From: sunshiner
Date: 19/11/2010 3:43 PM
Weather
Cloud cover: 10/10
Wind direction & speed: SE, 10knots, forecast to go to 25knots later
Sea state: low swell
Having been locked up with a busted rib plus work for the last several weeks, with today as my first fully 'fit and free' day in all that time, you can imagine how pissed off I was with the weather forecast for today and the next several days -- 25 knots from the SE. What really got my goat was Pete's Trip Report for Thursday. Clearly the fish are on! Well done Pete -- that's a great bag, mate, and I'm not just talking about the garlic!
It was 9:20am today (after rechecking Seabreeze and noting that the wind change was likely to be late) before I decided I just had to get out. I needed a paddle. I needed to test my battered body to see whether its repair system had worked. By 09:50 I was standing on the beach at Middle Groyne.
09:54am. That sand bank at the end of the groyne is still there, guys.
The launch turned out to be easy -- just a matter of holding in the deep water just short of the break until a lull in the sets appeared. It felt good, no, great, to be out there again. I paddled hard and felt no pain. While setting up my gear I noticed, in the dim light, a 'fuzz' on the north eastern horizon. Birds, dozens of them, wheeling around, about one kilometre from shore.
10:08am. Right amongst them. No big predators, unfortunately. As Pete indicated in his report for yesterday, small bonito were feeding on the bait. Soon, hopefully, the larger predators will move in and feast on the bonito.
I was out there today just to confirm that I was safe to paddle to, and from, the usual destinations. So I opted to just travel around in the Bay and reacquaint myself with my yak, which has been gathering cobwebs of late.
The local pod swam along with me for a while, as if to say "Welcome back!"
Once I was satisfied that I was fit (about noon, after fairly continuous paddling and trolling, for no fish) I opted to head back in. On the way I passed through the baitfish and their tiny predators, noting how they showed up on the sonar.
Those arches at the 5m mark are almost certainly caused by the bonito, each probably 30cm long. Scale top to bottom: 10m. Bottom at 7.3m.
So no fish today, but I'm ready to paddle again. My return to the beach was a doddle, and I could easily drag my yak up that steep little bank at the top of the beach whereas that effort nearly killed me a few weeks back. It's SO good to be back in action.
Come on Jaro, organize some good yakking weather!
Kev
Red & white Stealth Supalite, black paddle
VHF channel 09 or 22 (if alone), Call Sign: sunshiner
http://www.noosayakkers.blogspot.com/
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