From: sunshiner
Date: 12/07/2010 2:58 PM
Weather
Cloud cover: 2/10
Wind direction & speed: first from SW then from SE
Sea state: 1.8m swell
Participants: Peter, Sam (new Noosa Yakker from Brisbane), Kev
0613hrs. Low light forces the camera to use a low shutter speed and my hands were shaking anyway.
So here's Sam (Viking Tempo), about to launch from MG for the first time. The surf was pretty much as I'd described it yesterday arvo. Care was required. But we got out OK. Peter had already launched in the dark, much to Sam's consternation as he thought he was going to have to do the same thing!
We were met by the MG dolphin pod immediately after launch -- nice to see our marine mammal friends come over and say good morning. Soon we were headed for the shoal on a decent swell rolling in from the NE but a gentle SW breeze, no chop.
I spotted Peter first and pointed his tiny dot on the horizon out to Sam. As we got closer we could see that there were two yakkers out there, and no other boats. Curious as to who the guy was in the orange yak, I paddled over to discover it was John, a Kin Kin resident whom we see from time to time. He's from Hawaii originally and obviously loves his fishing. We then paddled over to Peter, about 200 metres distant.
0713hrs. As we didn't have a pic of Peter I decided to create one.
Pete had already bagged two keeper snapper using bait, possibly because he arrived at JS 30 minutes or so before we did.
Sam opted to stay with me and I paddled over to a deeper section to the north to start fishing. Conditions were pretty good with a SW breeze and a very slow drift toward the NE. All of us could see fish schools on our fish finders so we were hopeful of getting some action. I set up my trailing outfit with a gold/orange River2Sea Octo Sniper and free spooled my ancient ABU overhead to let it descend to the bottom. Barely had it reached there than it was whacked. This is the second time this has happened to me with this lure and I've only used it twice. First drop, on immediately. I cranked the fish in to find it was a very large scorpion cod, which posed for the camera before I released it.
0737hrs. Scorpion cod. Don't get spined by one of these guys!
But there was a distinct lack of snapper or sweetlip action, at least for us SP users (Sam and I). But we persisted. Eventually I caught a lancer (a type of small sweetlip -- Octo again) and then a bar-tailed flathead, on the SP. As there's some confusion about legal size limits for these fish, I've taken a pic to assist in identification.
Bar-tailed flathead, fairly common around Jew Shoal. Min size 30cm, bag limit for flathead other than duskies (see below) is 5
Tail of bar tailed flathead. Note that the dusky flathead (min 40cm max 75cm) has a similarly patterned, but not so striking, tail but its tail has a prominent "blotch".
At 10am I called it quits and Sam opted to return to MG with me. We opted to troll across the shoal and had barely got started when Sam yelled out to me. I paddled over to find that he'd hooked a bonito on his trolled HB lure.
As Sam said: "At least I didn't score a donut!" The bonito was gently released.
We paddled home in glorious conditions, the breeze, which had swung to the SE, gradually lessening as we entered Laguna Bay. Approaching MG we chatted about techniques for handling the surf break, which, the closer we got, the greater the likely challenge it seemed would be presented. At last we could see that there were several board-riders right on the point -- a sure sign that steep wave faces could be anticipated. I was impressed that Sam was fully aware of the need to secure everything and had set up his yak so that nothing at all would be damaged in any likely eventuality. So we sat off the break, both getting our gear stowed and, as I was finished first, I thought I'd better do the right thing and show the path through. The grommets at the mouth of the channel were manoeuvering to get the best possie to pick up the incoming waves, but I was determined to pick a way through and eventually, having chosen my run time, had to ask one of them as politely as I could to "Get out of the way please!", which he did with alacrity. My way clear, I churned in and was completely clear of the nasty break area before a wave ran me down. This wave was easily defeated by broaching the yak to starboard which gave me a nice 45 degree ride in to the beach. Whew!
I grabbed the camera, just in case, and waded back through the swell to see how Sam would do. He was waiting where I had waited but there were some pretty decent waves sliding under him. The grommets were having a ball with these and I hoped Sam would hold back a little longer, although I did turn the camera on. Uh oh! Sam chose his wave, without noticing another right behind him. I aimed the camera without having time to zoom in and started recording movie just as the wave caught Sam. He managed to keep the yak straight, but the bow went down, possibly hit the sand and Sam was pitch poled forward.
That's Sam at the height of his embarrassment, bow deeply under the water, stern in the air (frame from video)
This frame from the video, a minute or so later, shows the sort of waves we were dealing with. Note the boogie boarder almost inside a barrel.
But every cloud has a silver lining, they say. As he was wading toward the beach, Sam spotted a tree branch caught in the surge. "There's a rod and reel!" he yelled. I looked where he was pointing and sure enough, I saw a Shimano Sienna reel (latest model, for I have two similar ones) attached to a rod. The outfit was entangled in the branch. It was a clear case of finders keepers but I did drag it out of the surf for him. The reel and rod both had marine growths on them but the reel was still functional and not only that it was spooled with braid, and, at the end of the braid, a good quality casting slug was clipped on.
A dripping wet Sam with his find.
If he hadn't come a cropper he wouldn't have found the rod and reel.
Thanks for coming along Sam and Peter. Peter, please let us know how you finished up for the day.
Kev
Red & Yellow Espri, black paddle
VHF channel 09 or 22 (if alone), Call Sign: sunshiner
http://www.noosayakkers.blogspot.com
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