG TAO KIA not for fun one. Same spot as our other kaki, Justin. Exactly the same place except he casted further away. It went 92cm and almost max out his boga grip at 14.5 pounds, roughly a 7 kilo jewfish.

The free squidgy soft plastic from a magazine.

Actually RONALD DON'T KNOW HOW TO FISH, HE ONLY KNOWS HOW TO LIP GRIP AND TAKE VIDEO. Right???

Sigh... I'm destined to be a camera man for these blokes. Damn it!

Ronald

Swift Craft In Sydney Harbour

It was a glorious day of a proper outing for Swift Craft, or Swifty which we've grown affection for. Chen was free from work on Sunday and why not a better day to take the boat out for a spin before it'll be sold off. I've checked the conditions and it's gonna be low swells and winds for the entire day. We were supposed to get out from homebase by 5am but being such a long time since I've woken up for 1st light conditions, we left pretty late. This time round, Chen remembered to fit the bung in and removed the muffler. We headed off to Tunks Park boat ramp and the way in from Cammeray was a little tricky. But still, we managed to find our way into the ramp. Looks like a good condition ramp with a pontoon too for me to board the boat. The launching was done pretty straight forward with not much drama this round. It was a pristine morning and the water was as glassy as a champagne glass. By then, we were officially in Middle Harbour waters and soon managed to find our way out to the main harbour. Pretty soon we went past Middle Head and straightaway we saw our usual spot, the Wedding Cakes. My initial target was for salmon chasing but no school could be spotted probably due to our very late start. Nonetheless, we headed to the cakes without buying any baits except for some old pilchards. Tried anchoring at the cakes but the anchor that we had was too light and couldn't hold the bottom at all. So, had no choice but to get skipper Chen to manouvre swifty near the mooring so I could at least tie the boat onto the structure. It was done and soon, we managed to berley a little to get some yellowtails as live bait. Once we got enough, we motored across to Sow and Pigs reef to try drifting. Since there wasn't much wind, we weren't even moving at all. Caught nothing there except to see some trevallies responding to Chen's berley we decided to change spot. Got straight towards the Heads with me holding my rod trolling a live yellowtail while Chen drove the boat. Trolled for nothing and we decided to stay near North Head to do some bottom bashing. I continued soaking my live bait while Chen opted for a dead filleted yellowtail. Suddenly, his reel zzz but he was hesitating and the hook wasn't set properly. The next bait he threw got him a flathead but it dropped boatside. By then, I axed the idea of using live bait and opted a fillet as well. Voila, it works and I managed to boat my 1st decent flathead for Swifty with a 50cm Sand Flathead. By then, a giant tanker is about to cross our path and so in double quick time we drove back to Middle Harbour. More drama unfolded when we lost our way back. All in all, it was a eye-opener trip except unfortunately for Chen he forgot about his handphone in his shorts pocket and it got busted when we were launching.

Since there were a couple of pics I've taken, I decided to try a slideshow instead and made it into a flash format. To control the slideshow and see the captions, point or click on the bottom of the pics.

These pics will be such a cool memory of the boating hobby I've done in Aust. Team StMike hooyah!

Ronald

Too Many Flatties!

Catch Report 18/11/2006

Suddenly concussed early last night for no apparent reason after finishing dinner with Chen. Then, also suddenly wake up early around 5+ today morning. Looked out the window and thought what the heck, I'll go for a lure. A quick check of the wind condition from my handphone internet and decided to hit Five Dock bay which I've been meaning to do.

Upon reaching there, I the water was glassy. There wasn't any wind and I tried with bloodworm grub 1st. On the first cast, got a smallish flathead. Threw him back and on the next cast at the same spot, I hook up straightaway without even a twitch! This run was unique and indeed, it was a smallish bream! Haha, I thought it'll be a good day!

Well, sort of... long story short then. I hooked up to countless, yes, countless amount of small flatties throughout the whole session! I reckon I'm looking at a figure of over 20+ in the space of about 3 hours being there, with maybe only 1 or 2 of it being a legal! Even this place also haunts me with small flatties! But they are still a little fun, knowing that anything u just throw into the water you'll bound to get something! There was couple of times I thought my plastics got snagged but flicking it out seems no trouble at all. It was indeed quite a top place.

I persisted with the hope to at least get a decent bream before calling it quits. By then, the tide was falling and things were looking grim. More flatties hop onto the grub and bm. Rigged up a pseed grub and noticed a stretch had many small ferocious bites and knew it can't be flatties. Kept on spraying the Stimulate and on a particular retrieve, I decided to drag it. Suddenly while the plastic was rolling along the bottom, it moved and the line got straightened. I striked and my beloved kix do the zzz dance. Ah.. almost orgase at that moment as I knew I'll be able to get the big buggers there. The water was shallow and the bream went ballistic, running a few times and never wanted to let me steer it to the bank. Still, I won the battle and brought this 31cm up for a quick snap. Was a little disappointed with the size but still it was a strong fighter, respect..

Soon, the grub's tail was snipped again and I tried for a little longer with goldie. The water was really shallow by now and I gave up and headed to maccas and had brekkie.

Ronald

My Personal Best Silver Trevally On Lure

Catch Report 17/11/2006

Was on MSN messaging with Jialiang the day before and he told him I might go for a lure on friday late arvo and he was interested. Though he still had a paper on the coming monday, it didn't bother him, as it'll be his last. How fast, soon he'll graduate and leave sydney for good. Nonetheless, we should not be bothered with these and I told him I had a meeting on friday mid-arvo. This meeting was emailed as an urgent one. Still, I attended it only to realised the urgency was due nonetheless to my comments I made in my annual progress report. In it I specified the possibilty of time-constraints to include experimental results and was hoping to axe it and replaced with my simulated findings. Guess it was not received well by my supervisor and he kept on pressuring us to get one going at least for validation, and that means more findings tailoring an experiment for my control system. He kept on pursuing the fact that time is running out for me and that the uni had a strict policy on us postgrads to finish on time, so basically his intentions is to stop any of us from extending our stay. FINE! I'll speed up and give WHATEVER i can give! I was stressed hearing that and proceeded to meet up with Jialiang at Iron Cove.

Once there, jialiang saw my tired expression and told me in chinese not to stress. He said if I got a 40cm bream run, i'll be stress free. He had reached first and by then, he had already caught 4 flatties. I rigged up my favourite bloodworm grub which I always liked to use while there. Within a few casts later, I felt one of my twitch had some weight when I wind in the slack and off it goes... zzzzz... yeehaa!!! This was a good fish, as the kix sang for a few times. Suddenly Jialiang saw the shape and called for a trevally! Indeed, the head shakes tells it all as bream don't do that. From the water it doesn't look that big but when it was near our feet, I realised this was no ordinary size! I told Jialiang that it's gonna be difficult to hoist it up and he went down the slopy banks to help me lip grip. Stupid berkley pocket lip gripper is a shit product as it doesn't clamp on the fish mouth properly! So Jialiang had no choice but to grab the leader and swoop it up. So the mandatory photo taking session had to be in place only to have the battery stuffed up again! Argh! Luckily Jialiang brought his digital camera (1st time i realised man!) and help me took some happy snaps before I speared the fish in only to do it in a shitty way! Oh well, the trev is fine and it swam away after getting adjusted. I immediately told Jialiang I'm stressed free! Because I caught a 39cm silver trevally which is my personal best on lure!!

Well, that was the only highlight of the session. I kept on with the grub only to have it's tail snipped off by puffers. Tried with the pumpkinseed with same fate. Decided to give pinkie a go and sprayed some Stimulate. Jialiang saw it and asked if this thing will work. I told him maybe and on the first cast, I got a 40cm flattie... He was mumbling after that... hahaha...

Then, he wanted the spray from me for all his lures! hahahaha... We got to the drain and I changed to another smilin jack colour which is the brown trout. Did the mandatory spray and after numerous casts, I had a take and it was another similar size flattie. The similar things they did was to swallow both my smilin jacks all the way into their gobs! Had a tough time removing the treble out but Jialiang helped me with his long-nose plier and he sent him away, but seems it had suffered serious injuries! Anyway, brown trout caught its 1st fish finally! Happy too.

Ronald

Hot Weather Luring

Catch Report 11/11/2006

Today woke up a bit earlier to help Chen check his trailer lights connection and see what we can do for the boat. As he had to work in the arvo, we only had about an hour to muck around. Good news is the trailer lights works now. Bad news is the front control cables are tricky to be connected. In the end, we pulled out Swift Craft and decided to take it out tommorrow. So I thought might as well give it a start and try to flush the engine. Filled up a 60L bin and submerged the prop and muzzle in the water. The key start was ok but the motor just won't prank. We tried like over 10+ inigtion only to finally get it fire up. But surprising the water weren't drained out from the output nozzle and perhaps we need to put in the water and throttle it up to flush it with water.

After hastily putting Swifty back where she sleeps, Chen headed to work while I went to HC for a lure session. It was a bloody hot day with little winds. Ate a little and proceeded there to find no one else were fishing. Rigged up a watermelon bm 1st and casted away. Tried spraying some of the Stimulate attractant with no effect. So, it's been quite awhile since I've used the camo sandworm and so took a new halved worm and within the 1st cast, felt some bites follow by even stronger bites that took a bit of line. Damn, didn't hook it and brought in my worm to check. Blasted, the worm became 1 inch. Rerigged another and this time, caught quite a few small flatheads at a 'sure-fire' spot. By then the worm was almost in tatters and so I retried the watermelon bm. I resprayed more stimulate and on the 1st cast, got a instant hit and the pull was strong. It lacks running power and couldn't even pull line out from my reel. Still, it was always keeping tension on my rod and up came a 26cm bream.

Cool, seems like the stimuate spray works wonder on 1st casts! Then, the bites went off and I persisted awhile longer. Decided to change to goldie and also sprayed stimulate on it. Cast cast cast while walking along the stretch with nothing. Went past the 'sure-fire' spot and on a finished retrieve, felt a thump on my line and knew it was a flatty. Haha, 1st flattie on goldie! Though only an undersized 34cm model.

Afterwards, the tide was already very low as I started the session on the peak tide. Goldie kept picking up weed and it was frustrating clearing it in every casts. So, changed to camo sandy again and stick with 'sure-fire' spot again. On a drop, the fish took off with my worm and did pulled some line. I thought it was a big one but soon it just let me reel it in easy. Damn it, another 'cannot-run' bream at 28cm.

Afterwards, kept plugging away with few more bites but failed hookup. I was really dehydrated by then and so went back to St Mike for a coldie and a cool shower.

Ronald

What The??!! Another Boat??!!

Hahahahaha... Yes, Chen has acquired another boat. He is the proud owner of a Brooker V14 aluminium boat and this is confirmed to be more looking like a fishing boat. Actually his mate is the major shareholder of this boat but he's gonna sell away the Swift Craft and split the cost evenly with Team StMikes and his mate. Well, where is my contribution then? I've installed a towbar on my Civic and it now looks so UGLY! Hahaha...

1985 Honda Civic 3 Door Hatch with a freaking towbar behind, COOL?

I got these stuffs setup in Gladesville at this place call "shop1auto". I had to wait 2.5 hours for the installation. Went to a local mall, bought a fishing magazine and had a cappucino to chill out. Man, I haven't been doing this "chill out" thing for quite some time. Shit, that's more for retirees eh?

So after the installation had finished, I collected the car and called Chen to liase about picking up the boat. We went off to Northbridge and met the owner's brother. Chen joked about him resembling Russell Crowe which in fact he does look a bit like the actor, even his voice too! We hang around his joint for awhile to get the papers sorted and also he was kind to give us some crash course on launching and retrieving the boat. Then came the moment to "devirginise" the towbar. I reversed my car and we began another crash course on mounting. Once all done, we bid farewell and the moment of truth will suffice when we head back to homebase.

Long story short, we made it back in ONE piece! There were some moments when Civic struggled a little when the slope was steep but since there's choke control in my car, it helps give that extra boost. So now there's 2 boats sitting in Father's garage, I wonder how he'll respond!

Looks more like a fishing boat doesn't it? See how low my car is compared to the boat! My back view is totally blocked!

In fact this boat comes with 2 motors. Pictured is the working Mariner 25hp but there is no connections from the front control. The 2nd motor is a spoilt Evinrude 25hp with the electrics on it. We reckon we'll fix up the spoilt one which has a blown head gasket and sell off this Mariner. The electrics are great and we can't wait to flush our 1st motor experience! Damn, if only Singapore has these shits for me to do... Sad...

Ronald

Sneaky Move

Catch Report 8/11/2006

Seeing that today's tide was one of the highest ever since waiting almost for a month plus to happen, I decided to sneak off from work for an hour session. The wind was blowing southerly and so I proceeded to Iron Cove as it's been quite awhile since I visited that good ol' playground of ours.

As my old pink fireline has been very frayed, I had long wanted to respool in a new fireline. So I took all the old line out and took a pic to remind how my empty kix looks like.

Then, went to compleat angler store in the city to get a new roll of Fireline Crystal. This product is pretty brand new and is said to be partially invisible in the water! Don't know true a not... I remembered calling the guys up to check if they have the machine spooler. Basket told me have so I ruck up with Chen and went there. In the end put aeroplane say they don't have the machine and told me it's better to do it manually. So I've no choice let them do it for me though I know how to do that also! Assholes miss calculated the backing line and end up having to take out the new line again. They tied it to one of their Daiwa Airity reel and crank in at high speed not free spooling my reel! Then somemore thumb my spool and the zzzzz sound was damn loud! Wah, my drag was being tortured! I just stood there and stare blankly! Shit, my heart damn pain man... Hopefully my precious kix is ok...

Heck lah, proceeded to fishing IC and started at the drain 1st. Cast cast cast nothing, the tide was looking good and the wind was not perfect but manageable. Few times thought I got snag but managed to pull up 2 tree branches! Then did the shift and casted another side of the drain, 1st cast it got snagged! Damn it, I just rigged on a new 3" pseed bm! Then leader broke while I tried freeing the plastic so no choice had to re-tie new leader and opted for the Famell 8lb. Put on a used watermelon bm (haven't caught fish yet) and continued. Moved further down with no bites at all, until like half way through it got snagged big-time again! I tried flicking it out and not much persistence, it broke! Leader was still there but it was frayed, suggesting I got lodged by an oyster encrusted rock. I almost wanted to give up early and head back but changed to pinkie for one last try. Bought a attractant spray the other day and put some on pinkie. It was a Stimulate Ultrabite slow release attractant. The smell's not bad, really make my artificial smelled like dead fish.. haha.. 1st cast of pinkie and it got slammed big time on just a few cranks. The fight was good, and it made a few short runs. I thought it's gonna be a big one as the weight tells it all so I tried to guide the fish to a nearby step. Finally brought it up without much dramas and it measured 31cm.

Still continued awhile more before calling quits after 1.5 hours there. Oh well, one fish is better than being eating eggs.

Ronald

Expensive Hobby

With the coming dull days (wet weather) and intense pressure on my thesis writing, what better way to indulge myself on acquiring couple of lures. Actually, I've only just got a new parcel and you've guessed it right, from NIPPON! Hike, hike, hike!! Mental ronald doing it yet again.. Well, it's my 1st Ever Green lure and I've been eyeing on this SPIN-MOVE Shad for quite sometime. Wasn't impressed on their colour range but since it was calculated to be quite a good deal with the strong Aussie dollar, I got it at $18. The colour name was interesting, IMAKATSU Lemon. I know what that particular jap name represents but no point getting into the nitty gritty stuffs about some 'pro' jap bass fishos fame. But hell they sell expensive stuffs... dang!

But, the good ol' Smilin' Jacks lures are still a very productive Aussie lure and they are helluva cheapies. As mentioned earlier, Jialiang got me the Euro Trout colour while Chen gets the Strawberry Pie flavour (colour). I haven't use these lures yet! Too many in my tackle box!

Ronald

Jialiang's Personal Best Tailor On Lure

Catch Report 1/11/2006

It's been quite awhile since I've actually gone for a lure. Jialiang called me to inform me it's his last lecture here as a student and soon it'll be his exams and then officially finishing his studies in Australia. Wow, how time flies. It's been just over a year since we've met each other but it doesn't matter as we're just the usual fishing nutbags. Then obviously the question comes for whether a session is in place. I obviously gave in as I've just finished my 1st journal write up.
It was initially decided for KB but instead we headed to HC as I told him the wind is more suited. So in the end he drove over to my place for a pickup. He gave me a new Smilin' Jack he had bought from a tackle shop near Hurstville the other time and it was a Euro Trout colour. Ooh, combined with another colour Chen bought for me from Fairfield's Kmart (Strawberry Pie colour), I now have a healthy collection of Smilin' Jacks!

Jialiang started off with Fly fishing while I opted to go for a 3inch bloodworm bm. The start was slow, with nothing much of bites coming. There was this family whose mum drove a Benz convertible and they pulled up to where we were fishing and began having a picnic there. Well, it was more like a short meal of baked chicken in aluminium foil. When they were indulging in the meal, the smell was damn nice, making Jialiang notice it and he alerted me about it. Aside from the distraction, I caught a small flathead without any fight and was released. I changed to pinkie then and had many hits and misses with a particular one that caught Jialiang's attention. He lectured me on the risk I took by removing the middle treble. While I was cursing and swearing, Jialiang secretly rig up the pinky I bought him from Kmart and he hook up something. At first he told me it was a mullet as the fish jumps but soon when it was near him, he clarified it was a tailor. And the tailor we saw was freaking huge, making multiple jumps just like peacock bass. Damn, he created another record which makes it hard to beat, a 43cm tailor.

Well blardy done lah brudder, u make it another challenge for me lor! Obviously he's not happy that I broke his 74cm flathead record and so he brought out his famous 'gong tao' (spell) and did the extraodinary. 43 is definitely a very hard number to beat especially luring for tailors in enclosed waters. Grrr... somemore on a lure I bought him!

I still persisted with pinky and moved down further the bay. From there I saw 2 lurers on the opposite side and thought how come they are facing the wind head-on? Anyway, who cares. Suddenly there was a big hit on pinky and I reacted violently. But only to find out it was a very small fish with totally no fight in it. Up came a super small Silver Biddy, my 2nd one in HC.

I'm surprise that the hit was so verocious by such a small little one but to console myself, at least I get to hook up 3 Biddies so far, as they aren't considered easy to get on lures. Their mouth are so small that the only possible way is they foul hook themselves while attacking the lure, not to mention I've only got a tail treble!

Soon I got tired of pinky and changed to a used 3inch Smelt colour bm. At the same tree spot I got another small flattie. Jialiang suggested going to the 'jewfish' spot and we proceed to walk up. At some point near a bunch of old man seating on the bench talking, we made a cast each. They made a joke saying if we caught a fish, it shall be split half! I was thinking "old man, u wanna die early, don't u know the fishies are polluted?". Then suddenly, my drag ran. It made a slow but consistent run. I tried to pump my rod and started reeling only to realise it seems like I got a snag instead?! Jialiang swore it can't be a snag as he saw that at one point I was holding the rod stationary and the drag could still move! We reckon it might be a stingray. Still, in the end it was eventually becoming a snag. Damn it! Lost 2 bm rigs, got an impossible-to-beat record, and a broken ego, that's life... Yeah yeah yeah...

Ronald