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
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