Well after 22 years of wanting it, 12 months of being able to do it and two months of watching the weather, we ticked something off the bucket list and headed to the Abrolhos Islands for a couple of nights.

I asked the wife to book out every Friday to Monday in April and May and after going into standby a couple of times, we headed up to Geraldton on Thursday, leaving home just after 5. After silently paying our respects whilst we drove up Tonkin Highway and arrived in Geraldton around 1030 needing to top up the fuel tank, get some bait and ice. 
After arriving at the ramp, we had to transfer some stuff from the car to the boat (water, spare fuel, fridge etc) due to weight issues, we were in the water and putting out the marina at 11:30. 

The Easterly had been gusty so it was pretty choppy heading across but from the right direction and only at 10-15 knots now, all was good and after a couple of pauses along the way to swap people positioning and consile the goung bloke who had some gut distress (just needed to fart), we made it over in just over two hours. Instantly, I cannot understand how the early navigators made their way around considering how the bottom goes from 40 up to 20 then back down to 40 then up to 10, then 5 then 20. Then to think of the Batavia folks - What a spot to hit!

We made our way down to the Guano jetty on Pelsart Island and threw the pick in near 1400 for a late lunch. Fisheries were doing the rounds but being that I enjoy anchoring in 600mm of water, they got half way to us before turning around so we didnt get to chat. We had multiple licenses onboard and had informed them that we were going so all was above board.

After lunch, the young bloke wanted to cast a lure so i set him up with a little soft plastic and after a couple of casts, he caught the fattest herring I have ever seen. I genuinely didnt know they got so fat and thought it was a mullet to start with but he rapidly bagged three before we beached the boat and went for a stroll on the island which is spectacular due to its ruggness. Beautiful near tropical looking sandy beach on one side and jagged boat breaking rock and coral a mere 30m away on the other side of the island. 

Back to the boat for hamburgers for tea while the sun set before throwing the spot light over the side to see what was happening. Plenty of little fish about so i threw in a squid jig and quickly caught 5 small ones which would be used as bait. 

The breeze blew through the night though with no swell, it was far more comfortable than any night we have done at rotto and very comfortable onboard, though there are few better things than sunrise. WE were all up and on the roof to watch the run rise over the sea. 

After the morning aboloutions were done, we beached the boat at the Guano jetty and walked along the beach the other way and did an hour or so long loop just looking at stuff. Back to the boat for pancakes with the young bloke catching another two herring for bait. 

High tide was 10 and with the plan being to have a fish before going to Gun Island, we headed back north out of the anchorage and followed the countour lines with C-Map and Navionics on the phone arguing about the best way, but we managed to get into see some cool stuff without touching any hard stuff. 

The breeze was around 15 knots from the east so the good side of Gun Island wasnt really doable so decided to head up towards Sandy Island (should be called 'exposed lump of coral island') passing over some absoloutely spectacular coral and finding it amazing that we are in 10m of water only two boat lengths from the island. 

There were fish showing on the sounder, and even though i could clearly see none the bottom, I thought I would fish the drop off off the edge of the coral. After remarkably managing to not snag on the coral, and still seeing no fish, we continued to drift with a drogue in and a minute or so off the coral, the rod went bezerk. After a couple of minutes with some good fun runs, we landed a decent 65cm pinky!. Our first quality fish up there, quickly dispatched and into the ice box. 

We had another three drifts and got another two big hook up's but didnt manage to set the hooks.

With lunchtime approaching, we decided to pack up and head back towards the eastern tip of the islands and found another patch of fish, dropping baits with my daughter fairly quickly catching a decent Spango and my young bloke solo landing a 56cm Baldie...conveniently hooked while i was having a wee off the other side of the boat so high 5 to Claire and Blake for getting it up so i could net it after i had a a quick rapid shakes on the starboard side. 

With our bag limit done, it was time to head over find a spot for lunch so we went back to the Guano jetty and up along inside the reef where we processed the snapper for lunch. We were quickly greeted by a pair of sharks which slowed our plans for a swim. Half the snapper was cooked up and eaten. WE ended up getting in for a swim before heading west of the guano jetty for another swim but with a few sharks moving around, it was quick but refreshing. The coral was phenominal. 2m high lump of coral that would have had branches that were 30mm in diameter. 

After more of a chill out we again beached the boat and strolled along the inshore side of the island towards the light house. The beach towards wreck point turns into something similar to Shell beach in Shark Bay so not ideal for tender bare feet. 

Back to the boat for dinner hot dogs before laying on the roof for half an hour watching the stars and moon rise. That was one of those unforgettable moments with the subtle tones of John Butler revreberating through the top of the cabin, the kids wrapped in Oodies with us watching the world. 

After another decent sleep with a two hour interval around midnight to murder a mozzie that had discovered how delicious i was, we woke up to watch the sun rise again followed by another walk on the beach before another fish by the young bloke with snapper and corn flakes for brekkie. 

The last forecast I saw had a weather window from 1100 to 1400 so we had two hours to stuff around before heading over so back to the spot we fished the day before to try to bring a couple to home. 

We managed a small pinky, decent fight with a sambo for Blake, and a few Blacktip Rock Cod which were decent enough to throw in the esky. 

With the clock nearing 11, we thought we would nip in to see Rob but as we got closer, noticed the conditions were a bit charactor building and opted to have one last pee in the lee of Newman Island before making our way back. 

Conditions were sloppy with 15-20 knots from the SSE but we managed to bounce between 15-20 knots most of the way and only missing two waves that shortened my spine with the return trip taking 1 hour and 58 minutes from logging on at Newman Island to entering the marina at 1315hrs. After a quick takeaway HJ's for lunch, we were on the road at 14:02. There was a cray boat on the horizion as we left the islands and they didnt know it but we were racing. I finally got past them while we were half way up the channel, but more wanted to get behind them so they could knock off the waves. 

Used 61l of fuel on the way to the island and 60l on the way back. 171l all up out of 340 taken across and 117nm During the first two days, we didnt get over 22 knots and only hit 26 knots to blow the cobwebs out just before the marina. Average was just under .7l/mn for the trip which I am happy with. 

We consumed near on the exact same fuel in the ranger towing 3t over 860km. 

Considering what we did over three days, i was very pleased that the only thing to go wrong was discovered just out of Gingin on dusk where we realised that both headlights had blown at some point. Thanks to the servicing arrangement with Ford, a quick call to roadside assist and an hour and a half wait, we had new globes fitted in and were back on the road, arriving home at 20:50. A big day. Apologies to the RAC contractor whom was called away from fishing at Guilderton on his saturday night. Time to add globes to the spares kit. 

Overall, the best trip we have had on the boat, easiest anchorage, best fishing. Everything was just really easy. 

Thansk to Rob for the chit chat before we headed up and also whilst we were in transit! This site is better for people such as yourself. 

We will definitely do it again and what we did was very doable, though the sunday at home to wash and unpack was really good. 

Here are a couple of videos of the anchorage because when we were planning to go, I really struggled to find what the ground would be like down there for anchoring. 

youtube.com/shorts/mB0Z_TeB4s4

youtu.be/MInItjrjNi8

youtu.be/fiB3jJOhsEM

 Got out early  . 4.30am fishing small Dhu 

and cuttle with a nice sized skippy . Shot 

out another few ks ! Too the Baldie spot 

my mate reckoned .. was right on money 

there . Nice Dhu for me huge Baldie for my

mate . Weighed tad under 5kgs .. another 

two baldies and we were done . Back at ramp

right on 8am .. cheers pirate.

 Hi guys, can anyone inform me as to why the Bunbury Fishing platform is closed? And if it will be reopened anytime soon?

Went to take my daughter there ages ago and closed but no idea why?

Yesterday we found ourselves about 15 nm off the coast at Coral Bay. 
'we suddenly lost all power on the boat. No radio, GPS, SOUNDER & unable to start the motor.  we were out of phone range. 
'The batteries were both brand new & topped up before our trip up. We'd been out twice since our arrival without any problems. 
'we checked all we new how to on the boat & were unable to establish a cause. 
'With no apparent option I activated the emergency beacon. 
'the response was everything you could hope for. 
'Given the remoteness of our location just added to the thanks we feel for our emergency services. 
'The boat will now visit a specialist to identify and rectify whatever the problem is before we venture out again. 
'I just felt it necessary to write a brief report & express my sincere thanks to our emergency services. 

 
Enjoy

Windy and cold . Got some real good ones . Lost some thumpers due to wind .

Hi guys,

recently bought an electric reel to take fishing up north. Haven't bought a battery yet but just wondering what everyone uses and what's the most economical to do the job? Probably only use it few times a year. Do I just buy a car battery and then trickle charge after each day of fishing? Any advice is appreciated 

Hi all, just thought I'd share a recent good experience I had with Jack and the team at PK boat services. I know it's easier to find bad reviews than good online so I thought I'd share a good one. I booked the boat in for a transducer and fairing block install on my reef runner and made the 5 hour drive south to get it to him. He got the boat finished and back to me in the same day including removing fuel tank and modifying to fit the transducer in. Also they are happy to communicate after the sales with any help you may need. Any way I couldn't be happier with the new FCV800 and B265LH, also here's a pic of install. Cheers

Yeah another one of these. Lets see how long I stay interested.

After trying sunrise last week, i thought we would try sunset this week. 

We hit the water just after 3 and after a couple of drifts for squid, we went and saw some mates on GI for a chat. 

After chatting for way too long, we made it to 'the spot' in Challenger Passage at around 3 which was just before high tide. 

After finding the least rocky spot to throw the pick in 8m of water.  With ~8-10 knots of WSW blowing, there was a little bit of chop but it was tolerable....until the tide took hold of the boat and was holding us side on to the wind. 

With three rods in (1 unweighted mulie, 1 slightly weighted and 1 soft plastic) and plenty of mulie pieces going in and burley going over the side, the water was full of the good stuff. 

With the boat hanging really odd (90 degrees to the wind, the anchor rope was beside the boat.....) the first hit on the soft plastic turned out to the be anchor rope. Had to cut that line...but then the unweighted line went off and was taken up by my daughter who pulled in a near meter long snook that i dropped at the boat.

Slowly the pinkies came on with one of the rods getting belted with my line snapping immediately (i suspect my line is shit as this is happening a bit). After resetting the line that caught the anchor with a sinker and a piece of swuid, it went off and after a moment or two i could see a nice silver shimmer in the water which was netted perfectly by the boss. 

Anyone within a nautical mile of where we were would have heard the performance I put on and truth be told, I pulled a muscle in my peck by celebrating too hard....

My first size pinkie since September 2017 at 56cm. It fed both us and my parents for tea last night. That was at 17:58 and we fished for another 30 minutes afterwards catching another 3 small ones and a wrasse before running out of useful bait. 

Smash burgers for tea in Pigtrough for dinner at around 7 in a wafting southerly listening to the mighty eagles fondle with the dockers until half time before making our way home to catch the last 5 minutes of the game on the TV.

How did everyone else go? 

 Hi gents ,

im using low frequency out in the 180 -320 m for years and then this trip to Exmouth my low frequency won't read the bottom or show depth at all 

any suggestions?

 
Enjoy 

Hey everyone!

Long time reader, first time poster. 

Got our yearly boys fishing trip planned for Thevenard this year! This will be our first trip to Thevenard, heading up in early May for 7 days....not long now! Been a good 8-10 months in the planning getting everything ready to go. I think I've read every thread possible on here, so I've got a good idea on what to expect. 

Heading over with two boats. Going to mix it up between trolling, jigging, plastics etc.

But I was just chasing a few tips/tricks that could come in useful up there? Any lure recommendations etc.?

 Hi All,

Taking a holiday trip down to Busso and ive never really had any luck off the beaches down there.

Any ideas where i could try ??

Staying in the Geographe area, but will travel to get some luck.

Cheers 

 hey guys, made the journey to rockingham fad yesterday, got there about 8.15am, mate hooked up to a nice dolly first troll sadly dropped it at the side of the boat, we thought here we go .. big day coming ,

they went quiet though so tried few different lures trolling, casting stickbaits, soft plastics, i thought ok chuck a squidtrex on .. bang straight away hooked a smaller one but he jumped and threw the hook.

no dramas i thought , at least we got them chewing again but that was the last interest they showed.

in a last gasp i had caught a small mack tuna so i prepped a nice n  bloody long fillet on a tailor rig but do you think i could get it past the sole bloody butcher bird?? he was relentless so had to give up on that.

anyone else had any luck getting them fired up on any different types of lure? I know they love a livey but we didn't have any and im not 100 percent sure youd get it past the winged taxman anyway

 https://youtu.be/CjmK-hiNjUU?si=-B8YYnI6-TUI06ur hopefully I've got this link right. The senator ripping the shit out of the cronies for so called sentiment of the community,  no facts at all. Seems to be common practice 

After a late night on Saturday night on the river, we woke the kids up at 0630 and were on the road two minutes later. On a spot just before 0730 half way down the back of GI in 14m of water I call F-All....because my mate will be beside me catching fish (Dhu, Pinkies) and I catch F-All!

4 people onboard with 3 rods in. Someone suggested chicken so on one hook was a chunk of chicken breast.....One with squid and one with a Mulie. I cubed up Mulies and scraped any meat off the dolly frame and had that sitting behind the boat oozing flavour into the water along with hand fulls of burley.

20 minutes in, we got a 30cm pinky on the Mulie. Re-baited and re temped and got some sort of freight train on the Mulie. Naturally it was the one rod I had on the starboard side and it went across the back of the boat taking the other lines with it. Pulled a heap of drag then stopped before turning back the other way. I could feel the line rubbing over rocks on the bottom before the enivitable ping of 50lb leader. 

It was fun for a moment but it went dead after then bar a few pickers. 

WIth first signs of the seabreeze at 08:50, we headed to a spot I went across before in 40m, which was 10 miles out. Plenty of structure and fish on top of it. Two lines down with the first snagging as soon as it hit the bottom. first sinker gone, and the second line getting picked to death. Rerigged and headed back to the mark and drifted again. pick pick pick...

and again and again and again before pulling the pin and heading in for brekkie which turned into brunch. Kids did well to make it to 1030.

Watched the new ep of Bluey while catching small KG's (1 size one which went back) before heading in.

How did everyone else go? 

 Hey all

Im considering buying a smaller boat from NSW. The info of exactly whats required online is a little sketchy- most of it refers to "vehicles" (understand that a trailer and boat are classed as vehicles but the info is mainly referencing cars) 

If anyone definatively tell me whats required, it would be a great help while I sum up if its worth the headaches involved. Specifically things like:'

- cost to transfer both (trailer is a single axle 6.1m overall length and the boat is a 4.75 Allycraft Piranha) 

- Process- does it involve having to have both inspected, and if so, who inspects the boat? trailer is easy enough to arrange

- If its me, I assume it can be done after Ive taken delivery of the boat as it will be trucked over. Ill be collecting it from Perth and taking it back up north, again assuming I wont need move permits etc as its practically the same in the short term as if someone was towing it across for a holiday (similar to the caravans or interstate cars?) 

- Who is responsible for intiating the rego transfer- me or the seller?

Lastly, Ive reached out to a few transport companies to get some pricing on the cost to move it here, anyone had expereince cost and expereince wise with any of the companies or could recommend one?

Cheers, sorry for all the questions 

 Crewie for Guy, still trying, 2 60cm then a 82 cm one for Guy, again, by catch 4 big skips and a ytk,  back at the ramp at 9am, great little season

 Crewie for Guy, still trying, sna I s were on the chew, 2 60+, then a 82 cm for Guy, again, released 2 just size, by catch 4 big skips and a ytk, back at the ramp at 9am. Great morning out

Wife’s baldie today went 610 long . Huge black ass . Funniest thing today . Single snelled rig dhue on top hook black ass on other. Must have both hit at same time. Done squid run few days ago. We.Both love new boat . Good on fuel . Very comfy .

 
Enjoy 

Someone said that Canning Bridge fishing jetty is gone?

Next they'll be asking rec anglers for millions of dollars to build a new jetty elsewhere?

End of an era. So sick of an over bearing government

 Hi

THinking of buying a drone for beach fishing and maybe aerial view of water looking for weed banks for squidding etc, maybe dropping lures ahead of Tuna ?

Any suggestions welcomed

Thanks

 Ok guys, I just booked Denham in May and only now realised there is a fishing comp festival on at same time.

Just wondering if anyones going this year

and if anyones been up there during it and has any advice re what its like??

Also this is first time for me bringing my boat (5.6 hydrofield 150hp yammy) and im bringing a novice fisherman up.

He asked what he needed to bring as a minimum tackle wise and i realised after listing everything plus the kitchen sink I dont really have a clue what to recommend as a minimum,

i.e enough to cover from fads fishing in to Denham without breaking the bank... he has a few rods and spin reels that will prob cover trolling and some bottom bouncing but hes new to lures and im no oracle either.

Thinking mainly what he absolutely must have so he doesn't miss out too if we hit a purple patch.

I suppose I would have 1 x 24kg combo for stopping big demersals from ducking into holes?

1 x 15kg trolling o/head combo

1x light spin or baitcasting rod for squiddies, whiting, smallish snapper?

we have a large donated supply of soft plastics but  need to get variety of jigheads to match.

I have a range of my fav halco laser pros for trolling and I will be topping up my squidtrex supply.

we have a few (literally) metal slice jigs if varying weights.

Any and all advice greatly appreciated,

cheers

 Gday guys going on a boys fishing trip with the boat to juriem in a couple of weeks. No doubt we will lose a day or 2 of boating cause of wind/waves. Any advice on where we can go landbased for a few tailor, herring or maybe a mulla. We will have 2 4WD's. I though i read in the past Hill river is worth a fish? is there anywhere else worth a go? even up around green head or  leeman cheers dave

I've reverted to including more monofilament line in my armament.

The obvious benefit of braid is longer casts and more line spooled. Plus no stretch if that's what you want.

But I've assembled a 12lb and 20lb outfit. Using Berkley trilene, $13 for 1000m.

The 12lb can cast metal lures and stick baits far enough, maybe 75-85% that of braid. Admittedly the reel and rod are very well balanced and the lures are 30-50 grams.

Then the 20lb setup has been able to pull in big, 10-15kg stingrays. Whilst hunting mulloway.

So what are the pros?

1. 2-5x cheaper

2. Far less wind knots

3. More abrasion resistant. I find braid can "ping".

4. Doesn't fray from casting. I find braid thins after many many casts spinning for tailor and salmon.

5. Also if you are lobbing out 4oz sinkers and half a herring, does braid really matter? I think it adds 4-5m more distance.

 
Enjoy 

 Fishos pulled from the water out off rotto area today 

 hey everyone just got back from the gassy and had a ball chasing spangos again.. was wondering if anyone has tips with rigs fishing over reefs? was using the old ball sinker rigs with hoodlum hooks and found that to help with not getting snags as mutch

anyone have any tips for fishing shallow water stuff on reefs. im all ears to stop losing gear haaha. on a side note heaps of 45 50cm ones and got railed by a pb would have been 70 had it jumping out the water. (gives you a tip on how shallow i was fishing) all great fun on the old alvey haha

14+ months is absolute bullshit. It's already hard enough trying to launch NoR for >$10 a pop and I already don't bother over Xmas anymore. Time to start heading down to Woodies and finding some new ground.