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| Gargantuan hook up, spot X | | Print | |
| Written by Josh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saturday, 04 July 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cod, snapper, pearl perch & humpback whale! Alby the snapper slayer at work Despite the illusion of serenity suggested by the calm seas of Spot X at 7AM, Alby & I were well aware that this was merely the calm before the storm. 30+ knot offshore winds were predicted to roll in sometime during the morning, to be followed by rising seas. It was likely to be a small window of opportunity that most yak fishoes I know would have decided not to risk. We were pretty determined to get out there though and for all we knew, the reports would be wrong. They weren't. But we did manage to reach some reefy grounds about 5 - 6km out before any signs of rough weather emerged. When we stopped trolling to drift it was still pretty comfortable out there and as we started catching fish we were both glad we'd come out. In about 30 metres of water our soft plastics were finding the bottom, where we were both able to entice small rock cod, Alby bagged a couple more snapper and I caught my first Pearl Perch, which I mistook for a snapper at first. Fooled by colour, it wasn't until I took a good look at it with the black background of the tramp behind it that I realised that snapper don't have eyes that big, and completely different fins and tail as well.  40cm Pearl Perch - yummy! I was hoping for a snapper, but this was even better. According to Alby, Pearl Perch are one of the tastiest fish in the sea and upon learning this I was suddenly very glad we'd decided to brave the weather. By now it was still surprisingly moderate, but unknown to us at the time was that some locals had been watching the incoming front from an observatory and looking out at our position in the distance, were wondering if and when to send out a rescue boat for us. Being locals and all, no doubt they'd seen kayakers get into trouble out there before. But these weren't any old kayaks... Today's highlight was absolutely awe-inspiring and before I go on to describe it in detail, I have to make a sort of disclaimer and get it out of the way first. When a gargantuan humpback whale (I'd guestimate at about 16-18 metres) surfaced right between Alby and I, no more than 10 metres away from either of us and dwarfing us both, we had absolutely no warning that it was about to happen. We did know there were humpbacks in the area, as we could see them jumping some 7 - 8 km further out to sea. But this one just appeared out of no where, slicing a path between us as we drifted, heading north with purpose. There was simply no way that either of us could have averted what happened next. Had we known a whale was any where near us, we would not have had lines in the water, full stop. As I watched on in amazement, my jaw ajar, Alby laughing uncontrollably, I felt my rod tip bend and the line tighten steadily and immediately I knew what was transpiring. The whale had swum right into my line (this demonstrating how close it came) and was now peeling it from my reel at a rate of knots on it's north-bound route. My first thought was to cut the line but then I thought it might be better to try and apply a little pressure to force the line to come free from the whale - I figured it may just be snagged on a barnicle. As the whale pulled away there were no headshakes or tailbeats... just a strong steady pull. I doubt the whale knew it had even swam into anything. With a breaking strain of 20lb, I knew the line wouldn't last long but to my surprise the whale did manage to spool it. This all happened in less than 30 seconds.
I already know what the bleeding hearts are going to say about this and for sure, someone out there is going to accuse me of neglegence and or environmental terrorism for this (like my ex would have). A part of me thought about not sharing this experience to avoid the inevitable hate mail. But it happened, and it's an event well-worth sharing. I did catch the event on video, but not the first moment when the whale first appeared (which is a real shame). In the clip below, you will, however, get to see how quickly a mature humpback whale will spool 170 metres of line. It was a rare once in a lifetime experience, which although regrettable, is in no way forgettable.
When & where~Spot X~ 8:00AM launch,Midday land |
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