Quiet at JS, 02Jan11

Subject: Yak Fishing report - Sun 2Jan11
From: "Jim Thompson"
Date: 3/01/2011 12:06 AM

Weather
Cloud cover: 8/10, brief patches of sunshine
Wind direction & speed: 10-12 knots ESE
Sea state: 1.5-2.0m ESE swell with wind chop on top
Current direction & speed: Circulating northerly from Main Beach past river mouth towards Lt Halls Rf.
Moon Phase: 3 days before New Moon

Participants: Eyetag, Jaro, Jimbo & new NY Matt Reid making his debut.

I arrived at the MG car park in darkness just before 4.15am to find Eyetag's car and new NY Matt Reid (who had driven from Cooroy) already unloading his Viking kayak. Matt had already checked out the surf conditions and, even for a first-time yakker in the half gloom of dawn, reckoned it would be an easy transition across the virtually non-existent surf zone. Jaro arrived, and after unloading our kayaks we were soon down on the beach ready to launch. The wheel marks in the sand from Eyetag's earlier launch were visible.

Jaro was first off, followed a few minutes later by me and then Matt. Jaro was of course ready to paddle off after quickly deploying his pre-rigged rods from their enclosure in his ProFish 45, but it took Matt and me some 10-15 minutes to rig our lines, Matt discovering for the first time the need for organisation of your gear within the confines of a kayak cockpit. A call to Eyetag on the radio revealed he was already at Lt Halls Rf but had not had any bites. It also became apparent as the light levels increased that the water was very murky from the tannin-coloured outflow from the river mouth.

Jaro, I and then Matt met with Eyetag about 1.0 km south of LH as he was trolling back towards us. We soon agreed the water was so dirty all along the North Shore and around LH that we would be better heading to Jew Sh where the water might be clearer, even though this meant a solid paddle for about 3km directly into a stiff 10-12 knot wind and lumpy swell. Soon after leaving Lt Halls the water clarity improved significantly and about half way to JS, Eyetag came across a boil of tuna and hooked up with his first cast. Unfortunately this fish self released after a spirited 2-3 minute fight.

Upon arrival at JS, Jaro headed for a mark to the north of the Pinnacles, Matt and I went to our Jew West mark and Eyetag opted to troll around with a HB lure. Jaro was first to report boating a small but keeper snapper on a prawn bait, and not long after Eyetag boated a 70-80cm mac tuna. The stiff ESEly was causing a fairly quick drift speed and I was having no bites at all on the cast SPs. However, my heavy line with a trailing pilchard eventually went off putting a big bend into the rod and the fish initially taking quite a bit of line. The constant and strong pull from this fish lead me to believe it was a shark. When I eventually got to see it after a good 6-8 min fight, my only surprise was to find that it was a small hammerhead shark, later measured at 1.07m. During this time Eyetag caught and released a second mac tuna of similar size to the one he already had on board.

At around 0900 Eyetag and I decided we had had enough of the windy/lumpy conditions and decided we would head for home. Matt had disappeared from view (we assumed/hoped he had already decided to head for home) and only Jaro initially thought he would fish on. Jaro soon changed his mind and all three of us started the lumpy paddle back to MG with an annoying cross wind swell/chop for most of the way. Just off MG we met up with Matt coming back from the direction of the river mouth. Unfortunately Matt did not have any luck on his maiden voyage as a NY, but he did gain a lot of experience about open ocean kayak fishing.

Thanks for organising Jaro. Next Thursday looks like a possible opportunity.

Cheers,

Jimbo