[Phoenix]

Hi,
My wife has been somewhat sceptecial of my enthusiam for early mornnig (3am) starts to hit Noosa for dawn, so she took up the idea of a sunset hit.

This was our first time out at night and looking back there are a few things we should have done that we didn't do. We do hoever know the area well and have fished it during daylight many times - this is essentail as you can easily loose your bearings at night.

Those of you that know me will know I am a bit of a safety nut - with a very bright 5 LED red cycalists light at the back of the crate and a nav light + hi-visability clothing.

I picked up some custom made lures by someone I know in Noosa and then headed off to the ramp - alas the parking was all taken and it took us a while to find a decant spot - so we were already about 40 minutes behind when I then realised that my nav light wasnt working - 20 minutes of fustration later {yes I always make sure the battery is charged and always check the wiring works before I leave} we retrieved our head lights (miners light) & we hit the water.

Astonishingly the nav light then came on once we were in the water.

We pretty much headed straight to spot X which has recently been the on-fire position for tailor, kingfish and also trevally all up to 3 kg. One of the big advantages on night fishing is the much reduced numbers of stink-boats. :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

We tried to troll some lures Rappala and Manns - without sucess :evil: , also tried various SP's - again no joy and as the sun was going down, we decided to wet a few baits.

We scored 5 bream - 2 legal - all released. I was actually targeting tailor/ trevally and kingies at the time with a pilly on 1/0 which was inhailed by a 25cm bream and another 2/0 ganged which was taken by a 26cm bream. One did put up a good fight and I almost thought I was onto a tailor.

As soon as the baits ran out - no more strikes. We trolled around for another few k's but got nothing. Still - we were pretty happy.

It did disapoint me to see the number of big stink boats (7 metres plus, cabin cruisers) motoring around without any lights on :evil: - or worse the teenagers using a high power spot light around the water which would have spooked the fish and also served to blind me. Grrrrrrrrrr :evil: :evil: Die Die Die - dammit die! :evil:

We were using a 6'6" Penn Power Stick with an Abu reel (exactly the same for both of us) loaded with 4kg fireline and a 1 metre or so leader of 6 kilo Mono. I use black magic swivels and snaps.

Anyway lessons learnt;
* Always take a good meal (to have cold or + cooking gear) with you because as we found there is hardly anything open after 9pm on a Saturday night. Although we'd eaten big at lunch, we were starving by the time we got out of the water at around 8.30pm.
* Take more bait with us after dark - we got no strikes as soon as we ran out. We had 2 pillies, a few frog mouth and a small hand full of prawns.
* Consider booties - less risk from sting rays & flattys
* Some kind of lycra {as it does not absorb water} trouser (such as Ron Hills) to cut down on wind chill. We will both be investing in these - despite their lack of fashion, they work bloody well.

Hope this helps.

 

[Dodge]

Those of you that know me will know I am a bit of a safety nut - with a very bright 5 LED red cycalists light at the back of the crate and a nav light + hi-visability clothing.

Mate in the interest of safety could I suggest you made a major error with your lighting...on the water a red light is a port light and would be seen as that by another skipper

Stern lights and 360 riding lights should be white, so you would have been safer with a headlamp tied to your crate pointing back.

Red and green should only show forward of the boat, and are not required on your kayak in Queensland, all the law requires is a torch to be flashed on a boat under oar or paddle power.

Personally I prefer the security of allround white if other boats are in the area.

Don't expect much adherance to the light laws on the water, as many cast off their brain when they cast off from the shore; and this is in all sizes of boats.

The best safety tip is you own 360 degree awareness of your surrounds :wink:

 

[Phoenix]

Hi Dodge, yes my Nav light is a 360 degree all round white light - which is suprisingly bright.

I use the head lights as a back up in case of electrical problems.

It was suggested to me that a red cycalistis light would be a good idea. Perhaps I'll remove that.

 

[Dodge]

red cycalistis light Perhaps I'll remove that.

Think you are much safer doing that, as the old training slogan is 'Red to red safe ahead'... which means you get run over by the skipper driving the first red light.

If you have a 360 white, and good awareness of surrounds I'm sure you have done the right thing for you and yours.

My only night light after 30 years on the water is 360 white

 

[sunshiner]

Hi Phoenix

Were you fishing in the river or offshore? If in the river I'm very interested in your mention of kingies…

Incidentally, an excellent launch spot in the river is the area next to the Munna Point camping ground. Car parking is rarely a problem, there's a grassy approach to a soft sandy beach and even a tap where you can wash down your salty yak afterward.

 

[sunshiner]

Hi Phoenix

Were you fishing in the river or offshore? If in the river I'm very interested in your mention of kingies…

Incidentally, an excellent launch spot in the river is the area next to the Munna Point camping ground. Car parking is rarely a problem, there's a grassy approach to a soft sandy beach and even a tap where you can wash down your salty yak afterward.

 

[troppo]

Must have been disappointing being so hungry and not finding anything decent. I carry muesli bars (yoghurt ones as they are nice and sweet ) to help keep the stomach from collapsing. Good on ya for getting out on the briny when things go dark.