Spaniard and pelagics, 30Jan10

From: "Stuart Denissen"
Subject: Fishing 30 Jan 10
Date: Saturday, 30 January 2010 1:51 PM

I arrived this morning at approx 5:45, Ian's car in his usual spot. Conditions were ideal with only ankle slappers coming through for the launch. I mainly fished Laguna Bay and the river mouth due to a heap of bird and bait activity. I hooked another small shark which was quickly released. I had another strike a short while later near the river mouth using the last of my two slimy mackerels. I decided to follow the birds and bait balls which turned out to be good fun on light tackle, catching heaps of bonito and yellow tail yakkers. The Southerly started to pick up pretty strong and trying to stick with the bait became a mission so I decided to call it a day. Ian arrived back a couple minutes later and as per usual had a nice size Spaniard which he caught at Sunshine Reef. See pic attached.

Stu

From Ian

Subject: Re: Fishing 30 Jan 10
Date: Saturday, 30 January 2010 5:44 PM

I fished SR with big Bonito on chin guards two baits lost half a fillet and failed to hook up but there was one unlucky Spaniard that got hooked and landed, approx 1m and I'm guessing 6-7kg. Stu put photo on his report. I was told today that usually the Spaniards hit the baits with their mouth open then come back for a second hit after wounding the fish, this would explain the missing sides of my baits, I'm going with it anyway. Thinking about a close session tomorrow bait gathering, this will depend on the weather and how energetic I feel in the morning.

DB launch, big paddle, 28Jan10

From: "Jim Thompson"
Subject: NY Fishing Report 28/1/10 - Part 1
Date: Thursday, 28 January 2010 3:39 PM

Hi Yakkers,

Basically another Clayton's fishing report.

With Seabreeze predicting a very low NE swell and low wind during a morning high tide period, the chance of a launch from Dog Beach at Sunshine Beach was on the cards. I arrived at DB at 0455 and a quick recce confirmed a launch was very doable, and thus the chance to access directly into North Sunshine Reef region which had reputedly offered up quite a few Spanish mackerel in recent weeks. I was aware that Hollywood Harry, Whalebait, Turtle Boy and probably new Noosa Yakker, LeRoux Uys were intending to launch at MG between 0500 and 0530.

By 0520 I had launched, was through the surf zone, had set up my rods with a trailing Spaniard Special lure loaded with a slimey mackerel, and was heading directly east into the the sun that was now a red ball partly shrouded in cloud just above the horizon.

I initially paddled due east for about 1.75 km, I then turned north and paddled over most of our known marks at the northern end of Sunshine Reef. Whilst conditions were pleasant, there was no bird activity nor surface feeding occurring anywhere. Soon after turning north I realised I was making only about 4 kph "over the ground", as, in addition to the 5-10k NNW breeze, I was also pushing into a very strong southerly current running at +1.5 kph. Nethertheless, I pushed on towards Jew Shoal (now trolling a HB Halco lure) as radio comms with Whalebait told me that he and LeRoux had come out from MG to Granite Bay on the headland and were now at Jew Shoal where there was at least bird activity and Bonito surface bust-ups occurring. I would also have the opportunity of meeting LeRoux, which I eventually did just east of Jew Sh Pinnacles. After introductions, I lead LeRoux to a couple of our Jew Sh marks, then left him having a go at bottom fishing as I set forth on my ~6 km paddle south back to DB. I paddled over to Whalebait on departing Jew Sh who reported only that he had snared a large (and therefore very angry) turtle who had busted his rod in the process of reeling him in before disengaging the hooks.

I did divert to our favoured in-shore Sunshine Reef mark to try a bit of bottom fishing on my trip back to DB. This did produce a just undersized snapper which was released. The only surprise in all of this was that the previous very strong southerly current had suddenly seamed to have just disappeared. In fact, my drift south with the still 5-10k northerly breeze was so slow I wondered whether the current had even slightly reversed!

The return through the surf zone was simple and uneventful and I was safely back on DB by 1015 having completed a 17 km return trip - see attached Google Earth image for a bird's eye view of my route. I heard a late radio report from Whalebait that he had landed a few undersized reefies at Jew Sh, but don't know anything of the fortunes of Hollywood or Turtle Boy. Maybe one of you NYs could complete Part 2 of this report.

Jim's paddle today

A very pleasant paddle but no fish. Maybe the "full moon" and/or the "Fish don't bite during a NW wind" theories might have been prevailing.

Cheers,
Jimbo

Later...

From: "Steven Crisp"
Subject: Re: NY Fishing Report 28/1/10 - Part 1
Date: Thursday, 28 January 2010 5:12 PM

Hello All,

From our side which fished predominantly WNW of middle groyne - Hollywood, new boy Wayne Edwards (call sign to be determined) and I had respective encounters with a stingray, small sharks and a mac that none of us boated.

Harry and I are headed back tomorrow (weather permitting) to launch at MG at around 5.30. We will be targeting small sharks in the area out from MG to the shark nets and then across to the river mouth and perhaps lower north shore depending upon any bird or surface activity.

As usual we will be on VHF 9.

Saturday could also be a possibility depending upon the Seabreeze forecast which is becoming exceptionally variable with each update.

Whalebait - you have to watch out for those turtles - they bite!!!!!

TurtleBoy

Just sharks, 26Jan10

From: "Steven Crisp"
Subject: Re: New member
Date: Tuesday, 26 January 2010 11:38 AM

Hello All,

I launched this perfect morning at 6am and met up with Doug McDougall near the shark nets off middle groyne. A little beach break at the beach edge but easy entry along the west wall.

We chatted as I rigged up and then Doug proceeded to catch 2 or 3 small sharks in a matter of 10 minutes. He was using pilchards on a gang of 3 hooks. Doug advised that he would head home via the corner of main beach in 20 minutes so we moved off on our different paths.

I then paddled across the river mouth and up the north shore approximately 2klms before turning back to the bay. Then out via First point, Tea Tree and Granites where I was accompanied by a dolphin, before calling it a day. From the radio chatter it appeared as though most stink boats were headed out to Sunshine Reef.

Upon my return to the beach I met up with Rod Cameron. He had been further out towards Jew Shoal and said there had been some bust outs but not much taking lures. All he had was a very tangled line, sort of on and off the reel!

All in all, a very nice paddle and too bad Kevin wasn't there to video my perfect wave surf back to shore.

I can't paddle tomorrow, but will be out there on Thursday, launching around 5.30. Wayne Edwards is going to paddle also in Kevin's spare Espri, so we hope to see you at MG or on the water.

Until then,

TurtleBoy

Regards, Steve

Very quiet, 25Jan10

From: "Jaro Cerny"
Subject: Fishing Report ..... 25/01/2010
Date: Monday, 25 January 2010 10:41 AM

Hi Yakkers,

Very little to report so will be brief.

Attendees... Sons Michael and Peter, Alex, Wayne, Stu and I... all arrived at MG at about 5.30am to find conditions a bit lumpy. Getting out was quite exciting but all got out without too much trouble including Michael and Peter who are very inexperienced in a kayak (2nd time).

There was a some good bird activity but it was hard to nail them down. As soon as we neared them they were gone. Many casts by all proved fruitless. So I decided to take the boys to LHR while trolling the halco lure. Alex also came with us while the rest stayed around Laguna Bay I believe.

On reaching LHR, Michael was developing seasickness so we turned for home trolling spaniard specials with bonito baits.

We arrived at MG fishless and without any strike of any sort. Coming in was fun, with many having to use all their skill to stay upright... and upright all stayed. We found Stu had already returned also fishless except for catching a shark when he first left the shore. Wayne came in soon after also fishless but he did have a decent strike that didn't hold.

Thanks for coming guys. Better luck next time??

Jaro
Noosa Yakkers Coordinator
Viking Pro Fish 45
Call Sign Jaro
http://noosayakers.blogspot.com

3 Spaniards, 24Jan10

From: "Stuart Denissen"
Subject: Today Fishing 24 Jan 10
Date: Sunday, 24 January 2010 11:29 AM

I arrived at approx 5 30 this morning and met up with Harry in the car park (Ian'’s car in his usual spot), we were out on the water a little before 6. Harry and I paddled across the river mouth before heading straight out due to seeing bird activity. Pretty much every cast into the bait activity caught small bonito and little (yellow tail pilchard looking fish) which I believe makes real good bait. After about an hour chasing the bait fish with no Spotties coming out I lost sight of Harry and decided to head back towards the river mouth as the wind had pick up and was getting a bit choppy. I was trolling a red and white octopus skirt with a slimy Mackerel which Harry had earlier baited on the 3 gang hook set up for me. Approx 400 meters out from the mouth I got a big strike and was on. After about 20 mins I managed to pull up a still very energetic 7 kilo Spanish Mackerel. Once i had landed him safely on the yak i headed back in, shortly after I saw Harry and Ian paddling in. I pulled up my fish to show them only to be showed up by Ian’'s two bigger Spaniards which he caught at Sunshine Reef. Well done Ian.

pic removed
Stu's fish (Ian's further down)

I will be heading down tomorrow morning at approx 5 30 with Wayne Bardwell, hope to see you guys there.

Cheers

Stu

:::::::::::::::
From Ian (later)

My Saturday (editor: ie the day before) was pretty ordinary, I trolled a 40cm Bonito for 3.5 hours all over JS then up and around LH where I put him away and put on a Slimey which got hit but the fish wasn't hooked. After that I headed in.

Sunday I trolled a Slimy on SR from 04.15 till 5.00 for nothing so I decided to put the big Bonito on still rigged from the day before, it was in the water about 3.5 minutes and I hooked the smaller fish. I put on another 40cm Bonito and lost everything in less than 5 minutes. Only having 2 big baits I went back to the Spaniard Special Slimey combo and caught the bigger fish after about 40 minutes of paddling. After that it was time to head home.

Ian's pair

Tomorrow (at the moment) will be another paddle to SR with 3 big Bonito and a couple of Slimeys for Justin (just in case), the Bonito don't work.

Cobia rumour, 23Jan10

From: "Jim Thompson"
Subject: Fishing Report - 23Jan10 .... The Clayton's Report
Date: Saturday, 23 January 2010 9:42 PM

Hi Yakkers,

This is a Clayton's Fishing Report - the fishing report you have when there is (almost) nothing to report.

I arrived at the MG car park at around 0515 to find a kayak fisherman unloading who was unknown to me. After introductions I established this yakker was Gary G, who knew of "Sunshiner" (Kev Long) through being a member of AKFF, but didn't get out too often due to work/family commitments. The only other participant from MG appeared to be Ian Tagg who had no doubt launched much earlier.

Meteorology : Partly cloudy, steady warm easterly breeze 12-14 knots making the sea a bit lumpy on top of a low 1-1.5m ESE swell.

We trundled our kayaks down to the beach to be met with fairly easy launch conditions. My plan was to again target the area between the river mouth and Little Halls Reef which had been successful for me only two days earlier. I launched first and started setting up beyond the surf zone when I spotted Doug McDougall in his blue/white Perception Swing, who normally launches down near the Noosa Heads SLSC, already 300 m to the north heading in the same direction as I intended to go. Gary G soon joined me and together we headed for LHR, Gary by a more direct route generally following Doug, by now some 500+ m ahead, and I by a more circuitous in-shore route.

To bring this report to brief conclusion .... basically nothing happened. There was absolutely no surface activity, either from random feeding bonito schools (that have been prevalent for the last month or more), and hardly a bird to be seen. At LHR Gary told me that Doug, now headed back towards the river mouth, had boated "a nice cobia" .... this is the only positive I have to report. Doug, maybe you can fill us in on the details.

I dragged my Spaniard special lure all the way back to the river mouth and then across Laguna Bay to "Lookout Point" on the National Park with the same pilchard untouched all the way. I changed over to Jaro's favoured Halco hard bodied lure for the return to MG but still no strikes. I lost sight of Gary G and Doug after leaving LHR so don't know the outcome of their outings. Listening in on VHF Ch22 it seemed most of the weekend boaties headed to Sunshine Reef and it sounded like the charter operators also had a lean morning.

On return to MG at ~0830, Ian Tagg's car was still there. Ian, maybe you could enlighten us on the outcome of your outing.

Good luck for those who intend going out tomorrow (Sun) morning.

Cheers,
Jimbo

Jimbo's Big Day Out, 21Jan10

It was Jim's day, breaks duck for the season and bags out on Spaniards

Jim and I arrived at MG at just before 5.00am to be greeted by a perfect day on Laguna Bay. We were soon on the water and were met there by Doug.

We all initially started for JS but soon after Jim decided to go to JS via the river mouth. Doug and I pressed on to JS by a more direct route. After about 15 minutes Jim informed me that he was going towards LHR....proved to be the right move later on.
Doug and I passed schools of bonitos with me catching one approaching JS...kept for bait. We both trolled around JS to no avail. I tried different lures and baits unsuccessfully. There were a number of boats there with none showing any signs of success either. Doug left early (6.30am) due to daughter commitments.

Jim had reported the same conditions at his location......very little bird activity but some bonito activity. He did report that he had had a strike but that the fish had got off soon after. It was about 7.10am that Jim suddenly called to say that he had hooked a good one and shortly after said that he had successfully boated an about 1 metre spaniard about 1 km from MG. We decided to both paddle to LHR and arrived there at around the same time.

It was time to record Jim's first pelagic for the season and so took a number of photos with this one being the best.


What a great photo.....certainly a novel way of showing off your catch to maximum advantage.....note the beautiful conditions

We then went back towards MG, trolling along the way and about 15 minutes later Jim had another strike, so I had the privelege of seeing Jim fight and boat another Spaniard.


Jim about to gaff his fish, which he did after a few misses......note the mill pond conditions


Spaniard sucessfully gaffed and one gleeful yak fisherman


A close up view of the Spaniard ( and one now very happy fisherman )

Shortly after we both headed for MG as Jim had reached his bag limit and landed easily at about 9.30am.


Jim with his trophies

Of course Jim had to deal with all the spectators, on the beach, at the wash area and at the car. He was in his element and lapping up all the attention and answering questions to all and sundry.

Congratulations, Jim, on a great day.
Thanks for coming Jim and Doug.

Jaro
Noosa Yakkers Coordinator
Viking Pro Fish 45
Call Sign Jaro
http://noosayakers.blogspot.com