Is that a child's hand holding that teensy bream? 
Alas, Sir, I must concede you had the better of us today. Seven anglers faced the challenge at Woy Woy - MangoX (Steve), Crowdy (Dennis), RobbieAUS (Rob), rawprawn (Greg), Stevo (that'd be Steve) and Paul.
The day for me started as well as it continued. I arrived early to meet MangoX setting up. Setup (gee its so easy without the motor) and was itching to see how P2 performed so took her out for a spin. After being a little unsettled at the start I got really comfortable and was cruising along. Don't know how I shifted by weight, but I clearly did because she listed right and ejected me. How embarrasing. Fortunately Gatesy was not there to take a photo that could haunt me for the rest of my days.
Anyhow, we hit the water, eventually all meeting up around Pelican Is. Attempted to fish some enclosed flats but the water was too shallow. One striking feature of the whole place was that all the weed was covered with an algae. It didn't look good. It was very hard to find any fish. There were some fry around and some juvenile bream were spotted.
Crossed the channel for fish near the roadway then under the bridge to try the flats on the other side. Again no good.
Crowdy suggested the flats at the northern end of Pelican Is so we all went over there, among disused oyster leases. More fish were evident but they weren't agressive. Paul got a hit but no hookup and Rob got an undersized chopper - the only fish of the day! I spotted a large whiting (would have given the Wallis Lake fish a run for its money) and cast my bubblepop past it. Three times the fish smashed the lure without hooking up. At least it showed some interest.
We then crossed Paddy's Channel to get away from the rising Nor Easter. No more action. I got a couple of follows but no hits. Crowdy headed in early for family duties and rawprawn, stevo and Paul kept going as they were close to home/cars.
MangoX, Rob and myself headed back to the meeting spot and had a bit of a chat before those guys headed out for a spot of unrestricted fishing and I headed home.
Good thing about the day, apart from the company and a guided tour of the local spots from Dennis and Steve, was the yak. She exceeded my expectations. My early ejection was not repeated and she was easy to paddle and quicker than the P13. I was very surprised by the responsiveness of the rudder, and the ease of use of the pedals. I also adjusted to the new paddle quickly and found it far superior to the standard viking paddle I had had.
A couple of negatives with the yak. The centre hatch is raised above the seat and presses on your thighs. Might try raising the seat a little once I'm sure I won't tip myself again. The other problem was that the bolts holding the pedals and the rudder came loose. The pedals were OK but I wasn't aware of the rudder bolts until I got home and the bolts were missing, with the rudder swinging free! :x Have fixed new ones nice and firmly, with some plastic washers so this shouldn't be repeated.
Other problem I had today was with the fireline on my Stradic 1000, which was used with the bubblepop. The stiffness of the fireline meant I was constantly getting loose line and ended up cutting off knots three times. For this really light work I need to find an alternative to fireline - it is just too stiff when new. Had similar problems with another lure, also with newish fireline. Other reel was fine but the fireline is no longer new or stiff.
Finally, I gave the Kinami lures I purchased as few weeks ago a run. These are quite large but have very impressive actions and cast a long way. I'll give them another outing when conditions are more favourable (no algae and warmer water).
To the Wally Lakers, congratulations, you clearly were the better team today. However, we shall meet again and join battle with a very different result
Alas, Sir, I must concede you had the better of us today. Seven anglers faced the challenge at Woy Woy - MangoX (Steve), Crowdy (Dennis), RobbieAUS (Rob), rawprawn (Greg), Stevo (that'd be Steve) and Paul.
The day for me started as well as it continued. I arrived early to meet MangoX setting up. Setup (gee its so easy without the motor) and was itching to see how P2 performed so took her out for a spin. After being a little unsettled at the start I got really comfortable and was cruising along. Don't know how I shifted by weight, but I clearly did because she listed right and ejected me. How embarrasing. Fortunately Gatesy was not there to take a photo that could haunt me for the rest of my days.
Anyhow, we hit the water, eventually all meeting up around Pelican Is. Attempted to fish some enclosed flats but the water was too shallow. One striking feature of the whole place was that all the weed was covered with an algae. It didn't look good. It was very hard to find any fish. There were some fry around and some juvenile bream were spotted.
Crossed the channel for fish near the roadway then under the bridge to try the flats on the other side. Again no good.
Crowdy suggested the flats at the northern end of Pelican Is so we all went over there, among disused oyster leases. More fish were evident but they weren't agressive. Paul got a hit but no hookup and Rob got an undersized chopper - the only fish of the day! I spotted a large whiting (would have given the Wallis Lake fish a run for its money) and cast my bubblepop past it. Three times the fish smashed the lure without hooking up. At least it showed some interest.
We then crossed Paddy's Channel to get away from the rising Nor Easter. No more action. I got a couple of follows but no hits. Crowdy headed in early for family duties and rawprawn, stevo and Paul kept going as they were close to home/cars.
MangoX, Rob and myself headed back to the meeting spot and had a bit of a chat before those guys headed out for a spot of unrestricted fishing and I headed home.
Good thing about the day, apart from the company and a guided tour of the local spots from Dennis and Steve, was the yak. She exceeded my expectations. My early ejection was not repeated and she was easy to paddle and quicker than the P13. I was very surprised by the responsiveness of the rudder, and the ease of use of the pedals. I also adjusted to the new paddle quickly and found it far superior to the standard viking paddle I had had.
A couple of negatives with the yak. The centre hatch is raised above the seat and presses on your thighs. Might try raising the seat a little once I'm sure I won't tip myself again. The other problem was that the bolts holding the pedals and the rudder came loose. The pedals were OK but I wasn't aware of the rudder bolts until I got home and the bolts were missing, with the rudder swinging free! :x Have fixed new ones nice and firmly, with some plastic washers so this shouldn't be repeated.
Other problem I had today was with the fireline on my Stradic 1000, which was used with the bubblepop. The stiffness of the fireline meant I was constantly getting loose line and ended up cutting off knots three times. For this really light work I need to find an alternative to fireline - it is just too stiff when new. Had similar problems with another lure, also with newish fireline. Other reel was fine but the fireline is no longer new or stiff.
Finally, I gave the Kinami lures I purchased as few weeks ago a run. These are quite large but have very impressive actions and cast a long way. I'll give them another outing when conditions are more favourable (no algae and warmer water).
To the Wally Lakers, congratulations, you clearly were the better team today. However, we shall meet again and join battle with a very different result
