Rob's Hobie holiday Part 2

Last week I looked at the first few days of my hobie holiday where I snuck out early each morning and flicked around some softies and caught a swag of species including salmon, Tailor and Snapper. This week I continue looking at what was a most memorable and healthy few days off all thanks to my little kayak and a new years resolution to try and incorporate a little more fitness into my fishing outings.
On day three I took my eldest girl 9 year old Caitlin for a dink in the back of my hobie sport. Caitlin and I explored a reef off Caseys Beach and while she did get a little wet because I forgot the rear deck plugs, her wet suit helped her stay warm in what was a quite coolish summers day. She really enjoyed learning how to use her half of the two piece paddle.

My younger daughter Emily also loves the kayaks and together we put the foot pedals into action to get over to the amazing pebble beach on Snapper island, a fun 5 minutes peddle from Corrigans beach. What a great little spot and the conditions were perfect to hear the smooth pebbles rolling back down the beach as each wave slide back down to sea level. If this sort of stuff isn’t natural therapy for the soul I don’t know what is.

I have access to whatever size boats I like any day of the week but the kayaks are great way to teach kids about the basics of boating because they are so easy to understand and fun to use. They also make for real quality time with the littlies, not to mention the memories that can be made when things like dolphins swim over to say hi.

The next morning out it was time for the dads to get in some serious fishing so Mike Nicholls and I launched our hobies on a beach inside yet another of the many headlands along the south coast and did a little exploring along a deep drop off. It was interesting to see that the larger boats couldn’t make it to the sheltered spots because the seas were up and the nearest ramp was around 10 kilometers away.

My slapstik softie was nailed on the 4th cast in 15 meters of water and judging by the large tail beat the fish didn’t even know it was hooked. I turned the hobie towards the line so when the fish took off I could give chase and boy didn’t the reel sing when the fish woke up.

I survived the first smoking run and the fish turned back towards the craft and I survived that too. Again the fish headed out to sea and my little salina reel hummed as 8 pound braid weaved its way off the reel.

The whole time I was thinking big old man Snapper, especially given the history of the slapstick lure and the classic Snapper clunk when the fish first bit.

However this part of the adventure ended prematurely and I will never know what the fish was because the line got cut clean right near the lure.

About a minute later Mike also got done but his fish headed towards shore. The change of tide was about to finish and I was beginning our first really big kayak Snapper of the year had just gone begging.

A minute later a school of school of Hammerhead Sharks popped up just 10 meters away, they were only a meter or two in length but what a buzz to have these stealth machines utilizing the same bait school as I was.

I have never felt worried about seeing sharks this size while in the Kayak, in fact I reckon it’s the surfers nearby who are the mad ones-I don’t think I could cope with my legs dangling in the water when shark fins are slicing through the water all around you.

While seeing shark fins is not new to seasoned ocean kayakers it was quite an introduction to Kayaking for young Jason Hennah who was along for very first Ocean outing. He got used to it pretty quick when he could see that he was safe, and this just magnified the adventure- he was stoked to be out there fishing.

For the record if you don’t like the thought of sharks being nearby then it’s pretty easy to avoid the known sharky spots. Alternately you can look into products like shark shields.

The day then glassed off for an hour or so and we could see the bottom in 14 meters of water! We caught a good variety of reef and pelagic fish-what a hoot!

The first really warm currents of the year had pushed in close and it was like an aquarium with even pairs of mowies clearly visible as they cruised past in mid water.

Unfortunately it was my last day out but what a booster the trip was and I’ll be back for more a.s.a.p.

See you on the water.

Rob Paxevanos