With the general absence of fishing related stories lately, probably due to the adverse wind conditions at the moment, I thought I might write one.  Nothing spectacular but some solid fish and a good experience.

We headed to Jurien Bay last weekend for the annual Patrons Cup.  This is an event between the MAAC and Ocean Reef that has been going on for a very long time.  It is fair to say the MAAC has won more than 90% of the time however the current cup holder is Ocean Reef.  The MAAC Captain was facing the prospect of being the only Captain from the MAAC that had lost the cup on two consecutive occasions so the stakes were high.  Needless to say he had spent many hours drumming up members to make to 2 hour trip up and fish for club pride.

I must say it was touch and go.  On Friday morning there was a strong wind warning for Saturday and the pin was close to being pulled.  The warning was cancelled at 10am on Friday but conditions were still looking very ordinary.  We hastily put the pin back in the grenade and headed up, with our accommodation buddies, about 3pm.  A nice drive up and a trip to the pub for dinner and to hear that the comp was on the next day (not sure I completely agreed with the decision as Sunday looked much better, but you must respect it and not complain).

Having never fished Jurien before, we didn’t have a clue.  We started by trolling for tailor in very likely looking ground, although the Sanctuary Zone markers (not on the GPS charts?) threw us a bit and we moved on to ensure no rules were broken.  After a couple of hours on the water it was clear the weather man had completely got it wrong as the wind howling.  We had no choice but to seek shelter behind an island and fish in a few metres of water or get blown out to sea.  Lots of undesirables, but I did manage to get a reasonable flathead and a just undersized rat sambo.  Dean had a big run on a live butter fish but unfortunately didn’t hook up.

The wind “died” to about 25kn so we headed to shallow reefy ground.  Prospects were high with a solid bite but the only thing of note was a 395mm baldie that had to go back.  Plenty of undersized desirables and what we called for a big lurking cod (we saw it “chasing”) that snatched a few of our baits and fish but there was no way it was coming in.  The only thing it did was made us lose lots of gear.

I seemed to lull again to less than 20kn so we made the call to go a bit deeper – wrong, as half way out the wind turned and the sea “gale” came in.  Run away was the call and we came in to fish a shallow reef for herring and gar.  I did manage a nice gar first cast but when the heavy anchor started to pull it was “run away to the ramp”.  I must say that it was probably the windiest conditions I have ever fished and the cancellation of the strong wing warning was another BoM schoolboy error.  We watched at the ramp as everyone coming in was “drowned” and boats took 20 minutes plus to drain.

The weigh in was a real credit to the resilience of the fishermen.  The final points score was 99 to the MAAC against 60 to Ocean Reef.  You were only allowed to weigh in one fish of each species and this was worth a point.  Of the 14 nominated species, there were 3 points for the heaviest.  The bags were “equalized” so the playing field was level.  I think the main difference was the MAAC had 10 heaviest of species, including my near half kilo flathead, to Ocean Reef’s 4.  The fish of the day was a near 14 kilo Dhu caught by an Ocean Reef member (sorry for not getting and posting the full results).  Let’s just say the MAAC Captain was very happy and the trophy had a nice soft pillow that night.

We were fairly “dusty” the next morning and were set on just going to the ramp to clean the fish.  What do you know, conditions were much improved so we decided to head out again (as you do).  We were late (9.30am) but greeted by nice conditions where we could head to the 40’s.  There was a whole different story here as YPM hooked into a pinkie first drop, and Kev got a quality baldie a few minutes later.  After a few drifts, Dean hooked up solid (the fish were a bit “picky”) to something of size.  To the delight of all, a nice Dhu came to the surface and the trip out had certainly been worthwhile.

After that, the sambos moved in and we had an entertaining time with them.  YPM got a solid one and the highlight was that other MAAC members could see his technique in landing big fish and know that his past captures have been no fluke.  Another highlight was a sambo double header that Kev got on light gear that really tested it, and him, out.

What a great spot Jurien Bay is!  Certainly worth another go when conditions are a lot better than they were.  Nevertheless, a quality weekend with really good company.

And, whilst I am writing fishing stories I may as well post the picture of the 5.76kg pinkie that Dean got in the Bluewater.  It was the “winner” for a long while until one 12 grams heaver was weighed in (sob).  Needless to say we were happy when one a couple of kilos heavier got weighed in at the end (hard to lose $1,500 by 12 grams).  Nevertheless, a good fish and hopefully a sign of things to come when the Autumn weather pattern comes on and the schools of big pinkies move in nearshore at dawn and dusk – can’t wait.

Amazing what the “go go gadget arms” do to the image of the fish.

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