Base pic: Redwood's stunning sunrise pic taken on Teewah Beach just before launching.
PUBLISHED 04JUNE14
Hi there yakkersFree iBook
My aim was to make the AKFF post and the book a sort of introduction to launching at Main Beach and paddling and fishing in Laguna Bay, especially Jew Shoal. Being a safety-conscious person I have included information about the weather, surf and other hazards as well as pointing to the Noosa Yakkers blog as a source of fishing information. Later we could include this info in the Noosa Yakkers blog as part of the general introduction to kayak fishing in Noosa.So the AKFF post is now in place (including link to the book) and the book is also available (and accessible in 51 countries). The book is FREE, contains a couple of small personal ads and at this time is usable only on iPads (all iPads) and Macs running the Mavericks operating system.
Just click or tap on the adjacent book cover image or click here to go to the book's page on the iTunes Australian store. Not in Australia? Just open iTunes, go to the store and search for "Jew Shoal". The book is only 17mb, contains many pics of Noosa Yakkers and the places they launch and fish and aims to be a useful resource for anyone who wants to launch a kayak in Laguna Bay, and those who want to fish there.
Whale migration season
Just last Monday I spotted my first humpback of the season. My view was from the headland at Hells Gates and the whale breached about two kilometres to the north east, delighting the young couple who shared my viewing platform.
Probably this year several Noosa Yakkers will experience their first on-water encounter with whales, from their kayaks. It will almost certainly happen if you paddle offshore frequently enough between now and November. Whale encounters have happened to me every year I've been kayak fishing and some of the encounters have been scarily close.
Particularly when they're travelling south, it seems, Jew Shoal is a place they cross, but they're also likely to pop up almost anywhere in the offshore waters we paddle in. Most of us pull in any trailing lines and get ready to paddle away when whales come near.
So it's time for the annual warning: Don't mess with whales. Understand that a breaching whale could kill you and understand also that it's difficult to know when a whale may be in breaching mode. My advice is to stay clear of whales. Don't believe me? Check out the video below, shot by me from my kayak in Laguna Bay. In ten seconds the whale went from lying peacefully on its back to a spectacular breach and then it breached again a few seconds later.
See you on the water.
Kev (sunshiner)
G'Day Yakkers,
Chico from Davo's said that in the 30 odd years he's been a professional fisherman in these parts, this season has been the best mackerel season he's ever seen. Every time he goes out he bags out and that's at least once a week weather permitting.
So what's wrong with this picture? Why have the NY not been bagging out every time they go out? Well for a start not many went out in May (you gotta be in it to win it) and also Chico said that most of his action was "out wide" at North Reef which, is sadly beyond easy reach of most mere mortal kayak fisherman (North Reef is 15km NE of the bar).
"Out wide" could also explain the exceptional fishing and catches happening up Teewah and Double Island Point way. Yakkers from Palmy and other far flung places have been making repeated trips up this way and being rewarded with some serious fish.
So what happened in May for Noosa Yakkers? Not a great deal as there where only 4 recorded trips. Perhaps the wind for the month was worse than I recall? Unfortunately Seabreeze doesn't have a 30 day history for DIP, but for Cape Moreton it does look like the wind may have suppressed the number of outings.
Sunshiner and Weeksie kicked it off on the 1st of the month with a successful trip to Jew Shoal and Little Halls respectively with Sunshiner reporting bustups and bird activity aplenty.
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| Weeksie's Squire landed on a SP at Little Halls after losing a Longtail |
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| Sunshiner's 75cm Longtail caught on a SP cast into a bustup |
We had to wait an incredible 24 days for the next trip and then it was a double whammy with one expedition to Jew Shoal and another to Teewah for a North Shore sortie. The outing to JS yielded nothing as was reported for the record only. The other to Teewah was a bit more fruitful for Scater, Sprocket and yours truly. All three of us were using trolled dead baits and the combination of the safa-rig and a dead slimy proved deadly. As mentioned in the introduction, the stretch of water from Teewah to DIP had been getting very good results for a bunch of yakkers including one lucky yakker who boated a 35kg Spaniard.
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| Ah, another crap day in Noosa! Scater trolling on glassy water 1km off Teewah campsite |
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| Scater lands a 110cm/10kg Longtail just minutes after starting to troll on a safa rig. Scater does the right thing and gives the fish away as his freezer is full. Good on you Scater and thanks for the fish. |
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| Redwood boats a 118cm Cobia on a safa rig |
I just wanted to correct the record: in that report I said that the last breaker was 500m out. I stand corrected it was more like 200-250m out. So anyone put off a North Shore launch by this can rest at easy as it's a lazy 250m sprint.
The last trip for the month was a Doggie Beach launch on the 29th by jaro, jimbo, diesel and sunshiner. A fairly unremarkable outing EXCEPT for the successful capture of a billfish which elicited a lot of speculation as to the species. In the end it was called by Jeff Johnson of the Queensland Museum as a Istiompax indica or Black Marlin. As pointed out by Sunshiner, these are rarely caught from kayaks in these parts, but they have been caught up to 100kg on a yak in QLD, so go get 'em.
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| Jimbo with his juvenile Black Marlin caught near A-Bay on a trolled pilchard (salted, from the looks of the picture in the report) on an easy troll rig |
And that's it for May 2014. We're almost half way through the year and the pelagics are still around. Hopefully a few more can be snagged before they move off. Come on yakkers they're out there, let's have a bumper fishing report for June!
Redwood
Well at least this month has been far kinder on memberships than the last. I wish I could say the same for my fishing adventures though, as I have been finding little time between the rest of the day to day grind recently. That said, at least a few of you have been keeping those of us off the water entertained with a few nice reports. Keep them coming guys, especially you Jimbo. ;)
We have a total of three new members this month. This takes our numbers out to a healthy 109 Noosa Yakkers, compared to the 90 we had this time last year. We're growing to the point that if we could get just half of us on the water at once, it would make one heck of a photo!
Now, a big welcome to the following recruits...
Rob Giles (DucksGuts)
A 33 year old Doctor from Coolum, Rob has been fishing offshore around the area for three years. Rob paddles a Viking Tempo.
Paul Kennedy
Paul is a 68 year old retiree living in Tewantin. He is relatively new to kayak fishing, and has been using his Hobie PA 14 for about a year in the river. Obviously now addicted, Paul has also just purchased a Hobie AI.
Greg Williams (Diesel)Another retiree living in Tewantin, Greg is 63 and formerly worked in Corrective Services. Greg has only four months clocked on his yakking experience sheet, but in that time he has managed 180kms and four fish. Greg paddles a Prowler Elite 4.5.
Once again, a big welcome to all.
Tight lines guys!
Matt (Gemini)
May had been a quiet month until a veritable flurry of very special captures. I write as we travel on the train from Fremantle to Perth to resume our adventures in south west WA after a fantastic weekend on Rottnest Island. I have therefore missed out on all the excitement around Laguna Bay this past week.
Tim Nixon aka Redwood was first to claim his record with a magnificent capture of a great Cobia at 118 cm.
Jimbo was not to be outdone and claimed a Noosa Yakkers' first of a superb Black Marlin, which while only 1.26m is a significant fish in a kayak fishing community.
You have no doubt read about these captures in the appropriate Trip Reports.
With fishers already sending reports for June it looks like being a crackerjack month for a paddle and a fish.
Tight lines and happy fishing,
Doctor Dog
The Committee (in callsign order)
From top left, doctor dog, eyetag, gemini, jaro, jimbo, pedro, redwood, sunshiner, turtleboy.
