# Describe your local -- Laguna Bay and Jew Shoal, Noosa



## sunshiner (Feb 22, 2006)

Back in 1995 my wife and I made a fortunate but considered decision: to sell our home in Brisbane and relocate to the Sunshine Coast. I was 50 years old at the time. After successfully settling in Sunshine Beach I returned with a vengeance to my favourite pastime, fishing. But it wasn't until I was 60 years old that I discovered that kayaks were viable ocean fishing craft. I'd spent ten years in kayak fishing paradise without realizing how much I'd been missing! After joining AKFF in early 2006 it's fair to say that kayak fishing has dominated my spare time ever since. The stinky I owned has long gone and now I have three, sleek, single seater ocean going fishing craft. Life can't get much better, especially as I have a friendly beach launch point only a few minutes away. This post is about my favourite kayak fishing area.

*FREE iBook.* Attention iPad and Mac (mavericks) users. See the end of this post for details.

Laguna Bay and Jew Shoal

Overview










For more detail on precise locations take a look at the Noosa Yakkers blog, in particular this page

Laguna Bay is formed behind the massive Noosa headland which is also a National Park. As you can see, the headland provides some protection against the prevailing southeasterly winds and lesser protection against swells.

Main Beach is a massive tourist magnet with the section to the east of Middle Groyne fringing Hastings Street being subject to more beachgoers than that to the west.

Jew Shoal, a natural fish aggregator and one of the best value places for offshore kayak fishing on the Sunshine Coast is about four kilometres from Main Beach. Its minimum depth is around seven metres in one small spot and it drops off to 22 metres. There are other reefs to the west which are a similar distance, but there are no reefs significantly closer. Having said that, fish sometimes hang out and feed near the rocky headlands, but water adjacent to them is generally shallow (~ six metres) with a featureless ocean floor. Some sensational fish have been taken within one kilometre of the beach, over a sandy bottom so when travelling to and from the reefs it is always worth trolling a bait or HB lure. In summer keeping a slug outfit rigged up and ready right from launch time will often pay dividends as feeding pelagics can be encountered anywhere from the beach outward.









_Stonker GT taken by lazybugger (bastard!) in Dec 2013 within a couple of minutes' paddling from the beach._

Hazards

The weather is a hazard everywhere and is discussed in some detail later in this post.

Apart from that, power boats exiting the Noosa River mouth and heading north east, which they mainly do, present a significant hazard for kayakers. Early in the morning the skippers of these boats will often have the sun directly in their eyes and forward vision may also be obscured because of swells. Always be wary of such craft and be ready to take avoiding action or to make your craft more visible.

From June to November whales can be a possible danger. Noosa Yakkers encounter them frequently during that time, sometimes so close as to turn your hair white. If you're fishing out there and see a whale within a couple of hundred metres or so it's smart to retrieve all lines and to get ready to paddle out of the way. I have had them breach so close that you almost get splash from them and have had them pass directly under my yak no more than a couple of metres down. Don't treat whales casually.








_Breaching whale near me (not photoshopped, frame from video)._

Here's the video from the event:





Launch points

Overview

While there are other locations in the Noosa area for launching a kayak for an offshore fishing trip and obviously plenty of estuary launch options, they are beyond the subject matter for this post which examines only the Laguna Bay launch options.

Shark nets are deployed in two locations in the bay and need to be avoided by pedal craft and lure trollers. Each is marked by at least three large floats and the worst is about 700m from the main launch area but east of Middle Groyne and parallel with the beach.

One other thing: please don't discard fish frames and guts at your launch point. This beach is a major tourist attraction and is a significant source of revenue for the entire Noosa community. Don't sully the beach with your scraps. There's a bin at the beach exit which is cleared daily so please use that (just carry a few plastic bags and use them to package your scraps). Alternatively, consider donating your fish frames to the Queensland government's Keen Angler Program.

Middle Groyne

If you need a car park the best launch option is definitely Middle Groyne which has lots of unrestricted car parking as long as you get there early, which is particularly important on weekends. Don't expect to get a parking spot after 7:00 am on a nice sunny Saturday, Sunday or public holiday. The car park is suitable for small trailers too (just back them into the bush). This site also has kayak washing facilities (BYO hose and tap thingy) and public toilets. Depending on tide, you have to get your yak and gear across the 100 metres or so of bitumen, concrete, grass and mostly soft sloping sand so a good big wheeled soft sand trolley will pay its way here.

Launching and returning on either side of the groyne is OK but locals usually prefer the narrow channel on the western (left) side of the groyne as it provides some protection from breaking waves. This channel usually has a strong outgoing current, especially obvious when a fairly big sea is running and that has three effects: (1) swimmers are unlikely to be encountered in the channel; (2) a surf-able break develops at the end of the groyne so you may need to dodge some board riders when coming in and (3) the current can be strong enough to require serious paddling effort to reach the beach. In all cases when coming back in to this beach take care to choose a place free of swimmers as most swimmers mistakenly assume that kayakers have full control of their craft and can stop and swerve any time they like. Hah! And please be civil to beachgoers; remember that you're an ambassador for all kayak fishers and probably a visitor too. We don't want kayak fishers to be precluded from launching here.









_Middle Groyne at its most benign_









_Doable, with care_









_Dodging waves coming back in_

Getting out





Coming back in





The rest of Main Beach

Launching in the eastern corner of the beach is viable but car parking there is at a premium and time restricted also. A hazard here is that there are usually lots of swimmers and board riders in that corner from about 8:00 am onward. Nevertheless, several locals launch there.

Noosa River mouth

Don't. Strong currents, stand up waves, speeding stinkies and jet skis: a recipe for collisions. Choose Middle Groyne instead.

Weather considerations

Air temperature

In summer it's bloody hot out there from about 9:00 am onward so plan to be back on the beach by then. It's no fun paddling 4km or so in searing temperatures. In winter a light grade wetsuit will keep you reasonably comfortable even on the coolest days we get.

Wind

Laguna Bay's Main Beach is north facing and therefore the prevailing SE wind is offshore, but the shore provides protection from the wind only up to about one kilometre out. After that the wind becomes increasingly apparent to kayakers, and what's more, it's blowing you away from the beach. On the other hand a north or north easterly wind can make launching difficult but is nice to have behind you on the run home. On sunny days, all year round. a NE sea breeze up to about 15 knots can generate from about 10:00am. This is a nice breeze to ride home with (as you will if fishing at Jew Shoal), not nice to paddle into.

Jew Shoal is seriously affected by any wind, as it has no shelter from any direction. Generally we don't bother fishing there unless the wind is 10 knots or less.










The best indicator of present wind strength and direction at Jew Shoal is the live wind indications from Double Island Point (50 km to the north) and from Cape Moreton (~150km to the south).










If both of those are showing SE wind exceeding 15 knots it is highly likely that the wind at Jew Shoal will be exactly the same and will render it difficult to fish for most. The other live wind indicators, Tewantin and Maroochy Airport, are sheltered and so are not useful indicators for Jew Shoal.

If fishing Jew Shoal be very wary of south westerly winds, as strong winds from that direction may make it very difficult to return to Middle Groyne.

Swell

Swell height and direction (we use Seabreeze for this forecast, too) is only a consideration for launching and returning to the beach. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that because Laguna Bay is hiding behind a big headland it can never have a big swell in there. Sometimes it's huge and the headland points are swarming with board riders who have come from all over Australia to get into the action. Always take a close look at forecast swell height and direction before deciding to even drive up here.

Generally the local yak fishers' alarm bells start ringing if the forecast swell is at or exceeds two metres from any direction. If that swell's forecast direction is from the east through to the north it will wrap around the headland and charge straight at the beach at Middle Groyne. If from the south or south east it will also wrap but will deplete itself somewhat, probably allowing a relatively easy launch.

Any swell of less than about 1m usually allows for a straightforward Main Beach launch. However, if you don't feel comfortable and confident when examining the break at Middle Groyne, it's best not to go. After all, it could be much worse when you're returning to the beach.

Usually, high tide offers the best conditions for launch and return at Middle Groyne and low tide the worst.

One of the TR linked later in this post contains video of a beach return at Middle Groyne with a fair swell running.

Jew Shoal and its fish

The name

Here's an interesting point. Jew Shoal appears not to have been named after one of our sought-after species the jewfish. Instead it seems to have picked up its name from a coastal sea captain, Captain William Jew, who first reported to Brisbane authorities that he observed seas breaking in that area while sheltering there in August 1873. This piece of information was recently unearthed by Noosa Yakker Doc Dog who was researching fishing history here. The source is published here on the National Library of Australia website:
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/51804984?

I have personally seen seas breaking on the shoal only once, and not from my yak I hasten to add, but from the headland at Noosa when huge seas were running about 2009/2010.

Fish species

Dozens of species are recorded by Noosa Yakkers as having been taken at Jew Shoal. Here are a few images, taken at Jew Shoal, which will give you a feel for the species diversity:









_Spanish mackerel_









_Spotted mackerel_









_Jewfish (the only one we've ever recorded as being caught there)_









_Longtail tuna_









_Yellowfin tuna_









_Grass emperor (aka lipper, or grassy)_









_Snapper_

AKFF Trip Reports from Laguna Bay and Jew Shoal

Spotty macs go nuts
http://www.akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=64951

Fish of a lifetime
http://www.akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=58538

Snapper plus others
http://www.akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=56133

Facing up to the Middle Groyne sand monster
http://www.akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=56014

Three tuna species
http://www.akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=53458

The above is a small selection, to show the variety. There are plenty more Trip Reports of Laguna Bay and Jew Shoal and you can access them on AKFF by going into Advanced search (top right) and including Jew Shoal and/or Laguna Bay in the Keywords box. You can restrict to just Trip Reports also. Hours of enjoyable reading there.

Coming to Noosa?
Visit the Noosa Yakkers blog (linked in my sig, below) for latest trip reports and other local info. If you're coming to fish up there and have a VHF radio you will be able to communicate with Noosa Yakkers while on the water provided one or more of us is also out there. Send me a PM if you don't know our usual comms channel. If you're visiting Noosa you can contact Noosa Yakkers via an email link on the blog and we may be able to help you get among the fish.

FREE iBook for iPad and Mac (mavericks) users. The above information and a little more besides (with higher resolution and interactive images) and a couple of small ads has been made the subject of an interactive iBook which is now available to download through Apple's iBook store.
The link to the book on the Australian store:
https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/kayak- ... 3982?mt=11

In other countries just go to the iTunes Store and search for jew shoal.

Thanks for reading AKFFers. Tight lines.


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## scater (Nov 24, 2007)

Great write up Kev!


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Great write up and info Kev. Many years of knowledge in that report.


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## ArWeTherYet (Mar 25, 2007)

Thanks Kevin, you never know one day I might actually get up there and give it a fish.


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## Phoenix (Jan 12, 2006)

Great write up. Excellent.


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## hoit (Aug 29, 2005)

Thanks for the making the effort to post the guide.

I just wish my local launch was as good.

Cheers
hoit


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## Thegaff (Apr 19, 2011)

Great wright up kev.


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## Trumpet1 (Apr 26, 2013)

Deleted


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## captaincoochin (Nov 11, 2012)

Thanks for the write up kev. Noosa is one spot I would like to fish more often.


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