It was a very busy Christmas mainly due to the good weather and lots
of holidaymakers in town.
The fishing has been outstanding! There are good fish on spots that
have not held fish for ages
and the good spots are producing multiples of coral trout, dhuies
and big snapper. I put it down
to the closed demersal season and that two charter boats have left
town that used to fish where
the recreational anglers used to go. Some great catches this month!
http://www.facebook.com/MurchisonBoatHire?ref=hl
Long Awaited Day Out
Charlie
Swaine had to wait a few days for the weather to come good, but when it did it
was very nice.
Hiring
the 7.8m boat with his two sons Ainsley and Preston and daughter Tas and Tas's boyfriend
Jayden Aldirson, they
started
out having a troll at the Sand patch and when they were just about to give up
Preston got a strike which failed to hook up.
Not
long after, a second hook-up and this time it stuck but to something big!
They
think it was a tuna taken by a shark, because the leader and lure got bitten off
in the end.
Dropping
baits over a likely spot, Ainsley opened his account with a baldchin groper,
big pennant fish and respectable snapper.
Preston
followed suit with a pennant fish,
71cm snapper
and yellow-tail kingfish
Charlie
had numerous hook-ups loosing most of them but managed to get this pennant
fish.
All
good fish and very happy with their bag!
Thevenard
Island
Word is out that there are still some cabins
available on Thevenard Island.
The fishing would be very good as it has
been rested for the last 6 months.
You have to ring the Island Manager: Ash and partner Jade, 9184 6444 and see if you can get one.
Check out the website: www.mackerelislands.com.au
Ashburton Resort
Ashburton
Resort. Phone 9184 6586 email: admin@ashburtonresortonslow.com.au
Website:
www.ashburtonresortonslow.com.au
Macs at the Sand Patch
Matt
Johnson and Michael Ryan got into some good fish. They had the 7.8m over the
Christmas break landing mackerel and a dhuie.
All
look very happy.
Well
done Matt and Michael.
Just
off the Sand patch again. A real hot spot for mackerel.
Great Day Out?
Tri
Pham, Chai Lim, Troy Nguyen, Anne Duong and Andrew Kew, made a dash to Kalbarri
and spent 2 days aboard the 7.8m boat
The
weather was great except for a fairly stiff easterly, but it died off in the
end making a very pleasant day.
First up, Andrew
got
a dhuie on a jig which made his day
and Troy followed up with another about the
same size.
The
mulie floating out the back under a balloon went off and Anne was handed the
rod. She fought it for a long time
and
in the end it was called for a shark. She handed it to Troy who finished it
off, but Anne was sorry she handed it over
when
this 17kg mackerel surfaced for the gaff.
She then made up for it landing this
big cobia on a small spinning reel.
Again
calling it for a shark, but held on remembering what happened before and then
seeing this cobia surface do laps around the boat.
Tri
Pham had a burster of a trip landing big baldchin,
coral trout
and good
snapper.
Andrew
was quick to grab the rod this time when the floating mulie went off. Resulting
in this 13kg mackerel.
Sue's Tips
It might not be what you think it is …
Sometimes
things don’t pan out like you expect,
especially in the world of fishing. How many times have you been fishing on the
bottom,
got
a huge bite and then spent the next ten minutes with a bend in your rod
wondering if it’s the fish or the bottom? You know you
can’t
ask me because “what would SHE know?” You know you can’t ask your mate in front
of me
because
“what would SHE think?” So, what to do?
First,
watch the swell and if the rod bends more every time the boat climbs the swell,
you are looking at a problem. Next, is the fish still
attached
but hiding under a rock, you ask yourself? Good question. Let the line out
until it is quite slack, get yourself a coffee and a
sandwich
and wait for a bit. If you are in with a chance, the fish might venture out
from under that rock once it feels the pressure is
off,
so you will see the slack being taken up again.
And for sure, if you are in the middle of balancing a cup and a thermos
with the
lid
off, all hell is sure to break loose right then. You know I’m right! If the
line tightens, is that just the boat swinging in the breeze?
You
need to be aware of what’s going on around you on top of the water if you are
going to have a chance to get something from under
the
water where you can’t see what’s happening. So be alert. Give it some more line
if you aren’t sure. If the line starts peeling off, you
have
a fish and you can throw the coffee away. If you got a bite out of that sanger,
try not to put it on top of the bait board – might taint the bait.
Tip
1: If you want to avoid all of that, make sure you put a big bait on and when
you drop your bait to the bottom, lift if straight away
with
a few cranks of the handle. That way you are in the swimming zone of the bigger
fish and less likely to get snagged and picked to
bits by the smaller reef pickers. It also
gives you a chance to move that big fish up the water column away
from the bottom before they can get to cover
under a rock.
Recent Catches
Wife Sue got this 3.5kg pennant fish on 2kg
line during the comp and is claiming it for a national game fishing record
with ANSA. It will be her second national
game fishing record.
The
last one was a ladies record. 2.9kg tailor on 2kg line.
drifting on the bottom. Using a small 5000
size Striktech spinning reel, it took her
quite a while to get it in. Nice fish Anne!
Up Coming Events In Kalbarri
The Kalbarri Sports Fishing
Classic
1st,
2nd & 3rd March. A Game, Bottom and River Tournament.
LeisureCat Ultra Light Kalbarri
We
have a Naming Rights Sponsor for this new tournament.
Please
welcome LeisureCat Australia, retailers of very nice Power Catamarans.
Check
out their website: www.leisurecat.com.au
Date
is the 4th and 5th May 2013, when the weather is much better.
A Game
Fishing comp only for lines 6kg, 4kg, 3kg, 2kg and 1kg.
Lines
must be IGFA mono only.
Kalbarri Offshore & Angling Club Local
Comp.
20th January
Steven
had the biggest bream of the year caught in the river,
while Brett had a good
estuary cod.
Graeme's
coral trout was also the biggest for the year caught from his boat.
Need a boat for up north?
Remember
I will deliver a boat out to the turn-off for free for those heading north.
Just
ring me from Geraldton and I will meet you there.
Popular Northern Destinations
Island
Manager: Ash and partner Jade, 9184 6444.
There are a few cabins available, just
ask and see if you can get one. However
Direction Island is always open and still a good option and bookings can be
made.
Check out the website: www.mackerelislands.com.au
Ashburton Resort
Ashburton
Resort. Phone 9184 6586 email: admin@ashburtonresortonslow.com.au
Website: www.ashburtonresortonslow.com.au
Gnaraloo Station
Gnaraloo contacts for accommodation:
Barbara: 9315 4809
Email: bookings@gnaraloo.com.au
Website: Gnaraloo.com.au
Steep Point
Steep Point Ranger for booking campsites.
Phone:
Paul Dickson - Steep Point 9948 3993
Email:
Ranger@steeppoint.com.au
Dirk Hartog Island
Kieran
Wardle: 08 99481 211 Mob: 0407 383 449
Game,
Bottom and Beach Fishing Action
These
links will take you to Youtube showing some great action video clips taken from
my
boats and also a very good mulloway from the beach.
Archived
Newsletters
After
a lot of effort on my part, you can now view all my past newsletters in my
Blogs.
I
have made six blogs; you can view all of my 2005 newsletters with photos @
And
from January 2006 to December 2006 with photos @
And
from January 2007 to December 2007 with photos @
And
from January 2008 to December 2008 with photos @
And
from January 2009 to December 2009 with photos @
And
from January 2010 to December 2010 with photos @
And
from January 2011 to December 2011 with photos @
And
from January 2012 onwards with photos @
They
are quite long URL’s so add them to your favourites.
Remember if you rent our accommodation
in Kalbarri you get big discounts on our boats.
