Subject: fishing today -- 16sep09
Date: Wednesday, 16 September 2009 5:37 PM
This great weather continues... and the fishing just gets better.
Jaro, Brian and I fronted this morning with the promise from Harry that he'd be along after his outrigger paddling training!
We launched at 0545. Here's Jaro, first away again...
It was high tide so there was plenty of water at the exit from the channel. Very few nasty breakers early this morning, but you still had to be wary.
Our destination was Sunshine Reef, about an hour's paddling time away. Although this was only Jaro's third launch in his Profish he has clearly almost got his procedures settled down as he was off toward Sunshine Reef after only about five minutes of setup. Brian and I followed about five minutes later when Jaro was already a paddling speck on the rapidly lightening horizon.
Rounding Hell's Gates after 35 minutes, Brian and I took separate paths, he toward a mark he fished successfully last time out and I toward my close-in mark off Alexandria Bay. On arrival (around 7am) I found Jaro already there, drifting and fishing. So we tagged along together. There was a 5 knot breeze from the SE, but as usual, our drift path was straight into this breeze, an indication of a current running toward the SE. All was quiet until 0730 when my cast soft plastic was grabbed at the bottom of its path. This fish hung doggedly below the kayak, typical of a sweetlip...
0730. Hooked up, Alexandria Bay in the distance. (Still from video)
To my surprise, it was a snapper...
Here it is. If you examine the image carefully you can see, between the eye and the upper jaw, the bend of the jig hook exposed, with all of the rest of the hook inside the mouth. This fish was well hooked. The metal object protruding from the mouth is a securing clip, threaded onto a rope loop.
With this capture, I radioed Brian, several hundred metres away, to let him know (Jaro watched on during the fight, so knew already). I used my normal procedure, ie "offered" the call first (without telling him what it was about) and waited for him to respond -- an indication that he was ready to listen to me. Almost immediately he came back with the information that he'd just boated a 45cm snapper. I then had the great pleasure of trumping him by announcing my capture of a 55cm model (subsequently I discovered that my estimate was slightly out -- it was only 53cm). Brian came back with alacrity: "Touché!", which was a pretty good response, I thought.
Once I catch my first fish on a trip, I can relax -- the pressure's off. After about another 30 minutes, there having been no further action at the spot where Jaro and I were fishing, Brian announced by radio the capture of a 60cm (later measured at 57cm) snapper. Now the pressure was really on Jaro, and Harry, who had just joined us after calling up from Granite Bay on the way out. Jaro decided to move to where Brian was fishing and Harry, who hadn't yet wet a line but was approaching us from the north, elected to do the same. I was left alone. But the sonar was still indicating that fish were around so I was pretty happy that I'd get another fish.
Hardly had Jaro left when I picked up another snapper, a smaller one of just over 40cm, but a nice eating fish just the same. The score was now Brian: 2; Kev: 2; Jaro and Harry: 0. But soon this was redressed when Jaro called up to say, with relief evident in his voice, that he'd caught a snapper. By 0930 I'd had no further action in my position but soon afterward the radio calls began to announce success from the three at the spot further out. Jaro got another, then Harry, then Brian. This flurry of activity occurred around 10am. I therefore opted to join them, about 700m east, and got there soon after 1030.
Here I was in a reasonable position to witness Jaro's capture of his snapper #3. An almighty "YYEESS" from Jaro, drifting just behind me, announced that he was hooked up. I grabbed the camera and started to shoot video after first turning my kayak around to face Jaro's. Consequently I recorded only the last part of the brief tussle. Here's what it looked like:
Jaro battling the elements and his snapper #3. Sunshine Beach in the background. (still from video)
And a better pic of the aftermath...
1108hrs. Jaro and his snapper, which jumped back out of the boat after he removed it from the gaff, seconds after this photo was taken. Fortunately for Jaro the jig hook was still embedded and attached to the line and the fish was quickly recovered after some swearing and general alarm.
We'd earlier agreed that we'd start the long paddle homeward at 1130. As I had two nice snapper in the fishbox and had paddled 14km yesterday I opted to leave about ten minutes before this, reckoning that I'd be caught up by the others, but hoping that I'd be first onto the beach because I thought there'd be a bit of a wave running at Middle Groyne, it being low tide and all and so an opportunity to record on video the surf skills of my fishing mates. Brian called up soon after I left that he also was heading in, then Harry also. Harry, however, managed to bag a second snapper with his last cast. So that made 10 snapper among the four of us.
It's a ~6km paddle back to our landing point, but with a following breeze and following sea for about half of this, it's quite pleasant and the time flies, although the landscape of Noosa Head just crawls past on your left. Harry and Jaro left about 10 minutes after me and very quickly encountered two whale calves, accompanied by their mothers who made sure that the humans knew that they were present. While I paddled along I could hear by radio Harry and Jaro discussing the encounter and warning each other of the proximity of these wonderful, gentle animals.
By 1215 I was drifting at the shark nets, 500m off Main Beach, getting my gear stowed for the run through the surf zone, which was looking pretty hairy as there was now very little depth at the outer end of the rock wall and consequently some very steep waves being generated as the larger sets came through. Once set for my run, I turned on chest cam, picked my set and went for it -- yes, I would be first on the beach, hopefully the right way up. See what I mean...
Decision time. The idea is to not arrive at the right hand outer corner of the rock wall at the same time as a wave like this does. (Still from video).
Yes, my surf zone transit went OK. I was picked up by a fairly large wave which obviously, to me, was going to steepen and break very quickly. I opted to drop off the back of the wave before it broke and achieved this by digging the paddle in deep on the starboard side and holding it there as the wave tried to push me forward. (Much as Jaro achieved at Sunshine Beach recently, although his was a much larger and more dangerous wave.) Having dropped off the back I continued the transit only to be overtaken by a second (broken) wave which threatened to roll me so I opted to dig the paddle in again to broach the kayak and ride the wave in sideways. It worked. I quickly dragged the yak up the beach and selected a position to video Brian, who, I knew, was about to come through.
He picked his run quite well but a tricky little wave caught up with him...
Did Brian get dunked? You'll have to ask him... (still from video)
It's Harry's turn and I'm still standing in the surf with the camera. He picked a small set very well, but, as I said it was tricky...
Harry looks like he's got it all under control... Note the second small wave building on the lower one. (Still from video)
Jaro was taking his time (and he's entitled to -- no one should ever rush a break like this, especially when your yakking mates, with a video cam, plus holidaymakers, are looking on). But soon he was ready. You could see that he'd recognized that it was quite nasty and as a result he was being extra cautious -- justifiably so. Then off he went -- like a rocket. I couldn't believe the speed he generated (perhaps helped by a little wave) but in a flash he was through the worst of the break zone and in the clear...
Jaro digs deep to escape the following wave, and did so. The video proves it... (Still from video)
So now it was time to examine and compare the catch. here are the individual take-home bags...
My fish...
Harry's fish...
Jaro's fish...
Brian's fish (including the best of the day -- 57cm).
And here we are lined up on Jaro's Profish, after a 15km ocean paddle. From left: Brian (madcowes); Harry (dirty harry); Jaro (jaro); Kev (sunshiner). For information, most, possibly all, fish were caught on soft plastics.
Ahhh, spring in Noosa.
Thanks for a great day, guys. Looks like the weather's going to shut us down for a few days but we'll be out there again soon.
Look out for the surf zone video, coming up soon. When I get time... (Now added, below)
VIDEO: Find out whether madcowes got wet. Stare in disbelief at Jaro's speed. Be awed by Harry's grace. Learn from the masters of Middle Groyne!
Video: 2:59 Shot 16Sep09. Some varying techniques of dealing with a small surf break in different fishing kayaks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IxKsKBPimk
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late addition:
Observation from Brian:
All ten fish were taken on soft plastics.
My fish were all on 5" white snapbacks on a 5/8 jighead
All fish were hooked directly under the yak, I'm casting about 25m and let out a little more line,
So I'm presuming all my fish were taken very close to the bottom.
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Kev
Red & Yellow Espri, black paddle
VHF channel 09 or 22 (if alone), Call Sign: sunshiner
http://noosayakers.blogspot.com
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