Would've been good to at least see what it was!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Far West Coast - January 2009 (part 3)
See part 1 here and part 2 here.
We arose early with the aim to pack up before the flies came out in force, but they had similar ideas too. I found that the fridge had shut itself off due to running the battery too low. It was battling to get things cool until it ran out of power. Good thing I had the dual battery isolator installed before this trip of we'd be stuck out there.
After reinflating the tyres by the highway, we were back on our way to Fowlers, with a quick stop off at Nundroo to pick up some more supplies (read: 4 30 packs of beer). Unfortunately for us, Nundroo's cool room was out of order, so they only had warm beer. We stocked up the bait esky as much as we could with ice and beer and were on our way.
Back in Fowler's, we set up in the caravan park and enjoyed comforts such as a plumbed toilet and well needed showers. After a couple of now cold beers, we set out to Scotts again, and kept driving past to the ledge once more. The ledge once again provided a little bit of entertainment, with Matt's rod having 3 big tugs on the line before he got hold of it, and the fish wasn't hooked. He rebaited and 10 mins later, his line was off again, this time he hooked into it and set about battling the fish. Much the same as the fish I'd hooked a few days earlier, it took off to the left before turning around and going right. It was ripping line off Matt's reel and definitely must have been something big. In an attempt to stop it running into the reef (and with the rest of us yelling and screaming) Matt tried to pull the fish up and it snapped off. Ledge 2, us 0.
We were treated to a bit of a show by a massive pod of dolphins swimming not far from the shore, and then we headed back to Scotts to try our luck in one of the deep gutters again. As usual for this trip, not much was happening, and we went back to camp to cook up some dinner and prepare for some jetty fishing on sunset.
Back at the caravan park, a bus load of tourists from europe had arrived and we had a chat to them about all sorts of stuff. Its interesting to hear our different countries see things compared to us - the Swiss doctor explained the reason for getting hiccups (because I had them) but I can't even remember what it was :)
We had many many beers by time we got out on the jetty, and other than a couple of small tommies which Matt landed, nothing was caught.
The following day we did the Scotts/Ledge cruise again, and again the ledge provided the entertainment. We threw some berley in and a school of small salmon came in right next to the rocks. It was just a matter of dipping your lure over the edge and you'd hook up. Unfortunately they didn't stay hungry for very long and we only landed 5-6 fish before they went off the bite. We used 1 or 2 for big baits, and kept the rest to cook for dinner. We were down to eating tinned stews now so some fresh fish would be welcome!
Andre finally showed off his cooking skills that he'd talked up before the trip and made up a nice batter for the fillets and fried them up. Everyone agreed, job well done :) Or it could have just been that we were starving.
We decided to head home the following morning, so hit the jetty for one final fishing session. Kym and I were slower getting down there and Andre said he'd hooked a massive cuttlefish or squid but it'd dropped off as it came to the surface. Would anything go right this trip!? We had a chat to a german guy and a couple of french guys for a little bit and then decided to call it an early night - all the cold beer had ran out.
It was good to get home after the 10-11 hour drive. Another Far West Coaster done and dusted - disappointed in the fishing, but had we pulled in those big hookups we had, it could be a completely different story. Matt has declared he is never to return to the FWC. I am already thinking about the next trip there :).
I must have put the camera away for this part of the trip, so heres a picture of some seals just so this post has one
We arose early with the aim to pack up before the flies came out in force, but they had similar ideas too. I found that the fridge had shut itself off due to running the battery too low. It was battling to get things cool until it ran out of power. Good thing I had the dual battery isolator installed before this trip of we'd be stuck out there.
After reinflating the tyres by the highway, we were back on our way to Fowlers, with a quick stop off at Nundroo to pick up some more supplies (read: 4 30 packs of beer). Unfortunately for us, Nundroo's cool room was out of order, so they only had warm beer. We stocked up the bait esky as much as we could with ice and beer and were on our way.
Back in Fowler's, we set up in the caravan park and enjoyed comforts such as a plumbed toilet and well needed showers. After a couple of now cold beers, we set out to Scotts again, and kept driving past to the ledge once more. The ledge once again provided a little bit of entertainment, with Matt's rod having 3 big tugs on the line before he got hold of it, and the fish wasn't hooked. He rebaited and 10 mins later, his line was off again, this time he hooked into it and set about battling the fish. Much the same as the fish I'd hooked a few days earlier, it took off to the left before turning around and going right. It was ripping line off Matt's reel and definitely must have been something big. In an attempt to stop it running into the reef (and with the rest of us yelling and screaming) Matt tried to pull the fish up and it snapped off. Ledge 2, us 0.
We were treated to a bit of a show by a massive pod of dolphins swimming not far from the shore, and then we headed back to Scotts to try our luck in one of the deep gutters again. As usual for this trip, not much was happening, and we went back to camp to cook up some dinner and prepare for some jetty fishing on sunset.
Back at the caravan park, a bus load of tourists from europe had arrived and we had a chat to them about all sorts of stuff. Its interesting to hear our different countries see things compared to us - the Swiss doctor explained the reason for getting hiccups (because I had them) but I can't even remember what it was :)
We had many many beers by time we got out on the jetty, and other than a couple of small tommies which Matt landed, nothing was caught.
The following day we did the Scotts/Ledge cruise again, and again the ledge provided the entertainment. We threw some berley in and a school of small salmon came in right next to the rocks. It was just a matter of dipping your lure over the edge and you'd hook up. Unfortunately they didn't stay hungry for very long and we only landed 5-6 fish before they went off the bite. We used 1 or 2 for big baits, and kept the rest to cook for dinner. We were down to eating tinned stews now so some fresh fish would be welcome!
Andre finally showed off his cooking skills that he'd talked up before the trip and made up a nice batter for the fillets and fried them up. Everyone agreed, job well done :) Or it could have just been that we were starving.
We decided to head home the following morning, so hit the jetty for one final fishing session. Kym and I were slower getting down there and Andre said he'd hooked a massive cuttlefish or squid but it'd dropped off as it came to the surface. Would anything go right this trip!? We had a chat to a german guy and a couple of french guys for a little bit and then decided to call it an early night - all the cold beer had ran out.
It was good to get home after the 10-11 hour drive. Another Far West Coaster done and dusted - disappointed in the fishing, but had we pulled in those big hookups we had, it could be a completely different story. Matt has declared he is never to return to the FWC. I am already thinking about the next trip there :).
I must have put the camera away for this part of the trip, so heres a picture of some seals just so this post has one
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Far West Coast - January 2009 (part 2)
See part one here
On day 3, we arose early and packed up the camp. We decided to head up and down Scotts and Mexican Hat, on the off chance there was a school in close, as we badly needed more bait for what was sure to be a bumper mulloway session at Yalata.
No schools were had and we returned to camp to have a quick breakfast and then head off. I discovered my Penn 9500ssm was missing the little screw thing which goes on the opposite side of the reel to the handle. I assumed this screw made sure the handle didn't fall off, and it was panic stations. I had had my rod and reel sitting on top of the car as we searched for schools, so assumed it vibrated loose and fell off somewhere on the track to Mexican Hat. We drove back to the highway via Mexican Hat beach, hoping to see the gold screw glinting in the sun, but no such luck. As it turns out, the handle stayed on fine. The screw is more to stop dirt getting inside, which I remedied by way of some sticky tape over the large hole now in my reel.
We were on our way to Yalata, and of course, stopped at the sign for a photo first
It was HOT in Yalata, very hot. But it was nothing compared to what was coming at us later. Upon walking up the sand hill at Geues, we were treated to the sight of one of the fishiest looking bits of beach we've ever seen. The photo doesn't do it justice.
Yet still, we contained our excitement to put up the much needed shade, and cook up an Aussie day BBQ.
The chops were still a bit frozen, so required a bit of cooking to pry all the pieces loose :)
We finally got out to the water and casted in half expecting the baits to be taken instantly. But nothing happened. So we waited, and waited. Soon the chairs came out and we all sat down, rods now in holders.
The first day at Yalata ended without a single bite.
The next day was hotter than the previous. The highest I saw the thermometer was 56.6 in the sun, which I then relocated to a shadey spot, and it hovered around 48 all day. In the morning we were greeted by thousands of little flies.. they were everywhere. They must have smelt us or something because they hadn't been any where near as bad up until that point. They hung around for the rest of the trip. Andre and Kym came prepared though...
We took a drive down to Bob's Kitchen and when we got down to the camp, had to let our tyres down to get back up the hill. A guy camping there came over for a chat, and told us he'd been camping along the dog fence, and in Yalata for a total of 55 days, and so far he had one barely legal mulloway to show for it. Not sure how he kept up the keenness! He was bronzed up and with skin made of leather. The 55+ heat in the sun not seeming to faze him. My feet were burning on the sand through the soles of my wet suit boots, and after some time chatting, this guy said "gee, the sands a bit hot" and I looked down and he was bare foot! We named him Leatherman after that. Leatherman had an amazing set up with his troopy. He was sitting there watching the tennis via his foxtel satellite dish. He told us how he fishes for bait at Fowlers - sits on top of a cliff watching the cricket, waiting for a school. When he sees one he runs down and chucks out the lure until he has a dozen or so fresh fish. Thats how its done!
Hot weather is good for mulloway fishing they say.. it should have been on! But instead, all we (by we, I mean Matt and I) caught was two very small mulloway which were instantly returned before the camera's came out.
The next day, on Leathermans advice, we woke up early and hit the shallows at geues with some berley and small rods in order to catch some mullet for fresh bait. All we could muster was a few undersize salmon trout though. This day was heating up more than the last, it must have been 40 by 9am. We spent most of the entire day back at camp in the shade, where the temperature was over 50 in the shade for the most part. An attempt to cook saw the hose on the gas bottle somehow burst a small hole in itself, rendering the gas cooker unusable. Luckily Kym brought his butane cooker along, and slowly but surely, some snags were cooked.
Strong northerly winds which were hot as hell were blowing all day, and our once mighty shelter was now falling down all around us. We had to tie one side of the tarp down low, but that just caused the tent to take a pounding too.
Although we had plenty of water, it was all hot enough to be drunk as a cup of tea. The fridge after powering for a few days in the heat must have drained the battery a fair bit, and was now constantly on trying to get stuff inside cool. It struggled to get anywhere below 15 degrees, so our cold cans of drink were now not so cold at all. We took quick trips out to the beach to just lay in the shallows and try cool off, which worked well, but we couldn't stay out in the sun for too long or we'd be burnt to a crisp. Matt chose to stay out there longer, digging himself a little "kiddie pool" in the sand which filled out with water with each large wave. Quite the sight to behold, him sitting in a hole splashing himself in water. Pity we didn't take a camera over to the beach :P. Back at camp, we plowed through all of our hot water, either drinking it warm or spraying it on ourselves to try keep cool.
We decided it was best that we exit Yalata the following morning, as now our meat supply would need to be chucked as well. We sat up into the night as it was still 40+ and impossible to sleep in the sauna of the tent. We didn't realise until afterwards, but everything was extremely quiet, until we heard the roaring of the ocean start up like someone flicked a switch. Ten seconds later the wind shifted to the south and a cool breeze blew through, dropping the temperature 10 degrees instantly. It was the best thing ever at that point.
The final installment can be found here
On day 3, we arose early and packed up the camp. We decided to head up and down Scotts and Mexican Hat, on the off chance there was a school in close, as we badly needed more bait for what was sure to be a bumper mulloway session at Yalata.
No schools were had and we returned to camp to have a quick breakfast and then head off. I discovered my Penn 9500ssm was missing the little screw thing which goes on the opposite side of the reel to the handle. I assumed this screw made sure the handle didn't fall off, and it was panic stations. I had had my rod and reel sitting on top of the car as we searched for schools, so assumed it vibrated loose and fell off somewhere on the track to Mexican Hat. We drove back to the highway via Mexican Hat beach, hoping to see the gold screw glinting in the sun, but no such luck. As it turns out, the handle stayed on fine. The screw is more to stop dirt getting inside, which I remedied by way of some sticky tape over the large hole now in my reel.
We were on our way to Yalata, and of course, stopped at the sign for a photo first
It was HOT in Yalata, very hot. But it was nothing compared to what was coming at us later. Upon walking up the sand hill at Geues, we were treated to the sight of one of the fishiest looking bits of beach we've ever seen. The photo doesn't do it justice.
Yet still, we contained our excitement to put up the much needed shade, and cook up an Aussie day BBQ.
The chops were still a bit frozen, so required a bit of cooking to pry all the pieces loose :)
We finally got out to the water and casted in half expecting the baits to be taken instantly. But nothing happened. So we waited, and waited. Soon the chairs came out and we all sat down, rods now in holders.
The first day at Yalata ended without a single bite.
The next day was hotter than the previous. The highest I saw the thermometer was 56.6 in the sun, which I then relocated to a shadey spot, and it hovered around 48 all day. In the morning we were greeted by thousands of little flies.. they were everywhere. They must have smelt us or something because they hadn't been any where near as bad up until that point. They hung around for the rest of the trip. Andre and Kym came prepared though...
We took a drive down to Bob's Kitchen and when we got down to the camp, had to let our tyres down to get back up the hill. A guy camping there came over for a chat, and told us he'd been camping along the dog fence, and in Yalata for a total of 55 days, and so far he had one barely legal mulloway to show for it. Not sure how he kept up the keenness! He was bronzed up and with skin made of leather. The 55+ heat in the sun not seeming to faze him. My feet were burning on the sand through the soles of my wet suit boots, and after some time chatting, this guy said "gee, the sands a bit hot" and I looked down and he was bare foot! We named him Leatherman after that. Leatherman had an amazing set up with his troopy. He was sitting there watching the tennis via his foxtel satellite dish. He told us how he fishes for bait at Fowlers - sits on top of a cliff watching the cricket, waiting for a school. When he sees one he runs down and chucks out the lure until he has a dozen or so fresh fish. Thats how its done!
Hot weather is good for mulloway fishing they say.. it should have been on! But instead, all we (by we, I mean Matt and I) caught was two very small mulloway which were instantly returned before the camera's came out.
The next day, on Leathermans advice, we woke up early and hit the shallows at geues with some berley and small rods in order to catch some mullet for fresh bait. All we could muster was a few undersize salmon trout though. This day was heating up more than the last, it must have been 40 by 9am. We spent most of the entire day back at camp in the shade, where the temperature was over 50 in the shade for the most part. An attempt to cook saw the hose on the gas bottle somehow burst a small hole in itself, rendering the gas cooker unusable. Luckily Kym brought his butane cooker along, and slowly but surely, some snags were cooked.
Strong northerly winds which were hot as hell were blowing all day, and our once mighty shelter was now falling down all around us. We had to tie one side of the tarp down low, but that just caused the tent to take a pounding too.
Although we had plenty of water, it was all hot enough to be drunk as a cup of tea. The fridge after powering for a few days in the heat must have drained the battery a fair bit, and was now constantly on trying to get stuff inside cool. It struggled to get anywhere below 15 degrees, so our cold cans of drink were now not so cold at all. We took quick trips out to the beach to just lay in the shallows and try cool off, which worked well, but we couldn't stay out in the sun for too long or we'd be burnt to a crisp. Matt chose to stay out there longer, digging himself a little "kiddie pool" in the sand which filled out with water with each large wave. Quite the sight to behold, him sitting in a hole splashing himself in water. Pity we didn't take a camera over to the beach :P. Back at camp, we plowed through all of our hot water, either drinking it warm or spraying it on ourselves to try keep cool.
We decided it was best that we exit Yalata the following morning, as now our meat supply would need to be chucked as well. We sat up into the night as it was still 40+ and impossible to sleep in the sauna of the tent. We didn't realise until afterwards, but everything was extremely quiet, until we heard the roaring of the ocean start up like someone flicked a switch. Ten seconds later the wind shifted to the south and a cool breeze blew through, dropping the temperature 10 degrees instantly. It was the best thing ever at that point.
The final installment can be found here
Monday, February 2, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Far West Coast - January 2009 (part 1)
Well, we finally got over there again and I'll start out by saying we didn't get the big fish we were after. We loaded the car up and stayed at Kym's on Friday night, before departing for Fowlers Bay at 3:45 on Saturday morning.
We arrived at Fowler's Bay around 2pm and after a quick drive through the town, we made our way to Scott's Beach by way of an excellent short cut I took (the others were dubious).
We set up our tent and cooked up a bit of food before heading out onto the beach itself, where we half expected to be greeted by massive schools of salmon swimming up and down the beach after the reports we'd read. Not quite the case though, and we headed to a likely looking gutter mid way down. Around 5 O'Clock Matt caught the first fish of the trip, a reasonably large Salmon going 62cm. Without much action, we decided to head back to camp to have a feed, before giving it another go at Sunset.
Back at camp, there we now had some neighbours in the way of an aussie bloke showing a Swiss girl around Australia in a van. He asked us for some "Herb" - I don't think we had the kind he was after.
Went for a quick drive to Mexican Hat to see if we could spot any schools, but none were visible, so we headed back to Scotts and as we pulled onto the beach we saw our new neighbour pulling in a Salmon. We stopped nearby and he said there was a few about, but he was only after one, so was heading back to cook it up. We promptly took his spot.
We managed another 4 Salmon here - I can't remember who got what, but Kym also got a nice sized King George Whiting, and Andre pulled in a small, but legal Flathead. We kept those to cook up for breakfast. All the Salmon were filleted and put in the fridge to be used as bait later.
As it was getting dark, Andre's reel started screaming.. line peeling off fast - and Andre made a quick dash over only to grab his rod and have his line break instantly. He wound it in to find that his red surf popper had snapped off - leaving us guessing at what it could have been. We headed back to camp and made a large dent in our beer supply.
On Day 2, we started off with a quick drive down Scotts in search of visible schools, and then headed over to Fowlers Point, in search of a place known as just the ledge. After winding through various tracks, we finally found the spot we were after. Greeted with a solid platform 2 metres above the waters surface, and dropping into deep clear water, it was a great spot. We pulled a lot of small fishies here, including sweep, trevally and rockcod - but nothing worth of keeping.
I had my Mully rod out just incase, and line starting peeling away off the reel. I picked it up and was hooked on. Whatever it was went on a big run straight out from the rocks, and then turned left and headed out further. I was able to turn it around and bring it back in close before it went off on another big run this time out to the right, and unable to stop it, it got itself hooked into the reef. Defeated, I pulled on the line until it snapped off. I'm still not sure what it was, I suspect a ray as I didnt feel much in the way of headshakes, but the fact it darted off in changing directions makes me think it might have been something else. I'll never know now!
With no more excitement on the ledge, we headed back down to Scotts and spotted a small school of Salmon out at the back of the breakers. Another 2 guys had also spotted them and were making their way out to cast too. We quickly threw on some lures, and started wading out. I got to waist deep and one of the other guys said to me "Theres a bronzy out there" - and I turned around and walked to knee deep water. Having not actually seen the bronzy, I didnt have the same amount of fear as I suspected I would, and Matt and I waded out further again. We were having swell roll past at chest high, and were soaked head to toe, but we just couldn't reach the Salmon as they kept moving further out. One of the other guys was really keen and was just about swimming before he casted. He hooked on and made the long journey back only to lose the fish right on the shore. Spewing! They gave up after that, and we got back in the car and followed the school down the beach hoping it would get closer, but it didn't.
We had a fish at sunset on Scotts again, and disappointingly, there was still no action. Tomorrow we would need to head out to Yalata, and the bait supply was not looking good.
Part 2, where we head to Yalata, starts here
We arrived at Fowler's Bay around 2pm and after a quick drive through the town, we made our way to Scott's Beach by way of an excellent short cut I took (the others were dubious).
We set up our tent and cooked up a bit of food before heading out onto the beach itself, where we half expected to be greeted by massive schools of salmon swimming up and down the beach after the reports we'd read. Not quite the case though, and we headed to a likely looking gutter mid way down. Around 5 O'Clock Matt caught the first fish of the trip, a reasonably large Salmon going 62cm. Without much action, we decided to head back to camp to have a feed, before giving it another go at Sunset.
Back at camp, there we now had some neighbours in the way of an aussie bloke showing a Swiss girl around Australia in a van. He asked us for some "Herb" - I don't think we had the kind he was after.
Went for a quick drive to Mexican Hat to see if we could spot any schools, but none were visible, so we headed back to Scotts and as we pulled onto the beach we saw our new neighbour pulling in a Salmon. We stopped nearby and he said there was a few about, but he was only after one, so was heading back to cook it up. We promptly took his spot.
We managed another 4 Salmon here - I can't remember who got what, but Kym also got a nice sized King George Whiting, and Andre pulled in a small, but legal Flathead. We kept those to cook up for breakfast. All the Salmon were filleted and put in the fridge to be used as bait later.
As it was getting dark, Andre's reel started screaming.. line peeling off fast - and Andre made a quick dash over only to grab his rod and have his line break instantly. He wound it in to find that his red surf popper had snapped off - leaving us guessing at what it could have been. We headed back to camp and made a large dent in our beer supply.
On Day 2, we started off with a quick drive down Scotts in search of visible schools, and then headed over to Fowlers Point, in search of a place known as just the ledge. After winding through various tracks, we finally found the spot we were after. Greeted with a solid platform 2 metres above the waters surface, and dropping into deep clear water, it was a great spot. We pulled a lot of small fishies here, including sweep, trevally and rockcod - but nothing worth of keeping.
I had my Mully rod out just incase, and line starting peeling away off the reel. I picked it up and was hooked on. Whatever it was went on a big run straight out from the rocks, and then turned left and headed out further. I was able to turn it around and bring it back in close before it went off on another big run this time out to the right, and unable to stop it, it got itself hooked into the reef. Defeated, I pulled on the line until it snapped off. I'm still not sure what it was, I suspect a ray as I didnt feel much in the way of headshakes, but the fact it darted off in changing directions makes me think it might have been something else. I'll never know now!
With no more excitement on the ledge, we headed back down to Scotts and spotted a small school of Salmon out at the back of the breakers. Another 2 guys had also spotted them and were making their way out to cast too. We quickly threw on some lures, and started wading out. I got to waist deep and one of the other guys said to me "Theres a bronzy out there" - and I turned around and walked to knee deep water. Having not actually seen the bronzy, I didnt have the same amount of fear as I suspected I would, and Matt and I waded out further again. We were having swell roll past at chest high, and were soaked head to toe, but we just couldn't reach the Salmon as they kept moving further out. One of the other guys was really keen and was just about swimming before he casted. He hooked on and made the long journey back only to lose the fish right on the shore. Spewing! They gave up after that, and we got back in the car and followed the school down the beach hoping it would get closer, but it didn't.
We had a fish at sunset on Scotts again, and disappointingly, there was still no action. Tomorrow we would need to head out to Yalata, and the bait supply was not looking good.
Part 2, where we head to Yalata, starts here
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