Silver Kings on Light Outfits

With so many rods out in the market globally, how does one choose what rod to purchase and what reel to outfit it with?

For the last six months or so I have been using Hurricane Redbone rods with Penn reels. This specific outfit is 7′ Med. Hard (10-20lb. braid rated) , single piece, cork handle, and Fuji everything. The rod is relatively light and has a very strong backbone combined with the Penn Conquer 5000.

Spooled with Power Pro 20lb. (moss green) braided line to 60lb. flouro tippet tied uni-to-uni to a 6/O Owner circle hook with a large, live pilchard, I was able to land this 50lb. Tarpon with guide Capt. Jorge Amores out of Miami, FL.

This light tackle outfit not only handled over twice its rating and the Penn Conquer gave the tarpon almost no chance to spool me as the HT-100 drag system had this “silver king” going nowhere fast.

The Penn Conquer has the EAS (easy access system) which allows for easy maintenance of oil and grease as every finely tuned tool requires for optimal use especially under heavy loads. This outfit is light weight and great for inshore and can handle some excessive abuse.

Contact Capt. Jorge Amores at www.miamibayfishingcharters.com or call him at (786) 202-7673 for your next adventure on the waters of Miami, Fl.

Hai Truong

The Three B’s – Byron, Ballina and Brunswick

“This article was written by Tackle Tester Author Josh Eastcott in 2008 on a trip around Australia. ”

As we continued onto the final leg of our trip through South Queensland and New South Wales, we were all coming to the realization that home wasn’t too far away and that we had better make the most of the time we had left. We were mustard keen to get into a few more fish before our journey came to its end.

While the Gold Coast is well known for its fishing, the rest of the boys were more focussed on a few nights out on the town as opposed a few nights on the water. The canals that weave throughout the Gold Coast region are fish epicentres. Despite the high rise buildings lining the waterway, they are full of life. These systems contain huge bream, flatties, trevally and more.

After a few nights out at Goldy, most rest of the A-team was ready to head somewhere a bit more peaceful to nurse their sore heads. Fingers were crossed, hoping to find somewhere to wet a line. At a hundred or so clicks south of Gold Coast, it’s an easy drive down to Byron Bay which from all reports fitted the part perfectly for our next stop.

Byron Bay is the east coasts equivalent of Western Australia’s Steep point. While Steep is the western most point of the country, Cape Byron is the eastern most point. It is a well-known destination for travellers both domestically and internationally. The bay is one of the biggest must-see for backpacker’s worldwide, and they flock there all year round. All this, mixed in with its own local population of surfers and hippies makes for a thriving, but still very laid back town.

After speaking to a local dive instructor, he informed us of what we could expect from the bay. Pink snapper swim with Spangled Emperor, Yellowtail empower are often followed by schools of Big eye Trevally. Byron Bay was much like our own Kalbarri climate being home to southern and northern species. This seemed like a great place to fish. Unfortunately for us, the dive instructor informed us that the whole bay is a Sanctuary zone, and hence unfishable.

Even with the disheartening news we decided to stay in Byron Bay for a week or two. There was fishing available just north at Brunswick Heads, and South at Ballina. Conveniently all located within a half hours drive.

Our first days fishing destination was Ballina, and more importantly the famous Richmond River. The Richmond River winds approximately 170 kilometres through the foothills on the Border Ranges and finishes up the Pacific Ocean in Ballina. New South Wales fishing publications often mentioned this as the plac to go for flatties, bream and Mulloway in the area.

We headed to what we thought looked like a nice deep channel about two kilometres in from the river mouth. As casts went by the first 10-15 minutes came up blank. However with four of us fishing, we were sure it wouldn’t take long before someone was on. The flatties would be holding up on the edge of the drop off, ambushing baitfish as they drift past with the fast running current.

After flicking around a Yozuri EBA shad for a while, I soon realised it wasn’t getting down deep enough. The channel dropped down quickly and the floating lure just couldn’t make the depth. A quick change to a two and a quarter inch paddle tail, rigged on a size 2 jig head fixed that.

The great thing about soft plastics is there versatility. If chosen correctly you can select one that sinks quickly enough in the current, but was light enough to keep it in the strike zone giving the fish ample time to strike. Heavier plastics will work, but you have to move them fast and hope for an aggression hit rather than “easy meal”.

Thanks to the extreme amount of sensitivity in my G-loomis SR782-2, and the 6lb PE braid, I felt every knock and bump the Richmond could throw at me. The fish were playing with the plastic, sucking it in, but not biting down hard. Until one unlucky bugger bit down and I had a solid hook up. It wasn’t a huge fish, definitely not the 90cm Flathead we were after, but it was Flatty none the less. At only around 35cm it was quickly released to fight another day.

 

Within a few minutes of releasing the first fish, one of my fellow anglers Jono, was asking for the pliers to release a decent bream he had just landed on a hardbody. The session went on to produce over half a dozen flatties, ranging from 35-55cm along with hordes of legal bream. The Richmond, while it didn’t produce the size fish we were after, supplied some superb fishing in clearly a very thriving waterway.

Over the next week we came back numerous times to fish the Richmond. On one session we landed over twenty legal flatties between the both of us, along with a few bust ups from “unstoppables” that we figure were big fingermarks or jacks.  No match for our light tackle.

At around twenty clicks North of where we were staying, was a small town, Brunswick heads. We didn’t go up with intention to fish but had thrown some rods in just in case. We were greeted with the sight of the turquoise blue water ocean, turning into crystal clear water as we went further down river. It’s hard to describe how clear this water was, the term gin-clear just doesn’t do it justice.

With school holidays now upon us, the river mouth was packed with family’s on holidays. We headed back down river in search of a few less people and a few more fish. The main road in and out of town follows the river for some distance. Huge trees line the side of the waterway, with broken branches and trees providing some great cover for fish. The opposite side of the river has a mangrove-esk look to it, but was unreachable by foot.

As soon as we poked out heads over the rather steep drop to the water, there were schools of bream, some of decent size, lining the edges. There was a frantic race back to the car to grab our gear and be the first in the water.

The bream were being very spooky. After about a half hour, we had only managed a few fish landed. I think the ideal scenario would be to use a kayak to get around, as it would be a lot stealthier than us fumbling fools trying to keep out footing on the steep banks of the river.

Amongst the yellowfin bream , there were also Flatties, Luderick and dart swimming around in what looked like the world’s biggest aquarium. The clarity was amazing, yet was also our downfall. Being so clear, the fish were shy to hit lures. The early mornings and late afternoons proved to fish a lot better.

After a few more sessions around Ballina and Brunswick heads, the time had come for us to head back home. Funds were depleting fast and the silly season well and truly upon us. As much as I would have liked to continue further south, we weren’t there at the ideal time with most locations over crowded from the Holiday fisho’s(like us I suppose!).

 

The last few months, while weren’t as fishy as I would have expected, have opened up myself and fellow travellers to some excellent fishing scenarios. These places, at the right time, have some serious potential to be explored more. I’m sure there will be some more trips back to places visited along the way.  Back to the real world now!

 

Good Fishing

Shop review – Tackle Head Quarters WA

With an ever increasing number of large chain stores, its not often you see a independent tackle store open up shop. Well Western Australia’s fishing public now have a new player in the game and they are certainly making their mark.

 

Tackle Headquarters(HQ) has been opened in conjunction with Allboat Business in Kingsley. The link between the two is obvious and its this combined knowledge that has made Tackle HQ a fast riser in the fishing tackle scene. As we all know, boat shopping doesn’t end there, the fun begins when you start to fill up that boat with all the latest in tackle and technology.

Tackle HQ is managed by well known fisherman and magazine columnist, Luke Ryan. Luke has set up the store to cater for all you can imagine when it comes to fishing. With a lure collection that rivals any other in Australia, Luke has is stocking all the local brands, along with the higher end Japanese domestic tackle that anglers are now chasing.

This extensive range of tackle includes brands such as Mcarthy soft plastics, Snapback soft plastics, Z-man soft plastics ,Megastrike plastics,Gulp,Richter lures, Polu kai, Halco, Sebil, Nomad, Full Scale, Yozuri and Duel, Maria, Ecogear, Zipbaits, Megabass, TT, Skagit, Fisherman, Shout….you name it, Tackle HQ probably has it!

Luke Ryan had this to say to Tackle Tester about Tackle Headquarters new approach to creating a modern fishing store for modern anglers:

“Tackle HQ is dedicated to offering a new unique modern selection of fishing equipment, not only do we cater for the Bread and butter fisherman we have one of the most extensive range of specialist gear. From Bream fishing with lures to game fishing for marlin we cater for it all and with our knowledgeable staff to help you out we truly do offer something unique. Our products are extremely well priced so you get more for your dollar when you shop at Tackle HQ. All boat business also offers the largest undercover boating showroom in W.A.” Luke Ryan – Store Manager

Tackle HQ is also an exclusive Daiwa Tournament Dealer, this means giving anglers all the latest and greatest in Team Daiwa Tournament gear, such as the Saltiga and Certate range.

So where can you find Tackle HQ? Its located on the upper level of Allboat Business

4 Hocking Road
Kingsley
WA 6026
Cnr of Wanneroo Rd & Whitfolds Ave.
Entrance Off Hocking Road only

http://www.allboatbusiness.com.au/fishing-tackle-shop/

Christmas Gift Ideas for Fishermen 2010

It’s that time of year again. Father’s day and thanks giving whizzed by quickly and Christmas is rapidly approaching. So what do you buy a fishermen this xmas? Here’s a few stand out products that will put a smile on any fishermen’s face.

We reported on this first one a while back, but this is still a winner for me. The Screaming reel alarm clock is a replica fishing reel alarm clock, complete with an alarm sound every fishermen dies to hear, a ratchet screaming off at a million miles an hour. These come in at around $299USD and are available now at Meltontackle.com

A must have accessory for any man, fishermen or not, is a watch. Sure you can check the time on your cell phone but the fact is watches are still the most practical accessory a man can have. Combining a normal watch with fishing features and you get the Casio Fish N Time watches from the Outgear range. These allow fishermen to know peak feeding times and moon phases, which means less guess work and hopefully catching more fish! They start at around $199.

Whats better than one tool? More than one. The Leatherman range of multi-tools are a great gift idea for any outdoors man. The Leatherman Supertool 300 is back with a vengeance. This classic multitool has 19 tools in one, making it a super tough and super versatile fishing accessory. These go for anywhere from $100-130

Fishing usually involves some sort of low light conditions. Whether its getting up at 4am to catch the sunrise bite, or fishing after dark in search of some nocturnal feeders, a fishermen needs a good headlamp. Petzl headlamps are the leaders in headlight technology. Their quality range of LED headlamps make fishing in low light a whole lot easier. The TACTIKKA® XP ADAPT is a state of art light that allows the headlamp to be used normally or mounted to a belt, pocket etc. With 3 light levels and a booster than allows a mini spotlight upto 50 meters, the TACKTIKKA XP ADAPT is ready to light up your day. Available from most stores for around $70.

There is nothing better on a day of bad weather, then kicking back with a cold beer and seeing how fishing was done in days gone by. The Mal Florence Fishing Collection DVD’s features some amazing footage of some old school fishing and some amazing captures. There are two installments in the collection and both have 8 episodes in each set. They are available now for $39.99 and the perfect addition to any fishermen s DVD collection.

Thats all for now. Happy Fishing and best wishes for the festive season!

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.