Swell: small SE
Current: Quite strong SW to NE at first, but diminishing later
Launch point: Middle Groyne
Participants: axjax, yakfinn, beejay, richmond, pedro, jimbo, jaro, sunshiner
After yesterday's experience with snapper at Jew Shoal it was not surprising that we had eight Noosa Yakkers turn up this morning. Among them were our youngest member, Jackson (axjax) and one of our newest, Sean (yakfinn) who had joined us for his first kayak foray into Laguna Bay.
Departure times from Middle Groyne varied but I was the last to launch at 0430, having gifted myself a little extra time in bed because I'd been here yesterday.
Sunrise was at 4:51 this morning and when it happened for me I was at the end of a long string of kayakers stretching from Jew Shoal to half way back to Middle Groyne. Conditions were much better than yesterday, for the chop was gone and the paddling was easy.
04:58. View to the east
The fact that I could see the shark bait buoys off Dolphin Point suggested to me that I was being swept to the east but I headed for a bunch of terns which were fluttering and diving at a point which I judged, incorrectly, to be on the western edge of the shoal. Millions of small fish which were themselves eating prey too tiny for me to discern were on the breakfast menu for the terns which swooped and intercepted any over enthusiastic small fish which got too close to the surface. Nothing else was eating these fish, however, to my disappointment, as I knew that the bay was laden with baitfish and at any time could receive a slashing visit from the razor gang.
It seemed that there was very little fishing action early in the session, ie right at and just after sunrise but gradually, led by pedro, the "gotchas" started to trickle in.
0609hrs. Pedro's first snapper for today, taken on drifted pillie
axjax and a school mackerel taken on a SP
But the fishing was generally slow until the south wester (the usual land breeze hereabouts which had been ruffling the ocean surface) started to die away around 0730. Soon it seemed everyone started to catch fish, mainly small to medium snapper. In the glorious conditions I decided to add to the Noosa Yakkers' photo album.
Sean (yakfinn), from Coolum in his sleek Mission Catch 420 on his first trip
15 year old Jackson (axjax) with a PB snapper on his second trip out with us
In view of later events, it may be useful to record some observations on the baitfish which abounded where we were fishing. Much of the time at the shoal this morning, all of us were within view of masses of these fish, varying from 25mm to 50mm long. They were harassing even smaller creatures and in their enthusiasm even leaping from the glassy surface like tiny mac tuna (which they weren’t). It seems likely that there were very few predators attacking these hordes and certainly those that were exploiting them were doing so at depth. Axjax's school mackerel, caught at max depth of perhaps 20m on an SP resembling the baitfish is evidence that this was so. Certainly there were few if any surface attacks on the baitfish visible to us. But some predators were attracted and we can only wait and hope that soon the mackerel of various species will find this bounty and start feeding on it.
Jaro was having a frustrating time, losing many fish, but still catching quite a few, using bait and pillies.
boating a small but keeper snapper
and a grassy (grass emperor, grass sweetlip)
At this time of year in such clear sky and calm conditions when fishing out here I'm usually heading for the beach by around 0900. This is because the glare from sunlight and the temperature on the water can rapidly become uncomfortable. This also applies to the beach, about 45 minutes paddle away, and up which we have to drag our yaks to the shady area of our washpoint. So today I'd decided to head in about that time but not before hearing by radio that richmond was hooked up, 500m south west, to a yellowfin tuna.
Soon after I started my paddle toward the shore I spotted richmond paddling furiously toward me and guessed that he had the fish aboard so turned to meet him. A big grin and a big thumbs up confirmed the capture so we rafted up and added some more pics to the album.
A rare catch among our crew at this size and a very welcome specimen
This pic shows the distinctive large pectoral fins typical of the yellowfin tuna
Read richmond's great account of the capture, incl pics, on AKFF here.
We paddled back to the beach together being the second and third of our group to arrive back today. Pedro had earlier hit the beach having bagged out on snapper and perhaps he'll tell us more detail of his morning later.
There were very small waves breaking on the beach and richmond and I picked the same slot and went in together, finishing up like the Roulettes, staying in formation on the same wave, very close to each other but not touching. I think a couple of the beachgoers close to this action burst into applause.
As richmond pointed out, the beachgoers have now got into the habit of rushing up to incoming Noosa Yakkers and asking if they can see their fish. Today, we had barely stepped out of the yaks when a mother and her kids were knocking on the hatch covers asking us to open them. Later a guy sidled up to me and related how he’d been told that yesterday that the kayak fishers came in with a big snapper. Really? What a surprise!
First task on the beach was to find a beach lady willing to be photographed with the fish. I asked one lady whose kids were ogling the YFT and she declined but promptly organized her friend to do the honours.
The other guys started to roll in which heightened interest among the beachgoers. They and their kids stood about and gawked and questioned as snapper, mackerel, grassies, etc were withdrawn from fish boxes.
I think all except one caught at least one snapper or other significant fish. I undertook to include a couple of pics of the fish in this post.
Axjax’s mackerel (new Noosa Yakkers record, if he cares to apply to the Recorder) and his PB snapper
jimbo’s two snapper
This was a classic good Noosa Yakkers day. Significant fish in good quantities were bagged in perfect conditions among a group representing the youngest and oldest Noosa Yakkers. It was especially good to welcome Sean (yakfinn) for the first time and to have axjax paddle with us again. See you all soon, guys.
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