It's going to be a little quiet around here over the next couple of weeks. I'm hitting the road on a work trip that will probably see me MIA online until I return. Mackay QLD is one of the destinations and no doubt somewhere along the way I'll catch up with Carl (Astro). If I can drag him back from his off-shore adventuring in his new Adventure Island, that is. Surely I'll manage to fit some fishing into the schedule of course and will post some reports soon after I return.
Carl 'Astro' Holland on his Hobie Outback (which I think is now for sale)
In the meantime, here's something to riddle your brain with. If anyone can give me a heads up, let me know. I'm wondering if it's at all possible in this modern society to exist without a bank account (and just hide whatever riches you may have instead). Can I just take a wage in a cheque (and cash it in), or even just cash and stuff it away in a coffee jar instead? Making arrangements like that with most employers wouldn't be terribly difficult, but I think functioning in todays society probably might. So many facets of todays social infrastructure is somehow linked to the banks. It seems to be almost, if not impossible to not be so yourself. I've lost a lot of confidence in the banking system and it's something that's been eroding over time. Never so rapidly as since the Fanny Mae/Freddie Mac affair, however, (which seemed to be a fairly obvious omen that the US economy was on very rocky territory) and now especially after the Wall st collapse.
Last night my overall understanding of the situation deepened significantly, as did my lack of confidence in the global banking system and the fractional reserve banking system that oversees it. To explain this would take up more space on this page than I'm willing to commit to the topic. Suffice to say that if you're interested, watch this video clip below. And after watching that, sit back and watch this longer video on the same topic. The youtube clip below focuses on the federal reserve bank created document: Modern Money Mechanics, breaking it down in a way that will make your head spin. The second, much longer clip goes quite a bit further, way back into the history of the creation of money and how the system developed as to how it is today.
I watched the longer google video after watching the shorter clip. Admittedly, I found this to be somewhat alarming and it struck me that people probably need to know about this. This information, coupled with the wall st 'put 700 billion in the bag and no one gets hurt' bailout, left me feeling very much at the mercy of the banks, of whom appear to operate under a system I no longer trust. Privatising profits and socialising losses is not a concept I'm terribly fond of.
I don't expect things to improve in a hurry and if the system doesn't change, perhaps even longer... if ever. Good thing I can fish and know how to grow veges because I don't like the sound of what all this means for the cost of living in the future. Now if only I knew a way to live without actually needing a bank account...
Sometimes, catching fish is a secondary objective. Sometimes it's really just about getting onto the water and having fun. Today was one of those days. I'd arranged to spend the day sailing off shore with a few other local happy Hobie Island owners and was greatful to be invited along. The plan was to launch from Murrays beach, make our way through the heads, into the ocean and head south. With sth westerlies predicted we figured this would make for an easy sail home.
There was virtually no wind when we launched at about 9AM, so we made our way out to sea under pedal power. Eventually a very light breeze kicked up behind us, though it wasn't enough to stop pedalling. We travelled about 10km south down to (what I think is) St Georges Head, where we found a large colony of seals. Many of them were in the water, but almost as many were perched precariously on ledges jutting out from a steep cliff face. That they got up there to begin with was quite amazing. Watching them get back down was also as amazing as it was amusing. I was fortunate enough to catch this on video, although it barely does the event justice.
You wouldn't believe how high these seals manage to climb... somehow
It was here that we realised that our party of 4 had turned to 3, so we moved back out to sea to figure out where the missing sailor was. He was busily sailing away nearby Bowen island and given that there was still very little wind, we figured it might be best if we head back and join him (rather than continue south, which is what we'd planned originally). That was a good move really, because conditions deteriated significantly a short while later and it was good to be close to the bay when that happened.
As we turned north the wind picked up a bit, blowing in from the nth west. This dictated that we tack our way back, which was smooth sailing all the way. We'd timed our arrival into the bay to perfection I think because by the time I'd made it back to the relative safety of the bay rain clouds were threatening. And soon after that the wind went from a moderate blow to gale force winds in record time. I'd been hoping for stronger winds all day, but 45kmph winds were pushing the friendship. So I decided to head back in before things got hairy. All 3 of the other guys had already landed and were busily packing.
I did tow a lure the entire time, although I failed to raise a bite. I wasn't expecting to hook up, but I trolled the lure in the off chance that a tuna might show up and take it. It's still a bit early for the yellowfin to move in though, so I was surprised to come up with a duck. I wasn't at all disappointed, however, because I still had a nice thick snapper fillet in the fridge (now on the fry pan as I type). It won't be long before those tuna show up and when they do, I'm certain to find them with the Island. Watch this space.
What was supposed to be a 6AM start this morning turned out to be a 7AM start, thanks to the daylight saving switch over that I failed to prepare for. Usually such an error wouldn't be too much of a problem but today I had arranged to pick up a work mate and take him out kayak fishing. We were still able to get out on the water fairly quickly though, launching from Murrays beach and paddling over to the south end of Bowen Island, which is a very fishy area. With oceanic waters rushing in through a bottle-neck entrance, it's usually also a fairly rough area to, so I was a little hesitant to take Jamie into it at first. Despite being fairly new to kayak fishing (and his first outing on an Adventure) he told me that he'd paddled surf skis in the surf without problem, so using that as a benchmark we paddled forth into the chop.
Turbulent water on the sth side of Bowen Island
There is also a marine park sanctuary zone in this area so we had to be careful about drifting into it, so in lieu of any marker buoys we drew imaginary lines where we thought the boundary lies and proceeded to fish on the safe side of it. I hooked up to a worthy fish on my second cast, falling for a 6" white flickbait style soft plastic. The snapper gave a good fight as I brought in to the side of the yak, although it spat the hook right at the last moment as I tried to comfort lift it aboard. I wasn't terribly pleased about losing the fish (which would have been about 50cm) but I felt confident that I'd get another shot at it.
56cm snapper. This guy fought a bit like a rat kingy
Sure enough I'd hooked up again moments later, this time to an even bigger fish. For a few minutes into this fight I was positive I'd hooked a kingy, as it peeled off a fair amount of line in a bid for the relative safety of the reefy bottom. It was winning the fight at first, towing me rather close to the rocky edges of the island. Eventually this became too close for comfort so I tightened the drag a little and peddled back out of harms way, persuading the fish to come along with me. A few minutes later I had this fish boat side as well, this time executing the comfort lift with more caution. The 56cm snapper came aboard without fuss and was instantly bled, gutted and even beheaded so I could fit it into the ice box. There's dinner for tonight and tomorrow night.
Jamie with a nice estuary cod
A little while after Jamie pulled a few small pike and then this nice estuary cod, we decided to get out of the rough stuff and troll over to the north side of the island in search of the elusive king, which we were unable to locate. From there we made our way to the middle ground reef and then back towards murrays beach, and then to a spot known as 'the hole in the wall' where we tried our luck for salmon and tailor. On the way back to the area I quickly diverted course back to the spot where I'd pulled out the snapper earlier and had a few ore quick casts - one of which resulted in this ideally pan-sized snapper. There's dinner for the neighbours (whom I'm starting to become rather popular with).
Although we were unable to catch any other fish, we certainly did see signs of them a few more times, with several schools of baitfish being rounded up by unseen predators. We persisted by following these baitballs for a while, casting in a variety of lures in hope of hooking up, all to no avail. By 1PM we were both pretty much done and decided to head back in. The action hadn't been terribly hot, but it was good enough to provide inspiration though and clearly Jamie had a great time fishing from the Adventure.
Tomorrow I'm heading out again, this time on a sailing/fishing trip, so I'll be packing the island sail and amas. The plan is to cover a fair few km, so instead of flicking soft plastics around I'll be trolling a metal slug of some description. There's a fair chance of hooking up onto salmon or tailor and given the area we'll be sailing in, am always a chance for a kingy or even a tuna as well. Keep an eye out for a follow up report tomorrow night.
With a forecast temp of 27 °C and moderate winds there was no way I could let the day pass without taking the AI (Adventure Island) out for a spot of fishing and sailing. The weather report was spot on as far as the prophesized sunshine goes, but it did get the wind directions wrong. I'd planned for a southerly blowing in the morning, turning to a northerly in the afternoon but at the heads of Jervis Bay the opposite seemed to be happening. This dictated a quick change of plans, as my original intention was to sail a considerable distance north with the assistence of a tailwind coming from the south in the morning, and then sail back south when the wind changed to a northerly.
Sea-skunk pike
Instead of sticking to the original plan I decided to be a little less ambitious, still starting out heading north, but not with intention to go as far as I'd planned. I tacked my way towards Pt Perpendicular, hugging Bowen Island along the way and passing through the middle ground reef at the half-way point. I was trolling a Rapalla X-RAP lure almost the entire way, but throughout the first hour I managed only one fish - a large, stinky pike. I had no intention of bringing the thing aboard, so I held it at the waters surface for a few moments and allowed it to flip itself free.
Winds picked up when I reached the point, so I decided to take advantage of it and play around for a while. Before long it died down to almost nothing, which I took as an opportunity to head back to throw some plastics around the middle ground reef. On my first cast I felt a few good bites that felt suspisciously like snapper. The next cast resulted in a hook up and as I reeled it in I became certain it was a snapper. It felt like a fair fish and I was pleased to see that when the 45cm specimen came to the surface, dinner was sorted.
45cn Snapper
A short while later I caught another snapper, this time putting up a better fight. Measuring up at 50cm, that was dinner for the neighbours squared away. I caught another one soon after, but being a bit smaller than the other two, was released. They were biting on a 5" squidgy flick bait (pilchard style) and wouldn't touch anything else I threw at them. My last 3 of these handy little lures were demolished by these three fish and after a while I gave up trying to catch them with anything else.
A little while later the wind came on again, so I took the opportunity to set sail homeward. I covered a fair distance today (26km) and trolled a lure most of the way. I was shocked that the only fish I caught while trolling was the pike. Indeed, I was aiming for something a little more brag-worthy. I've been told it's still a bit early for tuna so perhaps I was wasting my time trying. Oh well... the sailing was fun regardless.
Brand spanking Hobie Adventure Island, rigged up and good to go
I've upgraded once again, this time going from the Adventure to the viagra-enhanced Adventure Island. Hull-wise, it's much the same boat and for some of the time at least, I'll be using it in very similar fashion to the original. The Island does have a few major appendages that when fitted, transform it from being a not so humble kayak to an even less humble trimaran. It's not the kind of upgrade that everyone would want to do but after having played around in a few Islands recently, was something I could really see merit in. There's a few reasons for this, which I could summarise as it's overall versatility. If you've got your heart set on getting out onto the water, having something that can be paddled/pedalled in calm conditions or otherwise sailed in windy conditions can really open up ones options.
Sailing the Island really is a hell of a lot of fun. It's simple enough to do, the boat itself is incredibly stable and under the right conditions, super fast. My fastest recorded speed so far is 16.4kph, which I managed last night in winds somewhere in the vicinity of 15-18 knots. I took it out today for a longer run, launching from Murrays boat ramp and sailing over to Pt Perpendicular and then playing around the headlands. What would otherwise take me about 3 hours to paddle/pedal, took me about an hour and that was tacking into a headwind. Sailing back with a tailwind behind me was even faster.
Fishing from the Island has commanded a few adjustments to my game and that's partly why I've been working towards minimising my gear and organising it better. After a couple of trial runs (one with rods, one without) with the new boat I think my efforts have been well worthwhile. Less clutter on deck definitely makes things go smoother while sailing. I also took the step of re-thinking storage of tackle and essential items, with a view to make sure that everything that absolutely positively has to stay dry does. This is very important on the Island, because the faster it goes - especially in choppy water - the wetter the ride. That's all part of the fun though I reckon, which is demonstrated in the video clip below, which I shot today. In the clip I'm playing around off Pt Perp, tacking into a northerly breeze. My GPS was off at the time but I estimate that I was doing just over 10kph at the time.
Extending my range of capabilities is one of the major reasons I started to like the idea of using the Island as a fishing platform. Jervis Bay is a rather large body of water and equipped with sail power provided by the island, I'm able to reach any part of it. There are some very productive reefs off shore that are too difficult to reach by paddle power alone. Now they are within my reach.
The added speed should also help to round up some pelagics whilst trolling. So far I've had good success hooking up while trolling at fairly high speeds and that trend should only continue. In my experience some species respond better to faster moving lures and with tuna season coming up I should get plenty of opportunity to test that theory. It is challenging to boat a good fish when hooking up while sailing (especially when the boat is going one way and the fish the other) but the furling system featured on the Island makes it relatively easy to manage.
I did have a good day's fishing from the Island today, which I'll talk more about in a soon-to-be-written fishing report (Snapper for dinner). I'll also talk more about how I've rigged up the Island, as well as how I've re-organised my gear to suit in another post soon.
Those of you familiar with the Hobie Adventure Island kayak/trimaran might be wondering where a dune coloured model came from, as it is only available in Hibiscus (red) or Papaya (yellow) as standard. There is actually a dune island upgrade kit available, which I've matched with a dune adventure (would also go well with moss and orange I think). Installing the upgrade kit was easier than I was expecting and I'm glad I got the chance to do so, as it gave me an opportunity to get up real close and personal and learn more about it. I do like both the Hibiscus and Papaya colours but couldn't decide between the two, so opting for the dune colour seemed to make sense.
Lately I've been putting a lot of thought in to adopting a more minimal approach to my kayak fishing trips,aiming for a better organised, cleaner and more open deck. Cutting back on the yak fishing kit has become a notion that presents a slight dilemma for me though. Throughout my kayak fishing career I've ranged from an extreme minimalist approach (in the beginning), slowly but surely evolving to a respectably maximal strategy.
The former style of kayak fishing trip involved paddling out with a single rod, a handful of lures, a towel and a small pocket camera. The latter typically involves packing everything from multiple rods, a sizable collection of lures and tackle, 2 cameras, 2 torches (1 being a headlamp), phone, VHF radio, first aid and safety kit, a sounder, GPS, compass, lip grips, pliers, knife, net, gaff hook, towel and anything else I think I may need... most of it leashed or stowed in waterproof containers.
The kayak often gets loaded with that lot, plus a bunch of extras such as an anchor trolley, hull-mounted compass, safety flag, sail kit, sidekick amas (for sailing) and rod holders. Sometimes I also carry out an anchor, or drogue and always some kind of fish storage solution. That's a lot of gear, and I didn't even mention the extra waterproof jacket that I sometimes pack, or the fact that I usually also carry out my wheel trolley with me. Or the snacks and drink.
Fully sick Hobie Adventure with the lot
Part of the dilemma I have is that much of this kit is necessary for the kind of kayak fishing that I usually do, both in terms of catching fish and doing it safely (for me and my gear). I can't sacrifice any of the safety related items of course, so I've been thinking about trimming the fat in terms of fishing gear. I could lose one of the cameras, but I'm not really willing to. On that front I've found a better way to organise their storage which is much more practical than the way I have been doing it (more on that another time).
I definitely don't want to sacrifice my chances of catching fish, however, so the only right way to go about it is just get much better organised and take a more targeted approach. For the emerging season I'll be reducing the amount of tackle I carry out and instead of taking out 3 rods (typical for me) I'm now only going to take 2. Less fishing gear leaves me with a little less in the way of options when I'm out there, so the trick is to simply become more certain of what kind of fish I'm likely to find, and where. Despite having lackadaisically looked and having asked around a bit, most of my research into this area has been done by simply exploring around and using educated guesses.
Over the past week I've been much more proactive in learning some of the more productive hot spots for pelagic and or tasty fish out here in Jervis Bay. This bay really is very large - the largest in NSW - and to stumble upon the best spots in exploration will always be hit and miss. So I've taken the time to dig up a sum of GPS marks as well as seek advice from people who have lived here for a while. Primarily I'm chasing five species this season: snapper, kingfish, marlin and blue and yellowfin tuna. I reckon I have a much better idea of where to find them now and have been brewing up some strategies to get them. Oh man, am I glad winter is behind us at last. Time to get the game on!
Steve and I decided to do a recon trip to Lake Conjola on Saturday, partly to explore it's potential as a kayak fishing destination. We were also considering showing up to participate in the bream fishing tournament scheduled to be held there the following day. It was pretty obvious as soon as we got there that it was going to be a top spot for kayaking. We didn't have the kayaks with us today, although we did have Steve's new Ranger V188 tournament fishing boat. It made for an excellent platform from which to explore the area, where we found a lot of potential fishing spots. When we first got there we spotted numerous fish in the water, including bream, tailor and blackfish. It wasn't long before their numbers became sparse, with an incoming tide seemingly forcing them to take cover.
We were targetting bream specifically, using ultra light tackle to cast a plethora of lures, from crankbait blades, sx40s, sx48s, storm, squidgy and gulp soft plastics. Not a bream was raised in the few hours we were there. I only managed to catch a single tailor. Matters weren't helped by a thick splattering of sea weed drifting along in the current, foul hooking our lures most casts. Despite spotting good numbers of fish early, conditions weren't great for fishing the lake and we figured the following day wouldn't be much different, so we decided to give the tourney a miss.
Lake Conjola. Bream, blackfish, tailor in the lake, salmon on the beach
On the way out, however, we passed by a small zodiak with a couple of spear-fishoes on board. They had some rather juicy salmon aboard, which they said were caught just beyond the breakers on the main beach. Ah... Aussie salmon... I miss catching them so much. Sambos are one of the best pound for pound fish in Australian waters and catching them from a kayak is an absolute blast. Getting out to that backbeach by paddling through the mouth of the lake (launching from the boat ramp at the Conjola caravan park) would be a pretty simple affair I reckon, especially on an outgoing tide. You can already guess where my next fishing report is going to come from. Unless weather thwarts me (like it did today), I'll be fishing that beach next Saturday. After seeing the fish I was shown, I'm expecting big things.
Solo mirage vs tandem paddle tug of war. Mirage wins
I was fortunate enough to get a chance to send a few days in Perth last week and although I was there for work, part of that work involved paddling around on the Swan river. Luckily enough the weather really turned it on for us to, perfectly suited to kayaking. We were there to introduce the range of Hobie kayaks to staff of Rangers Outdoors stores, who are newly recruited Hobie kayak dealers. The range was met with a lot of enthusiasm and I think the staff were really thankful they were able to try out the kayaks as a part of their sales training. Quite a few of them were anglers to, including a few kayak fishermen, all of them suitably impressed.
Swan river is a great river for paddle sports
Perth really is a nice city and I think if I had to live in one of Australia's capital cities, it would be there. It looks to me to be a great spot for kayak fishing and from all reports from Rangers staff, it is. My only concern about living in a place like that is the price of some commodities. Surprisingly, fuel appeared to be cheaper than here on the east coast. But bottled drinking water on the other hand... well, they say a picture paints a thousand words:
My first intention for todays outing was to investigate Cave Beach (Booderee national park), which I've been hearing good things about. Once I got there I could see why (very serene) although I figured getting the kayak into the water might be a bit tricky. Getting it back would be even trickier, due to the 300 metre sloping path that connects the car park to beach. It would be a bit of a bumpy ride by wheel trolley to, thanks to the steps and speed bumps along the way. I figured this would be a better destination for two people, allowing for alternative means of carrying kayaks to the water. Being that I was alone today, I jumped back in the car and drove on to Murrays beach.
By the time I arrived winds were blowing at about 10 knots and I'd anticipated them being at least this strong, which is why I packed a sail kit. Taking advantage of the winds, my plan was to sail around whilst trolling a lure behind. My destination was the middle ground reef, which lies pretty much right in the middle of the entrance to the bay. My target species was something big, strong, fast and predatory - tuna preferably. To that end I tied on a large Rapalla Magnum divebait hardbody lure to 40kg fluorocarbon leader connected to 120 metres of 40kg braid, backed with about 150 metres of 50kg mono. I only rigged up one rod for today, opting for the ever-reliable Nitro Godzilla.
Winds were blowing in from the sth east when I launched, making for a simple as-the-crow-flies sail directly to the middle grounds. Along the way winds started to pick up and sailing alone (no pedalling) my GPS recorded 9.8kmph and averaged about 7.5kph. So it didn't take long to reach my intended destination. By the time I did the wind direction had changed somewhat, now coming in from the sth west and was continuing to build. I was having so much fun sailing that I barely paid attention to the fishing. And just when I was least expecting it the rod jerked hard and line started screaming off the reel at a furious pace. Yeehar!
My first move was to grab the rod to try and slow down the movement of whatever had taken the lure but line was ripping off with such force that I had to tighten the drag gently. It wasn't helping matters that I was still sailing in the opposite direction either, so I quickly loosened off the main sheet. I then tried to turn around and fight the fish and although I was able to do so, the now loose sail was thrashing around violently. I knew for sure this fight would go on for quite some time, so this wouldn't do. My next step was to put the rod back in it's holder, pull the sail from it's mast step, roll it up and strap it down under the port side paddle bungee cord. Then I was free to take up the fight, by which time my reel had almost been spooled. On the plus side, I hadn't been bust off, so I felt confident that the hook had set properly and was free to tighten the drag a little more. Then I peddled towards the hook up in order to bring in some line. After a short while I was able to get braid back onto the spool, at which point I backed off on the pedalling and decided to let it tire itself out by towing me.
I was towed for the next 15 minutes, initially further north and then later out into the east, out of the bay and into the ocean. According to my GPS, I was being pulled along at 5.5kmph and was showing no signs of slowing down. At this rate and on this course, I'd be in New Zealand in record time. I didn't have an epirb aboard so I decided enough was enough and determined to start pedalling towards it in order to try and identify the catch to see if it was worthwhile pursuing. I was of the opinion that I'd hooked either a large yellowfin tuna, or otherwise a marlin, guessing at around the 100kg mark. If so, I'd stick with it. But I thought there was also a possibility it might be a shark or a dolphin, in which case I'd be forced to cut the line. But I wasn't going to do that without finding out what it was.
I was surprised at how quickly I was able to gain line by pedalling forward while being towed. I soon spotted an ominous shadow and quickly ruled out tuna as a possibility. I was starting to think that it was either a shark or black marlin so I continued to pedal towards it to be sure. That's when I realised it was neither. It was actually a large seal. As soon as I realised what it was I let the line slack and moments later it surfaced, casting me an angry look. It then shook it's head violently and to my relief, the lure shook loose.
I've seen angry seals before and wasn't interested in seeing another so as soon as the lure was free I high tailed it out of there, pedalling back towards the bay as fast as I could. Nth east winds were now gusting at the 20 knot mark so I waited until i got back to the bay before putting the sail back up. Once done I had a perfectly textbook downwind sail all the way back to the boat ramp and I didn't have to pedal back whatsoever. Upon landing I noted the distance travelled on the GPS, which was 24km. Of that distance, I probably only pedalled about 4-5km worth. The rest I sailed or was towed.
I really hope the seal is OK. I've never seen a seal take a lure before and as far as I'm aware, that's actually pretty rare (and perhaps says a lot for the lure). I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who may have hooked a seal from a kayak, and whether or not it got their hearts racing like it did mine. I really did think I was onto a yellowfin or marlin though... what an anti-climax!
Steve Fields flicking lures from his brand-spanking Ranger 188vx
I managed to get out onto the water this afternoon, although that wasn't a planned event until I got a call at about 2:30. MD of Hobie Cat AU (and my boss) Steve Fields had picked up his new boat the day before and was busily shaking it down on the calm basin waters and was good enough to invite me out for a quick arvo lure flicking session. This boat - a beefed up Ranger 188VX - really is an impressive craft so I was pretty keen to check it out. I was also curious to see how the basin was fishing, as I haven't been there for about 2 months and I was trying to decide to take the kayak there or into the bay on Saturday. I met Steve at the Basin View boat ramp at about 3:30 and after a cursory look around the general area we headed into Wandadian creek to get out of the wind.
Our target species were tailor, bream and flathead and we were using a few storm soft plastics and ecogear crankbait lures (which I'm really impressed with) to try and catch them. In just a short space of time Steve was able to nail one of each species. Although the tailor and bream were both pretty small, the flatty was the consummate table fish, coming in at around 44cm. I failed to net a fish and only managed a few bites. The water is still pretty cold and as such the fishing was relatively slow so I think it'll be a couple of weeks before the fishing picks up in the basin.
Today was the first time in a long time that I've fished standing up and I have to admit, it was refreshing to fish in such luxury. It's feature list is pretty impressive to say the least and Steve's really going to have some fun with it. I doubt this means he'll stop fishing from a kayak, but it'll certainly help him mark out some great spots to go fishing in, be it from the Ranger or his trusty Outback.
Given that the basin is still pretty quiet it's helped me to decide where to spend tomorrow fishing. The weather reports are claiming 20+ temps and north easterly winds, which sounds to me like perfect conditions for some kayak sailing. As always I'll be dragging a lure behind me the entire time of course and am aiming for pelagics. I'll post a report on the results tomorrow night.
There were warnings of dangerous surf within todays weather predictions and after seeing what I saw today I have to admit that they got it right once again. Despite these warnings I figured that I could get onto the water safely enough by launching from the nicely protected boat ramp near Murrays beach. The water was actually relatively calm at the ramp, and from that vantage point the bay itself looked reasonable to. Large waves were crashing into the heads of Bowen Island but other than that it looked ok.
As I paddled out I soon noticed more of of a swell than is usually experienced in the bay and the closer I got to Bowen island I started to see why. The swell was much larger where the ocean met the bay, at times well over 3 metres in size. I did venture out into it head on for some distance but it didn't take terribly long for me to turn around and head back to the relative safety of the bay. Although I felt safe enough out there, I figured that fighting a fish in water like this would be difficult at best. I was able to surf some waves on the way back, making short work of my retreat.
Winds were coming in at around 15 knots from the south east and the tide was going out. My initial plan was to take refuge from the wind on the north end of the island, but the swell was far too big there. So instead I spent the next hour or so on the western side, trolling into the wind and then drifting back, rinse and repeating the process a few times. I only caught one fish doing this, a small snapper that fell for a 4" gulp shad, nuclear chicken flavour.
Things weren't looking up and by now I was losing confidence so I looked around for some protection from wind and waves. There weren't many options so eventually I decided to head back a few hundred metres south east of the boat ramp. Along the way I trolled a large Rapalla magnum slash bait, hooking a large stinky pike that I was able to return to the water without touching it. When I reached my destination nearby the beach I hooked onto a chopper tailor, which although a little more spirited than the pike, was also returned.
This is roughly the path I took, a mere 12km covered.
All told I only caught 3 fish today, swiftly releasing all. I didn't even take a moment to get photos of any of them, so uninspired I was by their size. I was fishing for snapper and kingies today and although I did actually catch one of the former, it wasn't even close to being legal. It was pretty quiet on the water, with a notable lack of other fishing boats. The water was cold, murky and laden with scattered sea-weed, and that - according to the one fisho I did cross paths with - is why there were so few fish around. Ah well... shame about the fish, but the photos made it worthwhile. Behold, a spring sunset over Jervis Bay.
I've often compared the experience of pedalling a Hobie Mirage kayak to that of pedalling a bicycle, especially to those who are wondering how much physical exertion one needs to expell in order to reach cruising speeds. I also use a push bike as an example when I'm asked if using a Hobie gives you a sore backside. To those that aren't use to it (ie: beginners - especially those that have bony bums or don't get much exersise, or both), much like riding a pushbike, some people might find it a bit of a pain in the butt after a few hours. Not everyone experiences this - and many that do only experience it briefly - but to those who do, Hobie have now come up with a solution. Behold, the i-comfort seat pad.
The i-comfort seat pad is a self-inflating pad that replaces the standard foam core pad and can be used on both the old and new style seats. It is exactly like a self-inflating camping mat, with a tough nylon upper and a non-slip surface underneath. I use to use a small self-inflating camping seat pad to do much the same thing, although unlike this, there was no way to attach it and as such, would slip around all over the place. The i-comfort pad screws into place though, so it would be much better than my make-shift fix (that I believe Astro still employs). They'll be turning up on dealers shelves as I type so if you like the idea of making those longer trips a bit more comfy, pop into your dealer and take a peek. I know Astro will be checking them out :-)
While you're there, keep an eye out for the new fish grips, which are made from glow-in-the-dark plastic, and float: two attributes perfectly suited for kayak fishing.
Update: I tried out the i-comfort seat out in Jervis Bay today and it was every bit as good as I'd hoped. It really is more plush than the standard seat pad, and is warmer to. It also occured to me that you could also double them up (inflated pad underneath, foam pad on top) for ultimate in luxurious kayak fishing.
