First time out in Kalbarri in the boat. found some great spots but its a long way and a lot of nothing out there. Sounder shot had Sambos, Pinkies, Reds and Cobia on it. Found lots of Dhuies to the north. Going through the river mouth was interesting

Released most of the fish.

Got some good Reds this year, released some big ones to fight another day.

Exmouth wasn't on the list for this year but with the weather not looking great in Carnarvon we decided to head to Exmouth for four days before going to Coral Bay.

Fished 11am to 1pm and caught 3 squid in first 5 minutes, then all went quiet for 1/2 an hour, fired back up again and boated another 12 before pulling the pin, with 3 or 4 squid still hanging around the boat while packing up. 5 preped for dinner, 10 frozen for snapper lollies.

The trip took place from April 18 to April 26, 2015. We had 7 days in total and we spent most of our waking hours fishing and eating. At the beginning of the trip, I spent a few evenings grading Grade 10 Science ISU's. It was exhausting to say the least to mark assignments after a whole day of fishing. But even through that, I caught 33 new species in the 7 days...with many missed opportunities and heartbreaks. I will return to Mexico as soon as possible...this was just the first blood drawn...

As usual, these are the links to my blog posts.

http://muskiebaitadventures.blogspot.ca/2015/04/2015-mazatlan-day-0.html

http://muskiebaitadventures.blogspot.ca/2015/04/2015-mazatlan-day-1.html

http://muskiebaitadventures.blogspot.ca/2015/04/2015-mazatlan-day-2.html

http://muskiebaitadventures.blogspot.ca/2015/04/2015-mazatlan-day-3.html

http://muskiebaitadventures.blogspot.ca/2015/04/2015-mazatlan-day-4.html

http://muskiebaitadventures.blogspot.ca/2015/04/2015-mazatlan-day-5.html

http://muskiebaitadventures.blogspot.ca/2015/04/2015-mazatlan-day-6.html

http://muskiebaitadventures.blogspot.ca/2015/04/2015-mazatlan-day-7.html

This was my first ever species from Mexico...

Flathead Sea Catfish (Notarius planiceps) - Species #430



Raucous Grunt (Haemulopsis leuciscus) - Species #431



Yellowstripe Grunt (Haemulopsis axillaris) - Species #432



Striped Weakfish (Cynoscion reticulates) - Species #433



Spotted Rose Snapper (Lutjanus guttatus) - Species #434



Green Jack (Caranx caballus) - Species #435



Beaubrummel (Stegastes flavilatus) - Species #436



Rivulated Mutton Hamlet (Alphestes multiguttatus) - Species #437



Burrito Grunt (Anisotremus interruptus) - Species #438



Starry Grouper (Epinephelus labriformis) - Species #439



Mexican Barracuda (Sphyraena ensis) - Species #440



Yellowspotted Grunt (Haemulon flaviguttatum) - Species #441



Brassy Grunt (Microlepidotus brevipinnis) - Species #442 (Standard length vs. body depth = 2.4)



Finescale Triggerfish (Balistes polylepis) - Species #443



Yet to be identified catfish - Species #444



At the end of my first fishing day, I caught my 16th new species from Mexico...the Pacific Dog Snapper.

Pacific Dog Snapper (Lutjanus novemfasciatus) - Species #445



Pacific Mutton Hamlet (Alphestes immaculatus) - Species #446



Dow's Mojarra (Eucinostomus dowii) - Species #447



This was a species that I caught but no one else did...

Pacific Sleeper (Gobiomorus maculatus) - Species #448



Largemouth Blenny (Labrisomus xanti) - Species #449



Chameleon Wrasse (Halichoeres dispilus) - Species #450



Panamic Sergeant Major (Abudefduf troschelii) - Species #451



My favourite fish of the entire trip...because I've been trying for years to catch one from Hawaii and especially in Florida...

Longfin Yellowtail (Seriola rivoliana) - Species #452 (aka Almaco Jack)



Orangeside Triggerfish (Sufflamen verres) - Species #453



Pacific Graysby (Cephalopholis panamensis) - Species #454



Yellow Snapper (Lutjanus argentiventris) - Species #455



Pacific Crevalle Jack (Caranx caninus) - Species #456



Shortjaw Leatherjacket (Oligoplites refulgens) - Species #457



Pacific Red Snapper (Lutjanus peru) - Species #458



Cortez Rainbow Wrasse (Thalassoma lucasanum) - Species #459



Panamic Frillfin (Bathygobius ramosus) - Species #460



Cortez Damselfish (Stegastes rectifraenum) - Species #461



And the last fish of the trip...

Mexican Night Sergeant (Abudefduf declivifrons) - Species #462



And here's A LOT of food porn...

picky test

April has historically been an excellent month to fish in Oman for big GTs. It’s the month before the monsoon season, and therefore marks the last month of fishing before the season ends.

Because of that, when a trip cancellation meant that myself and a group of friends (Maurice from Rotterdam and Dave from London) would have an opportunity to fish this prime month, we jumped at it! We knew going into this trip that it was going to be a case of high risk and high reward. If the winds dropped enough to let us get to the islands, we should have red hot fishing. However there was also the chance that the winds would be pumping, preventing us from hitting the islands, so it was really likely to be a case of all or nothing.

On this trip we were to be the last group of the season fishing, with just one boat operating for the duration of our trip. Because of this, we were able to get there a little early and get set up, as well as have a go at some land based fishing. After enjoying some much needed warmth from the moment we got off the plane, we jumped in the car and began making our way down the incredibly scenic coastal road towards the No Boundaries camp. All the way down we were seeing spots that as well as looking amazing, also screamed of fish.

It was therefore with high hopes that we set out the next morning, planning to have our first session of casting lures off the shore. Upon reaching the coast at sunrise, we noticed that there was quite a bit of swell running, resulting in a lot of white, shallow water before you could reach the deeper parts at the edge of the wash, where we hoped the predators would be patrolling. I was fishing what is primarily now my seabass outfit, in the form of the new Yamaga Blanks Early Plus 92MXL, and casting a Megabass Zonk 120 (my favourite minnow as of late). This outfit allowed me to whip out some really massive casts for this light lure, but despite that it was still necessary to wade out 20m+ until you were between waist and chest height, to really get beyond the swell.

We started casting and working a small section of the coast with our lures, and it didn’t take long before I had a strike, and the first fish of the trip was on! Sadly I didn’t get any photos, but the fish was a mulloway (or cob) of around 45cm. By no means a big fish, but it was my first mulloway on a diving minnow, and we were happy to have gotten a fish after only a couple of casts. Thankfully though this was not to be the last, and the mulloway kept following in quick succession with us getting around a dozen for the morning between us.

Just as the sun was starting to rise in earnest I lobbed out a cast which, after about 5 turns on the handle, got absolutely nailed. Line started disappearing from my Stella 4000 at a ridiculous pace and I began tightening the drag, but was conscious of the fact I was fishing PE2 line on a seabass rod, using the standard hooks and split rings on my Zonk lure! In my time fishing I have actually never been spooled, and there was a point when I had a little over half my spool out without having even gotten 1 wind back on the reel, where I was seriously wondering whether this would be it!

Thankfully though I managed to slow the runs, and began the long process of wading along the coast and working this fish back through the surf. After around 20 minutes or so the fish was back near the shore, and we caught a glimpse of silver. It was my PB Queenfish by a long margin. While by no means the biggest or the rarest fish I have ever caught, I think that for me catching this fish on seabass gear while wading in warm water and watching the sunrise with camels on the shore for company, will mean that it stays in my mind as one of my most memorable captures to date.


The first day of the boat fishing part of our expedition came along, and we loaded the boat with a ridiculous amount of kit in hope of a mission to the islands. Unfortunately though the wind had other plans, and we were not able to make it out. The plan was to head south and cast along the cliffs for the bream which Oman is well known for in the light tackle community. It was however to be a very slow day. Water temps were very warm and we noticed a lot of dead fish along the coast. We are not sure why this is, but perhaps it was shutting down the bite.

We did finish off with 2 bream for the day, both of which fell to my Megabass Zonk 120 (yes there is a trend developing here!). Maurice also raised one on a Feed Cone 25 popper, but it didn’t commit.

Day 2 was much of the same on the wind front sadly, and we decided to head a little north of the ramp to try some light jigging marks. We got a couple of taps, but nothing hooked up. Then all of a sudden the wind died down, and skipper Yassir made the call to go for a quick run out to the islands and see if the fish were playing ball! We were well and truly excited at this point, having prepared ourselves for another inshore day, but we quickly started getting the GT kit ready for action.

From the very first drift, I had some follows on the Temple Reef Ballista Detonator 168BM which I was using, which was my star-lure last trip. Mid-way through the second drift though I noticed some fraying on my mainline and went to re-tie a leader, and just at that moment I hear a lot of commotion and see that Maurice is on big time! Something big and angry has engulfed his Feed Pin 180 and is making for the horizon. This was Maurice’s first experience with a big GT, and he now knew what I meant about the power of the things! It was a great thing to be there and watch a friend get his dream fish, and after a few pics, a tag, a weigh and release, we had the first 40kg+ GT of the trip on the boat.

It was time to reset the drift and make another pass of the mark. We began casting, and I picked up a nice Queenfish. Around the same size as the one off the beach, but a lesser catch on PE10 than on PE2! Then Maurice joins in the casting, and second cast – he is on again! Unbelievable. The Pin 180 was certainly the favoured lure that morning. This fish seemed even angrier than the last, and put up one hell of a fight. It was a wonderful looking fish, very dark in colour, and we now had two GTs above 40kg on the boat in the space of just a few casts.

We were at this point now all hoping that our plans of ‘high risk and high reward’ had paid off in spades. After this fish though, the bite really shut down. We kept popping a range of marks up until lunch time, at which point we dropped a couple of light jigs over the side for a bit of fun.

We picked up a few small bits and pieces, and Maurice dropped a really nice fish on the jig. Then shortly afterwards the Jigging Master Fallings jig I was using got slammed. I was using a PE3 jigging combo (Temple Reef Mytho and a Wiki Jigging 900H reel) and I knew I had to put on as much pressure as I could to try and keep this beast away from the reef. I hit max drag on the reel and started applying a lot of thumb pressure, but the line just kept going – which made Yassir think I was snagged on the bottom, until the high speed bursts of the fish and my excited yells made clear this was a great fish! Unfortunately though after ripping off over 150m of line under full drag and lots of thumb pressure, the leader got mauled on the reef. The one that got away, which I can only imagine was a GT or large Amberjack or similar, but who really knows.

The afternoon saw us casting on some very shallow marks, in search of more big GTs. By this time Maurice had switched to the light tackle, and I had moved from popper to stickbait, in the form of a BFP Mafia One 180gr. I really loved the action of this lure, with heaps of flashing and side to side roll, which gave me a lot of confidence about getting a strike. On a few of the drifts I was getting follows from smaller GTs, but they were not really committing. At that moment Maurice hooked a garfish on his PE4 casting kit, which in turn got inhaled by a good sized GT! Luckily though after a couple of blistering runs, the GT threw the hook – which was the best result as any attempt on landing it on PE4 in such skinny water was bound to end in tears.

Just as we were getting ready to head back, I lobbed my Mafia One towards a bommie that was protruding from the surface of the water, and after a few twitches, it was BANG – fish on! Given how shallow we were, we needed to pull this fish out and pull it out fast, so a lot of drag was put on, and the spool was getting grabbed as hard as I could as I shuffled down to the back of the boat while Yassir drove for deeper water. I lost a lot of line initially, but then slowly started making ground towards the still-moving boat. I had had some big fish on the last trip to Oman in October so knew what to expect, but this fish was a nightmare to pull towards the boat so I was really expecting a great fish. You can imagine my disappointment though, when I finally get the fish near to the boat and see that it’s only a small fish, but one of the trebles has hooked up on the side, so the fish was getting pulled sideways through the water making it feel much larger than it was. Oh well, at least our GT drought had been broken for the trip, and we went back to camp much happier that night.

What we did not realise though, was that the weather was not going to be friendly to us on our last 3 days, and with the exception of one very brief window at the islands on day 4 (where we didn’t raise any fish), we were relegated to inshore fishing for the balance of our trip – which meant no more GTs. Rather than spend more time chasing the bream, we opted to dedicate the majority of our time to chasing bait balls, in the hope of queenies, mahi, trevally and anything else that might be around. There was mounds of bait around, but the predators were not too interested in our offerings and so the fishing was slow and I won’t give a full run down of those days, but we did land a few more good fish on the light tackle.

Some standout captures were this great Queenfish caught by Dave as part of a double hookup on his Yamaga Blue Sniper 77/3 rod and Tacklehouse K-Ten Minnow, and Maurice’s Mahi which he took on his Carpenter PE4 gear and a Smith casting jig.

After the way my October trip finished up in Oman last year this was a much slower trip, but it was still great to get back over there and extract a few nice fish. I am already booked again for April next year, and if the weather behaves, am sure we’ll get some great action!

Almost all tackle used is available for sale at Adventure Angler, at www.adventureangler.net

 Haven't done any netting for quite a while, but been hearing good reports. So thought I'd give it a go tonight. Finished work at 5 and straight down to Port Bouvard marina and down the Harvey inlet before dark had the net in. The Mullet started hitting the net before it was even completely set. First run produced 11, second 10 & last run finished off my bag of 30. I was back at the ramp not long after 7pm. 

Plenty of cheap top quality bait for our trip to Shark Bay, and for bottom bouncing for a while. Top night. Cheers

Chris

Anyone fished harvey recently?  The weather looks shit this weekend for a fish in the salt so wondering if a day in the rain up there is worth it...

Hi All,

Chasing some info on Kalbarri. We are heading up this coming Friday and as you can imagine not real impressed with the forecast.
Can anybody shed some light on fishing reports in the Murchison and off the beach south of Wagoe around Lucky bay.
Still considering to take the boat to use in the river.

All info appreciated. Cheers guys

 hi just wondering if anyone can give me a report for the fishind down this way at the moment? heading down next saturday to do some 4x4ing and chase redfin. any pointer on lures would be great too, havent ticked redfin of the catch list yet.

cheers

went out for a feed of gars Saturday night... Managed 37 between us 

It's been a while since I posted so figured it was time for an update. We got into some nice Large Mouth Nannygai recently with some good eating Gold Spot cod as well. They were not biting well and most fish fell to live baits or a well presented flesh bait, usually with the tail still on. The Hussar fillets once again proved the trick. We tried a new hook also. The PE tackle reefmaster Deep V hooks. The went well and very happy with the resutls. Pictured is one against a Gamkatsu Octopus 10/0.

Headed out to fish the MAAC monthly comp yesterday in what were very nice conditions indeed.  Given I had to fish the last one solo it was nice to have a mate from over east, the young one and the expert repairer on board.  We took the big boat so there was room for everyone.

We started in close and didn’t have a lot of trouble getting a mixed bag of small species, although I must say the fish were very picky, particularly the gar.  I did manage a couple of big gar amongst the herring, single skippy and a couple of mackerel species.  We then tried to find some sand whiting and spent far too much time chasing and not finding.  Headed out to known ground to try for demersal and other deeper water species for what was a very unspectacular few hours.  We did get quite a number of undesirables, including a massive Sargent Baker, but the bite was dead for us.  Changed it up a few times but for the same result.  I haven’t seen it that quite for a while and the “no run no fun” mantra was ringing.

About 1pm we decided to make our way slowly back to the marina trying a few spots and techniques on the way.  Stopped at our 5th sand whiting location and when I changed up my bait to squid tentacles we finally got one to the boat.  In the next little while we landed a dozen with some good specimens in the mix.  The sea breeze had come up so it was time to troll the reefs for some tailor as experience suggests they will generally start to feed when conditions “rough up”.    

When we trolled past a lump we have got a few off in the past my lure got smashed big time.  This thing was peeling line off the light combo and when it jumped about 50m from the boat we could see it was a quality fish.  I had to show a fair bit of “care” with the fight as this was one I didn’t want to lose.  Nice work from the skipper with the boat and after about 10 minutes we had it to the side.  A few net attempts were required as the fish obviously didn’t like it but we finally got him.  Off we go again and when we went back past the same spot the drag started screaming again.  This one took more line than the first and was another quality fish.  Again, a careful fight giving the fish its head and we gently got him to the boat.  2 big tailor in short time but we had to head to the ramp to make it back for the weigh in.  Generally, it was a very slow day but we ended up with a fair bag.

A lot of Members also reported that it was slow for them, but as usual lots of quality fish were still weighed in.  As most would know, my target species is Pink Snapper but I rarely get them during the day in nearshore waters.  I really like to see good pinkies and Dave turned up with an absolute horse – don’t think I have ever seen one “in the flesh” this big.  It was an awesome capture and weighed in at 10.43kg on the certified scales.  Dave commented on it being a short model at 92cm but it was thick, hence the weight.  Dave and Matt had a great day out with lots of species, including Matt’s 15.9kg Dhu and were worthy winners on the day.  Not sure that pink will be close to being beaten for the yearly prize.

I had a pretty good day at the presentation picking up the biggest tailor (1.77kg), biggest garfish (0.201kg) and biggest sand whiting (0.176kg) but the highlight by far for me was seeing Dave’s monster pink.

I managed to convince Gail to join me for a Salmon session out at Mewstone. She does not enjoy going out of the Sound if it gets too lumpy and the wind forecast for Saturday was looking good. After brekky and coffee at Maccas we made our way to Cockburn boat ramp to launch. Unsurprisingly all available parking was taken at CPBA and I was forced to park on the grass verge after launching.

We sped our way across the Sound to Mewstone and on arrival it seemed that half of Perth's boaties were out chasing Salmon. We had a couple of flicks and managed to drop a Salmon in the process. It was a little frustrating trying to dodge all the other boats whilst keeping clear of the rocks and we therefore decided to capitalise on the favourable conditions and shoot across to a new spot that Nick and I had discovered recently. This drop-off NW of Rotto had produced some good Snapper on our last visit including my PB of 91cm.

On arrival we dropped anchor and proceeded to burly. Gail picked up a 51cm Dhufish on her first drop on light gear. She was fishing for bait and managed to catch her PB Dhuie on a small hook baited with squid. A little while later she added a decent Snapper to her tally and the writing was beginning to appear on the wall. This fish was followed by her first Baldchin Groper - she was cooking! At this stage all I had to my name was an eel! She managed to hook into a further two good fish which she unfortunately dropped before she caught the fish of the day. She was busy catching bottoms on her light tackle when her second rod with the Shimano Tekota 500 started loosing line at a rapid rate. As she set the hook I called it to be a Sambo or Kingie, but soon the headshakes indicated either a Pinkie or Dhuie. When she finally brought the fish into sight I gulped as it was one of the largest Pinkies that I have ever seen. The fish stretched the Swivels measure to 79cm - a great fish indeed! Elation followed high fives and photographs and the decision was to release this magnificent specimen to reproduce more Pinkies. We had sufficient feed in the Esky and how would I explain to other anglers at the cleaning facilities at CPBA that none of these fish belonged to me?

The wind started picking up in the early afternoon and we decided to make our way back to Mewstone for a final flick at the Salmon. When we arrived back at Mewstone there were somewhat fewer boats around, but the now windy conditions made it a little challenging. I was however not going anywhere until I had at least one decent fish to show. Within a couple of minutes I was hooked into one of these turbo-charged submarines which after a short fight spat the Twisty into the side of my boat. Gail was having a good chuckle as she steered the boat to give me the best vantage for casting at these fish. After my "eighth" last cast I managed to hook into a Salmon which was landed after a very careful fight. With some dignity restored the fish was photographed and released and we could go now home.

......really need a new deckie!!!!

YouTube clip - https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=_iH6bt9MpKs

Had a great day out today, went with Rob (lives around the corner and is on FW, has his own boat and is a keen fisher). He had not jigged a fish before so we headed to a spot we got some the other day, but on the way found a new shallow lump full of sambos.

Robs first sambo on jig.

We got hit most drops, plenty of double headers.

Left with even sorer arms than Thursday, Rob was loving it.

Then we found a nice little flair up on new ground, looked KGish, out with the 8lb whiting gear on it was on. Bagged out in an hour. Rob's baldie went 63cm, bloody good capture on light gear.

Great day on the water. Cheers Rob, will do it again!

How frustrating, cruised all over the sound around garden and Carnac islands then all the way from peron to freo looking for salmon on Thursday and Friday for Zac, walking the dogs around peron this morning saw 2 schools herding mullet up against the beach right near the car park. Oh well shit fish anyway lol

Hi Everyone,

I have just bought a canoe and I am looking to take it around point perron with my young bloke.

I was wondering what can be caught out there and what bait should I use.

My young bloke absolutely loves fishing and I have only a small idea on catching fish and want to learn more about it to teach him.

If anyone can offer any tips on what is there or places to take the canoe that would be awesome.

Thanks Guys

Happy Fishing

Headed out just before dusk tonight with the prime reason to give the Minn a bit of a test after replacement of a few corroded wires.  We were hopeful that we could get out past the 3 Mile to try for some pinkies after the blow but as soon as we exited the marina that plan was abandoned – the good old weather forecasters get it right again!  The only option was to have a troll around the near reefs and then sit over a very nearshore lump, burley it up and see what was around on dusk, and into the early evening.

Conditions were crap with a 15+kn ssw blowing.  We tried trolling for a while but nothing.  Off to the lump to set Minn up and have a “token” fish.  We stuffed around for a while but when the baits got in the water there was plenty of activity.

First up was a fairly large octopus – hooked in the leg after chasing a mulie (didn’t give him a chance to stick to the bottom).  The pike (or snook) were all over our burley and the baits were not down for long before these “pests” were on them.  They go well in the burley and I have heard they are a quality bait so we decided to keep a few.

After I finally got my baits past the pests and to the bottom I hooked up solid.  This fish was taking lots of line on my light combo and the head shakes suggested pink, but were very strange.  Lots of runs and when I finally got it to the boat it was a double header of pinkies!  We netted the biggest one and lifted the other for my first Perth Metro double of the target species.  530mm and 460mm so only one came home.

The pests were thick and we got them every drop until the burley ran out.  We had more burley but conditions were not flash so the call was to finish the bait fillet and come in.  Just as that call was made, Dean hooked up a decent fish.  This one was called and an undersized pinkie, but it was a quality KG – one of the fattest ones I have seen for a while (480mm).  A couple more drops to see if there was a school and it was time to come in.

I think our very quick trip tonight showed that the fish do come in close after a blow.  Fairly undesirable conditions but we only travelled a few km for not a bad result – premium fillets, bait and burley.

 twitter.com/dannymacdj/status/595401544981417984

Recorded at work this morning, surrounding the Grain Terminal jetty. 

Couple of blokes on jet skis were enjoying the whole school to themselves!

Hi guys,

Appears to be a pocket of warmish (23-24 degree) water still out in the trench and weather looking the goods over the weekend (at this early stage) so am contemplating committing the weekend to an elusive metro marlin out of Rotto.

Has anybody heard of any around recently (ie last week or so) or is it just too late in the season?

Any thoughts, views, oppinions or pointers will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Sam

After an unsuccessful trip out to the southern bank of Rotto, Nick and I decided to look for the Salmon in the Sound. During this session I caught my first decent Snapper on soft plastic.

I managed to go for an unplanned swim to retrieve my prescription sunnies in the process - see YouTube clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2Tj_wkfpXU

After a quick Salmon sesh on the Monday of the ANZAC weekend, I was keen to get out for another crack.  A call to a good fisho mate and we had a plan for Saturday.

Launched at the CPBA ramp at 7am and headed south to where I found a school last week.  This part of the sound was pretty quiet first up and after a squidding session on the flats and a bot of sounding around, decided to change plans and headed over towards Garden Island.  The it happened - saw the boats, the birds, and then the fish - we were on.

Surface strikes were spectacular, nothing watching like the open gob of a Salmon about to demolish your surface lure with half a dozen of his mates trying to muscle in for a bite.

There were times the sounder was completely blocked out with Salmon - the following pic gives you an idea (not the best one as I need two hands to take a screen shot and usually they were busy with a salmon on the end of the line!)

Lost count of the number of fish but all good solid specimens - all released in good condition.  

My mate then decided to tick Salmon on fly off off his bucket list.  I do admire his persistence as the fish were definitely turned on to the larger lures and the baitfish they were regurgitating looked like pillies.  Watching me pull in four or five fish while he was trying must have been a bit frustrating.  He finally managed to hook one after changing to a popper fly and managed an exceptional capture on 8wt.

We were on a school closer to the Naval base, looking around there seemed to be groups around Woodies, Mewstones, and the Northern end of Garden Island.  

After deciding to call it quits and making a move back to the ramp, we were in for one last treat.  We came across a pod of dolphins around a school of Salmon so out came my 8wt fly.  The salmon were balled up around the boat and it was a spectacular sight and it was just us.  I did manage to hook one on fly but alas it wasn't to be.

And finally kudos to the weather - it was a fantastic morning to be on the sound.

Fantastic arm stretching day.

Had a fish yesterday with Tim-O and Beau, great to meet you guys finally. Plan was for a jig and stickbait day around the Rotto area.

Should have realised how the day would go when I went to flick my jig in the water on the first drop of the day and the jig and assist hooks departed the split ring before they even hit the water and sunk to a watery grave......haha, rooky mistake, the swivel had gone most of the way through the slit ring when I put the jig on and then slipped the rest of the way........you wanna see the look on the face of Beau and Tim-O....like, who the heck is this PLONKER......and what are we doing fishing with him.

It got worse 5 minutes later, Tim-O was wondering why so much line was going out on the drop until he realised he had wrapped about 50m of premium braid around my prop (motor was in reverse as it was pretty ordinary early on......). 20 minutes later and a few back spasms and the braid was cut......hmmm.

At this stage, Beau was looking like the Grand Chief Poobah of fishing and boating, until he had several bouts of immediate spew activity that came on in seconds......the good, the bad and the ugly turned into the bad, the bad and the bad.......

All in all, we could only be described as a rabble............haha.

We proceeded to drop on about 30 spots during the day with jig and soft plastics, several of these spots have produced numerous duies over 90 cm and up to 101 in in the past......nada. Sounder was dead, very little activity, bugger all bait, bugger all fish. I recon bait would have raised a few fish as all the activity was very close to the bottom and it appears no fish were feeding (a bad sign for jigs) , but it was a bait free day.....much to Tim-O's chagrin.

Checked out West End, nothing doing apart from a rat king to Beau on a bullchop and some pretty friggen hairy moments with some bloody big sets of waves (wont be doing that again), and apart from one mid water sizzling to Beau that ended in tears, a few very undersize dhuies, sergeant majors and a thumping western King wraase on jig (haha) we caught nothing....

Still, we had a good chat, a few beers and still had a nice day. Its not all about catching fish......ahhhh stuff it, who am I kidding, the day was crap, I hate not catching fish!

170 km for nil.......it happens.

Tim-O, Beau, great to meet you lads.

Cheers

 After many weeks of reports flooding through the shop and photo after photo of some stonking Australian Salmon I FINALLY had my chance to take the boat out and stretch the arms and get a bend in the rod again and I wasnt disapointed! We headed out from woodies at about 6.30am and headed straight for Mewstone reefs where we were greeted with a surprisingly small number of boats which at that stage was only 2 plus us. First cast got a nudge...second another nudge...then third..was a nudge followed by a wack and it was on for young and old from there. We hooked and landed one after another and released all but a couple for the family and neighbours who actually enjoy eating them. All in all we landed easily 20+ all over 5kg with the biggest a bit over the 8kg mark on bibbed minnows, stickbaits and plastics and of course I couldnt resist the temptation to use the bream tackle which was a challenge! By the time we left mewstone at around 10.30am they were still biting but there were over a dozen boats so was wondering if anyone else did well also or even better then we did because as far as I could see nearly every boat was hooked up at once? And did the orange hire boat I saw there survive the reef coz he was doin some very dangerous things while we were there!?

We'll I've just got back from a quick trip to Steep Point!

Harry (Fishing WA), olaf (Harrys brother) and myself had plans to fish for 3 days at Steep Point (quick trip) staying at Shelter Bay. We launched from Denham and meet up with some of Harrys mates and was good to meet another FW member Johnny ...... cheers for the mozzie/fly head net mate

We fished shallow water pink snaper, trolling for squid, bottom bouncing for redthroat/robo's/pearl pearch etc and troll for spaniards!

been fishing the Murray around the Ravenswood hotel and the last few times I've been I've been smoked 4 or 5 times by something that cant be stopped. I've tried using a heavy 50lb boat rod setup but nothing wants a sniff but as soon as u put out the light bream gear. these things come out and play. I've landed a couple mullaway between 550-700 on the bream gear at the same spot but these are massive and you just don't have a chance. I was thinking they could be stingrays but I'm not sure. Has anyone seen stingrays this far up river or do you think they're just big mullaway.
If they are big mullaway does anyone have a good rig that they will hit but strong enough to survive the under water structures that are in the Murray.

 Finished early wednesday and decided to chase salmon at south mole.I can walk there from the construction site I work at.the school moved in just as we got going and it was full on.saw one chap land 3 on fly.my son landed his first as well.great 2 hours of sport.

 sitting on the plane yesterday going to Broome and guess whose on the flight...  Robson Green.  Had a quick chat with him when he landed. Really nice bloke, with a small army of film crew. Love his fishing show and it was awesome to meet him.

After reading all the reports of the Salmon going off around the Perth Metro I decided to try and get the missus into her first one. After lunch on ANZAC Day we made our way to CPBA with the hope of spotting a fish or two. When we arrived at Cockburn boat ramp we were told by boaties coming off the water that the Salmon were thick near the Ammo Jetty. We took little time in speeding around Woodman Point and as we approached the jetty we were greeted with total mayhem. It seemed that every second angler on the jetty was hooked into a Salmon as were half of the approximate 20 boaties in the area.

I do not often get fish fever, but I had fish fever.  I did not know what lure to use, what rod to grab, where to cast, what speed to retrieve etc.etc.  I eventually tied the ever faithful Halco Twisty onto the missus' line and with her first cast she was hooked into her first fish.  A couple of anxious minutes later and after some spectacular leaps the Salmon threw the Twisty which came crashing into the side of the boat.  Another couple of casts later and she was into another fish, this time right next to the boat as she was lifting the Twisty to cast again.  This fight took her all around the boat and I grabbed the GoPro to get the action on film. I was enjoying her tussle with the fish as much as I would have holding the rod. A few minutes later the fish was in the net and after a couple of quick photographs released to be caught on another day.

With all the bad press that the "anglers" on the jetty received, I experienced the boaties as being civilized in their approach. I saw many fish being released and the boaties did not crowd each other and were quite courteous even though there was a fish frenzy. Let's hope that there were lessons learned and that people realise that this is a privilege that many other countries do not enjoy because of over exploitation.

YouTube clip below

http://youtu.be/viYafBX9AL0