Well, first of all I want to apologize for the delay in the report -
I had to take a couple of days to rest from the effort, catch up on my work and ofcourse, update my fellows up in Israel, but here it goes:
The Trip was organized quite spontanious by Bradd, from the Australian Kayak Fishing Forum (AKFF) and we all spent the last month making sure that we can get the free weekend and hoping the weather will be nice.
I'll make a short introduction and say that I'm pretty new in Australia (only 3 months here) and don't know many fellows, specially not kayak fishing. Except a few random meetings at Moffat with Indie, Martin and several others, I was trying my luck fishing by myself, not very successful till now, so this trip was an oppurtunity for me to meet the people around and share some fishing info and tips.
Lazybugger did a hell of a job making sure evreyone will be able to make it and hook me up with Darryl (CPD), to join him with his 4WD.
So on Friday morning (not too early, as we live less than an hour drive from Noosa), I went to meet Darryl and was amazed to see his perfectly rigged camper trailer and the Hilux already packed with heaps of camping and fishing gear.
We set off, stopping on the way in Noosa, to get the "Spanish Special" rigs that Darryl has preordered.
We crossed the ferry and drove off to the beach at low tide and by the ocean spray, we could realize the wind that awaited us in the following days:
Easily we've found the camping spot and tested the Hilux a bit going up the dune to the campsite. We saw there Indie's and Couta's campers and Darryl deployed his trailer, which would be our home for the next couple of days, right next to them:
While we were setting up camp, Martin (Helveticus) and Ryan (Rya87) arrived and it was nice to meet a familiar face. We all got organized and drove to the other side of point, to have a look at the western bay and check the surf there. The wind was still blowing, so we headed back to camp and met the other guys which were arriving and setting camp:
We also meet new acquaintance - the dreaded horse flies. This was how I liked them:
Flat dead
That evening was spent getting to know the people behind the nicks, making dinner (I've made some mediterranean cuisine) and discussing the gear and 'game plan' for the next day.
On Saturday morning, the wind that has blown some of the tent pegs in the night, showed no intention to drop, but we hoped that the western side of the point will be a bit sheltered from the south-easterly wind. We drove at low tide through the track and the lagoon had reaveled itself:
It was very tempting, but a closer look, has shown that the wind was still blowing dangerously offshore, raising white caps in the distance. Considering that, I planned to go west, along the shore to get some shelter from the ridge. It was hard paddling and I was thinking how the others (especially the less experienced) are handling and hoping they're taking safety measures and not venturing too far. After about an hour, I was sheltered enough and the wind weakened a bit, so I crossed the bay towards the point, about 1k from the shore. About halfway I got a strike, but unfortunately the hooks didn't set, but I was incouraged by this and went on hoping for some action. I came all the way to the point without further action and ventured a bit beyond the surf zone, close to the light house, where there were only the TI's and AI's (Tony, Buck and the rest). I played a bit in the wind and swell, till I felt it was no longer funny (specially when a dozen stinkers came storming from the east behind me), so I paddled back. Just as I crossed the small surf, with my lure still out, I got a small Flathead, that was released back to grow.
Gradually, everyone came back, a bit dissapointed by the wind and lack of fish, topping that, it started to drizzle. Darryl and I were loading the kayaks back to the ute, when I've noticed the the wind actually died after that rain. We looked at each other and back at the peacefull lagoon and decided to give it another try.
This time conditions were perfect - the ocean was flat as a glass and I could see every piece of action, and there was...
Flocks of birds were flying in the west, so I followed them and soon the Tuna started feeding on the surface and bigger, longer predators (I think Mackerels) were slicing the water from time to time. I only had my trolling rods, so I put a lure on each and paddled through the fish, chasing the bait. After a while my reel screamed...
I started reeling in, patiently as I had light gear (20lb mono with 30lb leader and no trace). While I was dragged by the fish, I needed to clear the way from my second line that was still in the water. While doing so, I glanced back and saw a medium sized shark following me...
I wentt on and 10 minutes later I saw the Tuna, circling beside the kayak. I gaffed it... Correction - I tried to gaff it 4 times, but missed
. On the 5th attempt I had it. Quickly I spiked its brain, tore off one of the gill rake and bled it into the water. After exactlly 5 seconds I remembered the shark that was following me, tossed the Tuna in the hatch and paddled away, a bit frightened 
That fish was more than I even expected, so I headed back to the beach, caught a nice wave back and displayed the fish to the guys (found out its a Long Tail):
We went back, stopping over in freshwater campground for a refreshing shower and back to camp, where I filleted some of the fish for on the spot raw chunks in olive oil and coarse salt and for later Ceviche (central american raw fish in lime and finely chopped, spicy vegetable salad). The rest of the fish was sliced into steaks.
That evening dinner was fantastic, with everyone coming over for a taste and a drink. Des came with his carton of Port and we had a great talk into the night, hearing and telling stories and experiences from here and there. We wrapped it up around the fire, watching the stars, with the coolest astronomy app (thanks to our IT specialist, Martin).
Sunday morning the wind was still blowing, but a bit lighter, making the conditions "bareable" for a non-sailed kayak. This time Darryl was experimenting on one of the Stealth's Evos that Des towed on his trailer. We headed west again, with several friends following and looking for action. They all stopped at the first flock of birds and bait, but I didn't wanted any entangles and crossed lines, so I went on further west. After about half an hour of paddling, I found what I was looking for - numerous birds and leaping Tunas. Again I trolled between them, this time learning my lesson and trolling just one lure (the one from the day before - a silver Rapala XR10). The sequence of events that followed can be described as extremely unlucky/unexperienced/stupid, you name it. I got a strike after the other, some less than a minute a part and lost them all.
The first one was a Spotted Mackerel that hooked itself up. I brought it close to the kayak. It wasn't big, so I tried to lift it by its tail (I've done it before several times with small Spanish Mackerels), but this one was slimy and dove straight under and to the other side of the kayak. While attemting to get my rod and line to the other side, the line was caught in the other rod's lure, the spotty dove and gone with the winner lure
I rigged another Berkley Frenzy minnow, very similar to the lost Rapala and soon after I got a strike, but the fish didn't stayed on and a minute later another strike, that cut the line - the mackerels were in a feeding frenzy.
I was very frustrated and started tying another leader, when I remembered that on the other rod I have a stronger line and a wire trace
I put on a fresh blue mackerel Rapala Magnum CD11 and kept trolling between one bustup to another. It wasn't long till my reel sang again and this time I didn't blew it up and got the Spotty (though my not-so-sharp gaff got some heart beating and foul language from me - I need a gaffing course...).
That satisfied me, the wind was picking up again and we did planned to get home that day, so I started heading back to the lagoon. About half way, the reel was giving line, slowly first, but it grew faster and I realized that something big was hooked. Carefully and patiently I fought it for over 20 minutes, drifting with the wind and the fish further west. At some stage I tightened the drag and started pumping it up, but after I drew several meters of line, the tension was gone...
I reeled all the way in and saw that the line didn't break, nor the snap swivel, the leader or the trace:
All that was left of my lure was the diving lip...
I thought they're supposed to have a wire going all the way through, but maybe whatever was that, just chew it up (must have used the balsa as tooth picks).
That was definately a sign to head back and I still needed to dig against the growing wind. It took me about an hour of struggle, but I've made it and caught up with the rest of the guys.
We took some pictures of the fish:
Indiedog arrived with his nice Spotty and we enjoyed a refreshing ice cream right at the beach:
Des was also waiting for us there to get his share of Stealth's photos and we were happy to pose for him in the perfect lighting:
Soon after, everyone were getting out of the water - BigKev, Lazy, all with their stories and experiences.
We went back to camp, hitched the trailer and head back home, to get some good rest for our sunburnt/sandfilled/salted/wind swept bodies.
I've edited a movie, summarizing it all up from my kayak GoPro (sorry for the foggy picture, I must find a solution for the mist):
I had an amazing weekend, felt like it was my first time getting to really know the Ozzy way of life and what can I say - I love it!!
I can't sum it up without huge thanks to Indie and Lazy, who got it all running as planned, to the rest of you guys, for making it such an interesting and enjoyable trip and ofcourse to Darryl, who took me under his roof and shared his car and tent with me.
I sure hope it's only the beginning of many more trips to come,
I had to take a couple of days to rest from the effort, catch up on my work and ofcourse, update my fellows up in Israel, but here it goes:
The Trip was organized quite spontanious by Bradd, from the Australian Kayak Fishing Forum (AKFF) and we all spent the last month making sure that we can get the free weekend and hoping the weather will be nice.
I'll make a short introduction and say that I'm pretty new in Australia (only 3 months here) and don't know many fellows, specially not kayak fishing. Except a few random meetings at Moffat with Indie, Martin and several others, I was trying my luck fishing by myself, not very successful till now, so this trip was an oppurtunity for me to meet the people around and share some fishing info and tips.
Lazybugger did a hell of a job making sure evreyone will be able to make it and hook me up with Darryl (CPD), to join him with his 4WD.
So on Friday morning (not too early, as we live less than an hour drive from Noosa), I went to meet Darryl and was amazed to see his perfectly rigged camper trailer and the Hilux already packed with heaps of camping and fishing gear.
We set off, stopping on the way in Noosa, to get the "Spanish Special" rigs that Darryl has preordered.
We crossed the ferry and drove off to the beach at low tide and by the ocean spray, we could realize the wind that awaited us in the following days:
Easily we've found the camping spot and tested the Hilux a bit going up the dune to the campsite. We saw there Indie's and Couta's campers and Darryl deployed his trailer, which would be our home for the next couple of days, right next to them:
While we were setting up camp, Martin (Helveticus) and Ryan (Rya87) arrived and it was nice to meet a familiar face. We all got organized and drove to the other side of point, to have a look at the western bay and check the surf there. The wind was still blowing, so we headed back to camp and met the other guys which were arriving and setting camp:
We also meet new acquaintance - the dreaded horse flies. This was how I liked them:
Flat dead
That evening was spent getting to know the people behind the nicks, making dinner (I've made some mediterranean cuisine) and discussing the gear and 'game plan' for the next day.
On Saturday morning, the wind that has blown some of the tent pegs in the night, showed no intention to drop, but we hoped that the western side of the point will be a bit sheltered from the south-easterly wind. We drove at low tide through the track and the lagoon had reaveled itself:
It was very tempting, but a closer look, has shown that the wind was still blowing dangerously offshore, raising white caps in the distance. Considering that, I planned to go west, along the shore to get some shelter from the ridge. It was hard paddling and I was thinking how the others (especially the less experienced) are handling and hoping they're taking safety measures and not venturing too far. After about an hour, I was sheltered enough and the wind weakened a bit, so I crossed the bay towards the point, about 1k from the shore. About halfway I got a strike, but unfortunately the hooks didn't set, but I was incouraged by this and went on hoping for some action. I came all the way to the point without further action and ventured a bit beyond the surf zone, close to the light house, where there were only the TI's and AI's (Tony, Buck and the rest). I played a bit in the wind and swell, till I felt it was no longer funny (specially when a dozen stinkers came storming from the east behind me), so I paddled back. Just as I crossed the small surf, with my lure still out, I got a small Flathead, that was released back to grow.
Gradually, everyone came back, a bit dissapointed by the wind and lack of fish, topping that, it started to drizzle. Darryl and I were loading the kayaks back to the ute, when I've noticed the the wind actually died after that rain. We looked at each other and back at the peacefull lagoon and decided to give it another try.
This time conditions were perfect - the ocean was flat as a glass and I could see every piece of action, and there was...
Flocks of birds were flying in the west, so I followed them and soon the Tuna started feeding on the surface and bigger, longer predators (I think Mackerels) were slicing the water from time to time. I only had my trolling rods, so I put a lure on each and paddled through the fish, chasing the bait. After a while my reel screamed...
I started reeling in, patiently as I had light gear (20lb mono with 30lb leader and no trace). While I was dragged by the fish, I needed to clear the way from my second line that was still in the water. While doing so, I glanced back and saw a medium sized shark following me...
I wentt on and 10 minutes later I saw the Tuna, circling beside the kayak. I gaffed it... Correction - I tried to gaff it 4 times, but missed
. On the 5th attempt I had it. Quickly I spiked its brain, tore off one of the gill rake and bled it into the water. After exactlly 5 seconds I remembered the shark that was following me, tossed the Tuna in the hatch and paddled away, a bit frightened That fish was more than I even expected, so I headed back to the beach, caught a nice wave back and displayed the fish to the guys (found out its a Long Tail):
We went back, stopping over in freshwater campground for a refreshing shower and back to camp, where I filleted some of the fish for on the spot raw chunks in olive oil and coarse salt and for later Ceviche (central american raw fish in lime and finely chopped, spicy vegetable salad). The rest of the fish was sliced into steaks.
That evening dinner was fantastic, with everyone coming over for a taste and a drink. Des came with his carton of Port and we had a great talk into the night, hearing and telling stories and experiences from here and there. We wrapped it up around the fire, watching the stars, with the coolest astronomy app (thanks to our IT specialist, Martin).
Sunday morning the wind was still blowing, but a bit lighter, making the conditions "bareable" for a non-sailed kayak. This time Darryl was experimenting on one of the Stealth's Evos that Des towed on his trailer. We headed west again, with several friends following and looking for action. They all stopped at the first flock of birds and bait, but I didn't wanted any entangles and crossed lines, so I went on further west. After about half an hour of paddling, I found what I was looking for - numerous birds and leaping Tunas. Again I trolled between them, this time learning my lesson and trolling just one lure (the one from the day before - a silver Rapala XR10). The sequence of events that followed can be described as extremely unlucky/unexperienced/stupid, you name it. I got a strike after the other, some less than a minute a part and lost them all.
The first one was a Spotted Mackerel that hooked itself up. I brought it close to the kayak. It wasn't big, so I tried to lift it by its tail (I've done it before several times with small Spanish Mackerels), but this one was slimy and dove straight under and to the other side of the kayak. While attemting to get my rod and line to the other side, the line was caught in the other rod's lure, the spotty dove and gone with the winner lure
I rigged another Berkley Frenzy minnow, very similar to the lost Rapala and soon after I got a strike, but the fish didn't stayed on and a minute later another strike, that cut the line - the mackerels were in a feeding frenzy.
I was very frustrated and started tying another leader, when I remembered that on the other rod I have a stronger line and a wire trace
I put on a fresh blue mackerel Rapala Magnum CD11 and kept trolling between one bustup to another. It wasn't long till my reel sang again and this time I didn't blew it up and got the Spotty (though my not-so-sharp gaff got some heart beating and foul language from me - I need a gaffing course...).
That satisfied me, the wind was picking up again and we did planned to get home that day, so I started heading back to the lagoon. About half way, the reel was giving line, slowly first, but it grew faster and I realized that something big was hooked. Carefully and patiently I fought it for over 20 minutes, drifting with the wind and the fish further west. At some stage I tightened the drag and started pumping it up, but after I drew several meters of line, the tension was gone...
I reeled all the way in and saw that the line didn't break, nor the snap swivel, the leader or the trace:
All that was left of my lure was the diving lip...
I thought they're supposed to have a wire going all the way through, but maybe whatever was that, just chew it up (must have used the balsa as tooth picks).That was definately a sign to head back and I still needed to dig against the growing wind. It took me about an hour of struggle, but I've made it and caught up with the rest of the guys.
We took some pictures of the fish:
Indiedog arrived with his nice Spotty and we enjoyed a refreshing ice cream right at the beach:
Des was also waiting for us there to get his share of Stealth's photos and we were happy to pose for him in the perfect lighting:
Soon after, everyone were getting out of the water - BigKev, Lazy, all with their stories and experiences.
We went back to camp, hitched the trailer and head back home, to get some good rest for our sunburnt/sandfilled/salted/wind swept bodies.
I've edited a movie, summarizing it all up from my kayak GoPro (sorry for the foggy picture, I must find a solution for the mist):
I had an amazing weekend, felt like it was my first time getting to really know the Ozzy way of life and what can I say - I love it!!
I can't sum it up without huge thanks to Indie and Lazy, who got it all running as planned, to the rest of you guys, for making it such an interesting and enjoyable trip and ofcourse to Darryl, who took me under his roof and shared his car and tent with me.
I sure hope it's only the beginning of many more trips to come,
see you out there, Iso
1 comment:
Kayak fishing trip to Double Island Point, QLD. Well, first of all I want to apologize for the delay in the report - I had to take a couple of days to ... tkayakfishing.blogspot.com
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