surf launching the outback in Oz.

Hi to all from Down Under!
Whilst I am not new to my outback (15mths now) I am new to ocean yakfishing (and these forums, so please bear with me) and have many questions to ask regarding the suitability of my outback for beach launching.
I live on the east coast of Australia, with the Pacific at my doorstep, and many rivers entering into it. Until now my fishing has been confined to these estuaries, but the big sea beckons.
Following my early experiences with the OB I have convinced myself that the big sea is not the ideal playground for her, unless I have a death wish! But I have spent many hours recently reading the Hobie and KFS forums with great interest which has helped to dispel these negative thoughts. Reading the tales of big yellows and striped bass (?), marlin, skipjack and big California swells from some of the 'old salts' on line has got the corpuscles flowing! I can't wait to get out there.
But first some background.
I am relatively experienced now with the OB, in my 50's, 5'9' and about 170lbs and reasonably fit. She has no sail, but the legs are ok, and arms if I need to paddle the 'brick'. The main problem for me is the ocean itself. From here there are a few 'rocks' (Fiji, Noumea)until the Pacific hits that big mass down South of you guys (South America)! So we get some mighty big swells hitting our shoreline which keeps the surfies happy, but quite often stops the local fishermen from wetting a line. Which is a pain in the f@#%y, to borrow your term, because there are yellows, snapper, tuna, marlin, shark, spaniards/spotties, mahi-mahi and many more playing in the front paddock (as we might say down here). The coastline is dotted with rocky headlands, and breakwalls, around which many of these species congregate. How to reach them is the reason for this long-winded post.
I am trying to determine the limits of the OB, before I foolishly discover them the hard way. Therefore:
1/ What would be a wave height maximum for entry and beaching.
1a/Prevailing wind conditions, eg onnshore/offshore
2/ Is sail or pedal drive satisfactory, or would a better paddle yak (eg adventure) be the go
3/ Gear storage. I can't seem to store rods in the hull, but leaving them in rodholders seems too vulnerable. Still don't have bait tanks or FF to worry about, yet.
4/ Technique. Any tips I can get please.
5/ When fishing headlands, what to look for in terms of safe distances, backwash etc.
Fellow fishyakkers, there could be many other points to discuss, but I would be grateful of any response to this dilemma. My apologies if this has been a bit longwinded...we Aussies love a bit of a 'yak' (chat, in the local lingo).
In return I promise many photos of my local expeditions, hopefully with some nice fish in them.
Cheers, and tight lines.
PS: any local guys that are familiar with the north coast of New South Wales who can pass on advice, please contact me.

_________________
the way to a fishermans heart, is through his fly!

Hey mcfish,
Excellent first post and a hearty welcome to ya mate! I wish I could give you some relevant advice, but every coast is different and you really need to check in with some locals. My only experience with a surf launch and return was on the SE Atlantic coast. On some coasts, the rec is to come in bow first, but on others, stern first. I did the stern first bit on the Atlantic in 4 foot surf in my Sport, rods lashed into the gunwale bungees, Mirage drive leashed and on deck, reverse paddle like mad when the set was right, and I made it in without flipping and everything intact. But the Sport, because of its 9.5 foot length is not really much of a "surf" boat. However, I do know of some Aussie guys who do a lot of open kayak fishing and do quite well. Let me see if I can locate their Web sites or posts.

First, here is a link to the Australia/NZ yak fishing forum over on KFS:

http://kfs.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/frm/f/9201037431

Second here is a link to Billybob Watson’s Web site, a legendary yak fisher from OZ. He fishes mainly in Noosa, Queensland.

http://fishingnoosa.com.au/

Here is his latest catch, a 43 lb Spanish or king mackerel.



Here too is a 31 lb Giant Trevally.



http://kfs.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/ ... 2991020033

He has almost 500 other posts about ocean fishing Downunder over on KFS (KayakFishingStuff.com) that you might enjoy doing a search for on the KFS Web site (use the “Findâ€

_________________

Apalach, thanks for the welcome and the useful links.
No sooner had I posted my 'plea', I found many chats related to drogues and surf beaching. Probably should have kept searching before screaming for help!
Noosa is a few hours from me and perhaps a more suitable coastline for launching. And with fish like Billybob's to be caught, I'm already planning an exploratory voyage.
Will keep you posted.
Cheers
Al.

_________________
the way to a fishermans heart, is through his fly!