Thanks to Indie for getting the ball rolling on this trip and an extra large thank you to Lazybugger for organising so much and giving me a lift up and back etc. Much appreciated. Thanks also to Des for letting my Hobie ride aboard the Stealth trailer!
I only managed a grinner, but saying that, still had an awesome weekend. Very scenic, particularly around Lake Freshwater (Lazybugger, you know what I'm talking about )
It was great to meet so many fellow AKFFers and finally put some faces to some names/usernames. I picked up alot of useful fishing tips over the weekend. I've still alot to learn, particularly with the 'offshore' side of things.
Keen to do something similar again in the future.
A few pics from the weekend below.
Kayakone & Lazybugger chewing the fat
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Friday arvo
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Saturday session
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Sunday - looking back towards Rainbow Beach
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Sunday . . . already?
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Lazybugger - Returning from a relaxing paddle into the wind!
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:
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, Ido (but you can call me Iso/Dag, whatever suits you, I'll come )
Zed wrote:Horseflies are insidious. They will bite right at the small of your back where you can't reach. Pestilence.
These things were numerous and wasted no time sneaking up behind you. At times it was not uncommon to have between 5 & 10 flies land on you every minute, their bite was instant and painful. The photos don't show their true size with some of them nudging close to an inch long and their bitey part (not sure on name) similar to the tip of a ball point pen, at times they left you bleeding following the bite.
Thanks for embedding that clip, it was getting late and I was pushing all the wrong buttons, I am still exhausted from the weekend with no respite in the near future.
Cool photos and vid of a cool weekend. Thanks to the guys who got us all together. Very enjoyable meeting all the guys and getting out there almost catching fish. I had one spotty mack half in the yak but a moment of indecision about what I was doing and he was gone. Mrs. Indie said since I had the leader in hand it was technically a catch. I'll go with that.
It's a great spot. Summer on the beach in Australia with bitey things and wind. Love it.
Looks like a great weekend was had by all, I hope to be up there and attending the next one!
I'm not familiar with the area but I note that you needed to drive your cars down to the launch spot - how far from the campsite was the launch area? Is the campspot a designated camping area or is this stretch of beach 'camp wherever you want'?
Davey, have a look at the attached map which gives a pretty good layout of the area. We camped right at the northern end of the Teewah Beach camping zone and this was about 8km south of where the Leisha Track takes you over to the western side of DIP. That's where the "lagoon" is and we drove around it to the edge of the ocean where we put the yaks in. Getting around it is tricky or impossible with a big high tide so we had to pick our times here. The wind was too strong to attempt a surf launch on the eastern side south of DIP. Within the camping zone you just pull up and pick a spot, first in best dressed. So I wouldn't like to arrive there at the beginning of a long weekend.
Davey G wrote:Looks like a great weekend was had by all, I hope to be up there and attending the next one!
I'm not familiar with the area but I note that you needed to drive your cars down to the launch spot - how far from the campsite was the launch area? Is the campspot a designated camping area or is this stretch of beach 'camp wherever you want'?
I hate horse flies too
There is a designated zone for beach camping, about a 15klm stretch I think, and you can camp anywhere within that zone, i.e. not designated sites. It was about 7-8klm run from camp to the beach launch, tide dependant.
BIGKEV wrote: I am still exhausted from the weekend with no respite in the near future.
Kev
Kev,
You and Justin are either deaf or just way too polite not to have mentioned my snoring.
Good job to everyone who is putting up piccies. My camera is dead and I forgot to take any on my phone so I really good to see others captured the moments.
Lazybugger wrote:You and Justin are either deaf or just way too polite not to have mentioned my snoring.
You put a roof over our heads and you were driving Justin home, really do think either of us had grounds to complain?
Seriously though, going to bed at 11pm with a skinfull and getting up at 4am after waking up constantly checking my watch in anticipation of fishing the following day, your snoring was never going to worry me. Plenty of time to catch up on my sleep over the next few nights, really we need a week off to recover from the weekend.....
glenndini wrote:Only one question. When are we going again?
Buck wrote:This is my first trip report so where to start. ....trolling a Halco laser pro 120 in gold colour when I managed to spot a some birds working over a bait ball. We managed to sail right through the middle of it & BANG my reel started that noise I had been longing for. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Right at that time Indie called in to see how we were going. Tony was talking to him & I watched in amazement while line was stripped from my reel. What to do? I was overly excited, Under experienced & half cut on rum. I thought well I have to stop him before I run out of line so I started tightening the drag. This fish was still stripping line at a fast rate, I’ll tighten the drag some more. I had just managed to stop it from peeling line when the braid snapped right back at my reel. A big thanks to everyone involved & I cant wait to see everyone again at the next big fishing trip.
BIGKEV wrote:WARNING Before playing the video please be warned there is some rather bad language at the point that I lose a fish. Please turn it down if there are kids around or your offended by profanities.
indiedog wrote:Thanks to Lazy for helping out with the organization and to all who came making it a great trip. Hopefully we'll do it all again soon.
actionsurf wrote:Great trip. Great spot. I'll definitely be heading back up there soon. 4 days ain't enough time. Cheers
FishinDan wrote:....I think we need to do another trip up there... And this time I'll go
IsoBar wrote: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.
We also meet new acquaintance - the dreaded horse flies. This was how I liked them:
Flat dead
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 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 of course 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 (my emphasis), see you out there, Ido
OK. The vote is overwhelming. Let's do it again.
Trevor
trev
Whaler 1.5 m; Tailor 65 cm; Bream 43 cm; Snapper 85 cm; Flathead 98 cm; Estuary cod 55cm; Spotted mackeral 85 cm; Papuan trevally 100 cm & 20 kg; Barracuda 100 cm; Spanish 77 cm; Sting ray got me 175 cm
Life without any risks is not worth living. (quote 'goanywhere')
)
. 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 
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).
