Tunny to the rescue. 27Nov14

TR by sunshiner


Wind: gentle N to W
Swell: small E, insignificant
Water temp: 25°C
Current: at Jew Shoal, minimal
Launch point: Middle Groyne
Participants: diesel, jaro, jimbo, tunny, redwood, PeeBee (friend of redwood), josh, francesco (josh's friend from Sicily), sunshiner
Keen Angler Program: nothing donated

I nearly didn't bother getting out of bed at 3:30am as the live weather report was showing a 10-15 knot NE at DIP, which is usually a good indicator of the likely wind at Jew Shoal. However I dug a little deeper, discovered the wind everywhere else was dropping and so decided to at least take a look from the beach at Middle Groyne.

Diesel, whom I wasn't expecting today, had already grabbed "my" parking spot and was afloat in darkness, and it was only 3:50am! Of the others, only tunny had beaten me to the car park as we ran in yak-on-top convoy down the (tasteful) light show which is Hastings Street. I fully expected a stiff breeze on the beach and car park but not a branch or leaf stirred. A quick beach recce confirmed great conditions, so it was on.

As soon as I launched (around 04:10) I radioed diesel and discovered that he was hooked up to something big, north of the shark net, and had been for 20 minutes or so. My guess was a shark and sometime later diesel confirmed that he was down one hard bodied lure!

So off we paddled (or pedalled in the case of josh and francesco) for Jew Shoal. Jaro took a hit as soon as he arrived. Sure enough, a bonito. We scattered all over the place and I trolled initially but, getting no action, opted to drift in the light breeze and fish a SP, as I could see fish on the sonar and surely some of them must be snapper!

Second cast on the drift, NW of The Pinnacles, in 20m, I hooked up and soon had a feisty yellowtail king, way undersize, yakside. The news of the capture and release of this fish was broadcast to the crew and out went my SP again. It wasn't long before I took a typical snapper hit and played the fish out before claiming it as mine.

50cm snapper. It wasn't keen to relinquish its breakfast, as you can see.

So, this had made my morning already. Anything else was icing! Just as well, as I then struck a plague of grinners. Here's something you may not know. Grinners have very sharp teeth, and lots of them. These teeth can easily cut through 6kg monofilament. In partnership with the teeth, a grinner's huge mouth can easily accommodate a 4 inch SP and jighead so you will often find your line disappearing into the grinner's mouth, which is when your line is most likely to be cut. Not only that, but if you peer into the mouth you will sometimes see that your jighead and SP have already passed the gullet and are already being subjected to the grinner's digestive juices. Today, I lost two jigheads (they're a buck each!) and SPs to bloody grinners.

Then I started trolling again. Meantime, diesel asks for clarification of ID for a yellowtail kingfish as he has either a YTK or an amberjack aboard. It's 57cm long. He decides that it's a YTK and releases it (min length 60cm). In my experience we get very few YTK at Jew Shoal and very rarely is one captured at legal size or bigger.

Jimbo also gets a screaming run, next to diesel, but the hook pulls loose (possibly another YTK). Jimbo then nails a snapper around 40cm on bait. Otherwise, all quiet.

Peebee, out on a trial run in a borrowed yak, had been seasick for a while and eventually headed for the beach after a couple of hours to seek relief. Diesel, bored and out of bait, decided to accompany him.

Just south of Jew Shoal, about 400-500m south of The Pinnacles, I spotted a lone tern hovering and flitting around so decided to go down that way, trolling, to see what was holding its interest. Here I found on the sonar a big patch of baitfish, holding about three metres down, so let those with radios know of my find, while continuing to troll the area. Surely such a smorgasboard will be found by the predators if there are any around. That seems to be the question as repeated trolling with a HLP, by me, produced no hits. No surface splashes from big predators could be seen. Tunny and redwood were trolling baits, but getting no hits yet.

This is the time of year when I carry close to hand a casting outfit rigged with a slug, just in case of sudden bustups. It happened today. I was trolling along, near aforesaid baitfish, thumb in bum, mind in neutral, when suddenly the surface erupted right in front of me. I could see the predators (small, incredibly shiny, torpedo-like) smashing the baitfish. The glide on my boat carried me right into the middle of them while I was reaching for my slug outfit. One quick cast and quick retrieve and I was on. It was only a bonito but I bagged it immediately as it will make a superb troll bait in the coming weeks, when the action really starts.

By now, diesel was back near Middle Groyne. On the radio he reports that he has donated yet another hard bodied lure to the grey suited monster which hangs out near the groyne.

Tunny's trolled bait gets smashed and his heavy outfit is partly jolted out of the rod holder, resulting in the rod holder being damaged. The fish was big and went deep and was lost (ask tunny if you need more info). Sounded like the strike of the day!

Shortly after this the remainder of us started to trickle shorewards, hoping for some action on the way home. Only jimbo and tunny hung back for a little longer. Redwood caught up with me on the way back so that we arrived at Middle Groyne together. Here, I retrieved my HLP without interruption, but redwood hooked up an undersize school mackerel on one outfit, and a small shark on the other. So redwood was busy for a while, releasing fish and getting his lures back.

On the beach we had little to show for our efforts.

Jaro's bonito and my snapper

Then tunny came to the rescue. He'd hooked yet another cobia, not big but a cobia nevertheless. I quote from tunny's email to me: "The Cobia was taken on a trolled pilchard on the way home after leaving that area where you identified the bait balls (about 200m from that area). It measured 83cm."

Visitor from Germany who came up and asked excitedly if she could be photographed holding the fish. What could we say?

One stinkboat operator out there, a friend of redwood, reported that he'd taken a metre plus Spaniard in the area we'd found the baitfish. It's interesting that we couldn't raise a spotty or a Spaniard, despite a plethora of baits and lures. Still, next week could be different. Plenty of baitfish around, too!

Kev Long
Sunshiner
Author Kayak Fishing Manual for iPad and Mac (click linked text to view)
Stealth Supalite X, yellow/orange

Another spotty mac. 25Nov14

TR by sunshiner


Wind: gentle NNW
Swell: small E, insignificant
Water temp: 25.6°C
Current: at Jew Shoal from W to E
Launch point: Middle Groyne
Participants: sunshiner
Keen Angler Program: No frames donated

Weather looked perfect when I woke to the kookaburras around 05:30. Checked Seabreeze on the iPad. Yep, light winds. Should I go out? Had made no preparations last night though. But I did need to test my revised camera mount. Bugger it, I'll go.

By 06:15 I was afloat and paddling into the small northerly chop left over from last night's stiff breeze. Few if any clouds so the sun was already making its strength felt and the glare reminded me why in summer we start really early, usually long before sunrise.

Hung out the Qantas HLP 120 and headed for Jew Shoal. Two dolphins cross my path, surfacing first on the port side then the starboard. No birds in sight, no surface splashing. Other than a charter boat hanging around to the east, possibly trolling in circles, and that jet ski fisher again, I had Jew Shoal to myself. Having arrived about 07:15, I trolled for a while then chucked around an SP for a while (wondering if the snapper reported by Doc Dog yesterday were in transit) and then started to troll again. Two items of interest today.

Firstly, I noticed many fast flying birds passing over the shoal heading north. Clearly they weren't sea birds but equally clearly they seemed competely comfortable swooping and soaring over the ocean. At one point a couple of them passed directly over me with barely a metre clearance, like tiny jet fighters, but soundless. I thought they might be members of the swift family except that these were quite a lot bigger than the swallows and swifts I normally notice.

Probably this is what they were: Pacific swift, which migrates from Asia. Any bird experts out there? Image from Google.

Another item of interest was a dark patch on the surface which appeared on my port side as I was trolling. Whatever it was, it was just below the surface, making a small ripple as it travelled. It was travelling slower than I and in the same direction but as I got closer I could see it was a large eagle ray, with a white pattern on its darker upper surface and a white belly. The eagle rays have an obvious "nose" which is a good way of identifying them.

Spotted eagle ray. I sourced this image on the Internet.

The ray did not seem intimidated by my presence, but casually turned through 90° across my path in front of me then submerged.

Back to the fishing. I'd done the required testing with my camera mount and was happy to return the beach, even without fish. It was now about 08:45 so I set off for Middle Groyne from the northern side of the shoal, trolling all the way. Doctor Dog got his Spaniard yesterday just after he'd left the shoal, on the southern side. I have noticed that the first 500m or so after leaving the shoal, heading south, is where you are most likely to get a strike and so it was today, with my HLP going off with a fast run. Looking behind I saw a brilliant flash as the hooked fish pulsed through the water at speed. Probably a mackerel, I thought, and sure enough, my first spotty mac of the season appeared yakside.

Frame from movie.

There was no further action on the way to mg and no sign of surface activity. But clearly the macks are here. What more evidence do you want?

Back on the beach.

86cm. I hear there are some bigger spotties around so wouldn't be surprised if our record 99cm spotty mac gets knocked off in the next couple of months.

Kev Long
Sunshiner
Author Kayak Fishing Manual for iPad and Mac (click linked text to view)
Stealth Supalite X, yellow/orange

Doctor Dog breaks his duck 24.11.2014

Trip report 24.11.2014
Doctor Dog
Wind Light NW 3-5 km/hr
Sea light wind chop from north
Swell less than half metre north
Keen Angler program - 4 frames to donate
Tide low
When I arrived at the car park at 5.30 am I was alone save a couple of early morning walkers and council workmen - I made my way down to the beach and tried to power up my radio. I was hoping to contact Coastguard once they opened at 6.00am or for any late arrival Noosa Yakkers.
Sadly my radio would not power up in spite of being on the charger all night. By the light of my torch I saw there was some moisture inside on the screen - bummer - phone in 2 zip lock bags and carry EPIRB ( fall back safety position for solo paddle).
I launched on the western side of the rock wall in the usual channel which with the low tide and minimal swell and wave action made for an easy passage out beyond the break.
I deployed 2 HB lures and commenced my paddle to Jew Shoal at about 6.10 am.
There was a little boat activity in Laguna Bay with power boats heading wide punching into the short chop and a few outrigger canoe crews and surf club ski paddlers training close in to the headland towards the outer bays. The chop was a hangover from the previous day’s blustery Nor easter and now the morning air was almost dead calm making for hot paddling as I continued out to my marks. Still 400 metres short of the Pinnacles a large ray cleared the water some 100 metres distant and slapped down with a thud. Perhaps the same ray or similar that Kev saw 2 days later .
There were no fellow yakkers in view when I arrived at JS just a dory trolling in a similar pattern to myself; neither of us attracting any fishy attention. I spent an hour trolling round close-in on the shoal but was frustrated not to get any strikes or see any fish or bait aggregations on the sounder. Time for a change of tack so I headed to some of the wider marks to the North and North west of the Shoal proper and whilst making this traverse I noticed a light covering of bait close to the bottom and occasional aggregations of larger fish . With the drift taking me straight back to the pinnacles I paddled on a little further NW then put out the drogue and settled in to flick my 100 mm “nuclear chicken “ sp with a light weight jig head . I left another sp on my trailing outfit .
Shortly after 7.30 at the commencement of my first drift the SP was slammed shortly after I started the first interrupted retrieve. My new light weight rod and reel combo with 6 kg braid and 9 kg Leader worked a treat to control the 40 cm pinkie as it made its way reluctantly from the depths onto my lap for a towel wrap and “coup de gras” . No on board pics today as I forgot my camera.
My second drift produced a couple of bites but no hook ups and a lost SP - some little nibblers down there - then the third drift produced a sensational take almost as soon as the SP hit the water so much so I did not have the bail arm over before line started peeling off at an alarming rate . After some very solid runs and a serious struggle with the drag getting tightened mid way so I could make some headway , I was able to slide 58 cm of glorious snapper onto the yak.
“One more drift then I’m going home “ I thought to myself . At the top of the drift I changed my trailing rig to another “ Nuclear chicken “ from the previous prawn pattern and I settled back to flicking out the other outfit . Then away went the trailing outfit and a handsome 48 cm came to the yak after putting up a respectable fight.
Time to head home with a trailing HB 120 Laser Pro and vague thoughts of a Cobia. I was enjoying the now freshening nor’easter and the small swell fro the run back to MG when my troll outfit screamed in protest with ratchet and drag protesting as a big strong fish peeled off 50 metres of heavy braid before I could get the rod from the holder . I furiously tried to keep some pressure on my quarry but the line seemed to go dead and I felt I was retrieving lure only but then at the yak a silver flash flew off past the bow into the distance in the distinctive speed and power of a spanish mackerel. Eventually I had my fish circling beside the kayak but was disappointed to see a treble in the cheek and in the gill plate with nothing looked into the jaw.
I fluffed my first gaff shot and was lucky not to lose the fish so when it present me with a second shot I buried my too lightweight gaff midline and just behind the pectorals and had my first spaniard of the season pinned.
My normally organised deck space was a tangle of gear so I raised the waddy and subdued the 115 cm spaniard before removing hooks and applying a tail line.
My recent fishing efforts have been disappointing to say the least so to have such a productive fun morning out and be back on the beach for an easy return at 9.30 pm reminded me of the magic of Laguna Bay kayak fishing. There were no keen fish wranglers on the beach for photos.

Spaniard #2. 22Nov14

TR by scatter


Wind: 10-15kn
Swell: 1-1.5m
Water temp: 25.8
Current: Unknown - trolling
Launch point: Middle Groyne
Participants: scatter
Keen Angler Program: No frames donated

I had this theory that this morning would provide a window of glassy conditions before the breeze got up as forecast. I was wrong. I launched alone at 4:45 into a very messy sea and made my way out to Jew Shoal. It was slow going with white caps and a lot of wind swell and at one point I had to paddle hard to get over a cresting wave in the middle of the bay! Once at the mark I deployed a nice big slimey on a safa rig and trolled around the assorted boats for a couple of hours. I was chasing one of the cobia that every man and his dog's been catching here lately but despite some fantastic looking marks on the sounder it wasn't to be.

I decided to pull the pin at about 7:30 as I was monitoring the coast guard channel on the VHF (22 at Noosa) and the forecast was warning of increasing winds and swell as the day went on. I headed in and was a good couple of hundred metres south-west of the shoal when the ratchet screamed. Last time I was out in a bit of chop and hooked a decent fish I ended up taking a swim as I allowed the fish to get side-on to the yak before I got the rod out of the holder. This time I continued paddling for a few strokes a la RodPac/RokkitKit to make sure he stayed behind me.

The short fast runs convinced me pretty quick this was no cobe. After a brief fight I had my first spaniard of the season yakside and while he was no giant, I was well pleased. It was at this point I remembered that I hadn't packed the gaff. I've been doing a few before-school trips the last couple of weeks and these are by necessity catch and release so I had no need for the gaff. I was now faced with the prospect of either tail-grabbing or lip-gripping this fish and after a few false starts I managed the latter. Unfortunately the GoPro had run out of batteries by that stage. I even managed to surf a wave all the way to the beach!

Mack ended up going a metre on the nose.

Diesel's first cobia. 20Nov14

TR by sunshiner with supplementary report by diesel


Wind: calm at first, then a gentle southerly
Swell: small E, insignificant
Water temp: 25.6°C
Current: at Jew Shoal, strong from W to E
Launch point: Middle Groyne
Participants: aussie_stu, diesel, scatter, sunshiner
Keen Angler Program: No frames donated

Having told my companions that I would be concentrating on getting some pics today, I was still the first at the car park, so grabbed my favourite spot, which either pedro or diesel usually gets. Soon diesel and stu were unloading, with scatter still in bed, presumably.

Fantastic morning, no wind, some cloud on the eastern horizon, and a dry bum launch. We paddled soundlessly toward Jew Shoal on a silky ocean, with nothing to interrupt our progress, unfortunately, despite a variety of lures being offered as we went.

Other than the mystery jetskier, who again appeared this morning like the mythical phantom horseman, we had the place to ourselves for the first hour or so.

But that first hour yielded some action. I'd reminded diesel and stu to give me a radio call if they hooked up as I wanted to shoot some pics and vid. Pulling up at my chosen spot, just a couple of hundred metres past where diesel had stopped, both of us close to The Pinnacles, I was about to cast the first SP of the day when diesel's radio call gave me pause. He reckoned he was "on". Looking back I could see that he seemed busy, with one rod demonstrating by its bend the presence of a decent fish.

So I stowed the rod and set off to see what was going on.

Yes, clearly the fish was a decent size, and then diesel, looking straight down into the water, identified it as a cobia as he's hooked a few before ;-).

So I spent some time shooting video (edited version to be created ASAP). At one stage of the fight I saw a surface disturbance behind diesel, when his fish was clearly just under and near the kayak. When reviewing the video I could see at the disturbance what looked like a dorsal fin protruding from the water. It looks to me like a small shark, come to take a look.

Having learned from recent experiences to take it easy with big fish like this, diesel took his time and eventually sank the gaff into his biggest kayak caught fish yet. I was happy to be on hand to get a nice shot for him and the blog.

Diesel joins the cobia club. Very pleased, he was. Congrats, mate.

His personal account of the day:

START Diesel's contribution

I arrived at MG at about 0406 and Sunshiner was already there and had checked out the conditions which were as it turned out to be as good as it gets. Hard sand from last night's rain to drag the yak across and near zero swell or wave action. Aussie Stu arrived at about this time and we all started to prepare for launch.

Sunshiner launched first and headed outback to set up his gear and I launched soon after. All my gear was set up as I don't have the luxury of a centre hatch, so I did a radio check with Sunshiner, threw out a Halco HBL and headed out to the shoal with the single thought rolling around my brain: "Third time lucky, Third time lucky, Third time lucky".

About now Stu came on channel 9 for a radio check, which he got and we all paddled out toward Jew Shoal ready for another big day.

I arrived at my planned start point for my first drift just after 0500. I recovered the HBL (no Bonito this time) and set up my ganged hooks with a treble stinger. I baited it with a prime pillie and cast it out. Game on.

I set another rod up with a 100mm SP and started fishing. Sunshiner arrived a short time later, questioning why I hadn't caught a bonito on arrival as per usual. Everyone is a comedian!

At approximately 0510 my reel starts to scream and the line is heading toward Main Beach at a fair rate of knots without let up. I called sunshiner and told him I had a big hook up. I screwed on a little drag and proceeded to recover the SP and haul in the drogue, trying to clear the decks for action which I presumed would come.

I stopped the run on the line and started to regain some line, getting all bar about 20m then it was on again. I had renewed my leader and wire trace and put new hooks on the gang set up to alleviate any gear failure which had bugged me on two other occasions and now the match was going to extra time and I'm starting to stress.

With most of the line back on the reel I get my first glimpse of colour and it the right one for cobia. Sunshiner who was doing David Attenborough impressions for the day arrived on scene with all cameras blazing, well at least one.

I continued to play the fish and be as gentle as possible to save the pain of a bust off and had it on the surface, circling the yak, waiting for a gaff shot.

The cobe is circling and I'm waiting for my time. I'm told by Aussie Stu that this was top comedy in its own right. He had arrived moments before and was enjoying the show.

Time for the gaff, gotchya, wrong, it's off the gaff and it's game on again.

Stu is laughing, Sunshiner is filming and I'm stressing.

Back around it comes and this time I gaff it and haul it onboard the yak. Game over!

Sunshiner takes the money shots and we critique the catch and I have a grin you couldn't scrub off.

My first cobia and the largest thing I have ever pulled into the yak. The rest of the day was an anti climax after the catch of my life and it wasn't till I was disassembling the fish at home I realized how lucky I was.

The treble hook on the stinger was digested and the soft braided wire attaching it was cut off. The second hook in the gang had its eye straightened. It was all holding with one hook!

END Diesel's account



While this activity was underway, with stu and I both hanging around, scatter radioed that he was leaving Middle Groyne to join us.

As mentioned in the preamble, the current today was fierce and we spent quite a bit of time paddling back up to our Jew Shoal marks to continue fishing. What was unusual, in my experience, was the turbulence and upwelling caused as the water rushed eastward past the various bottom features around The Pinnacles.

I don't know whether diesel was seriously fishing at this time, or just hanging out mentally reliving the experience of his great cobia catch. In any case, he wasn't reporting any more action. Stu let us know, in two quick and garbled radio calls, that he was (a) hooked up to a screamer and (b) busted/bitten off. Bummer (no wire, floating pillie)!

I'd been amusing myself by prospecting with a SP around the afore-mentioned turbulence in 10-14m depth, with lots of baitfish showing up. My first hookup resulted in this fish, which I'm including here as I don't think I've seen one in the flesh before.

Red bullseye (Priacanthus macracanthus) about 25cm long. Not worth eating (Ern Grant), no size or possession limit.

Shortly afterward I had a spirited hookup on the SP, again while prospecting the shallows, but not a big fish. I suspected a school mackerel as I was bitten off about a minute into the fight.

Stu had now put a short wire trace on his floater and this was grabbed, followed by a screaming run, followed by another bite off. It seems certain that members of the mackerel gang were responsible again.

By now it was getting late. Scatter had left at around 7:00am to get to work and the rest of us pulled the pin about 8:00am. Just out from the shark nets we encountered a shoal of small fish surface feeding on even smaller fish. I tried a couple of lures on them with nil result. Possibly the larger fish were very small tailor.

Beach pics

A very chuffed diesel. The fish went 114cm on the mat so redwood's 118cm record still holds, but only just. There must be bigger cobes out there, but diesel's has been the largest that I have seen during this current run of cobia.

Although a glorious morning, very few people on the beach, but this lady from Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, was happy to oblige us.

On the mat. Pic by diesel.

Kev Long
Sunshiner
Author Kayak Fishing Manual for iPad and Mac (click linked text to view)
Stealth Supalite X, yellow/orange

ABC2S2S1B

TR by tunny

Trip date: 19 Nov 2014

Participants: Jimbo, Weeksie, Tunny (joined later by Matt, a non member)

Launch Site:  MG

Conditions: Wind NNW less than 8 knots, tide high 6am, drift very strong to the SSE 

Keen Angler Program: Nothing contributed

I arrived in MG car park just before 4 am.  It was darker than normal due to the thick cloud.  While I was  unpacking Jimbo arrived and we headed down to the beach, launching in easy conditions at 4.15 am.  We both trolled HBLs to Jew Shoal, passing a pod of dolphins and a few turtles on the way.  There were no signs of any bird action or surface bust ups but on approaching JS there were some fish arches on the sounder.

I have had a few questions about the newly-mounted tower on my kayak lid.  No Tony, it is not used to smuggle boat people (even small ones), it houses my sounder.  Two of the most common challenges faced with a sounder on a kayak are how to keep water off both the electrical connections and the screen and how to reduce glare from the sun.  So I decided to house the sounder in a small perspex box which I mount to the lid with industrial strength Velcro.  This allows me to take the box off and strap it in the hatch while paddling through the surf zone.  It does help reduce water and glare issues - the only negative is that it takes up a little extra space in the hatch which should be reserved for fish.

Sounder in tower, attached to lid with Velcro

Sounder box strapped into hatch for surf launch 

So back to the fishing.  I had decided to target cobia give the recent success by other NYakkers at JS.  On arrival at JS I trolled my Halco lure across the reef several time without any success.  I then switched to my weighted pilchard rig and did a couple more circles of JS.  Two yakkers were arriving from the direction of MG - Weeksie whose radio was out of action, and Matt who is not a Noosa Yakker but is a member of the Yak Shed.  At around 6.30 am my reel started screaming and I was on to what I hoped was  a cobia.  But the action of the fish seemed more like a mackerel, with a few short sharp runs rather than the steady hard pull typical of the cobia.  After three strong runs the fish tired and surfaced next to the kayak - a nice spotty around 87 cm long.  Once gaffed and in the hatch I reloaded the pilchard rig and continued circling JS, covering about 400 m in all directions of the pinnacles.

All went quite for another half an hour then Jimbo came on the radio to announce the capture of a snapper, just under 40 cm.  His bait was squid which you may recall he caught on a previous trip but found too tough for human consumption.  Matt announced that he had caught a nice spotted mackerel while Jimbo also caught a bonito.

I continued trolling but by 7.30 had paddled non-stop for over three hours and needed a break.  The drift was very strong towards the SSE (Jimbo reckons the strongest drift he has experienced in over two years).  I paddled NW of the pinnacles, pulled in the trolling rig and placed a lightly weighted pilchard on my small snapper rig.  The drift was strong but the drogue did not help as the whole water column was moving.  On about the third cast my pilchard got slammed on the surface just as I was closing the bail arm.  The initial run was very strong. then the fish started doing steady circles below the kayak, with the occasional stronger run.  This felt different from the earlier spotty and I was hopeful of a cobia.  I had light tackle, a small Stradic reel and light weight rod so it took about 15 minutes for the fish to surface.  In the mean time I had drifted over 550 m, not due to fish pulling me but because of the drift.  Eventually I got the fish to the surface - a nice cobia.

Shortly after placing the cobia in the hatch, Jimbo came on the radio.  He had caught a second snapper, bigger than the first at 48 cm.  This one had taken his HBL while he was stationary and busy changing bait on his second rig.

By now I had drifted about 800m SE of the pinnacles so placed a large pilchard on my trolling rig and headed back. About half way back the reel started screaming and after a few short runs I had my second spotty on board.

Weeksie headed back to MG at about 9am, with Jimbo and I following half an hour later.  The beach landing was not too difficult.  The only disappointment of the day was that as it was overcast with a few drops of rain the beach was deserted so all you are getting is a picture of Jimbo and I with the fish.

And if you were wondering about the title:  Jimbo's idea:  ABC2S2S1B stands for Another Bloody Cobia, 2 Snapper, 2 Spotties , 1 Bonita

Where the girls?

ABC fishing trip. 18Nov14

TR by sunshiner


Wind: 5 knot NE, gradually dropping to calm
Swell: about 1m E, but appeared more from the north at Jew Shoal
Water temp: 25.6°C
Current: at Jew Shoal, strong from NW to SE
Launch point: Middle Groyne
Participants: diesel, sunshiner
Keen Angler Program: No frames donated

Just the two of us in the carpark at 4:00am. We wandered down in the subdued light to find an easy launch scenario, expected, and a fresh NE breeze, half expected. Two vessels were anchored in the bay: a single masted yacht (from Brazil, as it turned out), and further out, and more to the east, a brightly lit up trawler.

After an easy launch we set course for Jew Shoal, with diesel in front. My progress was slow as we were punching into the breeze and I was in no hurry anyway. Diesel is a very strong paddler and soon he was a mere dot on the NE horizon. Also heading out to Jew Shoal today was a guy on a jetski, set up for fishing. He beat me out to the shoal and may even have beaten diesel, but he didn't bother to come over and say hello.

As usual, diesel caught another bonito on a HLP on arrival at Jew Shoal. I think he has some sort of bonito attractant as he has accounted for several of these tasty fish in the last couple of weeks. Sloppy would be the best description of conditions out there, with a confused mess of swell and chop, with occasional whitecaps caused more by steep chops than the breeze. But the sky was overcast and the water crystal clear, although there were many jelly blubbers suspended in it, especially close in shore. At first just the three of us, including the jetski hopeful.

Pretty soon I found that my expected drift toward the SW (with the breeze) was over-ridden by a strong current from the NW. The result was that I was travelling toward the SE, 90° from my planned direction. OK, relocate, paddle another 600m, get into a better position. Fish wise, it turned out to be not much better as my SP offering was attracting no customers at all, despite the obvious presence of baitfish on the sonar.

Back at the setup, after launch, diesel, who'd launched after me, told me he'd encountered in the car park a couple of South African kayak fishers who hadn't fished Noosa before. They intended to follow us out, apparently, but no GPS or radio. Anyway, it was now after 6:00 am and down to the south I could see two paddlers approaching, in two big white yaks. Presumably these were they and so I tipped off diesel, who was closer than I to them, and he paddled to them to give them a brief intro to Jew Shoal.

Not sure of the sequence of events but around this time diesel reported a serious and powerful run on a drifting pillie (probably a cobe, he thought, and I agreed). Then, just as one of the two SAFA yakkers was approaching me I hooked up for the first time this morning and soon boated a small amberjack.

I have done my research since last week, when I first caught one of these. Many authoritative fishers have confirmed that this fish, currently in numbers at Jew Shoal, is an amberjack. I have never seen one there before last week so possibly we are going to encounter these more this summer. They resemble a yellowtail kingfish but there are some clear differences. One of them is that the YTK has a yellow tail, while the amberjack tail is definitely not yellow. Note also the white edged fins on the amberjack, and that diagonal stripe through the eye; neither of these occur in the YTK. The size limit for the amberjack is 50 cm and possession limit is two. This fish was 48cm, so there are probably some legal specimens around, and they'll get bigger. Note that the size limit for the YTK is 60cm.

The SAFA yakker came over and introduced himself to me as WayneNeeden, well known to me on The Yak Shed, and AKFF before it. It turned out that he was water testing an Eric's Canoe yak (made in South Africa) similar to the Stealth series. The other SAFA guy out there was Richard, similarly mounted and the probable importer of these craft.

Wayne proceeded to rig up a trolling bait with a hairtail at least half a metre long and just as he was leaving to troll this bait a fat and exuberant tuna (probably a yellowfin) cleared the water near us in a beautiful arcing jump. That fired him up and off he went.

By now it was time to relocate, as I'd travelled some 900m across the wind for this one small amberjack. Not even a grinner had shown itself. I paddled up current until about 400m NW of The Pinnacles, and started again, drifting down toward that well-known mark.

Diesel calls up and let's me know that he's picked up a flounder, which surprises him.

The large-toothed flounder is relatively common offshore here, but seldom large enough to eat. Pic by diesel.

This drift I picked up another, smaller amberjack, but nothing else. One last drift, I promised myself, and headed to the NW again, into the current. Just before I reached my planned drift start point diesel came up on the radio with a tail of woe. He'd been fighting a big cobe on heavy gear for the last ten minutes and had lost it next to the yak. He sounded disappointed, as you'd expect, but I tried to cheer him up and he stoically agreed to keep fishing.

First cast on my last drift. I was in 21m and sent out the usual 1/8 ounce jighead with 4 inch Powerbait (same as last week, but new leader and leader knot). It sinks quite slowly and as it does I usually jig it a little to impart some extra movement. I'm hoping for a snapper, but Jew Shoal is a Lucky Dip and you never know what might come along. So I jig and find the line is snagged. Instantaneous thought: "Can't be, you're in 20m and the line angle is only 45°". Then I find, as a result of a strong run away and down, that it's not a snag, but a big snapper. Headshakes. This is no snapper, maybe a cobia. More away and down and away and down. More of this, screaming reel, creaking rod runners, (that poor Stradic; that poor rod!). Wayne and Richard see all this and after a while, during which the rod tip never gets above the surface of the water, I let him know that I've got a cobia on, I think.

It's deja vu. Same day of the week. Same location, same tackle, exactly. I've had some recent practice, just a week ago in fact. After 20 minutes of back and forth I'm sure it's a cobe, especially as diesel dropped one just a short time ago. And sure enough, the leader eventually makes its weary and tortuous way onto the spool and I see the cobe, brown and white, holding and circling about two metres down. Then the leader vanishes into the depths yet again, following the cobe on its last desperate attempt to escape. Like last week's fish, this cobe bangs into the yak hull but this one also hangs around near the stern, out of my view and not a good place as line can hang up on the rudder. This is fixed by plunging the rod tip deep into the water and applying pressure. Then I accidentally flick the bail arm open and the slack line and straight rod cause me to think the fish has spat the hook. But no, it's still on and eventually it's exhausted and flopping around on the starboard side, just where I want it. I pass the rod into my left hand and pick up the gaff with my right and get a secure gaff hold in the head. Life's over for the cobia.

There's the little jig head, secure in the upper jaw.

Diesel came over, took this pic and then we set off for home.

Beach pics

Diesel's bonito and my cobe (105cm). Pic by diesel.

Kayak-renting lady, very interested in the fish. Pic by diesel.

The Stradic 3500FJ. Solid performer, especially with the improved drag.

I'll be trying to dodge cobia next trip.

ABC? Another bloody cobia!

Kev Long
Sunshiner
Author Kayak Fishing Manual for iPad and Mac (click linked text to view)
Stealth Supalite X, yellow/orange

Bassin 17Nov14

TR by DeeCee

Trip date: 17 November 2014

Participants: DeeCee

Launch Site:  In the bush, Yandina

Conditions: Windy, 10 - 15 knot SE

Keen Angler Program: None

Needed a bit of a fix after a weekend away, fishing but not catching so headed out to Spot X this arvo for a quick 1 hr session.

Was on the water about 3,00pm and  battling the windy conditions that were driving straight down the waterway, tactics for the afternoon were troll into the wind and flick some lures on the drift back.  Lure of choice first up was a Zman Curl Tail in Motor Oil, Bass seem to love these when paired up with beetle spin setup.

First drift back and had a couple of small taps, one hookup but not landed..looked promising!

Next drift back I got the first & second Bass of the day, consecutive casts, losing another going for the hat trick!

Did a few more drifts with no other fish landed so swapped over to a medium diving HB, see if those trebles could help keep the fish attached!

First cast into the middle of the creek and I was on, a short fight and fish was landed.

By this time I was getting a bit jack of the wind so called it a day, had my fix with some fish landed...

Cheers

DC

First Spaniard for scotty, and for the season. 14Nov14

TR by scotty


Arriving at MG from Brissy around 3:20am, I decided to catch a few minutes sleep before heading out to nail a cobia. I met up with Jono and then Tim (redwood). We all launched without any issues. I rigged the rods up with 15lb fluorocarbon as I couldn't find my 40lb. This didn't bother me too much as I was after a cobia. Only got about 30m or so when the Tyrnos started singing, soon after I had a small shark yak side. I seriously thought about keeping him but thought it would be good karma to release and try for something bigger.

It wasn't long till I had another hit but this time the little Tyrnos was smoking. I slowly upped the drag and felt the braid pop almost instantly. Rigged up again and continued on my way to Jew Shoal. Once at Jew Shoal I was greeted with another nice little run but it missed the treble only by a few millimetres (pillie was cut clean in half).

Spent the next few hours trolling and drifting unweighted pillies with no luck. By now the wind and swell had picked up so I decided to do one last run before heading back to MG and I picked up a nice bonito soon after. Putting on my last pillie I only got about 100m when I got hit fast and hard. It had a few nice good runs. Then the trouble started. I couldn't believe what I saw. Somehow I'd hooked my first Spanish mackerel. After getting it yak side she did a few more small runs and about 25-30 passes until I eventually tail grabbed it with my 15 lb fluorocarbon leader painfully close to its mouth.

Once I had my precious Spaniard safely in the hatch I inspected my leader to find it had been rubbing up against its teeth during the fight. It broke very easily when tested; another run and the pedro would have been swimming away with some nice jewellery.

I arrived back at MG around 8:30 I think, and was greeted by Kev (Sunshiner) who had come down for a swim. He gladly took some photos for me and we had a chat as we watched jono land right next to us.

I am eagerly waiting for my next trip up to Noosa with Noosa Yakkers over the Christmas break if not sooner.

Thanks, Scotty

---

Addition by Redwood

I joined Scottie D and Jono in the car park at 4.30 and we were behind the back-line rigging up at 4.50. Not 2 min after starting the paddle to JS Scottie was onto what turned out to be a small shark. I thought I might troll my HLP190 in the same direction and I was immediately onto to something decent. It did  a couple of small runs away from me, before coming straight at me and when I eventually got the line taught again the 4Olb leader snapped at the Albright. I assumed it was a shark because of Scottie's catch but after the event Scottie said he saw the fish jump out of the water--not typical shark behaviour. That was my second purple halco I'd lost this week.

Scottie and I decided to troll around the area a bit. I did a few laps before heading out to JS sticking close to the headland. Scottie followed a while later and told me he lost something halfway to JS, which is where Tunny and I had both picked up the Bonito 3 days prior.

As I got into JS I paddled up to Jono to see how he was going and while he was telling me that he had no action, he had a small bump on his trailed garfish, but no hookup. All the while talking to Jono I was reeling in my line to mitigate a tangle and when I got to the leader I saw my HLP120 was gone, the brand new wire cut clean in half. I don't even remember getting a bump. That was the third purple halco I'd lost this week.

I had a large Yazui HBL ready to go so I tied that on and trolled around for half an hour without any action. I switched it for a Qantas HLP120 and trolled that for another half hour for no result. Along the way I met Corie another NY from Brisbane. Seems the G20 had it's perks. He had no action either.

I decided to pull the pin around 7am as I couldn't stay out too long. But before I headed back I thought I'd better try and find Scottie and Jono as I couldn't see them and the wind from the North was blowing about 10 knots. I found them a fair way East of the Pinnacles and advised that as they both had no GPS or working radios that they should make sure they should try and keep the end of the headland in sight. A regular 4km paddle back to the beach could easily turn into a 6 or 7km. Wind is an off shore kayakers enemy number one and a GPS, even a cheapie, is a good investment to help keep track of how far and fast you're drifting.

The troll back was uneventful and surf return no trouble with good timing. I'm starting to be able to read the swell from the back, which is really good news.

On my way out, stuck in a traffic jam in Hastings St, I had a quick chat to Sunshiner who was heading in the other direction for a swim and I'm sure to have a chat with returning kayakers. As usual his timing was impeccable and got to the beach to greet Scottie and the first Spaniard of the season.

Two trips out this week and I was back at home before 9am. Not the worst way to start your day.

Redwood

Nice with coffee! 13Nov14

TR by diesel
Wind: Slight NNW at 4 to 6 kts
Swell: Started at about .3m and was 1.0m later in morning.
Current: Slight from the South East
Water temp: 24.8
Launch point: Middle groyne, west side.
Participants: Aussie Stu, Doc Dog, Red Greg, Diesel
Keen angler program: nil

I arrived at MG at 0415 and set about getting ready to launch. As the light improved I found I was faced with a beach break of .3m and a very slight swell coming from ENE. Outstanding!

Aussie stu was due at 0430 so I held off launching till 0440 when I figured he couldn't make it. An uneventful paddle to Jew Shoal in the early morning sun with the swell increasing slightly as I neared the shoal. The sunrise showed promise of a great day.

Sunrise from my seat.

At 0515 I had set up my drift, starting SW of the pinnacles and moving to the NE at about .9 of a knot (I had the big parachute out) when I got a radio check from Aussie Stu, informing me he had broken his paddle on launch and would wait for Doc Dog to see if he had a spare. Bugger!

A bit later I had a radio check from Doc Dog telling me he was on his way and no, he didn't have a spare paddle. Aussie Stu is scratched from todays meeting! He tells me later that paddling a kayak without a rudder, through the surf, canoe style, is not for the faint hearted!

A short while later Red Greg paddles onto the shoal from the west and sets up to fish.

As it turns out he had a heart starter just past the shark nets.
He deployed new 180mm HBL (read expensive) as he started out for the shoal and it was hit hard; proceeded to accelerate north at a great rate of knots. His line was spooling off at an equal speed so a little drag was applied to slow the beast. Snap, it's gone. Later inspection showed heavy abrasion on the leader, something toothy!

Doc Dog arrives and we exchange greetings, and he sets up a drift. Frustration sets in, nothing is biting on SPs, pillies or on the bottom bashing rig till 0815, when I pick up a bream on the paternoster rig. Only thing missing was sandwiches 'cos I'm tipping it was on its way to pre-school. Back in it went, maybe later when grows up!

Doc Dog by this time has boated and returned small Cod (Red and white stripes, black tipped spines - Footballer? [Editor: black-tipped cod]).
Just after 0830 I have a good strike on the ganged pilly and away goes the line. I quickly get a handle on it and recover lost line, getting all but the 10 mtr leader with no trouble. After I halted the run it just went to being a dead weight like a fouled hook on the reef then it was back offering a fair bit of resistance; I thought large snapper. I worked it toward the surface and lo and behold, I see a cobia on the line, somewhere between size and a metre. Getting its head to the surface, I let it tow the yak a while to wear it out a bit more before trying to boat it. Wrong!

After a huge outpouring of grief (some profanity included) I recovered the leader and found a half circle of trace wire in the knot. The cobe had broken the 26 kg wire at the haywire twist. I remember not being happy with the size of the eye in the twist and tightening it with pliers. Another lesson learnt.

At about this time I had a chat with Doc Dog and then set off for Halls Reef, towing a 120 HBL. I got to Halls and then headed back toward MG. Sunshiner, who was at MG having a swim, called Doc Dog for a sitrep and was told of our great big nothings. Doc Dog and Red Greg left the shoal soon after and we all had a chat on the beach after Sunshiner took some great shots of us making dignified landings.

diesel

redgreg

If only Sunshiner had brought the coffee, cos we had the DONUTS.

Another day in paradise!

Diesel

A cobia at last! 12Nov14

TR by isobar


I arrived at MG at around 5am, after waking up at 3am for the nappies shift (first child, daughter, born recently).

The car park was all mine, so I chose the closest one and started unpacking my gear. As I was ready to head down to the beach, Sam (scatter) arrived and we had a small chat. It appeared that his plan was to troll along the NP, all the way to JS, and then return early to his day job, so our paths split and I headed straight out to JS.

Launch was easy and the sea was glass calm, with a light offshore wind (SSW). A couple of dolphins greeted me on my way, but the rest of the way to the reef was uneventful.

As I got there, I replaced the HLP I was trolling with a pillie on two gang hooks. The hooks were a bit small for the size of the pillie, but that's what I had in my tackle box. While drifting along with the pillie (from SW to NE of the reef), I dropped a bait rig (just trying blind, as I don't have a sounder on my SIK).

It wasn't long till the pillie was taken, with a very shy and subtle pull. I grabbed the rod and started reeling, and at first I thought I caught the reef, it was rock solid. Then the fish realised it'd been hooked and took off in some powerful runs.

Now, my gopro camera is mounted at my kayak bow, but I don't like to leave it on all the time, as it heats up and fogs, so I use a short bamboo pole (visible in the pic above) as a "remote" to turn it on and off.

As I realised the fish was on, I was determined to turn on the camera, but had to struggle with the rod with the fish, eventually managing to turn it on, while not letting the line go slack.

When I knew the camera was on, and the fish seemed well hooked, it was time to enjoy the fight.

I wasn't quite sure whether it was indeed a Cobe, or a shark, because it held its ground for quite some time.

Eventually it started to come up, but then I was worried that it would entangle in my bait rig, which was still in the water, so I reeled it in, and grabbed the bait rig line, to secure the hooks to the line guides. Unfortunately, one of the tiny hooks found itself in my finger. I managed to release it, only to get it deeper in my thumb this time. From there it wouldn't move. I tried to break the line or the hook, but it only went deeper. Just to remind you, while I was occupied with that on my left arm fully stretched backwards, my right was holding the rod, with a strong fish on!

After a few futile attempts, I came to my senses and reached for my safety line-cutter on my PFD, and cut myself loose.

Now I was back fully focused on the fish, and I saw another kayaker nearby. Thinking it was Sam, I called him for support, but he was busy with his own fish (later I found out he also had a good fish on, probably a Cobe as well, but he soon lost the fish).

By then (probably a good 20 mins into the fight), the fish was getting tired and coming to the surface. Now I had another challenge: getting a heavy, slimy, slippery Cobe onto the kayak without a gaff or a net. Fortunately, I'm already pretty experienced with that, so I waited for the right moment, and tail-grabbed the cobe. It shook itself loose once, but I grabbed it again, and using the well hooked line with my other hand, lifted it onto the deck, where I grabbed it by the gills and put it in the back hatch - game over!

By then, the other kayaker approached me; his name is Tom, from Redcliffe. I offered him some of my pillies, and we both continued drift fishing. Tom eventually hooked and landed a sweetlip on the pillie. I was so pleased with my catch, I couldn't care any more and after half an hour, I started heading back to MG, not before sending you that email you all got.

Kevin (Sunshiner) was kind enough to meet me at the beach and bring his camera and brag mat. The fish went 111cm, exactly the same as Sunshiner's from the previous day.

Beach pics by sunshiner

On the mat

Including my SIK

As you can see, I was pretty happy

Overall another fabulous day in Laguna Bay, and a fish I've been waiting to land since I got to Australia. My wishlist is getting shorter…

I hope to edit my video soon and add it to the TR.

Good luck for all attempting fishing in the coming days

Isobar (pronounced eesobar)

Cobia, snapper, bonito. 11Nov14

TR by sunshiner

Wind: generally light westerly, swinging to north around 0900
Swell: reported 1m E, but appeared more from the north at Jew Shoal
Water temp: 24.4°C
Current: at Jew Shoal, light from west to east
Launch point: Middle Groyne
Participants: tunny, jaro, jimbo, sully, mahatma, redwood, sunshiner
Keen Angler Program: Frame donated by me

No dry bums today, but nobody was seriously troubled, at least among the first six to launch. The waves were marching steadily and relentlessly at very high frequency toward the beach, hitting it at right angles. Being close to low tide, the result was white water with every wave at the end of the groyne, and every few minutes a big set of two or three would roll through and form a tube, curling at head height; not a wave to try to paddle through!

Even though diesel had reported little success at Jew Shoal the day before, everyone opted to fish there. Presently there are no obvious pelagics in Laguna Bay (no feeding frenzies or even birds working) but this could change any day and the water temp is perfect.

So off we went, jaro leading the way. Redwood got away a little later, so there were six of us at first. Half way to Jew Shoal jaro called up lamenting the loss next to the yak of a "nice spotty mac" which had taken a liking to his trolled HLP. Then tunny, close behind him and next in line, hooked up a fat bonito which he opted to take home for dinner.

Once at Jew Shoal those of us with sonar could see that there were few clusters of baitfish but conditions were pleasant, if not very encouraging. My first cast (chasing snapper as usual) hit the water at 05:20. We pretty much had the place to ourselves and it was an hour or so before we could see a stinkie or two heading across the bay.

In due course, redwood called up and let us know that he was outward bound from the beach. Maybe it's a SAFA thing, but he soon reported hooking a bonito half way out, just as tunny had done.

Redwood's bonito.

Something then took a big bite of his trolled HLP just as he came up onto the shoal. It seems the wire trace broke at the lure, so redwood was down one lure. No clues to the identity of the thief, but big.

As I recall, jimbo was next on the board, with a small snapper.

Luckily, redwood was nearby to capture the moment. This snapper took a squid bait as it was descending gently toward the bottom.

Jimbo let us know where he was fishing and as several places I'd tried showed no sign of action, I headed over there, just in case. This was a location that years ago we called Old Faithful, because it often was. Besides, the wind direction was perfect for drifting that area which gradually shallows to 10m from 21m, drifting SW to NE.

Having no sonar, jimbo couldn't see the fish schools which were apparent on my sonar when I arrived. Almost straight away, my cast SP was grabbed and I knew I had a small but keeper snapper on.

43cm snapper. Note the 100mm Powerbait SP (~$6 for a pack of eight), my present favourite style, as it has caught nearly all of my fish over the last couple of weeks and today.

This included as a warning. This fish is a spinefoot, often caught on bait and SP around Jew Shoal. The dorsal and anal spines are venomous so handle these guys with extreme care.

Work (or lack of bait) beckoned some of our little gang homeward and by around 09:00 we were down to just tunny, jaro and me. Jaro kept saying on the radio that he wanted to wait until high tide before heading for the beach as there was a decent swell running through Jew Shoal and he wanted to minimise the chance of being embarrassed on the beach (jimbo had already warned us from the beach that the sand monster was looking for victims). Conditions were still pleasant so I was happy to hang about and a few minutes later both jaro and I, separated by a couple of hundred metres, hooked up simultaneously. It seemed that, as we'd experienced before, the fish started biting around the same time all over the shoal.

Before long a nice 50cm grass sweetlip had put jaro on the board and I was trying to figure out the identity of the fish I'd just caught which had put up a great fight for its size, causing me to think that I had a decent snapper on.

This fish was about 50cm long but I was unsure of its identity, guessing either juvenile amberjack or juvenile samson fish. At home, I eventually concluded it was an amberjack (min size 50cm, poss limit two). See here. It was released alive and vigorous.

We were just discussing over the radio when we should leave for the beach when my cast SP was slammed in 20m depth, just east of The Pinnacles. This outfit is designed by me for snapper fishing, with a small-mid size threadline (Shimano Stradic 3000 FJ which casts light weights well and has a very good upgraded drag), 6kg braid and a 6kg mono leader, no wire, all on a cheap and battered second hand rod with good runners which cost me $25, seven years ago. At first I called the fish for a big grassie, because it went straight for the bottom. Certainly not a snapper. Pretty soon I knew that this was no grassie -- initially the fish was unstoppable but all of the time, it hung around near the bottom, dragging me around in circles near tunny. I'd get some line back, only to have the fish win it back time after time. Around 20 minutes into the fight, with jaro getting impatient because he wanted to get back to the beach before the tide turned, I at last saw the leader, which is about 2-3m long. And pretty soon after that I saw the fish, a bloody nice cobia, with a head that looked a foot wide. I should mention here that nearby there was a stinkboat with two blokes in it, catching nothing. They were watching the fight too, green with envy. Good stuff!

Eventually I had the fish pretty much under control, twisting and turning under the yak, but still I needed to boat it. I thought of eyetag's awesome 22kg cobia, also caught on light gear with an SP, some years back and hoped I was equal to the task. I transferred the rod to my left hand and picked up the gaff with my right. My first gaff shot was aimed well but missed completely when the fish seemed to realize I was aiming for its head and it ducked. The gaff nearly became entangled in the taut and loaded up line but next thing it was clear and I was presented with a second opportunity and planted it in the flank of the fish, which at this stage was bashing against the side of the yak, although clearly exhausted.

Thanks, tunny.

With great relief and some difficulty I hauled it up and placed it head first in the hatch. Then jaro came over and offered to take some pics with his camera.

By now I had the tail rope on, just in case I dropped it.

Now it was time to head for home (3.7km, but helped by a northerly breeze) and probably needless to say I didn't bother trolling on the way back, although tunny and jaro did. The return through the beach break wasn't too difficult but good timing was needed and we all finished up on the beach without taking a swim. Note that jaro picked up a small shark on his trolled lure, just near the groyne.

111cm, several cm short of the record held by redwood for just over six months.

Glad I hung around waiting for jaro. Thanks for your assistance, jaro and tunny.

Kev Long
Sunshiner
Author Kayak Fishing Manual for iPad and Mac (click linked text to view)
Stealth Supalite X, yellow/orange