Every summer holiday and every other chance we get, I take my wife and daughters (and usually the inlaws) to our holiday house in Bunbury. It right on top of a big hill over looking the back beach and I've gotta say - one of my favourite little fishing spots. It's not what you can catch there but the enjoyment you can have doing it.

This is a little story of my daughter's first ever fish...

My mate Matto was with me this time so we sat up after dinner with a few beers in lounge, listening to the waves crash and rigging up some light whiting lines. A few paternosta rigs, a bit of red tube, 2kg line, gama longshanks and we were about set. Now, this is not serious fishing by any means but we enjoy it and the family can come along for a change. (I have a four month old also). After the lines are rigged and the tackle boxes are in order we polish of the last two beers and hit the sack.

By 5:30am my four and a half year old, Claudia, is gently patting me on the forehead saying "daddy, time for fishing"... How could you refuse?, what a little angel. I clamber out of bed only to find that my Claudia has already woken my mate up - by trying to practice fishing with one of the 12ft rods in his room! LOL. She's an absolute character! We quickly sling the tackle bags on our shoulders, slap some sunscreen on, and head out the door onto the dune path to the water.

At the top of the dunes, we are greated by a softly lapping sea and clear blue skies - couldn't be more perfect. My little daughter looks up at me and says "is this good weather for fishing daddy?". Really, you could catch sand whiting here anytime in summer without a problem, but I tell her "I rekon that you'll have a pretty good chance" so as not to get her hopes up - just in case.

We set up the rods into the holders in the sand and soak up the warm morning sun. Claudia is excitedly watching us cut up the little pieces of prawns and helps me throw some burley on the wash line. We notice heaps of little bites the moment the rigs hit the bottom. Beauty - the whiting are here. Then my phone rings and my wife says she and the baby and her mum are going to walk down to see Claudia catch a fish.

I tell Claudia to keep a close eye on the rod tips and she gets a bit of a buzz as she watches Matto pull in a little whiting. "In the bucket for breakfast!" she exclaims - eager to get her own fish. She can see her Mum and sister at the top of the dune now and wants to have a go so she can show them. Whilst I show Claudia how to hold the rod and wind the reel, the others come and join us on the beach.


Claudia takes to fishing like her dad, loves it from that first little bite! I let her lod the rod by herself and put her tiny finger on the line. "I can feel the fish dad!!" she yells, even though I'm right next to her.

I tell her to reel him in and she hurrys to retrieve the line onto the spool. I ask if she can still feel him and she can't even reply - she's that excited. As the little whiting hit the shore - my little daughter is so excited - I can remember that feeling. Something no Dad can deny is right up there with the best experiences in life. I fished some pretty exciting places - but this beats them all hands down!
[img]http://fishwrecked.com/files/images/Claudia's%20whiting_0.jpg[/img]

Whiting may be a small, easy to catch, bread and butter fish - but a crispy fried in butter - beautiful! We all washed these beautys down with freshly brewed coffee for breakfast. After all this, it was hard to believe it was only 9am and the day had only just begun! Maybe down thre busso jetty then....