Subject: fishing today -- 12oct09
Date: Monday, 12 October 2009 3:39 PM
Although there was a small window of decent weather forecast for Sunday, by very early Sunday morning that window had largely disappeared and so only Jaro and whalebait went. They caught a couple of fish (see Jaro's report), but were unable to make it to our prime fishing spot because of wind and the sea it generated. Today looked better, albeit with the near certain intelligence that a stiff northerly would kick in by mid morning.
And so six of us stepped up to the plate, two of whom had also done it the day before. Having duly arrived at MG just before 0500 I there encountered Jaro (yak unloaded and ready to roll down to the beach) and whalebait (already on the beach and about to launch). My quick recce of the beach conditions allowed me to greet whalebait just before he hit the water, which was looking OK, albeit requiring some care in timing the swells for a dry exit.
A few minutes later Jaro was launching and I had just arrived at the water's edge. Jaro played it really carefully, waiting a minute or two in the "ready to board" attitude before picking his wave set and going for it:
0511hrs. Jaro in the "ready to board" attitude.
Whalebait was starting his paddle toward Sunshine Reef, and Jaro had almost completed his setting up by the time I launched.
0515hrs. Paddling like hell to get through the slot before the next wave arrives. (still from chest cam video)
No worries. Sometimes I wonder why I keep dragging myself out of bed in the pre-dawn darkness to go kayak fishing. But whenever I'm immersed in the grandeur which is Laguna Bay at dawn, I remember. It's the exhilaration, stupid!
OK, now to set up my gear -- rods/reels/terminal tackle -- GPS -- sonar. This all takes a few minutes, especially tying monofilament knots in the low ambient light. Soon I'm ready and off toward Dolphin Point, my two companions now out of sight but paddling on a similar track to mine.
The time flies and soon I'm in the choppy water which is characteristic of the shallows near Hells Gates. Glancing down at the GPS from time to time I notice that my speed is greater than I'd expect. At one stage, 9kph registers for a few seconds and much of the time I'm travelling across the earth's surface at around 7kph. Could there be a current here or is it just that I'm a more efficient paddler than usual?
3.5 km into the trip and 1.5km to go to my mark and I've been travelling only ~30 minutes -- pretty quick. Jaro has radioed that it's lovely out there, no appreciable wind yet and small swell. I have to agree with him but, having reached my mark and stopped paddling, I'm amazed at the glide characteristics of my yak when I find I'm still doing 5kph after putting the paddle down. Drogue deployed, I cast out my soft plastic before setting up my trailing rod, keeping one eye on the GPS while doing so. Within a couple of minutes the info I'm collecting from my GPS tells me that there's a pretty fast drift to the south, but there's almost no breeze. Clearly there's a current; this observation is confirmed by the hang angle of my trailing outfit and the angle of the drogue. By radio I ask whalebait, nearby, for his judgement on the drift, without revealing my opinion. He quickly comes back with a judgement similar to mine. For ten minutes I get carried on the current then check the distance from my start point. Four hundred metres! It doesn't take Einstein to work out that I'm being carried along at 2.4kph toward the south. An additional factor: we're expecting a wind from the north! Armed with this info I put a radio call out to Noosa Yakkers giving them my findings. Hollywood, who has now joined us, agrees that the current is "pretty fast".
Meantime, by radio, we've been informed that jimbo and doctor dog have launched and are on the way. The latter had a bit of an adventure when, having discovered after launching that he'd left his pilchards (a smelly bait) in his car, he opted to return to the beach to get them rather than have them stink the car out during his planned several hour absence. Apparently he picked a few nasty waves and got very damp going in and then again on his second launch. Perhaps he'll tell us about it -- how about it doc?
So, back to Sunshine Reef. I'd opted to immediately turn and paddle NW the 400-500m back toward my mark rather than continue the drift. On the way back the strong current was confirmed -- I could barely muster 4kph over the ground, about 2/3 of my normal speed. No one had reported catching anything and the breeze was now starting to pick up from the WNW -- pretty much in accord with the forecast. Passing my mark I made the decision to leave the area and head for a fishing spot which might offer more benign conditions -- Jew Shoal, some 3.5km up wind and up current, but likely to give me a tail wind when I eventually turned for home. This decision having been taken (at around 0640), I relayed it to my fellow yakkers and got the whip out. Doctor Dog heard my call before he'd left the shelter of the headland and so turned north toward Jew Shoal immediately. As I travelled, one by one the remaining Noosa Yakkers at Sunshine Reef called in saying they too were heading for Jew Shoal. Except jimbo, who'd only just arrived and wanted to spend some time fishing before heading for shelter.
By my calculations I was facing a one hour paddle to cover the 3.5km to Jew Shoal. But the wind was still reasonably light and I was making progress pretty much as I'd calculated. GPS devices are wonderful for this reason alone. They can give you confidence that you can make the distance -- all you have to do is keep on plugging away. Which I did. Then jimbo came up on the radio -- "Into something pretty big here', then later "a shark", and later: "bit through the line". I'm still plugging away but about half way now.
Jew Shoal doesn't always have a current, but today it had, not as much as at Sunshine Reef, and more toward the east. But the breeze was lighter in here and conditions were pleasant when I eventually arrived at my chosen drift start point, on the western side of the shoal, at around 0745, about an hour after leaving Sunshine Reef. It's still 3.5km from our launch point here but we've become so used to paddling to Sunshine Reef, it seems like no distance at all. Starting near "Old Faithful", I quickly deployed the trailing outfit then fired off my SP. Watching the depth on the sonar quickly go from 20m to 15m I decided to pull in the trailing outfit (for fear of snagging) and fish only with the SP. There were plenty of bait shoals featuring on the sonar display so I knew I was in with a chance. Any snapper in feeding mode would likely be harassing these bait shoals -- or that's the way I rationalised it. I was in touch with doctor dog (but couldn't see him and he radioed that he'd hooked a bonito which had "self-released"), and I spotted Jaro and whalebait arriving at our old stamping ground.
Then hollywood showed up, heading directly toward me, about 400m into my west-east drift. He was about 30m away and had a great view when my cast SP was engulfed vigorously only about five seconds after it hit the water. The line tightened, the rod tip pointed toward the water and line screamed off the reel. Almost certainly a snapper, I thought. This fish was no slouch, going for several runs against the drag and lugging down deep for a while before eventually running out of puff and succumbing to the gentle pressure I was applying (no need to 'horse' in snapper -- they're generally clean fighters). Soon I could see it, all pink and white, shimmering 3-4m down. Once on the surface he splashed me a couple of times in a last ditch attempt to escape but the gaff did its job and he was headed for the yak footwell. While all this was going on, hollywood was acting as commentator, radioing to Noosa Yakkers and deliberately putting out false information that I'd hooked the fish on a pilchard.
0813hrs. I'm happy to share the footwell with a fresh Jew Shoal snapper on a sunny day.
Same fish. Note the depth (metres). The fish was taken nearby in around 15 metres.
Once I'd tidied up and stowed the fish, I turned and paddled back to my start point to do the drift again. The winds were light when I'd hooked the fish but in the short intervening time I'd been dealing with the snapper, the wind strength had increased, but still from the NW. Whitecaps were starting to appear on the crests of the swells. This was the forecast wind and it picked up strength quite quickly. I figured that I'd only get one more drift in before it would become intolerable but at least it would be a tail wind (or not a head wind anyway) for our trip back to Main Beach.
On this drift I came across a big shoal of baitfish and while gently jigging the SP through their judged location, I got another snapper strike. This was a smaller fish than the previous but the fight lasted only 30 seconds or so before the hook and SP were returned to me, slightly more dishevelled than when I'd sent them out. Shortly after this I hooked an undersized (aren't they all?) maori cod (min legal: 45cm) which of course I returned to the water in lively condition. And shortly after this I resolved to pull the pin. Occasional waves were breaking nearby and slopping in to the yak so I reckoned time was up. Hollywood beat me to the punch, announcing to all that he was about to head in.
I was 3.5km from the launch point, had a nice snapper in the fish box and the wind from the right stern quarter. I made good time, but not as good as hollywood who eased past me about half way in (as he normally does), and Jaro who left later and from further out and arrived at the shark nets at the same time as I did. That yak and paddle combo are starting to look formidable in the speed stakes, Jaro. Whalebait was very close behind, as was doctor dog, while Jim, who'd arrived later at JS than the rest of us, was just leaving the shoal. Whalebait was bemoaning the loss of a probable mackerel on his way back in -- he'd got a hard strike but was not protected by wire and so had his monofilament bitten through. Soon, whalebait, you'll get your mackerel -- just use wire, mate.
At the beach there was a fair chop on top of a small swell and the tide was low, just coming in, so some surf action was promised. Accordingly I did all I could to get in before everyone else to take their pics as they went arse-up in the surf but hollywood and Jaro beat me in (and got in right way up anyway). But that still left whalebait, doctor dog and jimbo, so I was in with a chance. My own re-entry went OK, but while deliberately broaching, I turned hard to port on a small wave, and finding myself pointing out to sea, decided to try paddling in backwards, as I'd heard that some successfully use this technique in bigger seas than we had today. This experiment went OK for a few seconds but eventually I tired of it and swung in on the back of two small broken waves and hit the beach nose first (kayak nose that is), right way up. 3 out of 3.
Doctor dog was not far behind me so the first priority was to get back into the surf on foot with the camera.
0954hrs. Doctor dog digs the nose of his Scupper Pro in, during a wholly controlled and well timed landing. (Still from video)
Then whalebait...
0955hrs. Oh dear! (Still from video). Yes, that's the underside of the yak you can see.
Incredibly, whalebait recovered from that unusual angle to arrive at the beach right way up.
And so, with five of us on the beach and jimbo still some distance out, it was time to pull out the only fish and compare hard-luck stories.
If you're only coming home with one fish, this is not a bad choice. 64cm snapper, fresh from Jew Shoal.
An old acquaintance (Jenny -- not forgot) sauntered over and agreed to pose with me and my fish.
Pic by Harry. He took two pics, but I can't use the other -- he'd been fiddling with the zoom.
Then jimbo arrived off the beach. Back into the surf with the camera...
1019hrs. Jim buries the nose of the Espri. (Still from video).
And then...
...sticks one leg out to maintain balance (Still from video).
Yes, he got to the beach right way up. It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you arrive the right side up.
VIDEO
Short video of the return to the beach yesterday by doctor dog, whalebait and jimbo. There was a tiny swell but a steep chop caused by the strong northerly made it a bit tricky...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k_XS3cgpDo
An interesting day today. We all paddled between 12 and 18km and those over 60 deserve a nice nap, especially after dragging ourselves out of bed before 5am.
Thanks for organising Jaro, and thanks for coming, fellow paddlers. Thursday a possibility? I'm ready.
Kev
Red & Yellow Espri, black paddle
VHF channel 09 or 22 (if alone), Call Sign: sunshiner
http://noosayakers.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment