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Some Coral Bay pics

Submitted by Simo_ on Thu, 2011-05-12 09:43

Here's some pics from our time in Coral Bay. The weather wasn't the best but we still managed to get some great fish. The boat is parked up as the next 2 days look too windy and we are leaving Saturday.


Diving Denham

Submitted by poddyfish on Tue, 2011-05-10 22:39

 Time for another trip report!

Leading into the weekend it was either a Abrolhos sojurn or a SharkBay adventure... Closer to the date and a monster swell put payed to enjoyable diving so it was Shark Bay here we come!

This was to be my first big trip in the tub since we joined forces and i was pretty excited at the chances of some good fish and good times with the boys.. Along with us was "Team Rukkus" Consisiting of capt Toddy & his faithful deckies Briso and Friesy on board the ever reliable Quintrex hunter 445. "Team Shoot 2 Thrill" was myself and Dave on the "big" centery

Left Gero around 6 friday arvo with some coldies in the waeco and full tanks of juice. The 4 hour trip passed comfortably in the cool night - regular bearing checks and tinkle stops the only interuptions beside one unlucky roo. Saw the poor bugger 400m ahead in the big lightforce spotties and slowed to a crawl litterally... 15kph... the roo bounded off the road , stopped and bounded straight back into the car and under the drivers wheel - no damage done beside the poor skip. Hit Denham late friday and went straight to the jetty to try for a few squiddlies!

Dang the poor things had copped a hiding over easter! Just the site of a jig on the jetty sent them screaming for dirk hartog! We perservered and managed 3 for a quick taste but nothing special - couple more beers and bed for the next day.

Team Rukku's where up and off early - keen to hit the board while the late start of Team Shoot 2 Thrill saw a more gentlemans approach. the rukus mob heading west to the bent pin area in search of big pelagics while dave and i had our sites set on reefies north of town.

The big Yammie 4 stroke pushed us along at a easy 26knots in 3-4ft of sharkbay's crystal shallows and after a quick stop to film a decent tiger moochin around hunting rays , Dave & myself finally reached our first destination. This was where my decision to wear the 2mm top and wettie shorts quickly revealed itself to be a absolute shithouse idea. 20C warming later in the day to 22C.... BRRR

First area showed some good tuskies but too elusive and plenty of other odds n sodds. The 2nd spot alot more sexy! Dropping in revealed 2 thumper trout. Did the team thing and let richo have first crack as he hadnt shot a real big trout yet. First one spooked tho as he dove on it and the 2nd one ripped off under a ledge on what dave called a good holding shot? Very disappointing.

Abit of a swim away from the boat saw a monster 10kgplus tusker spook into the gloom and a decent rankin evade me. Not happy jan - dave however fared better locating the first big trout again and this time it all went like clockwork. He did however have the decision of Big trout or big Rankin as they sat side by side. The pics show which decision was made! Mandatory photos taken and a visit from a beautiful manta ray (my first time seeing one underwater) and back into the spearing proper.

this time i came up trumps with a solid 6kg tuskie and 2 nice rankins. Things looked up!

Few more spots changes here and there before time ran out , the water too bloody cold and the sun gettin low we hit the long road back to Denham at 28knots and 3 icey bevvies each where appreciated.... No BCF here but this surely is Livin!

Final tally saw Team Shoot 2 Thrill with 2 good tuskies 2 good rankins Daves big trout and a thumper spanish flag. Add to that 2 jumbo Red crays and we where stoked.

Team Rukku's where very dissapointing with just a small spanish and average grey mackerel gracing there decks... 

that night we hit the most western pubs on the mainland and entertained ourselves before hitting the sack around midnight. One Ruku's member a tad worse for wear... Victory was nearing for dave and I!

Day 2 dawned another magic day - light easterlys. Boats everywhere for the fishing fiesta and all sorts happening in town. Twas now that Team Rukku's , down one member after the previous nights entertainment declared there innings short and returned to gero tail between there legs. Dave and i pressed on tho in absolute magic conditions...

First dive was good - coral & fish about but nothing was killed. Again big tuskers seen but all too flighty. The half dozen boats zooming around showed that this little patch must cop a fair hiding. Did manage to hand feed a couple of Ripper Cod tho in the shallows.

Without too many details we ended up searching high and low in the glassed of bay but it just wasnt to be. Raging current in one spot was undivable safely - filthy water in others and spots that should have held fish void. Never mind you have days like that. Only added one more good Blackspot to the bag.

Overall tally for the 2 days saw richo and myself do about 275ks and use 90l of fuel which i was stoked about. The 100hp pushing us along at between 25 and 32 knots when allowed effortlessly. Being my first extended trip in the girl i was fairly stoked... "look out exmouth!"

Left denham at about 7 sunday night and cruised home steadily. Monday spent cleaning and packing and Dave off to perth with a eski full of prime fillets...

Gotta be happy with that


Bluebone and red sunday

Submitted by marble on Tue, 2011-05-10 12:44

Took a couple of mates down to tantabiddi sunday to get a bluebone first then nail a red when the wind dropped later. Gotta love it when the plan comes together so well . . .

Aarons new pb bone. 830mm and 8 kilos of jaw and muscle.

 

 My red from 30 metres water just outside the reef . .

 


2nd trip report: the day of the Pink Snapper!

Submitted by worldfisher on Mon, 2011-05-09 20:25

 Back in Freemantle after the short sortie for the Salmon down south I was excited to recieve a message from Ben (goodz) saying that there was a chance to head out on his boat for a second trip; of course depending on the weather conditions.  The plan was to begin fishing in more sheltered waters close to coast, and as the day progressed, and if the weather forecasters were correct, we could move out to deeper water as the wind was predicted to drop at midday.  Snappers were on the list of species we could target and how could I refuse after previously seeing pictures of magnificent big hump headed Pink Snappers on Fishwrecked.  A nice pinky would definately keep me happy for a while. Along with Mulloway, it's one of the two fish I am really hoping to catch while over here in Australia.

 

 

 

As we weren't out at first light the big ones might have to wait until later in the day so the first port of call was to flick some metal and small soft plastics around some likely looking headlands and bombies.  Ben had heard that some Tailor might be on the cards, which would be good as they are a species I have caught before in South Africa so one of their Australian cousins wouldn't go amiss. Looking at the ground we were fishing, I imagined some big fish would be found in the area at the right times, so was fully expecting to hook into something big as I worked the lures through the white water breaks. Maybe we were a little late for the big ones, but luckily greedy little herring were keen to keep us busy as they repeatedly scoffed the lures. They seem remarkably adept at jumping the hooks just as they are about to be swung over the edge of the boat, so most managed to rejoin their group of mates who had followed them to the side of the boat.
 
 
 
 
No Tailor had decided to eat the lures after half an hour, so a move was made in search of Sand Whiting a little further out from the rugged coast.  Apparently squid tentacles hooked so they go with the flow are the number one bait, and it wasn't long before we were lowering two hook paternosters down on to the sand 10 metres below.  It didn't take long before little Whiting were gobbling our hook baits along with the occasional small Sand Flathead. It wasn't going "off" as expected so a we made a couple of moves to look for richer fishing grounds. Ben told me on previous trips while fishing in the same way he had nearly been spooled by what he thought was a small shark.  So to get in on the action we drifted a big bait on wire over the back of the boat while we continued to feel for bites on the light sticks.
 
 
 
Amazingly half the day had already passed, when we started to catch some colourful wrasse on the squid baits as we drifted over some weed beds.  They fought hard on the light rods and gave us fun for a while but quickly we became bored as no other species showed. By now as predicted the wind was starting to die down, and in turn the sea was calming making it a perfect time to leave the toothy little wrasse behind and go in search of something a bit more substantial in deeper water.  Near the offshore bank we found a nice dropoff that screamed fish.  A change of depth of 5 metres over a relatively flat bottom is surely a magnet to our piscatorial friends and the depth sounder confirmed our suspicions! It looked pretty busy down there so Ben suspected and hoped that the Pink snapper would be hanging about amongst all the activity. 
 
 
 
 
And would you believe it after setting up a nice drift Ben's bait was snaffled and after a good scrap a fin perfect little pinky was brought aboard! A nice example of the beautiful species but not quite of the size we were hoping for.  As we set up for another drift over the hotspot all hell broke lose as a shoal of huge Long Tom suddenly turned up and started slashing at the squid baits as we tossed them over the side. As they darted back and forth, Ben soon hooked up but just as quickly the hook popped out and the fish swam free. A few seconds later another took the bait and this time was properly hooked. Bens little reel sung a merry tune as the Long Tom decided it would rather be as far from the boat as possible.  Jumping and cartwheeling, it removed line with ease, while all the time we wondered how it was possible that such thin line was holding up to the abrasion caused from those sharp teeth.
 
 
 
 
I grabbed my lure rod and cast a Bomber out, and with a fast retrieve it was hounded in time and time again by a pack of Long Toms, but unfortunately none of the fish hooked up.  A change of lure to the metal slice resulted in another five strikes but still no hook ups! All the time we could see the fish through the clear water darting about striking the lure as well as following the fish Ben still had on his line. After ten or more minutes the Long Tom Ben had been playing was tiring and came to the side of the boat. Neither of us had seen this species before.   We were used to the more or less plain silver fish found in warmer waters,  these had bright yellow jaws, and a vividly coloured body together with some dark spots throughout their length. It was a striking and beautiful fish and we desperately wanted a photo to remember it by.  Of course there was no way to fit a fish of at least 1.20m into the environet, but we had no other ideas apart from making a mad grab at the body. Figuring the best way would be to get the head in the net and then grab the body, we gave it a go, but disaster happened and the fish spooked, jumped, threw the hook and said bye bye! Any idea of the species guys as I would love to know?
 
 
 
 
That was unfortunately the last time we saw the Long Toms, so returned to our bait fishing to see what else might be hanging around the hump.  I soon hooked up to a lively fish that bent the little rod double. Would it be a pink snapper as I hoped? it turned out to be a double header consisting of our old friend the wrasse along with a Blackarse. Close but not close enough.  The next customer was pretty lively and tried its best to take line from the reel. The first glimpse revealed a solid silver bar rising from the depths which turned out to be a Skippy big enough to come home for dinner. It really was great fun to catch these small fish on the according tackle as every fish made us grin from ear to ear! More skippy followed while a pod of Dolphins played in the swell some way off into the sea.  Even a big barnacle encrusted turtle rose to the surface to take some gulps of fresh air before its next dive, and right on time as I had asked Ben earlier if he ever sees them about.
 
 
 
 
 
We had a quick count and found that eleven or more species had been landed throughout the day. Nothing big but throughly enjoyable all the same.  By now the sun had dropped and turned to a burning haze on the horizon. The wind too had also completely vanished, leaving us with a picture perfect evening to fish on through. It was fast approaching fisho'clock when the chance to hook a bigger fish would vastly increase.  The talk of big Snappers and Dhuies kept us wondering, as we celbrated the already succesful day with some ice cold Coronas.  Ben had been burlying the water with old mulies and the like, so we hoped there would be somewhat of a frenzy going on below. Our only problem was that anchoring in the desired spot had proved to be almost impossible. It was only a small problem so just continued to drift the spot. 
 
 
 
 
 
It was reaching that magical golden time of day when you should be holding your rod tightly.  I had given up bait fishing a few minutes before and put on my all time favourite lucky soft plastic lure, the Storm Wildeye sardine.  Now if a fish won't eat this lure I feel for it, as there must be something seriously wrong with it.  Sometimes I even get the urge to eat the lure myself and more than once I have had people comment on my catch, only for me to tell them its actually a piece of rubber! I could imagine large fish below, stirring ready for an evening of gorging on small fish as I lowered the plastic to the bottom.  having not fished this technique much before I was aware that the best chance of a strike was to keep the lure as close to the sea floor as possible. A little too high in the water and all chance to induce a take might be lost irrespective of how good a lure is on the end of the line.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Savouring the beautiful evening I contemplated the dangers of rolling a cigarette at such a time of the day. Rather I started to tell Ben how I had once spent a day strolling the local river in the UK flicking spinners for Pike, Perch and Chub. The morning had drifted into the afternoon and still I hadn't put a fish on the bank, which was surprising as it usually wasn't so quiet. Fed up and with the lethargy setting in the unbelieveble happened! The spinner flew across the river and was let to sink a little more than usual as I thought possibly the fish were sitting deep. After a few turns of the handle something bit and I struck into solid resistance. It was a slow steady fight and to my amazement a can of Stella Artois emerged from the water, neatly hooked in the ring pull and within the useby date. The fishless day didn't seem so bad anymore as I cracked open the cold can and took a sip.  
 
 
 
 
Just as i reached the end of the story my rod gave a hefty tug and pulled around in my hands! A fish was on and I tried to gain some control as Ben shouted "PINK SNAPPER" and grabbed his camera to film the action. My fireline zipped from the little shimano baitrunner as a solid fish made a dash for some underwater sanctuary.  Everything had happened as we had hoped, the timing was perfect and now my heart was in my mouth as I gently played the strong opponent.  Slowly I gained line but didn't give the fish too much stick as it was possibly my first Pinky! There was no way I was going to lose this fish! Ben had the net waiting and as the fish broke surface he expertly netted it, to shouts of joy and a congratulatory hand shake.  A fantastic big solid Pink Snapper lay in the net with the hook perfectly placed in the bottom jaw.  The factory hook on the lure was bent, but luckily the terrible hook I had attached saved the day. Of course I couldn't stop smilling as we peered into the net. A decision was made to stay out a little longer after dark and see if any more fish would take the lures.
 
 
 
It wasn't to be but we were both content with the fantasic day. A heap of species had landed on the boat with the grand finale of the a big Pinky. Life couldn't have got much better as we zipped over the swell, through the charcoal night towards the orange lights on the horizon. A big big thanks to Ben for making it possible! Cheers buddy!
Hopefully i'll have some more luck soon and will be able to post another report, All the best, Scott
 

Walpole Report

Submitted by John_M on Sun, 2011-05-08 21:18

Just a quick report.

 

Spent the last 3 days down at Walpole on a house boat with some friends who had been there for a few weeks already. Fished pretty much night and day all through out the inlet and at Circus beach. First night we fished close to the mouth of the inlet and picked up a dozen king george with the biggest going 56cm along with bream and gardies. Within ten minutes of fishing there were about 2 or 3 rays around the boat. Second night we fished the Franklin river for bream and flathead, picking up the odd king george, and again the rays were among us. We set out a few live small mullet under floats and on the bottom. We lost one mysterious fish under the float and I picked up a lovely 4 ft gummy shark from the Franklin river among the snags on my stradic ci4 2500 and 2-4 kg nitro rod.

Next day we fished Circus beach, however conditions made it tough with seas to 3m. Picked up a few salmon around 6-7kg, a dozen bull herring and a good skippy close 1kg. We then retired to a good night in, with drinks and some freshly cooked fish.

 

Sorry about no pictures, didn't think to take any pictures. Shark and salmon were all released at the water. 


Super Squid

Submitted by Ben Derecki on Sun, 2011-05-08 09:01

Picked up this monster during a herring bash yesterday arvo.  Tube length checked in at 36cm and I think it was about 58cm from tip to the end of its smaller tentacles.

Can't wait for tea tonight!


quick dhuie hunt

Submitted by Paul G on Sat, 2011-05-07 20:10

Waited for the wind to drop and headed out at 3:30 .lines in the water at 4:15 good fish on the sounder not really going ,off but still some good fish caught .Jesse pulled the big one again on a plastic went 11.5 kg.we tagged three dhuies and a 480mm BB. home just after dark .


Jurien Mac 'n' dive

Submitted by Reefmonkey on Fri, 2011-05-06 19:03

Had a great day off jurien yesterday. Me and the girlfriend pulled into Jurien for 2 days to get some fish and crays In the esky for the next week as we slowly make our way towards exmouth.

Woke up at 630 probably the earliest we ever have in the last 6 months, The boat was already packed and ready  to go so it was just a matter of hooking up and straight to the marina, we pushed in just after the sun rose with a bit of a fresh easterly blowing. The idea for the day was to troll along the 15-20m line from south passage northwards hopefully to hook a tuna a definitely some macks… definitely hopefully… then a dive just out of north passage in the same depth.

We hit the drop off out of south passage about a mile south of seaward ledge and started a bit of a zigzag northwards. We ran a pusher and the trusty old battered 150 scorpion chrome pink. It was quiet travelling for about the first 20 minutes until my old TLD that’s been lacking in action since it was bought screamed to life, finally the sucker got its work out, after the 3 runs, a short fight, plenty of surface circling with me slapping the surface like a man possessed for the one handed gaff job we finally had the first serious fish onboard the new tinny, a nice Mackie probably of around 10-12kg unmeasured though and caught on the scorpion. We had a few pic’s with the fish, dispatched it and then I was left  with me  staring at the meter plus mack and my little 40 litre coleman cooler then back at the mack and started to think maybe we should call the dive, head back and get this thing on ice…

 

but first to get the woman onto a fish. The team together decided to pull in the pusher as it seemed macks were the call for the day and we swapped it for another scorpion, a deep diver. We motored around over to the same spot we hooked up previously and two minutes into the troll the tld lit up again. Just as I was passing the rod forward to Jac,.. SNAP! zzzzzzzz turned around to see the heavy outfit that had the deep diver hanging by an inch inside a snapped rod holder with line peeling away at a rate of knots, Jac’s fish had come off the TLD so I handed the next  over and she was straight onto the rod holder busting bastard. She’d tell it like a story of triumph and brute strength but all I remember were girly screams and whimpers and her wildly calling out if I have enough line on this reel! Anyway she did a good job and of the 700 meters of line on the reel it had only really pulled out around 40, but she’ll tell it different. Soon enough we had it boatside and for a littler but still decent mack it put up a great little tussle. Now we already had more than enough fish to get us through the next few days so it was a case of a quick tail grab a few more photos and it was speared back over the side.

Then the wind died off and in 15 meters of water we could clearly see the bottom zipping by under us and it was decided, to hell with it we’ll do the dive anyway the fish can wait for another hour under a wet towel. Not far away was the dive site and we were soon washing the Mackie blood spatters off our blood soaked dive gear.

We hit the water like two oversized balls of shark chum and conditions were much better than our last visit to this reef where vis was less than 2 meters. The ground was awesome last time but this time when we could actually see it was amazing. The ground had heaps of ledges and swim thru’s, soft corals everywhere with yellow turret corals the stand out covering most ledges but no crays in sight.

 We swam around for about half an hour and almost got attacked by a cuttlefish that was intrigued with my reg. Next we headed west for the deeper ground that was around 18meters, as soon as we glided down the 4 meter ledge we got buzzed by a school of 3 macks and the broken flat sandy ground away from the drop off was crawling with baldies we counted around 12 some undersize but most were legal. We were down off that bit for around 15minutes and about four times we had macks coming in and checking us out above us at around the 10meter depth. The rest of the dive was just all the usual suspects and then back to the dory. We didn’t see any  dhuies  this time though  and unfortunately no crays.

 

So yea pretty stoked with our effort today in our little dory, in and out by 10 o’clock, a great dive and two macks from 3 hits in less than half an hour of trolling. Just worried seeing were going north chasing the fishing and diving might just be easier to do the same in Jurien and save the cash.

Next stop were off to check out shark bay for the first time with a lot of fish to eat!

 


Hillary's squidlies

Submitted by Joodles on Fri, 2011-05-06 14:00

Shot out for a quick one after work yesterday to the weed banks off Hillary's. Two of us got 12 squid in the bucket and 4 let go in about an hour of not really trying hard. Got pissed on though when that nasty little squall came through!

Interesting I found that when the wind was blowing and the water chopped up, all squid were hooked in their tentacles and when the weather passed and the water settled down, they were all hooked in their arms!


First trip report at last!! Super salmon fishing!!

Submitted by worldfisher on Fri, 2011-05-06 13:56

 Hi guys,

 
Its good that i can finally make my first catch report after arriving in Australia. Up until now i haven't started on the cycle trip but have managed to catch some fish nonetheless.  
A big thank you must be said to Ben (goodz) who very kindly took me out on his boat for some fishing out of perth.  Although we didn't land the big one we had a great time and managed to land one sambo on a butterfly jig.  Unlucky for me, the one got spat the hook, just as i caught sight of him below the boat. You can't win them all!  on the way back to the boat ramp we stopped and tried for some squid at one of Ben's favourite spots.  Nothing took the jigs to begin with but on dusk they came on the bit,e and we soon had a good few in the esky which i would be lucky enough to taste a few days later at a bbq. It was great to get out on the sea for the first time and get more of an understanding of the fishing over here on the west coast.
 
Since that trip a good friend from India came to join me for ten days. The plan and mission was to hire a camper and head south to catch some salmon.  From what i had read this seemed like the best bet to get Abbey onto some decent fish.  And although there has been mixed reports of fishing we figured with 7 days looking for fish we would surely get something.  Unfortunately the weather was against us so for the first few days we looked around the forests and national parks hoping the rain would pass on. We decided to follow Ben's advice and head to a beach that has produced for him in the past (thanks mate!). Reaching the beach we realised it would be a bonus to catch a fish on top of staying in such a beautiful spot. 
 
 
There was a report of Salmon the week before but for the first day things were dead quiet. I flicked a wedge for a while and was pleased to get a little lively herring on my first cast. I caught a few more before calling it a day. A few other guys fishing hadn't had so much as a touch so it wasn't just my bad luck!
 
 
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On the second day we were starting to doubt whether we would ever see a salmon, let alone be lucky enough to land one. Then the question was whether to sit tight and wait it out, or run around the countryside looking for the fish.  We opted to stay put as we were sure it wouldn't be too easy to find another great spot within spitting distance of the water to park our van . 
 
 
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
 
Later in the day we were pretty happy with the choice to stay, as the ultimate sight for a fisherman greeted our eyes. A little way down the beach the water was erupting as little silver fish fled  for their lives! An attack was being launched from below  by a big shoal of plump salmon while from above hungry gulls dived to catch the confused baitfish.  It was definately not a good time to be a small fish! we sprinted down the beach after grabbing out rods and before i had even stopped running a wedge was flying in the direction of the action. Almost instantaneously the lure was smashed by a good fish and braid whistled from the spool. Abbey was also in to a fish on the first cast but unfortunately the braid was cut on the reef. After five minutes of carefully playing my fish the line went slack and i reeled in to find a bent treble! 
 
 
 
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
 
 
 
Next cast i was again immediately into another salmon which wasn't as lucky as its buddy as the hooks held good.  By this time Abbey had returned from the van and with more lures and leader and was frantically trying to tie a new leader to the braid before the fish vanished from the beach. I was into my third fish as Abbey cast a popper behind the breakers.  Abbeys popper was taken quickly but in his excitement he struck far too hard and snapped the leader.  The excitment was obviously getting to him, leading to silly mistakes. After a few words he played the next fish like a pro and it wasn't long until he had caught and release four beautiful salmon. The grin on his face said it all! I couldn't belive our luck and also couldn't wipe the silly smile from my face. We kept the first fish as it was plenty to eat and another ended up being kept as it took the lure deep and couldn't be succesfully released. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
After catching a couple i changed the metal slice for a skitter pop and was amazed on the first cast when a greedy salmon followed the lure nearly onto the sand. At the last second it grabbed it and took a long run back into the breakers where it scooted back and forth jumping and shaking its head in a bid to throw the hook. As i was playing the fish i noticed something in the corner of my eye which turned out to be a herring hopping about in a mere couple of inches of water. Unbelievably a salmon was right behind the small fish almost beached on the sand with its back poking completely out of the water. The herring got lucky and made a dash for it, before its pursuer could turn and follow! unbelievable!
As the light dwindled the salmon slowly melted away back into the deeps so we decided to call it a day and head back to cook our catch.  From what i had heard it seems salmon is a an aquired taste but it was perfect fried with a little garlic!
Sstaying for a few more day in the hope of another run proved more or less fruitless. I managed one more salmon casting a lure at dusk and a few herring but that was it.  It didn't particularly matter though as we were still on a high from the previous days session. We had fulfilled our mission and were very pleased with the result.
 
 
 
 
So hopefully  the luck will continue as I cycle up the west coast. I plan to leave perth in the week so hope to see some of you guys along the way!
 
All the best, Scott

All because the plug fell off...

Submitted by r.gates on Thu, 2011-05-05 21:30

I've been watching the weather forecast ever since we got back from our Easter weekend in Jurien Bay....keen to wet a line again down here.

Thursday (today) looked the pick of the days so I lined up a mate and I ditched work and we hit the Dawesville ramp at 7am...heading out thru the Cut, we get a warning buzzer going off. Stopped an lifted the outboard to check for weed around the water pickup, even though the telltale was working fine. Nothing obvious so we tried again and as we reached the open water, the buzzer sounds again, then the sounder's 'low voltage alarm' goes off....it appears the battery is dying...but it's brand new, just like everything else in and on the boat. 

Thought we'd limp it back into the Cut but didn't get far before we're dead in the water....drop anchor and it's 'scratch our heads' time. Into the tool box and out with the multimeter on the battery; 12V...hmmm...it's as if the alternator isn't charging....lift the engine cover and the plug that's supposed to be connected to the alternator is hanging in mid-air. Pushed it back into place, heard the 'click' as it seats properly and fingers crossed we hit the key....the 125 bursts into life and we're back in business. Cancelled the call to the water rescue and we head out again.

Funny thing though, we used the boat 4 days over Easter and not a hint of a problem.

The conditions didn't really match the forecast as it was quite swelly, choppy, windy and a bit uncomfortable. Found a previous spot and although there was plenty of colour on the sounder, nothing was really interested (don't you hate that). Had 3 drifts over the spot and we decide to call it a day.

Home by 1pm so we played 9 holes and just got finished when it starts chucking it down....nice to see some rain, though.

Anyone else wet a line today....how did you go?

regards
rusty...

PS. Who was it who said 'the fishing's no good if the wind direction has NORTH in it', or is this just an old wive's tale???? The wind today definitely had NORTH in it, and the fishing wasn't very good....maybe there's something in it after all.


chyehhhhh. fat flatty.

Submitted by Jeffree on Thu, 2011-05-05 00:41

 got this bastard throwing around 3 inch minnow placcys about an hour ago. 49cm. 


E SHEDS

Submitted by Jeffree on Wed, 2011-05-04 15:53

hi guys.

thinkin about heading down to e sheds tonight for a fish.

any news on whats been biting recently?


Windy Harbour over easter

Submitted by lunker on Tue, 2011-05-03 11:46

I've always wanted to head down south around Easter to try and get into some salmon, so this year with a few days off work and uni decided to make the pilgrimage for a couple of days of fishing and relaxing (boozing). My Norwegian mate was keen as mustard, he's not too experienced with fishing but loves camping and exploring the country regardless. So after much consideration decided to head to Windy Harbour and have a look around for a campsite for a couple of days. The plan was pitch some tents and some tarps close to the beach and go from there. Neither of us had been there before so it was mostly going to be guess work.

So I headed off to pick him up around 5am Wednesday morning, and naturally we didn't get moving til about 6:30. How good is it leaving Perth down an empty freeway when the lanes heading the other way are choccas!

After a few hours and a stop or two on the way we left Northcliffe for the final leg. By now the ute tray was pretty flooded, so its a good thing everything was stored in plastic clip boxes! Well then the hail began. This was to set the mood for most of the trip...

First off took a drive to Salmon Beach for a few photos from the top. Well it was blowing around 40kn with a swell of several metres so fishing was out of the question for the time being!

After heading through the settlement of Windy Harbour, we took the track east with the plan on pitching tents at the Gardner River mouth. So down went the tyres and exploring began.

After about 8 or 9 kays reached the track to the beach and stuck like glue to the tracks, as the rest of the dune looked nastily deep and soft. Made it to the rivermouth and hopped out for a celebratory can. And got rained on...and rained on. Up went the tents, literally, cos they were basically being blown away. Note: must invest in bigger sand pegs. Spent the next hour or two in between setting up and hiding from the downpours in the car. Only managed a quick cast for nothing

Spirits were beginning to get a bit down as we couldn't even get a tarp shelter set up in that weather. Spending three days and two nights drenched and covered in sand... but that's what campings all about right? haha

Well then two of the best blokes around popped up in their little cruiser and in a nice way questioned why the hell we were so stupid as to be there... and proceeded to tell us about this cabin in the forest up the river, which is free for the public, currently vacant and has a FIREPLACE and DRY WOOD. Well, that sold us. So back everything went in the car and we headed back over the dunes towards the river.

What was I said about sticking to the tracks? Kinda slid off to the side.



I tell you what, that cabin was the greatest thing ever at that point. Ripped off the wet gear, got a fire going and basically stayed in front of that thing for the bigger part of the trip, overlooking the river and ocean. Beautiful!

Day two involved a bit of fishing but it was the same story again. Wind was a bit lighter but swell was still up. Rain didn't stop. Saw two salmon in buckets as we arrived at salmon beach, but those people said the fish were extremely few and far between. Didn't see a single fish pulled in while we were there on day two. Maybe it wasn't meant to be!

Why the hell would someone wear gumboots in a big swell? Musta still been drunk.



Day three and the plan was to pack up early, cook up a feed, spend the morning at salmon beach again before heading home. Well we didnt make it there til after 10am however the weather was looking great... as it does on the day you have to leave. One salmon had been caught all morning between about 30 fishos. So not looking too flash again!

Multiculturalism..

I walked up the beach to the far cliffs, throwing metals, richters and poppers for about 3 hours to no avail. I had all but given up, plus we had to be back in Perth by about 6 so time was really up. On just about the last cast I was going to give, the richter got smashed and line started screaming off. That's the first salmon I've hooked except for small salmon trout, and I tell you what, I understand why people make the trip. What an exciting fish! I spent the next few minutes sh**ting my pants about losing the fish as it lept in the air and took off every time I got it near the shore. Got the bugger in, it wasnt huge probably only max about 5kg, but man was I satisfied. One fish was enough, straight back to the car and home again!



Loved it down Windy Harbour, will definitely have to treck it down again and explore some of the other huts and campsites I've heard about in the national park.


Anything bitting this time of the year around Bunkers Bay?

Submitted by Keedy on Tue, 2011-05-03 11:00

Hi All

Looking at throwing a line in at Bunkers Bay or around there any way.

 

I have alwats seen small whiting floating about. Anything else I can be chasing?

 

Is there any abolony close to the shore?

 

Cheers.


Flangies new finger puppet - Mewstone to Garden Island report

Submitted by sarcasm0 on Mon, 2011-05-02 20:51

Took James out for a run in the dinghy to Mewstone today to have a crack at some tailor in the wash.  Wasn't any tailor action, but James was giving the herring a hiding and I even managed to catch one on soft plastic, a first. 

We had some fun here and anchored up a bit later with some burley James got more herring and I got a nice 40cm skippy + some shit fish.

With a few herring and a skippy in the esky we went to carnac for a squid.  The action was not hot, but we had 5 good ones in two drifts before heading to the weed beds off Petrov Bay on Garden Island.  Again a slow start but there were some hot patches with multiple hookups in quick succession.  James boated one of the biggest squid I have ever seen, what a beauty.  We knew it was good, because it was taking drag, which when tightened James looked over at me and goes 'Shit, I cant lift it'.

I thought we had bagged out on squid when we headed back to the ramp but only had 27 in the final count, which I put down to them being slippery and inky.

So, 27 squid, 11 Herring and one Skippy and back to the ramp by 3ish.

Dinner is a work in progress:D

My take of the squid = 1.6kg tubes after cleaning.


north mole update and a question about saragosa's

Submitted by scottland on Mon, 2011-05-02 20:50

 hey crew

after finally finishing moving house went down to north mole not much happening only one herring. guy next to us caught a nice sized garfish. just after it went dark my brothers mate caught a port jackson about 30 cm. called it quits and started chatting to a bloke who owns a tackle store. i questioned him about a saragosa 5000 and he told me to steer clear as they are prone to "basically falling apart" has anyone heard anything about this problem? as i was about to buy one

cheers scott


Metro Manta Ray

Submitted by Rick on Mon, 2011-05-02 09:29

Trolling the bait schools yesterday,south of Rotto. We were in about 37m running along a current-line,spotted something in the water and slowly motored towards it,was really surprised to see it was a small Manta Ray. First time I have seen one in Metro waters. A one stage it was right next to the boat and then just dived under the boat, was only about 5 foot across, but no mistaking it was a Manta. Will try and post a few pics off a mates camera...


Salmon

Submitted by Jas04 on Mon, 2011-05-02 08:03

here is a photo of the salmon we kept for some currie there where six of us and we kept one each.

sorry about the bad photo its off a phone


mackies are they still around

Submitted by meglodon on Mon, 2011-05-02 00:52

Hi all can anyone give me an update on the spanish mackiel state of play.I'm going out from hillaries on wednesday and wondering if is still worth trolling a gardie around the back of 3 mile. Any current info would be most appreciated thanks


Kalbarri over Easter

Submitted by Watto75 on Sun, 2011-05-01 22:55

I just got back from a week in Kalbarri, we did okay given I havent been out off Kalbarri before.  The first few days we headed South but only managed a few Tuna and a couple of smaller Pinkies. We headed north the next few times and and managed a fews Spaniards, Tuna, Pinkies and even came across a couple of Whale Sharks.

My first decent Pinkie

The old boy with a nice little Mackie

A couple more Spaniards

The whale shark which came up while we getting ready to start trawling again after a double hook up of Mackies. I really didnt expect to see this out from Kalbarri but it was awesome. He just kept circling the boat checking everything out.

The biggest Mackie for the trip, not sure of actual weight as it bottomed out my mates scales at 12kg but I estimated it at 15kg. The Tuna was 8kg.


298nm through the real wild.

Submitted by big john on Sun, 2011-05-01 20:43

Been a bit slow on the fishing in the past 12 months, spending a lot of my free time shooting vermin, but teamed up with my old Onslow crewy James to visit the Berkeley River over the Easter/Anzac break.

Departed Wyndham at 11.00am on Saturday and travelled the 50nm to the top of Cambridge Gulf, spent a bit of time in the late arvo trolling the rockbar at the mouth of the Helby River. Three good queenies, no barra. Moored up in the Helby for the night.

Woke up at dawn and started heading west 35nm to the Berkeley. The 10 knot easterly tail wind becoming 15-20 by the time we reached the mouth at 8.45am. Navigated across the sand bars at the mouth on the high tide and entered the sanctuary of the Berkeley. We decided to explore the system by first travelling to the upper reaches. Looked like we had the place to ourselves until we turned the final corner and came across the True North cruise boat and a couple of yachties anchored up at the top.

We joined the True Norths tender boats up at the rock bar to have a crack at some barra. First pass on the troll saw James hook up and get busted off by an unseen fish. Second pass saw my 20lb braid outfit buckle as I passed over a submerged snag, 40lb + of chrome barra exploded out of the water, power dived into the snag and we were down two lures in 5 minutes. Farkkkkkkk! Unfortunately they shut down after that and the only barra we could entice was a 94cm fish on a live mullet the following evening.

Strong easterlies kept us confined to the river itself for the Sunday and the Monday. We scratched around for a few fish, explored the waterfalls and had a good time. Unfortunately the huge wet season we have had up this way meant the river was almost 100 per cent fresh water, that combined with a lack of bait meant the system fished poorly IMO.

Tuesday morning we crossed the mouth in 15 knot easterlies and sheltered up behind a small island for a while. No action saw us brave the windward side of the island where we encountered a good patch of queenies which kept us entertained. James also caught a good fingermark on the troll. The easterly finally backed off a bit and we took the opportunity to head the 35nm back to the top of Cambridge Gulf.

Tuesday evening we fished around Fathom Rock for a couple of good fingermark and a small 75cm black jew. After catching two seven foot sharks we called it a night and travelled into the Helby to moor up.

Wednesday morning saw us return to Wyndham early to beat the easterly, final tally on the trip meter was 298nm with 373 litres of fuel used.

Good trip, good company and great scenery. Negatives being the quietish fishing, incessant wind and the rockbar I hit with the skeg (thankfully trolling slowly), 6.1m boats aren't really designed for trolling shallow rockbars! LOL

Be back up that way again no doubt, but hopefully the wind will play the game next time.

 


Off the dog Beach

Submitted by Cameron71 on Sun, 2011-05-01 20:25

Hey Guys

went down to the Peasholm Dog Beach this morning to have a shot at some tailor or whatever was around.  Picked the time based on seabreeze saying it was going to be blowing offshore and was lucky enough that that coincided with the high tide.

Took a 9' Ozflex spin rod with my certate 4000 and a 7'6" pfleuger (courtesy of Honsu at Oceanside) and my baby stella 1000FB.

Got there just on 7.00am - though about going earlier but have not fished off the beach so long that I thought that it would be better to be battling away in the light rather than the dark.

Started off with a star sinker and mulie off a trace and left that set while I did a bit of casting with the Pfleuger and a brown snapback.  Couldn't get out that far with my 1/8oz jighead but can't go much heavier because the tip on the rod is so light.  No luck with the snapback.

The set rod baits were getting eaten up.

As I was watching the sea, I saw a herring turn in a cresting wave and not long after, I saw 5 good sand whiting swimming along in a wave as well.  I kept on with a couple of tiny plastics to see if I couild nail a good whiting but still no luck. I persisted with the set line, and eventually went to a little bait rig on the Pfleuger with a small ball sinker, owner hook and squid.  Plenty of bites but they were light even on the light gear and after an hour or so I hooked a baby whiting.

Life was tricky at the dog beach as I had dogs running around my gear flicking sand everywhere and the labradors were partial enough to mulies (labradors being partial to anything edible and quite a few things which are inedible) to knock off half of my bait before I knew what was going on.

Trying to run two lines at once was a bit much so I took all the bait rigs off and started casting a 40g twisty instead.  Hooked one herring on that and after changing down to a 20g twisty got another herring.  My leave pass then expired and I was required back at home.

Next time around, I will go with the twisties alone and leave the bait for a more secluded type of beach.  Would have liked the  big whiting, but I think I would need to sight fish for them with a plastic if the big ones are swimming by.

Cam


Lots off dhuies around

Submitted by Paul G on Sun, 2011-05-01 19:03

Headed out with Jody and Jesse for a fish as we haven't hit the local spots much with all the diving of late .So after hearing so good reports we headed out to some ground I don't normally fish and bugger me the fish were there in numbers with our bag reached early on in the day .1x13 kg dhuie 10kgDhuie three baldies and a nice sized snapper.We tagged and released ten dhuies up to 11kg and all in great condition. With the release weight only being used once.One dhuie had a tag in it from some time ago as it was covered in weed .We retaged and released .Will post the info on the fish once i know .will be intresting to see where it has come from and how much it has grown.the second pic shows the tag we aso taged snapper and blackass.Jesse got the bigest on a plastic .A great day out and with the rest of the week off im sure some more tags will be finding there way into some fish


two rocks trip

Submitted by grayzeee on Sun, 2011-05-01 18:48

hey hey

 decided last night that a trip to 2rocks was on the cards due to the weather , so got a couple of mates together and decided to search for some likely spots.

the high tide seemed to coincide with the almanac bite time so we had hopes , it was just a matter of finding some ground.

left the harbour at 6 am , 2nd boat in the queue.   nice

we headed straight out to direction bank , and started the search.

droppped on a few spots , me with jig and the others with plastics and bait.

not much action early and worryingly the wind seemed up.

decided to head out further and keep the search going.

ended up finding some nice ground in the 60's and it was dave with the bait who was first in with a nice 9 kilo dhu

other odds and sods but not noteworthy.

continued out and found some awesome looking ground where jarrad scored fish of the day on the trusty 10" mccarthy.  a nice 18kg dhu which wasn't in a good state to be returned , and so joined the other in the esky.  

dave then managed a good baldie , and a lovely queen snapper which may or may not have caused him to break a sweat. 

queenie released but baldie came home

stayed on that spot for the rest of the time we had , and got a few red snappper and pinkie's.   one red came home too.  not pic worthy tho.

met back at the ramp by nice fisheries lady so all good there

all in all , a right nice day out

  


Exmouth Saturday 30th April

Submitted by Alan James on Sun, 2011-05-01 14:58

The wife and I arrived in Exmouth last Thursday after an uneventful drive towing the boat from Perth.  I guess that's how you want them though.  We split the trip over two days and stayed at the Overlander Roadhouse on the Wednesday night.  We have stayed there on previous trips and found the meals and accommodation basic but OK.  On this occasion though we left feeling a little ripped off.  Steakburger with the lot (which was not a lot) $15.95, no chips. 

Anyway we ventured out yesterday for our first fish.  Headed to some ground west of the Murions and got onto a few.  Trout went 73cms and 6.5kg and the Rankin 75cms and 7kgs.  Lost a few good fish to the grey coats as well.  It was a bit joggly on the way in and swmbo injured her back which will certainly impact on the fishing activites over the next two weeks we are here.  More later.


easy feed!

Submitted by rockoe_ on Sat, 2011-04-30 19:03

hey all

Went down to long point last night for about an hour to try out the new spinning outfit.I started out chasing some talior and caught 3 no worries all around the 33-34cm mark.After that i though i'd try my luck on  some squid and with in 30 minutes i had four in the bucket and was on my way home for a nice talior and squid dinner :)


Another stonker Blackie 48cm!

Submitted by tailor marc on Sat, 2011-04-30 17:04

Went down my usual location and landed another ripper on mulies. Few mates came and brought down a measuring tape, went 48 cm.

 Couldnt keep a big breeder like this and let her go . Swam off very strong after a brief photos and measure.

 

Marc

 

DSC01218 DSC01221


Exmouth Landbased Report

Submitted by Gjoe on Sat, 2011-04-30 09:27

Hey guys headed up to Carnarvon for a week to paint the partners dads house but managed to sneak off to exmouth for 2 nights hehe and get out twice while in carnarvon.

The water has cleared a fair bit since I was last there but still a bit murky looking in parts. First night was spent on the jetty at high tide catching over 15 baby Mulloways (where are the big ones???) did manage to get my first legal Mulloway :) 58cm and got busted off once by something bigger. So far my experience at the One Mile has been funny the first time I was there I could only catch sharks and plenty of em and this time I could only get Mulloway and plenty of em, maybe the fish take turns renting out the jetty?

 

But yay come Friday was off up north to camp at the lighthouse Caravan park. Wow just a bit busier than when we were there in Summer. But still being landbased  there are always countless options for fishing in your very own spot with nobody to bother you, Exmouth has so many options! When we got there it was just gone high tide and I decided to take my GF to the Navy Pier (haha she did not enjoy the walk) during the walk I was casting various lures but didnt get any serious followers and then once past the navy pier chucking lures didnt manage to get anything either :( First day fail.

 

Second day I decided to try what worked for me last time and went down to the set of beaches right near the Lighthouse Caravan park. My gf was using bait and was getting all sorts of different species and having a great time (which keeps me very happy too). Still no luck for me when about 100 metres down the beach I saw some splashing- ran as fast as I could and when I got there chucked the 40g metal and reeled in as quick as the reel would allow and then about 4 trevally racing after my lure and YEOW i was on. The power of these things on my cheap reel with 12lb line was incredible, I literally had to run up and down the beach to make sure I didnt lose to much line. Anywho after about 5 minutes of reeling and drag adjusting got him in :) the lure easily came out, quick snap and off he went.

Back went the lure and again I was on...this time the reel was really struggling and I couldnt even wind after about 2-3 minutes of fighting and nothing happening the hooks pulled and off he went. I noticed my reel was very sketchy-the drag still worked but the handle was being funny. Hmmmm oh well cant stop now-the fish are around. The next hookup was epic fail and my reel was broken the handle was turning but not taking any line back (unless no pressure at all). My partner and I still manged to get the fish in using a hilarious technique this time an ok trev. Off to the shops to get another cheapo!

 

Back in the game with my new cheapo reel and we were off to the flats. Bundegi- and I had never been there before. Was wicked fun we fished off the rocks next to the sanctuary zone for a couple of hours during the high waters and my partner managed 2 spangled emporers, flathead, bream and countless other fun fish. One of the emporers was a beast :) During the low tide I walked out (managed to find a new twisty lure too!) and was chucking lures out not much success a few longtoms and some tiny trevs but all in all fun and something new for me.

 

On the last morning just before sunrise I headed to my fav beach again and caught a nice (for me not for you guys haha) trev just on first light. It was low tide and boy did he run-but new reel held to the job and I had him :)

Was a great trip (with a bit too much fishing for my gf) will be up there again hopefully to explore the national park some more and get my first queenie next time :)


Bremer Bay Blue

Submitted by Nauti Buoy on Sat, 2011-04-30 08:40

Just got back from spending a magical week in Bremer Bay. Weather was fantastic. Divided our time between chasing bottom fish, Salmon from shore and boat, and Bream fishing up the river. Was fishing in the bay on Good Friday, fishing was a little slow until i got taken under a ledge and thought i was snagged. I had my TLD25 drag fully locked with both thumbs on the spool trying to bust it off. All of a sudden this beast decided to go for a swim, after about a 10minute fight this giant popped up to the surface. The fish was completely spent- shame considering size and age! Took it ashore later and it brought the scales down to 30kg. I thought it would be ordinary on the plate, but so far has been pretty good.

 

Certainly was a Good Friday!