Eyetag's last say for 2012, 31Dec12

TR by Eyetag

Wind - South easterly to 15 knots
Launch point - Lions Park Noosa


Participants - Eyetag

Hi All,

 I had a paddle very early this morning, launching just after midnight from Lions Park Noosa Heads. I went straight around to the Inner Woods Bay and on my way past the Sheraton I had my first strike. Unfortunately it was a Hairtail around 70cm.

A little further on I got another. Not wanting any more of these toothy critters, I decided to keep all lures in until I got near the current line out from Ricky's. Things were a little quiet here with only one under sized Spotted Grunter Bream ( Javelin Fish ) and a small Big Eye Trevally caught both on a slow rolled small Gladiator Prawn. With the wind howling I thought I'd head for somewhere a little more comfortable.

Off I went up Weyba Creek to Weyba Hole where it was a lot calmer with a little protection from the wind but the fish didn't seem to be here. I fished the area for for an hour with Gladiator Prawns and Gold Bomber with out a touch. So up the Creek I went to a spot that never seems to fail and it didn't let me down with 3 Big Eye Trevally around 30cm on the Gladiator Prawn.

Still thinking about Weyba Hole I paddled back and on arrival I could hear a bit of activity in the form of bust ups. When the Trevally are busting up here there is usually Jacks underneath them. I did a few drifts with a Gladiator Prawn on the bottom and casting the Gold Bomber, it was all happening, I was hooked up on the Bomber when the Prawn went off. This ended up costing me 2 fish and 20 metres of braid. I retied my rigs and simplified things by casting and retrieving the Gold Bomber.

This worked and I was hooked up to something solid losing 30 metres on the first run and with the fish fighting on the surface the whole time. I thought I had a Barra but when I finally saw it I wasn't disappointed with it being a Jack and an equal PB for me at 53cm. Next cast I had another nice fish that felt as good but it turned out to be hooked in the top of the head and dorsal ( he would have attacked from underneath the lure ) which explained the extra weight during the fight. This fish was around 45cm. I released him and thought I'd go back to the current line near Ricky's. Things were still quiet here but I managed to get another undersized Javelin Fish.

The Sun was starting to rise and as I was heading along the Sound Jetties I had another strike and landed Jack number three. This fish about the same length as the second was also released cause I think they're too good to catch once.

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Battle scars on what was a new Gold Bomber

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The size of the small Gladiator Prawn

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Shot taken near the capture point. Photo courtesy of fishingnoosa.


Eyetag

Sunshine beach launch, 29Dec12

TR by Jamie-D

Hey Guys,

Launched from Sunshine Beach 4.30am on my own. Faced some initial stiff opposition in the form of wave sets standing up about 50m off shore, finally got out the back. Set out for Sunshine reef with some very lumpy seas early on that glassed off about 6.30am to small manageable chop out on the reef itself. Troller a Halco laser Pro and another lure with a large bib I forget the name of just off the top of my head. Scater came on the VHF from a Stink boat after spotting me all the way out there with the boat brigade, he wasn't having much luck when I last saw him. Contacted Scater just before starting to to head back to Sunshine beach to say good luck and I'm heading back to Sunshine beach with a slow troll , then I signed off and turned my radio off.

Funny how ironic life can be , only yesterday I decided that I was going to make a habit from now on of having a rod rigged with a slug just in case. Well 500 m from sunshine beach " In case " happened. Apparently out of nowhere a massive bust up appeared , about 30 m north of where the rocks begin at the end of Sunshine Beach and about 500m out from the beach itself. I was actually just thinking when the bust up appeared , I think I'll pack my rods away and get ready for a surf landing. I jumped straight on the VHF to contact Scater and his offsider but obviously he'd turned off his radio, Scater ?

Thankfully I had my rod rigged and ready to go. The bust up was pelagics feeding agressively on the surface spalshing like all hell, I couldn't make a call on the species as I'm relatively new to fishing for Pelagic Species and would just be guessing . The Bust up was initially one mass about 20m across , but after being disturbed by some pr!ck in a stinker that came roaring over to join the fun after seeing the birds going mental and the spalshing the school went deep and then reappeared in two groups about 10m across in surface area. I was throwing a 10gram slug and managed to hammer about half a dozen casts into the group before the moved out of my range followed by the stinker. Made my way in after that flurry of excitement.

Had to laugh had no action all morning about 4-5km offshore and then the party is only 500m off Sunshine Beach.

Hope that info is of use or at least signals some increase in activity.

Regards
Jamie D

Jaro, 28Dec12

TR by Jaro
Conditions: Perfect
Wind: Very little
Swell: Small
Current: Nil

Participants: Stormin, Andrew (Panno), Greg, Mike (Bomber), Jaro and others that I did not meet up with.

I arrived at MG car park at 4.00am. Easy launch and took off towards SR with Bomber and Andrew. Stormin started a little later and went to JS.

I can only speak for Andrew, Stormin and myself as I did not hear from the others but I don't believe any fish were caught.

I only saw the odd bird activity and small bust ups (certain they were bonitos). We decided to do some bottom fishing on the outer SR marks and soon had a 1.5m shark which I duly unhooked and released.

I moved from mark to mark without success, bottom fishing at each mark and then trolling a pilchard to the next mark. I was doing this toward the most southern mark and with my trolling rod behind me (unusual for me) I suddenly heard the reel scream, turned around saw the road bent and a large splash where the lure should be, then nothing. The hook did not take and I reeled in a pilchard-less lure. That was my only excitement for the day.

There were a very large number of stink boats well out on SR so I decided to paddle out there amongst them, also without any action. I pulled the plug at 9.00am and paddled back with my sail up making for an effortless trip home arriving on the shore at 10.20am. This was easily the furthest offshore I have paddled, at least 4 km off Alexandria Bay.

Andrew reported a fish less day. Stormin, likewise after continually trolling the whole time.

Nonetheless, it was a beautiful day to be out paddling.

Cheers

Jaro

Boxing Day, 26Dec12

TR by Jaro
Conditions: Great
Wind: Calm up to max 5 knots.
Current: Nil
Sky: Clear for most of the morning.
Participants: EyeTag, Stormin and Jaro.

I arrived at the car park at 4.00am to find EyeTag and Stormin already there. EyeTag took off for Little Halls and Halls. Stormin and I went to JS.

Getting out and in was a breeze. Quite a few birds about but spread over a large area. I didn't see any bust ups and settled in for some bottom fishing and caught a 41cm sweet lip on my second cast.

I had a few other bites but no more hook ups. We lost contact with EyeTag so I don't know how he went. Stormin remained fish-less. I pulled the plug at 8.00am and hit the beach at around 9.00am with Stormin landing safely shortly thereafter.

It was a lovely day. I intend to go out again on Friday.

Cheers

Jaro

Pedro's Xmas DIP (not), 25Dec12

Pedro's Xmas Day and Boxing Day Trip report from DIP.

Wendy and I camped the north shore Christmas day and boxing day. Christmas day was spent setting up camp and relaxing while looking at the 1.5m to 2m waves and contemplating if it was possible to launch and land.

I woke from a snooze and looked out over the water to see a small flock of birds working directly out from camp. This was the deciding factor to have a go. I decided to take Wendy's prowler packed light and was impressed with it's performance in punching over three foot of white water and after the third or fourth time I started to feel confident that I would actually make it out. Once out the back, the birds had gone so I rigged for trolling, a couple of hours later and no hits I packed down for the landing. I managed to pick a gap in the waves and made it in unscathed.

On Boxing day we headed to the western side of DIP as the waves on the open beach were still pretty big. The launch was easy and we headed around the headland and back again trolling. By this stage Wendy was ready to go in and I wanted a bit longer so we parted company (I'm glad she now has a radio). I concentrated my trolling around the bommie just off the headland as I have caught good snapper there nearly every time. On about the third lap my Spaniard special with gar did the trick and I landed a 75cm snapper. After trolling the area another twenty minutes I headed in.

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Christmas Day

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DIP west at high tide

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Launch point DIP west

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DIP Headland

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Equals previous record.

Happy New Year and
See you on the water
Pedro


Additional Video of Pedro taking on the surf tee wah beach




Video, Narrative and Prowler kayak courtesy of Wendy.

Xmas day, 25Dec12

TR by Eyetag
Xmas Day 2012

Participants - Wal, Weeksy, Corie, Carter and Eyetag.

Wal, Weeksy, Corie, and Carter from Sydney all went to JS trolling Hard bodies. I trolled a small Watson's Leaping Bonito. We fished from 4.30am until about 8.00am. Nothing was caught.

There were lots of birds and the odd small bust up. Conditions were good, but the launch was not so easy and timing was crucial if you wanted to stay dry. Everyone got out alright. Weeksy had a swim on the way in. I only took one photo. I thought Weeksy was o.k on this one so I put the camera down then over he went.

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Photo of Weeksy, courtesy of Eyetag

Eyetag

Manscaped, 23Dec12

TR by Manscaped with additional contribution from Imax

Hello Yakkers,

I went out this morning with a mate using my old Supalite. We launched just before 4.30am with the wind being almost non existent. Two other guys arrived with AIs before we launched. I think they went out later, down near first point. The waves were standing up at the end of the groyne but the launch was still easy enough. I took 6 or so waves over the front of the evo during the launch and my mate got turned around but we both got out without coming off.

After getting out we were planning on heading up halls way but after seeing a few birds heading JS way we changed plans. We trolled both pillies and hb's to JS and around the area. Saw a bit of bird activity that looked promising but it was very sporadic. It was quiet so we then went off to Little Halls finding similar bird activity to the other side of the bay but still no action.

We arrived back at the beach some time after 9am and picked the lull. I went in on the back of a set and thought I was home but got caught by a small wave that pushed me off in the shallows. My mate made it in unscathed but had arms and legs going everywhere trying to stay upright.

Going to try get some crabs tomorrow morning but might head out early on Christmas day for a few hours.

Manscaped


Contribution from Imax

Corie and NY's, the two AI's were my uncle and myself. We decided the groyne was just a little too dumpy for the Hobies so went and launched down in cowards corner. I picked a gap alright and got out the back only to watch my uncle get flipped over backwards on the fully rigged AI. I did a trip back in to go and help him right his rig back over as this isn't an easy task with 4m of sail and two outriggers in the break zone. We got it back over only to find he had lost his rod and reel. If anyone finds a baitcast rod and reel on main beach he would be very grateful.

After this drama I smashed my way out through the break again coping a big dumper on the head which would have soaked me if I wasn't already wet. From here we sailed out in the direction of the birds as well and I'm guessing ended up around JS. We chased the birds for a while sailing parrallel to the headland. On the third run I hooked up and landed a smallish Yellow Fin Tuna. This was our only fish for the day and we had an easy trip back into shore.

I'm looking at heading out again Christmas morning so hopefully will catch a few of you then. If not Merry Christmas to all.

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Regards
Dan (Imax)

Scater report, 21Dec12

TR by Scater
Swell: 1.5m from the ESE
Wind: 5kn or less for most of the morning from the North
Skies: Overcast
Participants: Jamie D, Scater

I arrived at the carpark at about 430am. When I made it down to the beach, about six yakkers were surveying the conditions on the Northern side of the groyne including Jimbo, Jaro and Stormin. Jamie D was in the process of heading out and he picked the sets well. By the time I had rigged the yak everyone had moved to the southern side in hopes of finding a way through the dumping surf. I elected to head out on the northern side and make use of whatever protection was available. I made it out wringing wet on my third attempt. As I was rigging up outside the surf zone, I watched some unsuccessful attempts and a lot of spectating from those still on the beach. No-one had made it out by the time I was ready to go so I set a course along the national park.

Soon afterwards I heard the coast guard on channel 16 reading a disclaimer to someone outside who had obviously requested a rescue. Jamie D also came over the radio to report extensive bird activity at JS. I followed the coastline out and watched some considerable swell crashing into the headlands at Tea Tree and Granite Bays. In line with earlier reports there were plenty of bait schools and birds scattered over the southern bay but nothing harassing them. I met Jamie over the shoal and we compared similar stories. Jamie kept trolling while I decided to head for the river mouth in hopes of finding some predators. Turtleboy called at this point from a stinkboat further out with much the same to tell: plenty of promising signs but nothing to show for it. (Insert by TurtleBoy - perfectly clam and glassy  conditions, plenty of fish on the sounder and one Kingfish after 4 hours of fishing out wider).

It glassed out as the morning wore on and the conditions were pretty idyllic but with a distinct lack of fishy action by the time I reached the river, I decided to call it a day. We had had no further contact from the remaining yakkers who I assume pulled the pin. I headed for MG and derigged. There was the odd big set rolling through but I picked a decent lull and enjoyed a trouble-free ride in only to be rolled in the shallows once I stopped concentrating! All in all it was a beautiful day but the fish are still waiting for something, maybe a change in the wind. Northerlies aren't working for us!

Sam (Scater)

Quickie, 17Dec12


TR by Pedro
Swell: Smaller than yesterday
Wind: Northerly 5 to 7 knots
Launch Point: MG
Participants: Pedro


Hi All,

The swell had dropped since yesterday and I made it out and back through the surf zone at MG no problem.

No sign of the Macs at LH or JS but I did pick up a 50cm snapper at JS on pilchard.

Cheers
Pedro

Surf Mayhem, 16Dec12

TR by Jimbo
Wind: Very slight northerly initially, then nil
Swell: Officially 1.8-2.0m, but some bloody big buggers about 4m out at Jew Shoal
Air Quality: Very smoky due to bushfires on Noosa North Shore.
Current at JS and Lt Halls: nil
Launch point: Middle Groyne
Participants (ie, those who eventually got out through the surf): Big Kev, Dr Dog, Jamie-D, Jimbo, Kayakone (who now refers to himself as K1), Iain Gibson (welcome back), Scater, Scater's brother, Stormin, Tarzan
Attendees: Eyetag, Richmond, Jaro, Kahuna

This trip report is more a kayak surfing report, rather than a fishing report, as there was not one fish kept among the ten participants. With a predicted 1.8m easterly swell coinciding with an extremely low springs tide of 0.2m only 45 minutes before launch time (~ 0430), the launch conditions at Middle Groyne were always going to be testing, and so they proved to be. However, this being the second last weekend before Xmas, and some of the Brisbane-based weekend warriors having been up as early as 0130 in order to get to Noosa by 0400, most of us weren't going to be easily dissuaded from having a go. Thanks to Eyetag for his photos of the surf conditions.

On arrival at MG car park at 0400, BigKev, Jaro, Stormin, Kayakone (K1), Tarzan and Iain were already in the process of unloading in darkness followed soon by Jamie-D and Scater with his brother, the latter two with two kayaks mounted on a trailer. With the ominous crashing sound of the surf break coming from the beach, no-one was in any hurry to attempt a launch until the light improved. Most certainly, the need for safety assessment and the practical skills learnt during our recent NY surf skills day were foremost in my mind. Soon there were about 8-9 NY standing at the water's edge only about 10-15m from the end of the rock groyne, each making personal assessments about whether a launch was doable through the infrequent calm spells between some frightening swells that were building and dumping heavily on the sand bar extending 30-50m beyond the rock groyne. Notably, the 3 wise men Eyetag and Richmond, who hadn't even unloaded their yaks from their cars, together with Jaro, had taken up a vantage point on the groyne to better assess the conditions in the improving light, and/or watch the potential carnage that would certainly ensue if any of the yakkers got their timing wrong.

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Early morning glass walls. Photo taken looking NNW from MG, Noosa. Courtesy of Eyetag.

BigKev, Tarzan and Jamie-D were the first to ventured forward to take on the sand monster, choosing an area about 50m west of the groyne that appeared to offer the best passage through the surf. All three waited in knee deep water for a reasonable lull, then climbed in and set forth. Tarzan was a little ahead and took on a couple of broken waves but made it through successfully, albeit with his Scupper Pro partly full of water, closely followed by BigKev who punched his Stealth Evo 495 up and over some forming dumpers, with Jamie-D in his wake forcing his way through mostly broken waves. The success of these three proved that a launch was indeed possible, and gave heart to the doubters still assembled on the beach. Next to venture forth was K1 in his "HMAS Ark Royal", looking more like a mobile radio station with at least four rods mounted vertically in rod holders. Not wanting to attempt a launch anywhere near K1, I waited at in knee deep white water while he eventually picked a lull and got out relatively unscathed. I was next in line and waited an inordinate time before I was prepared to have a go. It had become apparent that, due to the infrequent and short time between sets, it would be necessary to take on a couple of broken waves to give yourself sufficient time to get through the remainder of the surf zone before the onset of the next big dumper. This I eventually did, followed closely by Iain. That made six out, maybe three or four to go. The rest of this report is my interpretation of what happened subsequently, based on numerous radio messages passed between those NYs who did eventually make it out, and Jaro and Kahuna on shore, the latter who had apparently also arrived at Middle Groyne but also decided not to attempt a launch.

By the time Iain and I had set up, Bigkev, Tarzan, Jamie-D and Kayakone were already on their way to Jew Shoal, the intended destination of most of the NYs, given the success with many spotties caught in that area only a week earlier. Shortly after Iain and I set out for Jew Shoal there was a flurry of radio transmissions, as I was monitoring the Coast Guard Ch22 in addition to the NYs usual Ch 9.

I quickly learnt that one boat (and subsequently a second, I heard later) had been swamped or over-turned in the big surf while attempting a seaward crossing at the river mouth, about 500m to the west of Middle Groyne, with two occupants in the process of being rescued by other boats. The Coast Guard was then in the process of scrambling one of their rescue boats with the help of jetski operators to attempt a recovery of the swamped/up-turned boat(s). A few minutes later BigKev advised that K1 had caught and released an under-sized spotty mackerel somewhere off Tea Tree Bay, and Scater reported that although he and his brother had eventually got out through the surf, he had lost a box of lures in the process, and the two of them were therefore returning to the beach.

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Scater getting ready to brace in towards the fast approaching white water. Photo by Eyetag.

In the meantime, Jaro had decided to attempt a launch from the quite shallow water on the lee side of the groyne very close to the end. He was holding position in close to the rocks, paddling forward against formidable in-coming broken waves and then back-paddling against the intervening out-rushing current threatening to wash him out into the maelstrom. Eyetag and Richmond, were instructed to give Jaro a signal to race forward when they spotted a lull in the sets from their vantage point on top of the groyne. Ultimately there was some poor communication between Jaro and "the two wise men" on the groyne which resulted in Jaro eventually becoming exhausted after about 40 minutes of maintaining his stationary maneuver, during which time the launch conditions appeared to have become even more threatening. Jaro wisely decided that discretion was the better part of valor and finally aborted a launch attempt. Jaro then gave something of a running commentary of Stormin's stoic fourth successful attempt to get out (after his failed first three attempts), along with describing Scater's brother's kayak .... "being thrown six feet in the air"... in the process of returning to the beach.

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Brother of Scater ( perhaps now to be known as Scattered Bro ) meets the Sand Monster face first. Note the base of the dumper sucking outwards creating an even steeper concave face. Photo by Eyetag.

While all this was happening, Dr Dog had successfully launched on the eastern side of the groyne but was being directed by Kahuna (apparently now also standing on the end of the the rock groyne), to check out a large floating object he had spotted in the water somewhere nearby. It appeared from Kahuna's air of urgency (asking Jaro to stop transmitting on Ch9), that he thought the floating object might have been an occupant of one of the swamped boat(s) at the river mouth. Thankfully the floating object turned out to be a palm frond, or some other similar piece of floating flotsam.

After this exciting first hour, the rest of the trip was rather mundane. Seven of the eight NY trolled and bottom bashed around Jew Shoal for a couple of hours without a bite, other than Jamie-D who reported one good strike on a HLP but no hook up. There were numerous birds wheeling around but no concentrated feeding frenzies. These were similar conditions that had existed for the 4-5 weeks prior to last weekend, with plenty of anchovies feeding on the surface but apparently no predators underneath. Tarzan even ventured to the northern end of Sunshine Reef and later reported similar non-success. There were some exceptionally large swells rolling under our kayaks out at Jew Shoal, but conditions were eerily quiet with absolutely no breeze or current, and the sun being masked by cloud and a pawl of brown smoke from the bush fires over on the North Shore.

The only other piece of excitement occurred for me when Iain and I had just arrived at the Pinnacles, having been paddling abreast for most of the journey to Jew Shoal. A stink boat crossed too close behind us causing his and my trolled lines to hook up. I began shouting at the boat driver to stop as line was being stripped off my reel against the drag and across Iain's body pulling our two kayaks together. I had to hastily release the lever drag on my overhead reel causing the spool to rapidly over spin, resulting in a horrible tangle of nylon within the reel. Luckily the power boat stopped and somehow our two lines separated, and I was able to recover about 100m of my line, albeit wound over the top of the tangle. It took me about another half hour to run out the line and undo the underlying tangle before I could resume fishing. Be wary of such unthinking stink boat operators over the coming holiday season.

By about 0745, BigKev, Kayakone and Stormin decided to try their luck over at Lt Halls Reef, followed soon after by Dr Dog and me. At about this time Jamie-D decided to head back to MG, as did Stormin and Iain due to the onset of seasickness. By 0900, and with still no fish having been caught, the rest of us had also started heading back to MG, being aware of the battle with the sand monster that inevitably awaited us.

As it turned out, the threatening surf conditions had abated somewhat due to the tide having risen by at least 1.5m compared to launch conditions about 4.5 hours earlier. Dr Dog and Jamie-D had provided some intelligence via radio on the best approach passage to the beach, indicating that good timing after a set was essential, but that even the broken waves were still creating significant push. As far as I am aware, BigKev, Tarzan, Dr Dog and I got back in upright, but K1 was not so successful, suffering at least (as a minimum I would think) water and sand ingress into his reels. I'm not aware of Jamie-D, Iain or Stormin's outcome.

Well that's it yakkers. In summary, fish caught: nil, kayak launch and return experience in surf conditions: invaluable.

Jimbo

Contribution from Doctor Dog

This morning I arrived at the MG car park at 4.45 and there were already a multitude of cars and yaks in the carpark and heading to the beach. There was a lot of boat traffic audible in the still morning air as was the loud sounds of waves breaking along the beach and it was not until I trundled my new toy to the head of the rock wall that I could see what was going on. There were lots of yakkers and onlookers at the head of the beach and out on the rock wall and there was a cluster of boats at the river mouth.

Jaro was paddling and back paddling in the chute beside the rock wall waiting for the nod from fellow yakkers on the vantage point of the end of the MG, several yakkers were spread along the beach to the west waiting fro a lull in the swell. Apparently a boat had overturned in the low water dump on the bar and with the turn of the tide it appeared the swell was building . Many of the boats were buzzing round either trying to get out or retrieve gear and persons from the water.

On 12.12.12 after my river paddle I had enjoyed a body surf to the east of MG so rather than crowd the folk trying to surf and get out thru the break to the west of MG I wandered east with my new fat tyred buggy and BFS to see if the deeper water I had prospected on 12.12 would give me an easier exit.

I chose a spot about 250 Metres east and parked the yak and returned my trolley to the carpark. Patience is a virtue I've been told and this morning I must have been very virtuous I waited quite a while for the various sets to dump on the outer bank and with the merest hint of a lull I charged out . My patience paid off and although there was a lot of loud hull slap as I thumped down over the back of the small set I had chosen to challenge I got out the back without too much trouble.

Stormin was determined to get out to chase another Yellow fin and was rolled 3 times before he finally made it out - "Well done that man "

Jaro demurred after waiting for half an hour to get a clear shot from beside MG .

I paddled out to JS and found Jimbo and 6 or so others ( Kayak one - Big Kev and others - Eli was out there somewhere). I trolled HB lures and floated pillies and trolled pilchard rigged on easy troll - there was minimal drift and breeze - I even distributed a KG of burley pellets I have carried with me since herring fishing in WA last summer. I could not buy a bite . I did not see any birds seriously feeding , no bait boils or schools . All in all a very quiet morning on the water - There were some monster swells coming thru so it was with some trepidation I returned to the beach to tangle with the "Sand Monster". After packing up my rigs and stowing them I surveyed the beach . My earlier exit point seemed like the best point to return to "terra firma" as there were a lot of swimmers and surfers elsewhere. I rode the back of a small set in but had to surf a small wave of white water that threatened to overtake me.

A great adventure and thanks for the company

Doc Dog


Contribution from BigKev

Sundays attendees included:
Scater & his brother, Jaro, Tarzan *, Kayakone *, Jimbo *, Jamie D *, Stormin *, Iain from AKFF *, Doctor Dog *
Spectators: Eyetag & Richmond
* denotes those that made it out to fish

Made it through a lull in the dumping shore break at dead low tide but still got very wet with a few waves standing up in my path but just kept moving forward and eventually found clear water.

Waited out the back for K1 and made our way to JS trolling as we went. K1 picked up an undersized spotty (50ish cm) about level with tea tree. No action at JS but birds were about in hundreds but constantly searching. Found patches of bait that were not being molested at all. Apart from a couple of isolated missed hookup a was very slow on the fishing scene. Radio chatter however was highly amusing with tales of carnage at MG and the concerning with the news of boats being flipped on the bar, hopefully only pride was injured.

K1 and I headed for LH and Stormin and Iain both felt sick so headed in. LH was also quiet apart from 2-3 isolated bust ups that looked to have tuna involved. Once again we found bait schools but no predators. We were joined by Jimbo and Tarzan before heading in.

A well timed return saw me come in easy, K1 however was not so fortunate.

As always a most enjoyable day, despite the lack of fish. Thanks Noosa Yakkers, I'll be back again soon.

Kev
(The bigger one)

Contribution from Jamie D

Was the second one out this morning behind behind Bigkev, watching his kayak get just about vertical going over the face of the growlers this morning up'd my adrenaline levels ten fold , thank God for leg straps they really help to brace against the power of the wash. It was sloppy and big swell this morning followed Tarzan out to Jewies trolling a ganged pillie then headed north for a bit . Got one decent strike on a halco laser pro later in the morning when the fishing was dead, whatever it was hit the lure fast and hard , took the rod from the holder to strike but but missed sinking the hooks, that was all the action I had , tried relaying that info when it happened via radio but was having communication problems all morning. Hit the beach about five minutes before stormin on the main beach side of MG, got picked up by a huge dumper that had me bouncing towards the beach like a bullet made it a struggle to keep a paddle blade in the face ,

Great to catch up with everyone

Kind Regards
Jamie D :)


A Timely Reminder.
Photo below of a local boat after being retrieved by Coast Guard Noosa . It reportedly overturned doing a spontaneous outward crossing of the bar at around 5am this morning. Driver hospitalised, medical condition unknown and perhaps lucky to be alive. In the words of James Ingram, the remained of the boat including the bimini is "Somewhere out there". Hopefully it won't reappear and become entangled within a prop during a future inward or outward crossing.

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Photo taken at Noosaville ramp courtesy of Richmond

Spotties Galore, 10Dec12

TR by Dugout
Wind: ESE about 5 knots
Swell: 1.5m SE
Current: 1 knot
Launch point: Middle Groyne
Participants: Wendy, Pedro, Eyetag, Wal, Turtleboy and Dugout

Hi all,

I woke at about 4.00 am, cloudy but not too much breeze. Walked the yak down past the Reef Hotel and out in front of the 7/11 store near Hasting Street, at 4.15 am where I encountered a scrub turkey running out of the store with a packet of corn chips. It appeared to be a grab and run! A couple of other turkeys ran to the critter and tore the bag open, grabbed a cc and departed. Obviously the scrub turkeys are not keen on the cheese corn chips, but happy to have a food outlet open for them at all hours. Headed past the surf club and launched the yak.

On the water at 4.40am heading out to Jew Shoal. Pedro,Wendy and Eye Tag were near the Shoal. Turtleboy was launching from MG and heading out as well.

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Wendy's launch at first light

Not many birds on the way out but they started to show up as I approached the shoal. I towed a hardbody lure on the way out but no success. Changed to pillies and slow troll. Trailed around JS and amongst the birds and had 5 hits.

I landed 4 spotties. The first was small about 67cm but the other 3 were good fish with the biggest at 93 cm. The other 2 were 82 cm and 85 cm. I am using about 30 lb line with about a 3 ft nylon leader and then a torpedo sinker and swivel. The nose of the pilchard is tied with small wire so it does not spin.

Floating pillies is also a goer but watch the small bait fish as they may chop into it before the mackerel. The mackerel are spread around but follow the birds and you will find them.

I left JS after landing 4 fish and was on the beach at 7.20am. as I like to put the fish on ice as soon as possible.

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Photo courtesy of Jo M.

Great morning. Thanks for the company eye Tag, Pedro, Wendy, Turtleboy and Wal.

May go on Wed weather permitting.

Regards,
Dugout

Additional photos courtesy of EyeTag and Pedro

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Our First Lady in action.  Wendy showing the boys how it's done !   Turtleboy in the background.

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Oh $#!T, not the "We all live in a yellow submarine" routine again.

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Possibly, a new future recruit enjoying Wendy's hospitality

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Pedro bringing up the rear and waving to the crowds. We all landed safely and upright.

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EyeTag's catch.

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A very happy Pedro

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Pedro's biggest.  Is it a new record ?

Sorry I don't have the final spottie count. I think it was Dugout 4, Eyetag 2, Pedro and Wendy 9. I am not sure about Wal and whilst I hooked up on 6, I managed to drop them all. Luckily, Pedro popped one in my hatch whilst I wasn't watching and announced that I had caught one. Thanks mate !

Turtleboy.

Stormin Norman triumphs. 09Dec12

TR by sunshiner

Wind: NE about 6-8 knots
Swell: 1.5m easterly
Current: N/A
Launch point: Middle Groyne
Participants: richmond, baptism, stormin, sunshiner, jaro, tarzan and brother Aden, corie, panno, gemini, salty, redwood, weeksie, lazybugger (AKFF)

One of those fantastic Noosa Yakkers days, today. A day that money couldn't buy!

It started early, seriously early. Even though I was down at the carpark by 4:00am, I wasn't first there. Richmond and baptism were prepping in the dark.

From the top of the beach Richmond and I could just discern that the exit would be easy but the lights of stinkies heading out from the bar reminded us that care would be needed once we left the beach.

By the time we got back to the cars to grab our yaks stormin had arrived. Stormin, ever faithful, ever reliable, sand monster victim, with no fish as yet in the Record list, a totally enthusiastic Noosa Yakker, was about to have his big day. And he deserved it. Thoroughly.

Launch time, no problems. Still a bit dark, however. So I hung around out the back waiting for a bit more light before moving off. Out of the corner of one eye I noticed another yak coming out and took no notice until a radio call came from our coordinator, jaro. He was the yakker I just saw, and was a welcome and surprise addition to our line up today after an absence of several weeks in India. As I'd carried out his NY duties during his absence I was doubly glad to see him back.

As the ambient light slowly improved I moved off, a few minutes behind others, with jaro not far behind. Of the hoped for flocks of terns there was no sign. This contrasted greatly with the situation described by dugout and tarzan yesterday, when there were terns "everywhere".

Most of us headed NE because that's where the spotties were yesterday, when dugout and tarzan found them in marginal sea conditions, at last. Progress was ploddingly slow as a NE chop placed continual two foot watery barriers in our path. There were no birds visible out there, where the sky was bright with the rising sun. So I headed more north toward Jew Shoal, a frequent attractor of predators. On this journey I was trolling a small black and silver Rapala, rigged with a short single strand wire trace.

Not far north of the three shark drum lines anchored off the headland and still 1.3 km from the Pinnacles at Jew Shoal this lure was seized and the scream, that delightful scream, of my Charter Special ratchet announced it. Yahoo! I knew this had to be a spotty mac despite the lack of visual signs of predator activity on the water. The 10kg mono line and short stiff rod made short work of this spotty. A quick gaff and he was tail first into the fishbox and then, very quickly back into the ocean as a quick flexing of that powerful body bounced him skywards again. Never mind, he was well hooked and the next time I delivered him into the fishbox he stayed there.

My first spotty mac of the summer

With great pleasure I announced this success on the VHF, not so much to brag but to tell my colleagues that the fish were here today.

Damage to the Rapala caused me to rerig so I chose the HLP in Qantas colours and resumed trolling, sticking with the plan to head for Jew Shoal.

By now, with better ambient light, everyone was starting to notice that terns were, in fact, clustering in small groups scattered over a wide area, including Jew Shoal. So that's where I headed for.

Then someone announced by radio that stormin was hooked up. I took a quick look around and saw him, with bent rod, only about two hundred metres south of me. Knowing that capture of a spotty mac would be an occasion for stormin I turned around to get a pic of him for his (future) grandchildren.

He had the fish, a pretty good spotty, on the gaff, which was embedded nicely in the head, best place for it. A huge smile lit up his face. I could see that he was savouring the moment and was happy to be there to record the event.

Stormin and his first spotty mac and his biggest ever fish at that moment (not for very long, however).

Bird activity at Jew Shoal was scattered and only once did I see clear evidence of mack attacks, when a bait ball formed briefly accompanied by several large splashes as the littlies were scattered by the biggies.

The sequence of events is now unclear, but announcements of other successes, or frustrations, now arrived via the VHF radio. Jaro got a spotty, and so did lazybugger. The action was scattered over a wide area from down near Hells Gates to up here at Jew Shoal. We had eyes on the water all over the place, freely passing useful information around.

Then jaro, who happened to be near stormin at the time, came up on the radio with the news that stormin was hooked up and was being towed north from the Jew Shoal centre. As towing a kayak is not commonly an ability of spotty macs, this piqued my interest. When, a couple of minutes later jaro opined that this was truly a big fish that stormin was hooked up to I decided to head over to this action to try to get some useful and memorable pics. As usual, I trolled over to the general area of stormin's with the intention of stowing the fishing gear while using the camera.

There was stormin, about 150 metres away from me with a very bent rod and a wake forming behind his revo, which he was not pedalling. I was catching him slowly when my Charter Special screamed again with a very fast run. OK, change the plan, common in fishing, especially kayak fishing.

This fish was another spotty and a tougher fighter than my earlier fish, mainly because it was bigger.

Spotty mac #2.

This fish stowed, I returned to the original plan. Jaro had been relaying info by radio about stormin's battle and hanging around near stormin dispensing advice about how to fight this fish. Soon I was in position to take a few pics, and this about 30 minutes after stormin had hooked up.

Plainly the fish was tiring, but so was stormin. He was fighting the fish on a fairly long rod and a threadline reel, a combo which doesn't lend itself to putting hurt on a big fish, especially when the fish was holding at about 15-20m depth and refusing to give in. Typical of tuna, and the rod tip showed the steady pulses as the fish's tail pushed it through the water.

None of us had yet seen the fish but jaro and I were calling it for a longtail, a fish which is among the toughest of fighters and relatively common up here.



Eventually stormin started to make progress, grunting all the while and resting his right arm when possible as the fight had been a long one, the longest he'd ever endured. I was close by when stormin first saw the fish and identified it, correctly as it turned out. I was sceptical of the ID but he had it in view and I didn't. Then, quite suddenly he had the last few metres on the spool and the fish broke through the surface to reveal a large strap-like pectoral fin. Bugger me, his call was right, it is a yellowfin, I thought. The colours were magnificent, with flashing golden flanks and a glowing blue stripe from head to tail. I held my tongue and my breath as stormin readied the gaff for this, the most important gaff shot of his life.

Capture of a fish of this size from a kayak is no simple feat. You're alone and it's all down to you. Stormin rose to the occasion professionally. The gaff was carefully aimed and found its mark first time and the fish barely moved as its capturer lifted its head and part of its massive torso from the water. We were busy now. I passed him my tail rope, one of which I reckon stormin will always carry in future, and he looped it around that massive tail, securing the other end to something on the Revo's deck. Then he slid the fish onto his lap.

Kayak fish of a lifetime (as I reminded stormin later)


Sometime later, after the fish had stopped vibrating, stormin hauled it aboard and I took this pic from over stormin's right shoulder.

Video (2 minutes) edited by me, added 12Dec12. Video edited from 35 minutes of footage collected by stormin's GoPro mounted as a chestcam, plus a few stills from my camera.



We were four kilometres from the beach and bobbing around in the swell and chop so clearly the fish couldn't stay in the position in the above pic. Jaro and I rafted up with stormin's Revo; jaro's Viking Profish on the port side, my Stealth Supalite X on the starboard side and between the three of us we removed the lure, opened the forward hatch of the Revo, slid the fish in (tight fit), removed the tail rope and secured the hatch cover. Done. Now the Revo had a decidedly bow down attitude. Plan B was to stow the fish in my Supalite fishbox if the Revo hatch proved too small.

Stormin was keen to have another crack at the spotties and jaro and I were still relatively fresh so we now headed the 1.5 km or so over to where most of the other NYs had congregated. But action was noticeably slowing except that lazybugger scored a late spotty (his second ever and his second for today) near me so gets his pic in this TR.

Lazybugger and his spotty #2.

A general movement back to Middle Groyne started about now, as the air was starting to become uncomfortably warm and the cooling breeze was waning. We had just on 3.5 km to go and moved back at our own speed.

Beach pics

My larger spotty, 87cm, held by beach volunteer.

My two spotties on my Supalite deck.

Crowd control necessary (Noosa crowd)

Fetching lady with stormin's yellowfin

Stormin, triumphant, but knackered

The yellowfin, 109cm. New Noosa Yakkers Record!

What a great day, guys. Brilliant!

Kev
sunshiner


GPS Track provided by Gemini
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Distance 14.0 km
Max Speed 7.8 km/hour
Avg Speed 3.4 km/hour

Spots by dugout. 08Dec12

TR by dugout, with contribution by tarzan

Weather was a bit iffy when I woke at 4.00 am. Decided to go for a look and walk the kayak down the hill to Main Beach.

Loaded up with a kilo of frozen pillies and a dozen prawns in case of bottom fishing. Took one trolling rod rigged up with gang hooks to troll. Had a nylon leader of about 1 m and a swivel and small torpedo lead sinker to keep the bait down while trolling. Other rod was rigged with a small 2 inch silver slug to throw into bait boils if the fish were feeding.

It takes about 12 minutes down to launch and sky looked dark with a hint of rain. Launched about 4.25 near eastern corner of Main Beach. It was bouncy but easy with a 12 to 15 kt north east wind and choppy uneven north swell.

I did a radio check about 4.30 but did not get a reply. I thought maybe a little more swell was coming into MG and made it difficult to launch. Jew Shoal seemed a little bouncy for me so I decided to have a paddle around the shark nets and troll around to Hells Gates for a look.

Swell and wind from the NE made it uncomfortable but fine for a slow bait troll. Out near Hells Gates, I saw lots of terns but no bait boils, just the occasional tern diving.

My trolled rig with a yellow tail pike as bait screamed off the reel and as I grabbed it, it went dead. No wire trace! The razor gang had arrived.

Rigged again and trolled a pilchard and within minutes had hooked and landed a 77cm spotty mackerel. A passing small boat saw the action and they started tossing slugs nearby. Within minutes they also hooked up and landed a spotty as well.

Using pillies I hooked and lost a few more before finally landing another slightly larger spotty. Lost two at the kayak. One shook the hooks and self released and another was lost when I gaffed it and lifted it on the yak. It gave a big shake, threw the hooks and my slipper grip (editor: slipper?). Gone.

I looked behind me and my bag of pillies had washed from the back. No bait left. Gone.

It was about 6am. Birds had been working out from Granite Bay, Hells Gates towards Jew Shoal and into Laguna Bay. No bait and only one small slug to use.

Decided to head home.

Without any bait, I decided to troll the slug. The only thing I had left.

About three minutes later, line was screaming off the reel. This was a good fish. I played it for about 90 seconds and it was free. Bent the treble.

There were plenty of fish there today. I will be better organised next time.

When I cleaned the fish, they were full of small sardine-looking fish (editor: possibly anchovies) about 2 to 3 inches long. Obviously these were their breakfast so choose a similar bait or slug to suit their diet.

They seemed widespread and I just followed the birds. More boats were coming out as I was leaving and I am sure I could see a couple of kayaks. Tried the NY channel but no response.

Good luck tomorrow. I have a few things on tomorrow morning so I will go early next week if weather permits.


Doug McDougall
Dugout




Contribution by tarzan

My father and I were out this morning launching at 5:30. Forgot my radio so was unable to contact Dugout.

We trolled off the headland and picked up half a dozen spotties before heading in.

Will hopefully get out again tomorrow.
Tarzan


Tarzan and Dad of Tarzan



Quiet Night, 05Dec12

TR by Tiberium
Wind: 3-6 Knots N
Tide: Low 20:30
Weather: Clear
Launch point: Noosa Lions Park
Participants: Tiberium

Just a quick TR of Wednesday night.

I was in the water by 6:30pm and was heading to the Woods for maybe some action before the low tide. The Woods hasn’t really had much action lately but I still had a little troll around the boats without any excitement.

Not being surprised that there was nothing at the woods, even on the sounder, I thought about going up to Webya and giving there a go. It was quite peaceful as the river was isolated from any other fisherman but me. I trolled through Weyba without action for about half an hour or so until the fish came.  They were boiling up everywhere so I was casting my river 2 sea shallow diver in.

The fish were very pickie so it was after about the 10th cast I was on. I reeled in a nice GT at 46cm. I had to cast out another 10 times before I was on again. In came another GT at 46cm as well. The fish weren’t interested in my hard bodies anymore so after 30 minutes I called it a night.

IMGP8350

What GT?

IMGP8348

Here comes another GT

It was a worthwhile night.

Izak (Tiberium)

Single Snap, 05Dec12

TR by Turtleboy. Photos courtesy of Sunshiner
Wind: Calm at 4.30am turning light S
Swell: Small from the NE
Launch point: Sunshine Doggie Beach
Participants: Sunshiner and Turtleboy


It was 4am and still dark. I was brushing my teeth whilst peering out of the bathroom window when I saw the 2 small lights of a Suzuki with a big stealth kayak on top slowly crawl past my home on Seaview Tce. As usual, Sunshiner was on, or ahead of, time and headed for Sunshine Dog Beach car park.

We met in the car park at 4.15am and were on the beach ready to launch at around 4.30am. The photo below shows the beautiful first light on Dog Beach this morning.

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Woohoo, Dry bum launches X 2, rigged up, a quick radio check and we were on our way with Sunshiner in the lead to a favourite waypoint.

The conditions were perfect. Flat water, calm winds, comfortable temperature and bait fish rippling all over the place. We set up a drift, with a calculated speed of approximately 1.5 kilometers per hour towards the SSE. Sunshiner was also providing updates on the depth and density of the bait masses by reference to his sounder. The bait was everywhere.

Despite the almost perfect conditions and an abundance of bait fish, we had very little action. We witnessed a few Tuna breaking the surface and a lone Turtle pop his head up and that was about it.

At 6.20am I had a decent hit whilst bouncing along the bottom. Kerrie will be happy I immediately thought.
Note to Self - Lose the Sunnies or buy a Bi-Plane and a leather helmet. I already have the dog.

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A little later, Sunshiner radioed that he caught and released a small Snapper.

With the wind starting to pick up a little from the South, we decided to head in at our agreed time of 7am. On the beach, drama free at 7.30am. Both had small waves right up onto the hard sand. DaveyG would be proud of us, although the conditions were very, very forgiving.

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On the mat at 47 cms.

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Hmmm, I wonder if Pat R is watching from his bathroom window wishing he was a Noosa Yakker !

All photos courtesy of Sunshiner.

Turtleboy


Doc Dog Lessons Learned TR, 29Nov12

N Y trip report 29.11.2012
Wind: light NE less than 5 knots
Swell: half metre
Current: negligible
Launch point: middle groyne
Participants: Pedro , Doctor Dog, Weeksie, + unknown(Byrnes)

Paul Weeks was ready to launch when I reached the carpark just before 5 am and Pedro was already out of sight. We elected to head to JS as that had bee the site of some recent action. Paul headed off in that direction and I followed as soon as I was organised. The light nor easter was just ruffling the surface and quite a few power boats were heading out to make the most of the forecast good conditions.

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The small swell did not cause any problems with the launch and I was soon paddling towards JS.

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There was little bird activity in the inshore waters but more could be seen as I neared JS. Radio contact as I neared the shoal verified that Pedro was there and had chased some birds to the east but as there was no takers for his trolled or cast offerings he returned to JS to drift & bottom bounce for Snapper and Sweetlip.

I was having a bob each way today with SP & pilchards. I had a couple of drifts from the NW of Jew shoal with the breeze and current taking us back to the south east. No activity - could not buy a bite. I saw many turtles and lots of bait flipping on the surface but no predators other than what I took for dolphins making a huge splash and noise then disappearing. I did not see what made the disruption I just heard the noise and looked behind me to see a huge boil.

I set off to the start of my drift leaving my unweighted pillie dragging along 10 - 15 metres behind as I paddled slowly back to where the birds were fluttering & dipping .

There was an enormous splash just behind me and my overhead with 50 lb braid started screaming in protest as one very fast angry large fish headed east. I battled round in circles for 30 minutes with what turned out to be a metre + ( estimate) of longtail tuna.

After 30 minutes he /she became tail wrapped and came meekly to the side of my yak hanging apparently spent and motionless with braid and leader wrapped round his body and tail stock. The head end was too far down in the water to get a gaff shot so I grabbed the tail stock in my left hand and tried to lift the fish for a better shot. It was then that all hell broke loose as this apparently spent fish got a second wind and I was unable to hold on or get a tail rope to bear on my quarry. The fish freed himself of the tail wrap and sped off again with renewed vigour. After another 5 minutes of charging runs and dogged circling the hooks pulled and the fish swam free.

I paddled slowly back to MG and had a easy surf into the beach and avoided the sand monster.

Lessons learned

Lesson 1 - keep the tail rope to hand as in Kev's book - salt in the wound as he has illustrated it with a pic of me with a tail rope on my Spaniard.
Lesson 2 - be patient don't put too much hurt on.
Lesson 3 - if the fish is tail wrapped, leave it that way and just put a tail rope on it to secure it and then put a gaff in it.

A great morning and yes the rest of the pelagic crew cannot be far away.

cheers,
Doc Dog