Cracker arvo on Lake Mac - 09Nov12

TR by Gemini

Participants:  Gemini
Conditions: overcast with gusts blowing up to 20 knots

I arrived at the strawberry patch launch at around 3:30, and was on the water by 3:45. Water clarity was exceptional for a change, and the depths of the lake were revealed to me for the first time (I got to see more weed than ever before). The weather was a bit horrible, with an annoying wind that blew me around at times when it decided to build strength, and the threat of rain was all around me. That said, the fishing more than made up for it...

I'm going to save the bulk of this report for the video to follow. No NY records today, but I had a personal best in numbers (for Lake Mac). Check it out!




Cheers!

Gemini

Triple Record Treat, 09Nov12

TR by Eyetag
Wind: N-NW
Swell: N/A
Current: Fast run out tide
Launch point: Lions Park Noosa Heads
Participants: Eyetag, Tiberium (Izak), Carlton, Wal and Ben (Carlton's mate).

With the humid weather and the Southerly change coming I thought it was time for a Jack or two.

Wal and I launched around 6pm and headed to the Inner Woods Bay. We did a couple of laps and I was unfortunate enough to get 2 Hairtail. The Hairtail have been thick for the last 3 months and we're all wondering when they'll move on, hopefully soon.

So around we went to the Outer Woods Bay where there was fish busting regularly on the current line out from Ricky's but they were very hard to hook. But I persisted while Wal went for a troll up Weyba Creek. Stopping near Weyba Hole he hooked a couple of Big Eye Trevally by casting into the bust ups.

Meanwhile, I was still trying to get find out just what was busting up on the current line. I had hooked about 7 fish and managed to drop each one. Then Carlton, Izak and Ben turned up and we all concentrated on getting one of these elusive critters.

Very frustrated after trying for nearly 2 hours I paddled about 200 metres down stream and there was fish going ballistic everywhere and first cast with my Gladiator Prawn I hooked a Big Eye Trevally. With all the action on the surface I decided not to be greedy and quickly paddled back to the others and told them, passing Wal on my way.

Now there was 5 of us, not a stink boat in sight and fish everywhere. For the next 3 hours the action was insane with Big Eye, Bream, Jack, huge Whiting and Flatties being caught as well as numerous unstoppable fish resulting in bust offs and near spoolings.




Tiberium's Big Jack



Eyetag's Massive Mangrove Jack



and Mangrove on the Mat



Tiberium's Whopper Whiting



Tiberium weighs in again with a Fabo Flathead



Fantastic 79cm Flathead - caught and released



Lastly, can you see the predator in the water ?

It was one of those sessions you often dream about and as they say, all good things must come to an end, which it did as the tide completed it's cycle.

There should be a few claims coming your way Richmond !  Watch-out.

Izak's Night Report, 09Nov12

TR by Tiberium
Wind: 4-8 knots N-NW
Tides: Low 10:22pm - High 4:40am
Weather: Overcast
Launch point: Noosa Lions Park
Participants: Carlton, Eyetag, Tiberium, Ben (Carlton's friend) and Wal

With Eyetag already in the water, Ben, Carlton and myself launched at 7:30pm. It was straight to the Woods for us in look of some action from some trevally or tailor.

Sitting at the outer Woods was Eyetag with some hairtail on board. The four of us trolled the outer woods for an hour. I had some luck catching three hairtail.

We all moved down to where the new rock wall has been built to come across some trevally boiling up. My first cast in and I was on, the same for Carlton and Eyetag. We all pulled in a big eye each. The boil kept on going for 10 minutes so we just kept pulling them in. I hooked four big eyes, Carlton got a couple more than me and Eyetag had caught the whole school. Ben caught one eye big and with this being the first time he has ever kayak fished it was his first fish from kayak and first fish on a lure.

When the boil stopped I started to troll around the same spot. With no action I moved closer to the sand bank and with a couple of paddles my lure was stopped in its track.

I thought I had caught a heavy log because it felt like I was reeling in dead weight until I saw what surfaced, a nice size flathead, I quickly got her in the net before she could think about going back to the depths.

I paddled over to a sand bank and quickly got some photos.



She went back. (Photo by Carlton)



The yaks

After I released her I jumped on the yak for another troll. Straight away I was on to a what I thought to be a small trevally, but instead greeted by a monster whiting.

I quickly placed him in the fish bag as Eyetag screamed out that he caught a Jack and that they were here. I was so determined to catch a Jack I forgot that Carlton and Ben were still around so I went looking for them. I found Carlton and asked what he had caught. He pulled up a 38cm whiting and a couple of big eyes.


Can't even fit on a 40cm ruler.

I got back to trolling for another 10 minutes, until another fish wanted my lure. This fish was more aggressive when fighting it so I had an idea of what it was. I was right, my first Mangrove Jack surfaced and I was so happy to see it.

The rest of the night was quiet for me but Ben and Carlton were still able to bring in the trevally for another 30 minutes. After that we all paddled over to the Sound and that's where Eyetag and Ben called it a night. For the rest of the night Carlton and I didn't get any action.

The best night I have been on and I can say the same for Carlton.

Izak.

Four reefs in one day, 07Nov12

TR by Pedro
Wind: South to Southeast under 10 knots
Swell: 1.5m SE
Launch point: MG
Participants: Pedro, Corie

Launched 3.45am and headed to SR north, nothing on hb's. Drift fished and my first bait (pilly) got smashed near the bottom and within a couple of seconds it was on the surface. I wasn't using wire and got cut off, I'm guessing a mackerel.

I tried calling Corie a couple of times but no response and no sign of him.

The fish were scarce and with no other baits lost and one iodine bream on the bait jig I moved to A Bay reef area. The fish weren't there either, maybe it had something to do with the scum on the surface.

What is it?  I'm sure Kev knows. I've never seen the white goo floating before.








The date on camera should be 2012

From A Bay I moved to JS, the scum was there too and the fish were asleep. Next stop Halls and the scum was there too and everywhere in between and guess what no fish. Next stop Little halls and on the way I had a strike on the trolled gar but it didn't hook up.

Just a note for the hookers going soon that there was plenty of bait showing in ten meters of water all along the north shore stretch and none noted elsewhere.

Landed safely after a bit of back paddling over a couple of larger ones.

Cheers

Pedro

Trailing not failing, 05Nov12

TR by sunshiner

Wind: Southerly 5-10 knots
Swell: 1.5 metre southerly
Current: at Little Halls Reef, none
Launch point: Middle Groyne
Participants: sunshiner alone

Itching to get out for a paddle, I saw that the conditions this morning might be OK and put out the word late yesterday. Had a couple of nibbles but no one else showed. Monday-itis?

As it turned out, I had a clear run, with no work interruptions this morning so I was up early and away.

Launch time. Pretty as a picture, eh. Oh, yeah, it is a picture.

Two minutes to pull the rods etc out and set up the sounder and GPS and I was off. Out of the corner of my eye, right in the surf line to my left I spotted some quite large bait fish showering out. Obviously some predator was hanging right in close.

The Halco LP throbbed all the way to Little Halls Reef, unmolested, more’s the pity. Kept trolling a little further north and baitfish started to appear on the sounder. Looked good for a drift, so I set one up.

See what I mean? There were many large patches just like this, mainly hugging the bottom.

On my new boat I got a third flush mount rod holder fitted on the back deck with the intention of using it to hold a trailing outfit. I can easily stow three rigged rods inside the boat, so why not? This saves me re-rigging my trolling outfit as a trailing rig. It then stays idle but instantly ready for a troll whenever I'm drift fishing.

This trailing rod tactic has already proven viable as one of the snapper I got a few days back snaffled the trailed white Snapback rigged on a half ounce 3/0 jighead.

The drift was with the breeze, south to north, as expected, with the southerly swell wrapping around the headland and coming in at me from the east. A bit splashy, it was, but quite comfortable. I had the whole place to myself, except for two guys I could discern fishing off the beach just north of First Cutting.

The sounder ticked over, time marched on. Heaps of baitfish, no takers, on cast outfit or trailed, both of which were rigged with SPs and were down there, being dragged through the packed baitfish. Then suddenly the trailed outfit went off. Bewdy! A quick, vigorous fight and I had a keeper, big enough to make the main part of a meal for my bride and me.

It’s always good to get a keeper, even a small one, aboard. Note: SP rigged with wire in case of mackerel.

I didn’t have a lot of time today so shortly after this I headed gently toward Middle Groyne via a deviation closer inshore. Again the Qantas Halco did its thing, and all the way attracted no attention. I saw no bustups today and only a few terns so the predators still haven't shown up in numbers, close inshore at least. By 8:00 I was back on the beach chatting to a triathlete couple visiting from Sydney. Gotta love kayak fishing!

Kev

The Sweet and Sour Waters of Lake Mac - 03Nov12

TR by Gemini

Participants:  Gemini, Mangrove-Mac
Conditions: overcast with occasional shower, wind varied with rain periods

I arrived at the launch just before 5AM to find Mangrove-Mac already unloading. Conditions were forecast to be a little iffy, but a weekend warrior has little choice about these things. This was Mangrove-Mac's first trip onto Lake MacDonald, and little did he know he was going to get a show. Loaded and ready, we entered the water...

We proceeded across the strawberry patch, casting at the gaps in the weeds as is usually the custom at Lake Mac. Another usual occurrence is having my first strike within 15 minutes of launching. The "little" bugger gave me some curry, diving into the weeds and trying to bury himself in the bottom. I had to apply some pressure to get him up (which can often result in pulling the hooks), but he cooperated enough to get him into the net.



He was a whopper. Easily the biggest bass I have ever caught. I estimate he was close to 50cm and FAT. Now when I say "estimate", there's a reason for that...when attempting to remove the hooks he decided my breath was too bad and bailed over the side of the yak. If Mangrove-Mac hadn't been there to temper my fury I suspect I would have sterilised a vast portion of the surrounding landscape with my bad language. It was a heartbreaker, but hey, that's fishing.

After composing myself, we continued our journey. Not far from the last strike, I was fortunate to have another. This fish was undersized, and went back (by choice) to fight another day.



We headed around the bend and up towards mango tree. I had a strike or two during the journey, but no takers. Mangrove-Mac was testing out some different lures, but had so far been without a hit. As we proceeded past mango tree, I had another strike. This fish was a decent size, and it refused to come in without half the weeds of the lake tangled around his body.



He was about 36cm, and went into the hold for consumption.

This was a breaking point for me. Three fish landed was my usual result for a day at Lake Mac, could I do better today?

We moved into Toga Bay. I had just finished telling Mangrove-Mac about the reasonably good results from around that particular area when my line had a strike. It felt at first like I had snagged some weed, but an exploratory tug on the line resulted in the line tugging back. I started to reel it in, and the line went slack. Scratching my head, I continued to reel the line in...and then the fish jumped! The bass of Lake Mac don't usually leave the water, so this was something new I had not caught here yet. I didn't get a good look at it when it jumped, but I had my suspicions. The fish ran around a lot more than the bass tend to do, and he didn't dive to the bottom like the bass do either. Bringing him to the yak I had my suspicions confirmed. I had landed my first saratoga ever!



Mangrove-Mac came over to assist in removing the hook from the net. The toga had spat it in his frenzy, and it took a while to subdue him. Apparently toga like to try and jump out of nets!






The toga was just legal (minimum size is 50cm), but I hear they're not worth eating anyway. Up close they are a nice looking fish. The photos don't do the red spots much justice.

After that excitement the rest of the day was a little slow. We headed up to the palm farm area and continued to cast around. I had a couple of takers that spat the hooks before getting to the yak, and we were rained on a couple of times. Unfortunately Mangrove-Mac posted a doughnut for the day, but he did say he was off to the nearest tackle shop for a baby vibe lure (which I had used all day).

After we landed I cleaned my keeper bass and found something in its gullet that I found interesting.



We suspect this is a bass fingerling, but maybe someone else can confirm who has better knowledge than us. It's not hard to see why the baby vibe is so attractive to the bass.

All in all a fantastic day out. I hope to see more of the saratoga. I can see now why they are a prized sports fish.

Cheers!

Matt (Gemini)

DB launch jollies. 01Nov12

TR by sunshiner

Wind: NW from 3-5 knots
Swell: 1 metre south easterly
Current: at Doggie Beach Reef, none
Launch point: Doggie Beach
Participants: bomber, jimbo, imax, jaro, sunshiner

04:30 in the Doggie Beach carpark. All five of us were there. I’d got there earliest, about 04:15 and strolled down before unloading the yak to take a look at the beach break and judged it to be doable.

By launch time there had been a few changes, in that the swell seemed to have picked up a bit or maybe it was just that the tide change was causing the waves to build a little just before they crashed into the shallows.

Launch time.

Anyway, I could see that there were launch opportunities and so quickly grabbed the first one that came along and paddled madly through the shorebreak just after a big set had come through. Before long I was out the back, but a fair way out, because there were a few waves breaking on the outer bank.

While I was rigging up, imax paddled out on his Supalite X. I could see that bomber was through the break but in the growing light could still see two figures on the beach. Imax paddled up to me and explained that jimbo had been clobbered by a wave and was back on the beach tidying up. Jaro apparently was still waiting for a lull.

There was nothing I could do to help so I set course for Doggie Beach reef, about 1.5 km out, accompanied by bomber, who'd never been out there before, and imax.

Before I got to Doggie Beach reef jimbo came up on the radio saying that he'd made it out on his second try. Jaro was still on the beach and unbeknown to me at this time had also been clobbered by a wave and taken some water on. Then jaro came up on the radio and explained that the waves had grown in ferocity while he was standing there (not unusual at Doggie Beach) and he was therefore aborting. The sand monster had had a big day today.

As usual recently, things were quiet out there. A couple of stinkies were anchored up but there was no sign of activity aboard them. Drift conditions were great with the gentle moist NW breeze causing low cloud formations on top of all visible high ground around the headland.

I drift fished in my usual style, using lures only, one cast, one drifted. My trolled HB offering on the short journey out had been ignored. One thing very noticeable in the water today was a large number of jelly blubbers, many accompanied by squadrons of tiny fish.

I fished on the same drift line for about an hour before I got my first hit. The cast SP was taken by what was obviously a small snapper and shortly I was on the board with a keeper, albeit fairly small.

The SP and jighead are visible at lower right and this snapper has had an encounter with a dorsal fin damager.

From about an hour after sunrise there were lots of small fish bustups (probably bonito) evident all around us at Doggie Beach reef. Clearly these fish were chasing tiny bait fish which could be seen on our fish finders. But no larger predators were evident.

I couldn't hang around very long because I had some work commitments so shortly after 8:30am bomber and I were heading for the beach. Imax is in the middle of exam preparation and stayed out for only an hour or so, and jimbo had headed for A-Bay Reef, where he'd had a couple of small shark encounters (he brought one home) and an unstoppable.

Having been warned by radio by imax (thanks mate) that the best place to do a beach return was at the creek mouth, bomber and I hit the beach there, bomber ending up quite damp, but not as damp as he'd expected.

Waiting for us on the beach was NY salty, who is recovering from an operation which has left him with an impressive scar on his torso, but he'll be back on the yak soon.

I understand from jaro, who'd decided to return to the beach sans yak about 9:00am, that jimbo cruised in to the beach with hardly a splash on him.

Result: Several wet bums, one shark taken for food by jimbo, one snapper caught by me. Thousands of bonito shoaling out there so the food for the prize prey is arriving. Hopefully not much longer to wait before the action picks up.

Kev
sunshiner