TR by Redwood
Trip date: 22 December 2013
Participants: Redwood
Launch Site: Cylinder Beach Stradbroke Island
Destination: Middle Reef
Conditions: Wind SE 5-10 knots, swell 1 m
It’s an expensive day out, but when you’re in Brisbane and need to take advantage of some brilliant weather there are not many other options. So our party boarded the 6am Stradbroke ferry and arrived at Cylinder Beach around 7am. The family setup under the trees and I set out into the unknown. Getting out wasn’t a simple affair but I managed to stay upright until all the breakers were cleared.
Before heading out I did feel a bit discombobulated being out of my routine and that feeling manifested in me leaving all my comms on the beach. The worst part of this wasn’t the lack of communication, but that I had no GPS! My Garmin e30 died last week and was on it’s way back to Garmin to see if they would replace under warrantee. In a desperate attempt for some kind of GPS I download an app for the iPhone, but it was all for nought as I’d left the phone, my VHF and backup UHF on the beach. I wasn’t going back through the surf zone to get it, so it was onwards and hopefully upwards.
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Cylinder Beach with Shag Rock in the distance
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Without the GPS I didn’t have much chance of finding Middle Reef, so I decided to head around Shag Rock and see if I could spot any boats bobbing in the general direction of Middle Reef. No such luck, so the plan changed and I would just hang around Shag Rock and see what that brought.
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| Shag Rock 1km off Cylinder Beach Stradbroke Island |
After rounding the rock I reeled in my lines and on the end of the hardbody was a 30cm Bonito. I’d inadvertently been dangling a nice live bait out the back; unfortunately there were no big takers. I thought about leaving it on, but I wasn’t really setup for such a big bait so chucked it in the hatch. One of my party on the beach said she saw the rod bend when I was setting up. I usually do a visual check of rod bend once I’m going just so I know what the rod looks like under hardbody resistance, so when I looked back and saw it bent I just thought it was the lure! Anyway, 1x Bonito was not a bad start to a morning in unfamiliar waters.
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| Looking back to Cylinder Beach. |
The water was very clear and there seemed to be a good mix of reef and deep waters around the rock. The guys that fish around Stradbroke Island are spoilt for choice. I paddled up to the Northern tip of the rock with a plan of drifting to the Southern end. When I got the top mark I started reeling in the lure so I could start bottom bashing. The lure was taken by something very nice, but it came off. Then the bottom bashing rig with a 1/2 pillie, which was dangling just behind the boat, was smashed. After a short but strong fight a 40-50 cm Kingy was next to the boat. I tried to net it with my new net, but the hook got caught in the fabric which rendered the net useless. I managed to get it on board without the net, de-hooked and release it.
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| 45cm Kingy |
The bottom bashing was also firing and I was getting a lot of strong bites, but no hookups. It was now around 10.30am and as much as I wanted to stay out, had to head in as my party had plans for brunch. Given the rough launch, I had resigned myself to a rolling return, but to my great astonishment remained upright all the way with some fierce bracing. After this success I then proceeded to not take my yak far enough up the beach and while I went to get the beach wheels, apparently the yak started to drift off. Someone managed to save it, but everything in the hatch compartment was completely covered in sand.
After a few hours onshore I headed out again for the afternoon shift. This only yielded a ton of small reef fish unfortunately. I did however hook up with a Palmy Army yakker who has spotted me and charged out to join the session. For any yakkers who took part in the Noosa leg of the Stealth comp, you might know this yakker, he was the one who was taking on water and had all the jet skis looking for him. As his Stealth was in for repair, he was out in his Popes Canoe which looked like an interesting boat. We fished for a while and he landed an undersized Kingy, while I hooked up with lots of small reefies but nothing decent. I have to hand it to the Pinkies though; they know how to pull! I thought I must have had something decedent on the end, but turned out to be the smallest Pinkie I’d ever caught at about 10cm.
At 5.30pm I pulled the plug and headed in. My return was not as classy as the earlier one and my poorly timed run saw me catching a rather large wave on which, I couldn’t control the boat and over I went with the whole family watching! Very amusing for them I’m sure, but I didn’t care; three families had had a brilliant day out all because of kayak fishing.
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| Looking good |
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| Not looking so good |
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