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Clarification on the Miragedrive article |
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Thursday, 27 September 2007 |
On second thoughts... Since writing the article on the Miragedrive I've heard numerous critisisms of my points (mostly from guys who have never used one, of course) and in hind sight, one of those raised points has some merit and I realise now that I should have been clearer in saying what I did. I mentioned that rear mounted rods were linkely to have water splashed up onto them from the paddle. The response was that in choppy waters, more water is going to bounce up from the bow (on most kayaks) than will ever be flicked up by the paddle. In relatively choppy waters, this is true, on pretty much any kind of kayak I believe. And in such circumstances, few rod holders - if any - will keep foward mounted reels clear of it. Indeed, a rear mounted rod may well suffer from less splash in the chop and had I thought about it, I would have said so. So, I'm going to edit the article to reflect that, adding the disclamier that it's only a relative point in calmer waters when water isn't splashing up from the bow. You know... the kind of waters most kayak fishermen are more comfortable paddling in.
In any case, just like all good fishing kayaks, Hobie have rear rod holders molded in by default. It's good to have options, no?  Comments (2) | E-mail | Read more...
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Articles -
Kayak fishing destinations
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Tuesday, 25 September 2007 |
Not without my kayak There's lots to do at Hervey Bay
Hervey Bay is big - really big. Large enough to play host to a plethora of awe-inspiring aquatic wildlife, including various species of Sharks, Turtles, Dolphins, Dugongs and Whales. So big is Hervey Bay that one could paddle around all day and not see a single one of these. The likelihood, however, is that a kayaker would be likely to see at least a few Sea turtles, Dolphins or even a Dugong. Spotting the resident Humpback whales by kayak is a much tougher proposition, however, because they are typically found in the broader northern stretch of the Hervey Bay area, closer to (the also impressively large) Fraser Island. Seeing the whales by way of a tour is something you will want to do while visiting Hervey Bay and for any dedicated kayak fishermen, my suggestion would be to do so on one of the rougher days (if one occurs during your stay) when kayak fishing isn't such an attractive option. According to some of the local experts, whales will be more likely to be active when a notable swell is current.
Don't hold your breath for rough waters in Hervey Bay though, because being protected by Fraser Island (particularly from the predominant south easterly winds) the water is usually surprisingly calm. This makes for an ideal kayak fishing destination. If you were to take your family along for a holiday and they weren't interested in going kayak fishing with you, there are no shortage of other recreational and tourist past times that they could occupy themselves with: anything from relaxing on one of the many golden beaches, jet skiing, sky diving, snorkeling or of course whale watching. There is no shortage of things to do in Hervey Bay. There aren't many holiday destinations in Australia that have quite as much to offer.
 Humpback Whales love this place
Hervey Bay has been described as the recreational fishing capital of Queensland, not to mention the Whale Watching Capital of the World and I think these titles are well deserved. As far as the fishing goes, not only are there loads of places and means of catching them (by boat, land or kayak) there are also a myriad of desirable species on offer. These include Bream, Cobia, Coral Trout, Flathead, Estuary cod, Mackeral, Mangrove Jack, Marlin, Mulloway, Snapper, Sweetlip, Whiting and more. Nearby rivers (such as the Mary river) also offers those tasty Burramundi and Threadfin salmon. Any kind of angler - whatever their ilk - is guaranteed to have a memorable fishing experience in and around the bay. The only real difficulty is in knowing where to start and where to go next.
Kayak Fishing Around Hervey Bay
Opportunities for kayak fishermen in and around Hervey Bay are endless. To do see and do it all one would have to spend months, if not years here. It's difficult for the most dedicated among our ranks to visit and not want to leave. Personally speaking, I could see myself returning to Hervey Bay to live, largely for that reason. A few of the local tackle shops are more than happy to point out some of the more accessible areas, however, and this is a pretty good place to start. In doing so I was able to pin point a few areas that made for simple launches that offered productive fishing.
 Large Grunter, caught at Gatakers Bay Be first to comment this article | E-mail | Read more... |
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Trip reports -
QLD
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Monday, 24 September 2007 |
Black Marlin and Yellowfin Tuna spotted, but not hooked
 ar-we-ther-yet onto a small Spotty Mackeral | Launch: | - 6:10 AM | | Landed: | - 10:40 AM
| | Tide: | - 6:30 AM, High | | Weather: | - Hot, 27 °C, 5 knots sth easterly | Caught:
| - Grinners
| | Method: | - Flicking and trolling soft plastic & hard body lures
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So there I was lying asleep in the tent, dreaming of Tuna launching themselves into the kayak (the perfect yak fishing dream) when I was rudely awakened by the words: 'Josh, whatcha doin?' Unlike myself, AKFF member 'ar-we-ther-yet' hadn't slept in and he was all geared up and ready to go. I thanked him for raising me from my slumber and told him I'd join him on the water. By 6:00 AM I was also ready to go, but the thought of coffee was really appealing, so I stopped in at the Burrum Heads bakery to grab a take-away cuppa to head out with. It felt pretty good to be sipping on a cappuccino as I pedaled my way to his position, which was about a km out from the launch spot.
As I reached within about 100 meters of his position I saw one of the most awesome sights I'd ever seen: a small black marlin leaping high into the air, only about 75 meters from behind him. It breached the water twice. Sadly, his back was turned and he was completely unaware that it had happened. And just like the Snuffolupogas, it didn't show it's pointy mug again. We did troll over where I saw it, but nothing came from it. From there we moved over to the other side of the heads where I'd spotted Tuna 2 days in a row prior. Along the way 'ar-we-ther-yet' managed to pull in a small Spotty Mackeral, which was quickly released. There were no sightings of the Tuna while we were side by side, but I did indeed spot them again a little while later - but of course, I was on my own at that point: Snuffolupogas Tuna! I wasn't able to hook them though - they knew what they wanted, which were the panicked bait fish whose numbers were dwindling by the minute.
 Spotty Mackeral, caught at Burrum Heads Comments (4) | E-mail | Read more... |
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Burrum Heads river mouth and beyond #3 |
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Trip reports -
QLD
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Sunday, 23 September 2007 |
No Tuna, but a nice Golden Trevally
 Golden Trevally, 52cm, 2.3kg | Launch: | - 6:45 AM | | Landed: | - 10.15 AM
| | Tide: | - 5:44 AM, high | | Weather: | - Warm, 26 °C, 10 - n15 knot south easterly
| Caught:
| - Golden Trevally, mystery fish
| | Method: | - Flicking and trolling soft plastic & hard body lures
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Even though the previous day's trip was so unproductive, I decided to retrace my steps and have another bash. One of the things I neglected to mention in the previous trip report is that I did spy some bait-fish being rounded up somewhere close to the middle point of the Burrum heads. I wasn't sure what the culprits were. Could have been Tailor perhaps, maybe Tuna. Either way it got me curious, so off I went to try and find out. I was more confident of catching fish today because not only was the water somewhat choppy with winds blowing reasonably hard for that time of the morning, a thunderstorm and light rains from the night before helped ensure that water clarity wasn't so crystal.
I began by trolling out along the beacons where I'd hooked up to something tough a few days earlier. No dice by the 3rd beacon, however, so I turned towards the north side and made my way to the opposite side of the heads. Wind was blowing hard by now and there was no need for me to paddle - the wind alone manage to get an action out of an 11cm hard-body lure. I did pedal along in a few spurts though, but at first it amounted to zero. It was when I was just 100 meters from the northern shoreline that I peered back behind me and there it was - a panicked school of bait fish leaping out of the water in fear of their lives. Dammit... now I had to head back into the wind.
The bait ball was moving around and I struggled to keep up with it. Keep up with it I did, however, and when I saw th surface explosion the third time around I saw exactly what I was looking for. Tuna... the yellowfin flavour! The heart started pumping as I accelerated towards the action, hoping that my lures (one Squidgie soft plastic pillie flick bait, the other being the red/white trollcraft hard body lure) would be enough to entice the predatory pelagics. Whenever I got near to the action I flicked the pilchard softy into the mix, but no good ever came of it. Soon after I decided to start trolling straight through the action, but that didn't amount to much either. Twenty minutes later I lost sight of the action and eventually had to give it up.
So I continued on towards the shoreline, continuing to troll both lures. I'd traveled about 100 meters along side it when I decided to check the hard-body for weeds. Just in case there was one of those elusive Tuna hanging about, I reeled it in hard. 15 meters from the kayak I felt a tug. Then another. Followed by the heart-racing zzzzzzzzzz of a screaming reel. Yeehar!
As I typically do in such circumstances, I turned the kayak around while line peeled away and then slowly pedaled towards the fish, lifting and winding as I went. A minute later the fish was underneath me but when I saw the broad flash of silver I knew it wasn't a Tuna (actually, the strength of it's fight gave that away earlier). It was, however, a decent sized Trevally of some kind, soon after revealed as a Golden Trevally. When it was underneath the kayak it was really very hesitant to come up, although by now most of it's fight was gone. I was pretty pleased with this capture and no doubt will serve me well as both dinner and breakfast.Comments (3) | E-mail | Read more... |
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Hobie Miragedrive: not a gimmick |
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Articles -
Kayaks
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Saturday, 22 September 2007 |
More than just hands free fishing
 Hobie Miragedrive
For starters, it allows you to move along at a respectable and steady pace without having to paddle, which requires the use of both hands, not to mention considerable strength and endurance for certain conditions. A paddler can't take photos while moving forward, nor can they sip on a drink. It's also impossible to hold your rod while trolling to, which I've found to be a major advantage in some situations. The ability to be holding onto your rod while trolling allows you to feel each bite as they occur, giving you the opportunity to set the hook, as opposed to hoping for the fish to hook itself. It also allows you to twitch the rod and simulate more of an injured fish action on the lure.
There have been many times where I've wanted to tie on lures or hooks, but haven't wanted to stop in order to do it (lest I get swept back with the tide) and pedaling along allows you to do just that. That's not the case if you have to paddle in order to maintain momentum.
Those are just some of the obvious advantages to the Miragedrive system, but in the course of time some not so obvious advantages have become apparent to me. One of them is the fact that because the Miragedrive negates the need to paddle, it is easily possible to have your rods mounted forward towards the bow as opposed to well behind the seat of the kayak, which is the norm for paddle-only kayaks. Having rods mounted in front of the seated position allows you to keep an eye on them, not just to detect bites, but also to know when the line has inadvertently hooked small fish or weeds. This is more difficult when the rods are positioned behind. In my experience rear mounted rods are typically more prone to having water splashed up onto the reels as well, flicked on by the paddles as they exit the water at the end of a stroke (*this comment really only applies to calm waters - choppy waters are more likely to result in water splashing up from the bow, and these conditions, no reel will stay dry). This won't happen with the Miragedrive in calmer conditions though, affording the user the luxury of mounting rods wherever they want.
Regardless of wherever the rods are mounted, when a fish is hooked, the first thing a paddler needs to do is think about storing the paddle. A precious second or three might be lost in the process - not so when being propelled with pedal power. When a strike occurs the only thing a pedal kayak user needs to do is think about the rod and fighting that fish.
This fish was landed easily by pedalling towards it
There are also advantages to fighting a fish with a pedal powered kayak - especially if it's big and strong. In the event that a fish is peeling line and may otherwise spool the reel, the angler can pedal towards the fish at the same time as reeling it in. This can make a huge difference to being at the mercy of the movement of the fish. A fight that might otherwise take 20 minutes (and have you towed god knows where) can be made much easier by shortening the distance between kayak and fish, simply by pedaling towards it. A related advantage is that is is also easy to move and steer the kayak while fighting a fish, so it's not difficult to keep your rod pointed where you want it. You can control the fight more than the fish can. Comments (11) | E-mail | Read more... |
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Burrum Heads river mouth and beyond #2 |
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Trip reports -
QLD
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Saturday, 22 September 2007 |
Long distance covered for poor results
 How's the serenity? Too bloody serene! | Launch: | - 6:30 AM | | Landed: | - 11.00 AM
| | Tide: | - 10:30 AM, Low | | Weather: | - Warm, 26 °C, Calm as a hindu cow
| Caught:
| - Nadda | | Method: | - Flicking and trolling soft plastic & hard body lures
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Today's conditions would be considered by anyone to be just about perfect, which I suppose is one of the reasons there were so many boats on the water. In some ways, however, I suspect that conditions were perhaps just a little too perfect, with crystal clear calm waters making the fish way too finicky. I tried just about everything in an attempt to catch something worthwhile, but it just wasn't to be. I covered quite a bit of distance in pursuit of them to and even now I'm very surprised that I didn't produce the goods.
 Where's Wally?
I started by drifting with the current out through the heads, flicking a Squidgie Pro blood worm in hope of a Bream or Flathead and didn't get a touch. Once out into the open water I engaged the Miragedrive and trolled two rods, one towing a Squidgie Flick bait pilchard (the very same lure that got struck by a big fish the day before) and the other with a Trollcraft hard body lure (the typical white and red variety), both of which were coated with Ultrabite gel. This time I was prepared with my larger Texalium trolling rod and with stronger line on my 4-8kg outfit. Leaders were joined with double uni knots this time - I wasn't going to make the albright mistake again.
As prepared as I felt, it was all for naught because there was just no fish biting whatsoever. I'm relieved that I wasn't alone - others commented that they hadn't raised a fish as well, save for another kayak fisherman (in a Viking tandem) who'd pulled out - and returned - a couple of Whiting no bigger than his hands. I did see the obligatory sea turtles of course, as well as a plethora of Sting rays, one of which was large enough to scare most croc hunter fans. Be first to comment this article | E-mail | Read more... |
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Videos -
On the water
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Saturday, 22 September 2007 |
With newborn baby calfIt took a few days for Youtube to process this video for some reason, but I took this clip a few days ago while on a whale watch tour with Whalesong cruises. The clip briefly shows a happy family of Humpback whales, including a new baby calf, which by the estimation of the skipper, was less than a week old. Because it is paler in colour and smaller than it's parents you don't really get a good look at it, but the majestic size of the mature whales is a sight to behold. Be first to comment this article | E-mail | Read more... |
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Burrum Heads river mouth and beyond |
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Trip reports -
QLD
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Friday, 21 September 2007 |
Thumbs up to Squidgie Pro soft plastics
 Fringefin Trevally | Launch: | - 6:00 AM | | Landed: | - 10.00 AM
| | Tide: | - 9:40 AM, Low | | Weather: | - Warm, 25 °C, 5 knot south easterly | Caught:
| - Flathead, Fringefin Trevally
| | Method: | - Flicking and trolling soft plastic lures
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Up at the crack of dawn I slid the Hobie Revolution into the calm waters of the Burrum river into an outgoing tide. Initially I was intending to paddle over to the other side of the river in search of Bream but when I was half way there my attention continued to be drawn to the heads and beyond. It looked so calm that I figured I'd never forgive myself if I didn't get another calm morning like this, so I stopped paddling/pedaling and let the current take me towards the mouth. I was working two rods - a larger 4 - 8kg outfit with similarly rated braid line and another 2 - 4kg outfit rigged with 4lb braid. The former was baited with a black & gold Squidgie shad (intended for Flathead) and the later with one of the new Squidgie Pro Range blood worms . It was a brief, but pleasant drifting session, spotting a few more of the so-called endangered sea turtles (these guys are literally everywhere in these parts, so the endangered label has me confused) as well as a couple of infant Manta rays.
The serenity was short-lived though because about 5 minutes later the lighter rod buckled over and soon after a 40cm Flathead was netted. With dinner in the bag I then decided to pedal out with the current on a leisurely troll, intending to pick up the pace once out of the river mouth. A few hundred meters the very same rod using the same lure was struck again and as soon as I started reeling it in I knew this was a different species. When I first saw the flash of silver I pinged it for a Trevally, although when I brought it aboard I realized that if it was a Trevally, it's actually type was unknown to me (later identified as a Fringefin Trevally). It's fins were much larger and more angelic. Because I didn't know what it was I was pretty careful in handling it, because after a quick photo it was returned. So instead of using the net I handled it with a wet towel, which typically seems to do less damage. As I'd hoped, it swam away with as much spirit it fought with.
 40cm Flathead, destined for the grill
I was pretty close to the heads now so I pulled up the lighter line, rigged up a Squidgie pilchard styled flick bait, coated it with Stimulate gel and began to troll it out along the sand bar markers. I pushed hard for about 500 meters when the rod buckled over again, this time with much greater force. At first I thought it might be snagged but just as I was thinking 'no, there's unlikely to be snags here' line started screaming off the reel at blistering pace. I tightened the drag a little as I turned the kayak around and I think the extra weight of the dag made the fish - whatever it was - hit the panic button. It was really running hard now and the reel began to look precariously like it was about to be spooled. So I tightened the drag a bit more and that's when I felt the line go limp. Another damned bust off!Comments (1) | E-mail | Read more... |
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Humpback Whales of Hervey Bay |
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Articles -
Encounters
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Wednesday, 19 September 2007 |
Whale of a time with Whalesong Cruises Splish Splash I was taking a bath
I'd heard about the proliferation of the mighty Humpback Whales here at Hervey Bay and the very first thing I did when I got here was paddle/pedal out as far as I felt comfortable to try and find them. I traveled about 10km (just outside Moon Point) in search of these glorious gargantuans, but I wasn't able to locate them. After putting in a bit of research I soon discovered that I'd have to travel much further to get to them... too far to do so from a kayak from the township of Hervey Bay. I was determined to get as close and personal as I could, however, so my only remaining option was to go out on a whale watching tour.
As I do religiously, I put a bit of research into which tour would give me a great experience. There are many to choose from, but by talking to local tackle shops and bayside cafes I was able to narrow it down to a select few. After looking through their respective brochures and then contacting them all individually, I settled on Whalesong Cruises, largely because they responded quickly and with a friendly tone that made me think that they'd likely be equally pleasant during the trip. Not only that, but they also offer a complimentary breaky and morning tea for their AM trips, and lunch and snacks on their afternoon voyages. Free food? Thats me sold!
I turned up to the Urangan boat harbor at 7:15 AM (right after having a run in with a whale harpoon statue that drew blood - I walked straight into the business end of the harpoon while watching a large fish under the jetty) to find the crew dressed up like pirates. It was 'International speak-like-a-pirate day' they informed me, which made me feel a little less out of place with blood running down my face. I was one of the first aboard, so I did a quick tour of the boat, inspecting the lower and upper decks, bow and stern. There was plenty of room to move, which would suit my photograph ambitions nicely - even with a large posse of school children aboard. The pirate day theme went down really well with the kids... even the big ones.
 Bottlenose Dolphin saying hello to Whalesong Cruise boat
As the cruiser pulled out of the harbor I settled in at the top deck to have a chat with skipper Jason Brigden and it didn't take long for the conversation to find it's way to the topic of kayaking and fishing. Keen on doing both, Jason started picking my brains about fishing kayaks and I returned the favour by picking his brains about where I might find whatever kind of wildlife. I was interested in fish species, dugongs, whales (of course), sharks and dolphins. Speaking of dolphins, we were no more than a kilometer out of the harbor before being visited by an active pod of the bottlenose variety.
At the beginning of the cruise the crew provide an informative talk on various facts on humpback whales and it's well worth listening to. By the time their done you're really drooling to see them in action. Throughout the cruise they often comment on some of the activity that is being observed, which gives participants a better insight into what the whales are really doing, and why. Along the way the keen-eyed skipper will point out anything he sees, including pod locations, as well as dolphin, turtle or dugong sightings. So even if you're not terribly observant (I can tell you most of the kids weren't) you can rest assured the crew won't let you miss anything worthwhile.
 I suppose this is why they're called Humpback whales
Some 20km and 30 minutes later we were face to face with the first (of many) pod of humpback whales. As always, it was an awesome sight to behold, even though the calm waters seemed to have a sedating effect on them. They weren't breaching playfully, more so just cruising leisurely along the water surface. The skipper seemed intent on locating a more active pod, however, so soon after he continued on in a northward direction to find them. As he did so I listened closely to the radio chatter between the various whale tour operators on the water. Although there were plenty of pods about, it seemed like they were all in siesta mode.
I took advantage of the free food in between sightings, feasting myself on party pies, toasted sandwiches, kiesh (yes, some men do eat it) and coffee. They were all power snacks, however, because pod sightings were many and every time it happened, I was out there taking photos. There were a lot of compact cameras in use but most on board were jealous of my camera, which responds quickly and allows me to take hundreds of shots in RAW format. Most of the time I was shooting in continuous mode, so I didn't miss much at all. I did, however, do a poor job of capturing good photos of one particular whale, which was breaching the water for a short time.
 Nosy bugger aren't ya!
I also managed to film a quick video on my compact camera, which gives a pretty good impression of how lazy most of the whales were this day. Although not as explosive as they often get, the gracefulness is portrayed perfectly and is well worth viewing. I'll be watching it again from time to time, which will let me relive the experience over and over.Be first to comment this article | E-mail | Read more... |
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Squidgies Pro Range released |
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News -
Latest News
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Wednesday, 19 September 2007 |
Starlo & Bushy's latest plastic fantastics Squidgies pro range worms - these can't fail, surely
While giving a presentation on how to catch more fish with soft plastic lures at Fraser Coast Rod and Reel tackle store the other night, pro anger Scott Mitchell mentioned that Starlo & Bushy have been hard at work developing a new range of Squidgie soft plastic lures. Today I managed to find the very first of their latest innovations (I'm sure this is just the start of a bunch of new Squidgie concepts) and although I wasn't able to afford to buy everything in the new range - despite how much I wanted to - I simply couldn't go past these new worms. The lighter colored ones are called a Blood Worm and the darker ones a Red Rum worm. At $10.99 they are a bit more expensive than their earlier soft plastic offerings, although they now come in a packet of 8 pieces and also include a little satchel of what they call 'S-Factor' Attack Trigger scent juice, which is obviously designed to make them smell and taste more like the real thing. I've been using various kinds of worm placcies from a couple of other manufacturors, but I reckon these will outfish them, especially on Bream and Flathead. That little grub tail on the end will do a lot of damage me thinks - especially on the drop. I can't wait to get out and give them a shot, which will be tomorrow morning, regardless of the weather. Click this link for more information on the full new line up of Pro Range Squidgies. Be first to comment this article | E-mail | Read more... |
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SPT lockable tie down straps |
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Articles -
Reviews
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Tuesday, 18 September 2007 |
Securing the kayak for peace of mind Stick Protection Technology
 Security and peace of mind
Although they aren't cheap I reckon they are worth their weight in gold, custom built for people just like myself. Unlike any other tie down strap I'm aware of, these ones are fully lockable and certainly make you feel safer about leaving your car parked in unknown territory with the kayak sitting on top of your roof racks. It's not just the lock that provides the confidence, however, but also the fact that the straps themselves have 2 steel cables running through them. These are fully covered with soft polyester webbing though, so there's no fear of scratching your car with them. So even if someone didn't even notice the locks and tried to slice through them with a knife, they'd only be met with frustration.
 This kayak aint going anywhere unless I say so!
The locks themselves seem to be pretty robust and thankfully they are plastic coated, which means no nasty paint job scratches. The locks do not need to be engaged for the tie down mechanism to work properly, however. Just like any tie down system worth it's salt, once the straps are pulled through the securing mechanism, those straps aren't going anywhere until the securing device is disengaged. Just feed the straps through, pull tight and it's good to go. In the event that you feel like taking that extra step of security, just put in the key, turn and lock it. Easy, peesy lemon squeezy. Comments (7) | E-mail | Read more... |
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