Winners get grinners, 26Aug12

TR by sunshiner

Wind: SW land breeze initially, then gentle SE, turning to NE seabreeze later
Swell: not much
Current: at Jew Shoal, none
Launch point: Middle Groyne
Participants: beejay, gemini, tarzan, sunshiner, salty (Greg S)

For almost a week Seabreeze had been predicting beautiful offshore kayaking weather for today. And so it proved to be, unfortunately accompanied by a very slow period for fish. Many fishing hours have been spent in the last couple of weeks for very few fish.

But the only way to find out if the fish are there is to get out and take a look, so several of us decided to do just that.

Beejay, gemini, I and tarzan (Eli has agreed that his nickname can be tarzan) fronted the beach together on a chilly morning, hopefully the last chilly morning of the year.

Launch time. Tarzan and his new ride, an OK Scupper Pro, as owned also by doc dog.

Easy launch, dolphins leaping and cavorting nearby, sun just peeping over the hill. Bloody beautiful. An easy breeze assisted paddle (sail assisted for beejay) to Jew Shoal followed for three of us, while tarzan headed north west.

At Jew Shoal beejay and gemini were using baits while I was using SPs only. The baits produced, but only littlies, with beejay bringing home the only keeper, a small grassy. Several grinners featured also. I got one fumbled strike, possibly a grassy, and that’s all, in 90 minutes of drifting and re-drifting over much of the shoal.

And I was pretty cold, wishing I'd worn my wetsuit instead of my ballet tights.

Tarzan made his customary cameo appearance, arriving at Jew Shoal from the NW about an hour after we had settled in, presumably having already visited Halls Reef. I didn't get a chance to speak with him and so don't know whether he'd had any result. Tarzan, please let us know. Nice yak, too, mate, probably dryer and warmer than the previous!

The lack of action forced me to break and run first, just after the landbreeze was replaced by a gentle SE. Richmond called me from Middle Groyne, where he was basking in the sunshine, and hung around to say hello until the three of us older guys came back in.

Then Greg S (brand new NY, but old salt) paddled in from the north, also fishless. We hadn't known he was out there. Later, as we were packing up, he asked that his nickname be "salty", to fit in with his email address.

More great weather coming up. Might be a chance for a Doggie Beach launch this week.

Thanks for coming along, guys. See you next time.

Kev



Additional photos by Gemini (extracted from video):



Unidentified Cod



Grinner number 3



Baby lizard



GPS Track
Distance 12.5 km
Max Speed 11.5 km/hour
Avg Speed 2.8 km/hour