Subject: fishing today -- 04jun09
Date: Thursday, 4 June 2009 6:31 PM
A great roll up this morning -- Jaro, Harry, Andy, Brian, Dave (visitor from Sydney) and me. Also in attendance as observer and occasional kayak carrying helper was Bill, who is keen to join us and no doubt will in the near future. He has borrowed Harvey's Espri while Harv is laid up with illness.
I must admit that conditions were not as good as we were expecting, but we were there, it wasn't raining and everyone was keen to have a go.
Above, from left, Andy, Bill the observer, Brian, Dave from Sydney.
It looked like it was going to be a mite tricky getting out, but that didn't stop us.
0704hrs. Brian and Andy, keen to get away, prepare to launch.
I know it looks pretty nasty but in reality it was a piece of cake. All you had to do was paddle out along the channel and wait in the deep water just short of the end of the groyne, backpaddling as necessary, while awaiting the inevitable lull -- and then go like a scalded cat once the opportunity presented itself. All of us got out cleanly without even a raising of the heart rate. The return, described later, was a different matter.
And so we once more headed for the shoal, aided by a southerly breeze and buoyed by the hope that the snapper would be around as they were last week.
The further we got out, the more apparent it became that the south easterly, which was forecast to drop away, was still punching away at 10-15knots. Out at the shoal, there were whitecaps on the tops of the swells, but calmness in the troughs. This breeze, however, made our drifts very fast, even with the drogue out and this effect is probably to blame for the lack of fish captures, for after an hour none of us had got anything of significance, although Brian did report a good run on his first or second pass over the hot spot we fished last week, and on which we concentrated today.
This pic of Jaro at work will give you some idea of conditions out there. (still from video)
Harry likened the conditions to those in a washing machine and I must admit that few of us had any dry areas after an hour of dealing with the wind blown spray. Those who had brought them, Harry included, donned their spray jackets. Never mind, we fished on, even thought the area seemed as quiet as the grave. Then Jaro announced a flurry of activity in which he'd caught in quick succession, a small snapper (legal, which he kept) and a small sweetlip (just legal, which he released), both on pilchards. This was the last of the action before Jaro, I and Dave decided to pull the pin, joined shortly afterward by Harry. Just as we were packing up a school of pelagics (probably mac tuna) showed their fleeting presence by belting a shoal of baitfish right amongst us. The activity was so sudden and brief that we had no opportunity to take advantage of it. And so we turned for home.
The following sea on the journey back seemed bigger than it should have been. My GPS was still ticking away, displaying speed over the water so I decided to see what sort of speed I could get from one of these waves. My best for the morning was 10.4kph on a particularly steep specimen.
On arrival back at MG it was clear that the now lower water level had made conditions somewhat trickier, especially right at the corner of the rock wall, where we usually run for the beach. In fact many waves were breaking a good 10 metres short of the channel entrance, no doubt as a result of a build up of sand over the last week or so.
Harry arrived first, having overtaken Dave, Jaro and me on the journey back. All that paddling practice with the Noosa Outrigger Club is certainly paying off for Harry, although he always was pretty quick. I 'd mentioned by radio that I'd like to video the return to shore through the surf and hoped that I could go in first to be ready with the camera. Harry obliged and held back, Jaro wasn't quite ready so I snuck forward to get a better look at the break. Dave, meanwhile, had opted to take a close look at a quieter spot just a little further west.
I spotted a big set coming through and paddled out a little to allow it to break on the beach side of me, then having taken a look and decided that there was a quiet period, started my run in the usual place (mistake #1). Part way through this run and before I'd got level with the end of the wall I spotted a breaker rearing up behind me and made a split second decision to turn into it rather than have it run me down (mistake #2). I was going OK but part way through the manoeuvre I knew it would be touch and go. Would I crest the wave before it broke? I reckon I got 98% of the way there but that last 2% was critical. I climbed the face and the wave top fell off and dropped on me, the bow of the yak went skywards and I went for an inglorious swim. And here I was intent on videoing the other guys!! In reviewing the situation I think I'd have been better off to run with the wave. Still, when you make decisions in that situation it's unwise to change your mind in the middle of the manoeuvre.
I bobbed up with the paddle still in hand and the leash still secured to the yak. I was unable to touch bottom with my feet and judged it better to just hang on the upside down yak and wash in, which I did with little fuss in 30 seconds or so to where I could touch bottom. I was just regaining my composure when I was mortified to spot Dave, my guest, in my spare yak, surfing a small wave into the beach in line with the gap in the waves which he'd chosen as his entry point.
As all damageable gear was stowed, no harm was done, other than to my pride, but there was a little easily repairable damage to my yak's home-made accessories. With Dave and I safely on the beach Jaro and Harry came in together, in the same area as I'd chosen, but they managed to jointly pick a quiet period and glided gracefully to the shore. Nothing for the camera there.
We four compared notes on the beach and then spotted Brian heading back in. We have no radio contact with Brian, or Andy, who was still out there somewhere so couldn't warn them off the usual path to the beach. Brian lined up, and so did I, with the video camera. His was an unorthodox, but effective, transit. He picked a reasonable lull then got turned sideways by a wave but dropped off the back of it to be confronted by a larger one bearing down on him. He deftly turned the yak back into the wave so that he took this next one head on, then found himself in the channel whose deeper water allowed him to turn back toward the beach again and make a soft and upright landing.
Brian part way through his unorthodox transit, all of which was caught on video. (still from video)
So now there were five of us on the beach. Where's Andy? 5 minutes or so later -- oh, there he is, just appearing round the rock wall. Again I entered the water with the camera running as Andy wasted little time in setting up a run and going for it. He was doing OK, too, but part way through was overrun by a bigger wave and the sudden acceleration caused him to go for a swim, too.
Andy about to take a dive. He was going pretty well, too. All caught on video. (still from video)
Again, no real harm was done.
So that's it for today's report. Only one fish brought home, and that was judged by Jaro as unworthy of a pic.
Some nice weather coming up. All we need is the snapper to come on.
Kev
Red & Yellow Espri, black paddle
VHF channel 09 or 22 (if alone), Call Sign: sunshiner
No comments:
Post a Comment