TR by sunshiner
Wind: Light south westerly
Swell: 1m SE
Water temp: 21.1°C
Tides: High 03:20am (1.22m); Low 09:40am (0.60m)
Current: none detected
Launch point: Doggie Beach
Surface action: None sighted, except whales
Participants: doctor dog, jimbo, sunshiner
My trip distance: 6.3km
Redmap: No sightings provided
Keen Angler Program:one snapper frame donated
A Doggie Beach launch has some attractions: it's really close to deep reefy water and the launch and beach return are always a separate couple of adventures to add to the zest of the trip. Doggie Beach is also the closest launch to my home, which is a two minute drive away.
So today three of us fronted up. The wind was light from the SW and the surf, well, it was almost non-existent. But as anyone who's launched there will agree, the Doggie Beach sand monster is always prowling. I was last to launch as I'd had an issue with my car key. Lost it, after parking obviously. More about this later.
I trundled my yak past a sad looking guy, who was holding his dog lead, which was attached to his sad looking dog. He was staring out to sea to where doc dog and jimbo were just visible, having launched some minutes earlier. "Do you blokes just go out there and sit there waiting for the whales to come past?", he asked. I explained that this craft I was towing was a fishing boat and that we go out into the ocean in our kayaks to catch fish. I doubt he's a future Noosa Yakker.
The launch scenario here changes frequently, almost minute to minute sometimes. So I spent a little time watching the wave patterns and selecting my departure track before dropping the yak onto the beach and heading back to the secret trolley securing point.
Launch time
movie, chest cam
Once safely out the back I established radio contact with doc dog and jimbo. Jimbo was soaking wet. Apparently he encountered several waves on the way out but his yak and skills got him through. Initially we were widely separated in our chosen fishing spots. Doc Dog was heading for a close in area just to the north while jimbo was already at a spot just to the south. I headed for "Noosa Yakkers' own" Doggie Beach Reef, which had been kind to me in the past and is about 1500m from the set up area.
The sun was just rising as I closed in on the mark and set up my drift, with the usual two rods, one trailing out the back with a SP about 15m down, the other held in my hand and fished deep, also with a SP, but on a 1/2 ounce jighead to get it down near the bottom (24-30m depth). The first cast went out at 6:40am and I worked it gently as it drifted toward the bottom and the yak overtook it. Pow! Wow! I'm on. First cast!
My first grassy in months. The jig hook popped out just as I gaffed the fish.
As you can imagine, I had great pleasure in announcing this catch to my colleagues. My morning was made already.
The steady SW breeze was pushing me along at a just-right pace and pretty soon I was 400m NE of my start point. Any drift which produces a fish is worth working over, so that is what I did today, paddling back to near my start point and starting a new drift. This second drift soon produced another strike and a determined run by the striker.
Snapper. It took the same lure as the sweetlip.
Although I repeated the drift a couple more times there was no further action. So, satisfied with my morning I opted to head back inshore to get ready to return to the beach. Doc Dog and jimbo had both indicated by radio that they'd be heading in by about 09:30 anyway, so I was stowing my gear away just off the beach at about 09:20.
Movie: My track for the day. Note that the end points are where my GPS was turned on/off.
Beach pics:
Movie: jimbo and doc dog coming in (shot with hand held camera)
Jimbo and doc dog soon were also on the beach and as I trundled my yak to the top of the path leading from the beach I was delighted and relieved to catch sight of my car key (on a string which I hang around my neck) left by some kind and honest passer by in a prominent place next to the shower point. Lovely morning, and thanks for coming along doc dog and jimbo.
Thanks for reading.
Kev Long
Sunshiner
Author Kayak Fishing Manual for iPhone, iPad and Mac (click linked text to view)
Stealth Supalite X, yellow/orange
FREE iBook "Kayak Fishing Laguna Bay & Jew Shoal" for iPhone, iPad and Mac
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