Kalbarri report DEC- JAN
Well we (the family) took another trip up to Kalbarri hoping for some nice fish arrived 21Dec left 06Jan.
We towed the big boat up and got it all setup bearings checked, engine serviced, some minor upgrades tweeked before the trip.
Anyway boat fished the whole time apart from chasing whiting from the banks of the Murchison.
Up early, each day tying something a bit different, travelled up to the sand patch, on further to bald face, down the cliffs to Wagoe.
We trolled Wagoe to Bald Face and everything in between, the picture on the sounder attached, was last day I think, down at Wagoe in 30m, we had 30 water
under the boat 15 m of bait and STILL couldn't catch.
In all our tally for the trip, one size flathead, two small flatties thrown back, one undersize pinkie went back and two NW blowies.
The boat ran a treat with the new engine and we did 30 plus miles per day spent 30 to 50 in fuel per day depending on where we went and the fuel used,
i was averaging about 10 L/hr trolling or cruising which I thought was good.
Unfortunately we just didn't get the fish, but we had a ball, learned heaps about the boat, spent hours sussing out the smartcraft engine management on the sounder and getting to know the best trim and speeds for the boat in following or head on seas, came back from Wagoe at 28 to 30knts with a following sea on about a two meter swell
and it was comfortable. And slowly got to learn about the sounder. On the pic attached I'm sure it's showing some predators below that bait school but we just lucked out...
One of the things to look at here was just how much we spent, how much money we put into the local community in fuel, accommodation, groceries, bait, etc....
It's amazing the impact the tourists have on these communities in funds.
I knew the Tailor were running and my Brother in law and his son got (10) on their first morning at Wittecarra. We persisted with the boat.
And my eldest would say, "I like just being out here", so it gave us plenty of time to relax,
we sussed out launching and landing the boat in all sorts of winds and conditions at the ramp and got that down to a fine art.
Maybe next time we'll get some fish. ;)
"Life wasn't meant to be a spectator sport"
nackers
Posts: 341
Date Joined: 23/10/09
was that
a bait ball ? looks like bad surface to me were u chasen pelagik or dermersals?
shammy
Posts: 231
Date Joined: 03/07/09
Bait
Nackers, It's definitely bait.
We were sitting there and watching the bait popping on the surface and then looked around at the sounder, and as they say picture's worth a 1000 words......
The two marks I made on the sounder had several very large bait balls on them as well, so after trolling them, decided to bottom bounce changed the rigs and still got nothing.. ;)
"Life wasn't meant to be a spectator sport"
nackers
Posts: 341
Date Joined: 23/10/09
bugga
wasnt sure shammy i usually only fish dermersal and zoom in on the bottom 6m bloody bad luck on ur part bloody nice weather tho been to barri few times never when its like that spose u cant have it all
Walker
Posts: 151
Date Joined: 04/10/09
You could have used a knife
You could have used a knife jig
soft plastics
whole mulie /pilchard drift down unweighted
silver twisty
Look at the bait and try represent size colour action
had the same problem years ago with yellow fin tuna. Fish were in a bait ball. Tuna Wouldnt take anything. Checked out the size of the prey and a 70grm twisty best represented. First troll fish...
Big predators ,the squiggle on the bottom probably sambo
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18032
Date Joined: 11/03/08
even tho you didnt get the
even tho you didnt get the fish it sounds like you had a ball. goes to show you dont need to nail the fish all the time to make it all worth while, if you worried about the $ spent and fish caught you probably wouldnt have a boat. good luck on your next trip now you have sussed the sounder out
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
deepwater
Posts: 1921
Date Joined: 09/05/07
no fish but was great way to
no fish but was great way to get to know the ins and outs of your boat and how it handles well done
jeff
Colin Hay
Posts: 10407
Date Joined: 23/10/07
shammy you may not have got onto a lot of fish
but the experience would be worth its weight it gold for the next trip you do. I always count those sorts of trips as reconnoitering visits. The next time you will clean up.
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