Subject: noosa yakkers old folks outing 22Dec07
Date: Saturday, 22 December 2007 2:39 PM
Well fishing fans, it was a sort of hot & cold day today. Harvey and I were ready to launch at 5am and were happy to be greeted with calm conditions and a low swell. Just before we left, Jaro turned up in his pyjamas and agreed that he'd meet us "out there". So off we headed for JS central. There was nothing of particular interest to report for our trip out and by 0550am Harvey and I had our first baits down. The wind was from the SW at less than 5knots so our drift was very slow. Harv nailed a couple of small reefies, as did I in the first few casts. Then Jaro turned up, paddling toward us from the east and eventually joined us for an uneventful drift at about 0615. About then my phone rang -- it was Jim announcing that he was just leaving (the beach presumably) and would see us soon. And, no Jim, we hadn't boated anything decent at that stage.
We still hadn't had any joy by the time Jim turned up about 40 min later. But just as he was asking me about results I connected with a nice little keeper sweetlip which went into the fish box -- one keeper in the bag. We fished and fished, becoming increasingly more despondent as time went on at the lack of bites. All around us at ranges from 200m to the horizon birds were feeding on baitfish being pushed up to the surface by pelagic predators, mainly tuna, but where we were the snapper were certainly not as active as they often have been over the last few months.
By 0815, with still nothing in the bag and the sun beginning to get more obtrusive, plans were being made to leave. Except for Jaro, of course. And shortly afterward he lifted our spirits by letting out a whoop of delight. We looked over to see his rod bent over and Jaro furiously cranking the reel. A nice snapper came aboard, this at 0825, as I checked my watch. By this time Harv and I had been fishing since 0550 for nothing much. A couple of minutes later Jim yelled out that he was on, then Jaro, again. Harv and I were feeling glummer by the second. Then Jaro nailed a third!!! All of this happened within 15 minutes, so it was all over by about 0840. But by now the heat of the sun was starting to sap our will to plug on and so shortly afterward, with no further strikes, all opted to head for home, departing the reef at about 0915. It was a pretty easy paddle home for by now the wind, although still light, had swung to a northerly, just as forecast, although about 2 hours late.
All mastered the small swell at the beach, with Jim trying a new trick to ensure he remained upright, and we came ashore at the eastern side of the groyne to be met, as usual, by the curious gazes and questions of holidaymakers.
Another fun morning -- and I'm pleased to report that my roof rack Mark 3 which I spent much of Friday afternoon creating, is a big improvement on Mark 2, being now more firmly secured to the Sierra (not easy when you have a canvas roof) and with crossbars which coincide exactly with the fore and aft scupper hole locations of the Espri, thus providing much firmer support (sounds like an ad for brassieres, doesn't it).
Incidentally, this was the first JS trip in several months for me where I didn't catch a single snapper -- keeper or otherwise. So perhaps the snapper season is coming to an end. We'll have to keep testing of course, to find out for sure.
Kev
Red & Yellow Espri with (not so many) fish scales on it
