Fishing on the new Assassin GT Fishing Kayak

After all the recent rain South East Queensland had received and hearing word that one of our favorite rivers had started to clear after a massive 11 meters of water had swept through, Taylor and I made the call to good mates Andrew Mckinstray and Michael rowswell to head up to some private property and put the new model Freak Sports “Assassin GT” through its paces and try and film a video over the course of the day. I arrived earlier than the others and decided to hit up a small stretch that normally fishes well in the afternoon, After a bit of paddling, a lot of rain, a few missed top water hits from bass and a cod I called it quits on dark and got back to the car soaking wet, but optimistic on what would follow the next day seeing as there were active fish around I just couldn’t set the hooks.

After minimal sleep we all awoke from our swags and started the day. Cars sorted and a long, point to point journey was just about underway. Getting down to the river’s edge we set up the kayaks and away we went. Not long in and we were at my favorite snag which has produced some quality fish for me in the past, I fire my Megabass anthrax100 tight against it and start working it back in the flow. Almost instantly a familiar “BOOF” was heard by everyone and a solid cod straightens my trebles with ease, Bugger! Unfortunately missed by the camera but we were still pumped on what else was to come, we were only 5 minutes into a 10-12 hour paddle. Next up was another good snag Taylor normally goes well on, peppering every likely haunt he moves on just as Michael was coming up to it and on the first cast his pompadour gets monstered by another solid cod, So much water was moved and the noise was insane yet somehow it missed the hooks, he kept peppering the snag but the fish didn’t want to strike twice.

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As the morning went on the fishing got tougher, With only a couple small bass hitting the Assassin GT’s I put in a cast to a newly washed out snag with a 3” Zman MinnowZ and TT jigspin which got devoured on impact with the water, A solid fight with me snagged most of the time I managed to extract a high 40’s bass, Nice release and back into it. A lot of km’s travelled and not many fish landed until a lunch time bite period, Managing a few average bass and toga and all of us missing at least one toga each we arrived at a rapid, A couple casts into some very tight snags in very fast water I saw a sooty grab my jigspin and smoke me with ease. Left to retie the others kept casting, we know they are in there. Andy moves in where I was casting and has his stinger ripped off of a spinnerbait and the main hook straightened, Dumbfounded at what just happened he grabs his heavier rod and fires a cast into the exact same spot, And in no time got smoked with 30lb leader. It was a very intense few minutes and that was that, No more play time for the fish in that rapid, And the day just about coming to an end.

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We neared our exit point pondering on the day that just unfolded, what happened to the fish we normally encounter, why were they shut down at times? Was it too soon after the flood? Did we not find their mood? Either way it was a learning experience and although it wasn’t exactly what we were hoping for it was still an enjoyable day on the Assassin GT’s with great company and a lot of laughs and that’s all it’s really about, Getting out there with mates, Giving it a go, And carving memories with a paddle.

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