Been gettin into some skippy near Hillarys on light gear, good fun, got Brock 2 more species ticked off his list today, that skip put a real bend in his rod, fish sangas for tea!

bottom bashing in 35m just south of rotto today and spotted a small school of about 15 salmon splashing away. We were already having fun with sambos (and didnt have any light spin gear) so did not bother chasing the school.

late run or just a few lost fish??

Suhaimi and Zhong Yong , both from SG have booked  a 4 DAYS fishing trip with me.. 2 DAYS wild fishing and 2 DAYS ponds fishing...

At the end of the day, it the wild fishing that they find it more enjoyable and memorable  than stocks pond fishing.

With great nice scenery views and peace of mind away from the city stress , how can anyone resist what the mother nature has to offer us its  nature beauty. ;)

Enjoys the youtube clip I've done for them and  also some of the highlights photos of the trip..;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW4t4ZaLU0o

Some of the hightlight photos for the trip...

Monster Stripped Snakehead

Great Sebarau- Jungle perch...

 set out for busselton jetty at around noon first cast out...bang ended up catching a 51cm flattie but it went back for another day after the catch it went abit quiet so i switched over to squid and i got a leather jacket a whiting and 4 skippy also about 50million annoying trumpiters but all up it was a pretty good day!

 G'day all

Yesterday me and a couple of mates set up for the night at a spot of mine just a bit north of Sunset Beach, the spot is known as 'Pedoz'.

Couldn't of really asked for a better night weather wise, there was little to no wind during the whole night, the swell was pretty low, and not a bit of weed in sight.  Started fishing at around 5:30 with high hopes of getting into some good fish.  We were quite dissapointed to find there were hundreds of snook smashing every bait we threw out.  Kept 2 or 3 and took the fillets off for bait for later on.  As it got darker the snook all left and the tailor came on the bite.  Only a few small-ish tailor were landed, nothing really photo worthy.  Amongst the tailor we must of landed about 12 soapies all up, all around 30cm.  There bloody anoying at that size.

Once the tailor packed up and left the action was pretty quiet for the next hour.  I had a snook fillet on for bait at this stage, and had a good run from what i suspect would of been a large mulloway, but no hook up. Had another fresh bait out in no time and it got absolutely whacked.  I was hooked up to what felt like a mulloway well over a metre, the headshakes were astounding.  After 20-ish minutes of fighting it i managed to get it washed up onto the beach and i was right, it was a mulloway, just alot smaller than i thought.  It ended up measuring just under a metre, about 95cm, but i was amazed with how fat and heavy the fish was for its length.  I've caught many large mulloway before, and i've never kept one.  I find great satisfaction in releasing the big ones, but i decided it was my turn to keep one.  Will be having it for dinner tonight! 

Im horrible at guessing weights, but my guess would of been somewhere between 8-9kg, would this be about right??

Cheers

-Red

Got down to Cheynes on Friday arvo,had a flick off the headland,not much around. On Sat I tried with baits on beach to no avail and it didnt look like anyone else was getting a great deal,so I went and chucked lures off headland all day(40gm twisty) still nothing so I put on a 5gm halco twisty and got a shitload of good sized herring, it broke the boredom. I met a bloke called Splitty whoo had got a couple of runs down on the beach and he reckoned just chuck your bait out and wait,(as you do). So, Sunday morn I went down to the beach and Splitty and his Scottish mate were draggin em in ! after the other, it took me a bit but I finally landed one after droppin a couple and ended up with 6 for the day,all 6-8kgs. One of them was on a 40gm twisty when there was a big school in about a foot water.I was happy with 6 but Splitty and his mate were even happier with their 40+ fish. Cant wait to get back down there!!!

Hey all,

All my mates went down south to chase salmon, but sadly I was unable to join them this year. Went for a fish a little closer to home arriving Saturday afternoon and leaving early this morning. Had probably the best beach fishing I have experienced and saw some pretty impressive things - I love how every trip is full of subplots and tall tales!

Arrived to pretty sloppy conditions on saturday afternoon. The water was very murky and there was a lot of weed in the gutter and on the surface. Heading towards low tide, I didn't like my chances. Fished for several hours into dark and as the rain started to arrive my interest in the bottle increased, while my interest in the fishing waned. Funnily enough, as the evening drew on, my memory of the night becomes a little hazy! I landed a mulloway.....my first in 4 years (second overall). It was only 30cm, but still...it's a MULLOWAY! I was stoked. Very next cast I was into something bigger....hook pulled. I was flicking tiny mulie pieces on size 6 hooks, so not really surprised! Think I tangled with a ray at one point, then must have passed out sometime after midnight.

Woke up to much improved conditions. A light easterly and the water was starting to clear. Monster herring were on the bite and I had my 20 in the bucket within half an hour! They were almost all huge bull herring close to 30cm, so put up a great show on light tackle. As the morning wore on I also got into some mullet and whiting.

Tired of the little stuff so put out a fresh fillet. Had a solid hit and soon later a very good tailor on the beach....but just as it left the water it spat the hooks to my frustration. Immediately after a flash of green caught my eye - something about 1m long, torpedo shape, darkish olive green was moving along the shallow gutter at a rate of knots as if pursuing something (maybe my dropped tailor?). My immediate reaction was that I had just seen one of those monster 1m tailor.....definately possible for the area I was in......but I'll never know now.

Persevered for a couple of hours with fillet baits, ended up with a nice 45cm tailor and a gummy shark (around 5kg) in the esky. Good morning session which also included dart (all released) - a species I had never caught before.

Quiet afternoon, then around 5pm something picked up a mullet fillet and swam for deeper water. Felt big thumps and did my best to try and slow it down, but after about a minute the 20lb braid gave out. I didn't get the impression that it was a shark....I'm thinking maybe a sambo or even a snapper by the way it ran.

Sundown bought on an excellent tailor session - only short, about 30 minutes but got half a dozen really good fish. Smallest was around 40cm and biggest 48cm. It shut down soon after, so got an early night.

Next morning was somewhat quiet. More whiting, mullet, dart. Took until around 11am to get a big hit and it felt like I was into something pretty decent again. A few minutes later beached my first ever nor'wester. Pissed off and stoked at the same time, haha! Fish were really finicky, even the whiting were not responding to burley so I took a break for a few hours.

Watched a rec drag netter catch a feed of around 40 yellowfin whiting - all would have been around 35cm. Good bloke, 'Paddy Payne' - chatted to him a lot while I was there and he put me onto some good spots into the area.

Got back into the dart in the afternoon, then about 30 min before sundown a cracker tailor. Went 49cm a PB....actually cooking them all up shortly for tea! As soon as the sun hit the water the rod got smashed and I was confident I was into another great tailor. Instead beached yet another nor'wester!!

Sundown session produced a lot of small tailor - biggest would have been around 35cm. I let them all go, pointless as I had an esky full of fillets and you can only eat so much, given they don't freeze well. Hindsight....forgot to keep one of the little'ns for bait. Oh well....

Went quiet for a couple of hours and I thought long and hard about sleeping....but patience was rewarded. A massive run....this one I have no doubt was a big shark. No stopping it, cut through the TD Sensor in about 5 seconds flat, so I swapped over to 40lb mono for the rest of the night.

Landed a nice Eagle Ray - would have been 10-15kg and swam away strong. Then tangled with one of the big resident sting rays. Cut the line while he was a couple of metres off the beach after fighting for 10-15 mins. Many people seem disappointed at catching rays...but I always find them a great challenge and the ultimate tackle tester!!! I have a rubbish old Ugly Stick low mount and Shimano Alivio combo....it's cheap and nasty....the braid is worth more than the outfit I reckon! But it holds up pretty well as an all round surf combo.

Night drew on....there was a fox on the beach hunting for crabs, scared the living daylights out of me as it walked right up to me without realising I was there. Saw lots of shooting stars and waited......

Took until around 1am but all of the sudden the gutter came to life. Started with a few little taps, then something much more serious. Beached another gummy shark....this one much bigger at probably 7kg. About 10m later, a decent sized snook....perfect bait for my mulloway. Fillet goes out and about 15m later the drag slowly gives. Can feel something gently pulling so slowly reel in and have myself a really good sized occy. Great surprise and tasty snack for the coming days!!

Sent the other snook fillet out and waited. About an hour later a massive hit on the bait, but whatever it was didn't like something and dropped it, never to return. Could have been anything, but I can't help but think that this hit was none other than a mullagore. Never mind, I'll be back up that way again when the tailor are spawning and catch my mulla then!!!!

Thing shut down, so I slept for a couple of hours then got up before sunrise. Nothing really happening, burleyed up and the herring came on, but I was a bit over filleting them so decided to pack up and head home. Coming down Indian Ocean drive has a massive blowout, tyre shredded. Took me 1.5 hours just to change the thing....problems trying to get the vehicle jacked up safely, but got there in the end. Sour end to an awesome trip. I know there were more fish but memory eludes me....my esky is absolutely chockas with fillets all bagged up and ready to go!! :-)

Went fishing sunday night started out at north mole my god it was so windy it wasnt funny

meet Rangdans for a fish

as it was windy we headed down to the freo traffic bridge where the ferry goes down

seen a nice size occy on the rocks but didnt have my gaff to get it with

lots of cobbler about

i got 6 whiting 3 where sand whiting there other 3 where simlar but had black stripes

and a few trumpeter

i had a big line out with 1  whiting on had it on a bait runner had a small take on it and when checked the bait was completely gone

also had bait catcher hooks out  with is what i got whiting on  had a very nice hit 2 times lost 2 hooks bitten of right at the

line..

Got this dhui and a undersize dhu on the other hook sunday 22nd in 32m around rotto,

pulled the scales down to 10kg,

my father in law mick also got a 6kg dhui,

a heap of small dhufish around which is great to see and a couple of foxfish.

Gday!

Well our second annual trip to the Thevenard has been and gone and oh how I love that place.

Me, my partner and my brother headed over on a Tuesday for 7 nights which ended up being 8 due to being blown out for a couple of days, seeing us having a few beers on the island and throwing a few chromies and stick baits around the island to be smashed up the small schools of Trevs and small GT's.

The day we headed over to the island from Onslow the weather couldnt have been any better, so it was decided that as soon as the boat was unpacked and into the chalet we were to head out!

Getting the rods ready to go

One of the fish to board and my brother was pretty stocked!

For only the couple of hours we were out, not a bad haul.

We managed to get out after the 2 days to the wind and then 2 days of no wind but nothing was on the bite!!!

A nice coral trout (Bagafillets), there were plenty of these things around and well up over the 600mm mark plus

Plastic munchin Cobia!

Another Baldie for my brother this one took a nuclear chicken grub!

All in a days work...

My biggest for the trip

These little buggers kept you busy in between the big ones, which end up being a pain the arse!

Another days haul

You had to be quick!

Our last day, we were going to head out to one of our spots but instead, which was a good idea by me was to stick close and work a bit of ground to try and nail some more baldies, with the other half nailing 3 the biggest 630mm... lucky bugger!

The last day, not bad!

So all in all, we could say we had a pretty good time. Again, Drew and Traci and the crew on the island making you feel welcome and helping you out as much as possible.

Hope you enjoy the photos!

Sammy J

any one down cheynes or albany on the weekend and have a salmon report to share?

My friend asked me to show him some ground or Freo were we could catch some Skippy and bait fish. We headed out at the lazy hour of 10 am and stopped at the first cardinal marker just north of the mole.

We set the anchor threw in the burley bucket and started to get the baits ready. I had taken my little trout rod to catch some bait, it already had a small soft plastic on it so i gave it a cast to stretch the line. On the second cast it got hit big time, at first i thought it was a dreaded N/W blowie but it took of at speed.

Then i started to think , this might be a Samson as it realized it was hooked and peeled line of my 1000 Sienna with the 4lb braid starting to show the backing. I started to guess what it could be after seeing big flashes realized it was a Mack of some type.

20 minutes later and a few tense moments i had an aprox 8kg Shark Mack in the net. ( no i don't have callibrated scales Spence. lol )

Good thing was i got some of the action on video and will upload it as soon as i can . 

I was pretty stoked to say the least and my mate (Chad) was happy with the spot i showed him.

We caught a few yakka's and other bait fish then then set Chad up to try for some thing bigger. He didn't get the big one but did break in his new Salty Fighter on a small Samson and lost one a lot bigger.

Not a bad day for just a bait fish and all within view of the North Mole. I'm sure Chad will be heading out there again for a bit of  light tackle fun.

Cheers Grant..

Edit : Here is the link to the video , hope you like it but there is a couple F@&K words sorry.

http://www.youtube.com/user/grantarctic1

After much time chasing after those monster toman, it good to go back pond fishing  once a while.

I've not been fly fishing for a while, a bit rusty though...

Not bad to land a monster size 65KG arapaima on my return trip with my  7WT fly rod...:)

Enjoys those photo highlights and exciting youtube clip...:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxSnBQEyFeg

Im sure everyone knows theres heaps of macks about off rotto and other places but yesterday managed to nail my first, on my birthday to boot, unfortunately dad lost his hook up  and so did i but when cranking in hooked up again to a chuncky little mack about 10kg. Virgin no more. Was a few other boats out there including Winora and judging by the way each boat was stopping every 15 mins or so would say quite a few were boated yesterday. Schools of baitfish the size of football ovals for some of you more adenturous types some googles and a camera would produce some great shots i would assume. Also landed a couple of the fattest striped tuna i've ever seen.

May upload a pic later... maybe not...

Cheers

(want to get out there again now, time to start lookin for some crew)

Well what a ripper of a night, first cast hooked and laned a 42cm tailor. Didnt think i would get much else so i let it go. Then just about every cast i hooked and laned decent tailor. never seen the river with such big fat taior. Kept 2 for the frypan, released the rest.

Location, mosmans area ;)

Bait, baitcasting half mulies on a 3 gang.

Also while fishing i seen the biggest cobbler in my life, must of gone close to 2ft long. knowing we arnt allowed to catch them resised the temptation to drop a mulie infront of it haha .

Also caught a smal snapper, 25cm, really nice pink and bright blue spts, took really good care of it and released it really well to fight another day.

Both these tailor went  38 and 39cm

IMG_3757 by Marc Russo (Australia), on Flickr

All in all a great night, no wind, dolphins swimming right up to us and lots of fish

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hey everyone returned from Exmouth last Saturday.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

nervous,, haha

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

the best salmon fishing you could imagine.

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

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

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

and fighting salmon, makes a dads heart warm.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 Summary and accolades

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

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

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

Sunshine 

.    - the assistance a   I

Hey guys,

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

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

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

cheers, Aidan

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

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

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

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

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

Shortly after Fulton caught his first sambo.

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

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

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

Hi All,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks - Phill

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

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

as for the variety of fish they attract

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

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

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

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

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

cheers

dan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

regards
rusty...

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

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