Since mid 2007, members of Noosa Yakkers have been writing and illustrating kayak fishing Trip Reports and publishing them by whatever means available. This blog collects all of our early reports (sent out by email) plus the later TR published here on Blogger, and more recently, Monthly Summaries of the reports published on our Facebook Group.
Facebook provides an excellent and simple facility for conducting group discussions in text form, including unbeatable support for adding still pictures, movies and "shares". As a result, with our Facebook Group we have brilliant media-rich communication within Noosa Yakkers, with lots of info and useful material appearing quickly on our Group because it's so easy to post, to view and to make comments. Not on Facebook? I encourage you to dip your paddle in the Facebook sea and give it a try. If the oldest members of Noosa Yakkers can do it probably you can. Not convinced? Don't despair. We have no intention of dropping our tried and true Google Group email or our indispensable blog of Trip Reports and generally useful yak fishing info. But if you're not on Facebook, you're missing out on useful information.
To help retain contact with our established world wide blog audience we've decided to publish this monthly summary of our fishing activity. The info has been extracted from our closed (private) Facebook Group. The included link to each Facebook post will work only for members of the Noosa Yakkers Facebook Group. Constructive ideas to improve this summary and/or volunteered editorial skills are welcomed.
Don't want your Facebook post reproduced here? Please contact a committee member.
This monthly brief summary of fishing trip information within the Noosa Yakkers area is only a fraction of the useful and interesting info and banter appearing on our Facebook Group. You can see our public Page here: Noosa Yakkers public Page (includes Sign Up link)
and our Group, fully accessible only to Group members, here: Noosa Yakkers Facebook Group (includes request to join facility for all)
Overview, weather and species
Noosa sea temperature 01Sep17 22.2°C/72°F and at 30Sep17 23.3°C/74°F
Fish species mentioned or featured in Noosa Yakkers' reports this month in Noosa area: snapper, bonito, pike, mackerel tuna, longtail tuna, grass sweetlip, school mackerel, cobia.
So, it turned out to be a busy month and things are likely to get busier with the cobia showing up on schedule and even longtails still a possibility. There have to be a few big snapper around, too.
[Two videos: trip summary and cobia catch, at end of post]
There was this one offshore yak fishing opportunity for the week showing up on Seabreeze and confirmed by MetEye. I put out the word on FB the afternoon before and, as I'd hoped, tunny agreed to accompany me on a brief foray to Little Halls Reef before the wind started blowing hard from the north, for several days.
Tunny was already in the carpark when my little green Mazda also arrived, at around 0450. Soon we were trundling our yaks down to the beach where I was happy to be greeted by a very small swell and smooth waters inshore but in the improving light, a small chop out wider, denoting a light NW breeze, as forecast.
I really needed a snapper today as my snapper score for 2017 so far has been woeful and way below my yearly average. I was also intent on experimenting with a bobby cork rig which allowed a live or dead bait (or lure) to be suspended at a depth of 10m. Today it was rigged for bait. Those familiar with Little Halls Reef will immediately recognize that such a rig, if working properly, will keep the bait 2-3m above the ocean floor in that area. So, snag free but well within the reach of succulent and nervous bottom dwellers such as sweetlip.
Tunny was first in the area (well he is younger, and fitter!). After a short while he reported that he'd found a small patch of bait, which is really important, we think, for indicating where we should fish. "The secret to fishing: fish where the fish are." This first patch of bait proved illusory and so we paddled and drifted randomly fishing all the while and eventually I ran across a decent, if rather small, patch of bait which I marked and then told tunny about. We fished within about 50m of this bait school for the rest of the session.
We'd started fishing the area at around 0600 and the first action wasn't for an hour or so after this. My experimental bobby cork rig provided it. I was fishing with a SP on my casting rig and keeping a peripheral eye on my bobby cork, bobbing around some 10-15m away, with the bait suspended at 10m depth. Quite suddenly the float sank. My heart raced and I struck to feel a slight weight which soon revealed itself to be a very juvenile Maori cod. Hey, the rig worked! The stinger treble was lodged securely in its jaw. Back it went to do some growing up.
I rebaited the bobby cork rig with a pre-sliced strip of bonito and paddled the short distance back to the bait school where I deployed my attractions again. It didn't take long. Again, the float disappeared, but more violently this time. Line was pouring off the reel and, having picked up the trailing rig, I had two rods in my hands. What's more, the casting outfit also took off (later I realised that the SP on this rig must have somehow become engaged with the bobby cork rig as I had line pouring off both reels).
Then everything went slack (well, nearly everything). My leader knot on the bobby cork rig had broken. Perhaps I'd upped the drag a little too high but the knot did break (bugger!). My float popped up some distance away and tunny helped retrieve it. So, what to do? Re-rig of course. No small task in a kayak rocking on the ocean: tie on a new leader (10m long), thread a bead on then thread the bobby cork on followed by tying on a new terminal rig, baiting it and paddling back to where the fish might be. This seemed a fair-enough idea at the time, but I made the fatal mistake of feeding out the 10m leader overboard while I was setting stuff up. I was all ready to redeploy it when I realised that I had the new leader around the rudder. Fark! There was nothing for it but to ask tunny to help and as it was "be kind to old guys' day" he did, but in the process the new leader etc was rendered useless (it was in several pieces, which is not good). But I hadn't lost my float, or the new terminal gear, which is good.
Tunny helps out
I sulked for a short while, fishing with only my casting outfit. Then a ray of sunshine arrived in the form of a small but keeper snapper. That banished my sulkiness and started me thinking about repairing the trailing rig and making it simpler: i.e. no float.
My second snapper for 2017
The re-rig of the trailing outfit took only a couple of minutes. I baited it with another slice of the bonito I caught a couple of trips back, paddled back to "where the fish are" and deployed it first, simply letting a little line out until I judged it might be several metres down. I then placed the rod in the rod holder making sure that the drag was lightly set (this to minimise the possibility of being rolled in the event of a big strike). I then cast out my SP on the other rod and settled back into my routine. One minute, two minutes, pow! The drag ratchet sounded like a chain saw in a quiet forest dale, even though I'm half deaf.
Even if I do say so myself, I think I did a decent job of getting the casting rig retrieved and out of the way and the drogue too, all while fighting the rampaging monster with my spare hand. I guessed early on that it may have been a cobia as it fought straight up and down (lots of down, I can tell you). Half way through the 15 minute fight I saw the cobe clearly below. Possibly a PB, I thought, but certainly not a Noosa Yakkers record. I just kept the pressure on and waited for the inevitable tiring of my opponent. The gaff went in once I judged it was really knackered and I dragged it aboard and slid it straight into the open hatch.
The cobia swims past just before gaff time.
I had enough fish but tunny and I hung around for a little longer before heading in, accompanied by an increasing northerly breeze, exactly as forecast, and, unforecast, a pod of three whales which swam on a parallel track with me toward Middle Groyne for around 15 minutes.
Beach pics
Mother and daughter, holidaying from Melbourne, were happy to have their picture taken.
Pic by tunny. Thanks, mate.
On the mat. At least 117cm, maybe 120 but not longer.
Sept 15-18 2017
After a couple of false starts frustrating my long held desire to explore the upper Noosa River I finally set off to my launch site at Harry's Hut on a solo adventure. My dear wife did not want to join me on this trip and no takers were available amongst Noosa Yakkers or wider social media land.
In years past we used to drive the Cooloola Way when passable en-route to and from my family's farm at Maryborough and in doing so crossed the Upper Noosa River on a rickety log bridge which has long since been deemed unsuitable to traffic of any sort .
From those trips past Wallum Plains of cryptic Ground parrots and seasonal Christmas Bells my curiosity was piqued as to how far one could access the Noosa River towards that old bridge.
I was now about to find out some 25 years later.
My midday departure from Harry's was later than planned as I had to repack and rationalise some of my gear, too many clothes in too many bags.
I was anxious to get underway but curious as to how well the Stealth would be trimmed with such a load on board.
I need not have been concerned as the Stealth soaked up the added weight and paddled like a dream - cruising at a steady 6 kph with only moderate effort. I soon made my way to campsite 5 for the first night.
Backing as it does onto the track for the Cooloola Great Walk running parallel to the river in this section I took myself for an afternoon walk with the camera finding a variety of wild flowers , wild life and hippy craft work and interesting reflections along the way.
Next morning the mist was ethereal after the cold night.
Paddling on to Campsite 15 I was surprised by the number of small creeks that lead east and west into the surrounding national parkland that had a significant fresh flow in spite of the dry season.
Some of the creeks are nameless but others such as Teewah Creek are shown on most maps.
Teewah Ck joins the Noosa River just opposite Camp 15 and is flowing shallow and clear although tannin stained and is navigable for only a short distance before logs block any further progress.
Five or more metres above river level the log demarcated camp is guarded by a stately Staghorn fern.
Paddling upstream from camp 15 for less than half an hour I came to this log jam impeding any further progress. My journey was monitored by a pair of Azure kingfishers and a pair of Australasian Darters each taking turns to take alarm at my intrusion in their fishing zone and flying ahead just a short distance before resuming their hunting.
Feisty Bass are one of the attractions up here and I found 2 eager takers for my crayfish pattern lure just on dusk right in front of the campsite.
Early morning reflections make rising with the dawn chorus of bird calls worthwhile.
Paddling back to Harry's I paused for the evening at a favourite sandy spit with just enough room for my one man tent . I had planned to camp at site 9 but took advantage of good paddling conditions to get further downstream. With hind sight I probably should have stayed at 9 as the noise from the backpackers group site at 3 travelled through the still evening air somewhat reducing the "wilderness" feel of my sandy haven.
A Yellow Robin posed near my lunch spot at the Harry's Day use area upon my return to the launch site.
Local bearded Dragon was caught sunning himself on the gravel climb out of the National Park
This fat Red Bellied Black snake slid off into the forestry near the Doggerel trees.
A sensational 3 days away in the wilderness and so close to home- yes I will do it again - perhaps in autumn 2018 --- any takers ??
Facebook provides an excellent and simple facility for conducting group discussions in text form, including unbeatable support for adding still pictures, movies and "shares". As a result, with our Facebook Group we have better media-rich communication within Noosa Yakkers than ever before, with lots of info and useful material appearing quickly on our Group because it's so easy to post, to view and to make comments. Not on Facebook? I encourage you to dip your paddle in the Facebook sea and give it a try. If the oldest members of Noosa Yakkers can do it probably you can. Not convinced? Don't despair. We have no intention of dropping our tried and true Google Group email or our indispensable blog of Trip Reports and generally useful yak fishing info. But if you're not on Facebook, you're missing out.
To help retain contact with our established world wide blog audience we've decided to publish this monthly summary of our fishing activity. The info has been extracted from our closed (private) Facebook Group. The included link to each post will work only for members of the Noosa Yakkers Facebook Group. Constructive ideas to improve this summary and/or volunteered editorial skills are welcomed.
Don't want your Facebook post reproduced here? Please contact a committee member.
This monthly brief summary of fishing trip information is only a fraction of the useful and interesting info and banter appearing on our Facebook Group. You can see our public Page here: Noosa Yakkers public Page (includes Sign Up link)
and our Group (fully accessible only to members) here: Noosa Yakkers Facebook Group
Overview, weather and species
Noosa sea temperature 01Aug17 22.8°C/73°F and at 31Aug17 22.2°C/72°F
Fish species mentioned or featured in Noosa Yakkers' reports this month in Noosa area: snapper, grass sweetlip, Maori cod, bonito, pike
Kayak fishing was generally very poor in the Noosa area this month. Light winds offered plenty of opportunity to get offshore but the fish just didn't put in an appearance. Warmer weather coming up and all are hoping for the snapper and cobia to show up soon, as they often have in the past.
07Aug17. Location: Bowen inshore, during a road trip Noosa to Cairns and back over three weeks.
As you can see, launch was a doddle. Photo by Mary from our balcony.
It was my fourth launch at the sheltered beach just below our accommodation at Bowen. The previous three launches over two days had been useful for reconnaissance and for whale excitement but hadn't produced any noteworthy fish.
So for the last time I headed out to the rocky island just over one km away which marks the northern tip of the peninsula. These looked like fishy waters but so far the pelagic predators which I hoped might be hanging around hadn't appeared.
I trolled a HLP around for an hour without a decent hookup so I then decided, as a last option before heading in and home to Noosa the next day, to target the upcurrent side of the reef at the island with a white curly tail SP on 10kg line and a half ounce jighead. The E-W current was causing upwellings on the surface as the water pushed through from 12m depth to around 7m. On the sonar it looked like ideal reef predator habitat so I cranked up the drag on the basis that in that cave-filled territory I'd get only one chance to turn any decent fish which darted out from its refuge to smash my offering.
It was right on noon. Having selected a start point for my drift in the gentle current and calm conditions I fed out about 7m of line, allowing the jig to sink pretty much vertically then started to jig it gently. On the second lift it got smashed and the fight was on.
After the initial whack it took me a few seconds to turn on the chest cam and in that time the initial gentle take turned into a bare knuckle scrap as the fish went straight for the bottom and I upped the drag a teensy bit more in desperation. I could feel the leader rubbing on the coral and rock but kept the pressure on and eventually won out (see the movie embedded in this post).
What a fish! My first coral trout from the yak and my biggest ever, I think; certainly the most memorable coral trout given I've forgotten about the others.
The freshly caught fish. Magnificent, eh? That white spot on its flank interests me. It faded away after death.
54cm on the well travelled Noosa Yakkers brag mat.
The trout made it, in great condition, the 1200km back to Noosa. You may be interested in the process:
(1) Within 90 minutes of capture I took it, whole and intact, to the local fishing co-op store where Terry, the owner, advised me to pack it immediately in a foam cooler box ($4 at the store) with ice. He explained that he routinely processes boat loads of commercially caught fish and doesn’t bother cleaning the fish before packaging it in ice-filled boxes. Stored and transported this way he said his fish are “good for at least a week”.
(2) I took his advice and left the box (with fish, packed in free ice they provided) on their premises overnight before picking it up the next morning on our way out of Bowen on the seven-hour road trip to Rockhampton. Total charge: $4.
(3) Our motel in Rockhampton had a restaurant and associated cold room and were happy to store the box overnight for no charge. Before putting the box to bed for the night I checked the ice situation and was pleased to see that it was still viable and in fact was hardly melted at all.
(4) On departure the next morning I again checked the ice (still good) and we left for the seven hour road trip to home, where, on arrival, I placed the box into my spare downstairs fridge (ice still viable).
(5) Gutted and filleted the fish the morning after arriving home. The fish looked and smelt as fresh as when first caught nearly three days before. It yielded one kilogram of skinless, boneless fillets. Coral trout fillets are sold to the restaurant trade in Rockhampton for $50 per kilogram (source: the motel owner in Rockhampton, who told me that never offers coral trout on the menu any more because it is too expensive “these days")
