went out on a charter yesterday, no one really got much, maybe about 8 to 10 fish.  i got a 31cm blackass which would of been nice to eat i guess but when i got home and opened the bag it was the wrong fish.  they gave me the 41 cm skippy, a queenie and a samson fish i think were caught lots of tangles too.  i felt a little disappointed and felt id wasted my money but i know its not their fault

mills was pretty good they helped when needed lots of tangles some big ones like about 10 people at once on one of the tangles.

there was about 24 people i think.  it was my birthday present.

i would go out again but take my own reel and  rod as i dislike the alvis...

Well the eastlies are back in the morning at the moment, so it was time to head out for a fish. Had to go on a solo fish today,as Claire is over racking up the cc in Darwin at the moment. Headed about 6 mile from the ramp, in search for some new ground. I like going fishing by ones self sometimes, as its just great cruzing around with the tunes playing, watching the sounder for something special.

Being a full moon at the moment i was expecting the current to be pretty bad, but the current and wind were working against each other, which made for a good drift speed. Found some nice ground in 20m, blue flares coming up off the highest peaks. I ran a few drifts, but nothing was biting on squid. I had some mulies there that i have carted out the last couple of trips, and decided to give them a try. Well what do you know bites galore !  Pulled some saddletail off this spot, and then left it on the bite for another day.

Then headed in close to Conexion island, in a around 10m of water.Lots of bolders and weed showing on the sounder. Been told by a local here, that coral trout like this sort of ground here, so i thought i would give it a try. After drifting for a couple of minutes, i had a good run and soon a nice coral trout was in the ice box. Drifted a bit further to only pick up a decent sized fingermark and another saddletail.

Being happy with what i had caught, i then threw the lures over and trawled back to the ramp....where are the bloody mackies!

Had a second crack at sailfishing on Tuesday after raising 4 fish, hooking and losing 2 last week!  The weather was great and after a bumpy ride down to Barred creek we were in the water with teaser and baits in the water, It wasnt long and we had a sail smacking our teaser about 6 times before taking the bait! The first fish just swam slowly towards the boat but then realised it was hooked and put on a great aerial display within 10 metres from the boat, after a short fight we realised the fish was tail wrapped so it was brought on board for some quick snaps and then swam for a while and released safely.

We were pretty pumped after catching our first sail but things went pretty quiet for a few hours, there were plenty of mackies to keep us busy but no sails. We spotted a school of tuna in the distance so we started heading towards them, until I turned around to see another sail hitting my bait! This one put on a spectacular fight in the air and under the water, again everything stayed connected and we had 2 sailfish catches for the day! This was my best fishing day of my life and something I never thought possible especially from my little tinny!

sorry about the bulk amount of pics guys but someone was asking about the cheap point and shoot underwater cameras so ive posted a few here to let them see .. all these pics where taken with a panasonic ft1 on my last holiday to exxy .. ive had to drop the size and quality a bit for here but you all get the idea . pity the water quality was bad on the day i went swimming .

Went out last night to the back of the 3 mile out of Mindarie at 6pm with a mate to see if we could raise some fish. The aim was really some of the snapper I have been seeing there a lot in the 15 to 25m range.

We planned on anchoring and throwing out mulie pieces which seemed to be going OK. With the wind going one way and the sea the other there really was no drift around at all, which was lucky seeing as it took us 90 minutes to realise we had lost our anchor from the shackle coming undone. Luckily I have been looking for an excuse to get a nice new Sarca, but I will make a token effort to go dive it some time this week to see if I can recover it.

After 15 minutes I had a decent hit, with probably the most weight I have felt on a rod for a long while. I was initially in trouble because the lever on my new overhead was refusing to engage the handle properly, so for a minute or 2 I was hanging onto the braid with my fingers whilst wrestling trying to get the reel to play the game. After a few moments in freespool and then no drag whatsoever it all magically clicked into gear and I was away. The fight really was a non event, a few head shakes and one very small run and my first ever line caught Dhufish was boat side. Into the net and then the bin and I was a happy trooper. Was a very quiet night apart from that one fish, with it being the only real hit we had in the 3 hours of trying.

The fish went 60cm, and gave us 1.8kg of fillets. In the photo my wife took this morning it looks small, but as anyone who knows me will agree, I am a fair sized unit.

Happy days.

Matt

Went out in the afternoon on Saturday as it looked sweet on sea breeze a few accidents were had before the start apparently the deck is slippery and people get stuck in eskies, then I forgot the boat key so just before launching on the ramp I had to go home and fetch that sighh but the day did not disappoint, took the missus and the 5yo. She read magazines and snoozed while the men fished but if it means I can go fishing no problem :) We went out to a snapper spot and sure enough hooked up on snapper about 35cm darn decent frying pan size and I had to explain why they went back in the water. But my son loved it first he was unhappy about the pink braid but by the end he would not part with his stradic 6000 T curve combo. I had my little 4000 with mulies for fun out the back and it hooked up more then the big tyrinos awsum fun on light gear them snappers are :)

So fished out on snapper I took my son to what I called King George spot we cast our lines after me setting a terrible drift and I lobbed out the 4000 with its gangs and a mulie but I added a squid head to the mulie within a minute the rod buckled over and my son yelled when he saw it the missus was torn out of the cabin as a netter and we hauled in what turned out to be a nice 53cm .9kg king George awssum first keeper. A few more drifts and nothing caught so i sad lets go to a spot where I once got a little dhuie its only a few km away from here and off we went with the sun slowly starting to drop and the missus saying its late dear.

Got to the spot and hooked up straight away snapper all around 25-30cm - smaller then earlier but kudos xander pulled out of 35m a double header by himself I just had to give a little rod holding assist talking about being stoked once again why we could not pan fry them was explained :) and they were released. He then only wanted to use my rod so with the sun dropping even more and light starting to fade I had to unravel his line as the photo will show ;) once his line in wife in cabin saying its getting cold I looked at my tyrinos and noticed my 100pound leader was flimsy on the braid link, checking it sure enough it came apart ahhhh crap I thought I don't know how to tie them up properly (does anyone whast the best way to join them ?) So I did my only fishing knot I know how been using it since 15 and simply knotted the two up thinking stuff it what the heck one more drop, Squid went down and I messed about on the other side of the boat when my son starts to squeal dad dad fish your line, I turn and the tyrinos is peeling off my 5yo desperately trying to wind it in (its in the rod holder) but not succeeding, I grab the rod and crap ain't felt this for a while massive pull tension at 7kg and lines just goin wirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr fark typical no real join up my knott nooo I think but I quickly get whatever it is up a bit of the ground before it runs again and so it went me saying aghh honey they net need the net I think its a dhuie as it pulled like a freight train but no real head shakes came with the pulls. The missus gets irritated as I tell her to clear the side n grab the landing net about 5 min later I see the knot coming into my rod guides phew almost got that part on the spool safer now and the colour of silver starts to show in the dimm night and finally a whopper dhuie is surfaced and quickly netted by the wife who gets less irritated and ist replaced with wwow and crap and my son going what a biggg fish. Well it came in just shy of 10kg and I realise I need a bigger sharper and better filleting knife I think its time for a swibo. Greast day out the missus even enjoyed it I think dinner definitely helps though family asleep exhausted by 8 while I am filleting and then washing down the boat sighhhh long awsummm day !

I had a trip to cook-town queens-land went out with mark from gone fishing it was a awesome 2 days fishing.

Some of the fish we got mangrove jack/shark/coral trout/trevally/cod/mackerel and a few more

lost a few really big fish no idea what they were but they took to the fish i had on the line at the time...

here is some pics

With dry season upon us, so are the south eastly winds. At the moment its mainly window fishing. The window being sunrise till about 9-10am, before the wind picks up. One of the girls that works with Claire, has her parents over from Victoria at the moment. So i thought i would take him out for a quick fish, and hopefully he would at least catch one fish!
We arrived at my spot in the channel between Connexion and Bickerton islands. The current wasnt to bad at this spot, and as it was only 30 metres deep, we were able to hold the bottom realy well. First drift produced 2 small trevs, and i thought to myself what is going on. Next drift was good, and wasnt to long until i had a good fish on and i battled it all the way to the boat. The fish being my first golden snapper/fingermark..ect Great looking fish, and i have been told they are the best fish to eat around these parts.

The next drift produced a couple of saddle tails. I was just rigging up, when my deckie said he was onto something good. The trouble was that as soon as he said that, the fish headed for home and he was snagged up. Told him to free spool his line, and just wait a minute. He had another go at lifting his fish out, and he had struck it lucky this time, and soon i nice coral trout was on the deck. We had only been fishing for around an hour, the ice box was looking good i could of headed home a happy man.

A few more drifts, produced a couple more saddle tail, and then the wind began to pick up. Decided to move back to the channel close to town, heading around the northern side of the islands, so we were protected from the wind. Did a few drifts thru the channel, and as always the trickie snapper were on the bite. Picked up a few nice sized ones for tea, then headed back to the ramp. Home just after 10am, we had a great morning session!

today went out 1st time since coming back from exmouth went on the hunt for snapper with the missus   had 1 quick hit but didnt hook up. fished afew hrs after the tide change nuffin happening decided to call it quits  started bringing in the  rods got to the 2nd last one when it screamed off and after a good 10  min fight boated this  nice 7kg snapper   which took a big squid head   the missus wanted  her photo taken with it

Up to see my oldboy for a week or two 1st time out fishing off of dampier!!

loved it I think a relocation could be on the cards!!

Check out my new massive boat:)its sickk ayee..see me in the back with the dhuie i just got..good fight aye..all you's guys are welcome to come for a fish off it..as long as you put fuel money in of course :P :)

Well what can i say, this place is wonderful. After fishing most of the day yesterday, today was going to be fairly quiet. Being Claire's day off she was keen for some exploring. We decided to head out to a place called Naked Pool, only 15km from home. Great spot out there for a cool dip. It was also my first go at a pic with the camera half in the water, and i think i kind of pulled it off.

We got home after spending the arvo out swimming around. Claire said she was keen for a fish off the local rock groyne, about 2 mins away. We geared up and headed down there. Being spring tides at the moment, and a bit of wind,the water wasnt looking that good on the outside of the rockwall. After a few casts of the popper, then a few cast with a gold twistie on my bait caster id had enough.  So i got to teach Claire how to cast, and she was getting the hang of it.

After 10 minutes or so Claire began to get tired. She handed the rod to me, i was keen to bail, but opted to cast the popper out a couple more times. in saying that first cast and i was hooked up. The Penn 950 on the 7ft ugly stick, loaded up and it was game on.

The fish took a long first run of about 50m then decided to rest. I was excited and soon saw a silver/white colour in the water.

I was thinking is it a treva, and just as i was thinking that, the fish jumped thru the water. I was sure to keep the line tight as it was dancing on top of the water. I was now thinking jesus, whats silver and white and jumps out of water...mmm barra, oh maybe a queeny.

I slowly got the fish in close to the groyne, and started looking for a good spot to land it. After a quick decent down to the waters edge, in my surfie joe thongs, i was able to land the fish. I had just taken some skin off my foot on the way down, but as they say no pain..no gain. 

The queenfish went 85cms, and i was happy as it is the second fish i have caught on popper in the last 2 weeks. Not being big into my land based fishing, i think i am now turning the corner. Its great fun watching your popper in anticipation, as it bumps across the surface.

Thought I might share a tale about how I learnt my place in the heirachy of the fishing world.

The boyfriend and I headed out for a fish, bit of bottom bouncing. Got to about halfway to Rottnest and set ourselves up. After a fair amount of time of nothing but wrasse I mentioned headin back in for some hot chips. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! My line tore away from the reel!

"Tighten the drag! Tighten the drag!" The boyfriend squealed. I did as I was told and twisted as hard as I could, line was still spinning off at a rate of knots.

In a desperate attempt I tried to wind, be lucky if I bought in a centimetre. I knew I had to dig deep. I started the technique I was taught by my old man at a young age. Pull her up wind in the slack. This continued for 20 minutes the burning in the arms was like nothing I had ever expirenced, on the point of agonising!

"Keep winding babe" came the support. Which was returned with swearing and complaining and that if he knew so much he should do it.

Another 5 minutes passed...

Thinking the pain was getting to the point of unbearable I reluctantly told the mister, I can't do this anymore. Being the supportive type he is, he urged me on.

After what felt like an eternity I saw colour! The adernaline surged!! "It's close! It's close!!" Came the support crew and FINALLY, FINALLY he broke the surface!

It was unbelievable! The biggest fish I've ever seen in real life! In between gasping for air I said to the mister, "So I guess I have the new boat record yeah?" (To which there was no audible response )

 Exausted after the epic battle, the mammoth samson lay on the surface, "Help me get him in" came the boyfriend who had already attempted twice without success. "Grab the line and lift the head. I'll grab the body"

So being the obidient girlfriend I am I oblidged. The ineviable happened. He slipped dropping the fish causing the line to run through my fingers. Sharp pain ran into my finger. Yup. The bastard hooked me. After a short struggle he got the fish in the boat. After a few happy snaps still connected to the fish he cut me loose. After a bit of reviving time we headed back into shore.

I got to tell me story to a few fellow fishermen and witness Carl Langdon fall off the jetty into the icy waters while waiting for the old man to take me to the emergency ward to have it removed.

A few cracks were made, Nurse: Are you a professional fisher woman or anything? Old Man: If she were a professional, we wouldn't be here.

But the moral to the story here is, never take a woman on you're boat unless you're prepared to lose your boat record. Or if you're sneaky enough to make life lessons look like an accident

The aftermath... 

hi im thinking of going squiding this sunday at hillarys could someone please share a spot thats realativly safe so my mum doenst have to worry is there squid at the fuel jetty near spinakers?

 and im probably gonna through out some plastics near spinakers should i get the powerbait pearl watermellon im trying for some big skippy maybe a pinkie?

cheers matt

ps. what colours are good for squiding?

Well not working at the moment has some real advantages..... Especially when your mates ask you, if your keen to go on an overnighter camping trip on monday night. We loaded the boat with wood, beer and everything we needed for two days away. We got to the boat ramp at lunchtime, and lauched Shanes big 3 tonne boat. While looking at the pilons under the boat ramp, i noticed heaps of tiny prawns schooled up everywhere!

With a gentle eastly we set off with all 300hp of the etec up and humming. Our destination was Rats Cove, around 60 mile from Alyangula. Our plan was to troll for a while and fish a few spots on our way up. Our first spot was great, with saddletail on the bite again, and Alan who just arrived from New Zealand, was happy with a first up double header!

We stopped and fished some pinnacles, and i pulled up a couple of small coral trout, and a nice sized trickie snapper.

It was getting late and we wanted to get our camp set up before sundown, so we made straight for rats cove. Someone over the years has taken out some metal, and made a frame, so you can tie a tarp up and get some cover from the sun.

On sundown, i grapped a beer and headed to the rocks, and thru a popper around. After 30 or so casts and nothing around, i decided to give it away. The sun was going down, and it was coral trout and chops for tea, washed down with a few beers. Old mate from Nz was passed out by 1930,we think the arvo in the heat might of knocked him around a bit..ha ha  After a few funny stories and a few more beers, it was time to grab some sleep. It took me a while to get to sleep, as i had never slept on the beach were crocs are known to be seen. I didnt get much sleep, as i was sure i spent the night night sleeping with one eye open.

Rats Cove is a great spot, nice and protected. But one must watch there boat, as when the tide goes out, you could be left high and dry. No mozzies or sandflies i was happy with my stay, but it was time to get into some more fish!

We found some good ground in close, and the current wasnt to bad. It didnt take long for skipper shane, to pull up a nice slimey cod.

The rest of the day consisted of more saddletail, small barracuda and few coral trout. We fished some great ground up real close to some of the small islands, but nothing wanted to play. We then decided to head back to town, clean fish and the boat and call it a day. Was great to get around for a look, and now i thing im going to have to stay 30 years, to fish just some of the places around here!

Well the weather was too good to pass up this morning, So I took the dinghy abit further out than usual....

Only to be plagued by small GT's, queenie's, golden trev's, cobia on a nice lump out there.... Couple of pics to follow... Gotta love the timer self photography... All were caught on different types of soft plastics..... Great fun.... Cheers

only consolation of  a bloody windy trip, went 83. managed to get it past the nohas using 30 pound line and a penn mariner

So salmon season came and i was pretty confident that i was going to catch heapss coz i had caught them nearly every fishing session during the off season. The front-runner schools started to show at my spot but they were so fussy that they wouldnt even take a gardie bait even though the salmon spent hours chasing huge schools of them right infront of me. The same thing happened for a couple of weeks then i started to hook a few on my rapala xrap and ended up losing three in a row. A week after easter i headed back down to the spot and the groin was packed with people. One guy got 3 in 3 casts by drifting unweighted mulies over the reef on the incoming tide. The only time i could get my lure in the water was when two guys would get their lines tangled. Ended up only getting one hit that day but pulled the hooks right out of the salmons mouth on the strike.

Fished ASI rock groin one weekend with my dad and brother. Caught the usual herring and gardies and my brother caught a 46cm leatherjacket from under the rock we were standing on. Everytime we fish rock groins where the water is calm, he walks up and down the rocks dropping his bait into dark holes and crevaces and quite often pulls up decent leatherjacket and fish that look like they belong in a tropical aquarium. He often gets 50cm+ eels in the dawesville cut at night fishing this way.

Went to north mole with a workmate after work a little while ago. He burleyed up the shit out of the northern side inbetween the red lighthouse thing and the toilets. The gardies were in a frenzy infront of us and out the back of the burley trail came swimming up 2 solid salmon that start casually chasing the gars. I scrambled up the rocks to my 9ft starlo already rigged up with an xrap. The lure went out and after a 5m chase, the smaller of the 2 fish grabbed it and i was on! It was always going to be hard to land it coz i left the net at home, its not exactly the first thing you throw in the car at 2am before you leave to go to work. My workmate was as close as he could get to the water, crouching with his shirt now wrapped around his hand for a bit of extra grip when he plucked the fish out of the water. I steered the salmon right to him and he grabs the line to slide the fish up a rock so he can reach it, but hes grabbed the 18lb mainline rather than the 30lb leader, and PING. Goodbye salmon! And oh yeh thanks for all the fishos towards the point that came down with their gaffs to give me a hand, not. So i scramble back up the rocks to the car and re-rig but this time with a starlo and bushy 4inch SP in pearl white. The SP goes out 30m and nothing chases is it in, then BANG! Just as im pulling the SP out of the water, the other salmon has grabbed it, literally a meter and a half infront of me and it actually grabbed the plastic as it left the water. The fish hadnt chased it in so it mustve been sitting right on the rocks waiting to ambush. I cant believe ive hooked another one straight away and neither can the guys chucking out lures towards the point. This fish was much larger than the first one, its first run took about 40m of line and swam straight to the bottom. In the meantime, one of the other fishos had come and let my workmate use his gaff. I brought the fish in and after a few un-orthadox hacking and axe-like swinging of the gaff (which had me thinking i was going to lose another fish bcoz of him), the fish was gaffed. But as he turned towards me, the fish slipped the gaff and fell down a crack in the rocks. I grabbed the gaff and slipped it under the salmons gills and pulled it up. Finally! First salmon of the season. Fish went 86cm, probably the biggest one ive ever caught. In the pictures you can see where the first gaffing attempt landed, under the yellow fin, and the jighead in the fishes mouth, that had actually started to straighten out! 

Went down to my nans who lives in Falcon for mothers day lunch. Turns out lunch wasnt ready for another 15mins. My favourite fishing spot is 5mins away, which leaves 5mins of fishing before we have to leave to make it back for lunch. Just so happens to be mine and my brothers rods are in the car [ ;) ]. So we get down there and literally run out to the end of the groin. Wasnt expecting to get anything at all, wind was howling 25knt from the south, tide was on its way out and the water looked more like choc milk than the ocean. Out goes the rapala to the northside. Nothing. Second cast is towards the south, and after 5m of reeling, a school of about 8 salmon are fighting each other to get to the lure then WHACK!! Fish onnnn. Duh, guess who's forgotten the net again! After fighting the fish out at the end of the groin, i decide the only way of landing this fish is to skulldrag it the length of the groin and then onto the beach. Finally get down to the beach, and my little brother Cody runs down to the water, and in ball-deep water, he plucks the fish out from between his knees! We cant believe it and i just keep yelling, "2nd cast!!!" Cody wants to keep it, but i dont realy want to and chuck it back. Ive never released a good sized fish off the beach and boy is it a good feeling as it swims out of your hands! You can see from the picture how far i had to drag the fish from the and of the groin to the beach, was no easy feat with no shoes and a 6kg+ fish on the end of your line thats still pretty green! So we've been there for 5mins, but theres no way in hell im leaving. I send mum a pic msg of the fish as we run back out to the end of the groin. After 5mins of unproductive casting im ready to call it quits, then this guy rocks up, casts out, BANG! He's onto one bigger than my one! I use his gaff to get it up and start casting from where he was. First cast out and im on again! I offer this fish to the guy and he wants it, so he gaffs it. He then tells me hes going to go home! He's had one cast!! After another 10mins of casting and no fish, i start walking back towards the car, casting as i walk hehe. My brother yells out quite i girlish scream and apparantley theres salmon all over his popper. I run back out to the point where he is, and cast out. First cast and im on, again! Cody casts out and line comes flying out of his reel. Hes got a tangle and a popper pretty close to the rocks to deal with. But as my hooked fish swims close to the popper, the rest of the school come up and start smashing the floating popper and he's on, but still tangled. He's got line everywhere, and as the fish takes its first run, some line loops around his finger, and the fish tightens it and actually breaks the skin and the line has snapped. He was actually bleeding out his finger!! I skulldrag my fish back to the beach and chuck him back. What was meant to be a 5min fishing sesh turned out to be a 40min session and one of the best ive ever had. Ended up missing lunch too!!

Went back down the following tuesday with my girlfriend. Im armed with my 9ft starlo AND THE NET, and Claires got her cleo magazines and oversized glasses. We pass a guy on the groin and hes seen nothing all morning. As i start to put the starlo together, a school of about 15 salmon cruise right past me, heading towards the guy. I yell out to him and give him the heads up and within seconds he's on. I use his gaff and get the fish up. I cast the xrap out, nothing. Second cast, and the school are heading back my way and after a few twitches of the lure, fish onnn. Two fishing sessions in a row, ive hooked a salmon 2nd cast, gotta be happy with that! "Please darling can you come and net my fish," but shes busy, reading out lines to me from the article "10 ways to improve Your Sexlife." Yep okay Claire thanks alot!! Manwhile the guy with the gaff has come over and gaffs it for me. The schools comes back the other way but i miss out coz im bleeding out the first fish. The other guy hooks up again, and again i gaff it for him, but hes spewwing he has to leave for a business meeting! After a couple of casts im on again, and again Claire's too busy to net the fish, this time quoting the article "How Your hair reflects Your personality." Blah blah blah but shes kind enough to hand me the net this time, and the fish pretty much jumps straight in! I offer the fish to the poor bloke whos been there all morning and cant get a hookup. He ended up getting one later in the morning and left with 2 fish in the bucket.

Yep, you guessed it, went back down on the saturday just gone with a mate and fellow FW member who goes by the name of Goatlobster (haha!!) I setup on the same rocks as the last session but he walks on past to the end of the groin. First cast, nothing. Second cast. . .  NOTHING!! Unbelievable haha! Then Benjo (goatlobster) yells out that hes been busted off on his second cast!!! I run out to where he is and start casting. After a couple of mins the school makes its way back up the rock and the xrap does the job again, im on! This fish isnt as big as the north mole salmon, but it put up a bigger fight. It kept its head down low against the incoming tide and i could hardly pull it up. The goatlobster ended up netting it and i decide to throw her back, even though dad asked me to bring one home, i was feeling pretty confident i would get another one that morning. Never happened, for both of us. Not due to lack of fish tho, quite a few schools came through but were just unlucky realy. Netted a couple of fish for other fishos and called it quits.

 After catching only 1 salmon in a month, i end up catching 6 in one week! The fish are much hungrier now that what they were a month ago and me and the goatlobster are pretty excited for what then next month has to bring.

I doubt any of you will read this whole report but hopefully you skimmed throught the good bits, if there are any!

Happy fishing, Beau.

Went fishing with a mate from fishwrecked lastnight(purplemonkey...FishWrecked Represent)He took me to a place ive never fished before and i had high expectations from all the talking up he was doing:P..got there with just our light takle bream rods for some fun. the 1st night was pretty slow for a while just a few cobbler so we walked to a different spot about 30 metres up..george(purplemonkey) was hooked up to somtething within minutes screaming drag on the old 1000:)had a few nice runs and PFFTT spat the hook..awwww F#@K C%#T..ohhwell back into it..got a few tarwhine for the rest of the night..pretty average night..from all the talking up about this spot i was keen to go again the next night..back we went down there to try our luck with more better quality bait:)we were thinking of taking heavier rods but we were like NAHH lets have some fun with these fish.first few fish were sum tiny soapies and then the tarwhine starting coming through..nice size around the 30's they go off for a little fish ecspeicaly on the bream gear:)taking short strong runs they were awsome fun.hooked up to fish running me straight around a pylon busting me off DAMN..started to get late so we headed to another spot.first fish george hook up YEWWWW we were calling for a mulloway ZZZZZZZZZZZZZHHHHH.........ZZZZZZZZZHHHHHHHHHH it was going nuttttsss we had been trying to get a decent 1 all night we were stoked and then to the surface it come, a masive fat healthy hard fighting tarwhine:):)george was stoked and so was i, the biggest i'd ever seen.it was an easy kilo i recon..the biggest soapie we got was around the 45cm mark put up a decent fight didnt realise it pulled that hard untill i checked my drag after we landed it:)all up had an awsome night, between the both of us not counting around 12 soapies 10 tarwhine 1 40cm flat head 1 tailor and 1 baby snapper..awsome session on the light takle good fun..i see so many people out fishing with too big a rods for what they are chasing, make it fun go as light as u can..it may be frustrating when everynow and then a big 1 comes along and busts you off but you can alwasy brag about the 1 that got away;)

Peace out, Drew

     Went to the nth bank of the swan underneath the west side of Garret rd bridge 5.30am.Using prawn for bait and a 6lb braid and 10lb leader with No 4 grinner, 1st cast landed a 200cm bream. 2nd cast(drag set at 2kg) line started peeling off then it spat it. 2 more 200cm bream later I hooked something a little more interesting, a 250cm specimen. I'm going to try tommorrow with lures.. Let you know how I go.

Hey Guys,

So went out on the boat today in beautiful Kalbarri weather the water was like glass. Thought i would show u all what we caught for the day. The first picture is my first ever tuna cute little bugger he is all 4kg of him. Not the biggest fish i ever caught tho lol (realesed perfectly). So there i was all happy with myself feeling pretty good because the boyfriend hadent caught anything all day. Then Bang he brings in this bloody great big mackie. The big bastard bent the gaff and all. He weighed in at 17kg, and im just green with envy.

A couple of Thursdays ago (5th May) the forecast was so good I just had to take  the day of work to do some spearing. We headed up to Two Rocks marina, the weather wasnt as good as forecast but ok. The water ranged from filthy to crystal and about 20 degrees. We bagged out on demersals saw some big salmon and managed to pick up a 5kg Blue fin Tuna. I cant tell you how many times ive jumped in on working birds and come up empty handed!! but this time it was worth it, my first tuna not big, but its a Toona

Well, Warroora has held the bar high this Year. The fishing was superb. First Sailfish for Rattle n Hum caught in 45m, 53 cm North West Snapper on Fly, 52cm North West Snapper on 2kg Bream gear. 18kg rankin Cod, Huge Reds. North West Snapper ranging from 52cm up to a whopping 82cm in length. About the only bottom fish we didnt get was any trout. Bait schools every were getting harrassed by Tuna and Makeral.

Thanks To BJ (Backpacker Magnet), Damo  and Matt came down for a visit and was justly rewarded for their trouble.

Back home in Bunno freezin my tits off, what a life.

Good Luck Boys in the Comp.

Where to go next for a fix!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Been watching and listening to everyone else catching Billfish so thought I would give it a try myself this year when in Exmouth.

First time targeting Billfish and lost a big Black yesterday at the 120m out south west of Tandi after a 40minute fight and was gutted.............

So with the weather looking much windier today we were still determined to target and land a Billfish.

After a few hours trolling the 60-100m line we had a hit in 90m on the Oscar shotgun and it was on!!

Not long after I successfuly boated my first Marlin.

Probably around 50kg but a marlin nonetheless....was stoked

But like all fishing it was a team effort and got to say thanks to Matt for skippering the boat considering his first experience was yesterday with me yelling at him while hooked up to and chasing the Black .......

The highlight has to be the release though and Matt swimming the marlin

Few more pics from yesterday;

70cm coronation on a gulp

the business end of fishing......

plagued by these little buggers......

something different on jig

time for a beer to celebrate

We got over to Exmouth last Sunday to give my Inlaws a hand setting up their caravan at the Lighthouse Van park , once this was achieved on Monday a feast was planned and a Mr Fishwrecked turned up for a cool fizzy drink or 2 on Monday arvo , after much merriment and a great feed along with some bad taste stories involving bowl movement successes (and the need for roughage in your diet as you get older) from the older generation , and the sexual prowess of some grey nomads , a fishing trip the following morning was planned , my mate Wirthy was with us and the good boat C-Wirthy was going to be the vessel of choice. Unfortunately Mr Gallash had to work so we bid him goodnight when he left and put our plans in motion , that being to surface at some stage in the morning and go and chase a billy.
Well my other half Sue had never caught a Billfish and within and 1hour of hitting the 50mtr line out from the lighthouse we had her hooked up , to the boat and tagged a small black about 30kgs , too easy let's do that again , after trolling around for another 1/2hr or so we came across another bait school and another rod went off , I grabbed it and wound up tagging a Saily around 30kgs , that's 2 fish , reset the spread and away we go again , no more tha 20mins this time and we have a Triple hookup with a jumping black and a saily plus another fish screaming off in the opposite direction which we guessed was a Sail , to cut to the chase we tagged Sues black which was about 45kgs and my Sail which was a big bugger at around 45kgs, this joint was going off , spread was reset and away we went , found another bait school in about 40 mtrs and another hookup , skipper Wirthy took this one which wound up being a fish around 50kgs , yep that was 5 Billfish in less than 3 1/2 hours , the decision was made to start heading for home and the beers were cracked in celebration , we were all shagged to be honest , hard work on a 36footer with 1 skipper and a decky and a newbie , fat time was had by all ,
Look out Fishwrecked Comp , should be a Ball if the Billies are still around .

Not real pleased with them at the moment...maybe one of them will read this and have some sort of response.

 Have not seen any increase in patrols/checks etc since the FBL came in. That's out of about 20 launches from four different and popular ramps. Wouldn't mind seeing where some of that $30 has gone, actually. I know they can't be everywhere at once but that was a healthy kick to the coffers when they brought that thing in two months ago, wasn't it?

I am one of those who fill out voluntary logbooks. Doing them a favour. The research division has expressed their gratitude. But with the new fees and extra licencing, I pointed out that it was now harder/more expensive to keep going fishing as much and maybe I and others of my ilk (logbook filler-outers) should perhaps qualify for some sort of discount? The research department thought it was a valid question and forwarded my email to the licencing arm a month ago and no response yet. Somehow I don't think there will ever be a response.

Also heard a rumour about why there is no shore-based fishing licence. Apparently it's too hard to police so they're not going to bother. Great news for the shore-fishos, I guess...or is it? I've crapped on about this before...many species grow up (juveniles) in sheltered waters, like the river/marinas/moles/estuaries, and are vulnerable to shore based fishing activity. People fishing from the rocks/jetties have the potential to do at least as much damage to fish stocks as what boaties can do. Remember, an undersized fish probably hasn't even spawned once yet, and somebody doing the wrong thing can wipe out a lot of unborn fish without even knowing it. But it's too hard to police. Much easier to round up all the boaties at the ramp and focus on them.

Release weights...spoke to a fisheries officer last week at their brand new you beaut facility in Mandurah about it (THAT's where my $30 went!)...the weight must be on board any time you are fishing in a manner that might catch a demersal scalefish. Including whiting fishing on an inshore sandpatch. Most of us are/were aware of that. I then asked if it is compulsory to actually USE one properly and she only said "That's the idea of having it on board in the first place". Would not or could not say if a person could actually be prosecuted for not using a release weight. I don't like giving money to government departments (licences) and then going into their multi-million dollar office and being met with the inability to answer my questions. Makes me think they're just taking my money for the hell of it. Surely that couldn't be true, could it?

I really don't think they did all the proper homework when they came up with all this stuff, do you?

It was a slow break fish-wise at Kalbarri last weekend. Blew its guts out most days and we caught a great big ZIP after covering a fair bit of ground.
Last ditch attempt was a night fish in the river mouth. Thank goodness Eryn came along as I didn't see ANYone else catch a thing.
Outfished again by the learner - bittersweet. Nice work Eryn - bloody good looking fish.

Woke up early Sat morning and headed around to my mates in scarbs at 5:30am. 15min late and my mates boats not there..Oh shit!! Anyway 10min later he comes back fuelled up and ready to go phew! Drive up to two rocks and only 3 other boats there so got out quick snap and motoring up toward Moore River. Mouth must have just cracked as lots of brackish water running out of the river mouth. Thought would be a great spot to troll the outskirts of the stirred water. Anyway keep motoring to one of our marks inside the 3 mile get the burley trail going which I find extremely important and get a floater each out the back. Dropped another rod each straight down and ready to go. Nothin for 10min until first small dhu comes into the boat. Size but only early so back in she goes. Mate then got one shortly after size but again little so back in again. Pulled one more Dhu at first spot within 40min and decided that this one we would keep. Only 55cm but nice for dinner nonetheless.  

Had some good fights with a ray and a few sharks then all quiet so decided to move on…Started winding in my floater and hmmm snag! Tightened the drag to try to snap or get the hooks free when I started getting a little line in so thought maybe there is something on so I lightened the drag off just in case. Rod slowly started bending  and could feel there was something very decent on my line…No head shakes for 5min so called a shark or ray when suddenly it must have seen the boat and the line peels off and the BIG head shakes start. Maybe a big dhu and we start getting excited. After about 10min we could see some colour below and a HUGE pinkie was on…Didn’t want to lose this so just eased the drag (wasn’t fishin the heaviest line even tho we were in 14m water) until my mate got the net and first net I had my PB Pinkie on board..High fives big grin and my biggest Pinkie to date. Went 85cm!  

Pic 906

So stayed another 10min but nothing so moved to next spot not far away!!!This spot only provided us with some good shark and ray action for an hour before the first pink came aboard. Undersize but such beautiful colours a quick kiss and back in!!! Ended up with 5-6 undersize pinkies been released of course when my mates rod screams off…Head shakes again and calling a big Dhu or Pink. A few minutes later I was netting his Pinkie and again hoots and shouts all aroundJ Got him aboard and measured 89cm to the tail…His first comment sorry I had to outdo you again…Bast%$rd!!! Anyway limit of two good pinks above 70cm and we are stoked!!! 

Pic 908

With two good Pinks and a little dhu we decided to head just behind 3 mile to try for some sambos as the swell had dropped off nicely and the breeze dying off too.Didn’t get much for a while until we saw some pots and decided to drift past them. Quiet for the first few minutes until the pinkies came onto the bite BIG time…We were pulling in pinkies left right and centre and on most occasions we were on before the bait hit the bottom. Out come the plastics and my mate was having a ball on them. Nuclear chicken I think??? For about 20 min we were just laughing and shouting how much we love fishingJ Could only fish the one rod so dropped one down and only halfway down BANG something big this time….After 10min the biggest pink I have ever seen was next to the boat yeeehah I'm going mental at my mate to get the net. Once in huge high fives, some measurements and the all important pics. This one measured 95cm beating my earlier PB for the day. As you are only allowed two over 70cm’s another kiss and back in to live another day. Makes the day even better when you can beat your PB that day and let a beautiful fish swim off…More high fives!!! 

Pic 911/913

Set up again for the next drift and same again pinks everywhere however most were undersize. We both pulled a pink in at the same time and both were of size (under 70cm tho) and so we kept one for our boat limit…This was on the softie tooJ Insert Pic Decided one more drift and pulled in pinks one after another until my mate shouts Sambos are here…started pulling small sambos only around the 50-60cm but fun nonetheless especially on the lighter gear! Kept one for Thai fish cakes that was just size. Other half makes the best Thai fish cakes in the world and we find sambo to be really good for it. The fish were going mental 30min after we started our drift and my mate decided to leave his soft plastic out secured in the rod holder and filmed the rod getting hit then fish on line peeling out off again hit again fish on again was great to watch! Also in the mix were good size skippy aswell (40cm+).

Anyway decided we should get going home as the breeze had just swung and the swell had picked up.  Once we were back into the boat ramp their were police, camera crews and ambos everywhere. Heard that someone had died and was 28yrs old. Decided to check my phone and had numerous missed calls and messages to see if I was ok as I'm 28 too! After letting everyone know I was safe and getting checked by the fisheries (good to see you are doing a good job) we headed off home. Ended up with 3 dhus, too many pinks to count, sharks, rays, sambos and skippy!RIP to the guy and family, always be prepared and keep safe!

The two stonkers Pic 915 

Timmo  

PS Hope the pics work!!!!!

got these bad boys down near the warren river. 1st one i got was on 8lb n 10 leader 1000 size reel on a 20 gram chrome twisty. hooked him 3rd cast took me about 20 mins n about 200m up the beach from where i hooked it, awsome fun he was tail walking all the way up the beach. i was yelling at the boys 2 get the camera n grab the fish was pretty hectic. went to 15lb after that n on the soft plastics. Also had a hookup on a 2oz richter plug but dropped the fish.

all n all was a great way to get my first salmon. the boys were usen mulies and only got 2 i picked up 4. great fun all fish where abou 3.5- 4 kg

Here's some pics of fish caught up at Exmouth last July. The trout went 73cm. The Rankin was a nice fat fish and my scungy nephew caught the Red. I missed out on the Reds last year and I'm hoping to make up for it next month when we head back up for a week