Hi Crew

Finally got the time to sit down and throw a report together on my recent foray north. Destination Cape Peron Shark Bay. Was going to be a diving trip but my dive buddy rob and i both took a rod each just in case. As the date drew closer the weather forecasts improved and the excitement grew.

Knocked off work at 430am friday after a 12hr shift , gave rob a quick buzz and the wheels where set in motion. One final check thru the gear , a fuel stop and we left gero at about 530 for the 450 odd k trip... I was totaaaallly shattered since not sleeping from 10am the previous morning so rob took the wheel. Sleep was very hard to come by tho with the excitement of what lay ahead and me not being a car sleeper at the best of times... think i managed 30mins in total...

Arrived in Denham for a quick top up and the water was miiiiiiiinyong! Hustle time - A quick stop to pay at the gate $53 bucks for 3nights not bad and we hit the dirt. Arrived at our chosen camp site at Bottle Bay about 11am. Sheet of glass was an understatement. Camp set in record time , suits on , boat launched PARTY TIME!!!!!

Headed up to SkipJack Point for a looksee first and the tide was hummmmming... Vis attrocious - no diving here... Checked some marks we had been giving for the same results so resorted back to a hunt out from camp... Found a Beaut lookin reef in 8-9m and finally we hit the water.. I wont bore too much into it but as the tide increased the vis decreased to about 3m max but not before Rob shot the first fish of the trip. Stoned a beaut Blackspot Tuskie of 74cms (later weighed as 20lb) toppppp fish... His pb blown out and cloud nine was reached for him! Oh and the water got flatter and flatter if that was at all possible.

Seen the odd cray and looped a absolute horse green cray but revealed itself as furry so therefore she was sparred the pot and released back under her ledge.. The odd cod , parrotfish , small tusker and sorts made apperances but the guns stayed loaded... Finally after alot of searching i spotted a big trout head sticking out from a ledge. Unfortunently it spooked tho leaving me to admire a small bar cheek that was probably only just legal and again left for next time.. Time ticked on slowly..

Making a pass of the boat i spotted a small school of baitfish right down on top of a ledge and adjacent bombie... Looked fishy... Closer inspection and a that unmistakable head of a nice trout appeared from behind the bait... I dropped down - the fish gave that "I'm boss" stare than made the mistake id hoped for - a beaut slow turn - 7mm of rob allens finest was sent smashing straight thru the temple... STONED!!!

I knew it was a nice fish but the best was waiting back at boat.. It just got bigger and bigger til finally on the esky it measured in at 84cms! STOKED... smoked my previous best trout of 70 on spear and was bigger than any ive caught... a unreal fish.. one that will take some time to beat for rob and i thats for sure...

Anyways we finished the day after rob shot another monster blackspot 72cms - the dumbest ive ever seen... it literally dawdled past his gun ontop of the reef without him even having to dive... Found some lumps that held red crays and looped 2 for dinner entree then headed home - New GPS mark - PB REEF lol....

Thats the best part down and the next 2 days diving where not easy as visibility decreased markedly - PB reef was only just divable on day 2 - 2m of vis - altho rob spotted a nice mulloway and left another horse trout thinking it was a cod! Still fuming about that one he is! One tuskie of 60cms and a nice parrotfish joined 3 more crays in the esky tho and some fantastic footage taken.

Did find some ground out off the point that came from 14 upto 8m and back down - we managed 3 quick drift dives here before the tide again smashed us.. Seen rankin cod albeit only babies, chinamen, big spangos, cod, trout, pinkies, one tusker that would have been 85cms and 10kg (smart fish he was too lol) and swam with a school of goldens that where hugge! The weather again fantastic..

Day 3 dawned with drizzle set in but another glasy ocean... Today rob and i drove quite some miles searchin for ground... proved unsuccesful - the tides just too big and vis crap... PB reef totally undivable unfortunently.

Finally found another finger of low limestoney reef that we managed to shoot some lovely tuskies and a nice cod aswell before calling it quits late arvo... 4 blackspot all between 60&65 not a bad effort....

After drizzle all day it looked ominous for the night - 2am in the morning down she came.... heard we copped bout 30mm that night and it sure felt like it. Packed camp the next morning between showers with the surf pumping into the beach... The end of a great 3days diving the bay.. Grand total of 7 tuskers 1 trout 1 cod and a parrotfish - Not huge numbers but quality thats for sure!

Negotiated the flats covered in water and with 15ks of dirt before the bitumen we done the U-bolts on one side of the trailer - dang... Wasted an hour trying bush mechanic style but that lasted 500m and then it was really stuffed lol... CALM called past to inform the park had been closed but they helped us out with access ect while we dropped the boat , raced into denham and grabbed the necessary parts and borrowed a angle grinder ( HUGE THANKS TO PAUL from sharkbay mechanical!)

ended up back on the road few hrs later after a quick dip in the homestead hot-tub (BEAUTIFUL) and heading home... did blow the tread off a tyre 70clicks outta northampton but thats minor stuff...

Hope you enjoy the read guys!

ill be back there for more - Dirk Hartog is in the planner already!

Cheers Poddy =)