Hi lads Just got back from my first time fishing inkalbarri in a couple of trips so decided to post my first report! not sure if Im ploading the images right so bare with me if im not! So to start off with ive just got into saltwater/estuary fishing in the last year and a bit. I lived in south africa for the first 13 out of 20 years of my life and grew up carp and catfishing so all this is new to me! ive picked up on all the techniques and that so im fairly clued up! Before this trip my pb tailor was 40cm and thats about the best thing ive caught apart from a ray and an occy. 

before i start id like to thank Oceanside Tackle for their generous advice of lures spots etc as well as Callum24 and Tangles for the advice they gave! Sorry i couldnt get a hold of ya for a fish Tangles but ill be back up there soon forsure and definately go for a fish then!

So the Family arrived in Kalbarri on the saturday after spending 3 days in Dongara with howling winds all day and night! First session was on sunday morning early. Went to chinamens about 6 little swell almost no wind at all! rigged up the new Stradic 5k Fwa 9ft combo with a roosta 135 (which ended up being the go to lure). it started off slow with only 1 hit all morning and nothing else. had the spot to myself all morning! Bit dissapoited with the first session spent the rest of the day at the pool recovering after the long drive. later that evening went to the beach out frnt of the resort we stayed at near the refuelling jetty to trhow some placcies around for bream or whatever else lurks around and dad hooked something on a 3inch zman shrimpz that was almost unstoppable snapping the 8lb leader after about a 30  second non stop run on near locked drag! any ideas as to what it coulda been? i called it for a soapy. uneventful first day!

monday was spent doing more touristy things with the family around town and doing all the shopping for the week. stopped by the tackle shop for some advice and to get bait gangs etc... that evening hit up chinamens again with a bt more wind and the tide running high it was hard to fish so left after a short while!

Tuesday was predicted to e calm winds in the mrning so decided to rent one of the dinghys and head up the river for some bream and hopefully a jack! left early and got to a decent spot to set up camp for the day

first cast resulted in a 27cm bream on a prawn for dad and second cast pulled up a 31cm bream! 

Bit jealous of the bait working i was about to switch from the placcies to prawn when i snatched this little estuary cod out of his ledge n the 2.5 zman grubz in motor oil! estuary cod was one of my target species alongside mangrove jack so i was stoked!

After landing the cod i decidied to stick with the placcies as the bait wasnot really working anymore. i was rewarded when i bounced the grubz over a big ledge and got wacked by something a bit bigger. it took my straight back under the ledge, gave hi some slack and he came out. as soon as i flicked the bail arm back he broke the surface and all i could see was a big flash of red/maroon and before i could blink he went straight back in the ledge and snapped me off! easily the most depressing moment of my fishing career! my biggest target of the trip within reach but missed! with a sulky mood the only other fish caught was a little grunter

with that we went home for the day and a nice pub lunch and hit up the pool for the rest of the day.

wednesday was univentful with the parents not wanting to do anything so we decided that id fish the beach near the jetty again that night. armed with a bag of prawns and a bag on sanmer we went down not really expecting much but using as more of a fun session. after dark mom and sister went home and me and dad stayed for a bit. got a couple hits and a nice run on the big rod but no connections apart from crab claws to the toes!

With the fishing so slow i decided id ht chinamans again early on thursday and realy fish it hard for as long as i can! it started off badly with me waking up late! not happy i set off alongside dad who went to play golf. got there to a gusty wind and a low tide. first cast, snagged. got cut off and lost a lot of braid so the day really started of bad! i packed up and on the way out stopped to take a pic of the area when an old lady walked past with her dog. she said goodluck to me and with those words ringing in my head i decided to re rig and stay for a bit longer! and that was the best decision i made all trip! After a couple of casts i was on! adrenalin started flowing and i knew something was gunna happen this morning! i dropped him but the very next cast i was on again! the williamson jet popper 5inch was attached to easily my biggest tailor! dragged him up on the rocks gave him a measure and he ended up going 67cm

i was stoked! new pb with the first fish! Bled and on ice straight away and back into it! couple casts later on again! but lost him at my feet and watched him swim away with my jet popper! quick call to dad asking him to pick up a couple more roostas and back into it! for a while there was nothing on the clone stickbait switched to a richter and bam! second cast on again! pulled in a 63cm model which ended up being the smallest out of the 5 tailor i caught for the trip! put him on ice and when i turned around there were mullet jumping everywhere! the richter was being followed by 5 or 6 huge tailor greyhounding over eachother trying to get it! it was the most insane thing ive ever seen! they were almost beaching themselves trying to cathc mullet and the richter! this went on for about 35 minutes! only 2 more hookups dropped none landed but every cast they were tearing through the water chasing the lure and pullng out just before hitting it!

after this dad rocked up with the roostas. switched to a redhead and a couple of casts later pulled in another 67cm. bit thinner but still a nice size! let him go and kept going. after that one it went quiet for another hour or so and thats when dad had enough. i said last cast and we bail. i watched the popper hit the water and a couple turns of the handle i i felt a strng pull. i was fishing near locked drag as they were pulling so close to the rocks. i thought i was snagged but when i pulled up to see i felt something pull drag and thats when i saw it. a big slab of silver green leapt about a metre out of th water! it was massive! i looked around to dad, he had an awestruck look, i looked back as it took another jump and had the same look! with the big hunk of tailor pulling drag and trying its hardest to get me around every rock he sw i managed to wash him up the platform i was on and started to slowly wash him to the beach! with one leg vanishing in a reef hole and nearly falling over multiple times i handed dad the rod and grabbed the tail. with a big yell i lifter out a monster tailor! gave him a measure went 83cm! obvioslu not the biggest ever caught but at almost double my metro pb it felt huge! it weighed at least 7 kg fat as belly filled with mullet! 

after some surgery to remove the trebles which were stuck one in the throat and one inder the gill plate i tried to swim him for about 15 minutes to no avail we decided to keep him, and with two already kept for a feed, he was planned as bait. such a pity not letting such a monster go but i guess it the luck of the draw! after that we headed back to the resort and went to the fillet station down the at the refuelling jetty to filler up the catch!

we shallow fried the fillets in a salt and pepper coating and i have to say it was by far the best fish i have ever eaten! not sure if its because i cought it, because it was so fresh or just becuase it took so much effort for the reward!

Friday was spent at the pool again witht he fam and at the beach for a fish that night. same story couple big hits a few small runs but nothing apart from crabs! saturday was the last day and we packed up to leave about 9am. i decided to go for a last sesion at chinamans before we left. picked up the last tailor for the trip at 70cm 

Packed up and left what can only be described as paradise behind! no worries ill be back soon! again id like to thank all the people who gave me any type of advice as it was all helpful! next time hope to explore more spots!

sorry for the long report and the pretty average pics! all were taken on iphone so cant expect much! 

Thanks for reading guys!