Swell: Low, from east
Current: none
Launch point: Middle Groyne
Participants: beejay, lapse, sunshiner
At the carpark Alex (lapse) was going through the lengthy setup process for his AI. Lengthy, because he was going out with full kit. On the other hand beejay, keen to earn his stickers today (two kayak fishing trips from Noosa as a Noosa Yakker earns him his NY stickers), had trundled his yak fully 200m from his nearby Hastings St apartment block.
So beejay and I were ready first and launched together through a very small beach break just after 0430am. Even though the local breeze was a SWly, I immediately noticed that there was a chop coming through from the NE, on top of the small swell from the same direction. This was likely to make the trip out to JS, our planned destination, a bit sloppy, but we had a nice overcast morning and the waning moon was just visible high in the sky, shining through the clouds which were just turning pink under the influence of the sun’s first rays.
Being ready to paddle first and knowing that Brian would likely deploy his sail (pic later) I paddled off to the NE, deploying my Laser Pro just after passing the shark net, as usual.
It was a choppy trip out, especially when the SW breeze dropped away to be replaced immediately by a NE breeze as soon as I left the shelter of the bay. The Supalite is not good when paddled into such a chop as it rides up and over each and every bump, to drop with a reverberating clang into every trough. This behaviour, however, makes it a first class ride in surf so owners such as I put up with the occasional nuisance of paddling into such a chop.
I was rigged for pelagics with the plan of switching to snapper gear if the mackerel weren’t present. Ominously, there were no birds working, no surface action apparent and no strikes on my HB lure by the time beejay and I arrived on my chosen spot, NE of the pinnacles. So snapper it was.
I whipped off the chrome slug and substituted a 1/8 ounce jighead and soft plastic and started the drift. With my Bunnings drogue out the drift speed was low and almost perfect for my needs. My 1/8 ounce jig was getting down OK, as the quite quick capture of a bottom dwelling wire netting cod indicated.
I was initially fishing water around 15-17m depth. Usually, at Jew Shoal while drift fishing it’s just a matter of waiting a little while until the drift inevitably transports the yakker into deeper water around 20m. Today it was going too slowly for me and there were no snapper in the first 30 minutes so I pulled in the Bunnings and paddled off for known deeper water to the NW. Here the water ran off from 17m to 20m quite quickly and is an area well marked on my GPS with waypoints indicating fish capture spots.
Even better, the sonar was showing plenty of baitfish schools present at about 10m depth and this reading was confirmed by a cluster of terns to the SW hovering over the ocean and picking up unwary baitfish. By 0620 I'd caught a couple more wire netting cod but still hadn’t had a hit from a snapper.
Fishing with 6kg line and a soft plastic on a light as possible jighead is one of my favourite techniques. The strike comes suddenly, usually when the jig is directly under the yak. Today’s first strike was a classic and the rod tip was pulled underwater as the orange 6kg braid was pulled from the spool. The fight went on much longer than usual and I dared to hope that I’d hooked a better than normal snapper. Line went back and forth but gradually the strength of the runs decreased. All the time I could feel the typical throbs of the snapper's surges transmitted faithfully by the braid.
Then I could see my fish about 5m down, very pinkish pale and much, much larger than my average snapper. In fact it looked to me to be a possible PB from a yak for me. Desperate not to muff the gaff shot, I waited until the fish presented just the right angle and hit him, feeling the gaff penetrate the open operculum from the inside, the point emerging on the outside of the cheek, very secure.
By now the hatch door was open and lying on the foredeck. With a Supalite unless you open the hatch you have nowhere to securely place a fish so you soon learn to get that door open before you gaff the fish. This fish looked magnificent to me, all shimmering pink, blue and white in this overcast early morning. Whoopee, it was a very nice fish, and it was now safely positioned, no jammed, into the open hatch.
0635hrs. Note the gaff clean through the right operculum.
We don't get a lot of snapper over 70cm here but I guessed that this one was exceeded that. The measure mat later confirmed the accuracy of my guess. In Queensland the possession limit is four snapper with only one exceeding 70cm. Clearly, today I had to return to the water any further snapper caught exceeding 70cm in length.
Keen to get another pic before those vibrant colours faded I got the lip grippers on him and took the following pic by holding the camera above my head and blind shooting downward.
At the usual angle I couldn't fit the whole fish in the viewfinder.
Being an excitable kind of guy I'd let out a shout of victory which conveyed to lapse and beejay, fishing nearby, that I was either crazy or had caught a fish out of the ordinary. Having clarified this situation by radio to them I was pleased when lapse, in his fully rigged AI offered to come over and take some pics with his camera, standing up. Here’s the result:
Back to the fishing. It wasn't long until I was hooked up again, in the same area. This was a much smaller snapper, but still adequate for eating purposes. The same rig as before did the job.
4 inch SP, 1/8 ounce jighead, 6kg line, leader going straight to the hook.
And here's fish #2, 0709hrs.
Beejay was fishing nearby, so far without success, but enjoying himself immensely on this his second offshore kayak fishing trip. With a couple of fish in the bag I was happy with my lot and so invited him to come closer so that I could show him the rig that works for me and how I use it. He needed no second invitation and soon was putting the new information to use after we'd first paddled back along today's drift track recorded on my GPS.
Barely had we started to fish again than beejay yelled that he thought he had a fish on, using the newly learned system. I saw it all. To my delight and his, he soon boated a keeper snapper, not his first ever by any means but certainly his first from his kayak and first on an SP.
0800hrs. Beejay and first kayak snapper
Various domestic administrative matters now forced me to the decision to leave the shoal at 0830. Lapse had already departed Jew Shoal in his AI for Little Halls Reef area in search of bigger fish to fry. Beejay agreed to return with me as he was keen to try out his sail in the breeze which for our return journey, had a small favourable component. Lapse had also radioed saying there was no action out to the west and that he'd meet us on the beach.
Trolling my Halco hard body as usual, I had just cleared Jew Shoal with 2.5km to go to the beach when the ratchet of my overhead trolling outfit howled. This lasted all of five seconds, then nothing. On retrieval, the lure and trace gave no clues as to what had happened but I think it was probably a lucky escape from a small shark.
Beejay, wind assisted, gradually caught up with me, partly because I was taking it easy. His sail looked very effective and was providing some propulsion even though the wind was fairly light and from almost side on.
0900. Beejay being helped just a little on the way back.
Lapse was on the beach first, keen to get some video of his fellow kayak fishers being embarrassed in the surf. Our skills and the simply-mastered tiny waves defeated him.
Lapse and beejay and our various fishing craft on the beach today.
Knowing that certain members of our fraternity love to view big fish in the arms of beach ladies, I tried several but they all knocked me back, perhaps because I hadn't shaved this morning (or in fact for a couple of days). One lady visitor from the Czech Republic (a czech chick?) however, intrigued by the fish and unable to resist the magnetism emanating from the boats and their owners, agreed.
0939. From Prague. Wonder if she knows Gatesy?
On the mat. A new Noosa Yakkers record and the first in the new system.
Looks like another good day coming up tomorrow. Hope the guys going get some great fish.
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