Kayak: Biggera Waters

BRISBANE Troy Brown

Kayak fishing has been one of the most rewarding pastimes I’ve ever engaged in, but it’s not without challenges. Like any form of fishing, as John Denver so lyrically put it, “Some days are diamonds, some days are stones”.

If the ‘stones’ he referred to were as painful as a kidney stone and as stinky as the day after a bad curry, I’d have to agree!

It’s great to review those good days on the water, but when you get a run of poor results, you start to question why we persist with our sport. Luckily, when the fishing is poor, we still have the allure of being at one with nature, but even that can be interrupted when Lady Luck plays its hand.

I’d normally fish an area in my kayak for 3-4 consecutive weeks, to get a balanced view of a knowledge, helping you find ways to get the most from a shut-down waterway and extracting at least a small reward. When you’re consistently fishing new areas, unless you have a knowledgeable local guide, you need to adapt quickly, have reasonable fishing skills and a sizeable helping of luck. That latter factor really comes into play for those lacking the other two attributes (like me). If you can’t successfully combine these essential attributes, you’re most likely to deliver what I would call the ‘Seinfeld’ article: an article about nothing. I’m not a fan of the show, yet the same concept is steadily unfolding on the page in front of you!

Since an article about nothing is hard to slip past the eagle-eyed editor, I’m faced with three prospects.

The first is to admit I’m a beaten man. I fished a creek and the creek won. Perhaps I could invent some success; I wouldn’t be the a dog to look after. My wife and kids wouldn’t care if I disappeared, but my dog really likes me. Please don’t hurt me, as my dog would be sad, until someone else fed her).

As I’m somewhat cowardly, plus my Photoshop skills are lacking and I couldn’t fudge the photos, I really had no choice. Man up! Admit that I am rubbish and the creek won! I’ll blame my ridiculous work commitments, Mother Nature with her mis-timed deluges, frustrating winds and some freak equipment failures for my disappointing outcomes. If you add a healthy dose of my own ineptitude, sunburn (which could be seen from the moon), overwhelming fatigue and a broken spirit to those challenges, there really could only be one result. I was presented with tough fishing situations on each visit and I wasn’t good enough to overcome them.

On my best day, when

Some days the big fish just won’t come!

new fishing spot. External factors have meant that my foray into the canals of Biggera Waters stretched over a much longer period, however my timing was awful. Only I, with my incredible organisation skills, could target a new location after every big rain event, during 30 knot winds and generally poor fishing conditions. I love fishing from my kayak, but when you’re running out of time to meet a magazine deadline, you’re often one trip away from total failure.

Magazine deadlines aside, real people have jobs, the weather is always great during the week and terrible on the weekends, the fish sometimes aren’t active, and humans aren’t always at peak performance. When you’re writing about locations each issue, you also can’t continuously fish your favourite spot, as you quickly run out of content. When the going gets tough, nothing beats some local first! Throw in some generic tips, grab some photos from another location, trim them so you can’t determine the whereabouts, then proceed to spin a believable tale.

Alternatively, I could borrow some photos from other kayak anglers, use their tips and successfully hide my own incompetence.

The third option is to hide. If I disappeared for a while, the issue would go to print, then I’d slip away quietly. I’ve heard rumours of what happened to writers who tried that tactic, but sadly none are alive to tell me if it’s a wise move. Strangely, these same fishing writers all suffered strange disappearances, or incredibly unlucky accidents. They all seem to have died perfectly natural deaths, such as falling into a meat mincer, so it was a tempting option. Perfectly explainable, natural demises… (Note to editor: We love your work! I have a wife, 17 kids and I’m not fighting fatigue as well as the conditions, I’m confident the result would have been improved, but I doubt it would have been a significant change. Why? When you enter a system and NOBODY else is fishing there, something is wrong. If the locals aren’t patrolling the area in boats and kayaks, or simply sitting on their pontoons with a rod in hand, the area is doing it tough. I had the inevitable ‘How’d you go?’ discussions with the few boaters I encountered each day at the ramp, but apart from those who went out of the canals, the results were uniformly terrible. When you can’t control the days you hit the water, you take what you get, for better or worse.

While my fishing days were dismal, I will return and I’m certain the results will improve. The canals fished poorly, but there were many external factors creating those unfavourable conditions. I contributed to This beautiful waterway has so much potential but without proper preparation the author had to call it quits.

the fiasco, as life caught up and my fishing brain turned to mush, but the waterway was also at its worst during my visits. Incessant weed, dirty water flowing into the system, weird tidal runs and many other influences were at play. Biggera Waters crushed me this time, but it also showed me enough promise to entice my return.

My last visit was typical; I had a vast number of solid strikes, of which I managed to land none. I caught a couple of smaller fish, but easily failed to hook over 90% of the strikes. When the big hits came, they invariably occurred at times I was least alert, with the inevitable result of lost fish. Several bust-offs, some of which I can confidently say had to be mangrove jack, left me dispirited yet hopeful. When your drag is locked and your lure screams under a pontoon or towards a rock wall, even a bust-off will give you an adrenaline rush.

As a kayaker, the lack of boat activity, plus the fact that ‘no wash’ areas seem to slow down the limited amount of traffic, this location has much to offer. The Lands End ramp is an easy launch, has plenty of parking if you arrive early and is also a gateway into the Broadwater. If you’re likely to start fishing from the moment you hit the water, the sand flat on the corner opposite the ramp should receive your attention as you enter the canals. With a good tidal flow over the bank and nice drop-offs to the sides, it is a flattie hotspot. I only managed some very modestly sized specimens, but when the water is clear and a soft wind provides a ripple across the surface, your first fish of the day should come moments after you launch.

If I regret anything from my recent visits, it would be the fact I didn’t take more time to explore deep into the system. Fatigue and fishing aren’t a great mix, so I spent far too much time working the same areas near the mouth, rather than engaging the pedals on my Hobie and fully reconnoitring the possibilities. When I finally moved further inland, it was too late, as my time was limited and it was only a visual inspection, as opposed to a fishing expedition. Unusually, I was fishing alone and my fishing logic was overridden by an overwhelming desire to relax. It’s counterproductive to beat yourself up about results, when you didn’t give yourself a chance to succeed, but that’s what a tired mind can do.

When I did venture further to look, rather than to fish, I found some stark contrasts. I had essentially given up at that point and was simply filing away information for later, but a side creek gave me some visual indications of what could be found. Moments after a large mangrove jack swam tantalisingly close to my Hobie, seemingly oblivious to my presence, I encountered what looked like an Australian bass. I’m nearly certain it must have been a misidentification, as I’m not aware of how far the side-creek extends and what feeds it, but it was a very familiar body shape. For now, I’ll err towards tiredness and eyesight like Elmer Fudd, assuming it was a poorly identified grunter, or similar saltwater species.

If you’d prefer to launch deeper into the system, you can save some time by using a makeshift ramp on Kilmartin Esplanade. At low tide, the mostly rock wall is exposed along with some larger slabs of flat concrete, which allows you to launch nearly under the Morala Avenue Bridge. It can be a bit tricky, so don’t consider this unless you have some assistance, as well as a kayak that is easily handled. I’d recommend you inspect the area from the water, after launching at Lands End, before deciding if you can make use of the shortcut on future trips. Safety is always the first priority.

As for lures and how to fish the area? I compounded my woes by choosing to test some of my own prototype designs, rather than using my proven lures or commercial offerings. It was a poor decision, which I incredibly repeated on three consecutive trips. Some of those new designs showed promise, but when the conditions are tough, or when you’re not at your peak, always pick up your ‘confidence’ lures. We all have at least a couple of ‘go-to’ lures, or at least we should. Typically, we’ve used so often, we know how to get the best from them under all conditions. Prior to making my own designs, every time the fishing was tough, I’d tie on a ZMan Trick SwimZ or a 2.5” GrubZ. On the toughest day, because I used them so often, I always caught fish. Since making my own designs, I have a few lures that give me the feeling of confidence, but instead of deferring to those, at Biggera Waters I doggedly persisted with the new designs. The untried lures resulted in many timid strikes, along with short-strikes caused by imperfect hook position. I can design the shortcomings out of the lures, but I singlemindedly persevered with them, as I wanted them to work on the day. Many would say it was a crazy tactic. They’d be right!

If you’re a beginner, I’d recommend you follow the same route I did, after an otherwise fruitless introduction to lure fishing. Avoid hardbody lures, until you have someone to teach you great technique. Buy 1-2 quality soft plastic lures, get some advice on matching the lures to compatible jighead sizes, then learn how to fish those lures until your technique is automatic. You can diversify your tackle box later, but don’t fall victim to the temptation if a shiny new lure until you have two reliable performers. It’s a great tactic, but I routinely ignore my own advice while product testing. My only other advice? Check out Biggera Waters. It’s a system with great promise and I may even see you there!

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