Even though I got to the lake at 7.30am it was already pretty busy by weekday standards - I spied 2 kayaks up by the first point who were already casting around. So I wasted no time, got on the water and leapfrogged them round to my first spot of the day, 'Red Kayak Bay'. In the last two sessions this produced fish for both myself and Peter from PTPFishing but today there were no takers... In fact, I didn't get a single hit in the fist 3 spots I tried which was pretty surprising... Maybe today wasn't going to be my day after all?!

It wasn't until the 4th spot some way up the lake that I got my first and very welcome hit. Its a new area that I'd tried on my previous session and although it was only a small bass, it was encouraging and woke me up!

But it was the next spot, the first point you come to after the rowing buoys that bisect the lake, that things really kicked off. I had a massive bass (the thumbnail for the YouTube video), followed by a couple of smaller ones and then a surprise Saratoga!

I'd heard of these fish but never seen one and far out, they are a strange beast... Almost prehistoric in appearance, incredibly sinuous and powerful it gave me an excellent fight over the weed beds and it was a real challenge to get it in the net. But the real challenge was getting it held up for the cameras! it was so wiggly, strong and slippery and after a couple of failed attempts it slipped from my hands and disappeared back into the water before I could get a decent picture... So it was amazing to catch one but I'm going to have to catch another one so I can get a trophy shot.

And then from nowhere the weather turned! It'd been beautifully sunny and calm but then a huge cloud rolled in, the wind got up and it absolutely chucked it down. The fishing continued to be good, with both 'Fence Bay' and 'Kangaroo Point' producing fish after fish, nothing massive but loads of fun.

By the time I headed out of the last spot, the weather had got pretty grim and a strong wind was blowing up the lake. Although I was tempted to stick it out for another hour I decided to err on the side of caution and head for home and I was glad I did. It got pretty hairy at the last point before the launching station, with waves splashing over the bow of kayak and the boat filling up with water... But I made it back without capsizing, so it all ended well.

So another amazing day on the water at Lake Kurwongbah! I'd filled my boots, probably the most bass I've caught in any session and that bonus Saratoga was just amazing. Can't wait to come back.

If it was chilly out last time it was bloody freezing today! The car thermometer didn't register above 5 degrees on the drive out and there was lots of mist in the fields around the lake. But by the time I hit the water around 7ish the sun was just poking over the trees and warming things up - it was looking like another stunning morning on the water.

The plan for today was to try a few spots around the landing stage and then head up the lake. There were some distinct 'hot spots' on the last session ('Fence Bay' and 'Kanagroo Point' being the main ones) and I'd already decided to maximise my chances by heading there earlish in the day. If they proved to be as prolific as before, it would be a shame to arrive there late and have to beat for home when the fish were biting...

So I spent only 10 minutes casting at the landing stage before heading around the corner to the first spot, a great looking margin at the bottom of someone's garden! With no sounder, I had to rely on memory and experimentation to find the edges of the weedbeds and this was where a bit of prior knowledge really helped me out. So it was amazing when on my 2nd cast I received an absolutely banging hit on the lure - this one tore off, desperately trying to get into the weed and spinning me around in the kayak. But a good tussle latter and it was in the net, what a fish and what a cracking start!

That bay produced another smaller fish but after another 10 minutes of casting it was time to move on, this time to 'Nursery Bay'. This spot was occupied by 3 kayaks last time so I was keen to give it a go. Sure enough, I got a hit after the first couple of casts and landed a number of small bass.

Time to move on again, this time going straight across the water, over the 'rowing highway' and further up the lake. I tried a couple of spots along the way but was having a hard time finding any clear areas so kept paddling up as far as 'Fence Bay'. I had high hopes for this spot and was rewarded by an clonking take on the 2nd or 3rd cast into the bay. But this time, it wasn't meant to be and despite connecting with the fish, it somehow dropped the hook... I kept at it though and managed to pick off a number of fish, all reasonably small but I didn't mind - I was having such a good time!

Having exhausted that spot it was onwards and upwards to 'Kangaroo Point'. This was probably the spot I was most excited about as it had resulted in my largest fish to date, a 38cm beast that sadly I didn't manage to get a trophy shot of. Cruising into the bay it looked absolutely perfect, virtually no wind, not a lot of drift, gin clear water... Cast one and... BANG! That quick?! I couldn't quite believe it, the fish clearly love this part of lake. I managed a good 4 or so fish and a couple of missed runs before I decided to move on. Again, no monsters - the larger fish were illuding me this time around...

As it was close, I decided to give the opposite bay a go on my way back down the lake and was pleasantly surprised by another bass on the first cast and a couple of missed runs. I was equally surprised by the absolutely huge stag complete with massive antlers that was standing in the water! To be honest, I thought I was imaging it, a case of too much sun out on the water but when it moved off into the bushes I realised it was actually real.

It was getting later in the day now so I headed back across the lake and tried a couple of new spots on my way back to the landing stage and again was rewarded with a number of small bass. In terms of fish, the session had been incredibly prolific - but apart from that first fish, I just couldn't seem to find any big ones...

So I have the perfect excuse for another trip! After so many hard sessions at Enoggera Reservoir it really is a blast to hit a water and get so many bites, I think Lake Kurwongbah may become my new venue of choice for quite a while now.

Even with it getting colder (well... cold for Queensland!) and being outside of the school holidays it was really tough to find a campground that met my requirements for a good night away, namely a toilet (I know right?!), firepit with a bag of wood and fishing. Bushywood at Woodfordskilake fits the bill and this was to be a return trip for me as this was the first place I ever motocamped.

After an excellent sesion Bass fishing up at Enoggera Reservoir in the morning I headed home, loaded up the bike and got on the road. The route is amazing, through Samford Village, onto Dayboro then up over the hills to woodford via Mnt Mee. One day I really want to do the trip offroad traveling through the forest but I'll save that for when I've a bit more confidence!

I got to Woodford around 4ish, headed to the campsite and dumped the gear before returning to the Woolies in town to get supplies for the evening. The plan was to do a steak and mushrooms on the new camping grill I'd picked up so a quick stomp around the supermarket and a trip to the bottle shop for some beers and I was back at my spot by the lake just in time to see the moon rise.

It was completely unplanned but my trip coincided with a full moon (maybe thats why the fishing had been so good earlier in the day?!) and it was stunning to see it rise behind the waterskiing lake. With the tent up and the bike sorted out, the only thing left was to get the fire going. Bushy had supplied a big bag of wood for $20 and my spot overlooking the lake had a perfect firepit ring already set up. I'd scanned the area before leaving for the shops and it looked like previous campers had nabbed all the pine cones... Luckily for me I'd spotted a heap of them on the driveway so I had 10 or so in my pannier.

Pine cones make the most amazing fire starters and in no time I had a decent blaze going. So I grabbed a beer, sat back in my camping chair and watched the moon gracefully travel up into the sky. Not bad, not bad at all.

After a couple of hours of constantly feeding the fire I had a good pile of glowing coles so it was time to break out the camping grill. I've been hunting for something to cook over the fire with for a while now as part of the motocamping experience for me is eating well. Noodles, pasta, tuna fish innacan all have their place but if I'm going to spend a night under the stars, I'd rather having something tasty and less carby! After investigating various different options I found a foldable camping grill on Amazon and decided to give it a go. It has two different levels and I decided to use the lower level, positioning it near to the fire and raking hot coles underneath.

Steak on and sizzling away, there was just enough room to fit a large mushroom on the side of the grill - it was looking good! As I wasn't entirely sure of the heat coming off the coles I gave it a couple of minutes each side and then sliced a corner off to check the 'doneness' and as it was looking bang on, I tore off a bit of turkish bread, popped the steak in between and... It was perfect, probably one of the best steaks I'd had in a long long time!

So the evening was spent working my way through steak, a couple of beers and a movie under the stars. It was chilly but I'd built the fire up to a good size and that kept me warm until around midnight when I decided to call it a night.

Even though its winter the sun was up by 5.30 and as my spot wasn't in the shade I was up and about early to investigate the fishing options. From what I've been told, there are plenty of tilapia in the lake and I'd come armed with corn and bread to target them. But it was quickly apparent that the weed had really come up since my last visit and after an hour or so of being wiped out I decided to give it a miss. There are two types of weed in the lake, one if which is the brown floating stuff and as the wind got up it was just moving back and forth up the lake making fishing virtually impossible...

I had a shower, packed down around 10ish and got back on the road home. Another fantastic night under the stars, the camping grill had worked a treat, all my gear had performed perfectly and I guess the only down point was the lack of fishing - but having caught loads of bass up at Enoggera in the morning, I wasn't grumbling!

Todays session was a complete rerun of last week minus the gale force winds! I hit the water at the same time, around 8ish, investigated the same spots and caught one fish from the exact same spot as last week. I didn't get a knock or a tap anywhere else, it's almost as if all the fish apart from this one lonely bass have been removed from the reservoir...

As it was I was relying on the spot in question to come up with the goods, I'd say it's been the only reliable banker spot on the entire water since I started fishing at Enoggera. I'd had a couple of experimental casts and received what felt like a gentle hit on the retrieve. I stuck with it, finally changing lure colour and position and then got an absolute winner of a cast right on the edge of the lily pads...

And sure enough off it went! Not a big fish but a fish to save me from the dreaded blank. I'm not sure what's going on at the moment but Enoggera Reservoir is fishing hard... One fish does make a session I guess but it's not a lot to show for 3 or so hours worth of casting, especially when you know that there's a lot of fish in there.

Maybe its winter, maybe its the weather, maybe its the water clarity (we haven't had a huge amount of rain but the water level is up and there's a brown tinge to it...) but it might be a good time to put the bass fishing on hold for a couple of weeks and investigate some sea fishing... Watch this space!

And guess what? It was windy as all hell... Seriously, white tipped waves, the kayak being hurled around all over the place, casting virtually impossible and to top it all it was bloody freezing! Why oh why did I listen to the forecast?! Although I enjoyed my session Bream bashing at Nudgee yesterday the conditions would've been perfect for lure fishing on the res!

Although it was difficult I did manage one bass from a spot that rarely lets me down. I somehow managed a perfect cast, right on the edge of the lilies and as I muttered 'that cast deserves a fish' off it went. As normal no monster (there are some in Enoggera but they're few are far between) but as it was a blank saver, I wasn't complaining.

I spent 3 hours in total bobbing around before I called it - the wind was kinda ruining things for me so I headed home and wrote some blog posts! Not a bad way to start the weekend?!