3 bream on one lure and just one cast ....

[Mick Smith]

Sound a bit farfetched? Well it did happen, just last Saturday.

After waiting for the heat of the day to subside, I launched my little mini-x kayak at one of my nearby estuaries. I paddled up, into the top end of the estuary where I knew there were lots of overhanging trees and snags in the water. Bream don't like bright sunny conditions and neither do I.

The very first cast of the day resulted in a strong hit, but unfortunately there was no hook up. My next cast of the lure, which was lobbed further into the snags, resulted in a solid hook up. The averaged sized bream was soon brought to the side of my kayak. As I was playing the bream, I noticed a much larger bream lurking below the one I had caught. My heart skipped a beat, because it was a very big bream for this small creek.

It soon became apparent that the big bream was aggressively attacking the smaller one. It was using its much larger mass to shoulder the smaller bream to one side. After watching these antics for a minute or so, I realised it was trying to steal my lure from the smaller bream's mouth.

Being always an optimist, I pictured the possibility of catching two bream on the one lure. I let out a few metres of extra line from my reel, to allow the smaller bream to move away from the kayak. I could tell from the angle of my line that there was lots happening in the depths below me.

All of a sudden my little rod buckled over and the reel began to scream in protest. I started to laugh like a demented man! I knew that I had the big bream on. After many dogged runs I finally had the big bream on the surface near my kayak. The smaller bream was gone, but I didn't care.

I carefully reached into the water and cradled the big bream with my hand. I was gobsmacked with its size. I quickly measured it, using my folding builders rule. It was just short of 42cm long. I then took two photographs of it. Using my forceps, I carefully removed the lure. A loose lure in a kayak along with a thrashing fish can be a dangerous combination, so I just tossed the lure back into the water, where it floated safely nearby.

The big bream was pretty worn out from the long fight, so I had to manually swim it beside the kayak until it started to regain its strength. A big bream like that would be around 40 years old, so I wanted to release it unharmed. Finally, after about 2 or 3 minutes of assisting it to swim, it was finally fit enough to let it go, which I did.

It was just a bit of bad luck for the bream. As it swam away, it happened to run directly into the floating lure that I had just previously discarded. It was hooked up again! I quickly unhooked it and after another few minutes of assisted swimming, it was able to make off on its own power.

It was a very unusual set of circumstances. I have been a very keen bream fisherman for many years and I've never seen or heard of anything like it. It was a trip that I will remember for a long, long time.

[timbow]

Well done mate that's the biggest bring I have ever seen looks like a great little spot you have.
Mick whats the mini x yak like would it suit a big fat guy like me and is it fast and maneuverable, seeing stories like this sparks me up to get back into kayak fishing again.
Tim

[bigbob]

NICE FISH Mick!. Great story too.

[Stickbow Hunter]

What a fun few minutes. The big fella was a nice fish to.

Jeff

[Mick Smith]

Well done mate that's the biggest bring I have ever seen looks like a great little spot you have.
Mick whats the mini x yak like would it suit a big fat guy like me and is it fast and maneuverable, seeing stories like this sparks me up to get back into kayak fishing again.
Tim

Hi Tim. I've caught bream previously that have been considerably larger even than that one. It is a good spot, particularly upstream, as nobody goes up there much.

The mini x is manoeuvrable, but it's not particularly fast. It's a great little kayak for tight situations where you don't have to paddle long distances. Weighing in at just 20kg, it's easy to load and unload onto the car. It's a very efficient little kayak, all the same. I'm not too sure how it would go with a larger bloke though. You would need to check the manufacturer's specifications regarding it's recommend carrying weight before you bought one.

I get a lot of enjoyment from kayak fishing, particularly around this time of the year.

[Mick Smith]

NICE FISH Mick!. Great story too.

What a fun few minutes. The big fella was a nice fish to.

Jeff

Thanks fellas. The title of the story isn't exactly accurate though. It was one fish caught twice, plus one that wasn't 'fully' caught, but I suppose it got your attention though.

[Len]

Wow! Thats awesome Mick. Best bream I've seen and I gotta know what was the lure?

[Gringa Bows]

Good fish,that lure sure earns its keep ay

[Sleepy]

Thanks fellas. The title of the story isn't exactly accurate though. It was one fish caught twice, plus one that wasn't 'fully' caught, but I suppose it got your attention though.

Literary license dictates that facts should never stand in the way of a good story, and especially it's title.

Doubly so for one about fishing!!!

Have a feeling I know which particular creek that might be

But I'm not tellin'!!

[Mick Smith]

Wow! Thats awesome Mick. Best bream I've seen and I gotta know what was the lure?

Thanks Len. The lure was a Jackall Chubby Minnow, shallow diver, in the ghost ayu colour. It's a good copy of the local minnows that are common in that system.

Good fish,that lure sure earns its keep ay

It has earned its keep many times over Rod. It's my 'go to' lure, particularly for that estuary.

Thanks fellas. The title of the story isn't exactly accurate though. It was one fish caught twice, plus one that wasn't 'fully' caught, but I suppose it got your attention though.

Literary license dictates that facts should never stand in the way of a good story, and especially it's title.

Doubly so for one about fishing!!!

Have a feeling I know which particular creek that might be

But I'm not tellin'!!

Yes mate, fishermen are notorious for stretching the truth, although this incident was unusual enough in its own right, to be able to stick pretty close to the way it actually panned out.