The Cooks River near Sydney Airport is an ideal place to ease into kayak fishing. A nice big boat ramp off Mutch Ave, Kyeemagh, with a small sandy beach next to it allows for easy launching. The river is sheltered from most winds and the calm water lets first timers get to know their yaks on the water without the worry of being knocked over by waves.

Most boats that launch at the ramp head straight out into Botany Bay and in the process miss some great fishing in the river. Bream are found throughout this system and the freeway wall and the rocky shorelines are great to work over with a hard body like the Halco Scorpion, and right up near the shore at daybreak is the time to cast an East Coast popper or Smak Skywalker for those nerve racking surface strikes. Other structures you'll find are buntings, bridge pylons and moored boats.

One of my favourite spots is the railway bridge just upstream from the Princes Hwy. Soft Plastics like the Berkley Gulp 3" Minnow (pumpkinseed) used on a run-out tide and fished around the pylon eddies will tempt bream, flathead, trevally and even jewfish. The Hobie Sportsfisherman is ideal for fishing in the current as I can slowly pedal and stay in the one spot while I cast my lures. Other fish you may pick up are whiting and flounder.

The system also has a few deep holes which I've found with my Eagle Cuda 168 and they are definitely worth targeting with live bait for big flatties and jewfish. Use your sounder to look for the many drop-offs that fall from 1.5 to 2.5 meters and either troll or cast lures along these prime ambush areas.

By
Carl 'CID' Dubois