Hey was thinking about going down to dunsborough next monday, tuesday after some salmon with my mate on his boat any chance of geting into them or still abit thin that far up any info will be great cheers

As has been the case for the last 30 odd years we spent the Easter break down at Walpole staying at Rest Point.

Left Perth on the Wednesday for the trip down towing the trusty Trailcraft loaded with camping gear. Uneventful trip apart from the rain most of the way and a quick stop at Donybrook for the tin lids to have a play on the great playground there. Arrived at Rest Point to find water everywhere, there had just been a 30min downpour, not good when you are tenting it. Our site at least didn’t have water pooling on it like some others so it was up with the tent while the rain was holding off. Once this was done it was time to settle down with quiet beer and contemplate the upcoming week of fishing and relaxing. The plan was to fish offshore most mornings and spend the arvo’s with the kids on the boat fishing for herring and crabs.

So we wake up Thursday to rain and howling southerly’s, for those who know the area this is not good. So after launching the boat took the kids for a spin across the inlet to the mouth for a look at the conditions, 6m swells offshore make it a no go so spent some time playing around catching herring with the kids dodging showers before it was back to camp. After a night around the fire and plenty of beers it was off to bed with the forecast for light offshore wind the next day

Woke Friday to light winds so it was off we set. Spent 4 or so hours fishing around Saddle and Goose Island without any luck at all, this was to be the worst days fishing in this area ever. Usually get at least a feed of blackass, queen snapper and fox fish but despite trying ten or so lumps that have all produced good fish in the past all we could manage was 1 fox fish so it was a BBQ for dinner instead of the expected feed of fresh fish.

With Saturday generally being a no fishing day on account of all the girls heading to Denmark the markets and lunch we were surprised when we were offered a chance for a quick fish as long as we were back by 1030. So with light winds and the swell now down to 4m we headed across towards Rams head and a couple of lumps there. Although it wasn’t fantastic fishing at least we managed to land a couple of queenies and a couple of fox fish so it was fish for dinner.

Sunday was a bit windy so it was decided to make this a family day and we went into Walpole for wander around the markets there. The kids had some money to spend and they picked up some bargains. The afternoon was spent wetting the crab nets over near sandy beach with the highlight for the kids (but not the net puller) being the 4ft ray we got in one of the nets.

With Monday looking like being a great day the call was made to take Kellie my wife out for a fish, however much to her displeasure she was feeling crook on waking up after our big curry night so she reluctantly knocked on Brian’s van. It was jokingly stated that anything he got was Kellies anyway, oh if only. We headed, not a breath of wind and the swell now down to 2m so we decided to head down towards Pt Nuyts. About 2/3 way there the sounder lights up on a lump so we had a quick couple of drifts here, not a touch. I would have thought going by the sounder that it would be all go. So it was onto Nuyts. Pt Nuyts is a large steep granite headland jutting into the southern ocean. Now as there was now a slight offshore breeze we were able to motor up to within 3-4m of this and drift off it. The water depth drops to about 35m within 40m of shore. First drift and we have a couple of blackass onboard which was a good start. Then the next drift I get a big hit and I am on. The Live Fibre and finnor overhead were working hard, I’m calling it for a big queenie before I start feeling some head shakes. After about 5-10mins I see color, beautiful pink color and after one last short run I have a 9kg pinky onboard, my Pb and I was stoked. After a couple more blackass things went quiet so we worked our way around the headland picking up the odd fish before Brian loads up big time. After getting nowhere in 10 minutes he is calling it for a big ray. It was holding the boat in close to the rocks and not budging. After what seemed like an hour (probably only 20 minutes) he was at last getting some line back, then there was color, some beautiful blue and up pops a 19kg blue groper which was a Pb as well. So with 2 Pb’s and plenty of fish for everyone at camp we decided to head back. To say Kellie was pissed is an understatement. Both fish were taken on skinned top quality occy. After cleaning the fish the old vac sealer got a work out and everyone had a few feeds to pop in there freezer.

So with Kellie feeling better on Tuesday out we went again. The other boat from our camp wasn’t going out so initially the plan was to stay around saddle again but after chatting to another boat who I knew that was heading to Chattam Island I decided to head the 8NM down the coast to Pt Nuytes again knowing there was at least another boat in the area. With the weather being even better we again had the perfect drift off the rocks. First drop Kellie gets a double header of nice Blackass. Next drift is a fox fish and a sweep which went back over the side. I hadn’t landed a thing at this stage; don’t even think I’d lost a bait. Then Kellie is on again, this time the Penn 850 is giving line and she is working hard, after tightening the drag a bit an a few words of encouragement (like I’m not helping, you hooked it you land it!) she is still struggling. Eventually she started gaining line with the suggested pump and wined and finally up popped a 6kg pinkie, her biggest fish too date. At this stage I still hadn’t landed a thing, not happy Jan. by this time it had glassed off, for those who know the south coast this is unheard off. There was no drift so I was able to go right in close to the rocks and this is where I finally got a bite. After giving me a bit of curry I landed my first Blue Gropper which weighed in at 9kg. So at 1030 and some great fish aboard we made the call to call it a day and we flew back at 25knots all the way, surly this couldn’t be the southern ocean.
So after a slow start and crappy weather things only got better, 4 Pb’s, Brian’s Blue Gropper at 19Kg, My pinky at 9kg, my first Blue groper and kellies Pinky, You have got to be happy with that.

So that’s my report, can’t wait for next Easter and some more Pb’s. Then again it could blow the whole time and we don’t get out.
Brad

Hey everyone returned from Exmouth last Saturday.

Drove up and a mate would be flying up to join me after 2 days solo.

The first 2 days I spent wandering up and down the coast and chucking lures. Wasn't as successful as I would have hoped!

But did manage to get into some fish. Was hoping for a Spangled Emporer on lure but didn't happen despite a few follows. Did get my first Golden Trev and Queenie though :)

All pictures are from the first 2 days flying solo as I damaged my camera snorkelling. Ooops!

I was hoping to get my mate onto some ripper fish but windy weather, luck and poor tide timings did not help us.

However we managed to catch an abundance of fish. Tiny threadfin salmon were everywhere at night and literally swimming in an inch of water.

Dart, Bloody dart were everywhere with my mate catching the biggest one I've ever seen ( unfortunately his fishing highlight) I released it and took a good cut in the hand.

This thing was built STRONG compared to the other 3000 we caught lol

Highlight of the trip as snorkelling fo sure.  Drifted with a turtle for a good 2 minutes with the turtle literally cm's away and swam with a few reef sharks.

Had the best snorkel I have ever had at Oyster Stacks. Fish literally everywhere, crystal clear water and came across an unidentified 2 metre shark! Was incredible to see

but we both slowly turned around and headed to shore after that :)

Here are some pics of some fish I got in the first 2 days all on lures. Some good fights just a shame I couldn't show my mate Exxie's fishing potential.

The cod and Long Tom were everywhere, I think I caught 5 cod in a row on that little orange lure.

All in all an awesome part of the world.....will be up again!

Finally have got time to post a report and post a few photos from our trip up to Exmouth for the comp.

Weather wasn’t that kind to us this time but still ended up getting out most days and getting amongst it, got a few good fish reds eluded us again this year weather didn’t help.

Had the dropsy’s with the marlin had to pull the lures in a few times just to check the hooks were still in!!! managed a little saily. Good to see a few familiar faces up there, again cheers to Ads again for the Comp was enjoyed by all bring on next year

1050 km of driving, a carton of Wife Bashers, a couple of good mates, not enough sleep, some light flick gear and cold, clear water can only mean a south west salmon trip.

Hearing of salmon everywhere down south, me, Hoookd and the "Unknown Weed Warrior - he can not be named for fear of getting in the shiiite with his mistress........but he is a well known FW member who can really put the wood on a good clump of seaweed......" headed off early Sat morning to get into a few. We arrived at Cheynes at lunchtime Saturday to calls of "its been going off mate" by the locals.........

Well, after a full arvo and 4 hours the next morning of fishing, a LOT of casting, only one fish and less than 2 hours until we had to head back to Perth on Sunday, there was general dissent amongst the team.........the weed warrior had almot given up and suggested we head home early and Hoookd taking a VERY long time changing lures and looking generally disinterestedin fishing and very interested in the last of the stubbies............but we plugged on regardless and then the Salmon finally arrived for our last hour of the trip, with everyone landing a few nice fish each including a nice double hook-up and a few great hits in the shallows after sight casting to fish. That last hour made the trip more than worthwhile.

Great fun on 10 lb braid and 2500 Certates, really no need to go any heavier on Salmon as we subdued them reasonably well. We only got a few photos as the action was pretty hot when they were on......all fish were released to swim another day and hopefully provide fun for some other punters.

Not sure about all the talk on west coast salmon , or lack of

You blokes need to man up , and head south , were the men are drunk and the salmon are

nervous,, haha

Just had 3 great days east of Albany, the weather was good, the beachs superb and

the best salmon fishing you could imagine.

Mornings were best , but still got them at 3pm , 5pm etc

They took mulies , scalies , softys, and the girls had a ball.

Crystal clear gutters , 12year old girl, slow winded plastic, visual takes, and hard running

and fighting salmon, makes a dads heart warm.

I'm not usually one to take the boat out alone, but with the weather on hand, and the fact I fly back to work tomorrow, at last minute I decided to give it a crack. Had the anchor set just before sunrise in around 8 metres. Out went the baits while I rigged up a plastic on the flicky. First bait got smashed after 5 minutes and up came a 58 cm pinky, which was surprisingly followed up by his mates. Not huge, but the second of that size in a week and in the esky she went.
Baited up again and started a burley trail, to which 4 big sambos started sniffing around. Floated unweighted mulies down, but I think they could see the hooks, due to the perfect weather. Could see them swimming around eating the cubed burley but flatly refusing anything with a hook in it.... Until I turned my back to grab a drink and heard my reel screaming in protest. Holy shit did it give me some curry! After one hell of a fight, I boated the fish and stared in amazement. I've never caught a sambo before and I'll be rooted, my first one cracked the metre! Grabbed a pic and back in she went. The feeling of catching and releasing such a fish is surreal.
The action slowed down so I finally got back to that flicky with the plastic. Im a plastic virgin, only just started using them after a mate convinced me to have a go. Although it was nothing serious, I broke the virgin status and boated a few good sized skippy, which were all returned.
At the turn of 10 am, I had a feed in the esky, had a battle with a monster sambo and caught my first fish on plastic. Heading back to the ramp, after ticking a few boxes on the list, I couldn't help but to think how much I love it when a last minute plan just comes together.

Steve at Tackle HQ was kind enough to arrange another jigging tutorial on Whitey's boat with some 8 fishwrecked members attending.  Amongst the fishers were four jigging virgins, Lester, David (a Dhuie virgin as well), Damo and myself as well as  the four seasoned professionals (well if you saw the selection of jigs and gear they were using you would think they were) Steve from HQ, Jeffrey, Paul and Simon. 

It was an early start with Whitey leaving the wharf at 5.30 and overcast conditions only made the early morning start even darker, after motoring for a little less than an hour we arrived at the first drop.  On the way us virgins had been entertained by Steve showing us how to tie the most ridiculously complex bobbin knots which supposedly provide almost 100% knot strength but, whilst I might accept that for casting purposes such knots might be warranted (GT fishing in particular) I fail to see the need for such extremes for bottom jigging when a simple double and improved albright will adequately do the same job.  Still I enjoyed the lesson immensely but as an old fart I might stick to what I know and can actually see with my old eyes.

Steve rigged up all us virgins and at the first spot walked around giving instructions on how to work the jigs, not allow them to get too far from the boat on too shallower angle and how to work the rod to get a suitable "injured baitfish action".

Second drop Simon, Damo (with a Steve assist) and yours truly all hooked up on snapper with mine being the largest displaying the distinct hump head of a good one 

Hell that was easy, second drop and an good snapper - this jigging thing might well be the bees knees .......................Hmmmmmmmmmm

Jeff then hooked a stripey on a fast retreive but the snapper shut down quickly to Whitey quickly indicated a move and we all "lines up". 

Well the initial buzz of an early fish quickly waned as we moved from spot to spot with little other than srgt. bakers being caught and all of us virgins struggling to even get a hit.  

Time ticked on with Whitey repeatedly trying to find fish which might chew on our flash bits of metal - the pro's were repeatedly changing jigs from their massive arsenals but even these experienced operators were doing it tough.

Ian and Simon quickly took a break after the first spot to yell at the ocean and then proceeded to sleep with neither seeming too enthused with the fact that the breeze was getting up and the boat rocking just a little more.

Whitey had warned us that fish had been hard to find in the three days prior with even the local wetliners strugging to raise a scale so we were not that confident of doing too well but Steve never let us virgins flag and kept us to the task of dropping, jigging and retreiving over and over again as he was confident we would catch fish.  Lunchtime rolled by and fish were still scarce so Ian finally decided he had seen enough of our poor attempts, roused from his disturbed sleep / seasickness and immediately hooked a good dhuie causing us virgins to renew our efforts

It was like a light switch had been flicked on, fish started to come in with some regularity and, whenever a fish was caught Whitey would reposition  and redrift the area to ensure that we had covered all bases - great tactic as often more fish followed. 

Ian did it gain with a second dhuie but we wont count it as a "capture" as it wasn't hooked at all - the jig had been inhaled by the fish, turned sideways across it's jaw and locked into place without a hook even scratching it's flesh

Double virgin dave then broke his duck with his first ever dhuie

And Ian really rubbed salt into the wounds by securing a truly specimen dhuie which was initially called as potentially in excess of 20kg but proved on certified scales back at the wharf to be 17.8kg - either way it was a bloody good fish even if he doesn't look happy but that may have been because we kept him holding it for ten minutes or more and he was a bit ****issed at us.

 Steve then demonstrated brilliant jigging technique by securing the catch of the day

- for which I thank him as I was laughing that much that I forgot to jig and almost lost the rod when a good dhuie obviously took a shine to my jig left fluttering down deep and engulfed it.  I claim this as a legitimate catch even though the jig was again wedged in the jaws and the single assist was left swinging in the breeze (hook inserted only for photographic purposes)

The side bet between virgins Damo and Dave was won resounding by Damo and I am sure he will enjoy the two cartons of his choice. 

Finally on the trip back to the marina Jeff did his usual 

Before suddenly springing up to grab the inside corner trolled skirt only to come up with a sambo

 Summary and accolades

Jigging - hmmmm, personally the jury is out, I have bait fished Jurien a lot and caught plenty of fish but I am sure that jigs might indeed generate a "bite response" when bait drifting by might not.  I will try it again!

Tackle HQ's tutorial - I saw some negative comments on a prior trip about the guys fishing rather than tutoring, bluntly I could not fault Steve though he fished a lot of the time he encouraged, came over and pointed out faults in technique and assisted whenever called upon to do so - BRILLIANT DAY Steve, thanks and equally thanks to all the other members for their help and encouragement and bloody good laughs - I would not hesitate to go on another. 

Whitey ...........................YOU ARE A BLOODY LEGEND............Second to none, I have been on charters all over the world and can say without a shadow  of a doubt that you worked harder and longer and went further to find us fish than ANY skipper I have ever fished.  I had heard good reports - bluntly they are under-stated - utterly professional and passionate about given us fishos a good time .........Thanks

Sunshine 

.    - the assistance a   I

Hey guys,

Finally the trip to cheynes beach was here and we were all ready to chase the salmon. Alarm set and woke up at 4am Friday morning, was out the door just after to pick up a few others and was on the road by 5am ready for the journey down south. After a few stops and a non planned senic drive ( getting lost ) we eventually made it to cheynes beach. We unpacked our gear at the caravan park and was keen to go down to the town beach to see what its like and to sus out the area. after hearing that the salmon are going off we decided to take a rod each down with us rigged up with a lure just to have a flick or two while seeing the area but the time now being around 1 o'colck we didnt really expect much, but were we to be mistaken. as soon as we drove down onto the beach we instantlly saw numerous people hooked onto salmon. we all just thought ok they are here but when we looked at the water it was just salmon as far as the eye could see. it didnt take seconds before we were out of the car and heading towards the water. first cast and all of us (5 people) were on, it was unbelievable how many there were, they were bumping into our legs and were swimming over the top of each other literally in a foot of water. there was so many that people were scouping them up in buckets, 'now thats fishing'. for 3 hours strait it was non stop salmon action with most of them being hooked 5-10m from the shore line. these salmon were big and im talking 10kg mark and on a 5kg diawa outfit they were certainly giving me a run for my money, i was on each fish for atleast a good 10min dragin me up and down the beach. there was a few new salmon fishers in the group and they all managed to land a salmon or two. by 4-30 when the salmon had gone quiet a total of 18 salmon were landed between 5 people with a lot more being lost becasue of bust offs or straitened hooks.

next mornin got up at 8am ready to do it all again but this time the swell had picked up and the weed had started to roll in. a few salmon were seen but none caught and by 12pm we decided time to go do a bit of 4x4 driving up to the point facing bald island. that evening headed down to the beach again this time with the little bbq ready if we caught somin to cook. this time we just had the baits out (big and small) and soon had a nice 40cm flatty on the beach which was released but soon after another was landed so we decided to keep this one knowing more are out there. another 2 flattys were caught (1 undersize) plus 3 big sand whiting so we had a nice feed. headed back at 10 ready for an early rise in the morning. 

sunday mornin we were up at 6 and down the beach at 6-30 to find the swell had dropped of but the weed made things very difficult. wasnt to bothered though becasue friday made up for all of the three days. was a great weekend with some brilliant fish landed, the biggest salmon landed was an estimated 9kg.

cheers, Aidan

 Headed out from Mindarie as usual with a new deckie. An old work mate of mine Fulton, who hadn't been out boat fishing except for an exmouth charter a long long time ago.

Fulton was a quick learner and after the obligatory first fish release rule he soon got into the swing of things with a nice double header of whiting.

We managed a quick couple of dozen along with a solitary squid before heading a little wider.

Given the Fulton had hit a double header I had to out do him with this double trouble pair. God knows how I got these two in.

This was the big boy. (released with a big release weight)

Shortly after Fulton caught his first sambo.

Out a little wider and I managed a couple of nice KGs. Happy Happy Happy!!!!!!

In amongst a few black arse, and pinkies we managed a couple of Dhuies too.

All in all a great day on the water. Both dhuies were a nice eating size but nothing to write home about.

Hi All,

Well with the weather looking good today and a leave pass from the about to pop mrs, me and my dad had to take the opportunity to head out.  We started at some of our closer in patches out from Mandurah which have held fish in the past only to pick up an undersize pinky and a nice swallowtail.  So being slow we headed out to some deeper waters off mandurah for a change, and well worth it at that.

Found some bait balls on the way out put a lure out to no avail, seems to ust be the baitfish without any predators around, all calmly swiming in the blue...

Hit our destination at around 50m, straight away saw some activity on the sounder and the wind just swund around to the south.  Dropped the lines down, saw some bigger looking patches come up on the screen, and bankg, 2 rods on.

First one up was me with my first leagal dhui at about 58cm, dad was on to a similar sort of fight.

But ended with a sambo, great fight on the lighter gear.

Re-set the drift, same patch, bang I am back on, up comes another sambo.

Kept drifting and found some more activity on the screen, then dad has a big hookup.  Both called it for another sambo.

Ended up being a 87cm Dhui - his second legal, but definately our biggest. 

This was followed by a nice 49cm KG.  From here we decided to call it a day, get back in mobile range and make sure the missus was all good.  Had perfect conditions for the 40km trek back to the ramp, and on the trailer by 1pm. 

Great day out, and hopefully there will now be many more to come!!!

Thanks - Phill

had a good session west of barrow island today while on the way to port. bought some gulps at the tackle shop in port last week 1 1/2 ounce jig heads and nueclear chicken gulps thought i would give it a go see what everyone is talking about.

i have to say i am bloody impressed. was fishing with 6 other guys all using bait i out fished them landing 8 fish to 2 between six of them. almost a good a flogging as collingwood got on friday night.

as for the variety of fish they attract

first fish as soon as i hit the bottom 5 - 6 kg chinamen then a nice rankin cod about the same size a few gold spot and brassy trevally, small longtail tuna didnt manage a big red allthough i did get sharked on a large fish and lost the whole lot, so ill just call that one a big red :)

switched to a gold halco twisty when all my gulps were used up hooked a couple more trevally and then a spaniard which got sharked just below the surface i managed to hook the shark and nearly got spooled, one of the other guys caught the culprit about 10 minutes later he turned out to be a bull shark around 2 1/2 metres (didnt know they were caught offshore often) it took him and hour to catch on a 200lb handline

all in all a good day sorry no photos got a couple of crap ones of the shark not even worth looking at will have another go next weekend so will try to get some good photos if i have another good session.

all in all was a good fun day usualy im the one getting out fished feels good to get your own back sometimes

im deffinatly converted to placcies now will get a few more on monday

cheers

dan

Our week has come to an end and today was our last chance to catch a few fish to take home. Catching a red would be a highlight and after getting some advice from the Faulkner Family and with dan1 passing on one of his 'red' spots, we headed out thru the south passage with a brisk NE wind and some swell.

As we approached dan's spot, the sounder lit up so we knew we were in the right place.

The drift was pretty quick, even with the sea anchor so we were continually moving and drifting back over the spot. The first fish into the boat was Mrs gates' nice 40cm Blueline Emperor, followed by the daughter's boyfriend's 47cm Blueline.

After mrs gates lost all the gear after a solid hookup, Cam was onto something big and boated a beautiful 4.5kg Red...all credit for this fish goes to Dan...thankyou so much, we're humbled by your generosity.

On the last piece of bait for the day and the week, I hooked into something big that was putting up a real tussle until the patenosta hook loop broke and we were all left to wonder at what could have been. Oh well, we'll just have to come back and try again.

Thanks to all the members of team gates for making it a great family holiday. Thanks to all the fishwrecked members for their support and comments during our daily reports.

The boat is packed, the house is cleaned and we're all set for an early start for the long haul back to Whitehills....hopefully we'll be home by 7pm Saturday night.

regards
rusty...

 Any one seen or heard of any salmon down dunsbrough Augusta way keen to get stuck into some I don't have a 4wd or I'd be at yeagurup apparently there's heaps there

Hi, this is the first time posting pics so i hope i do it right. We went down to Dunsborough over the long weekend chasing salmon but only caught two off the beach and couldn’t find any off shore while in the boat. So back to basics, anchor and burley. We hooked two hammerheads but couldn’t land them, we got them near the boat but got bitten off. As the sun was setting my wife caught a nice gummy shark. Then once the sun went down the skippy moved in and followed shortly after by the Samson fish. We lost count of how many Samson fish we caught. this pics was the biggest samson of the night caught on 12lb gear we had been using for the skippy.

The three of us arrived at Moore river with lines in the water by 10pm. I had low expectations, low swell, almost no wind and weed all over the beach.

Boy was I wrong! Two of us bagged out on tailor within 3hrs. I couldn't crack 50, my mate's biggest went 54cm (f*cks sake!) and almost all of the ones we kept were 40cm+. It was a tailor a mullie towards the end, but the smaller ones moved in. They were still all size though!!

So with the esky full and 3 big rods out (two livies, one dead) I went for a nap. Woke up on sunrise, all three baits untouched!!! I must say I was very suprised.

Then people started arriving and fishing in our pockets... There is a whole stretch of beach people!!!! Seriously, sure they might be locals but c'mon, there is a whole stretch of beach to fish from.

Had a flick whilst my mate cleaned the fish and got a few herring on the trusty 15g twisty. We were meant to drive up to the reef in the morning, but decided against it cos we had enough to feed us all.

It was a hot session, but still have not reached my goal of a 50cm+ tailor or a toothy :( :(

The hunt continues...

Hi all

The weather was great today....light NE winds blowing as we left the ramp and headed out thru south passage looking for some new ground to fish. After checking out a spot from the other day, we had red on the sounder but nothing was really interested in our baits.

Moved out deeper but didn't have much luck so we drove around looking, looking, looking...then we checked out another of our spots from a couple of days ago and got bites straight away....bloody sharks! Must have caught 6 of them today...black tips on their dorsal fins so I'm guessing black tipped reef sharks....in the 3' - 4' range; all went back.

Then Mrs gates gets a bite that starts taking line, then she tags in the son for a bit of a tussle between a bottom dweller and the bottom, itself. We had to move the boat to see if we had snagged the bottom but once we'd swung around a bit, we managed to coax said bottom dweller out of wherever he'd sought refuge. 

Finally, a nice 4kg Rankin surfaces and there's smiles all round. The sinker loop on the patenosta had been chafed and busted off, so i'm guessing we did snag terra ferma at some stage.

Not long after, the daughter boats a 51cm Robinson Seabream and I add to our tally with a 42cm specimen.

Throughout the day we had sharks swimming around the boat, mostly hovering a couple of metres under the surface....obviously we decided not to cool down by taking a quick swim off the boat. During one retrieve, our potential dinner got sharked just under the boat...there wasn't much left of it.

Back at the ramp by 4.30pm and a well earned beer. Our neighbour was telling us about some excitement at the ramp when a car somehow managed to get itself all the way into the water, not sure whether it was during the launch or the retrieve...but apparently, the car got quite wet.

Not looking forward to tomorrow as it's our last day...we've had a fantastic time here. However, we are looking forward to one last fish and the forecast is for light ESE winds with small seas and swell.

I'm hoping there's a red up here with my name on it!!

regards
rusty... 

.

G'day all

Awoke to a really strong NE wind that was blowing up a chop inside the reef. Decided to give it a go and headed up the north passage but it was way too strong a wind blowing and the swell was too lumpy for us, so we headed back to a spot near south passage and had a swim....back home by lunch time.

We weren't the only ones who turned around and came home, there were a couple of others that followed us out and back in again.

After lunch we took a run down to Warroora Stn to check out the track in, the camping area and the boat launching options from the beach. Had a chat with the caretakers there and they were telling us about the different areas for short term and long term campers. There were some long term 'residents' who spend 6 months up there....oh to be retired!

The weather forecast is looking a bit better tomorrow so we've got our fingers crossed....hope we can get out for a fish as we've finished off all the fish on the fridge.

regards
rusty... 

Hit the water on monday just before 8am. headed out behind 5 fathom to about 40-50m to have a crack at a few lumps. nothing to exciting to begin with landing a few undersized dhuies and a couple blackass 50cm+. moved around a found a few more spots that looked productive. pulled my pb dhu on 15lb on a pirate jig which seemed to be doing the trick.  

this was followed by milsey pulling a bigger dhu on pe2 that was released in hope of finding a monster

we then decided to move out deeper to try find some more ground in the 65-80m mark. drove around for around 20mins before hitting a spot that looked bloodie good on the sounder. had a quick drop to sus the drift and hooked up streight away. landed my pb pinkie again on pirate on the 15lb gear. 

with the next few drifts being less productive with only pulling a few small reds and a pretty little bonito hooked on the way up we decided to move on for more ground.

drove for another half hour or so to find a small spot, we pulled the pin and decided it was time to head in after one more drop. this last drop resulted in milseys pb dhu on metal, went hard on pe2.

with a great way to end the day we headed in for 2pm. thanks for reading.

headed out to the fads on easter sunday with andyh and mela_7

left hillarys at 6:00am and got to the furuno fad around 7:15, the weather wasnt as good as seabreeze had forcasted but didnt bother us as it was time to get fishing.

first drift andy landed this nice dollie and biggest of the day on his samurai rod and 20lb line we were all stoked to say the least when it came boatside and we saw how big it was.

next to hook up was hesh

then my turn to hook up and seal a 3 fish from four drifts streak, this is also my first dollie i have caught which i am wrapped about

we then moved on to another fad where andy picked up another dollie.

and on the next drift we had a double hook up me and hesh were both on and after hesh losing his dollie at the side of the boat and spotting a decent tiger i thought i got sharked agter the reel started screaming, andy followed the fish with the boat as i was using his combo with 20lb line i couldnt give it to much hurt after about a 10 min fight i saw a very decent tuna appear down the water column when it surfaced i was stoked being my first striped tuna and what a specimen to start on

after this we decided to head in at a lazy 30knots had an awesome day thanks andy and hesh.

thanks for reading.sammy

Well, my love affair with Rotto continues......5 brilliant days on the island with my wife and 3 kids, mum, dad, two sisters, brother in law, neices, nephews, two mates and a partridge in a pear tree......

Weekend started off with some nice sand whiting with the kids, dinner for the first night. Always good!

Next day, finallly got to take my missus out for a proper metro days fishing offshore. Rach got onto here first jigged dhu only 2 minutes into her first ever jig effort, wielding a salty fighter, Tierra 3000 and 80 g jig.....top stuff, then she hooked a much bigger model on PE2 that ended pulling the hooks after several classic dhuie determined runs. Followed up with a horse nor west blowie also on jig........dissapointed but good fight! I got a my best baldie on jig....happy days! After a little over 2 hours, we were done as we had our bag limit (only 1 liscence) and more than enough for dinner. The 46 cm baldie and 55 cm dhu were whole baked in the oven, my sister adding some secret herbs and spices for a truly memorable dinner for 10. Dhu just pipped the baldie in my opinion, both were top shelf!

Next day Langa picked me up at 6 am sharp in his 285 Boston Whaler for a FADS and jigging trip. Awsome boat, but could have gone out in a 12 ft dingy the conditions were that good. A bit of a jig on the way out for a few undersized red bight fish, which may have been a mistake as by the time we reached the FADS, there were two other boats there. We left them and chased a few tuna schools but they were too flighty, so I threw a stickbait at the FAD and after some big boils and follows, bang, it was on. The Tierra flick rod and Tierra 3000 reel screemed, and after 5 great jumps and several determined runs both high and down deep, a nice metro dolly was had. These little suckers fight as good as any fish on light gear! We also had 4 others fully lit up surrounded my fish, but Matt was not rigged up so he missed his chance. As Dollies do, they then went quiet and within 20 minutes there were 12 boats around so time to go. 

Headed for a deep jig on the wrecks, after a fair few drops me and Matt both hooked up.......and both got sharked quickly.......seems the men in grey coats are now resident!!!!!!!Moved immediated to search for some dhu ground.

In 45m and after several hits, hooked this great dhu on a 100 g jig. Went 75 cm, and was at the limit of the little salty fighter and Tierra 3000......was almost outgunned several times and thought I felt reef twice, and after landing it, the leader was shredded and very lucky I was not busted off.... 

Great day, and ended with a big fry up. Dollie, dhu and my mate Troy's daughter caught a nice 47 cm KG on the way over to Rotto so it was a pretty hot culinary contest that night as well. Dhubanger came out just ahead of the dollie, with KG third but certainly not disgraced!

Ended today by anchoring up in Geordie and having a swim with the kids before heading back to reality this arvo. Great Easter, as good as it gets.

My mistress awaits only 18 km away for the next fling......

If you're ever up this way and you haven't experienced the 'swim with a whaleshark' phenomena, then you should put it on your bucket list.

After we checked in at the dive shop this morning and got our gear, it was off to the marina and aboard Encounter II...great boat, great crew.

Had a snorkel inside the reef as a dress rehersal for the main event....then out the south passage for a cruise up and down the ocean while the spotter plane did its thing.

Just as the morning seemed to be dragging on, word came thru from the plane that a whaleshark was 'inside the reef'...this is quite unusual for the whalesharks to be inside the reef, but it gave us an excellent chance of seeing it close up without it diving too deep.

There were 3 boats sharing this 1 whaleshark and we all got 5 drops on it.....a truly memorable experience....words can't describe it, really.

The biggest shock I got was on our first drop and while we're following the guide, she shouts at me to get out of its way....I look down and it swam directly under me. This was only a 5m whaleshark but it was BIG....big and beautiful.

These are magnificent creatures and if you get a chance to swim with them, you gotta do it.

After we had lunch on boat, we had a quick snorkel around some bombies and came across a couple of turtles doing what turtles do.

Back at the marina by 3pm and kicking back now watching the video footage I took....I'll put something together later and post the link for you to check out.

Add this one to your bucket list, guys.

regards
rusty...

Sorry about the quality of a couple of the pics, they're snapshots from the videos.

So the 2012 lads trip to Exmouth has come and gone for another year and an awesome trip it was.

We made the decision that we wanted to upgrade the whole trip from the previous year, accommodation, boats, fishing gear, food, beer the lot!

Fishing wise the main targets were reds on the bottom, and macks and maybe a billie on the surface. over the last 2 years we only managed 1 sized red so it was a target this year!

the planning and work started many months ago, with rebuilds of trailers, purchasing of new gear, some custom built rods (couple of the lads are building their own rods now) servicing boats and cars / truck

This year consisted of

8 Lads

12 days

2 boats (26ft Fury, 28ft protector)

2 cars and 1 truck

38 cartons of beer

the spit

ice machine

1000 Ltr diesel fuel cell and much more

the Beer

the rigs

It was a hard trip up for Scano

We decided to hire the pent house Chalets at the Light house Caravan park

The view.

we had some bloody terrible conditions!

Enjoying a beer and a swim!

Some of the Bling. Fishing gear was all upgraded, bascially all Saltiga's, Stellas, Talica's and Torsa's!

Cant really remember what fish were caught on which days, but on the 2nd day we finally found the reds!

The first red of the trip - 8.5kg's

the 2nd

And another

This was the bag on the first day chasing bottom species!

Also plenty of Rankins about too

Nice double header to Scano

Another nice red, nice colours!

Mackie on plastic! love catching these on the flick gear!

Couple nice trev's!

nice dollie caught on a ballooned scalie!

The spread and teasers

new combo i bought just beofre going up. Diawa Saltiga Coastal PE 5/6 + Stella 8000SWPG running PE 5. I gave this combo absolute hell, high sticked the crap out of it and couldnt break it!!

Keep in mind this rod is pe 5/6 :)

Sunset

The spit

so at the end we knocked off quite a few things we wanted to do.

Red's = found them

saw plenty of billies and hooked 1, and a hit by another

mackies on plastics

occy's off the reefs

and plenty more

Must say the sharks were bloody everywhere, lost way too many good fish to them, which was disappointing!

Already planning next years trip, this time a house in the Marina!

Bodie

 Hey all, Newby to the forum so I thought I had better post something.

 Got out through point peron over Easter, along with every boat owner in the south west by the way the carpark looked! on the water at a lazy 8am Monday, hangovers and as many Easter eggs as we could  fit into the boat.

Got to the back of the 5 and anchored up setting the barley trail. After a few quick tussles with ray and his friends the skippy turned up followed by a couple of nice snapper which certainly was a good surprise.

As its a new boat we spent a few hours looking for new ground(or old spots that were lost due to the old mans  "prowess" with saving them before selling and deleting gps with old boat...) found some nice ground and dragged a few lures through the bait schools breaking the surface to no avail.

All in all a good day, made better by getting a mate onto his first snapper ....which he claims came into his special burley of burley and 3am kebabs. 

Cheers and tight lines

Pill put up a few pics when I figure it out!

 G'day fellahs,

Set off for coronation early Friday morning with my cousin Kirk.  Packed his beautiful Toyota ute with enough stuff to last us a month.

Got to the carpark, let down the tyres, and set off down the track.  Bloody motorbikes had been thrashing around and the track was horrible, but still made it through.  

We met up with my other 2 cousins, Phil and Paul, who are at coronation almost every weekend.  They had set up on the first point, so we joined them.

I was hoping to do some ballooning over the weekend, but there just wasn't the right wind, damn it.   The first night was perfect, hardly any wind and there were baitfish being smashed all over the place.  Threw some mulies around, only to get a couple of small tailor.   They weren't biting very well at all, and since the weather was so good i took the oportunity to try out some lures, roosta poppers, twistys, stickbaits, they werent hitting anything.

Decided to get out my big 14ft Gladiator and set out a big herring fillet.  After 10 minutes i hooked what i was certain was a huge ray, it took off like a steam train and got me into the reef, just couldnt stop it.

Nothing around the next morning except for a few herring, which were kept for bait.  That afternoon i had another herring fillet set out on the Gladiator, and just as i was about to reel it in it got smashed.  20 minutes later i had a 115cm 14kg mulloway on the beach after some nice gaff work by Paul.  After a few photos i released it, swam off really well. Nothing else that night except for a few more tailor.  

Sunday morning was good weather too, i got up really early and had a mulie out on a cheap $40 jarvis walker 12ft surf rod with 30lb braid.  Had the rod in the rod holder wih the drag off as i was drinking a warm milo in my Oztrail recliner.  Sudenly the reel started screaming and i jumped up that quickly i spilled my milo.  Grabbed the spool and set the hook, tightened up the drag and i was on to a good fish.  Pushed the jarvis walker combo to its limit as the fish ran me up and down the beach.  Everyone else was asleep so i yelled out and woke up Paul, who came running over with the gaff.  After an exhausting fight i was so surprised to have a 120cm Sambo on the beach.  He was released well.

The rest off the weekend was very lazy but managed my pb tailor of 66cm.  Doesn't look that big on the photo, but it was 66cm!

Anyway was a great weekend with some good fish caught,

Thanks for reading,

-red

Plans had been made for a day in the deep on Easter Monday.  Four of us including Eric, Jeffrey, Greg and myself on Eric1’s Grady White and another three on Wangler’s boat.  Conditions couldn’t have been better as we headed out from the Ocean Reef ramp.  60 odd kms later we locate some fish in I think around 270m of water.  First runs on the board was to Wangler’s boat with a gemfish.  Jeffrey then stood up to the plate and scored a nice grey band cod. 

I followed soon after

And then another solid fish that gave me a good work out.  In fact I think it almost won.

The end result.  Fish was taken on a 500g Power Jig.

Greg added to the score.

And Jeffrey topped the day off with a double header. 

Eric added a nice pinky and we had bagged out.  Lots of green eyed sharks during the day and a few nannygai.  Wangler’s crew also bagged out so a great day was had by all.  Thanks to Eric and Wangler and company for a top day.  No day would be complete without a last pic of Jeffrey on the way home.

Gemfish and sounder pic added

Today was a bit of a reality check for us, fishing wise. Didn't hit the ramp till 11am after a mix up in communication with the other half of team gates arriving from Exmouth.

We headed out thru the south passage and this time decided to go a bit wider, towards 80m. After coming across some likely looking sounder images, we only managed 1 small shark....released unharmed.

Moving out deeper, we encountered some more patches of red but nothing was really interested in our baits....except the sharks.

Ended up catching and releasing 3 of them, but Mrs gates stepped up late in the session with a nice snapper, so at least we had something in the esky.

I did hook into something big that peeled line for a while, then it all went quiet and I was left without any of my rig...gone above the swivel.

We did see a turtle, a couple of bait balls on the surface and a sea snake!

Our neighbour reported hooking a nice mackie on a lure, only to have it chomped by a tiger shark...

We're off to swim with the whale sharks tomorrow.

regards
rusty....

PS. did I mention how hot it is up here! 

I was wondering if  anyone have  report of salmon and tailor around Woodman point ,city Beach or Hillary Boat Habour

If any one know Please share

Thanks

 Heard offshore today fads..... 

Dollies everywhere, schools swimming under our boat, could  of dived into to get them..

 Unfortunately we didn't manage to land one, got bitten off and kep dropping fish, would of seen 15 others hooked and landed on other boats at one fad and the same at the other fad we went to.. All in the space of around 2 hours..

All was fun till the spearfisheran ruined it! But what can you do

Next time eh!