Clarence river trevs 'n choppers

Today turned out to be one of those rewarding days where my head said 'don't go out' and my heart said otherwise, the latter winning that battle, fully vindicated by days end. Not only did predicted and almost eternally threatening rain hold off just long enough for me to sneak a few PM hours onto the Clarence between Yamba and Iluka, I also managed to catch a bunch of fish.

One of these - a modest Bigeye trevally (of around 35cm) - is currently on ice and scheduled for a Sunday dinner. All but one of these fish (7 in total) was caught on a Rapala Extreme Action X-Rap Slashbait, in the olive colour that has proven so successful for me in the past (one of 3 colours I had to choose from). I packed 3 rods today - one with a small Countdown sinking minnow, the other a Storm Thunderblade (the former accounting for a small bream) but for the most part their presence was academic - I fished with one rod primarily and that kept me busy enough. 

None of the fish were terribly big and all but one were released, though I could have legally kept a couple of the tailor and another of the trevally. Bigeye is my favourite tasting of the trevally species (that I've tried) so I was glad to catch to one with just enough meat on it to make it worthwhile bringing home. This and most of the other fish were caught while trolling slowly along the rockwalls on the Iluka side of the river with the tide running out low.

Today was my second on-water test of the Skipper Seat mod and it went even better than the first test. I tweaked the attachment system at both front and rear for a tighter fit that helped to reduce any rocking while pedalling. These small adjustments helped but could be improved and while yak fishing my way around the river mouth I came up with a could of improvements I could make. It was a good opportunity to get a feel for fishing out of the Skipper seat from its elevated position and that went just as well as planned. Thanks to a clever suggestion from Holger, I decided to try using the space underneath the seat for storage. As he pointed out there is actually quite a gap between the base of the seat and the base of the seat well, room enough for me to store an anchor/rope bag, containing an anchor, a drogue 20 metres of anchor line and a 3 metre lasso, as well as a hand towel. To access any of these all I have to do is unclip the fastex buckles that secure the front of the seat and pull the bag out from underneath it. Stowed under the seat the anchor/rope bag is nicely secured, but easily accessible should I need any of it on the water... without having to open a hatch. Very handy.

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