ABC2S2S1B

TR by tunny

Trip date: 19 Nov 2014

Participants: Jimbo, Weeksie, Tunny (joined later by Matt, a non member)

Launch Site:  MG

Conditions: Wind NNW less than 8 knots, tide high 6am, drift very strong to the SSE 

Keen Angler Program: Nothing contributed

I arrived in MG car park just before 4 am.  It was darker than normal due to the thick cloud.  While I was  unpacking Jimbo arrived and we headed down to the beach, launching in easy conditions at 4.15 am.  We both trolled HBLs to Jew Shoal, passing a pod of dolphins and a few turtles on the way.  There were no signs of any bird action or surface bust ups but on approaching JS there were some fish arches on the sounder.

I have had a few questions about the newly-mounted tower on my kayak lid.  No Tony, it is not used to smuggle boat people (even small ones), it houses my sounder.  Two of the most common challenges faced with a sounder on a kayak are how to keep water off both the electrical connections and the screen and how to reduce glare from the sun.  So I decided to house the sounder in a small perspex box which I mount to the lid with industrial strength Velcro.  This allows me to take the box off and strap it in the hatch while paddling through the surf zone.  It does help reduce water and glare issues - the only negative is that it takes up a little extra space in the hatch which should be reserved for fish.

Sounder in tower, attached to lid with Velcro

Sounder box strapped into hatch for surf launch 

So back to the fishing.  I had decided to target cobia give the recent success by other NYakkers at JS.  On arrival at JS I trolled my Halco lure across the reef several time without any success.  I then switched to my weighted pilchard rig and did a couple more circles of JS.  Two yakkers were arriving from the direction of MG - Weeksie whose radio was out of action, and Matt who is not a Noosa Yakker but is a member of the Yak Shed.  At around 6.30 am my reel started screaming and I was on to what I hoped was  a cobia.  But the action of the fish seemed more like a mackerel, with a few short sharp runs rather than the steady hard pull typical of the cobia.  After three strong runs the fish tired and surfaced next to the kayak - a nice spotty around 87 cm long.  Once gaffed and in the hatch I reloaded the pilchard rig and continued circling JS, covering about 400 m in all directions of the pinnacles.

All went quite for another half an hour then Jimbo came on the radio to announce the capture of a snapper, just under 40 cm.  His bait was squid which you may recall he caught on a previous trip but found too tough for human consumption.  Matt announced that he had caught a nice spotted mackerel while Jimbo also caught a bonito.

I continued trolling but by 7.30 had paddled non-stop for over three hours and needed a break.  The drift was very strong towards the SSE (Jimbo reckons the strongest drift he has experienced in over two years).  I paddled NW of the pinnacles, pulled in the trolling rig and placed a lightly weighted pilchard on my small snapper rig.  The drift was strong but the drogue did not help as the whole water column was moving.  On about the third cast my pilchard got slammed on the surface just as I was closing the bail arm.  The initial run was very strong. then the fish started doing steady circles below the kayak, with the occasional stronger run.  This felt different from the earlier spotty and I was hopeful of a cobia.  I had light tackle, a small Stradic reel and light weight rod so it took about 15 minutes for the fish to surface.  In the mean time I had drifted over 550 m, not due to fish pulling me but because of the drift.  Eventually I got the fish to the surface - a nice cobia.

Shortly after placing the cobia in the hatch, Jimbo came on the radio.  He had caught a second snapper, bigger than the first at 48 cm.  This one had taken his HBL while he was stationary and busy changing bait on his second rig.

By now I had drifted about 800m SE of the pinnacles so placed a large pilchard on my trolling rig and headed back. About half way back the reel started screaming and after a few short runs I had my second spotty on board.

Weeksie headed back to MG at about 9am, with Jimbo and I following half an hour later.  The beach landing was not too difficult.  The only disappointment of the day was that as it was overcast with a few drops of rain the beach was deserted so all you are getting is a picture of Jimbo and I with the fish.

And if you were wondering about the title:  Jimbo's idea:  ABC2S2S1B stands for Another Bloody Cobia, 2 Snapper, 2 Spotties , 1 Bonita

Where the girls?