Somehow December was all about the diving, and I didn’t manage to get in any fishing while on leave. Hell-bent on righting this wrong, I loaded my kayak onto the roof and headed down to Cowan Creek. To be honest, my expectations weren’t high; I’d visited Bobbin Head the week before to fly my drone and the water looked like a mud-bath. But you can’t catch a fish without a line in the water, and a day spent paddling through a nature reserve is never time wasted, so I headed out anyway.
When I arrived at Bobbin Head I was pleasantly surprised – the water had cleared up nicely despite the ongoing rain, and so my hopes lifted. I was quick to get onto the water and decided to paddle to Cotton Tree Bay before pulling out the fly rod.
A small snapper caught in Cowan Creek 
Sunrise over Cowan Creek
On route I trolled a small hardbody behind me and picked up a few small tailor and a little snapper. Despite it’s unimpressive size, it was my first Sydney based snapper, so I had to grin for a quick photo. Other than the odd small fish, I was amazed by the sheer number of jellyfish (jelly blubbers) in the water. I would paddle through smack after smack of them, sometimes in the hundreds, hitting my Hobie’s fins and rudder. It was phenomenal.
Once I arrived at Cotton Tree Bay I pulled out my 9 weight, with an intermediate line, and a clouser, and fished the shallows for flathead. When that didn’t work I changed my tactic and tried for bream around some structure using small prawn imitations.
Sadly that was no more productive, and so I switched back to the clousers and tried fishing some of the drop offs in the hope of getting a small tailor, or similar. I got a few small hits, but nothing stuck.
Eventually my time on the water came to and end, and I headed back to the kayak launch area. I’m yet to work out this fishery, but I love every minute on the water here. It’s incredibly beautiful and calming, other than the odd jetskier who disrupts the peace, and usually gets too close.
Kayak fishing Cowan Creek
