Hi Folks

Heading up to Mackerel Islands next April. Will be taking the boat across from Onslow. Any tips / tricks for fishing out of the island would be appreciated as would any tips on what to take over.

Thanks in advance!

 Went on a trip to Shark Bay. Was planning to arrive on Sunday arvo 3/6, but as weather forecast for Monday was filthy, got there about lunch time. Unpacked and got the boats in. Went out into the bay and caught some black snapper. Left on dark, was nearly back at boatramp and Nathaniel's boat started making horrible noises.  So we had to tow him in. Rained in Monday/Tuesday so took grandkids to Ocean Park. Nathaniel went to Kalbarri and picked up hire boat. Wednesday forecast looked great so went back out into the bay. Could only find undersize pinkies but caught some more black snapper. Thursday Nathaniel, Rach, Josh, Bud and Jo headed out to Steep Point but was too rough so settled for more fishing in the bay and came home with their limit of blackies, black spot tusk fish. Friday we all headed out to the Shoals, caught 2 nice pinkies then the hoards of sharks moved in. Went into Turtle Bay into deeper water found more pinkies which only fed the sharks. We decided to move back to the Shoals and shallower water to try and get past the sharks - no joy. Then Nathaniel and crew who stayed in Turtle Bay called us to say they had caught a wahoo and 2 spanish mackerel. We decided to head back out and try our luck. We managed to boat 2 mackerel and watched Nathaniel catch a his PB wahoo at 1.6m long guessing at 35-40kg. They managed 3 wahoo and 2 mackerel on the hire boat. Next day took it easy, then on Sunday (our last day) we all went back to Turtle Bay, still couldn't manage to get anything past the grey coated taxman. So put lures out and trolled for mackerel. Josh managed a nice 1.3m wahoo and we also caught 2 mackerel. Bud got nice big eye tuna. On the way back in decided to troll close along the cliffs of Turtle Bay and saw about 12 manta rays cruising round. Awesome day. Grandkids saw turtles, sea snakes, manta rays many sharks etc. All-in-all great holiday with family.

 hey crew here’s a few pics of recent captures. 

17kilo dhu in under 30m on jig

and big pink cracked a meter 

 A fun day out on the west coast originally targetting Kingfish, but turning to Snapper on slow jigs

 I currently own a big Madfish cooler bag. great bit of kit, but I am chasing something a bit smaller and more compact, to fit in the underfloor storage of the Reefrunner. Overall length, from memory is 1450mm, so something between 1400 and 1500, and not too bulky would be ideal, as it has  to get stuffed into one hatch then dragged along. I've seen some cheaper bags around that would fit the bill, anyone know of any that are stocked in Perth?

 Fished two Rocks today for the first time in years , no spots to go too but found a few on the Furuno and got the bag limit, satisfaction comes after starting from scratch again in a new area and getting the job done , great conditions this afternoon too! 

 me and shore catch cal headed offshore for 

few hrs ! At the gentlemans hrs of 10am lines 

in the water! Hopes were high with cal bringing 

some quality shore catch cuttle fresh from a 

skipper in Lancelin. Get in store and pick some 

up ! It looked eating quality!!! Very slow 

for me with a pinned cattle while chasing a 

demersal .. cal scale down too smaller fare 

and pinned this nice flounder .. unfortunately 

cut it short with my key start playing up and 

shed drinking time getting shorter ??? 

Great conditions .. good little few hours 

floating.. cheers pirate .. 

Hey guys and gals. Has anyone here used the Abu Garcia Veritas 3.0 pe1-3 or pe2-4 spin jig rods? Looking for something light for the occasional boat trip microjigging, jigging plastics for snapper and trolling lures. Ideally would like to keep the price around $150. Was looking at the Gokmoku then read how some folk have had them snap. Already have a Stradic FK5000 spooled with 20lb braid to match (also have 30lb if a better match?) Apologies for the typical 'which rod?' question, just thought this would be the best place to ask. Cheers everyone! 

 Anyone heard of or have a kickass 12v fridge was thinking of getting one as my beach set up needing another 

Hi Guys, I want to buy a bulk spool of 50lb braid for spooling overhead reels. Any suggestions of websites that are good or shops that would be good to buy from?

Cheers

 Hey guys, I have done a lot of search on here in preparation for my trip next month.

Any latest advice / stories you can share?

Where can I safely leave my car/ trailer in Derby?

Whats the fishing like in July.

Thanks for any advice.... will put up a story upon return.

 Enjoy from Bali 

Hi,

My fishing goals are pretty simple since this isn't a dedicated fishing trip. The idea would be something I get to do maybe a little bit here or there. I don't really care what I catch, but I'd like to catch something. Ideally, it'd be nice to provide a fish dinner for us once or twice on the trip, but that means more cooking equipment too so I can easily be talked out of that as well.

Please Help.

I didn't find the right solution from the Internet.

References:-

https://isleroyaleforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=3306

Creative video services

Thanks

 Whiteys are having a sale. Looks like some real good bargains to be had according to thier facebook page.

Just a little bit aside from the new regulations that are coming in re drink driving and boating, those on this forum who also engage in a bit of shooting notice that the police are conducting an auditing programme on firearm owners who have rifles exceeding 308n Winchester in "power" to see if there reason for having such a powerful weapon can still be sustained. The West Australian newspaper had an article on this last week I think it was.
To those members who like to hunt as well as fish this could become an "interesting time" and expensive if you have to run around and get up to date property letters etc.

any feedback on clamp on rocket launchers (the opnes that clamp to the bimini?)

im in need of more rod storage, but a permanent fixture would be a nuisance as would have to take off everytime to get in garage.

cheers!

 Hi all,

If anyone has a decent size trailer I have some room to store it free of charge very close to the river and ocean. The catch is I would like to use it for a couple of weekends per year. The trailer would need to be suitable for a 7.5m boat. Let me know if your interested.

Alternatively if anyone has a suitable trailer that is not being used please get in touch if you would be interested to hire ir out. 

Cheers. 

Hi everyone. I am going camping with friends in Dwellingup this weekend and wouldn’t mind getting some fishing in. I’m not really good with land based fishing and am going with people who wouldn’t have a clue either so i wouldn’t mind some help if possible. The website for Lane Pool reserve in Dwellingup mentions that the Murray River has endless places to cast a line and includes fish like Rainbow Trout, Redfin Perch, Cobbler & Marron. Would i need a freshwater and marron licence and based on the info on the Recfishwest app would you suggest I only really keep the Redfin for eating? I’d have to google marron as I’m guessing that’s a net based catch. Tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone.

I’ve attached photos that reference some of the convo below. Thanks again. Helen

The fun police are at it again! Is this really what we need? 

https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/fishing/police-minister-backs-booze-and-drug-testing-for-boaties-ng-b88870369z

when one considers the risks water users face compared to road users, does anybody really think this would be nessecary?  

With the claimed 100,000 boats registered in WA, that must equate to at least two hundred thousand votes on this issue; would they be stupid enough to introduce it..... yeah, you are right, they probably would!!

Surely, we must push back against this continuous blindness of having to treat everyone the same as the lowest common denominator.....why cant we just punish the fools that cause the issues?

 All the times I’ve gone squiding it has been mostly sunny, but looking at the ocean the wind wasn’t bad just a few rain showers.

i have no idea if squid are affected by barometric pressure?

G'day All ,

Thinking of bolting to Lancelin for the weekend . Anyone been there lately to see how weed situation looks ? Will prob take boat up and launch at south end near southern caravan park if possible .

Launching a 465 profish .

Cheers In advance for any info.
Andy

 Hey guys just want any thoughts on which is better to fish ,the Wilson Inlet or the Nornalup inlet at Walpole? Was thinking of heading to one of them the next school holidays taking our 4.2m tinnie. Which place would be better for chasing snapper?

Hi

Wanting to try improve my knife sharpening and am looking for suitable leather offcuts to make a large stropping leather.

I currently have a Nirey belt sharpener which does a reasonable job but doesn't achieve a really good edge. I previously had a chefs choice 3 stage electric sharpener and that did a better job. I could achieve a shave quality edge with that, but it wasn't very robust and eventually the rather weak motor failed

So hoping someone might know where I can get some leather. ( I believe cowhide might be suitable)

Thanks

Eric

Hi, Just returned from Ningaloo and although still caught some fish was definitely ruined by losing 80% to the tax man. Particularly anywhere deeper than 20 meters, So the discussion on the long drive home was. Is it worth the trip anymore, and what options closer to home should we look at. From all reports (Carnarvon / Shark Bay / Coral Bay) all have same issue. So what about Kalbarri or lower? Where can you still get the northern species but not have to kill so many fish to get a feed?

Dopolo

Hey guys,

I’m after a couple of suggestions for up in the Pilbara. At the moment I’m still figuring out where I want to head to, I’ll have about 4-5 weeks with a 3.9m fiberglass dinghy (fully rebuilt and very capable). I’m looking at going up at the end of January into February.

I’m wanting to mainly hit creeks and inshore reefs, obviously with the smaller boat, while also, with weather permitting, some pelagic trolling.

I’ve heard good things about Balla Balla and would like to check out there while also spending some time around Cleaverville and point Sampson area. Further south I wouldn’t mind looking at 40 mile. I’m definately going to be spending about week in the gulf of Exmouth around Giralia and Exmouth gulf stations on my way back.

I would love to get as remote as possible, especially to creeks, and have the vehicle and equipment to do so.

Are there any other spots that I should be looking into at the moment, and any spots that I listed that I should ignore ??

Because it is a while before I leave I’m still only pre planning spots to hit up. Should also add that i'm planning on doing the trip solo

Thanks heaps for any input,

Nathan.

Now that I’ve finished cleaning the corrosive dust from all the shit we took with us, I’ve got time for a little write up.

We were up there for 2 weeks, staying at the 3 mile, and a few mates/missos/kids took the numbers to 10 adults 5 kids 4 dogs, however most were leaving after 1 week. Marnie and her family aren’t the caretakers there anymore, and the new chick isn’t as friendly, especially towards dogs. I took my 5.5m Caribbean, and a mate took his 7.6m Jackman. The track in was FUCKED.... like FUCKIN FUCKED. Slow traveling and a few muddy puddles, I haven’t seen it that bad for a long time. 4 hours from Carnarvon to the 3 mile....

Day 4 saw a HUGE storm roll through from the north, with seriously borderline cyclonic northerly winds, swinging straight west at around 100km/ph with sideways rain at around 12am tuesday morning. It flattened a lot of tents and campers at 3 mile. I avoided damage (and a lot of sleep), but a few mates didn’t. We usually get a weather event when we’re up there, but I’ve never been through anything like this, let alone while camping!

We did manage to get out a bit in the boats before and after the storm, but I am going to go on record in saying the sharks are now completely and utterly out of control up there. Every lump that showed fish, we got sharked at. I had a whaler shark nearly 4m try get a big cod right at the boat! We lost around 80% of the fish we hooked. Over my 2 weeks, I managed a few big cod and a few mackies, all from under 20m deep, but generally, anything deeper was a complete waste of time, gear, fish and fuel. I honestly don’t even have an answer on what can be done about them either.... they are now past the point of no return.

Regardless of above, after the storm cleared and the others started heading home, the weather got really good, and we had a pretty relaxing holiday. Took the kids snorkelling up towards the cape, and had a ball. 4 year old daughter even happily snorkelled with a reef shark! As mentioned, fishing very shallow I managed a couple of big estuary cods, and a few mackies, which I was pretty happy with, although I still lost more than I caught. For some reason the cod and cobia don’t get as much attention from the Noah’s as other species.

After the storm, a HEAP of plant/machinery took to the tracks, and by the time we were leaving, some parts of the gnaraloo/Quobba road were as smooth as the freeway. Some still very shit, but it reduced the trip down to 2 hours from the 3 mile to Carnarvon.

The 7.6m Jackman crew had an unbelievable amount of bad luck, with 2 x shredded tyres (from the stupid rocks along the roads at 3 mile camp), cracked hub on trailer, damaged (beyond repair) radiator (new one had to be freighted to Carnarvon), snapped axle on trailer, and their tent flattened and flooded from cyclonic style storm.

I’m not sure if i will go there again on a proper fishing trip. Family trip wise it was mint, but the sharks have DESTROYED the fishing up there to a point where it’s no longer enjoyable.

 As stated in the title 

have looked online fairly sure I can but wondering if anyone has done this saves me buying a new transducer 

thanks

jess

 Hey guys looking for a cast net anybody got one for sale ??? Cheers 

 I made a brief video on how I set up the drag on lever drag reels. Is there anything you guys do differently?