Snapper from the Hobie Kayak?

I Decided to have an early fish with local Yaker and friend Dave Tingey alias 'Tingles' at a local spot near Adelaide. It was decided upon that we would meet early next morning to see if there were any Snapper around as the ban was in place the following week. This is to help Snapper stocks not being interrupted during their annual spawning season. 'Tingles' had an early appointment and couldn't get there until around 6 so I decided I would start without him.

It was around 5.20am when I reached the launch site, there was little moon and it was very dark. I wanted to turn the car around so I could back the trailer near the ramp which is quite steep so I proceeded to turn the car around when it came to a noisy halt! What had I done! I've ran over something. On inspection I had gone over the edge or the ramp and the left front wheel was in the air, the underside of the car flat on the ground. ARRGGGG!! I had forgotten about the steepness of the ramp and was also worried as the yak was still in the middle of the road. After laying some rubber, literally, I was humiliated and embarrassed at what had happened, must have sounded like a yobbo!
After I had the car where it should be I proceeded to get things ready without any more incident, phew.

The water sounded quite calm as it was still dark, I wouldn't have launched if it wasn't.
I checked all the safety gear, put on the PFD, turned on the Railblaza Navi light and also the LED Navilight Port/Starboard, no way I'm taking chances in the dark and these lights are very bright, great visibility and totally waterproof.

To make it easy with launching, Dave had previously showed me a great tip. Have the mirage drive clipped with a bungee so to is flat under the hull for launching but you can still use it once you peddle. I did this without any dramas and relaxed the bungee once in safe water which was over the first breakers. I didn't actually realise from the shore but there was a bit of swell but nothing to worrying and proceeded to anchor on what I thought looked good, nice broken bottom and around 5m of water.

This Mulloway was caught using the same plastic earlier in the year, see post HERE.

Today I was trying bait and plastics so I threw out my first rig, a whole pilchard on 2 snooded hooks, and no sinker as there wasn't much water movement into the darkness, let out some line, double-checked the drag, put it in the rod holder and locked it in place.

I then started to berley which consisted of chopped up pieces of the 2kg of pilchards that I had prepared the night before.

My next rig was the plastic so after smearing on some SFactor onto the Pilly Flickbait I again tossed it into the darkness and started to work the lure.

"I was fishing for over 1/2 an hour without a touch, the sun had started to creep over the hills and I could see 'Tingles' in the distance making his way over, great I thought, at least one of us should get a Snapper".

We started to fish together, burleying at intervals but with no results. I then started to try some different tactics, tied on my ever reliable sinking minnow to see if there was any snook or salmon around but even that didn't get a hit. Try for some squid I thought, so I put on the jag and flicked it as far as I could.

I left it for quite a while as the wind was picking up and the water was getting a little sloppy but managed to get one.

This was only a small one, There was some nice ones out there.

After this had happened my Snapper rod came up tight (which I had left in the holder) and I thought you ripper I'm on, lend back on the rod and set the hook, whatever it was took a bit of line and then nothing. Drat a Stingray I thought as I put as much pressure on the 'ray' as I could, the rod had a serious bend in it and I was putting some major hurt on the ray but it wasn't budging, much to the amusement of Tingles. I gave up after what seemed at least 10 minutes and had to break it off but at least I knew my reel and line (15lb) was more than up to the challenge and the knots held.

Trying to put some hurt on the Ray.

Over the course of the morning of flicking it right out leaving it till it was right near the bottom and hopping it back I managed a total of 12 Squid, while trying for some whiting as I had given up on the Snapper idea I also managed a few others, a Leatherjacket and a Wrasse which I had heard tasted all right - they were wrong!

Not to bad considering.

Dave also had some success and we trolled along the coast over to the jetty and back again where I dropped a good Snook while trolling a squidgy bloodworm wriggler.

It got quite sloppy and it's always good to make sure you can be seen on the water, These flags certainly help when the swell is getting up.

Dave alias 'Tingles'  in the swell, great idea to be as visible as possible.

After a safe beach landing we had a breather and then it was the horrid task of getting the yaks over the soft sand up the steep ramp to the cars and I only had my normal trolley. Thankful Dave was able to help me over the sand, once we got them up there we had to catch our breath - well I did anyway.

So although I didn't end up getting my target fish of snapper, by trying a few different things still ended up catching a feed, having great time with a mate and getting out on the water, good times all-round.

Future blogs will be added frequently so please bookmark the page, thanks for reading.

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Great Mulloway catches using Squidgy flickbaits in the Coorong

Although this trip was a while ago now it's one remember clearly.

I had gone to Victor Harbour to stay with  my mum and also my brother who was over here from the UK and I of course I couldn't go without taking the Hobie.

My brother and his new lady friend met me at the Mundoo Chanel boatramp where he took some photos for me of the newly wrapped yak, and after saying "I'll be at Mums for dinner" I went on my merry way for a fish.

One of the pics from the 'photoshoot'.

My hopes were high on getting a fish but after a couple of hours I realised that wasn't going to happen. I had tried topwater, trolling and plastics but there seemed to be nothing around. Feeling a bit dejected I headed back to the boat ramp and was packing up my gear when a boat appeared from the darkness and moored at the ramp. I went over for a chat and as fishermen do started telling the stories of what was biting etc. He was interested in the yak and I mentioned I had caught mulloway from it in the past. "oh you should try here" he said, "caught stacks there the other night all catch and release, had a ball".

Thinking this was just one of those fishing stories I didn't think to much of it and continued to pack up after we had said goodbye.

This spot was on the way home so I thought to myself - what harm can it do to check it out.
On arrival I saw a boat trailer there so at least someone was out.

I put on a squidgy flickbait and thought to myself 'ill give it an hour' lobbed the plastic into the darkness, clicked over the bail arm and proceeded to work the plastic in a big hop hop action, well no sooner had I started the line came up tight and I was on! I could feel the head shakes of a mully and I couldn't believe it, 1st cast your joking I though to myself as I fumbled for the net. After a shortish fight I shone the light into the water to the see the gorgeous silver flanks of a Mulloway along side the yak.

1-3kg rod with 4lb BiteMotion did the damage.

This can't be real, hands still shaking as I tried to take a photo, release the fish and call my mates to let them know the awesome news  but I couldn't get coverage.

Well to cut a long story short this was the order for the rest of the night, cast the plastic then no sooner had it hit the water, rip rip - BANG! Incredible and to think that I was going back to Mums and would have missed all this action.

This isn't a fishing story but honestly I lost count of how many mulloway I caught and released that night, I was there from around 10 till 4am (yep in the kayak) and it was pretty much none stop action all night. I kept 3 fish which were between 70 and 75cm for Mum as she loves fish but can't afford it a lot.

I went down there as much as I could over the rest of the summer, told some friends and they also experienced some fantastic Mulloway action from the yak but it was never as good as that magical night, one I will never forget.

I found these floating on the surface pretty selective feeding! 

The Mulloway were taking a variety of Squidgies and the size of the plastic didn't seem to matter.

Another schoolie caught on the magical Squidgy flick bait, I caught numerous fish on the same tail,
making them very economical.

You can see the bite/scuff marks in this tail, very well used but still catching fish.

All of these plastics caught Mulloway, you can see the teeth marks in some and although they look a little worse for ware were still catching fish. 

One of the 3 keepers from that magical night fishing.

More info on the Squidgies here

Blogs will be added frequently so please bookmark the page, thank's for reading.

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DIY How to 'blaze' the Hobie Pro Angler with Railblaza - Tidy Sounder cables

The Project. This is really basic and not really a DIY but I thought I would share it anyway.

I really wanted to tidy up the sounder cords - I hate cords! I am sitting at a computer every day for my job and the power cords etc. They drive me nuts!

The Plan. Simply tidy them up. This was achieved by firstly filing a bit of a notch in the back of the rotating platform to help the cords sit nicely. I also added a stick on cable guide and the cables run underneath, nice and tidy.

The next step was to simply put cable clips as out of the way as possible to house the cabling, these are quick release and if I want to change the sounder position its an easily achievable, I just put the cables in certain clips.

starport fixing plate underneath to add extra strength.

This helps keep the cords away from hooks jigheads etc.

By using clips it keeps the cords out of the way and if the sounder needs to e moved they are opened quickly. The sounder can go on both sides of the kayak and also at the front sail mount.

Parts used or shown.

Starports

Adjustable platform

Railmount - 19-25

Blogs will be added frequently so please bookmark the page, thank's for reading.

You can check out the products videos etc at http://www.railblaza.com

*product images taken from Railblaza catalogue - download here: http://www.railblaza.com/uploads/Products/RB%20Cat%202013%20Catalogue%20Web.pdf

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DIY How to 'blaze' the Hobie Pro Angler with Railblaza - mounting the GoPro

Project - Mount the GoPro on the Railblaza adjustable platform.

The Goal: I really wanted to achieve flexibility and stability while using the GoPro when taking photos/videos. Also to fit two cameras on the Railblaza adjustable platform saving space, making it easier to use and also so I can film forwards and backwards at the same time.

The Plan: by angling the two camera brackets (1st and main is a GoPro (not in case) the other is a cheaper Audiosonic version) I have rotation and flexability while shooting video and stills. I also have a modified pole with a starport lug at present but will be updating to the camera Boom and telepole for extra functionality and stability in the near future.

The GoPro bracket already had adhesive underneath but I stuck 2 pieces of double sided tape for the other bracket, press and hold firmly for a few seconds.

Voila, a very functional Camera mount that can be mounted in any starport and the railmount.

Out of the way and very easy to use.

Both brackets fitted nicely on the adjustable platform.

Love the adjustable platform, great for mounting the 2 cameras facing each way. The extender lifts the TracPort Dash 350 above the top of the hatch and fits very snuggly in the Hobie sail mount.

Parts used/shown.

Adjustable platform

Mobi adjustable device holder

Starports

TracPort Dash 350

Extenders

Navilight

Blogs will be added frequently so please bookmark the page, thank's for reading.

You can check out the products videos etc at http://www.railblaza.com

*product images taken from Railblaza catalogue - download here: http://www.railblaza.com/uploads/Products/RB%20Cat%202013%20Catalogue%20Web.pdf

Blogs will be added frequently so please bookmark the page, thank's for reading.

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DIY How to 'blaze' the Hobie Pro Angler with Railblaza - modified TracPort Dash 350

The Project - modify the TracPort Dash 350 so it sits parallel to the grabrail on the Hobie rather than at 90 degrees

Please note: the modifications that are described below are my own idea, not that of Railblaza and if something does go wrong, well I'm totally too blame!)

The Challenge.

When fitting the starports on the grabrails on the Hobie (you can see this on a previos blog) I came across a few hurdles. Firstly I should have ordered the Railmount 32-41 but I ordered the 19-25 which was a pretty tight fit and I had to make some adjustments (I'm sure they could have been swapped but I was too impatient and impulsive to get them fitted).

My Goal.

My main goal was I wanted the TracPort Dash 350 to be parallel to the grabrail and not 90 degrees to it (if you fit it correctly with the black support bracket in the screw holes it can only go 90 degrees. (this applies to the grabrail only). While this isn't a problem and is still very functional I was after a different result.

The Plan.

So this is how I went about it, I'm sure there is probably an easier way but hey there's no fun in that....

Firstly I needed to be able to get the fittings 90 degrees to what they are. So I thought "why not use the supplied starport base that comes with the starports", but there were a few things I needed adjust if this was to be achieved.

One was to drill out the base plate so the countersunk bolts would not protrude above the lip of the baseplate, this was achieved by drilling them out a touch being very careful that I don't go too far.

Drilling out the holes so they can be countersunk, be careful not to go to deep, slowly does it.

The next step was to insert the 2 bolts (purchased separately) into the deepened holes.

I then had to drill out part of the back of the mount to allow for the bolt to fit (unfortunately not a very neat job)

Unfortunately not a very neat job but achieved the purpose. A file might have been a better option.

Underneath of starport showing nuts (unfortunately 1 is imperial the other metric hence the different size nut, I will fix this (did I mention I was impulsive?) also shows the drilled out plate to accommodate the nuts.

Starport bolted into place, I used a countersunk screw and washer as that's all I had left

 (as I said, I am impulsive and needed it done then) could have used M6 screws and nuts.

The next step was to slide the top section of the railmount into position and place on the rail, apply the supplied sticky strip to the surface first to give good adhesion, I also used the supplied rubber fitting.

Top section of rail mount in position, ready to go on the rail.

In position.

Then slightly angle the fitting so the baseplate can be pushed on easily.

Grommet pushed into place and the nut screwed down.

Showing the rubber grommet used to "fill" the recessed cavity that fits a nut, If I didn't do this there is no way to tighten  it as the head of the bolt is hidden. You could use just a larger washer but this works well

Once the two nuts were tightened there wasn't any movement from the railmount.

The support bracket fits into the screw lugs as normal to give extra stability.

Underneath of the tracport 350 showing the support bracket fitting into the starport screw "cutouts".

This gives it the stability needed.

The top view.

Mission accomplished, parallel TracPort.

this shows the TracPort Dash 350 in use: phone and rod holder within easy reach. Also shows the location of the other starports.

Products featured:

Railmount - 19-25

Starports

TracPort Dash 350

blogs will be added frequently so please bookmark the page, thank's for reading.

You can check out the products videos etc at http://www.railblaza.com

*product images taken from Railblaza catalogue - download here: http://www.railblaza.com/uploads/Products/RB%20Cat%202013%20Catalogue%20Web.pdf