Subject: fishing today -- 15aug09
Date: Saturday, 15 August 2009 3:56 PM
Four of us opted to go today -- initially Jaro, madcow, Jim and I, with Jim being a late addition ("Can't bear the thought of you buggers bagging out again and me not having a piece of the action."). Jaro had called a 0545 arrival for a 0600 launch. I was out of bed in good time, sufficient for me to check the live weather stations at DI Point and Cape Moreton, but I didn't bother checking my email. Both of these weather stations were showing a slight increase in breeze over the last couple of hours and both had the latest breeze at slightly greater than 10 knots, from the south. As we proposed to drift the deep water at Sunshine Reef, this was not good news.
Nevertheless, I decided to join my companions at the MG carpark. I followed Jim and Jaro down Noosa Hill, swung into the carpark to find, in addition to Jaro and Jim, another Subaru (Forester) with a yak on top. This vehicle and yak turned out to belong to Mark Powell, colleague of Jaro and newest Noosa yakker. There was no sign of madcow, however, which was unusual (After getting home, much later, I checked my email to find an email from Brian sent at 1159pm saying he couldn't make it). Mark was busily assembling his gear, head torch assisted, for a first offshore trip with Noosa yakkers.
And so, before long we were away in easy conditions. Jaro first, then Jim, I and Mark.
0604hrs. The Laguna Bay vista immediately after launch. As Mark said "Wouldn't be dead for quids!" That dot on the horizon at right is Jim, already paddling for Sunshine Reef.
I, being in no particular hurry, waited for Mark to launch and then he and I paddled off after our companions, already only faintly seen from time to time to the north east.
0621hrs. Sunrise was scheduled for 0618, so it also was on time. Note the wind ruffle on the water, a little further from the sheltered shore than the previous pic.
The breeze was steady at around 10 knots from the south and I had some misgivings as to whether it would be feasible to drift fish Sunshine Reef. I elected to paddle out to Hells Gates, the last shelter from a southerly wind, reassess the situation once more, and then decide what to do. The journey took around 30 minutes and once there I could see that although things were a little sloppy, it was fishable so proceeded the next 2km or so out into the open ocean.
I was paddling straight toward one of the marks I'd created last Monday and came upon Jaro, set up and fishing some 600m short of the mark. When I mentioned that my mark was somewhat further out, Jaro opted to tag along with me and so we shortly arrived at my mark and soon afterward were joined by Mark. Jim by this time had arrived at his chosen mark, further south, and helpfully informed us that he was drifting north which meant that we would too.
Having deployed the same gear that was used so successfully last Monday, in exactly the same area, I expected (hoped?) that the action would start soon. Fishing for me started at around 0715 and by 0745 I hadn't had a touch. Then my trailing outfit rod took on a bend which was not normal but nothing to get excited about so I took up the pressure, half expecting a snag as there was no sign of a decent fish. However the line was retrieving OK and my hopes were briefly raised only to be dashed when the pressure on the line was found to be caused by a giant toado, the first I've caught on a soft plastic.
0746hrs. Giant Toado. Possibly worth a small fortune in Japan, but of no value in my yak, which it visited only briefly.
Now we enter a very quiet time during which 1) a whale surfaced and swam between Mark and me 2) Mark decided to head toward Jew Shoal as he was having difficulty getting his bait down near the bottom in the conditions 3) Jim decided that, as there was no action he'd head further inshore and try there and 4) Jaro and I eventually finished up fishing back at the extreme southern end of the drift line in generally improving conditions as the breeze slackened. Jaro had mentioned by radio that there was another yakker in his view, slightly further west. I guessed, on the basis that I'd noticed his battered Subaru in the MG carpark, that this was Ian Tagg, a local yakker famous for successfully fishing the local reefs at very unusual hours (like 0200). So Jaro and I paddled over to say hello and check on his success, if any. Yes, it was Ian alright, bobbing around in his yellow/red Swing, wearing his trademark large straw hat. Having left MG a full hour before we had, he'd caught a reasonable snapper early on, and had also lost a bigger probable snapper after a tough fight. Other than that things were very quiet for him. This made Jaro and me feel a little better -- it wasn't just us having a quiet time of it. We opted to drift fish a little more fairly close to Ian and at last, around 1030, Jaro yelled out his characteristic shout that signalled he was hooked up. Before long he'd boated a keeper snapper. But by this time we'd been fishing solidly for over three hours and I for one was starting to think about pulling the pin and heading for home, a 1-hour paddle away.
With no more action other than Jaro catching a small yellowtail (not to be confused with the yellowtail kingfish) we headed for home, leaving the reef around 1045. The trip back was easy and not unpleasant and a tiny surge made our beach landings easy.
1200hrs. Jaro's fish, displayed on the beach.
As usual, curious beachgoers asked heaps of questions.
Thanks for coming along guys. Let's go again soon (Thursday?)
Kev
Red & Yellow Espri, black paddle
VHF channel 09 or 22 (if alone), Call Sign: sunshiner
http://noosayakers.blogspot.com
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