We rolled into the township for no real reason really, we never planned to stay there. We had a quick look at the water and then made our way around the back of the dunes to the western end of Scotts Beach. We deflated the tyres, engaged 4wd and set off down the beach, keeping a hopeful eye out for a school of salmon. The plan was to spend a few nights around Scotts and surrounds, and try and get a few Salmon for bait. We'd then head out to the dog fence beach to set up for awhile in hope of a big mulloway coming by.
Scotts Beach had no schools of salmon and the usual deep gutters half way along seemed rather shallow. We continued along to Fowlers Point and made our way to the ledge instead. Hopeful that we could entice a school in, we berleyed up the water a lot and waited patiently. A lot of small fish came around, but mostly rock cods and other shittys. I managed to hook a tommy ruff though, so put it straight back out as live bait.
As night set in, Andre had some luck, and kick started our bait supply with 2 nice size salmon.
The next morning was a great sunrise, the wind had died down and Andre had kindly placed a rod holder in the sand and then wandered off to take a nature visit. Not one to waste such an opportunity, I casted out my rod and set it in his holder. 15 minutes later, and I have a nice salmon sliding up the beach! Andre not impressed. muahaha. Not long after that and I have another Salmon in the esky too.
Kym got out the small rod (seeing his lack of skill in catching Salmon like the rest of us) and got onto a patch of Mullet. I joined him and between us we had around 18 mullet joining our bait supply.
Happy with our supply of fresh bait (along with the many tommies, pilchards and squid we'd purchased) we made the decision to head off to the dog fence a day earlier than expected. The dog fence beach was easily drivable for the first 4kms or so, but I had heard the gutters get deeper the further you go down. We passed by a nice gutter with a broken rod stuck in the sand nearby. We made a note of the spot and continued on to check out the rest of the beach. The further we went along, the softer the beach got.. it was some seriously soft sand! I got some major sideways action sliding towards the water on occasion, but lucky enough kept the momentum up enough to get back up high. We got as far along the beach as we could before a headland blocked our progress. Perhaps there was a track around the back of it but we decided to head back to the spot with the broken rod. We passed by a large fresh mulloway head in the sand too - though next to no gutter what so ever. They do say you don't need a gutter for mullies though.. hmmm.
I must say that the beaches in Yalata look so much fishier than the dog fence beach, but both have good reputations, and you're allowed a few beers at the dog fence! (not to mention avoiding the exorbitant cost of Yalata at $12 per person per night).
Whilst we were fishing a decent gutter at the Dog Fence, it was fairly hard to cast right out in to it, especially at high tide.
I believe it was on our second day at the dog fence beach when Andre had a massive bite on his rod, causing a rare scene of Andre running frantically. He got to his rod and unfortunately what ever it was, had let go. With no further action, Andre appealed to the mulloway gods to bring a change of fortunes.
After two days and two nights at the dog fence, we got impatient and decided to try our luck in finding Cabbots beach - somewhere between the dog fence and Fowlers Bay. We stopped at Nundroo to top up the ice supply in the bait esky. We did have a solid bait plan to have one big esky stocked with bait, and then only access it to grab enough bait for a few hours of fishing, which we'd then put into a smaller esky. The idea was that less frequent access would keep the ice going for a much longer time. The problem with the plan is that my esky sucks, and even the four 3 litre milk cartons I'd froze with water had totally defrosted by day 3-4, so, regular ice top ups were necessary.
Anyway, at Nundroo I enquired about Cabbots, and the lady there told me to head for the coast and search for a windmill. The same windmill an old man on the Fowlers Bay jetty had told us to search for last year I suspect. She also mentioned a general lack of mulloway around and only 'small' 40 pounders being caught, as the snapper were chasing off the mulloway. I've never heard of this before, but I would have happily taken a few beach snapper!
After much driving and checking out little 4wd tracks along the coast, we begun to think the windmill was some what of a myth. Andre's prediction that I would never find it seemed to have some merit, until I spotted a water pipe running towards the coast - I followed it along and as we popped over a sand hill, the windmill came into sight, a glorious site! The place of legends, and more specifically, sharks and salmon schools.
The beach had some reef running parallel to the beach and nice deep water forming in front of it. It certainly looked fishy. Kym had all but given up and gone to escape the wind in the sand dunes, when his rod buckled over and he had to come sprinting out. He hooked into a solid fish and soon landed his first decent fish of the trip!
Due to the very annoying, grinding sound of the windmill at Cabbots (or whatever that beach is actually called) we decided to camp elsewhere and make another trip back here to try again. Despite only one salmon being caught, we were confident there would be fish to be caught there. Travelling along the coast, we ended all the way back at Scotts Beach, where for some reason, only a few days later the gutters seemed more likeable. We rolled out the swags and set up for the night.
Andre managed a smaller sized salmon at Scotts, but overall the fishing was very slow. We decided to make a base for the next 3 nights so we wouldn't have to repack the car every time we made a move. The caravan park seemed the easiest option, and so we set off back to Fowlers Bay.
We went out to the Jetty that night and it was extremely windy. We were the only fools to be out there, and huddled down at the end of the jetty. We had some big baits out in the water under floats, hoping for some mulloway or shark. After no action, and the beers run dry, we decided to wind in, to find that my tommy ruff bait had a big clean bite right out of its rear end. If only I had more than one hook in that bait. Damnit.
The next morning we headed back out to the Windmill.
I was taking my time collecting all my gear and getting the cameras in my pockets, and by time I got over to the beach, Andre was going crazy about something and hooked onto a large salmon. He'd seen a couple of dolphins round up a big school of salmon in behind the reef and they were just about jumping out of the water on to the beach. Quick as a flash, he had a lure on and landed a Salmon before I'd barely set my bag down.
The school seemingly went as quick as it came and we sat down and waited. An hour or two passed and I must've been the only one paying attention, because no one else saw the school of salmon come riding a wave in over the reef. Unfortunately for us all, I didn't have my lure tied on yet, and Andre couldn't get sight of where the school headed and casted the wrong direction. Kym's rod with bait and surf popper on hooked on and he got a big salmon into the wash before it dropped off and swam away. Andre and I frantically casted lures out into the water but to no avail. We all rebaited and sat down again. Maybe in a few hours they would come back.
We didn't have to wait long before fishing master, yours truly, got a bit of a nibble and wound in this fine specimen!
Now, the others called it a retard fish because of its deformed head, and massive lower jaw. We weren't exactly sure it was even a salmon at first. I suspect it was actually an evolutionary step forward for salmon - evolving so that they aren't as susceptible to being caught on hooks. However, I was still able to out smart it with my fishing prowess, and into the bait bucket he went.
Back at the caravan park, we had a visitor come perch right next to us. It didn't even move even when I put my finger right next to it.
Back at the jetty for the second night in a row, and this time we got some action. Kym's float took off and after a very short battle, he wound in a mulloway, estimated to be a bit over the 50cm mark.
Nothing else was caught, so we headed back in for the night. I think I might have had my first shower of the trip then - most refreshing!
On our last day, which coincided with Andre's birthday, we had a quick visit to Cabbots for no result, and then fished Scotts Beach. Firstly the shallows in hope of KGW (Kym landed a nice one the day before) and then the gutters in hope of some Salmon which we thought we'd take home in the absence of any better eating fish. Funny that when we actually wanted to eat them, they didn't show up.
Andre had a 2 salmon lead in the gashes and looked reasonably safe, but there was one night jetty fish to go and the jetty was showing lots of promise so far. Kym had already landed the biggest 'target fish' although being undersized it didn't hold much value. We considered the prize species to be mulloway, snapper and shark - any one of those of legal size would still take out the gashes.
My master plan was to catch a squid and then use the entire thing for bait. Said plan started excellently, when just bobbing my squid jag up and down over the rail, a squid latched on. I did want to keep it alive but with just one hook attached to my wire trace, I had to also make sure it stayed on the hook. I think it died. Kym once again had the good luck, and his float took off at a rate of knots. The rest of us wound in and made room for Kym to get his catch in. As he got it to the jetty we could see that it was a small shark. With no drop gaff, or crab net (back in the car) we walked it along to the stairs, and Andre grabbed it by the tail and brought it up. First prize species caught! Kym leading The Gashes.
Faced with a quick decision on whether to release or eat the shark, Kym opted to let it grow a bit bigger. Then regretted it thinking we could have BBQ'd that up at a post FWC BBQ. We decided to keep the next one (confidence was high)
My line with the squid on seemed to have been attacked by small fish. The squid no longer had a head (seems unlikely small fish would remove its head, so maybe a shark bit that off) and was a bit tattered up. None the less, I casted it back out, just a squid body now. Not too much of a wait later, Kym again had his drag start going, and we raced to our rods. His drag stopped almost straight away though, and mine started going instead! It took off wildly, and I tightened it up and brought a similar sized bronzy to the side of the jetty. This was the Gashes winning fish.
I walked it down the jetty, thanking fellow fisherman for moving their lines out the way, and getting it close to the stairs. Andre, after his last shark grabbing was confident for the landing. He declined the offer of a drop gaff from a nearby fisherman and got down to the bottom of the stairs. Just as it was in close enough, it bashed into the pylon and then took off downwards... we lost sight of it and then my wire trace came apart. I didn't get bitten through, but rather the loop that holds the swivel just fell apart. Unbelieveable. Still, I have landed no shark.
With a big drive the following day, I soon headed back to the park to get some sleep. Kym soon followed, but Andre who had led the Gashes for the most part of the trip, decided to fish as long as he could. The next morning he reported getting back to camp around 4am, for nothing other than a large squid, which grabbed on to his squid bait, and didn't let go - didn't even get hooked!
So with all fishing concluded, Kym takes his second Gashes victory in a row. Not bad for a rookie.
FWC - 3, Team Gashes 0
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