QLD - beautiful one day, pissing down the next

Rainy day at Tin Can Bay

I really did manage to time my presence here in Southern Queensland rather poorly because the usual 'perfect next day' just doesn't seem to be happening. I've been hanging around the Noosa area just kind of filling time and waiting for the water to clear up so that I could take advantage of the aftermath. And right when I figured that would be likely to happen, the winds have picked up and the rain is falling again. It's not as drastic as the earier deluge, but the wind alone is enough to keep me off the water. I was hoping beyond all hope that the weather reports would be wrong and that the winds wouldn't be blowing hard with rain and drizzle this morning, but they were. Words from the old 80's Supertramp song 'It's raining again' were going through my mind as I observed it. Those of you who remember that song would know it as a sad ballad but to be honest, I'm not letting it get me down. Whilst it's made the fishing hard, the rain has put many smiles on faces around here (because it sure needs it) so moods are high.

While planning for this trip I told myself I'd circuit the coastline twice and this is exactly one of the reasons why. I just knew that I'd land in some places at the most inadvertant of times and this is a perfect example. There are loads of great fishing spots in southern QLD, but I've been held back on checking a lot of them out because of the weather. I'll have to return to these parts on the 2nd pass to really sink my teeth into it. The upside to the downtime is that I've had plenty of time to talk to the local experts and find out what I need to know to make sure that when I do return, I know where to go and what to do. This is also gives me the chance to be able to write up destination reports with some conviction, without genuine first hand experience. Upon returning to areas that I was unable to explore previously, I'll be updating the relative reports with more personal exeriences.

This afternoon I'll be compiling my report on the Noosa area and thats not something I'd be able to do if not for the help of some key personalities. Kudos to Fishing Noosa's Bill 'Billybob' Watson for going right out of his way to make me feel welcome and fill me in with a lot of what I need to know about the area. Not only did he show me the ropes first hand, he also took the time to explain a lot of the other opportunities around the traps. I also have to say a big thank you to two of the local tackle shops, both of which were pretty helpful in offering me some insight. Davo's Bait & Tackle and Barrajacks Tackleworld, many thanks to both of you. Both stores have a great range, sharp prices and knowledgabe staff - you can't ask for much more from a fishing shop. Mal from Sunstate Hobie (Queensland's resident Hobie distributor) also deserves a plug here, who gave me a bit of a rundown on where I should be able to find some nice Bass (he is perfectly positioned across the road from Lake McDonald in Cooroy, which is well known for said fish). He's been extremely busy with the Brisbane boat show, both in preparation and the ensuing aftermath, so I'm doubling back to catch up with him again on Friday. Not only am I hoping to get a bit more of his time to learn more about the most productive Bass spots, but also to pick up a Thule Gear pod for my roof racks, which will really make life a lot easier on me.

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Foiled again 

Sunrise over Noosa Heads, Laguna Bay

Billybob and I ventured out into his home surf at Laguna Bay again early yesterday morning with hopes of finding some Mackeral at Sunshine beach and or perhaps a Snapper (Squire) or two at Jew Shoal. As is highly recomended by the Noosa guru himself, we began by trolling along close by to the banks of the rocky shoreline on the north side of Noosa heads. This stretch of water is a known producer for several common species, such as Tailor, Snapper, Dart, Trevelly and more. We found the Tailor close by to the beach, with baitfish being smashed up right in the breakers. Unfortunately for me I didn't have any lures tied at this point and although I did try to play catch up by trolling close by a few times soon after, I failed to hook up despite being hit twice. Billybob did pick up a barely legal Tailor, however, which is something he put to use later on as a trolling bait. Using a Gold bomber hardbody lure, he also managed to reel in an ambitious Grinner and soon after a modest sized Trevelly.  

Billybob grinning with his Grinner

It was surf o'clock for Noosa surf school and dissapointingly, they positioned themselves between us and the shoreline and were moving at about the same pace as ourselves, so we weren't able to make the most of the paddle out to the heads. A quick glance around the heads onto Sunshine beach revealed less than hospitipal conditions, so we gave up on the idea of Sunshine beach and made our way to Jew Shoal instead. As we neared the hotzone Bill prepared his Tailor-flavoured 'Spanish special' troll bait (available from Davo's Boat and Tackle), which consists of several (size 6.0) gang hooks danging from a to a squid lure (with attracting spinner blades) embedded into the fish. He did indeed manage to hook up onto something with it before too long, although whatever it may have been, was clever enough to spit the hook before a fair fight was engaged.

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1st (and only) impressions

Steath Superlite

Noosa based kayak fishing guru and Fishing Noosa editor, Bill 'Billybob' Watson, was kind enough to offer me the opportunity to try out his sample Stealth Superlite kayak for an outing into Laguna Bay today. I thought it worth sharing my impressions on the experience, as there's a bit of interest in these yaks in the Aus kayak fishing community at the moment. Stealth kayaks (or Skis, as they are commonly referred to) are made and popularized in South Africa, where surf conditions are typically a lot more menacing than what we find on most of the Aussie coastline. It's those conditions that they are purposely built for.

The conditions in Laguna Bay were a farcry from that today and generally always are. Regardless, I was pretty keen to get on and give it a whirl. Launching at around 5:30 AM into less than daunting waves, the Stealth sliced right through nicely and it was easy to get the impression that it could handle much higher breakers if need be. From there we paddled out to the tip of the heads to take a look at Sunshine beach, athough Billybob concluded we were better off sticking to Laguna Bay and I wasn't going to argue. With a shoulder still in a slow state of repair I really didn't want to push it too hard. The water was reasonably choppy at outer Noosa heads and here I noticed a whole lot of hull slap, with bow lifting high on waves and crashing fairly hard. It performed much better in protected waters, paddling pretty well for the most part. 

Instead of exploring Sunshine beach we paddled north onto Jew Shoal, which exposed us to winds that were blowing from the south east at about 15 knots (at a guess) and here I discovered another red flag - it's performance in the wind. For the first time in a long time (since I last paddled an inflatable yak infact) I actually started to get concerned about the effect wind was having on the kayak. I wouldn't have been as concerned if not for my dodgy shoulder, but in this instance I was soon convinced that heading back to the protective shielding of the heads was a wise move. I wasn't expecting it to be so effected by the wind and I'm not quite sure why it was so adversly, but I suspect that 2 factors were playing a part. Firstly, it sits fairly high in the water. Secondly, it's really quite light for it's size. I'm not a heavy guy either, so that probably didn't help. An added 15kg Mackeral or 2 wouldn't have gone astray. Even with the relative protection of the heads I still noticed the wind having an effect - especially when I was casting and retreiving lures. The wind would just swing the kayak around, which made it difficult to get a consistent position from which to retrieve in. I'm use to having lots of control when kayak fishing, so this started to bother me quite a bit.

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DMH Australia comes on board

DMH Australia

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Rethinking fishing knots

I've been finding that fishing conditions up north are very different to those I'm farmiliar with down south. The most significant difference is the size of the fish that one is likely to hook up to. It wasn't just the Longtail Tuna that I lost (at Bribie Island) due to a failed knot, but I've also noticed that my knots have been slipping out a bit too easily on the odd snag as well. I have been using the full blood knot and down south it was serving me reasonably well. I know it's not the stongest fishing knot going around, but it is quick and easy to tie. I always saw that as an advantage when rigging up on the kayak.

I'm changing my tune now though, because I'm losing confidence in it's holding ability. So I'll be spending part of today practicing a few alternative knots and experimenting with their holding ability. Specificlly I'll be aiming to perfect the Uni knot for terminal tackle, and the Albright knot for leader to main lines. Having looked into it I'm getting the impression that these knots are among the most reliable.

I'll also be spending some time working on the site today, as there's a fair few things I need to update. I plan to spend most of tomorrow on the water and intend to get out much more than I have been, so I'm keen to get a few little chores out the way today.

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Election day... what to do?

It appears as if a national election is right around the corner and bound by law, those of us who have come of age have to cast a vote. I'm not going to get into who I'd vote for because truth be told, I'd rather go fishing instead. I am kind of curoius though... what would you do? If you have an opinion on the matter go forth and cast your vote.   

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Go the placcy minnow! 

I recently posed the following hypothetical: You spot a school of bream hanging around. Which lure do you reach for? I was surprised there weren't a few more opinions on the matter, although most voters gave a green tick for casting out a soft plastic minnow. A soft plastic worm was the next favoured selection, followed by an Ecogear sx40 hardbodied lure. I guess anyone of these lures will work on the right day, although the under circumstances that inspired that hypothetical, all of the above failed to produce the goods. I reckon that had everything to do with how clear the water was, making me equally visible to the fish as they were to me. Ironically, the following day saw the onset of hardcore rain of the like never before seen on the sunshine coast and as a result, the water went from crystal clear to murkier than mud.

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Someone needs to regulate all this regulation

There's been a few surprises in store for me thus far but none so startling at the sheer lack of available camping sites. It seems as if the days where you could just pick out a small patch of flat ground and erect a tent are practically gone. Although there's plenty of caravan parks around, there isn't a lot of accomodating the backcountry camper. It wasn't always this way and as far as I'm concerned, there's really no need for it to be. Considering that Australia consists of 7,617,930 square km of land and only has a human population of about 20 million (about the same amount of people that live in the single city of Mumbai in India) there is plenty of space to go around.

Once upon a time we would have been allowed to pitch a tent here

But so much of this land is now 'protected' and off limits to campers, which is very unfortunate. I'm not sure how and why it came to be this way but I'm not terribly happy about it. The sunshine coast is a very touristy area and that may be part of the reason for it, but not everyone wants to stay in caravan parks every night. It's not just because some of them are overly expensive (and don't like being reminded of it) but more because it's just fun camping out in the bush, away from the hordes of sheople.

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Is it a tent? Is it a swag? No... it's a tent cot!

After leaving school my first job was to work in a camping store. Even though it was a retail position, I loved that job because not only was the boss a great guy, I absolutely loved camping. So it was kind of fun for me to be mingling and selling all this gear that I was passionate about. My retail career working in such stores spanned almost 10 years and in that time I observd many new innovations and inventions that were (at the time at least) in a class of their own. I was there to see the introduction of the revolutionary Leatherman multitools. I also marvelled when dome style tents started becoming available commercially, which were initially designed for use in arctic conditions. I even remember when Gore-Tex fabric started being used for waterproof clothing (believe it or not, it was originally designed for use in medical procedures). Towards the end of my tenure as an outdoor recreation salesperson, however, those innovations became fewer and further between.

 Still to this day, however, every now and then something still comes along to impress the pants off me. When I first witnessed the Kamp Rite Tent Cot at Westvic Kayaks and Kampers, it was one of those instances. If you're not yet sure what I'm talking about, it's probably because like me, you're an Aussie... and the term 'cot' means baby enclosure in this corner of the world. But in the USA it would appear that what they call a cot, we call a stretcher. So if I was to tell you it was called a 'stretcher tent' you'd probably have a much better chance of envisaging what it actually is.

Kayaks and Kampers Creswick

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These lures look the goods 

The Ecogear hardbodied lures are particularly popular with kayak fishermen – especially the sx40 that is well known for it's lively action that bream (for example) find hard to resist. Whilst poking around Barrajacks Tackleworld in Noosaville the other day I was introduced to the Owner Rip'n Minnow lures, which look to be every bit as good as the Ecogear counterparts. And yes they are less expensive, but they don't look it. I can assure you that they work, because they certainly hooked me good and proper. I can tell just by looking at them that I won't be their only catch.

Owner Rip'n Minnow lures

I picked up two of them – one for clear and another for murkier waters. At 70mm (6.3g) they are a little larger than the sx40 and I suspect these will have a better chance of catching larger fish. As much as I dig the sx40's, I'm yet to catch anything with any real size with them. I'm betting that these Ripper Minnows will produce the goods though. Time will tell of course and as soon as I have the evidence  I'll be sure to produce it.

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Anger management required for these guys...

tewantin caravan park - never, ever stay there

     Even I can't believe that I'm about to write what I am, especially given that it's the second negtive slanted rant on a particular accomodation establishment in the area in two consequetive posts. One could be forgiven for thinking I'm hard to please because of that, but wait till you get a load of this.

    I arrived at Tewantin today, hoping to escape the madness that will undoubtedly ensure during the jazz festival that is about to commence here at Noosa. The very first caravan park I stopped in at was the Noosa Tewantin Caravan park. It looked alright from the outside and figured it might be worth staying in.

    So in I went and as one does, I inquired about the price. The answer was $32.00. Not over the top, but certainly higher than every single caravan park I've stayed in thus far, which is quite a few. Much to their bemusement, I said so. And the reponse was this:

“Try staying at a caravan park in NSW and see how much it costs!”

    I responded by saying that I've been doing just that for weeks now, and that the most I paid – even for powered sites – was $25.00. She looked at me in disbelief, to which I added, “I'm travelling the coast of Australia and am in fact writing about some of these parks on my website”.

Thats when things took a turn for the worst. She replied by saying: “Well then, we don't want you here!”

“OK,” I said, “I'm gone”.

    So I walked back to the car and then I thought hang on a minute – this is exactly the kind of caravan park I could never recommend... in fact, given the narky attitude, I should do exactly he opposite. At that I grabbed my camera and snapped 2 shots. One of the ladies behind the counter walked out and told me to leave.

    “My pleasure,” I said, as I turned around. Facing me was some angry looking sun-scorched guy who looked at me like I'd just finished cutting his lunch and said – no, screamed, “GET OUT” (with a few expletives following).

“I am mate, relax!”

“GET OUT NOW OR I”LL BASH YOUR BRAINS IN!” 

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