TR by sunshiner
Wind: light SW-W (as forecast by MetEye)
Swell: 1.2m E
Water temp: 24.4°C
Tides: 7:01 am : 0.57 L; 12:37 pm : 1.28 H
Current: n/a
Launch point: Middle Groyne
Surface action: Not much, all tiny tuna
Participants: eyetag, stormin, aussie-stu, sunshiner
Keen Angler Program: n/a
The designated launch time, 05:45, was very close to low tide. But the swell was much reduced from previous days and sets were a long way apart, making for an easy launch.
We weren't expecting eyetag but he was first away, just five minutes or so before me. Of stormin and aussie-stu there was no sign, but they showed up a little late and caught up with us.
The SW breeze which was forecast and evident at launch time, from the lumpy horizon was a factor in eyetag's and my selection of the western part of the bay (up past Little Halls Reef and Halls Reef) rather than Jew Shoal or the Hells Gates area. Paddling conditions at first were near perfect, and got better as the morning progressed.
The current line, marked by frothy water, running shorewards from the vicinity of Little Halls Reef, was discovered by eyetag, who was out front. And here he found the only bit of serious action of the morning. Trolling a deep running hard body along the edge of the dirty water he hooked up big time and let us know by radio, making sure we could hear the screaming drag in the background of the radio call.
By the time I reached his position the fight was near to the end, so I positioned myself to shoot some pics. As we'd both called it, at the end we could see he had a nice longtail.
As he often does, eyetag grabbed the fish by the tail and deftly lifted it into the yak. Perfect conditions, eh?
My camera duties finished I paddled off toward the north shore beach, following the same current line that eyetag had found, trolling my usual HLP. Stormin and Stu were by now on the water and headed for Little Halls Reef.
Getting no further action in the vicinity of Little Halls Reef we all finished up at Halls Reef, some two kilometres north of where the longtail had been caught. Here we variously trolled, or drift fished (lures and bait) for very little action until around 09:30 when we separately made our own way back toward Middle Groyne, a paddle which takes around an hour, depending on conditions.
As usual, when a decent fish is pulled out of a kayak, eyetag caused a bit of excitement among the Sunday morning beachgoers.
On the mat. 104cm.
For the record, my paddle distance was 17km. I'll sleep well tonight.
Kev Long
Sunshiner
Author Kayak Fishing Manual for iPad and Mac (click linked text to view)
Stealth Supalite X, yellow/orange
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