More snapper, JS, 18Dec10

Subject: Yak Fishing Report - Sun 18Dec10
From: "Jim Thompson"
Date: 21/12/2010 2:03 AM

Hi Yakkers,

Apologies for the delayed report, been busy preparing to leave tomorrow to go to Melbourne for Christmas.

Cloud cover: 5/10 initially then a heavy 10/10 after ~0730 with rain after 1115
Wind direction & speed: <5k W until ~1030 then SW increasing to 10k
Sea State: Swell < 0.75m, very minor wind chop

I launched at MG ~0440 in perfect conditions. After setting up I headed for Jew Shoal West. There were random birds heading back in-shore towards river mouth. Water was quite murky.

I had trolled a Halco Laser Pro HB lure out to JS with nil return. However, on arrival at Jew West I had only just started to prepare my light line with a jig head and SP for casting when the trolling line went off (I hadn't yet retrieved this line). This turned out to be a 58cm snapper. This suggested the snapper were hunting in the upper 5-10m of the water column, which is a little surprising as our experience is that snapper usually spend most of their time near the bottom. However, Sunshiner had a similar experience only about a week earlier. The surface feeding might have something to do with the recent murky coloured due to rain run off.

By the time I had landed the snapper and completed rigging the casting line I was about 220m east of my intended Jew West mark and was getting close to the Pinnacles where a very large catamaran was anchored. Although there was practically nil wind it was obvious there was a strong current running W to E at about 1.0-1.5 kph. I decided to relocate back to the western side of the Jew West mark knowing the current would take me back along the same drift line. I had also decided to leave the Laser Pro on and troll back over the same mark. And guess what, 40m short of the Jew West mark the Laser Pro was hit again, and a second 58cm snapper came aboard. This was pretty good! Two snapper landed within 30m of arriving and I hadn't yet cast a line.

The next two passages along the same drift line yielded a couple of reefies and a small snapper, the latter probably just a keeper but I decided to release it as I already had two good sized snapper on board (amazing how your attitude becomes much more benevolent when your fish box is already half full). As the Laser Pro had seemed to stop working its magic, I loaded the heavy line with a trailed squid and had only just sent it to the bottom when it was hit. This was a reasonable 43cm snapper.

I persisted on the same drift line for about another two hours, and although the trailed squid and pilchards did not produce any more fish, I had 3-4 good hits on the cast SPs, a couple of these taking the bait soon after hitting the water, and one in particular taking ~20m of line before self releasing. All this produced three more snapper, but only one was a good keeper at 42cm. It was also noticeable that the water had become considerably clearer about mid way through the morning.

By 1045 I had already stayed about 1.5 hours longer than I had intended, so started heading back to MG just as the wind, which had by now swung to the SW, suddenly increased in strength to ~10k which meant I had a fairly stiff head wind and surface chop for the duration of the return paddle. Two things were noticeable on approaching MG, apart from the fact that it was now raining. The first was that the water, even just 100m from MG, was now quite clear. The second was that there were a number of birds circling around out from the river mouth and the lower North Shore area, together with 2-3 boats. I suspect that the spotty macks might be starting to congregate in this known spotty hot spot. This suspicion was supported by a radio transmission I heard between a boat and Noosa Coast Guard. I reckon the pelagic season is here!! Sorry there are no photos with this report as I don't carry a camera with me and I scaled, gutted and beheaded the snapper amongst the rocks at MG to save time when I got home.

Merry Christmas to all and good fishing in the new year .... leave some pelagics for me for when I get back from Melbourne.

Cheers,
Jimbo