Spaniards, 13Feb11

Subject: fishing today -- 13feb11
From: sunshiner
Date: 13/02/2011 1:59 PM

Weather
Cloud cover: varied throughout the morning, some rain showers
Wind direction & speed: SE up to 10 knots
Sea state: low swell

Participants: Jaro, Jimbo, sunshiner, maverick, gemini (Matt), Sam, Dane (friend of Sam), bigkev, Tony W., Des (not yet a NY but coming Wed evening), Doug and Brad (visitors from Brisbane), eyetag (later)

New Callsigns: Note the following new radio callsigns among Noosa Yakkers: Kev Crawford (bigkev), Matt Reid (gemini),
At last I can report that the Bay has cleansed itself and the baitfish are starting to aggregate in the Bay, and the predators too. Some nice Spaniard pics, later.

This being a Sunday, and light winds forecast, several Brisbane-ites opted to join us.

0507hrs. Launch time for some of us. Bigkev far right and gemini (Matt) to his left.

As you can see, the easiest of launch days today. The breeze was already starting to make itself felt when we launched, a reminder that the forecast was that it would strengthen mid morning.

Before long, a small flotilla was heading for Jew Shoal. Jaro and I were the front left flankers and we both spotted some sizable tuna leaping clear of the water about half way to the shoal. We diverted slightly to try to intercept them but passed the place of action without interruption, our trolled Halco Lasers not receiving any attention.

At about this time, as the ambient light gradually improved, we began to see flocks of terns concentrated over several places on the horizon, in a sweep from the SE round to the NW. One patch in particular, east of Jew Shoal interested me so I and a few other yakkers changed course to investigate.

Bigkev, alone among our little sub-group, soon hooked up.

0616hrs. Bigkev, Profish and bent rod. Trolled Rapala.

The result: a decent sized mac tuna. Released after a solid fight. That's Doug in the background.

While there were plenty of bustups, most lasted only a minute or so before the fast moving fish moved on to the next feed. Consequently, many of us (yes, me included), spent a lot of time and energy chasing tuna schools. At one stage I paddled the 1.5km to Granite Bay and then back again without getting a good opportunity to cast to feeding fish. But clearly there were signs of larger individual fish around because every now and again an isolated swirl on the surface nearby betrayed them. But perhaps they were sharks...

Jaro had opted to fish with bait and after what seemed an age he announced the capture of a snapper. With the wind rising gradually and occasional heavy rain showers, conditions were not ideal out there but we kept at it then eventually started, one by one, to head for home. Then over the radio came the welcome news that Doug, from Brisbane had nailed a nice Spaniard on a trolled slimy mackerel.

As there were signs of fish action on the way back to MG and as Maverick had reported the catch and release of a small Spaniard on that track, I opted to head toward the beach at about 0845. I subsequently had an uninterrupted trip back.

I'd decided to wait on the beach a while chatting to Sam, Tony and Dane, all of whom had been out to JS and back without my encountering them out there. About 10am I spotted Doug coming in so that presented an opportunity to get a pic of his Spaniard. As it turned out, he had two, caught in identical fashion, ten minutes or so apart. Once they were pulled out of the Stealth's hatch, they caused a bit of a stir among the numerous beachgoers (there was a Nippers' convention underway).

Doug and new friend.

Some of the Nippers were seriously interested.

Doug and his Spaniards which were both just shy of 1.2m.

Just as we were taking pics of Doug's fish, eyetag arrived to start fishing. He took little encouragement to launch his yak and head for Jew Shoal.

Well, another fishless day for me, and for jimbo and most others too. Fish in the boats were scarce today but there are strong signs of better fishing conditions on the way. Roll on the spotties and the thick schools of bait in Laguna Bay.

Anyone who was out there today and has more to contribute please feel free to send a supplementary report. [See supp reports below]

Thanks for organizing, Jaro and thanks to all for coming along.

Kev
Red & white Stealth Supalite, black paddle
VHF channel 09 or 22 (if alone), Call Sign: sunshiner
http://www.noosayakkers.blogspot.com/

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Subject: Fishing today 13/02/11
From: "Jaro Cerny"
Date: 13/02/2011 4:46 PM

Hi Yakkers
Nothing much to report except to show photos of my catch... a 52cm snapper and a 41cm sweetlip. I also caught and released a 1 metre shark.


Cheers
Jaro
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Subject: Re: Fishing today 13/02/11
From: "Ian"
Date: 13/02/2011 5:22 PM

Hi Yakkers
After a late start (10.00) due to work commitments, I paddled JS for an hour for nothing so I decided to go to SR where I landed 1 and dropped another Spaniard.

I also got into some small Mack Tuna which I was releasing until I had colour on the third one when a huge Shark took him whole. After this I paddled in with my tail between my legs.



Ian
call sign;eye tag

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