TR by sunshiner
Wind: gentle W at first, then strengthening from the north later
Swell: 1.3m NE
Water temp: 20.6°C
Tides: 1:04 am : 1.20 H; 7:28 am : 0.48 L
Current: at Jew Shoal, SW to NE, about 2kph
Launch point: Middle Groyne
Surface action: none, other than whales
Participants: stormin, jimbo, sunshiner
My trip distance: 11.6km
Keen Angler Program: Nothing donated today
A couple of possibly useful weather observations about today.
Firstly, MetEye was forecasting a stronger wind in the bay than we encountered. I was wondering whether to abort the trip on the basis of the wind forecast and the erratic Live Wind reported from Double Island Point. In the event, the Live Wind was reported as 10-15 knots from the north at Double Island Point but was actually non existent at Middle Groyne and Jew Shoal. I'm glad we went, but was prepared to come home if I'd found a stiff northerly blowing onto Main Beach. At 4:00am there was no wind at all at Sunshine Beach which is a good indicator of calm conditions in the bay.
Secondly, there was a good example today of how a change of direction in the swell can affect Middle Groyne. The swell was forecast to be from the NE but only 1.3m. I think what we found in the bay fits that accurately and I was prepared to take a bath as from previous experience any swell over 1m from NE round to north can kick up pretty seriously at Middle Groyne. To make things worse, we were launching close to low tide. It was quite challenging at launch and return, as my companions will verify. So, keep an eye on swell direction as well as height.
I knew that jimbo and stormin were both planning to come but I found myself alone on the beach at 05:30. My launch was OK, but I did get a soaking as the waves were piling relentlessly onto the launch point. By 06:15 I was approaching The Pinnacles when jimbo radioed that he and stormin were out the back after a very interesting launch. Jimbo, in his new Supalite for only his second trip, reckoned that his older boat would not have made it through the wave set he conquered. Stormin apparently took a swim but climbed back onto his Profisha and paddled out OK.
In the event, jimbo headed for Little Halls Reef and stormin for Jew Shoal. Meanwhile, at Jew Shoal, I was entirely alone and enjoying the tranquility, having deployed my first cast at 06:35. Did I say tranquility? A sonorous bellow alerted me. I heard it as well as felt it through my body, as if the sound was being picked up by my tiny craft and magnified, which it probably was, because it came from a nearby whale as it turned out. How nearby? Nearby enough to give me the willies! I nearly screwed my head off trying to find out where the whales (for there was more than one) were headed. Then I warned stormin who was unwittingly heading straight for them. He dodged them successfully, but later was upstaged by a whale which insisted on basking upside down at a spot he wanted to fish.
Fishing report: very quiet. But jimbo did get a keeper snapper on a SP, the first keeper for his new boat (no pic). Stormin tried towing a dead slimy mac for a while and got a big strike which cut through the bait just behind the treble.
As stormin says "We'll never know"
I include the following two pics just to show that I was actually trying, and to assist some Noosa Yakkers in identifying a couple of the Jew Shoal locals.
This is a yellowtail, useful as bait, live or dead, and sometimes very common, in big shoals, around our coastline. No legal limit.
Black-tip cod, very common at Jew Shoal. This is one of the largest specimens I've seen, and certainly the biggest I've caught. The legal size limit is 38cm but we've never recorded one at that size. I live in hope that we'll eventually get one.
Jimbo was the first to get back to Middle Groyne, with stormin and I not far behind him. Here, the sand monster was on the prowl. I watched jimbo choose the eastern side and hit the beach right way up. He called me on the radio and recommended that approach and I agreed with alacrity once I saw the western side close up. It was a boiling, roiling mess. The eastern side was much better and soon I too was on the beach, right way up. Stormin reckoned we should get the cameras ready, so I did. But stormin's impressive burst of speed threw sand in the sand monster's eye as he charged successfully through to hit the beach with a big smile on his face.
Stormin licks the sand monster.
So, a pleasant trip today and I'm looking forward to proving, eventually, that SPs can catch big snapper. Hopefully before the end of August, but I'd settle for a cobia.
Thanks for reading.
Kev Long
Sunshiner
Author Kayak Fishing Manual for iPhone, iPad and Mac (click linked text to view)
Stealth Supalite X, yellow/orange
FREE iBook "Kayak Fishing Laguna Bay & Jew Shoal" for iPhone, iPad and Mac
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