Subject: Fishing today -- a new keeper species
Date: Wednesday, 27 August 2008 5:18 PM
G'day yakkers
Another near perfect weather situation today tempted us to hit the ocean. Mal, Jaro and I fronted at 0700 and shortly afterward launched into a tiny swell accompanied by a gentle SW breeze and about 5/10 cloud cover.
I was the last to launch and last to arrive at our chosen location, all having paddled the 4km or so in good time. By 0815 I had the first keeper, a sweetlip, in the fishbox but Jaro and Mal reported no action.
By 0900 I had three reasonable sweeties in the bag and then the breeze started to shut down. Mal left at about 0930 leaving Jaro and me to soak up the ambience and the sunshine which had emerged with the loss of the breeze. Shortly afterward the sea glassed out and we languidly drifted with the current getting occasional hits from mainly small to medium sweeties.
The time flew for me and before long it was 1130 and by now Jaro had two medium sized sweetlip and I had three. From 1130 the action picked up a little and I noticed that the current, formerly running quite strongly toward the NE had dropped away. The most notable sign that the action had picked up was a solid strike on Jaro's trailing jighead. I was nearby and watched him play out this fish, which was clearly better than the others we'd been encountering. After a short tussle Jaro's fish was beaten and floating next to the yak. Jaro posed to show his first ever keeper-sized Maori cod, and a new keeper species for our group, although many of us have previously caught undersize specimens:
It doesn't look so big in this picture but it went 44cm and has a very solid, deep body (see pic below). These are a superb eating fish but note, once again, that the legal size is 38cm. (Editor: Incorrect due to misinterpretation of rules. Min legal size at the time was 45cm.)
We pulled the pin at 1300, Jaro somewhat reluctantly, but at least he'd achieved his aim of providing a superb fresh fish meal for the household (incl visiting guest). Of interest among my catch were a single just-size snapper (released) and a juvenile pearl perch (also released). Note that last trip we couldn't catch any sweetlip, but caught only smallish snapper. This trip we caught only one small snapper and several sweetlip. Why? I haven't a clue.
We paddled back easily as the breeze had now switched to the NE, covering the 4km in under 40 minutes. On arrival at the beach, Jaro pulled out his fish bag to display his Maori cod to the admiring beach bums and was horrified to discover it wasn't in there. Then he spotted it, wedged behind the back of his seat and a certainty to be lost over the side if he'd rolled or swamped the yak on the way through the surf zone. The only plausible explanation for the situation is that the fish somehow managed to work its way out of the slippery plastic bag in which Jaro stores his fish on capture.
Take home catch (5 sweetlip for me, 2 sweetlip and cod for Jaro), Jaro's cod prominent:
One other noteworthy event occurred. While Jaro was cleaning his fish a wobbegong shark about 1.2m long swam right up into the shallows, presumably following the fishy scent trail which we'd caused. It hung around quite brazenly and probably has taken up residence in the rocks of the groyne. If you encounter this animal do not attempt to feed it as they have jaws like a steel trap and could easily rip your hand to shreds. Having said that, they are reputed not to be dangerous to humans unless molested. They are quite common on the reefs around here and frequently seen by snorkellers.
That's probably the last fishing trip for me for a month or so, as I'll be away from Noosa until 27Sep.
I look forward to reading about your fishing exploits during my absence.
Tight lines, yakkers
Kev
Red & Yellow Espri, black paddle
VHF channel 09 or 22 (if alone), Call Sign: sunshiner
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