Subject: fishing today -- 15jul09
Date: Wednesday, 15 July 2009 4:30 PM
I sent out the message late yesterday that I thought the swell and wind would die down. By the time I'd hit the hay around 2130 there'd been no responses but the weather still looked good so I resolved that I'd check it in the early morning and make a decision. I checked Seabreeze at 0620 -- looked OK, 5 knot easterly at DI Point -- then my email, which revealed that madcow had taken the bait and was expecting me at MG at 0630. Oops -- sent an SMS to mad, scoffed my brekky and was at MG just in time to see Brian pushing off from the beach. A few minutes later I was there too. Yes the swell had died, and yes the wind had dropped off. Here's what it looked like at 0705...
0705. Nice conditions, eh? Dead low tide.
Would you believe it -- I still managed to get wet going out. Picked the only sizable wave and punched through it OK only to fill the cockpit with early morning ocean. Brian kindly waited for me and when I caught up with him he admitted that he'd got a wet bum also.
We headed off -- an uneventful paddle to JS. My first cast was in place at around 0805 and shortly afterward I had a trailing rig out with another SP. The drift was perfect, toward the east on the chilly westerly breeze. But there was no action for me, and only small stuff for Brian...
Red rock cod. Pic by Brian. Those spines are venomous, so handle carefully.
I'd taken my new Eagle VHF radio out to verify that it was working OK so gave the Noosa Coastguard a call from out there. All worked well, so the radio is capable of performing its main function -- providing communications to the local coastguard. My ICOM VHF radio is OK but the Eagle was such a good deal that I thought that sooner or later it'll prove useful, and it has a 2 year warranty.
By 10am I was getting quite cold and I hadn't had a touch so announced to madcow that I was going in soon. We'd tried "Old Faithful" in a perfect drift and the shallower grounds over the pinnacles and lastly the deeper section to the north where we'd had success a couple of weeks ago. It was dead -- although Brian did hook a 30cm snapper (released of course).
We left the shoal with 4km to go back to MG at around 1025 and by 11am we were off MG preparing for the surf zone transit -- a pretty fast trip. Despite the incoming tide there was a more substantial breaking wave at MG now than when we'd launched, or that's what it seemed to us. Brian went first and did a nice job of picking the sets. My turn came -- I waited for a couple of bigger swells to roll through then decided that it was time to go. A pretty good pick also, it seemed as I found myself halfway along the wall and unscathed. Then I spotted Jaro on the wall watching my progress carefully, no doubt trying to get a few pointers. He'd brought his house guests, Wendy and Rob from Tassie, down to MG to watch us come in. It was with great relief that I beached the yak next to Brian's without coming a cropper in front of Jaro's friends.
So, no fish, but at least we got out there and had a go. The shower/yak washing arrangements have changed, as we discovered this morning. The old shower and wash point has been completely removed and a new version installed nearby. Unfortunately the new version has a tap which needs a special tool (pics below). Brian reckons that he's got a couple of devices that can turn this tap on. Anyone else got one -- Harry perhaps? In the meantime, the shower and tap down near the kayak rental truck remains accessible but for how long is unknown.
The tap...
Thanks for coming along, Brian. Looks good for early next week
Kev
Red & Yellow Espri, black paddle
VHF channel 09 or 22 (if alone), Call Sign: sunshiner
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