Yallingup Drowning

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/national/12477197/fisherman-washed-off-rocks-at-yallingup/

 

Was just  on GWN news.Some korean fella who   has  just  moved to australia and couldnt swim apparantly.  Obviously didnt  use   the  anchor points  provided down there. Apparantly  they asked  other fisherman  why they  dont  use  the  anchor  points  and  they  said  they  werent  that obvious.


Dale's picture

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Yeah, that was cuppla days

Mon, 2012-01-02 17:52

Yeah, that was cuppla days ago

 

Cheers

Dale

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MattMiller's picture

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Not the first

Mon, 2012-01-02 17:54

and unfortunatly wont be the last.

UncutTriggerInWA's picture

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Same thing happens everywhere unfortunately

Mon, 2012-01-02 19:24

These guys are there for a feed. It's a bit like tackling a wild buffolo or a randy Roo LOL. Take you chances and disregard anything that acts as a warning. Later...it's the communities that are at fault. Having said that I am very sympathetic of the situation.

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Buz's picture

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Date Joined: 28/08/07

Article said it apparently

Mon, 2012-01-02 20:54

Article said it apparently happened around Cape Clairault. From my understanding there aren't any 'tested' anchor points fitted there. Pretty exposed coast out that way especially if he was fishing on the Western side of Clairault. 

The only DEC approved and tested ones are at Rocky Point, Cape Nat, Sugarloaf Rock, Torpedo Rocks, Wyadup, Contos and Boranup(the North Point Rocks). There are plenty of signs indicating where they are and how to use them, but only in English, might be something for DEC to consider. Hell you get other signs in Nat Parks in 5 different languages! The other down side is they do get vandalised too sometimes. Yep someone finds it fun to vandalise a s/s shackle bolted to a rock..........

But of course there are also many other locations along that whole stretch of coast where people have put there own anchor points(and rod holders!) in with concrete, but obviously these are not tested, so use at your own risk.

Though i dont fish any of these locations myself anymore, i do fish alot of other rock locations up around Kalbarri and down around the southern granite rocks areas, i always tie myself off to an anchor point whether it be one we have put in ourselfs(with the same method DEC use) or by using my personnal rock climbing hardware to make an anchor point.

Bloody shame whenever you hear this happening to someone though. Thats why Rockfishing IS the most dangerous sport in Australia, based soley on how many people are lost each year. Thank god for all the rescue agencies out there that save countless people every year from the ocean all around Australia.

carnarvonite's picture

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Cost

Mon, 2012-01-02 21:07

No fish is worth it if you have to tie yourself on to something. Sure I've spent hundreds of hours fishing the rocks but at no time did I or any of my fishing mates ever look close to getting washed in because we didn't take a risk, if it looked like something could happen we were out of there in a flash.

All the anchor points do is give someone the sense of security in fishing when the conditions dictate otherwise IMO.

Buz's picture

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Well if thats your opinion

Mon, 2012-01-02 22:27

Well if thats your opinion Carnarvonite fair enough, but as far as i am aware only from what i have read around Australia and local knowledge from down South, no one who has been tied off to a rock to an anchor point has ever been washed in and or drowned. Would you rather be called out to retrieve someone who maybe slipped in accidently(not washed off by a wave) off the cliffs at Quobba, or would you rather hear of a story of someone who slipped and got a bit bruised but was tied off. Not everyone who dies rockfishing is the result of being swept in by a wave. My good friend, his Brother and Mother all died at Black Point when his Mother slipped in whilst just walking along the rocks. Now even if she wasnt fishing but was still tied off to an anchor point it probably would have been a different day.

Great example also was one of my work mates was fishing at Rocky Point, dead flat day, went down to get some water in a bucket and rope, slipped on his arse and skidded on his arse towards the water but was pulled up short by the rope and harness. Granted on this day he probably could have just swam around back to the beach but hey, he just got his footing again and walked back up looking very sheepish.

The work Ray Walker has done along with Niel Taylor in getting those Anchor Points installed down there i believe have already saved many people and will save anymore. Its just you will never hear of these people on the news because they dont drown.

The main reason i use the anchor points isnt to save me from getting washed in, the cliffs i fish are 30-40m off the water in some places, it is more to limit how close to the edge of the cliff i can get, with a gaff man sefety line with carabiner being slightly longer to allow whoever is going to gaff a fish to get closer to the edge.

But as you said always fish to the conditions, the anchor points are just another safety tool.

carnarvonite's picture

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Anchor points

Tue, 2012-01-03 00:57

I'm not saying that the anchor points are not a great idea, what I;m saying is, if you decide to fish there when conditions are that anyone in their right mind thinks he should be tied to the anchor point then its too dangerous to fish.

I congratulate Ray, who I had met many times while salmon fishing and Neil for their work in installing them and no doubt they will save the lives of people who are fishing in conditions people wouldn't normally fish if they weren't there giving them a false sense of security.

woody's picture

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Well said Carnarvonite! If

Mon, 2012-01-02 21:14

Well said Carnarvonite! If the rocks are that sketchy and the possibility of waves washing you off is so high  that you have to tie yourself to the rocks....its simply not worth it. Surely there are better and safer places to fish.

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Local Knowledge

Tue, 2012-01-03 07:37

is usually the the key factor that is missing in a lot of these incidents. I agree with Carnarvonite, if the conditions are a bit risky move to a safer location. The fish will be there tomorrow.

I believe the location was Wyadup, a great place for big waves.

hezzy's picture

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rev has done a  great job

Tue, 2012-01-03 07:44

rev has done a  great job getting these anchors in place along the coast ,

agree 100 % with you buzz .........

.the problem is many people just dont have the skill to know what the conditions are  likely to be on the coast ........and some diehards go anyway ..rev ran into a couple of  young turks at 6.30 am the other day at the same spot this guy drowned at wyadup  with a beer already open & into it  ......he quietly tried to advise em about the anchors ......got told to f off

some people you just cant help unfortunatly

 

not all people who fish , know enough to recognise the potential danger , they might put themsleves in , they see the sky is blue , & sunny , to them the day is lookign pretty good for a fish ,

i dont think the anchors give a false sense of security if you actually tie off on them ........YOU ARE SECURE  !!! no doubt about it .....if you make it a habit , you wont get washed in at all !! or slip in   .. they are not difficult to tie off to , and dont impede your fishing when tied off ........myself i know im safer when i use them even on calm days ......

to those locals who can read the forecast and know what conditions are likley to be , we just dont go on doggy days to thos espots ....but not all can tell the difference ....if you tie  off all the time , no possibility of going in at all pity is not enough people use them imo

hezzy

 

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evil flourishes when good men do nothing