Well…. it’s been a long time since I’ve done this. Did a solo trip down Nerang – Benowra today on the kayak. I originally wanted to hit the water early. Had set the alarm to wake up a 5:30am. After waking up and seeing how cold n drizzly it was I crawled back into bed 🤣😂. Woke up 2hrs later and arrived at launch spot just after 9am.
Tide was still going out as I launched the kayak and jumped in. The skies were misty and damp but the feeling was overwhelming. Total relaxation. I felt glad I had braved the nasty weather to be able to have witnessed the moment.
Rigging on two lures for the troll a 7inch Storm Shad in Pink and a 9inch Gold Berkley Flicker shad. Within 5mins of leaving launch spot I was on! Pulling in the tiny yet first flattie of the session. Spirits were high as I expected the day to be just as good as it had started. Oh how wrong I was, 2 hours in and still not a single touch. Tide had slowed down to almost a standstill. No fish can be hungry in these miserable conditions 😞.
I made the most of the still waters and did a bit of exploring. Kayaked into many channels I’ve never been in before while carefully eyeing the Lowrance fish finder as I mapped out the river floor. I ended up at the Lock Gate and Weir of Clear Island Lake. Jumping on the pontoon I spent a good half hour throwing offerings at the weir walls and various pylons. I soon gave up and paddled back out against the tide. On the trip out I noticed a run off that looked quite fisy. Indeed I was right. On passing close by one of my rods went off. Wasn’t a big run so I knew once again a tiny flatty 😞 Caught this one on the 7inch Berkley Flicker shad in mullet grey.
Tide was now full on heading back in. My time on the water too was running out. I paddled with the tide back towards my launch spot. Saddened as the end of the journey was near. However on nearing launch spot I checked the watch and saw one more glimpse of hope. One more hour to spare! I turned around and headed back out against the tide. Wowee what an awesome decision! On passing back through my grey flicker shad went off again! This time it was a massive run with huge headshakes. I had my heart in my mouth the whole fight. I had worked so so hard for this moment and didn’t want it to end prematurely. Carefully fighting the fish for a good 5mins I finally pulled up a fish I had predicted as a big flattie…… But no it’s a GT! Happy but sad at the same time. I wanted a flattie 😞
Oh well… after finishing the pass once more I headed back to launch spot and finished up. Spirits low and felt beaten as I dragged my legs out of the water. They now felt like jelly as I haven’t peddled this hard in a long time…
Thanks for the attention if you have read this far guys. Hope you enjoyed my write up. You win some you lose some. 🤷🏻♂️ It’s the nature of fishing right? Catch ya on the next trip! Cheers.
