The day began a trifle differently for me… should have launched using the "knuckles on the sand" launch, but opted foolishly for my usual effort, and unfortunately almost filled the SIK with brine. A quick exit and drag back up the beach saved a really bad incident, and after emptying said liquid, I attempted launching sitting in it with spray-skirt already in place, pushing into the water with the use of knuckles on the sand.
Piece of piss! Although much wetter than I should have been, but what the hell, I'm on the water and no damage done.
That was the first time I've ever tried that launch, and have only ever seen it on an earlier "safety" video-clip on the forum… thank-you Trev.
Now out to catch up with K1 and his friend, Paul aka Bonza.
Similar to K1's Friday post re paddling in 20knots, instead of just one yakker, there were three of us, today in conditions just a tad short of those on Friday. And instead of 20knots, it was only 17 at dawn, but climbed to 23 just as I returned to shore hours later at 1pm.
In the mean-time, the general group consensus was not to try fishing the favoured area to the North, but head South into the wind and fish relatively sheltered waters in the Queens Beach North area. That makes sense for when you return to come home with the wind, compared to punching into biggish waves, especially if the wind increases enough to make progress impossible.
As we neared the chosen area, I noticed a drop in the breeze, which allowed a drift further out past the protected from wind area, so I headed East aways and chucked out at couple of drift lines. As I drifted over one little reef, away went the lilelechick and up came a pan-sized snapper at 48cm… now that makes battling a few mean ol' waves more bearable, eh? I didn't need fish for home… got a few jewie feeds left in the fridge, so back in goes the pinkie.
I radioed Trev to tell him (crow about my catch) but he sounded quite indifferent about the matter, and informed me that he and Paul were heading off past Shield St reef while the wind conditions were so much better. I was happy where I was, and a couple more smaller snapper and a tiny dusky flatty obliged by posing for piccies on my spray-skirt work-bench. They also swam happily away.
Paul out-did himself by trolling up a 51cm snapper on a hard-body, and was immensely pleased with himself, as it was his first, I believe. Paul paddles a wooden yak that he built himself from plans he found in a publication years ago. It looks quite the goods, and I told him so… to say the least, he wasn't displeased.
He stopped by for a yarn as he passed by me on his way home around 10ish… K1 and I still had some fishing to attend to, and would linger for a wee while. Just after Paul left me, I completed my bag-out with another pinkie in the 40's.
Not long after that, I had a quite savage couple of bites, then nothing. It was as if two fast fish hit and missed. I jigged the lure for a while, then decided to wind in the lure to see if it was still intact... (sometimes when the tail of a soft-plastic is pulled, the hook comes out and just lays beside the outside of the lure, and you can jig it all day but the fish just don't want to play if the hook isn't in the right place).
Immediately I noticed that the line wasn't winding onto the reel, checked it out and found that the braid had somehow got in beneath the reel spool and was winding around the main shaft! Not good! Decidedly not good!
This is the interesting predicament to which this post title refers… I had a lure still in the water… if a fish hits now, the line will snap… I now have to dismantle the spool and unwind the line manually… and… on doing so, I find that I also have to slide the spool support and three packing washers off the shaft as well. Bloody Hell! I'm now holding the spool and drag-knob in my right hand, and four other pieces in my left, and screwing my vision hard down to release the braid from the shaft.
Fortunately for me, the line comes off quite easily… the support and packing washers slide back down the shaft easily and within seconds, the spool is in place and the holding nut wound down and drag tested…
Back in business! Whew!! That could have been nasty!
You fish all day, and want fish to bite… but in a predicament like that, a hot bite could have been disastrous!
Which reminds me… some years back, in this same area, I'd drifted past the hot bite area, so knowing there would be no fish biting now, and needing a pee, stuck the thread-line outfit beneath the bungee cord to hold it for a brief period, removed the spray-skirt, and there I was… dick in hand, pee bottle in other, and off go both rods! Not just one, but both of them!
Funny as! (Sod's Law working well!) :twisted:
I landed both fish, but little willie didn't like being exposed when snapper teeth were snapping all over the place, so shrunk and hid himself! I didn't cast the lines out again until after I'd had my pee, needless to say.
Back to the present, and I ring Trev to tell him I've bagged out, and he informs me he can't talk, that he's busy. I paddle his way and before I reach him, he radios me to say he just dropped a good fish. I finally reach him and he tells me a tale of woe… this has happened to him regularly just lately, and after commiserating with him on his loss, head off for wider fish-pastures, but after a short drift out wide, the wind skips up to about 21knots and all I got out there was an undersized snapper, so bugger it… back to where the bigger fish were available.
On my way, Trev radios me to say that it happened again… only this time he got his lure back, complete with teeth puncture marks on each side. He's got a beastie that has been playing silly buggers with him for some weeks, now… takes lures off him regularly, but this time let him have the lure back. Trev decides to give it the flick and heads home-wards.
I decide on another last drift, this time with an out-going tide, Sou-Sou-East wind, Easterly swell(?) and the drift taking me almost dead West! Work that one out! It's pretty difficult to plan a drift when nothing seems to go as it should.
Nothing eventuated with that drift, so in I go as well.
Although it was a bit lumpy on the briny… I really couldn't complain if I bagged out, so all in all, not a bad day... (best part of all... no fish taken home to clean!).
Cheers all, Jimbo
Piece of piss! Although much wetter than I should have been, but what the hell, I'm on the water and no damage done.
That was the first time I've ever tried that launch, and have only ever seen it on an earlier "safety" video-clip on the forum… thank-you Trev.
Now out to catch up with K1 and his friend, Paul aka Bonza.
Similar to K1's Friday post re paddling in 20knots, instead of just one yakker, there were three of us, today in conditions just a tad short of those on Friday. And instead of 20knots, it was only 17 at dawn, but climbed to 23 just as I returned to shore hours later at 1pm.
In the mean-time, the general group consensus was not to try fishing the favoured area to the North, but head South into the wind and fish relatively sheltered waters in the Queens Beach North area. That makes sense for when you return to come home with the wind, compared to punching into biggish waves, especially if the wind increases enough to make progress impossible.
As we neared the chosen area, I noticed a drop in the breeze, which allowed a drift further out past the protected from wind area, so I headed East aways and chucked out at couple of drift lines. As I drifted over one little reef, away went the lilelechick and up came a pan-sized snapper at 48cm… now that makes battling a few mean ol' waves more bearable, eh? I didn't need fish for home… got a few jewie feeds left in the fridge, so back in goes the pinkie.
I radioed Trev to tell him (crow about my catch) but he sounded quite indifferent about the matter, and informed me that he and Paul were heading off past Shield St reef while the wind conditions were so much better. I was happy where I was, and a couple more smaller snapper and a tiny dusky flatty obliged by posing for piccies on my spray-skirt work-bench. They also swam happily away.
Paul out-did himself by trolling up a 51cm snapper on a hard-body, and was immensely pleased with himself, as it was his first, I believe. Paul paddles a wooden yak that he built himself from plans he found in a publication years ago. It looks quite the goods, and I told him so… to say the least, he wasn't displeased.
He stopped by for a yarn as he passed by me on his way home around 10ish… K1 and I still had some fishing to attend to, and would linger for a wee while. Just after Paul left me, I completed my bag-out with another pinkie in the 40's.
Not long after that, I had a quite savage couple of bites, then nothing. It was as if two fast fish hit and missed. I jigged the lure for a while, then decided to wind in the lure to see if it was still intact... (sometimes when the tail of a soft-plastic is pulled, the hook comes out and just lays beside the outside of the lure, and you can jig it all day but the fish just don't want to play if the hook isn't in the right place).
Immediately I noticed that the line wasn't winding onto the reel, checked it out and found that the braid had somehow got in beneath the reel spool and was winding around the main shaft! Not good! Decidedly not good!
This is the interesting predicament to which this post title refers… I had a lure still in the water… if a fish hits now, the line will snap… I now have to dismantle the spool and unwind the line manually… and… on doing so, I find that I also have to slide the spool support and three packing washers off the shaft as well. Bloody Hell! I'm now holding the spool and drag-knob in my right hand, and four other pieces in my left, and screwing my vision hard down to release the braid from the shaft.
Fortunately for me, the line comes off quite easily… the support and packing washers slide back down the shaft easily and within seconds, the spool is in place and the holding nut wound down and drag tested…
Back in business! Whew!! That could have been nasty!
You fish all day, and want fish to bite… but in a predicament like that, a hot bite could have been disastrous!
Which reminds me… some years back, in this same area, I'd drifted past the hot bite area, so knowing there would be no fish biting now, and needing a pee, stuck the thread-line outfit beneath the bungee cord to hold it for a brief period, removed the spray-skirt, and there I was… dick in hand, pee bottle in other, and off go both rods! Not just one, but both of them!
Funny as! (Sod's Law working well!) :twisted:
I landed both fish, but little willie didn't like being exposed when snapper teeth were snapping all over the place, so shrunk and hid himself! I didn't cast the lines out again until after I'd had my pee, needless to say.
Back to the present, and I ring Trev to tell him I've bagged out, and he informs me he can't talk, that he's busy. I paddle his way and before I reach him, he radios me to say he just dropped a good fish. I finally reach him and he tells me a tale of woe… this has happened to him regularly just lately, and after commiserating with him on his loss, head off for wider fish-pastures, but after a short drift out wide, the wind skips up to about 21knots and all I got out there was an undersized snapper, so bugger it… back to where the bigger fish were available.
On my way, Trev radios me to say that it happened again… only this time he got his lure back, complete with teeth puncture marks on each side. He's got a beastie that has been playing silly buggers with him for some weeks, now… takes lures off him regularly, but this time let him have the lure back. Trev decides to give it the flick and heads home-wards.
I decide on another last drift, this time with an out-going tide, Sou-Sou-East wind, Easterly swell(?) and the drift taking me almost dead West! Work that one out! It's pretty difficult to plan a drift when nothing seems to go as it should.
Nothing eventuated with that drift, so in I go as well.
Although it was a bit lumpy on the briny… I really couldn't complain if I bagged out, so all in all, not a bad day... (best part of all... no fish taken home to clean!).
Cheers all, Jimbo
... deep thinking with your eyes closed, eh? Perhaps it was a big brother to the 60cm one you caught later? I really work hard to make snapper catching look easy. :lol: Trev told me some time back that you apparently make catching Tarpon look quite easy... is this so?
