Subject: Fishing today -- 25Oct08
Date: Saturday, 25 October 2008 3:35 PM
Hi guys
Another quiet one as far as the fish went, I'm afraid, but plenty of interesting whale stuff.
At 2am today I awoke to the roar of the surf on the beach at Sunshine Beach and thought "Maybe it'll be too nasty to safely launch at our usual spot" then promptly went back to sleep to be awoken by my phone alarm at 0430, with the sound of roaring surf still apparent. But the sky was clear and there was little if any wind and so down to Middle Groyne I went, expecting to be first there at 0450, only to find Harry and Jaro already setting up, and a visiting yakker from Brisbane, Antony, whom I'd met on a couple of occasions before, also getting ready, but, as it turned out, intending to go with a couple of friends to Little Halls.
There was no surf noise on the beach at Middle Groyne and Harry confirmed that it was "flat as" so we were GO! I was first to launch, on the western side of the groyne, and barely got a cupful of water into the yak on the way out. Harry and Jaro were right behind me and a glance at my watch told me it was 0515; a look around revealed perfect conditions -- a light SW breeze and very small swell in the bay. Jaro was super keen to get into the fish as he'd missed the last couple of trips because of absence interstate and Harry and I were keen to do better than last Tuesday's trip. At this stage there was no sign of the Nemo team, Steven and Charles, but I knew they'd be not far behind.
As we headed toward the northern horizon, Harry leading followed by Jaro and then me, a whale was prominent to the west, busily engaged in tail slapping for several minutes continuously.
And so we arrived and started fishing. Third or fourth cast I hooked a small sweetlip, just undersize, so back he went. Then Steven and Charles turned up.
Steven (front seat) and Charles in their double Viking Nemo
This small sweetlip was followed by this little fellow (of which I caught at least 5 today), which I decided to photograph to pass on info to fellow yakkers.
Black tipped cod (named for the black tips on the spines of the dorsal fin), legal size 38cm. I've never seen a legal specimen, but be aware that they have a great reputation as a food fish. If you catch a legal one, I'd like to hear about it.
And a few minutes later we all stopped fishing as two or three whales came right up to us and proceeded for a long five minutes or so to put on a wonderful display of swimming along sideways, pectorals slapping and half of tail showing, and lunging out of the water. They approached from the west and once alongside our little group, turned north apparently to seek a closer relationship with the boys on the double Nemo, who wisely decided to move out of their way. A few pics...
The guy in the tinny also had a good view...
The action in the last couple of pics was about 20-30m from me and at this stage the whales were headed for Steven and Charles.
Anyway, it was special to be out there and see this display. As Harry said, he'd paid $100 to go on a whale-watching cruise but this was far better, and much more exciting, given our viewing platforms. My crappy photography doesn't do justice to the actual scene.
Fishing-wise, the whole reef seemed shut down. It was notable that none of the accompanying power boat occupants were catching anything either, and one by one they packed up and went home. But, around 0730 Harry, bless his soul, nailed a beautiful 50cm grass sweetlip.
Harry bags a 50cm sweetlip, caught on bait
Before they left, Charles and Steven bagged a keeper sweetlip and later reported that they'd invited it to breakky.
Jaro, Harry and I fished on, trying shallow reefs and deep reefs to no improvement in the take-home catch, although there were several undersize specimens taken, including maori cod and leatherjacket, and one yellowfin pike which Jaro promptly converted to fresh bait for the pickers' breakfast.
The paddle home was as easy as any I can remember, with a slight NE breeze gradually picking up as we went along. Out at the reef the swell was significant with troughs sufficient to hide nearby craft and land features from view. I, for one, was quite relieved to find that this swell, emanating from the SSE, did not intrude at all into the inner bay, with the result that our beach landings were all uneventful and correctly oriented.
Harry with our take-home catch.
Looks like a couple of good days coming up... c'mon guys, the fish HAVE to come back on the bite soon! Over to you Jaro to organize.
Kev (no worthwhile fish today)
Red & Yellow Espri, black paddle
VHF channel 09 or 22 (if alone), Call Sign: sunshiner
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