Yakabout - Australian Coastal Kayak Fishing

Days of our lives

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:41:18 +0100

Within just a matter of minutes of launching the forum here at Yakabout, all traces of the title 'yakabout' suddenly vanished from another forum (AKFF (http://www.akff.net/forum/) ). This is one of the consequences we were warned (by their admin) would happen should we put another link or even mention to yakabout in another forum post. This warning came after I entered into a thread on 'how to prevent sharks attack (http://www.akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3 t=33289) ' and chimed in by saying that Shark Shield were giving away a free unit on Yakabout. (content/view/1355/1/) Cont. (content/view/1365/1/)

Paddle 'n brunch in Brunswick Heads

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:10:52 +0100

Next Sunday there is a social paddle brunch on the Brunswick river, organised by the Brunswick Heads Visitor Centre. This is obviously not a dedicated kayak – fishing event, but it will be nice to meet other paddlers on the water. Nothing will stop you from trolling a lure,or putting a view casts in anyway. I will be there. Here's the details: Cont. (content/view/1364/1/)

Yakabout forum is live

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:27:10 +0100

For quite some time I'd always maintained that I wouldn't start a forum here on Yakabout (for a variety of reasons) but as the sport has evolved, so to has the site and it's now reached a stage where it really probably does deserve it's own forum. So I've gone for a relaitvely simplistic forum package that I'm yet to fully flesh out. I've still to add PM functionality and something is currently broken with avatar functionality, but they're on the ever-growing to-do list. My intention is to keep the forum catagories pretty tight and there's a good chance I'll trim it down even further. I plan to avoid this forum shaping up too much like many other kayak fishing forums, a lot of which have pretty similar layouts and catagories. I've avoided placing any 'rules' or terms of use on the forums but a certain level of etiquette is expected from anyone who contributes. So be nice! If you've registered to yakabout in the past, there's no need to register to use the forum - just sign in and away you go. For now I've got the forum button on the top menu, where I think it's likely to stay. But if your cursor is any closer to this link right now, click here instead (component/option,com_kunena/Itemid,104/).

Shout Out at Yakabout

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:01:48 +0100

I've added a Shout Box into the framework of yakabout, which is a bit like a real-time post-it note message/chatting system, updated every 5 seconds. Whilst it does alter the asthetic of the page somewhat, it's an experiment I'm keen to try for several reasons. For one, it's simple real-time chat facility will mean that people will be able to leave messages or ask questions with the very real possibility it'll be seen and responded to almost immediately. I'm kind of hoping this will reduce the amount of quick questions that I get via email and forum private message systems. I am interested to hear what you guys think of it though and whether or not it turns out to be of any real use. Lets find out.Update: although this shout box doesn't tell you who's online, I have activated an unrelated who's online function not far below the shout box, so now you can send a shout to people who are on yakabout. Whether or not they'll see it is another question

Fraser Isl - according to Astro

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:58:43 +0100

Throughout the lead up preparation prior to the trip I'd developed some pretty big expectations yet the experience smashed those expectations to smithereens. My only negative was that on the drive down I lost my glasses. Whilst I had prescription sunnies during the day, at night my vision was very poor but was more an inconvenience rather than a real hassle.Towards the end of the trip Josh remarked that we had truly proven the namesake of our boats and I fully agree - the Adventure Island is most appropriately named - we owe it to our boats that we had such an incredible island adventure. What we were able to achieve really does make this craft very exciting and there's simply no way it could have been done in a typical kayak. Having carried far too much food and tackle for the trip I found that the AI still handled very well and was quite dry considering the weight and often rough conditions that buried the hull for periods of time. I focused the weight towards the centre and lightly packed the front and rear wells, I carried the water directly behind me and under the seat, food was also kept in the rear well, tents, mattress, clothes and sleeping bag were distributed front and rear. Dry bags worked very well for storage, however clear bags will also make things a lot easier to find. The winds were with us when we launched and this continued for the whole week - it was like we had a dial up service or something. We got it how we needed it when we needed it. Making good time, we sailed off keeping relatively close to each other. I was a little concerned about the sailing abilities of H and Paul as they have had relatively little on water time, but both did a stirling job and are now much better sailors for it. The crossing went very well and the AI handled the lumpy swell with ease. I saw what looked like fish busting up so off we went, but on closer inspection it was current waves crashing so we headed north up past Moon Point. The water was quite variable, at times flat and others quite lumpy making for some excellent sailing and high speed trolling, it was this when I hooked that first Golden trevally. Running a Blue Rapala lure (BMG) at about 10k/h about 4 metres down I hooked that fish sending the drag into a high pitched ZZZ, furling the sail and turning the AI, I tightened the drag and made a solid connection. I must admit it was good to catch that fish, it really lifted the expectation and I enjoyed bringing it in.We started to see fish busting up and soon we started to hook into tuna and mackerel, I got 2 small mackerel as I couldn't get the tuna interested in the metal slice I had. After having a bit of a break we headed north and made for our first beach camp. We had fish most of the way up and it was the start of some very exciting fishing, boils of fish here there and everywhere and we soon had to leave so camp could be set before dark.Setting camp went well and soon I had the evening meal under way, I had volunteered to do the cooking - something I enjoy - and was able to provide a good level of variety for the trip, including pasta, curries, stirfries and other seasoned delights. We hadn't keep any fish, mine were undersized, so we used dehydrated mince and vegetables for the meal, it being my first time in a long time cooking with dried vegetables it took a bit longer than expected but worked out well.

Fraser Island Post Mortem

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:40:20 +0100

What went right what went wrongThis being our first major multi-day kayak camping fishing expedition (content/view/1357/54/), there was always going to be a mixed bag of failures and successes and throughout our trip along the Nth west coast of Fraser Island we had a bit of both. It's pleasing to report that the vast majority of our preparation did put us on the right track and this had everything to do with the collective level of experience between the group. All of us are seasoned kayak fishoes and although Carl and I had more experience sailing fishing from a trimaran, the other two had clocked enough hours on the water and were good to go. Paul in particular had a pretty good understanding of Fraser Island itself, and this helped a lot. Although he wasn't as familiar with the west side as he was the east, the knowledge he did have was useful - especially in regard to what to expect in terms of camping conditions and locations. We've all got an even better understanding of the area now though and this will make planning a whole lot easier for next year.Holger and I both also have a fair bit of experience in the field of ultra-light camping, both of us coming from outdoor adventuring backgrounds and well versed in hiking mountaineering. So not only were we suitably equipped with the right sort of gear, that experience definitely helped in the group decision making process of what sort of gear to bring. Fortunately Carl and Paul were both also equipped with hiking style tents and sleeping gear as well, although I did play devils advocate at times (an exersize I put myself through also), questioning the wisdom of carrying certain items. I was right to be speculating about weight, but for sure, I was wrong about some of the items I queried. For example, I asked if it was really necessary for us to carry a table and Paul insisted it was. He was right, and that was his experience of Fraser Island talking.One example of an item that we'd all carry next time around would be thick mesh-style sheets or tarps, which would make life a lot more comfortable on sand. We'd use small ones at the doors of each tent, as well as a larger communal sheet for cooking, relaxing, etc. Regardless of our individual levels of experience in certain areas, all of us came away from the experience a hell of a lot wiser on the topic of extended kayak camping. There were numerous things we all agreed went really very well for us, as well as 100% agreement on a few things we'd do differently. Lets make a list...- Kayak maintenance spares: Every member of the group was pretty vigilant about spending some quality time with their kayaks before launching, making sure that everything was working optimally and that no problems were beginning to emerge. This showed in the results of the trip. All of us sailed over 220km, a lot of the time at fairly high speeds and at times in reasonably rough waters. A lot of pedalling was also done and in that entire time there were no show-stopping breakdowns. For the vast majority of the time, each trimaran worked just as well as could be expected (which is to say superbly). Although we did experience a few breakages, absolutely nothing went wrong that we weren't fully prepared for and easily able to rectify out on the water. This includes 3 rudder pins, as well as having to field repair one of the ama retainer bungee cords that snapped.One step that all of us took was to secure the aka brace to the aka. Our method for doing this was to remove the spare shear pin (and store it elsewhere) and use the hole there to thread a length of bungee cord through, and then tied off around the aka. This is done to insure that if a shear pin breaks and the brace gives in, that it doesn't fall into the water and down to Davey Jones. Whilst it isn't a common occurrence, it has been known to happen and having it happen to any of us was simply not an option.We were equipped with the mandatory spares for parts that we anticipated having potential problems with, as well as a few extra bits 'just in case'. Mandatory spares includes rudder pins, aka brace shear pins, a spare chain (plus 1/4 nylock nuts to suit, a spare sprocket, drive mast and a couple of spare fins. Only rudder pins were used from the spares kit, but it gave us peace of mind knowing we had replacements for anything we might need.- Fishing gear: Each of us were armed with at least 2 rods - one heavier rod for trolling and a lighter, yet still beefy casting rod. Adventure Islands don't really accomodate any more than 2 rods on deck, so having the right gear accessible was useful. Our two most heavily adopted fishing strategies (trolling and casting into schools) commanded the right equipment - most were big fish and fortunately thats what we were primarily prepared for. At no stage was any of us cursing our rod selection, so I think we all got that right. From memory, we all had smaller flick sticks packed inside our kayaks as well. Not because we were targeting estuary-flavoured bread butter, but because we wanted to be able to fall back on it if need be, either for food or to stave of boredom (just in case we got landlocked for any extended periods). That decision was a double edged sword, so although yes, these rods were used for their intended purpose (adding flathead to our diets, as well as a bit of entertainment on our rest day), we also deliberated on how necessary it was to carry four of them. Paul suggested that the group really only needed 2 flicksticks and the rest of us agreed.We all did pretty well on lure selection, as all of us caught good fish. At no stage did anyone whine about running out or not having the right lures. So we were suitably equipped for our target species, as well as our intended fishing strategies. There was no shortage of mean-looking trolling lures within the group and metal slugs were called upon over and over for casting into schools. On the last day I adopted an alternate tact by casting large heavily weighted plastics into schools and I felt this worked equally well as the slugs, if not better.My Daiwa Sol reels all have spare spools and I decided to carry a spare for each reel and this certainly proved to be a wise decision. Each reel could be used with varying classes of line and I decided to switch over my 2 heavier reels with spools using lighter line by the end of day one. I did this after almost being spooled by the Trevally. Because it's so easy to lose a lot of line quickly when trolling under sail, I decided to take my chances with a lighter line (and have more of it on the spool) than to have a heavier line with less length. That decision paid off, because I had a few near misses later on as well, which probably would have been much nearer with heavier line.However all of us carried more lures than we really needed to and I think we'd all trim down for next time around. I was overdone with plastics and we were probably all overdone on trolling lures. Carl went way above the call of duty when packing sinkers - he carried enough lead to arm a charter fishing boat full of bottom-bashing bait-drowners and didn't use a single piece of it. He won't make that mistake again.- Hydration: Upon launching we all had to be prepared to carry enough water to last the duration of the trip, or at least, that was the theory. Ultimately we were all surprised at how much water we did go through at first, because re-hydrating food for breakfast tea wasn't something we considered. Fortunately, we were highly confident that a) there was a water supply at Wathumba and that b) we'd get to Wathumba, so when we realised that our estimated water carrying requirements of about 20lts each should probably really be 30 (we figured this out pretty quickly), we weren't concerned about running out.All of us had packed water in various containers, including plastic bottles, wine bladders and heavy duty dromedary bags and these were deliberately positioned inside the hulls so as to aid in even weight distribution. Storing water this way (as opposed to less, but larger containers) was a wise idea because it did allow us to pack it away in various parts of the hulls and avoid poor weight distribution. It also meant that if any one single water container became infected or leaked, all wouldn't be spoiled or lost.- Storage: Holger was the 1st to suggest that everyone adopt a 'more is more' philosophy when it came to dry bags. Rather than carrying just a few larger dry bags, the wisdom goes that a greater number of smaller dry bags makes more sense, allowing fpr greater versatility when stuffing bags inside the kayak. Smaller bags are also easier to fit inside the smaller 8 hatches as well. And the ability to store bags in various places also helps tremendously when it comes to the all-important weight distribution. No one had any serious leakage problems with drybags and we were all using high-quality bags, from the durable standard Hobie dry bags to variants from Sealline. By trips end we all agreed that the best possible drybags for such a trip are the totally clear ones from Sealline (known as 'See Bags'). We all soon discovered that the ability to see right into a bag made it much much easier when it came to knowing which bag to open, and where to forage for certain items. Window-style drybags aren't good enough - for best effect, totally clear bags are definitely the go.Holger also mentioned that he wouldn't use his large Pelican waterproof box again either, because although it is completely watertight and that it fits perfectly into the rear well, it weighs 3kg before packing anything into it.- Cooking gear: Liquid fuel stoves was an excellent choice of stove for us to use on such an adventure, with pros that heavily outweigh the cons. The pros being that they are small, lightweight, reliable and incredibly efficient. Not all of these stoves are equal, however - Holger's Whisperlite doesn't do simmer heats, so whenever our rent-a-chef (Carl) tried to use it for various dishes things got burnt. And although he had more success cooking with my Dragonfly model, he was rather uncomfortable with the stoves controls. That was better than the 'cooking-with-gas' alternative, however, because that would have meant carting a lot more fuel, as well as carrying a lot more empty gas cartridges as waste.We'd probably use exactly the same stoves again, although next time we'll insist that the chef take the time to learn how to operate them. Carl was hesitant to touch any of the controls and he had to rely on us every time he wanted to turn on a stove, which was pretty frustrating after 4 - 5 days of it. We'd also carry a bit less fuel as well. 1 lt of shellite per person turned out to be more than we needed, by about a litre. Cont. (content/view/1360/1/)

Black Phone Down

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:30:18 +0100

Not only were weather conditions sounding great today, even the Mouri fishing calendar was predicting 'excellent' fishing today (and for the next few days infact) so I decided to head out for a quick session. I launched at Broomes Head today, sailing nth into a nth easterly breeze. My course would later swing around to the east and then eventually sth west back to the landing destination, all up totalling an 18km round trip. A rather event less 18km no less, without a single bite or noteworthy wildlife sighting to report. I did spot a few fish on the sounder, but couldn't get any activity from them (trolling wasn't working anyway... I wonder what strategies the Mouris might suggest?) Not that I tried terribly hard... I was really just enjoying the sailing for the most part. So although I failed to extract anything from the sea, I did make an inadvertent donation to it in the way of my trusty black phone. I don't often have my phone turned on when I go kayak fishing, largely because I don't like having to answer it, and ignoring it makes me feel guilty. I left it on today and sure enough it rang and sure enough I felt obliged to answer it. So I scrambled for the phone, which is always packed away into my big safety gear box. I was way too hasty trying to open it though and in doing so, almost emptied all of it's contents into the ocean. Luckily only a few things fell out and those were in small waterproof satchels anyway, so no harm done there. My phone wasn;t protected however, and today I learned about their complete and utter inability to float. That really was rather unfortunate, but it could have been worse - my one and only set of car keys nearly went flying to. And it is just a phone after all. I'm sure I can live without one for a few days. In the meantime, if anyone needs to contact me urgently email will be the best way. Despite officially being on holidays, unofficially I have heaps of work to do so I'll be sitting in front of the PC whenever I'm not fishing, which I'm likely to be tomorrow morning.

Fraser Isl Expedition fishing highlight reel

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:43:42 +0100

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO5BSSD-Hl4]Watch in HD rate @ youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO5BSSD-Hl4) It took quite some effort to edit this clip (featuring our recent Fraser Island kayak fishing expedition) down to under the youtube limit of 10 minutes and my very first attempt had to be completely scrapped because of it. With so much footage to peruse I can assure that there is more to come, and not just from my cameras - I'm looking forward to seeing some of the action the other guys shot as well. What I've cobbled together here is a highlight reel of some of the best fishing action caught from my cams and I think it's some of my finest work yet, both in terms of filming and editing. On the down side, due to it being a relatively large clip, so to is the file size (in order to keep it in HD). So if you're bandwidth challenged, go make a cuppa while it buffers. If you're bandwidth starved, start it up and go and mow the lawn.Disclaimer: watching this footage will make you want to buy an Adventure Island and if you already have one, it will make you want to take it to Fraser Island. If this footage does not have that effect on you, please make your way to the nearest medical facility to check to see if you still have a pulse.