# I'll huff and I'll puff.....



## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Today dawned fine and light westerlies, and predicted to get hot (33 C for Brisbane).

I'd hardly been paddling for three weeks, and ate and drank through Christmas, storing another two or three kilos. You never know when there will be a cold snap, so a bit of extra padding is advantageous. WRONG.

I had trouble getting my fat arse to the car to load the gear, and come the unload at 4.30 am, it was _not_ comical. The empty Adventure is about 45 kgs with rod holders etc permanently mounted. I huffed and I puffed.

Beekeeper beat me onto the water by 20 minutes, and scored a 35.5 cm snap before I floated. Soon after the Bismark was launched though, my reel starting emptying and I huffed with a tad of excitement. Good start for both of us .... and better things to come, we hoped.










*An estuary cod - not big, but excellent on the chew.*

It glassed out and got hot. Gary (Sweed) launched, ever hopeful.

Not ten minutes later another little zing on the reel saw the fortunes going backwards.... puffing bigtime!










*Puffer (toad) fish. Careful release!*

I paddled and paddled, as the temperature climbed. Splash. That was me going overboard for a cool down and re-entry practice. Well the Christmas kilos got in the road somewhat, and I was huffing and puffing once again, as I tried to get my gut over the rail. Not too polished, so soon another splash for re-entry # 2. More huffing and puffing, but a bit better than the first.

Gary went home early. Later on, while paddling to Shield St reef with Jimbo, the heat was oppressive, so it was off again for another puffing re-entry.

Sadly folks, that was about it for Jimbo and me, though Jimbo did manage a couple of just legal snapper later while drifting in the 15 - 20 knot NE sea breeze. We should have gone to Noosa.

trev


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## dru (Dec 13, 2008)

It is a trick to keep a level of excercise going through Chrissie. I actually managed it this year, only to fall apart with the yak in for repairs. They were quick. But I wasn't in getting back to it.

Trev, nice toad. :lol:


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

dru said:


> It is a trick to keep a level of excercise going through Chrissie. I actually managed it this year, only to fall apart with the yak in for repairs. They were quick. But I wasn't in getting back to it.
> 
> Trev, nice toad. :lol:


I seem to catch what many others call rubbish. The toad is just that, and poisonous. I am just paddling trolling a couple of HB's, as I get bored silly drifting with SP's. I get sharks and blue catfish, which no one else seems to keep or eat. :shock: At least I'm getting some exercise.

trev


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## exp2000 (Jul 9, 2011)

That toadfish looks a bit undersize to me Trev :lol: :lol: :lol: 
~


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

exp2000 said:


> That toadfish looks a bit undersize to me Trev :lol: :lol: :lol:
> ~


It is, but when you're desperate for a feed, anything's alright. :shock: I have caught way bigger! :lol:

Things were so bad that TC (Turtle Catcher - aka Jimbo) didn't even get _one_ turtle today. And he wasn't in a huff over that, I can assure you.

trev


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## bruus (Aug 27, 2010)

At least you got into some fish among the heat. I spent my day trying to relieve my back and fight off sea sickness. Too bad there's been nothing slightly remarkable for a while around the place. We can always hope though.


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## gbc (Feb 16, 2012)

It could be worse Trev, sitting at home with an impinged rotator cuff watching all my hard earned christmas paddling fitness turning into guts and reading your bloody paddling posts......... ;-) 
Last night I found myself quietly doing a little research on an AI 'just in case' - aghh I may as well have been knocking off the neighbour's misses I felt so bloody guilty. Hope this shoulder gets better soon, I fancied myself as a bolter for Straddie in Feb.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

gbc said:


> It could be worse Trev, sitting at home with an impinged rotator cuff watching all my hard earned christmas paddling fitness turning into guts and reading your bloody paddling posts......... ;-)
> Last night I found myself quietly doing a little research on an AI 'just in case' - aghh I may as well have been knocking off the neighbour's misses I felt so bloody guilty. Hope this shoulder gets better soon, I fancied myself as a bolter for Straddie in Feb.


'Great big chum', I'm sure if you call Tony at Murrarie, or Mal at Kawana, they _will_ have an AI ready for you in three weeks. Alby, a long time member on the forum, who has an AI, has had shoulder problems for a long time, and is hopefully starting to come good. Shoulders can be prolonged trouble, especially once over age 40.

trev


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## Thegaff (Apr 19, 2011)

Well i got my new car the other day so hopefully I'll be back out there next weekend trying to get some paddle fitness back again.


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## Ubolt (Dec 8, 2009)

Shoulders are crap dislocated mine 6-8 times I'm only 28 can't paddle a surf board or a kayak any more  that's why I have a hobie outback. Hope yours gets better soon


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

yaqdoq said:


> Trev ,
> I find using a smaller lure will make the fish look bigger ! ;-)
> Do they make smaller lures than the one you were using ? :lol:


Yes Paul. That's a 6.5 cm, so I'm ordering the 50 and the 40 ATM. That it should come to this. 

trev


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## sweed (Oct 1, 2011)

Yep Trev went home early with it's tail between me legs,had no choice :lol: 
Geez trev whats that prickly lookin thing hanging off the end of the ugly stick,not much
meat hanging off them bones bit rough to swallow too I would've thrown it back over the side :lol: :lol: 
At least my one fish was just legal :lol: :lol:


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## Beekeeper (Aug 20, 2011)

sweed said:


> Yep Trev went home early with it's tail between me legs,had no choice :lol:
> Geez trev whats that prickly lookin thing hanging off the end of the ugly stick,not much
> meat hanging off them bones bit rough to swallow too I would've thrown it back over the side :lol: :lol:
> At least my one fish was just legal :lol: :lol:


And the rest!!! you were exhausted after landing it... and the day had just begun! you must have a small eski if it wouldn't fit in without bending! (people with undersized eskis just have no foresight! or shouldn't catch decent fish!)

If you'd caught another one like that, you'd have to release it anyway... dem's the rules!

See you next month, Gaz... (when you've finished eating that one!) :twisted: ;-)

Cheers, Jimbo


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## imtheman (Aug 24, 2012)

I would of huffed an puffed too 45kg is hectic


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

sweed said:


> Yep Trev went home early with it's tail between me legs,had no choice :lol:
> Geez trev whats that prickly lookin thing hanging off the end of the ugly stick,not much
> meat hanging off them bones bit rough to swallow too I would've thrown it back over the side :lol: :lol:
> At least my one fish was just legal :lol: :lol:


It's time to spill the beans. Just legal .... holy crap! Understatement of the year (do we have such a category?). 










*Gary looks fairly happy. Three losses to bigguns in a year, and finally rewarded with a monster.*

trev


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## imtheman (Aug 24, 2012)

thats a cracker


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

imtheman said:


> I would of huffed an puffed too 45kg is hectic


Just modified the side loading bar on the front rack, specifically for the Adventure. Heading towards one man loading of a 45 kg yak onto a very high car (2.1 m). Photos soon.

trev


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Well Gary huffed and he puffed for ten minutes or more. As he missed two net shots, he was terrified this 'just legal' snapper would throw the hooks, just as 3 others had done previously. This time it was a good hook-set, and hence that smile. More shots of Gary's 'just legal' snapper. 










*Red cliffs in the background (hence 'Redcliffe')*










*85 cms and about 7 kgs*

trev


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## sweed (Oct 1, 2011)

Gotta get lucky sometimes Trev.Thanks for the photos


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## ben123 (Jan 24, 2012)

Wow nice fish, about time I get back out there chasing some snaps!

Will head out again once I get back from Bargara chasing some Mackerel.


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## RacingDan (May 16, 2011)

That is a brilliant fish. Congratulations and thanks for posting the pics. What line class was used to net a snap of that size? My only snap captures to date have been 'just legal' in the true sense of the term!


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## sweed (Oct 1, 2011)

Hi RacingDan
I use 10lb braid (viros) nothing too flash,15lb fluro leader the most important part takes all the punishment.
The snapper seem to fight cleanly where we fish,haven't been scrubbed off yet.
Good luck.


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## RacingDan (May 16, 2011)

Great, thanks Sweed. I've been using a similar setup but with a slightly lighter leader. A fish that size would make for a good fight on 10 pound i'm sure  It would make sense for me to up the leader a little too - the better ones i've managed to hook have made an escape (!) but I'd prefer to get some bites than have my offerings turned away because of too heavy a leader.

Many thanks
Dan


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## sweed (Oct 1, 2011)

Gday Dan,
Here's one for you to think about.My mate beekeeper catches more snapper than anyone i know,from brutes over 900mm
to small fish not much bigger than his lure.Jim's standard rig is 30lb braid to a 30lb leader does not budge!
The water in the western bay where we fish is always murky especially during summer when the northeasters are blowing
even when the water is a lot cleaner in winter he still outfishes everyone.
Maybe leader size isn't as critical as we might think.
Have a read of his latest report"whiting mixed bag" see what i mean.
cheers.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

sweed said:


> Gday Dan,
> Here's one for you to think about.My mate beekeeper catches more snapper than anyone i know,from brutes over 900mm
> to small fish not much bigger than his lure.Jim's standard rig is 30lb braid to a 30lb leader does not budge!
> The water in the western bay where we fish is always murky especially during summer when the northeasters are blowing
> ...


Yes he does Sweed (Gary), and so do I. The way I see it is, that the longer the fish is in the water, shuddering and shaking, the greater the chance of being sharked. This is borne from a not unreasonable fear following a story Jimbo related about a mate of his.

Only a few years ago, this mate was fishing for and catching good snapper down towards Redcliffe. He was out only a few hundred metres. He hooked and landed a few, then a really big one right beside the yak. As he grabbed the leader to lift it onto the yak, a massive set of jaws, belonging to a 12' tiger shark, removed half the big snapper. Well, he dropped the (now only half a fish) and nearly crapped himself.

In a flash, he re-thought, "there's still a few meals on that," so he re-grabbed the leader to lift again, and the tiger returned in a flurry of furious spray and took the the rest of the snapper, missing his hand by inches. It was then that he did crap himself, and paddled furiously for shore, to be sure, and to this date has never returned to kayak fishing.

That's one reason we use 30 lb. But even at that, Jimbo has had 30 lb flourocarbon leaders worn through on structure. Last year we both caught 1.2 m longtails, averaging 15 kg, late in the season in September and only a week apart. The difference in the gear was only in Jim's lighter rods (2 =6 kg and 7') against my 6 - 10 kg rods at 6' (both using 30 lb braid and 30 lb FC leader).

The difference in time to land the fish was considerable: Mine - viewtopic.php?f=17&t=56985 Time to the yak: 39 minutes

Jim's - viewtopic.php?f=17&t=57089&p=594293#p594293 Time to the yak: 1 hour 5 mins. 
Another factor is the reels, and the yak stability - Jim's are 8 kg ?? drag, mine are 15 kg drag, so if you are concerned about reducing the time available for 'sharking' and bust-offs, beef up your gear. If you're not, leave it lighter, and accept the inevitable occasional bust-off, though hopefully increased strike rates on the lighter gear.

I'm just glad Jimbo doesn't use 15 lb line, if it really does increase strike rates. If he did, and it was gospel, on a good day he'd me calling me every three minutes with another catch. Sometimes I think about turning off the radio.

trev


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## Ado (Mar 31, 2008)

You are obviously not a connoisseur of doughnut averters. That is a Porcupine fish. Not a toad. Humff.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Ado said:


> You are obviously not a connoisseur of doughnut averters. That is a Porcupine fish. Not a toad. Humff.


Not a connoisseur at all Adrian. Thanks for the correct ID.*

trev

*BTW, Gary's fish is called a snapper, in case you were wondering. :lol: :lol:


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## Ado (Mar 31, 2008)

kayakone said:


> BTW, Gary's fish is called a snapper, in case you were wondering.


Touche


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