Gday

Just got back from a 4 day annual trip to Wagoe. Thought it'd be a good chance to post up my first comprehensive report on the site. :)

A decent weekend weather wise was forecast, as many of you know this place can be unfishable if the weather and swell are intolerable. So we were happy to have timed it right this year.

Arrived 10:00am on the friday, settled in at the chalet had a big barbeque for lunch then headed down the track to the beach to find the wind blowing its box off with a South Easterly and a large swell. Decided it would be safer fishing from one of the sandy openings in the reef south of the reef at wagoe. Not much happened all afternoon with only a few dart finding their way to the sand.

My brother Dave (fellow fishwrecked member) decided to drop down to a smaller outfit... threw out a mulie on his 9' starlo shore spin and 20lb seido combo in order to have a bit more feel in the wash and immediately come up trumps with a 58cm 2.5kg personal best tailor. Happened to be the only one landed that evening.

Dave with a 58cm 2.5kg Tailor.

Me and my 60cm 1.75kg Swallowtail Dart.

Got to an early start 4:30am Saturday morning thought we'd fish a structured spot for a few hours off the reef at the entry to the beach. Seemed to be going slow with not alot happening off the reefs. Mulie were coming back untouched, the squid baits we casted out were only accounting for a few to many different species of cod and a small spangled emporer. Feeling hungry the guys made the choice to go back for a feed of our own.

With a large bacon, sausage and egg breakie in the stomach a few of the older blokes decided to head into Kalbarri. The younger guys took up an oppurtunity to head back down to the beach and wait for the wind to swing from a south easterly to a more capable ballooning breeze. Come 10:30am the breeze had finally changed to an eastern direction and out and about like fleeing ants we get our setups ready for the unknown. Both myself and my brother being complete novices at ballooning for macks we didnt know quite what to expect.

With immense anticipation i start to let out my helium balloon from my shimano tyrnos 30 / tiralejo combo and finds its way out about 400m offshore. Having not ballooned for mackies before on prevoius trips to wagoe we were there to primarily learn just how to go about it. Dave started letting out his skipping gardie from his daiwa sealine/ live fibre lbg combo no further than 100m-150m. A half our in his balloon hits the water and his line goes limp. Not knowing whats going on he begins reeling in profusely. Immediately after he starts retrieving some limp line we see the balloon snap and sail off into the distance and thus realises he has missed a chance to strike as the fish has already taken the rigged gardie and the hooks from his trace. A steep learning curve, undiscouraged we now have some vital knowledge for the next day.

My gardie remains untouched for 2 hours so we decide to pack up and head out to see if any one else had any luck with the easterly. A few blokes camping the north side of the reef faired well with 2 spanish mackerel landed that morning half an hour apart.

Sunday morning we are greeted with a lightning show as we hit up another spot on the reef. Flood lights glaring out onto the reef and what felt like a terential downpour we realised the flat yet stormy conditions allowed us and many other weekenders to produce fish from the reef this early morning. With a soft easterly all morning conditions looked favourable for a great days fishing. Immediately from the get go our squid baits were getting hit after hit every cast. A few small tailor were landed, huge skipjack trevally put on a great fight on the rocks as did the painted sweetlip, large spangled emporer, and another thumper dart of 61cm. 

Bruno with a 61cm Swallowtail Dart 

With all this unexpected great fishing commotion going on i forget to keep an eye on the water. As a large swell comes over the ledge and sends me floating a 1m or so back over the oysters on the reef i suddenly realize i have simultaneously hooked onto something worth my attention as the 50lb braid starts screaming from the spool of my spheros. This unexpected suprise was putting my 12' tiralejo under some major stress. Everytime it would stop running and i thought i had the upperhand in the battle it would see the reef and decide to run further. After a good 5 minute tug'o'war and a 100m dash along the side of the reef on rockhoppers in the limited morning light, i catch a glimpse of a tail slapping the surface of the water. A quick dash over and a hand around the fork of the tail and i had captured my first ever amberjack. What a thrill.

 Captured 86cm 5kg Amberjack

A mate of mine finally hooked another species we had been unsuccesfully targeting all weekend. With big bust off after bust off during the weekend he finally turned his luck and persisted with his light 10' spin setup. Managing to outsmart an over aggresive head shaking fish of considerable weight, he dangled at the risk of his own life in the whitewash of a dangerous rock dropoff. Out goes a large shout "PINKY" he finally landed that pink snapper everyone was after.

Daniel with his 46cm 2kg Pink Snapper

Come 8:00am my old man sends out the 1st of 3 balloons we have in the tackle box. Before the gardie has a chance to venture out no more than 100m the balloon takes to the water. This time he gets a head start and started retrieving line fast as he makes sure we wont be made a fool of twice. The rod loads up, with a bit of weight he sets the reel to strike and off flys the balloon with the drag screaming for the deep blue. After a short 10 minute tussle of drag screaming and short bursts he finally gets the fish to the reef only to discover the fish has one last dash left in him and makes for covered ground amongst the reef. Another failed attempt at gaffing and landing our first land based mack. While this had been happening i had setup my outfit ready for another assault only to find my earlier fortune elude me as my baloon some how gets dragged into the edge of the reef and bursts leaving the group with the one and only last balloon.

My old man once again decides to take control of the situation and sets up the rod and balloon. We all watch as the gardie starts to skip out further and further from the shore line. Once again no more than 100m the balloon takes to the water. STRIKE!! We're on.... Having never experienced anything of this sort before he decides that we all take turns to fight the mackie and gain knowledge for next year as the fight lasts an exciting 15 minutes. Before the mack gets to the ledge of the reef, i decide to hand the rod back to my father as any responsibility for losing this fish would then be placed on him. With a laugh he takes the rod... 5 or so minutes go by as he attempts to wear it out. Around the reefs ledge taking extra precaution not to miss out on this our last attempt, my brother manages to gaff it first shot.

My old man with our 8kg Spanish Mackeral

Success! Our first capture of a Spanish Mackeral from the land. What an eventful weekend. Surely an unforgettable expierience and another fishing story to be shared between a few coldies in the future. Excuse me if i have ranted on a bit, but as you can probably tell experiences like this fills the average fisho full of exstatic emotion. These experiences are no doubt what keeps myself and you so involved in the recreation of fishing.

Thanks for reading.

Rob