Any body who fishes at Redlciffe would no doubt have noticed the increase in the number of Kayak fishers. There seems to be some sort of rumour running around the ramps that the kayakers know where all the snapper are out there.
To some degree this is true. The simple fact is that Kayakers catch fish out here because we are quiet. We don't come roaring in with a noisy 2 stroke and pull up and bang anchor chains against aluminium hulls before throwing the pick in the water with a massive splash. When I see this I pack up and paddle for a few hundred metres before even thiinking about fishing again.
Since people have decided that it is the person on the kayak that knows where the fish are and not just the stealth of the craft that is helping them to land a few, the kayakers have been getting shadowed by the leeches amongst the fishing community who are too lazy and or stupid to figure out an area and catch a feed on their own.
This morning was my turn. There were 3 of us fishing together at around 5am. It was dark but we were all well lit with white all round LED lights that were visible from a long distance, maybe too visible.
We were fishing about a kilometre south of the main reef point at scarborough well away from the usual crowd of followers that turn reef point into the parking lot circus that it can be on a calm non working day.
A tinny came out from Scarborough boat harbour around the point and there were no other visible lights from boats fishing in the area. They made a bee line directly toward us and did a full lap of us at about 20 metres away. OK so we were getting sussed out to see who these lights were and what we were fishing...that's OK you had your look time to move on. Nope this bloke then gets directly in front of us and starts moving in closer again over the top fo the mark we were fishing, our berley trail and our baits.
It was at this point that I not so politely suggested he move on as my kayak is a single seater and that seat is already taken. He makes a few smart comments before moving off to annoy somebody else. All done.
To the boat fisherman the jet ski is the scurge of the water. But to the kayak fisherman the boatie is fast becoming their biggest enemy, with kayak forums continually reporting incidents such as mine or sometimes more dangerous encounters.
Guys... it is a big bit of water, you don't need to follow us around if you want to catch fish at Redcliffe. There are 3 very important things that can turn your fishing in this area around.
1. Be quiet. use and electric if you have one. Carpet your anchor well in your tinnie and place it quietly in the water. Cut your motor and drift quietly to your spot.
2. Use good quality bait or make sure your plastics are well presented i.e. Thread them on the jig head straight.
3. Reduce the weight on your rigs. Most of the time you don't need a sinker in this area, if you do then start small and work your way up as required (small is 00 ball)
Give the kayak guys some space they aren't gurus, most of us are struggling to catch a feed also, there is going to be a blue out here soon if this crap continues.
End of rant.
Kev
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Originally Posted by Wahoo
and the post gestures I put down to lots of individual thanks all strung together.
will turn OB off and listen better next time
