After spending the whole day in the garden on the Saturday I convinced Gail that we should take the boat out the next day and see if we can pick up a couple of fish. After consulting the weather web site (Willy Weather) it was clear that there was going to be a stiff Easterly in the morning, calming as the day progressed. The plan was therefore to do a couple of drifts over Five Fathom Bank and then shelter on the western bank of Garden Island.

We arrived at Woodman Point just before sunset and within a couple of minutes had the boat on the water. We first witnessed a couple of youngsters launch their boat without the drainage plugs inserted, only to realise their mistake when the bilge pump started pumping water out of the boat. By this time the driver of the vehicle and trailer was already parking and a desperate sprint to the car park by his mate had him back in minutes to retrieve the boat. Fortunately they managed to get the boat back on the trailer and drain the water before inserting the plugs. I did not have much comment as I have done this same thing at this same ramp in the past.

The trip across Cockburn Sound was swift as the water was relatively flat (Easterly wind) and we were soon drifting baits over Five Fathom Bank near Seaward Reef. We managed to catch a couple of the ever present Wrasse and after three lumpy drifts decided to head to a sheltered point near Garden Island. After anchoring in a depth of 15m - approximately 1.5km west of the northern point of the island and set up a burley trail. The decision was not to burley too heavily as this normally brings the Wrasse and Rays to the area. The bait consisted of a mullie that had the head cut off with a 5/0 Gamakatsu hook through the body portion and a half hitch around the tail. This ensured that the “juices” of the fish were being released as soon as the bait hit the water. The hook was tied to the end of a 30lb fluorocarbon leader which in turn was tied to the main 20lb braid line – no weight (sinker) was placed on the line. There was a decent current flowing from east to west which meant that the baits did not lie on the bottom but drifted somewhere in mid-water.

I had two early runs but missed both strikes. The next run resulted in a Pinkie of 32cm followed by a decent sized Wrasse and then a Port Jackson Shark. My next fish was a 53cm Pinkie – my largest from the boat to date. Gail managed a further two smallish Pinkies before setting the hook into something substantial. The Shimano Nexave 15-30lb rod with the Ambassadeur 6000C4 reel loaded with 20lb braid is an ideal combination for targeting fish in the light to medium class. After a fight which lasted about 15 minutes Gail landed a Sambo of about 4kg - her first from the boat. During her tussle with the Sambo my other reel took off but I managed to drop this fish as well.

Within 5 minutes of rebaiting the Nexave another run resulted in a solid hook-up and this time it was my turn to do battle with the fish. After another good fight I managed to land a Sambo in the 5kg class. After this fish the wind died down and so did the fishing which sent us back to the ramp after another great day on these WA waters. (see all the action at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUePt5r3ZvU&feature=youtu.be)

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