Fishing Perth After Dark

Some anglers are lucky enough to have flexible working hours. Pick and choose their rostered days, Wet a line when the weather is fine. But for most of us it’s the 9 to 5 work week followed by terrible weekend weather and packed boat ramps. There is a way around all this. Fishing after dark.

The hours around sunset and just after dark can be some of the most productive times to fish. Not only are the fish biting, you get the advantage of a boat ramp to yourself. Depsite popular belief winter brings some fantastic weather boating wise. If you can put up with the winter chill, the low winds and low swell that come with winter provide perfect fishing conditions.

There are a few tips that make for a safe and successful night fishing session. The point I want to emphasise most is safety first. Yes, it sounds cliché but do not attempt to go night fishing unless you are 100% confident in your boating skills.

It does not take much to get qualified with enough skills to be able to safely fish after dark. Infact most skippers that have completed the RST course should possess the skills to venture into the night. So if you are at all unsure on your skills, its best sit a simple night course and brush up at one of your local RST providers.

Knowledge of Cardinal markers and Navigation lights is crucial when heading out to sea. There are fixed obstacles such as reef and rock standing in your way that are impossible to see. These obstacles are marked clearly by the DPI with navigation markers. These markers tell you what side to pass them on for a safe journey.

It’s not only the fixed obstacles you have to keep an eye out for. Cray pot floats are your next worst enemy as these are extremely hard to see. Your best bet is to have someone keeping a keen eye on whats in your path for the duration of the journey. GPS navigation systems will tell you the markers, reefs and other possible danger zones but cray pots are very unpredictable. Slow and steady wins the race for night fishing.

So after all that and you arrive at your destination in one piece, it is time to start fishing. Depending on what style of fishing you prefer, you will either anchor or drift. I personally prefer anchoring and getting a good burley trail going.

Burley trails work as good, if not better at night time and can attract a whole array of species. Ideally a mixture of chook/berley pellets, chopped up mulies and fish oil works the best. There is premade burley mixes such as Shorestrike, RJays and the ever popular “Spess’s Berley” but I prefer to make my own.
Keep the mulie pieces size down to a minimum. If the pieces are too big the berley will take too long to get to the bottom and fill up the fish you are trying to hook! Floating mulies out in a burley trail works amazingly well. The fish come up the trail nibbling on the small bits of berley and the minute they see a bigger bait they will smash it in no time at all.

While at anchor, you must always have a white light that is viewable from 360 degrees around the boat , so passers by can easily indentify a boat at anchor. Most off-the-shelf lights for this purpose are relatively dull but having a bright light not only makes it easy to spot you, it attracts fish too.

A bright spot like coming off the back of the boat is a major attractant for the likes of Squid, Baitfish such as yellowtail, snook etc and occasionally sharks. A bright light also has the added advantage of making it a lot easier to re-bait etc. LED Decklights will help you avoid treading on baits or worse, hooks.

Headlamps are also a handy feature that I would not go night fishing with out and you can pick up a basic one from Bunnings or Tacklestores for about twenty bucks. If you want to keep all your digits, a good set of long nosed pliers doesn’t go astray either as the sharks do like to come out to play at night.

Suprisingly enough Softplastics DO work at night. Fish have amazing eye sight even once the sun has gone down. I would still suggest anchor and burley as the best technique, but once the fish are around the plastics will do the damage. Try the 110mm or 140mm Squidgy Flickbaits in Pilly colour, 5” Gulp Jerk Shads or 5”Snapback Jerkbaits.

If drift fishing is more your thing then there is a few tricks that will give you that added advantage. Adding a few lumo beads just above your hook can add that bit extra brightness to get a fishes attention. The B2 Lumo glow squids work similarly, these aren’t cheap but do glow a lot brighter than the cheap imitations.

There are a lot of gimmicks out there claiming to be the latest and greatest scents or bait enhancers, but there are two I have found work well for me. The first is old faithful Chumline, smells like a dogs breakfast but catches fish like no tomorrow. The second is Stimulate Ultrabite in a can. This triggers the fishes attacking reflex. I’ll admit I was sceptical at first but Stimulate does catch fish.

I do find that often after dark fish will bite very sporadically. They may be all on for an hour and then nothing the rest of the night. Best bet is to get out there with the last bit of sunlight and return in following your GPS track before your too tired. It is not uncommon to be back at the ramp by 9pm with dinner in the esky.

So if your finding it hard to get time to fish around the 9 till 5 week, night fishing is a great option. Providing you take all the right safety precautions and are well prepared, fishing after dark can reap some mighty fine rewards.

Good Fishing,
Josh.

Japanese Surf Trolling

Japanese fishermen seem to always be improving and inventing fishing techniques. A very familiar trend has been getting quite a following around Japan called Surf Trolling. It may look very familiar to some Australian fishermen, in particular us West Aussies.

A large float is used as the weight to get the rig out behind the surf. A small lure trails somewhere behind. The large and brightly colored float gives off plenty of attention and often come with a rattle built in. Once this has grabbed the fishes attention, the fish instinctively hunt for a suitable sized bait to munch on. Low and behold trailing behind is your perfectly placed lure, just waiting to be eaten. Pretty simple stuff, but it works.

This technique is particularly effective with Herring(Tommy Ruff), Salmon, Tailor and even Trevally. Here are a few examples of the Japanese versions. They seem to be bigger and better made than our Aussie stuff but the basics remain the same.

Feather Weighting

It can often be very frustrating, watching the guy next to you haul in fish after fish. Meanwhile you’re sitting there fishless, scratching your head. There are plenty of factors that come into play as to why one person is catching more than the other. The same person who from a glance, appears to be in the same spot doing exactly the same thing. The trick is to look deeper, and find out what advantages that fishermen has over you.

An often overlooked factor is the weight of your outfit. Now I’m not just talking line class or physical weight. Going past that further, looking at what tackle is on the other end aswel will assist you to adjust your techniques in future fishing sessions.

Fishing light weight outfits is all too often used purely to make fishing more sporting for the angler. Bragging rights drastically increase once the fish-to-line-class ratio is brought into play. Sure it’s nice to catch a twenty kilo sambo on 3kg line class, however this also comes with the possibility of harm to the fish itself.

It’s an, excuse the pun, Catch 22. After an extended or lengthy fight the fish are often too exhausted to recover and unless you intend on keeping it, it’s going to end up floating away from the boat dead. A lot of fish-to-line-class species are not highly regarded on the table and end up shark food once released.

The same thing can also happen from fishing too heavily offshore. Fish, like humans, get decompression sickness when coming up from the depths rapidly. New super lines and high-speed fishing reels allow fisherman to put some seriously curry on a fish and bring it to the surface in no time. Undersize fish are the worst off here, as you can’t keep them and are returned to the water with blown out bladders and popped eye balls. There are techniques such a release weights that help with the survival but are still not close to being 100% effective.

It’s important to pay close attention to what you are targeting and adjust your tackle to suit. This ensures a successful fishing session and as I mentioned above it will also promote a successful release if you don’t plan on keeping your catch.

With more and more super lines(braid) hitting the shelve every day, it’s all too tempting to go with a heavier line class than needed, since its sufficiently thinner than its monofilament counterpart. I’ve seen on too many occasions beach fishermen using 80lb braided line fishing for tailor and mulloway. Personally I wouldn’t use braid for beach fishing, but if I was too I couldn’t see a need for much more than a decent quality 20lb braid.

Not only do you get less drag in the water, your sensitivity increases the lighter you go. And for fish with a keen eye, the less man-made objects attached to their meal the better. When surf fishing for smaller species, downsizing your lead makes for a better hook set. Just because there is a howling sou-wester does not mean you have to use a six ounce sinker to hold bottom. Sure you might have to recast twice as often but you will catch plenty more fish in the mean time.

Lure size can mean the difference between catching fish and not. Two examples off this are Tuna and Bream, completely different species but both quite partial to lure size.

Tuna blowing up on the surface is a pretty good indication they are feeding. But after a few passes with the pushers and no strikes you begin to wonder why you haven’t heard your ratchet screaming off at a million miles an hour. By stopping next to the school and casting the complete opposite at them, a tiny metal slice, you are instantly hooked up. Different species of tuna obviously eat larger fish, but a lot of the time they also feed on schools of miniature baitfish and keeping with the theme, a tiny metal slice will often put you on the board.

I’ve had many sessions on black bream, and the most productive sessions are always on the smaller size lures. While I won’t dispute the fact that bigger bream lures will catch you bigger fish, if you’re just out to have some fun, the sheer number of species you will land on a smaller lure verses a big one is sufficient enough for me.

Another fine example of a session where size mattered was up in the Cape Range National Park. We had been fishing all morning in search of a few Spangled Emporer from shore. Renound as quite tough species, we opted from 15lb braid and 25lb leader. The heavier leaver was to stop chaffing in rocks and bombies after the initial hook up.

There was quite a stiff breeze, but because we were wading we could easily reach the distant structure. A few fish had been landed but not “hot session” by any means. Despite the strong wind I decided to drop down my leader size and jig head, whilst sticking with the same soft plastic I was using before. I only had 12lb Fluoro, which was lighter than the main but decided to give it a shot anyway. The Jig head was then also downsized from a 3/8oz to a 1/8oz.

I cast toward the same patch I had just been fishing and was instantaneously hooked on. It was then fish after fish till we left. The Spangles must have been cautious of either the heavier leader or rapidly sinking bait, either way a featherweight approach worked.

By keeping everything down to a minimum, is increases your chances of being “that guy” who is catching fish while others aren’t. Sure you might lose a fish here and there but that’s part of angling. Next time the fishing’s gone quite, drop it down a notch and I’m sure you’ll be surprised.

Good Fishing,

Josh.

A Day Aboard “Leave Pass”

The town of Karratha has been put through some major changes in the past decade. Western Australia’s mining boom has been largely centered around the Pilbara Region, and many rural areas are now full of life with no sign of stopping anytime soon.

With such huge numbers of workers in the area, apart from the pub there is one other way to fill in your days off,  fishing. The Karratha and Dampier area has the largest number of boats per capita in WA, if not the whole of Australia and with good reason to. There is some world class fishing to be had and why wouldn’t you want to be a part of it?

On a recent trip to Karratha, I had a chance to sample some of the regions finest fishing thanks to good friend of mine, Matt Morton, who is currently working and living in Karratha.  Matt had kindly offered for us to stay at his place for the weekend and how could you say no to an offer like that.
As we arrived on a Friday lunch time, we had been driving through 43 degree heat, inland along the North West Coastal highway. Although luckily for us, it dropped to a slightly more comfortable 39 degrees once we got to Karratha thanks to it being a coastal town. After a quick dip in the pool and a cold beverage Matt showed us around town. As expected the place is full of life. Buildings are going up left right and center, and yellow and blue work shirts as far as the eye can see.

Later that night we hopped on the web and checked the weather for the next day. Due to us only being in town for two days, we had to pick the best day and it looked like Saturday was the go. Light winds all day and stinking hot. Perfect. We rigged up all the gear, and after a superb lamb roast it was off to bed.

We woke up to a very accurate forecast of zero knot winds, and thanks to a few clouds it was a bit cooler than expected. I wasn’t about to complain about that. We prepared Matts boat “Leave Pass” for the days fishing. It was an ideal fishing boat, a 6.3 meter Ali Razorline centre cab, powered by a 140hp Suzuki 4 stroke. I don’t think you could have had a more ideal boat for fishing in the Pilbara, it was big enough for Marlin yet small enough to putt around closer to shore.

As we got to the Dampier boat ramp, the tide was quite low but still more than enough water to launch the boat. I seriously under estimated how large the harbour would be. As far as the eye could see it was a massive transport waterway, working as hard as ever.

First stop was to try a few of the natural fads that exist in the bay. Hoping for cobia, we slowly pulled up against one of the barges and with stealth like efficiency we drifted slowly toward the “fad”. A few minutes went by but the cobia didn’t want to come out and play, so it was off to the next one. A short drive later we arrived at the next fad, but instead Matt told me sometimes they need a boat roaring up to them to get their attention.
Cobia are known to be very curious creatures, and these Dampier cobes were living up to the stereotype. After coming to a rather abrupt holt, within seconds two massive cobia came out from under the “fad”. One of about 5-6kg and one that was well over 10kg. The way they came out sheepishly reminded me of a dog meeting a stranger for the first time. It was quite a sight.

Jarrad fired a cast toward the cobia, as did I. First impressions were good, they followed the popper almost to the boat. Second cast, again they followed the popper while we waited anxiously for a strike. Unfortunately for us the cobia decided that out poppers were not on the menu and retreated shortly after back to the comfort of their floating home.

A few more casts resulted in Jarrad hooking one of the biggest long tom I’ve ever seen. Over the years I have seen some massive long tom but this one takes the cake, it was built like a 6kg salmon but three times as long. And for once it put up a decent fight, which you don’t often get from the long tom. That was it for the cobia, the rest of our potential fads came up with nothing unfortunately. The best part was it was only early and plenty more fishing to be had.

Matt steered the boat out through the islands, giving us a scenic tour of the Dampier Archipelago on the way to our next fishing destination. Every few seconds I was tempted to ask Matt to stop so we could launch a few stick baits and poppers in the reefs around the islands, but I somehow managed to restrain myself.

The Dampier Archipelago is a maze of fishy islands that I’m sure still aren’t fully explored. The fish life and wild life on some of these islands is nothing short of amazing. Locals in the area do a lot of over nighters at the islands on weekends, and why wouldn’t you. There are not too many other places in Western Australia like it, especially ones that are so accessible from the mainland and such a large town centre.

We plodded on into the open ocean, even in Perth we would be quite a distance offshore by the time we stopped, but Matt assured me his secret spot would produce the goods and very much worth the drive. The bottom is largely flat and empty. Finding ground offshore isn’t easy unless you know what you’re looking for.

Out of no-where on the sounder a school of fish appeared, smack bang on Matts spot. After a few quick drifts we worked out which way the current was going to send us and set the boat in line with our target. Matt insisted on Jarrad and myself dropping first, and I wasn’t about to say no to that!

Our lines hit the bottom and we waited patiently. It wasn’t long before we started getting some promising hits. Soon enough we were both hooked up, unfortunately for me Jarrad looked to have something quite decent but a fish is a fish and I began to crank mine to the surface.

A double header of smallish emperor surfaced. We were using standard paternoster set up, just as you would fishing offshore in Perth. Shortly after Jarrads fish got colour, a bright red fish stood out like black and white in the deep blue water. A first and a superb specimen at that, Saddle tail sea pearch popped up boat side. The night before matt had told us of these fish. We were very excited to say the least that Jarrad had managed to cross another species off his list.

Over the next hour we drifted the area about 6 times, and the tally of medium sized emperor rose quickly, along with a few big unknown bust-offs. I was still waiting for my saddle tail but it didn’t feel like playing ball. Matt told us of another spot not too far away. In came the lines and off we went.

Unfortunately for me the next spot was full of toothy critters. Shark after shark was either hooked up, bitten off or landed each drift. Now Sharks have their place in the ecosystem and the ocean wouldn’t work without them, but when you start losing tackle and fish every drift you can understand why they can turn a fun afternoon into a quite expensive and frustrating one very quickly. We decided that this spot was best left alone for the rest of the day and headed back south.

Before headed back closer to shore Matt thought we should have one more drift over the secret saddle tail mark. As soon as my bait hit the bottom I was on, this was no emperor or shark. Thumping head shakes and powerful runs, could I have found what I was looking for?

As I got the fish closer to the surface I just prayed that my eyes see red, but in the good way ofcourse. The fishing gods must have heard my calls and up comes a beautiful Saddle tail seapearch. After hearing so much about how delicious these fish after it was quickly iki’d and put in the ice slurry. Our baits were back on the bottom within minutes.

Fifteen minutes or so passed and not much action. Suddenly Jarrads bait takes off rapidly. The line was peeling off like there’s no tomorrow. The hooks were set and the fish headed for the surface. Immediately we thought billfish. In hindsight probably an over eager call but we were fueled on the fact we were fishing one of the North West fishing Mecca’s and that anything was possible.

The unknown fish surfaced about a hundred meters from the boat the smile was quickly wiped from Jarrads face. A huge shark had taken his bottom rig. Disappointing that it wasn’t a bill but it put up a great fight never the less.

As he was playing it back to the boat my bottom rig began to get a few decent taps. I fed some line and as the fish took the bait I flipped it into gear and set the hooks. It didn’t feel like a saddle tail, or a snapper for that matter. Whatever I had hooked put up quite a fight, even on the 30lb outfit I was using it pulled some string. When we got colour I was surprised to see not red, brown or yellow but long slender silver.

A Spanish mackerel had taken the bottom rig, squid of all baits. The reason it fought so well is because in my fast paced hook set, I had managed to pull the hooks from his mouth, down his side and scored him right in the clacker, poor bugger.

The day was getting on a bit and being some distance from shore Matt decided to head back in closer to shore. A few quick stops on the way home were on the cards. We planned to cast a few poppers around some structure close to the islands.

The North West reef in Dampier is a semi submerged reef about the size of a house. White water surging all around the reef makes an ideal hunting ground and home for a wide range of species. We rigged up a Yozuri Hydro tiger on one rod and a North shore Stick bait on the other.

As we carefully approached it, I nailed the first cast at the reef and was immediately hooked up. I got a good look at the fish as it launched half its body out of the water with my yozuri lodged securely in its mouth. A giant trevally of around 6-8kg peeled off the line and about 10 seconds later buried me in a bit of reef. Not to be disheartened I re-rigged as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, the blue bone where having a field day with Jarrads stick bait. Not large fish at around 45cm, but they go hard at any size. Jarrad also donated a few poppers this session to some larger GT’s. We managed to boat a handful of smaller trevs and bluebone but this place has some serious potential with heavier tackle. 20lb was just too light.
As the storm clouds rolled in we headed back, stopping past and old shipwreck on the way. A very fishy looking area, but unfortunately didn’t produce much besides a few nice swipes. Back to the ramp we headed. What a day. Just for the icing on the cake we topped off the day with a beautiful barbecue at Matts place and some cold beers.
Karratha and Dampier are at the heart of the Pilbara. It’s one of those places that is seriously under estimated for its fishing potential to the rest of the world, but I suppose that’s what makes it so special. Thanks again to Matt and his family for their hospitality over the weekend, and what weekend at that.

Good Fishing.

Metropolitan Perfection

A window of weather had opened. For once the weather gods were shining down on us Monday to Friday workers, and giving us a chance to wet a line. Sunday was forecast was predicting little wind, but a reasonable swell. Either way it was better than it had been in some time and we seized the opportunity immediately. A quick phone call later and we were booked in for a days fishing off shore.

As we piled our truckloads of gear into the car, there wasn’t a breath of wind and the mercury was almost in the negatives. The icy chill was penetrating even the 3 or 4 layers of clothes I was wearing.

We arrived at the marina surprisingly full of cheer. I think that was thanks to the traditional “wake up” coffee chill and pie. Ready for a wonderful day of fishing ahead of us we boarded the vessel. The twin diesel engines fired on cue and away we went. Our plan of attack was to head out deep behind rottenest in search of pinkies, dhufish and maybe a sambo or two.

With the sun rising behind us we cruised out steadily at 15 knots. Keeping in mind this is a 40 odd foot boat, designed for game fishing not cruising. It may not be the fastest boat in the sea but its reliable as your best mate, and rides the swell like a roller coaster.

There was rumors of schools of small tuna around offshore. Despite having more bait than a tackle store, we thought some fresh tuna strips wouldn’t go astray. We decided to put out a few high speed lures. We opted for some pink Williamson pea beaus, with a heavy steel head they hold well in the largish swell.

As we got further offshore we were greeted by a pod of whales breaching the surface. They curiously got closer and closer to the boat as we went up and down the big seas. Some say whales are good luck, Its just an old fisherman’s tale but any luck on our side is always welcomed!

First stop was one of the barges behind Rottnest Island. The rumors of tuna were just that , rumors. So in came the lures and we slowed down.

As we pulled up on the spot, we gathered around the colour sounder expecting to see it full of fish. Unfortunately for us I guess being one of the most well know GPS spots in Perth, it had taken its toll. It was dead, no sign of life what so ever.

Not to be dis-heartened, the skipper assures us that his next spot will produce the goods. We pushed on and waited anxiously for the next spot. This time around it was the complete opposite. The sounder was filled with life. From the bottom to about a third of the way up was showing as fish. Baitfish? Only one way to find out.

Down went the baits into the depths. I have rigged up a patanoster rig, with two 8/0 Gamakatsu Big Baits. One of my fellow fishers Jarrad had jigging on the brain and dropped down a 400g Smith Jig.

Despite me dropping first he still beat me to the bottom by a few seconds. After a few cranks of the jig, Jarrad was on immediately. Followed a few seconds later by myself on the baits.

Fishing ultra thin 40lb braid line in over 100meters is more than enough to stop most fish, but this fish Jarrad hooked on the jig was most definitely a willing to put that theory to the test. The Saltiga 30 was locked up, and I was watching the coloured braid peel off at an amazing speed. Meanwhile I still hard at it gaining line on my first fish of the day. It was a race to the top. Unfortunately for Jarrad this unknown fish didn’t stop, and kept going and going and going. Eventually with a few meters of braid left the fish managed to get him around some structure and bust of.

My fish surfaced. Its distinct head shakes on the way up were a dead give away. I wasn’t disappointed. A 4kg Pink Snapper surfaced. Not a bad start to the day.

Next drift around, the other boys had a drop and Jarrad re-rigged went in for round two. Again immediately everyone was on. It was a triple hook up. Lucky for us the drift was in our favour and tangles were avoided.

After some screaming runs and hearts racing, the fish were plucked from the depths. First on board was Jarrads jig caught fish, an Amberjack of around 8kg. The other boys had double hook ups of Pink Snapper around the 3kg mark. Not huge fish by any means, but it was a fish a drop for the rest of the session.

Amongst the hordes of Amberjack were a few stray Samsons. And below the 40 meter thick school of Seriolas was a blanket of pink snapper. After we had enough for a feed and released a few, the wind had dropped and thought we might head out even further.

The engines fired up and we headed west in search of some deeper ground on the plotter. Meanwhile the other boys rigged up our heavier outfits on deck with some enormous hooks and even bigger baits. Last thing we wanted to do was check our bait if pickers got to it first.

We ended up deciding to fish a drop off in some hundreds of meters of water. Down went the 50 ounces of lead. After a 5 minute wait for it to hit the bottom, we stood,watched and waited. We were using big circle hooks so there was no need to strike. Ten minutes went by with out a touch.

I decided to sit this one out, but the air was thick with anticipation. Just as I was about to go back in the cabin both rods loaded up. A double hook up was not uncommon so far that day, but a double hook up this depth meant we were in for something magical. They turned the fish quickly as you have with these deep water fish. Ten to Fifteen minutes later we had colour. It looked like we had hooked a giagantic jewel with flashes of crystalic orange and red making a distinct outline in the dark blue water.

Our jaws dropped. We had heard of but until now never caught one. A ruby snapper was on the boat. We estimated it at around 8 to 9kg. Later weighed one for 11kg. The second fish was boated minutes later. Another ruby snapper. Had we found a ruby mine? It was now my turn.

After a quick drive back to the pot of gold, I dropped down some fresh baits into the depths. Immediately after hitting the bottom I was on, was this a third ruby for the day? It fought hard but clean. There was massive head thumps for the first fifty or so meters, but then they almost seem to give up. They are a strange fighting fish. Just when you think you have them beat but then they go for another surge.

With the lactic acid building up I was happy when we finally had colour. And oh what a wonderful colour it was. Ruby Red. I had boated my first Ruby snapper. A few more drifts and it appears our pot of gold was empty. Nothing but a few sharks after that.

It was getting late so we headed in. What a day. Up to our arms in pinkies and amberjacks, followed by some ruby snapper topped off a perfect day. One I wont forget for a long time.

The Myth that Whales are good luck remains un-busted.

Good Fishing.