Subject: fishing today -- 28Jun09 -- snapper and sweetlip
Date: Sunday, 28 June 2009 4:29 PM
A couple of days ago, the weekend weather looked like being a wipe-out for offshore kayak fishing but on Saturday afternoon it became apparent that the inshore wind wasn't anywhere near as strong as forecast and that the swell was very small. Accordingly I made up my mind on Saturday night that I'd probably go fishing offshore on Sunday morning and issued an invitation before 6.00pm by email accordingly. The wind stayed down all night and at first light at Sunshine Beach it was still calm. It was go! While gobbling my Weetbix I checked my email and found that I had one acceptance of my invitation -- Brian (paddlepara).
And there he was at the carpark when I arrived at 0635 or so. He'd recently broken two ribs and so hadn't been paddling much but was very keen to get out and try out his repaired bones. As expected, there was no swell. The breeze also, a gentle nor westerly, was as expected, but not as forecast on the normally reliable Seabreeze. The ocean horizon to the north was lumpy and so I knew that there'd be a breeze out there, a couple of km out, but judged that it'd be nothing we couldn't handle easily. The weather pattern (large high moving across Queensland) indicated SW winds would spring up, possibly quite stiffly so I mentioned to Brian before we launched that my escape plan from Jew Shoal, should the wind get really strong, was to go with it and head for the east-facing Sunshine Beach which would be sheltered. Once there we could land with safety because of the low swell and then call Mary, my wife, who could easily deliver a spare car to us so that we could then drive the few km back to Main Beach and pick up our respective kayak carrying cars. At least we had a plan!
0649hrs. Paddlepara does his final checks on his Viking Profish before we launched this morning.
The launch and trip out to JS were easy, with the ~3.5km to Jaro's "Old Faithful" (my A3 01), one of our favourite marks on the western side of Jew Shoal, being covered easily in 30 minutes or so. I selected this as a destination because I had a fair idea that there'd be a westerly breeze out there. And sure enough, out at the shoal I'd estimate the breeze as a steady 10-12 knot westerly, just enough to generate a chop and some whitecaps, and about the maximum I wanted for a nice drift.
As Brian lacked familiarity with Jew Shoal I prepared him in advance to mark the spot on his GPS when I told him to. So on arrival Brian marked it and so could easily come back to it, as he needed to, over the next couple of hours. We started the drift quite close together, probably at about 0740hrs. The breeze was certainly pushing us along, but our drogues were stabilising and slowing the drift and I noted that I had no trouble getting my 1/8oz jig down in the 20m depth in that part of the reef. A few minutes later 16m was indicating on the sounder as I drifted east over the reef and so I adjusted my technique a little to allow for the shallower water. I must say the water looked great, a nice blue, and I had high hopes that we'd do pretty well. Soon, the presence of feeding reef fish was confirmed as a sweetlip opted to take my offering.
0748hrs. A grass sweetlip, not big but a keeper and delicious on the plate, soon found himself in my fishbox.
It takes me a couple of minutes to tether and stow individual fish and by the time I'd finished I noticed that we were still in relatively shallow water (around 14m) and a good 100m or more from where I'd caught the sweetlip. Never mind, the drift was going nicely and the underwater structure looked promising so I opted to continue the drift. This was a good call for on the very next cast I got a solid take on the jig and the yak was pulled around into the breeze and chop as the fish tried to escape the unknown force it had encountered. The fight was typical of a snapper, with surges against the drag and then bump..bump causing the rod tip to act as a shock absorber. It probably only took a couple of minutes to boat this fish but it always seems longer. Anyway, I was shortly photographing the next occupant of my fishbox, and a very nice tenant to have.
0801hrs. A solid snapper, just over 50cm -- a catch to gladden the heart on a cool, windy morning.
By the time I'd tethered and stowed this fish I'd drifted some 800m from my start point. As the depth was now around 20m I judged that perhaps I was off the eastern edge of the platform which constitutes the main section of Jew Shoal and that it was possibly too deep to reach the bottom with a light weight jig, and anyway the fish had both come from shallower reef so opted to return and do the drift again. The trip back, into the teeth of the chop and wind left me thankful that I was wearing my long legged springsuit and booties as spray continuously was thrown up and then deposited in a multitude of glittering droplets over my legs. On this upwind passage I encountered Brian happily drifting on approximately the same drift line as I'd been. On comparing our experiences, Brian revealed that he'd been busted by a couple of good fish which had given very good accounts of themselves and escaped as a result. We discussed tactics and I went back to my hard slog to A3 01, some 400 metres away.
It probably took me the best part of 20 minutes (including time chatting to Brian) to get back the 800m to my mark. Once there I continued my tactic of fishing with one rod only, judging that there was sufficient action that a second outfit deployed would probably prove a nuisance (double hookups, snags, etc). On this second drift I didn't boat any fish but lost one when I probably struck too early. I felt the line tighten and struck immediately only to find that the soft plastic (Power Minnow) had been almost ripped from the hook -- presumably the culprit had grabbed the tail only, intending to eat the lot but I pulled it away from him! A little later I had the Power Minnow ripped in half without feeling a touch. Incidentally I find that these Power Minnows can be used over and over again until there's insufficient body integrity to allow them to be properly pinned on the hook. I routinely put used but usable Power Minnows back in the packet and reuse them successfully next trip.
Anyway, this drift was terminated quicker than the previous as I'd decided that the 600m mark was far enough so pulled in the drogue and started off once more into the wind and chop toward A3 01.
The next drift resulted in some success but no keepers as I hauled in several black tipped cod and a maori cod, unfortunately undersized.
0911hrs. Larger than usual black tipped cod for JS. Legal minimum size for retention: 38cm (I've never seen one taken from JS at that size.)
0915hrs. Maori cod (released). Legal minimum size for retention: 45cm.
0915hrs. Partly digested red rock cod vomited up by the maori cod.
So the action seemed to be picking up, and so was the breeze. The next drift went a little quicker but in the process I managed another keeper snapper, which promptly scoffed a Squidgie soft plastic after I'd decided to try this bait to compare its performance with my usual Power Minnow baits.
0955hrs. Snapper taken on Squidgie Shad 100mm.
I started one more drift after this fish was bagged but noticed that the breeze (or rather wind) had not only picked up slightly in strength but had also swung so that it was now coming from the SW, exactly the direction we needed to take to return to our launch point, some 4km away. Having once before been forced to punch back the whole 4km into a similar, perhaps stronger, wind I decided that it was time to go, for me at least, and paddled over to Brian to let him know. My main concern was that the wind might increase in strength, thus causing our journey home to be very arduous or accept that we had to run for Sunshine Beach with its attendant administrative difficulties regarding recovering the kayaks. I judged that we could make it back to Middle Groyne, albeit slowly with the wind at its present strength and direction. Should we find it too difficult, we'd go for Sunshine.
Brian opted to accompany me back, a wise decision I think. Soon we were punching directly into the breeze and chop, fully aware that we had a full hour of hard slog ahead of us, as the GPS was telling me we were travelling at ~3kph over the "ground" and we had 3.5km to go. We left the shoal at 1030 and almost exactly 1 hour later arrived off Main Beach having paddled non stop, achieving somewhat better speed in the last couple of km as the wind's strength became diminished by the shelter offered by the land. Brian, Scottish and ex Royal Marine, was in a bit of pain from his newly-repaired ribs, but, as he stoically said "It's only pain!". I felt fine and was quite chuffed that I could paddle at that rate and still have a decent reserve (ie I could still stand up when I got to the beach). I reckon if the wind were 5-10 knots stronger I'd have gone for Sunshine.
Anyway, back on the beach it was sunny and warm and calm, and beachgoers warmed themselves or, if visitors from cooler climes, frolicked in the sparkling water. As usual Brian and I were approached by several keen to see what fishing kayaks looked like and how they worked ("What's that thing?") and curious to find out if they could perhaps participate in this activity at some future time "What do they cost?". Much interest was aroused by the fish, with kids tentatively poking the eyes, as they do, and parents telling them "Don't touch!".
My take-home catch arrayed on the Espri's back deck, on the beach.
Thanks for coming along, Brian.
OK, now for Tuesday or Wednesday. Who's coming and when?
Kev
Red & Yellow Espri, black paddle
VHF channel 09 or 22 (if alone), Call Sign: sunshiner
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