# SWR - Came, Saw, Conquered.



## Guest (Feb 20, 2013)

By the weather that is...

Damned East Coast low pressure system put a stopper on my SWR adventures this year. I arrived on Monday afternoon to fairly good conditions. We set up the tent, put up the tarp and moved all our stuff inside. Once done, we stood back to admire our handiwork and felt the first drops. Within minutes it was fairly pouring. Had a pizza for tea and a relatively early night.

Tuesday morning.

Wake up at 4.30am - little bit of breeze, might wait an hour.

Woken up at 5.30am - by heavy rain on the roof. Poo. Might wait another hour see if it passes.

Wake up at 6.30am - still raining, but only light. Not much breeze. Poke my head over the top to see it is passable. Swell is big but not much wind. Load up and head forth. Loads of bait in the bay but mostly yakkas. No slimeys for me. Move off to chase cobia. Three hours of laps in the constant rain. I felt like Bubba in Forrest Gump. Finally decided i'd had enough of the rain and started to head in. The reel attached to the deep bait gives a howl. Wind in the surface bait with my heart all a flutter. Settle in for a tug of war. Dad is watching with binoculars from the Gaol and says he kept losing sight of me in the rain. Did i say it was raining? Tug of war goes on for 20min or so and about a kilometre. I can see it on the sounder. I have only managed to lift it 6m. I can feel big head shakes. I was getting hopeful. Then my 80lb leader popped. Wind in to find it clean cut and scuffed up for a couple of feet. I think it must have been a big shark. Far bigger than i could have handled in the yak. Good result really. Did i say it was raining? I give up and head in for a warm drink.

Conditions stayed pretty good all day apart from the rain. It wasn't too windy yet. Fished the change of light on the Smokey Cape beach. Swell was huge. Nice gutter though. Picked up 3 tailor in the 35-40cm bracket on fresh yellowtail fillets. Magical evening, beautiful sunset, no wind, no rain surprisingly, stars were out.

Wednesday dawned windy. Did i say it was raining? The swell had increased overnight. It was now in the 3m category and breaking clean over the breakwall. BOM was predicting 40kts for Thursday and Friday and 100mm of rain. We gave up. Conquered. Packed up in the rain squalls and headed for home. Frustrated. Dejected. Next year maybe...


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## Wrassemagnet (Oct 17, 2007)

Jon I feel for you man, I know how much you were looking forward to the trip. You've got a truckload of good mojo coming your way with that effort for sure and perhaps another trip later in the year will allow it all to bloom for you. There's always the Dave Irvine Memorial Snapper Classic in Coff's Harbour June long weekend...


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## BIGKEV (Aug 18, 2007)

I hate the weather man


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

That is tough Jon but it also sooooo SWR.
I've delayed going up there for a few weeks to see if things settle down, I couldn't do these dates because of the wife being away, thank god for that.
Good on you for getting out there in the rain, I know how that feels


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## Guest (Feb 21, 2013)

It sucks a bit but there's always next time. The water was clean, reasonably clear and 24.7 deg on my sounder which is mounted inside the hull. I would call that as fairly accurate. Standing on the hill on Wednesday morning, i could see tuna jumping and creating explosions. From at least a kilometre and a half away i could easily see them launching from the water. They were seriously big fish. I don't know what sort though. The conditions were not made for kayaks though. It would have been foolhardy to try. Discretion proved the better part of valour in the end.



> Forecast for Thursday until midnight
> Winds Southeasterly 25 to 30 knots increasing to 30 to 35 knots in the late afternoon then increasing to 25 to 40 knots in the evening. Seas 3 metres increasing to 4 metres by early evening. Swell Easterly 3 metres. Weather Heavy rain, developing in the north later with possible thunderstorms. Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore in the afternoon and evening.
> 
> Friday 22 February
> ...


Keza, i reckon next week once this blows out, there may be a good chance. However the river was fully fresh on the surface at the Macleay Bridge on the way in to town. Slightly salty at the river mouth. With that amount of fresh about it could make life difficult.

Stippy, i was more than a little concerned as the fish towed me north away from land. I was the only vessel in sight. I had seen a couple of boats go past earlier in the morning but there weren't many people about.


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## grant ashwell (Apr 24, 2007)

I am another one who really feels blurk for you guys who only have one shot a year at this place. You have all had so much riding on it and the pre-fish had been fairly good. Still, it is not just SWR but the whole east Coast that has a problem. (Am I sounding a bit protective of the place?)

I am sitting here all packed and could be gone in 20 minutes> I am reviewing Willy Weather and the radar throughout the day as I am in the throes of a serious case of "cabin fever".

Good on you for having a go. Wonder if it was a big shark or the 45kilo Cobia that Scotty dropped last week.

Hope to see you another time
regards

Grant


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Sensible call Jon. Bugger you went all that way - you weren't driving a Toyota by any chance?

I have the brakes on too...

Latest Weather Observations for Cape Byron
Issued at 3:35 pm EDT Thursday 21 February 2013 (issued every 30 minutes, with the page automatically refreshed every 10 minutes)

TIME/DATE.......KNOTS....GUSTS

21/03:30pm ...... 36........ 42 
21/03:00pm ...... 34........ 45

21/02:03pm ...... 36........ 50

50 Knots! :shock: :shock:

Not so bad closer to SWR...

Latest Weather Observations for Yamba

TIME/DATE.......KNOTS....GUSTS

21/04:00pm ...... 22......... 33 
21/03:30pm ...... 24 .........37

Only 37 knots! Whew. 

trev


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## Guest (Feb 21, 2013)

Here you go StevenM, the only photo i took. It seems i stuffed up turning the GoPro on in the excitement of the bite. Well... you kind of get an idea of the conditions anyway. That's a small mountain behind me, and the rain is making the water look calmer than it really was.

Grant, when i hooked up, i kept telling myself it was a bigger cobia than last year. But the leader was scuffed too far up it to reasonably be a cobia. I'm fairly certain it was a 6ft+ shark and the scuffing was from the skin. Don't feel bad. It's just one of those things. You'll just have to keep posting reports to make us all jealous enough to try again next year!

Shining light in all this rain though is that the jew should be sniffing round the river mouths. Giddy up!


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## anselmo (Aug 26, 2008)

Didn't get that marlin then?
I said you'd hexed yourself ...


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## Guest (Feb 21, 2013)

anselmo said:


> Didn't get that marlin then?
> I said you'd hexed yourself ...


It appears i hexed just about the entire eastern seaboard. :shock: :shock:

Bertros, it would have been interesting to see. But if it was the size i think it was, i'm happy i didn't. I couldn't shift it on 15kg with 6kg of drag. It was going to be a long protracted fight to get it to the surface.


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## anselmo (Aug 26, 2008)

Hexing the entire eastern seaboard is a worthy effort


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## ako (Nov 24, 2011)

I'm in the same boat as others so to speak. Have all the gear packed just need to hook on the camper and go but going to see what the weather does although concerned with the amount of fresh in the bay now. If not this week than will go once it clears up.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Coffs Coast

Forecast for Friday until midnight
Winds South to southeasterly 35 to 50 knots turning east to northeasterly 30 to 45 knots in the morning.
Seas 5 metres decreasing to 4 metres around midday then increasing to 5 metres by early evening.
Swell Southeasterly 3 to 4 metres.
Weather Isolated thunderstorms. Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore.

Saturday 23 FebruaryWinds Northerly 25 to 30 knots turning northeasterly 15 to 20 knots in the early afternoon.
Seas 3 to 4 metres decreasing to 2 metres around midday.
Swell Easterly 1.5 to 3 metres.
Weather Isolated thunderstorms until evening. Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore in the morning.

Sunday 24 FebruaryWinds Northeasterly 15 to 20 knots.
Seas 1 to 2 metres.
Swell Easterly about 2 metres.
Weather The chance of thunderstorms.

Hex you Hezevic! :twisted: You're banned!

:lol: :lol:

trev


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## mrwalker (Feb 23, 2009)

Lots of points for effort in those conditions! better luck next time. Years ago, maybe 35,( am i THAT old?) I stood at the jail at the end of days of rain and wind. The bay was brown, the swell was huge, and spaniards were leaping out all over chasing mullet! it was a one off though,never seen it since. Cheers, Dave.


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## wobbly (Jun 13, 2007)

Got the car packed Wednesday with the intention of leaving Sydney v early Thursday but those plans are on hold pending the wet cell hanging over the mid north coast washing itself out. The weather gods reckon the storm cell will disperse saturday pm so will arrive either late saturday arvo or sunday lunchtime.

See you all then.

Brian


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Cape Byron is currently 53 knots in the gusts. :shock:

39 - 48 knots Coffs to Yamba, and heading for SWR. Home sounds good.

trev


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## BIGKEV (Aug 18, 2007)

I've been following Higgins Storm Chasers on my facebook feed and it is a good resource for keeping track of events like this.http://www.higginsstormchasing.com/ Just hit the link to like them on FB.


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## Dkay (Dec 20, 2010)

Yes guys I'm in the same boat (or kayak) packing the truck as we speak but I am being positive in that by Monday the wind will be gone, sunshine will prevail and the swell be non existent.

I suppose that this is being a little selfish, in that my concern is for fishing and I don't have to worry about damage to my house or flooding, hoping everyone in the area remains safe and dry, OK now back to being selfish, hopefully when I arrive on monday afternoon it will be glorious, if not there is always Mr James Squire to spend some time with and pass the time.


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## bunsen (Jan 2, 2009)

Jon, I cant tell you how many times my fishing plans have been dashed by the weather on trips to SWR and Coffs in the last 10 years.

Jim, as for the Dave Irvine snapper classic, the June long weekend also has a history of turning sour, weather wise...


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## paulo (Nov 1, 2007)

Ummed and arrred for the past two days. Packing the car now and heading down in the morning. Hope the highway isnt cut. See you all there.
Rain, what rain?


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

paulo said:


> Ummed and arrred for the past two days. Packing the car now and heading down in the morning. Hope the highway isnt cut. See you all there.
> Rain, what rain?


It's in NSW Paul. Water over the Pacific Hwy south of Grafton, and...

BOM observation (under Warnings):
At 3 pm, heavy rain was widespread from Cape Byron to Taree and thunderstorms were impacting these coastal areas. The highest rainfall totals in the six hours from 9am to 3pm Friday were 85mm at Bowra Sugarloaf (inland of Nambucca Heads) and 71 mm at Ballina. Wind gusts today have reached 126 km/h at Cape Byron, 106 km/h at Evans Head, and 95 km/h at Ballina and Coffs Harbour. Waver rider buoys offshore from Byron Bay and Coffs Harbour have recorded waves as high as 10 m today.

Also power is cut to considerable areas, with trees down across the highway and other roads. I'm going to wait a day or two.

trev


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## fisherjayse (Jan 30, 2013)

Are your marlin going to be effected by chocolate water? Close offshore its going to be milkshake coloured for next 4 days to a week. I am in Port Macquarie, 1 hour south of SWR, we have had 100mm rain today, Coffs Harbour has had a 100mm, forecast 150-300mm today...sad news, feel for you guys.

Hate expectations being blown away with the weather..............


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## bigalex (Mar 16, 2008)

Suddenly studying this weekend does not look like too bad an option. I was all keen to follow Paulo and Lynette down to SWR, after passing up on the Straddie weekend, but looks like I'll stay behind again. And 2013 was going to be the year that I got involved with kayak fishing trips ... Best wishes to you all.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

bigalex said:


> Suddenly studying this weekend does not look like too bad an option. I was all keen to follow Paulo and Lynette down to SWR, after passing up on the Straddie weekend, but looks like I'll stay behind again. And 2013 was going to be the year that I got involved with kayak fishing trips ... Best wishes to you all.


I'm going to re-assess the weather till it is probable there is a marked improvement...and then head down. Probably Monday at this stage.

trev


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## bigalex (Mar 16, 2008)

Paulo texted me to say that he has canned SWR and is heading to Double Island Point instead. Apparently the beach at Teewah has been heavily eroded and now it is impossible to get up the beach. He said that he is going to drive around to Rainbow and drive down the beach to the northern end of the camping zone at Freshwater Lake. I was up there in November and there was not a lot of beach there then, so hopefully he can get through. Good luck Paulo.


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## Marty75 (Oct 23, 2007)

Word from the in-laws who live in SWR is that the township has been cut off from the Pacific Hwy. Gladston, smithtown & Kinchela residents evacuated. Everyone in town is down at the local Bi-Lo stocking up.

Good luck to all those heading there.

Marty


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## baitslinger (Jul 22, 2011)

I left there at 2am this morning coz the water had filled the paddock n was lapping at the road side. Out just in time. Hoping to get up there in a few weeks after the water cleans up


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## baitslinger (Jul 22, 2011)

I've never seen the bay break so big, easy 12 foot. There were a few guys sticking it out, good luck


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Thanks Marty and Baitslinger. You just saved a long drive (for the moment).

trev


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## paulo (Nov 1, 2007)

We also waited and have now decided to head north for the week away from the rain. Will be at rainbow in 30 mins and toss a coin. Fraser or DI. Good luck to those that make swr.


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## wobbly (Jun 13, 2007)

Guys, for those who booked a camp site is it possible to get a credit due to the fact the flooding makes the journey unsafe and the fact that SWR is cut off.

Brian


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## BIGKEV (Aug 18, 2007)

paulo said:


> decided to head north for the week away from the rain.


Awaiting your return to see if you have re-thought this quote


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