Noosa Yakkers News June 2014

Base pic: Selfie by tunny while being stalked by a dolphin at Halls Reef, 02Jun14

PUBLISHED 04JULY14

Hi there yakkers

Typical winter weather has arrived, as you've probably noticed. Fortunately, on these dark and early mornings the water temperature usually far exceeds the air temperature so getting a wet bum is not quite as bad as you imagine it might be. Hopefully the snapper will start showing up more frequently on the inshore reefs, building up to the peak in about December, just in time to hand over to the next pelagic season.

Lockrack (website)
First impressions by me





Videos and more info available on the website. My personal comments below.

Some of you already know that Australian Kayak Specialists have taken on this new product, imported from South Africa and now for sale in Australia for the first time. Dennis, a Noosa Yakkers member, has emailed me offering Noosa Yakkers a 12.5% discount for a limited time. To take advantage of this discount online just enter the code NOOSA into the coupon field at the checkout. Note that my affiliation with AKS means that I get a small commission on many purchases made from the Noosa area (keeps me in soft plastics ;-), so thanks guys).

Being intrigued by its possibilities, I bought a Lockrack to try out and it was delivered early last Wednesday morning. If you are possibly interested in taking a really close look at Lockrack just get in touch with me and I'll be happy to show it to you. Here are some personal observations which I think may be useful to know.

(1) Lockrack is not intended as a roofrack in its own right, and is designed mainly to fit onto existing roofracks and will even fit onto customised racks such as the one on my Zook, which is where I will attach it after thinking carefully about the best lateral location and configuration. Now I've had a close look at it, I reckon Lockrack could easily be fitted to tradies' round or square section bars and even directly to rigid roofs (canvas roofs, nah!), as long as you're happy with drilling four holes in the roof or surface (those fibreglass half roofs come to mind). Note for tradies: a model for carrying ladders is also available.

(2) Lockrack is specifically designed to eliminate the dual problems of yak security and the time and trouble spent tying down your beloved yak so it doesn't come loose while you're hammering along at 100kph! So with a Lockrack you can safely leave your racked yak unattended without worrying about some bastard coming along with a knife, slashing your tie-downs and stealing it. You can save heaps of time at load and unload, and also happily drive to and from your launch spot without worrying about your yak accidentally and expensively parting company with your rack. It happens!

(3) Lockrack can also be customised to become an aid to loading and unloading without assistance. See the image below, in which a low cost aluminium bar has been fabricated to slot into the existing square section tube of Lockrack which holds the removable side clamps. Not sure why you'd need such a high vertical section though; I'd make mine much shorter so I could easily side load onto the extender bar.


(4) Lockrack is suitable for all kayaks and many other things you'd want to secure on your racks (certainly surf and SUP boards, but probably not bikes, though, although I haven't closely examined that possibility). Note that the base comes in two different widths and there are several different arm options. Clearly the possibility arises of buying different arms for different uses; speak to Dennis if you think you need to do that. Note also that, judging from the various pics around, the rubber shrouds on the locking arms may be available in different colours. Mine arrived with black shrouds and I would imagine that this is probably the standard, with special orders only for other coloured shrouds.

(5) Lockrack fitting instructions are available online and no printed manual is provided (another cost saving measure). So if you are not familiar with using the Internet you may be in strife, but in those circumstances then you probably wouldn't be reading this anyway, I suppose.

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Legal Spaniards in 2013/14, caught after launch at Middle Groyne or Doggie Beach
in time sequence of first caught and as at 04July14
first capture 2013/14 was on 12Dec13 by sunshiner
last (so far) on 02Jun14 by tunny
*=first ever

sunshiner 3
jaro 1
*soren 4
*stormin 2
lazybugger 1
*salty 1
redgreg 2
*clappo 6
jimbo 1
*noddy 2
*gtrain 1
pedro 1
*scater 1 (fair chance not a Spaniard, but a grey mackerel -- 1.16m)
*swabio 1
*Aussie_stu 1
tunny 1

Largest so far this season was Jaro's 1.26m. Fish caught on HLP, trolled baits and slugs. All were caught in Laguna Bay.

Noosa Yakkers Record: 1.62m, whalebait, 24Mar13

If I've missed anyone or any eligible catch please contact me.
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Anyway, I'm keen to get my snapper score up in the next couple of months, and will be out there using up my precious Noosa time whenever circumstances permit. It's pleasing to see the steady trickle of new Noosa Yakkers members and that the over fifties (lookin' at you, pedro) are still holding their own. Saturday's looking good!

Don't forget, if you think you have something to contribute to future Noosa Yakkers News, just get in touch with a committee member.

See you on the water

Kev (sunshiner)



G'Day Yakkers,

This map from 2 July. I suspect waters would have been warmer earlier in June.

As we can see from the BOM sea temperatures map there are some warm currents hanging around and this could explain why some pelagics are still hanging around. June saw a respectable seven outings with a number of good fish caught.

Scater, Jake, Aussie_stu, Sprocket and Tarzan got us away with another successful trip up to Teewah.

The Dark Horse strikes again…

TOP: Aussie Stu lands a very nice Cobia. Thankfully it came in under Redwood's record set the previous week at the same spot ;). MIDDLE: Aussie Stu's Cale Cale surprise. BOTTOM: and to top it off a 110cm Tuna. Nice work Stu.

Check out this great video from Scater… he gets tipped out of his boat by a strike from a Spaniard. Of course, he hopped back on and still brought home the bacon. Ladies you can swoon now.



Tunny then headed out solo the next day in search of some pelagic action out wide. He trolled all the way up to Halls without a touch and was just thinking to himself that he may have missed all the action, when his reel went off and he bagged a personal record Spaniard.

Tunny's 120cm Spanish caught at Halls.

A week later I had an uneventful trip to the Fairy Pools in heavy wind. And then on the full moon we saw the River Whisperer's return after a long injury induced hiatus. Eyetag followed the tried and tested routine and proved he's still got the magic with a catch of Mangrove Jack, Flathead and Tailor.

Flathead with Gladiator placcie hanging out the corner of its mouth.

Eyetag's full moon river catch

The middle of month saw me head out on another solo trip to JS and was rewarded with another first for me: a 60cm Slatey Bream. I also picked up a 60cm Grinner, which I thought was very large for the species but Jaro landed an 80cm one the next week. What size do these Grinners get to? The reference I saw had them maxing out at 30cm.

Redwood's 60cm Slatey Bream. Not great eating, but not bad either.

Jaro, Aussie-Stu, Doctor Dog, Stormin, Couta1 (visitor) and Sunshiner headed out to Jew Shoal on the 21st with Sunshiner picking up a very nice winter Snapper on a trailing soft plastic.

Sunshiner and his best Snapper of the year.

Jimbo, Weeksie, Diesel and I headed out to JS the next day in fairly windy and choppy conditions. There was a lot of surface action and birds diving and a lot of bait fish could be seen all over the bay. I lost something large (probably a shark), and was bitten off at the surface by what was certainly a large Spottie or Spanish. Jimbo was the only other yakker to see any action with a just legal Sweetlip and a rather cranky squid who showed its contempt by spitting in Jimbo's face!

Jimbo inked, but he certainly got the last laugh. The first time he's caught a squid.

Pedro headed out to Sunshine reef and was rewarded with a good catch. He put in the effort and caught some live Gar before heading out to the reef. Sunshiner went out a bit later and was rewarded with a doughnut.

Pedro's Sunshine Reef catch, with remaining live bait Gar in the shot.

For the last trip of the month Diesel, Jaro and Sunshiner headed once again to Jew Shoal with the Snapper King doing it again and Diesel breaking his duck with a very late season Schoolie.

Diesel and his first fish from a yak. Congrats mate.

And that's it for June.

Redwood



July has arrived! This interesting fact might explain why I'm strolling the yard with my laptop looking for a nice sunny position to park my backside on to type this report…

The recent intelligence flowing in is telling us the reefies are well and truly on the chew, and Jimbo has once again dazzled us with a random rarely seen critter (we need some sort of scoreboard for you Jimbo). Hopefully the weather will play nice over these school holidays so I can at least get a paddle wet. I'm putting on way too much padding for my liking, and my yak is looking very sad on its stand. :(

The memberships this month see three new members added to the roster, and this takes us out to a 112 member total. Let's see who we have…

Paul Di Natale (Walnuts)

A 35 year old builder, Paul hails from Melbourne. He paddles a Hobie Revo 13, and hopes to build on his yakking skills with us when he visits family up here from time to time.

Scott Birtles (Prophet)

Scott is 34, lives in Noosaville, and studies alongside casual IT work. He is an experienced estuary fisherman, and paddles an Ocean Kayak Scupper Pro.

Christian Sonner

Christian is a 57 year old 25% retiree (however that works), and performs home renovations and maintenance for the parts where he isn't retired. He hails from Weyba Downs, and is a keen bushwalker, kite surfer, and fisherman. Christian paddles an Eco Ambush, and is very keen to enhance his skills with us.

Tight lines gents, and welcome!

Cheers!

Matt (Gemini)



Although there were a couple of new record claims in June, Doc Dog is not presently able to provide an update. It will come along next month or as a supplementary addition to this post.

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The Committee (in callsign order)







From top left, doctor dog, eyetag, gemini, jaro, jimbo, pedro, redwood, sunshiner, turtleboy.

Noosa Yakkers News, May 2014

Base pic: Redwood's stunning sunrise pic taken on Teewah Beach just before launching.

PUBLISHED 04JUNE14

Hi there yakkers

Free iBook

A few weeks back one of the moderators at AKFF asked if I'd prepare a post about "My Local". I started work on it then decided to expand the concept somewhat by simultaneously including the post content in a small interactive book which could be downloaded and read off line (except for links to external sources, which require an Internet connection).

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.

Weeksie's Squire landed on a SP at Little Halls after losing a Longtail

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.

Ah, another crap day in Noosa! Scater trolling on glassy water 1km off Teewah campsite

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.

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.

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

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The Committee (in callsign order)







From top left, doctor dog, eyetag, gemini, jaro, jimbo, pedro, redwood, sunshiner, turtleboy.