Spaniard again, 21Dec09

From: "kevin long"
Subject: fishing today -- 21dec09
Date: Monday, 21 December 2009 11:36 AM

Once more into the breach, dear friends, or should I say "onto the beach". It was Jaro's third day in a row and fourth in five days and my second in a row and third in five days. But, as we'd shown yesterday, the mackerel were out there so with a dearth of fishing time available over Christmas and great yakking weather Jaro and I decided to chance divorce just this one more time.

The swell was about the same today as yesterday. Meteorology: less cloud cover and a SE breeze less than 10knots.

0432hrs. Low light levels forced the camera to compromise in order to create an image. Nevertheless this shot well captures the launch situation -- pretty easy but caution needed.

We'd earlier decided to head for Little Halls Reef. This was where we'd found the fish yesterday after we'd paddled about 8km, first to Jew Shoal and then across to the west. So this morning we headed straight for it, about 3.5km away to the NW, helped by a SE breeze which strengthened as we left the shelter of the Bay while we also kept a special lookout for sleepy-headed power boat operators crossing the Noosa Bar and our paths. We were both trolling and in no particular hurry, enjoying the scenery, the company of the indigenous inhabitants of the ocean such as dolphins and rays, and the special camaraderie which kayak fishing engenders.

Fluttering birds was what we were looking for, but there was little sign of them until we reached the vicinity of our target. There were many terns searching but every now and again a small group would assemble for the specific purpose of further harrassing baitfish already threatened by undersea predators. And just as quickly, the group would disperse. To better reconnoitre the area, Jaro and I decided to split up and call each other by radio if we found action. My choice was to hang around the reef area while Jaro headed inshore a little, trolling his favourite mackerel lure.

I tried a few random casts with a "slug" while drifting along with the breeze, towing my trolled lure. There were no obvious signs of fish working the surface, but the presence of many terns and the general "feel" of the ocean gave both of us the feeling that the fish were around. In fact one of my random casts did produce a reaction. As I retrieved at medium pace I saw an unusual ripple near the lure, dismissed it as imagination, only to have a predatory fish do a quick about turn with a large swirl as the lure came close to the kayak. Clearly there were fish hunting.

0540hrs. The radio comes to life. "Got one on'" says Jaro, who'd been mooching along about 400m away to the SW, trolling northward and roughly parallel to the distant shoreline. At first I was reluctant to leave my spot, but then I decided that a fish on the line is better than a swirl and also motivated by the possibility of getting more quality pics I turned to paddle over to Jaro.

One hundred metres away from him, a few minutes later, I could see some pretty decent splashes coming from where his rod tip was pointing and then a fin (looks like a decent pelagic, I thought). Even closer now I could see that the fight was nearly ended and Jaro had bested a very decent Spaniard which nevertheless was still not fully under control.

Cleanly sliding the gaff into the gills, Jaro got a good grip on the fish and slid it onto his lap for the important process of securing it by tether.

0548hrs. Jaro starts to get the Spaniard under control (pic from movie).

Then he got it under control and could relax a little for a nice photo.

0550hrs. It's the early bird... Bloody nice fish, Jaro.

Having taken a few shots at magazine quality (I hope), my aid was then enlisted to help stow the monster in Jaro's fishbox. One of the commonest questions we get asked is where we stow our fish. This pic might help answer that.

The front end is in the box but the tail protrudes and tickles Jaro's ribs, causing him to chortle all the way home.

After this there's a severe attack of anti-climax, and besides, the wind's getting up and blowing us further from home. We fished on for a while and welcomed doctor dog to our spot when he arrived sometime between 0615 and 0645. But I'd promised Mary that I'd be back earlier than usual and as there was very little frenzied feeding going on, Jaro and I decided to head back in.

Just off Middle Groyne we encountered a brand new kayak fisherman, Stu, who expressed great interest in how we rigged our yaks and then decided to follow us in to the beach to get acquainted better. The beach break was very kind today and soon we were all safely ashore.

0823hrs. The Spaniard was 1.13m long and weighed 7.5kg.

Caption not necessary.

Another great trip. Possibly we won't get out again until after Christmas. I certainly intend to spend all of my spare time until late next week catching up with visiting family.

Merry Christmas, one and all. How are you Noosa Yakkers who are currently visiting Victoria going? We've got it tough up here.

Kev
Red & Yellow Espri, black paddle
VHF channel 09 or 22 (if alone), Call Sign: sunshiner
http://noosayakers.blogspot.com

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