So first up I'd like to give full credit to Peter Jung at @PTPFishing for teaching me this set up. He has an excellent video linked below where he talks about how he sets up his lures for weedless fishing from his kayak.

If you're looking for info on fishing from a kayak around the Brisbane area, his YouTube channel is well worth checking out. He's given me loads of advice and really helped me catch my first Australian Bass from Enoggera Reservoir.

So first things first, you're going to need some Rapala Rap-V Blade Fishing Lures. The best source I've found so far is the HookedOnline fishing store, either on eBay or via their website. The lures are currently $14.95 a pop including free shipping which is a bargain. The store is located at Jacobs Well so postage was super quick, I had my lures in a couple of days.

The good news is that they also sell the other kit you need, namely some size 4 circle hooks, some size 6 circle hooks and some size 2 split rings. Another item that's worth it's weight in gold is some split ring pliers, I picked some Jarvis Walker Pro Series ones from Anaconda​ for all of $10.

Once you've got all your kit, it's a case of removing the double and treble hooks that come with the lure, fitting the split rings the top and base and then threading on the hooks.

The advice from Peter is to use a size 4 for the front hook and a size 6 for the back, reason being that the the front hook is the one that generally picks up the fish so it's worth upping the size.

The end result looks great! And it works too, it fishes really well when casting tight to the lily pads (I've lost count of the amount of times I thought I'd get snagged up and the lure just pulls through) and the hook up rate I've had when I've got a bite has been 100%.

After the success of my previous session where I landed my first Australian Bass (and lost a bloody monster!) I wasted no time and pretty much headed straight to the latest 'hot spot'. And it didn't disappoint, after half an hour of casting around I had my first bite and a plump Enoggera Bass was in the kayak. Having had one, I figured it couldn't hurt to keep casting and after working the shore line for another 20 minutes I had my second strike of the afternoon. Pretty stunning, I really wasn't expecting to have two in such a short space of time. Sadly the fish jumped from my hand before I managed to get a picture - so you'll just have to believe me on that one!

However at the point the bites dried up. The weather however didn't dry up... There'd been some rumblings of thunder over my shoulder and when I spun the kayak around to check out the sky I was greeted with boiling black clouds.

Time to beat it for home! As I paddled hard down the reservoir the first drops of rain had begun to fall and by the time I'd made it back to the car all hell had let loose. Luckily I managed to get the kayak loaded before the deluge started...

So not bad! A couple of hours on the water, a couple of fish and some more well spent time in the kayak - happy days!

I'd messaged Peter a couple of times on YouTube and when he suggested we meet up at Enoggera Reservoir I jumped at the chance. Based on his videos, he's got a real handle on the place so fingers crossed he'd be able to put me onto some fish as so far, they'd been more than elusive... I'd suffered 4 blanks if you counted the experimental paddles in the borrowed inflatable kayak!

We met in the carpark at 6am, got on the water, headed up the reservoir to the 1st spot and got casting. Peter kindly let me have first dibs at all the 'hot spots' but try as we might and despite the areas looking prime for a bite we couldn't get a single hit... This continued for the next couple of hours with both of us meticulously working the water, hitting every patch of lily pads and likely looking hole but... nothing.

By this time we'd got to the furthest point from the launching spot and Peter had to head for work the time now being around 9am. I was trying the last of the suggested spots when my phone rang - it was Peter, he'd had a cast at a spot on the paddle back and'd hooked up to a fish! Glancing over my shoulder I could see him only a 5 minute paddle away so I set steam and headed on over, working on the basis that where there's one fish, there's probably more just waiting to have a snap at a lure.

So I began working the water in this new spot and after 20 minutes of diligently working up and down a likely looking margin I received my 1st take! It was pretty darn exciting, only a short fight with a few lunges and the fish was mine! I couldn't believe it, all those blanks and hours spent on the water had finally paid off and I had my first Australian Bass.

And of course, when you've caught one, you want one more right?! So I got to casting and within a couple of minutes I received an absolutely blistering take - the hit was like a freight train, the rod hooped over and I was being dragged into the lily pads!

I just couldn't stop this thing, it went straight into the pads and locked me up solid... Such a shame, I think if I'd been a little more experienced I would've managed to wrestle it away from cover but no joy. In the end, I had to pull for a break resulting in one lost lure and a lost fish.

So a bitter sweet ending to the session but its left me hungry for more. Now that I've got a better read on the water, which lures to use and what the best conditions are I feel like my chances have gone up somewhat - I'll be back!

Christmas is coming so the weekends are crazy busy meaning the usual 48 hours off from the world is kinda spoken for and time for getting out on the bike is becoming scarce. But weekday rides are ok right?! Luckily for me, it looks like a couple of other riders in the group were also keen to get out as while I was typing 'is anyone free for a ride this Friday...' into WhatsApp Matt posted the exact same message! Much smaller group this time, Matt on his new Husqvarna and Ronnie on his KTM were the only riders available so we set a plan to meet around 6.30/7 at Elimbah and hit the trails.

I've done a couple of rides up at the Glasshouse Mountains and some trails are becoming familiar. But today was going to be all new as Ronnie had covered a different area on a ride with another group the previous week. The first section was very sandy, something I'm still getting used to and then it was off into single trails. The good thing was there was very little tarmac and this was the usual single track, sandy, muddy, whipping-through-the-trees riding that I love the Glasshouse Mountains for.

Then things got a little tougher... Ronnie had warned us that the next section was probably the toughest bit and he wasn't wrong: a steep descent down a hill track covered in ruts with loads of loose gravel... Not a lot of traction and slippery as all hell! I managed to get down most of it but had to walk the bike down a section as I was terrified of stacking the bike. Despite my slow pace, I did manage to slip the front wheel bring the back around to wallop me on the legs and down the DRZ went... Not too bad, easy enough to get back up, limp down the last bit and then catch up with the fellas back on the trails.

After that, the next couple of sections were all fantastic culminating in the excellent 'Rattlesnake Track', so called due to it's twisty nature. This was something else and probably some of the best riding I've experienced. It's not fast, but it's definitely fast paced! It's all enclosed single track with either sand, mud or pine needles. There are loads of twists through the trees (thank you Barkbusters for saving my knuckles on more than one occasion!), whoops, corners - we were flying along and loving every second.

Having done a bit of research into the track, it turns out that it might actually be intended to be for mountain bikes?! Can't quite imagine doing it under pedal power, far better on a dirt bike.

Once we were out of that track it was a short hop up to the big red car park for a breather and then off again to try out another new (to me) trail. Which is when I came unstuck for the second time of the day, again on a steep descent... I don't know what it is, getting up hills isn't a problem but going down them is becoming my nemesis, especially if there's rutts. The hill in question wasn't actually too bad, and maybe if I'd just gone for it I would've made it no problems - but as it stood, I slightly panicked, tried to walk the bike down a particularly steep bit of slippery as rock and yup, the front wheel slipped and down the bike went.

This one was tricky as the bike was on an incline - if I picked it up, it'd just run away and I wouldn't be able to stop it, meaning a bigger (and potentially damaging crash below). So I waited for the fellas to double back and luckily Matt came to my rescue. Between the two of us, we managed to get the bike upright and limp it down the hill with the engine off, using the clutch as a brake. Thinking about it, that was my mistake and why I ended up with a downed bike. If I'd used the clutch/brake technique I probably would have made it down by myself?!​

On we went and by this time, things were heating up... We were getting onto 10.30ish which doesn't sound early but when you've got up at 5am, rode for 45 minutes up the highway and then done 3 and half hours zipping around single tracks it begins to take its toll... But we were all keen as mustard and off we went again, this time hitting a single track known to us as 'The clergyman's Track' after it was shown to Matt and Luke on another ride by a couple of dirt biking clergymen! I only recognised it halfway through as we were doing it in reverse, the giveaway being a fallen tree that was tricky to get around last time but was a breeze in reverse.

At the end of that one, we were pretty beat but again our enthusiasm got the better of us and we headed to one more track which I call the 'Burnt out car track' (can you guess why?!). We'd done this on a previous ride when it was heavily overgrown and it's got a few challenges, mainly getting over and under fallen trees but there wasn't anything too tricky.

We were doing fine but decided to stop after a tree hop and have a breather which is when it all went to shit for me...

Setting off again, Matt and Ronnie headed off and I swung myself onto the bike putting my right foot down... into thin air and then sand which then led to completely over balancing and down the went the bike for the third time this ride! Now I initially laughed this off seeing the funny side in overballencing but that laughter soon turned to a little bit of panic when I discovered I couldn't get the bike upright. A combination of ending up in a bush leaving me with very little room to maneuver and the fact every time I attempted to pick up the bike it slipped forward in the sand left me puffing and panting and to be honest, beginning to freak out... I just didn't have the physical strength to pick the damn thing up!

Now what I should've done is calm down, not panic and think the situation through. We were on a single track with one way in and out. The fellas knew that I'd be on that track and would figure out I was somewhere between them and where we stopped so it was only a matter of time before they came back and helped me out...

Then I spotted Ronnie through the trees, he'd come back to check on me - only to not notice me in the bush, turn back around and speed off! No! I was totally stuck. I tried calling Matt but there was no coverage on the phone which only added to my mental stress.

I quickly realised there was no way I was getting the bike up so wasting what strength I had left was pointless and would only lead to me either hurting myself or guzzling even more of my dwindling water supply. And off course they came back - Matt, my saviour for the seconds time this ride appeared through the trees, helped me get the bike up and off we went again. Really, it wasn't a problem, I should've just sat in the shade and waited... but panic does funny things to your brain.

Looking back, I think the main problem was I'd pushed myself harder than I can handle. By 10.30/11ish I was done. The early start, the heat and the constant concentration of riding the technical single tracks had left me feeling far more fatigued than I'd realised. In addition, I'd pretty much drunk the 2.5 litres of water in my camelbak as well as the backup bottle I carry on the bike leaving me not only thirsty but with nothing to hydrate with.

To be honest, the whole thing left me pretty shaken. Since I started riding offroad I've always had an awareness that a potentially bad accident could easily happen at any time and it seemed ridiculous that a life threatening situation could have resulted from me overbalancing on a stationary bike!

So lesson learnt: carry more water, say when you're done (there's no shame in it!) and if you have a down, sit tight, wait for the cavalry and try not to panic!

I took the rest of the ride ridiculously easy. The other fellas steamed off but I took it very slow and steady back to the car park. After saying our goodbyes, I headed to the Big Fish servo, aired up the tires, fueled up and drank a couple of litres of water - I was that dehydrated that my leg muscles were cramping!

Streaming down the highway back to Brisbane I mulled over the ride. There had been some amazing times, the 'Rattlesnake Track' being the absolute highlight - tracks like that are the reason I was so desperate to get into dirt biking! But I will be practicing picking up the bike in the garden, trying to get more physically fit to build my stamina and definitely trying to figure out how to store a bigger backup water bottle on the bike.

Check out the ride on Relive - you'll notice the 'Rattlesnake Track' at the 17 second mark ;)

I've only done a handful of rides up at the Glass House Mountains but it's quickly becoming my favourite playground for the bike. It suits my riding style as there's plenty of mud, water, sand and single tracks to blast through. It's also only about a 40 minute blast up the highway from me meaning it's completely doable on the DRZ400 without having to trailer the bike.

There were eight riders out today, Luke on his WR250, Matt on his new Husqvarna 510 (which turns out to be the best bike in world!) along with Ronnie and a new face Scott on their KTM's. We also planned to meet Ian on his WR400 and Steph on her KTM out in the forest. Jeff on the Honda CRF400 was going to 'find us' on the trails...

So how the hell was Jeff going to find us?! Well the plan was to run the Life360 app on our phones. I've never used it before but you create circles of friends in the app and it plots your location on to a map... Lets see how that goes!

After spending 10 minutes sheltering from the rain at the Big Fish Tavern we decided to ride out in the drizzle and get into the forest. It was clear from the start that today was going to be pretty epic as after a couple of minutes riding down a sandy track we hooked a left and hit the 1st single track.

And it was amazing! Winding through a twisty track, trying to keep on the pegs to stop the front wheel washing out in the wet sand, hopping over logs, ducking to avoid low hanging branches - so much fun.

The day carried on with more of the same, mainly whipping through single tracks with the occasional blast along a dirt road to get to the next turn off. Amazingly, Jeff did find us! We'd just started on another track when he appeared, my phone had led him right too us.

We met with Ian and Steph at around 9.30 and headed off again, this time down a pretty steep muddy decent in search of a track they'd hit a couple of weeks ago. No joy finding the track, but getting up and down the slick muddy slopes was good fun.

There were a couple of spills, pretty much everyone dropped their bike at some point and we had to get the tools out on one section to fix Stephs throttle which was sticking. The only real disaster was that Luke realised he'd lost his tool bag along the way... We did double back in an attempt to find it but it was a little like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Amazingly though, he got it back! Steph put a post in a Facebook group she's part of asking people to look out for it and someone found it and returned it to Luke the next day - bit of luck that.

As always, the ride was captured on the excellent Relive app running on my phone.

But sadly, apart from the group shot I didn't get any other photos - I was to busy enjoying the ride! So I managed to get a couple of shots of the bike before she got a bath, just to prove how much she was caked in mud!