# QLD: tsunami, bikinis, whales, even fish, Noosa 30Sep09



## sunshiner (Feb 22, 2006)

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Jaro this morning, at launch time: "It doesn't get any better than this". It was 0515 -- we were enthralled by the grandeur of the scene -- a totally flat and mirror-like sea faintly illuminated by the not-quite-risen sun, and backdropped by a cloudless sky with a hint of smoke or mist over the land. Jaro, Brian (AKFF: madcowes), Andy (AKFF: andypaddles) and I were all in the carpark by 0500 and launching shortly afterward. Jim, Mark and Harry were to turn up individually, later. What sort of day would we have today -- we never know?









_See what I mean? 0514hrs. Brian launching._

The four of us were soon headed for Sunshine Reef -- Andy, in his Viking Nemo, on his first trip out there, the rest of us old Sunshine Reef hands.

The swell was tiny, so tiny in fact that I could safely cut the shallow corners on the headlands very tightly on the way out and thus save a bit of distance. It's easy to become blasé as one paddles north east past the Noosa National Park but it was today, and often is, truly magnificent. At Hells Gates I came across a pod of dolphins travelling at about my speed and directly ahead, in the same direction, the rising sun reflecting off their dorsal fins as they surfaced to take a breath making it easy for me to follow their purposeful patrol.

Jaro was well ahead of the rest of us, as his after-launch setup time, now that he has the Profish, is tiny compared with mine and Brian's. While I was admiring the dolphins, it turns out that Jaro was admiring whales, out in the open ocean. The radio blared and he announced to all that there was a great whale show occurring just a little further out. That proved to be just the starter for the day -- whales in the midst of their migration south were a big part of our day.

Brian headed for the more distant part of the reef while I decided to stick with the closer in section which we'd been working last time we were out here. As I approached the mark, accompanied by Andy, I could see Jaro already in position in the same area. So Andy and I picked a spot, any spot really, to start a drift and hopefully catch a snapper.

I remember checking my watch when I first started to fish -- around 0630. There was a tiny breeze from the SE, and, judging by the angle of "hang" of my trailing outfit and the drift speed, little or no current -- certainly no sign of the toward-SE current which we have recently encountered at this same place. So I was drifting north, a fact soon confirmed by the GPS display. Also of note was the water condition. Although clear, as expected, it was crammed with tiny transparent organisms so that it resembled a watery soup, temp around 23°C.

There was no action at all for any of us for the first 15 minutes. Then I picked up a nice snapper (on a cast SP) -- taking great pleasure in announcing to the two of my companions who had radios and who were already fishing that I was "on the board".









_0650hrs. The first catch for the day. 52cm snapper._

Around this time I heard Jim call up on the radio that he was approaching our position and asking for site info. Very soon he joined us and commenced a similar drift, deploying a trailing pilchard bait on one outfit and casting an SP on a jighead on the other. Again all was quiet for around 20 minutes, during which time we became aware by radio that both Mark and Harry were also approaching our position. It was starting to get crowded out there.

Around 0720hrs Jim announced by radio that he was hooked up. I could see that the fish was on his light casting outfit and before long he announced that he also was on the board. Just after this announcement came another from Jim that his trailing outfit had gone off while he was dealing with the first fish - a fairly common occurrence out here. My distant view of Jim and his kayak confirmed this, as his heavy rod, now in his hands, was responding appropriately to the obviously heavy fish on the other end. We all waited expectantly and after a short time JIm announced that he had hooked the biggest snapper he'd seen for quite a while. As he gaffed it and dragged it into the yak I could see that his words were probably accurate -- the fish was pretty big, even from my distant position. With the fish under control, Jim suggested that a photo might be in order so I invited him to paddle the 200m or so over to me and I'd oblige.

















Jim, of course, now had two keeper snapper in the boat, each with at least one hook in its jaw and both still lively. There was fishing line festooned across the yak but Jim soon restored order sufficient for us to get a posed pic without danger of losing a fish overboard.









_0738hrs. Jim holds up his two, now tethered, snapper. Alexandria Bay and Hells Gates in the background._

Just as I pushed Jim's yak away after taking the pic above, my light SP, which I'd recast, was picked up by a nice sweetlip which joined my snapper on the tether.









_0747hrs. Grass sweetlip -- great tucker! Note the SP bait with its hook impaled in the upper lip. This was the same Squidgy SP which had caught several fish last trip and possibly the trip before and was by now looking a bit ragged (but it still went back into the packet for re-use after today's fishing)._

Just before all of this I'd encouraged Andy to swap to a 1/2 ounce jighead as it seemed to me that he wasn't getting to the bottom with the 1/4 ounce jighead he was using. After the change I noted that he now seemed to be getting down OK, possibly as a result of the increase in his casting distance. So it was with great pleasure that I soon heard that Andy was hooked up to what was probably a snapper. As this was his first from the kayak I offered to take his photo so he paddled over with his catch.









_0749hrs. Undersized, but a snapper, on an SP, from a kayak, out in the open ocean. An occasion for any keen fisher. (Fish returned to water alive.)_

Although the fish was undersized I felt sure that Andy had acquired the SP technique and was likely to get a keeper very soon. So off he went, back into the drift.

It was possibly about now that my phone (contained in a waterproof case) buzzed loudly. It was my wife telling me that she'd heard on the radio that a tsunami warning had been issued for eastern Australia following an overnight earthquake near Samoa. I agreed with her that the matter warranted some consideration for us kayakers, particularly as we were an hour's paddling time from our launch spot, although back up beach landings were possible at the much closer, but more exposed, Sunshine Beach and Alexandria Bay (in the background in the above pic). I promised to give some consideration to immediately returning home. With this event, the huge safety value of our VHF radios, which with all except one of our little flotilla were equipped, became apparent. Firstly, I broadcast the info about the tsunami warning to all of my radio-equipped companions, scattered over a couple of km, informing them that I intended to contact Noosa Coastguard by the same VHF radio to find out if this information was known to them. I then switched to Channel 22, and radioed the Coastguard, which is over 5km in a direct line from where we drifting, receiving an immediate clear responding transmission. It transpired that the Coastguard had no knowledge of the tsunami warning but the operator promised to check and then, if necessary to broadcast the warning on Channels 16 and 22 which we monitor. I passed this on to my colleagues and we kept fishing. Having received no further information from the Coastguard after some 15 minutes, I phoned my wife who then informed me that the tsunami warning for our area had been cancelled. Again I relayed this info by radio to my colleagues, news which was greeted with cheers by some. So back to the fishing...









_0821hrs. Andy scores his first keeper snapper from a kayak. Well done, mate. May there be many more..._

And then the whales turned up. For some time I'd been drifting and hearing the snorts that whales make when they surface to breathe. Andy, nearby, and Harry, a little further away, could also hear them. But now we could see them -- several whales heading straight for us, and opposite to the normal migration direction. Perhaps as Jim suggested, they were after Harry's "smoko" sandwiches, which were now being digested and so were difficult for the whales to access. We watched them come closer and eventually I decided to pull in my lines in case of an encounter I could do without. Having pulled them in I decided that I might start heading for home, which intention I quickly found was Jim's also, as he announced by radio. This was just before 10am so Andy and I turned our kayaks for home, just as the whales started to head in the same direction.

We found that for the next 1.5km we were constantly shepherded by the whales, with another pod arriving from the north as we closed on Hells Gates, pod #1 now having opted to hang around the headland and Alexandria Bay, to the delight of many holidaymakers clustered on the headland in the brilliant sunshine. I recorded some video of this encounter and have made a short movie, available on youtube:






Andy and I were the first through the whale gauntlet and our colleagues following had similar experiences. Brian had his camera ready and took several still shots, providing this one to me today by email.









_Brian's very close encounter._

And so we returned to the beach to be greeted, as usual, by bikini-clad maidens. This is for you Occy...









_What can I say? It must be a natural attractant._









_Andy's and my fish. Andy's on the right._

Of course, once I told the crowd that the guy in the blue and green Espri had a bigger specimen they all turned their attention to him (Jim), still not quite on the beach, but rapidly approaching. On arrival, they mobbed him.









_OK, size does matter._









_Jim's whopper on the measure mat._

Thanks for reading AKFFers. Tight lines...


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## wongus (Feb 12, 2006)

Ahh Kev,

You've outdone yourself with that report... love ya work


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## Windshear (Aug 22, 2009)

Fantastic report Sunshiner, great photos too. Now that's livin!! 
Thanks for sharing
Andy


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## madkeenfisher (Jul 24, 2008)

Kev

Great report mate. Got your reply on my post regarding this weekend. Can't make it that far up sorry. After looking at those great spring snapper it makes me want to move up there. You guys must be getting sick of eating snapper for dinner by now surely!! Anyway I will be trying to get up that way soon.

Keith


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## Shorty (May 11, 2008)

Great report,,that Sheila in the sunglasses is easy on the eye,,you should get the girls on the beach hold up the snapper each trip,we are getting sick of seeing you blokes every day we log in :lol:


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## breamfish (May 19, 2009)

Great fish and report again and congrats to jim 
sunshiner whats the bike helmet used for


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## HardPlastic (Jul 2, 2007)

Thanks Sunshiner. You are the wordsmith mate. Nothing better than going for a snapper fish with your mates. You've got a great crew up there. It was a beautiful morning and that's a horse of a snapper by Jim. Am i right in saying he caught that on a Davo's style pillie rig?

Greg


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## Astro (Nov 27, 2006)

what a productive fishing ground you guys have access to...fresh snapper...yummy


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## Rodinal (Apr 7, 2009)

what an inspiring report, photos and video to begin the day...

I am sure all will agree your effort to keep us entertained is much appreciated.

Thanks once again,
David


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## austin1985 (Jun 3, 2009)

I was thinking it was a great morning for a kayak yesterday as i was running along the beach a mooloolaba.

i really need to get a yak and join in on the fun!


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Kev plainly its not just the reef fishing that appeals, and have never seen company like that around the shoreline at Hinze Dam....another enjoyable report to read mate


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## Wattie (Apr 30, 2007)

Spoken in the same manner as the "Blues Brothers" after smashing through a shopping centre.

"This place has got everything".

What a great report


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## DougOut (Dec 31, 2006)

Just another Hard Day at "The" Office, 
Huh Kev. ;-)


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

----

QlpoOTFBWSZTWd5tdA4AAA9XgAAQQAcAqBAAL/ffYCAAdBoqfkaNSbUzSN6ibQRT9TTUeoNHqAHkiYhH+dZVbU5g6XJURzajhgbGTBUBSsHfkjglOFOYa5CJKaq0JTl0AbnKl5oM26DxIST6c32xaMM8q6FhPSC3y21AfbpepBjr+mHJF8F3JFOFCQ3m10Dg


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## rathabfishin (Sep 21, 2009)

Fantastic report Sunshiner. Its visions like that which have made me want to get into Yak fishing in the first place. Awesome fish, whales, dolphins, maidens to greet you on the beach, what else could you ask for?

I looking forward to your next trip report!


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## sunshiner (Feb 22, 2006)

breamfish101 said:


> Great fish and report again and congrats to jim ... sunshiner whats the bike helmet used for


G'day breamfish

I suppose if I had a pedal yak I'd have a better excuse. The helmet is a prototype helmet cam. I've used it a few times and put some video up on AKFF. The very first time I used it I had a snapper take my SP while it was running. It works well and cost nothing but an hour or so cobbling the apparatus together using disused and scrap materials. At the moment it has a few small deficiencies that need to be addressed: (1) Sun exposure on the face of the wearer (2) Not very comfortable (3) I'm not game to wear it in the surf in case I rip my head off ;-) .

Anyway, these two pics might satisfy your curiosity...

















While it's mounted in the helmet, the camera has a safety line attached which is secured to my PFD.


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## breamfish (May 19, 2009)

WOW that looks the good you come up with some good ideas


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## sunshiner (Feb 22, 2006)

HardPlastic said:


> Thanks Sunshiner. You are the wordsmith mate. Nothing better than going for a snapper fish with your mates. You've got a great crew up there. It was a beautiful morning and that's a horse of a snapper by Jim. Am i right in saying he caught that on a Davo's style pillie rig? Greg


G'day Greg

Yep you can see it in one of the pics. We're drift fishing in ~28m so a bit of weight is needed to get such a high-drag bait down near the bottom. Jim doesn't have a sounder though, and he loses a few of those rigs to snags. This rig doesn't have the separate arm with the flashers on it -- they're a bit exxy to lose on a snag.


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## mrwalker (Feb 23, 2009)

Great report, a good read and obviously a lovely morning on the water. cheers, Dave.


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## paulsod (Dec 28, 2008)

Jealous, jealous, jealous!! :twisted:
That's to cover your last few trips.
Well done to everybody involved.
Bloody good reports, sunshiner!

Paul


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