Subject: fishing today -- 13jun09
Date: Saturday, 13 June 2009 4:47 PM
Fantastic result today. Not only was the weather perfect but Jaro filled his bag. Brian and I, the only other starters, did OK, but not compared with Jaro, who admittedly has had a tough time lately.
So the three of us fronted at 0645-ish ready for a launch in superb conditions, if a little chilly (little chilly? shit, it was cold!!) by Noosa standards.
0658hrs. How good was this! Jaro heads out first.
We made our ways separately the 4km or so to the shoal, each heading for his chosen spot to start a drift propelled by the gentle SW breeze. I noted that I had my first cast of a jig away at 0745, at a point some 300m SW of the pinnacles, in 20m depth.
In summary, this is what happened for the first couple of hours. All was pretty quiet for an hour or so, although during this time Brian got cleaned up by some monster or other. At 0850-ish my cast jig was picked up by a fish within a few seconds of hitting the water. At first I thought I'd got a snapper then I experienced an almighty run, most un-snapper like as the hooked fish headed due east at high speed. I watched the spool of my Shimano Sienna quickly empty as the kayak was also starting to be towed. To reduce the drag on the fish, and conserve line, I pulled in the drogue after which the yak and I set off under tow at a pretty good speed, following the fish. A couple of minutes later, however, the line went slack and I retrieved it to find that the jig hook had broken!
0855hrs. Broken jig hook; main line b/s: 12 pounds.
In view of later events, and previous experience, I reckon that this was a mackerel tuna.
We all tried fishing in various places and Brian, intent on nailing the monster which had cleaned him up earlier, hooked up a pretty big shark which he videoed underwater with his brand new Finepix underwater camera. The shark was too big to be safely brought into the yak so he wisely opted to cut it off. Perhaps Brian could give us a more detailed description separately. I saw the video and was most impressed with the size of the shark and clarity of the image so hopefully we can extract enough to make a youtube video of the event.
Meanwhile Jaro had been experimenting with a new location and was reporting lots of bites and quite a few small fish. Eventually he announced that he'd caught a 42cm flathead (a very unusual capture out there), then sometime later a maori cod, which at 38cm, he returned to the water (legal size 45cm min), then soon after a sweetlip, well over the 30cm legal limit. At around 1045, still fishless, I decided to join Jaro to get some pics and hopefully some fish. Not wanting to crowd him, I pulled up about 150m away, cast out a jig and saw Jaro's jig rod bend over. In response to my call over the radio he confirmed that he was hooked up to something big so I paddled over, camera ready, to find out what the fuss was about. After chasing him and his fish around a bit I eventually got there just as Jaro was confirming that he'd hooked a big mackerel tuna. So I was on hand when he gaffed it.
1048hrs. Jaro gaffs his mac tuna.
Brian had seen the kerfuffle and decided to join us in this hotspot that Jaro had discovered, which was outside the area we usually fish. Jaro led us to his mark, nearby, and we commenced to fish but not before we'd also marked it on our GPS devices. No sooner had we got there than Jaro had another hookup. Shortly he boated another nice sweetlip.
1101hrs. Jaro with his second, or third, sweetlip. (still from video)
He and I had only just restarted fishing after this when I hooked up (at last). I quickly boated a 40cm snapper.
1107hrs. 40cm snapper.
It is just a blur in my memory as to the sequence of events from there. Jaro landed several more fish and Brian landed at least one good sweetlip. But the camera faithfully tells us that the next significant event was a mighty strike on a baited line that Brian had decided to leave in the water as he moved the few metres back to the hotspot. I saw the strike, at about 1140hrs and noticed that Brian had great difficulty getting the rod out of the rod holder as it was being held down under pressure from the struggling fish. I pulled in my line and followed with the camera as Brian and his yak were towed around on a glassy sea. The fight lasted quite a while and eventually Brian could see that he'd hooked a good sized mac tuna.
1150hrs. Brian puts some stick on the mac tuna.
The fight was nearing the end when something in the terminal tackle parted and the rod straightened itself with a jerk. "Bugger" said Brian, as the fish swam off having earned its victory in a fair fight.
We hung around for a while longer during which Jaro boated two snapper in quick succession. Today he was certainly making up for the last few trips. I hooked up again only to be bitten off. Brian had more action with smaller snapper.
But eventually around 1245pm we decided to leave them, even if they were still biting, as we'd been out on the water for over five hours at that stage.
There was scarcely a wave as we hit the beach, Brian and I almost together followed by Jaro, several minutes later.
My snapper and Brian's (first) sweetlip.
Then Jaro came in and emptied his fish bag onto the beach.
Jaro's take home catch. The mac tuna went 70cm and the largest sweetlip 45cm.
Of course, as usual we were mobbed by the beach crowd. Jaro, feeling generous, gave away two of his snapper to a nice young couple, one of whom was wearing a brief bikini.
Jaro charming the beachgoers.
Another great day in superb Noosa winter weather. Thanks for organizing Jaro. It's nice to see that your mojo's back.
Next probable trip: Monday -- Sunshine Reef. Yahoo!
Kev
Red & Yellow Espri, black paddle
VHF channel 09 or 22 (if alone), Call Sign: sunshiner
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