Jimbo gets inked - 22Jun14

TR by Jimbo/Weeksie/Redwood

Trip date: 22 June 2014

Participants: Jimbo, Weeksie, Diesel, Redwood & Steve from Brisbane (not a NY)

Launch Site:  MG

Destination:  Jew Shoal 

Conditions: 10-12knot wind from East, 1m swell, choppy with white-horses at times 

Keen Angler Program: none

Please see my report and then additions from Jimbo and Weeksie which are taken from emails they sent.

Redwood TR

Awoke at 4.30 to the sound of a screaming reel. The new alarm sound was worth the $2 already. The sound definitely had me motivated until I heard the rain. I checked the radar and could see a larger cell just off the coast stretching from SEQ to NNSW and the bad bits looked to be not far off Noosa Heads. The cell was travelling NE away from Noosa and I was sure it would move off quickly and we'd get a glorious day.

I arrived at Doggie Beach around quarter to six expecting to see a couple of yakkers who said they'd be going but the car park was empty. I took a quick look at the conditions in the dark and although it looked doable with timing, it was the lightning to the NE that put me off. Lightning and fishing don't mix as it's been known to travel long distances in search of a carbon blank. I have heard on more than one occasion that beach fishermen have been struck from storms out to sea when the lightning changes direction and instead of hitting the water travels horizontally until it finds it's mark. It still sounds a bit far fetched now, but I wasn't going to take any chances. I headed over to MG and see if there was any action there and saw someone unloading their yak at the barriers. I found out later on the water that this was non-ny "Steve from Brisbane". I had a quick chat to Steve who seemed to be in a very big hurry, he made Sunshiner look like a slow-poke. By the time I had setup and pulled the yak on the beach Steve was halfway to JS. I also discovered I'd left my GPS behind but figured I could just use the other yakkers as markers so that didn't put me off.

I was just about to launch when Weeksie arrived so I waited and we headed off to JS. Half way there I trolled through quite a large number of diving birds with no result. At JS I was determined to keep trying the placcies with the pillie on a trailing rig as backup. Last week I couldn't get my placcies to the bottom and for good reason, even the 5oz/150gms of lead on the trailing rig wasn't hitting the bottom, so this week I came armed with a 3/4 and 1oz jig-heads (I did look seriously at the 3oz jig-head but decided against it). The trailing rig was set and I was trying to get my placcie to the bottom with a 3/4oz head, but even then I couldn't really tell if it was hitting the bottom after I'd cast out in front. I'll keep at it as you only need one bit of success to trigger the whole thing, but at the moment this fishing style is doing my head in.

While mucking around with placcies my trailing rig went off and I battled something very heavy for 10min before I was bitten off with the thing only a few more winds from the surface. I thought I was hooked up to the reef for half the fight, it was that heavy and with so little action. I think it was probably a shark.

I re-rigged and at the same time changed the placcie to the 1oz big mama. I chucked it out back while working on the other one but forgot to put the bail arm down whilst I drifted and even with 100-200m of line out that 1oz jig-head didn't hit the bottom, it was being ripped out East by the current. WTF?

Jimbo radioed to ask how to deal with a squid and said that he saw it disgorge ink once and wondered if it was done. Weeksie thought it was and Jimbo put the gaf in pulled the squid toward him, but it was nowhere near done. It spat black ink 1.5m up and so far that it came over my bow and I was 3-4 metres away from Jimbo trying to get in for a pic. Jimbo's face also landed up being on the firing line, which apparently he didn't know about until I told him back on the beach, so obviously the ink does not stink (he thought it was sea water). It did make for a classic pic though.

Nice ink Jimbo. Luckily he won't need laser treatment to get it off.

Jimbo bringing in his 50-60cm squid (body length)

Nothing else to report except that while taking another classic pic, my trailing pillie which was only just dangling below the surface was smashed by something very fast and toothy. Jimbo has said I might try some wire after the fist loss, but I wasn't in the mood for rigging up wire rigs at that stage.

It's a sh!^ job but someone's gotta do it.

There was a huge amount of bait around, this patch was about 400m off MG and seemed to be hanging around a current line. I'd personally never seen that many bait fish. The sound they make rippling on the surface is quite soothing. There appeared to be nothing chasing them other than the birds from the top.

Bait fish just off MG

Weesksie TR

There were a few starters this morning in dribs & drabs with an early storm cell disrupting starting plans. Jimbo, Redwood, a yakker on a red & white stealth who I didn't catch up with & myself

Tim checked sunshine beach around 0530 as did I at 0600. We both seemed to have similar conclusions that this launch didn't look too pleasing with this storm cell still about & a slight easterly making conditions uneasy.

At MG, redwood was launching when I arrived & jimbo was well away, all heading for Jew shoal, as did I.

Some bird action 2k out from JS with no surface activity other than small baitfish

I did have hopes up trialling a flasher rig which consisted of 3 no. 2/0 hooks, feathered & glittered up & with a slice of pilly on 60lb mono paternoster style.

Two jigs of the bottom this was hit & came up paternoster less & with one hook still intact so maybe it has some promise.

Redwood lost something big early & was also bitten off at least once

Jimbo took home the prize with a keeper grassy & calamari to go

Jim might prefer to reply to your email in good old fashion ink!

Jimbo TR

Not a lot to report fish wise.  Five yakkers went to Jew Sh this morning. I launched at MG about 0615 followed some little time later a non-NY from Brisbane (Redwood got his name), then about half  hour later Redwood and Weeksie launched, having decided Doggie Beach was a bit problematic. Upon arrival at JS I met Diesel who had launched well before dawn in the river somewhere and came out through the river mouth.

The four NY bottom bashed in fairly close proximity to the Pinnacles while the non-NY kept trolling around the same area.  Redwood got bitten off initially by something large and heavy that didn’t want to come up, probably a shark, then much later by an express train.  Weeksie retrieved a blue plastic bucket found floating around, and Diesel donated a packet of bait to small reefies.  I landed a just keeper sweetlip plus a 2-3 reefies on prawns, and for a bit of excitement boated a huge squid (body length ~50cm + 30cm tentacles).  I thought the squid had disgorged all its black ink in the water, but it saved one last squirt for when I was about to lift it into the yak, quite a bit of which landed on my face.  Redwood has a photo so I’m hoping he might post a proper TR including the photo.