Murchison Boat Hire Fishing 2009

November 2009

2009-11-30T23:24:00.000-08:00

Email: lasue@wn.com.au http://www.murchisonboathire.com.au/
A very quiet month, mainly due to the demersal closure, I fear, but then again I am getting a lot of
maintenance done, new brochures printed, website tweaking, and basically getting everything right
for the coming season that is gearing up to be very busy. Bookings for next year’s northern haunts
are already fairly well booked, with only a week here and there, so if you were thinking of going north
during the best weather autumn/winter months, get it booked now!
The cray season started on the 15th of November and being a Sunday, was a bonus. The professionals can’t fish
Sundays so us amateurs had it all to ourselves! Usually at the beginning of the season there are a lot of crays to catch
but drops away quite quickly as they shed their shells and bury themselves deep in the reef holes and sand to
avoid predators getting an easy soft meal! Jason and I got 9 and then 10 crays the first couple of days, then I
had to go to Perth for a week or so.

On returning, my oldest son “Movember” Ben above and his girlfriend,
Laura, came up for 3 days and asked to go cray fishing. Well over the three days we got one cray, 2 occies and an eel!
The pots are now on the lawn waiting until after the full moon in December when the cray shells have hardened and
the crays come out starving and begin a mini migration out to deeper water. Easy to catch then with most days
getting our boat limit of 12.

Mid Week Getaway.
Justin De Mello is a keen angler. I first met him 7 years ago when he came up with a group and caught
his first tuna. It was a good one at that, landed during a double hook-up with another first timer.
Unfortunately Justin is plagued by the dreaded seasickness and likes to keep his feet on dry land.
He has been back and forth to Kalbarri a few times with a burning desire to catch a big tailor which has eluded him so far,
but there were plenty of small ones around for him and his group to have fun with.

Jason picked up an unusual small cobia one evening, while the rest of the gang caught a few in
the morning from Wittecarra Creek.
They stayed in my holiday accommodation, perfect for their requirements, with filleting table, bait freezer,
plenty of space, and enclosed back yard protected from the wind, which can be troublesome this time of year.

Their catches on the filleting table and brick paving. The thong and beer bottle must be there for scale!

Outriggers
I have bought a pair of outriggers, kind of been looking around for a while. We needed them on my last marlin trip
but made do with a couple of beach rod halves with a clip on the end. They were not long enough!
The stainless steel brackets will be fixed to my 7.8m boat and will be offered as an optional extra to hire for those
who want to chase marlin and sails up north.
Optional extras?

Small rate rise next year
It had to happen, but we are putting our hire rates up by a small percentage as from 1/1/10. We last had a small
rate increase at the beginning of 2008 and due to the so called recession kept them the same for 2009.
As last time, for those who have already paid their deposit/bond and who pays their deposit/bond before 1/1/10
will still get the old price quoted to you at the time of your booking. Some of you have bookings right up to July
next year and will be getting the old price!
New prices will be posted on my website early January
I will have to be strict on this, so get your deposit/bonds in before you miss out!

Boat for sale
Don Stander’s boat is for sale, the one he won the Under 6m Boat game in the last Classic.

It’s a Selva DD 5.5m 2007 model.
100hp 4-stroke Yamaha. $39,990.
For more details contact me on 9937 2043

Latest info is he has bought a Wellcraft 232, over 7m powered by a 250 4-stroke Yamaha!
He won’t be in the same category as me in the Classic again, luckily!

Kalbarri Offshore & Angling Club Monthly Comp 28th November 2009.

Due to the demersal ban still on, few boats went out. I had a troll with son Jared, hoping for an early mackerel.
We got one alright, but it was a small spotted mackerel, bit of a surprise as they usually only seem to turn up around February for a short time.

The beach anglers did well with mulloway and tailor
The river section fished well again and most of the regulars have it well sussed out.
They nearly always catch their bag limit and by keeping them live can upgrade
if they get a bigger one. This one of Brett’s had a tag in it.
Of the 503 fish tagged over the last 5 years or so, we have only recaptured 3.
We are not sure if the tags are being nipped off by other fish, naturally lost, do the fish die,
or are there so many fish in the river that we just don’t catch them?

Noel and Robyn are willing to accept bookings for my boats at Port Gregory
I will deliver the boat down there for 2 or more days hire for free.
& return it to Kalbarri for you.

Remember if you rent our accommodation in Kalbarri you get big discounts on our boats.
Have a look on my website for the details, and check out the savings.

5-day weather forecasts, http://www.buoyweather.com/ go to virtual buoys, pick the location you want.
This is the one I go by!

Big bait – big fish
Laurie

October 2009

2009-11-03T04:59:00.000-08:00

Email: lasue@wn.com.au http://www.murchisonboathire.com.au/
MURCHISON BOAT HIRE OCTOBER 2009 ELETTER
We are now well into the new 2 month closed season on catching demersal fish. This does not really affect
me much as I have few hires this time of year anyway. It also has given me time to do some serious
maintenance that I have been putting off in case I get a hire. Fishing is still permitted but any of the listed
demersal fish have to be returned. What’s on the list? Well during the closed season that runs from
15th October to 15th December and includes the area from Augusta to north of Kalbarri. The following species
have to be returned and cannot be landed:
Coral trout & coronation trout, cods (serranidae sp), dhufish, emperors (including nor’west snapper)
baldchin groper & tusk fish, western blue groper, hapuka/bass groper/blue-eye trevalla &
grey banded rock cod, parrotfish, pink snapper, queen snapper, red snapper, mangrove jack,
red emperor, fingermark, jobfish, stripey sea perch, foxfish & pigfish.

On the list is probabally the fish you might try to avoid! We can still catch and keep:
skippy, morwong (sweetlip) samson fish, tailor, mulloway, tarwhine, and all the other category 2 species etc, etc.

Abalone season
The abalone season started at the beginning of October, always good to get out and pick a few of these very tasty
shellfish. I got a few at the beginning of the month, and these when the next low tide and low swell coincided.

Low tide early morning, pick the easy ones first.
Jason Agrela and myself pick over the area.
Spot them first, wait for the right opportunity, sometimes this means waiting a few sets before making your move.

Its reef ledges like this that they are on, right in the holes. Some spots you just can’t get to!

Best to go with another person who also has a licence, that way you can watch each other’s backs, call out
when a wave comes in, and hold onto them when the water gets too deep!
When you find a spot with lots of big ones, it is hard to pass up. This was a good day!

Make sure you only get 20 per license holder per day; most of the ones we pick are well over size.
Season is from 1st October to 30th May, all day every day north of the Greenough River.

Wash the sand off them, cut them out of their shells and pound them with a tenderiser.

Jeremy a fishing legend
David has hired the 5.3m boat before and sent an amusing story that was in my July 2009 newsletter.
He returned early this month with friends from Sydney and hired the 5.3m again,
This is his story!

I don’t know how to make a start to write about my story this time, but my girlfriend’s cousin & her young &
passion husband, Jeremy, came from Sydney for a few days’ holidays. They never have a chance to hire
a boat and for deep sea fishing. However, I was so lucky that I am in Perth and have Laurie in order to
experience the fantastic deep sea fishing. It was a pretty good weather to go out, especially in the morning.
It’s getting summer now, and we can see the sun, even it is only 6 o’clock. My girlfriend always wants some dhufish,
we’ve never get one; therefore we decide to target the dhufish this time.

There is a particular spot which is called “trout” in the GPS that I’d like to mention again, that spot is really good,
you should never miss that one. We stopped the trout spot, after a while, I decided to move on and tried to find another
spot, at mean time, Jeremy, got a 72cm Dhufish.

It is amazing.

Moreover, 2 big pinkys were pulled out by Jeremy in the later afternoon.

The rest of people got nothing for the rest of the day, and he got 3 big monster fish in one day and in his life. The whole day will come a legend in his life.
He said he would come back one day for sure. I guess this is people’s the hunter gather instinct and I am sure he really enjoy it.
The weather was good but the wind was getting stronger and stronger, 2 ladies on board were sick seriously, as a skipper,
I decided to come back. It is only 2 o’clock.

7.8m trailer upgrade
The 7.8m boat spent a lot of time being towed up north and back again last year without incident.
The boat with a full tank of fuel and with additional stuff on board weighs over 3 ton and the twin axils are rated at 1.5 ton each.
So on return the bearings were always looking a bit tired and I don’t blame them!
Something had to be done and I investigated adding a third axle, but found the best option was to
up grade the axle to twin 2 ton Landcruiser axle and bearings with 14 inch 6 stud pattern rims.

The much bigger diameter axles. I feel more confident now.
Hope you are reading this Kevin!

Job done, much better

Small rate rise next year
It had to happen, but we are putting our hire rates up by a small percentage as from 1/1/10. We last had a small
rate increase at the beginning of 2008 and due to the so called recession kept them the same for 2009.
As last time, for those who have already paid their deposit/bond and who pays their deposit/bond before 1/1/10
will still get the old price quoted to you at the time of your booking. Some of you have bookings right up to July
next year and will be getting the old price!
I will have to be strict on this, so get your deposit/bonds in before you miss out!

Kalbarri Offshore & Angling Club Monthly Comp 24th October 2009.

Some of the fish we were permitted to keep after the start of the closed season. A small sambo for Sue
and a skippy caught by junior angler Brittany from my 7.8m boat.
Sue won the senior section with her sambo and a skippy. She released a big baldchin, the stingray and a few pink snapper.
I thought I was in with a chance landing a bigger sambo but the extra species Sue caught added the necessary extra points.
I had to release a dhuie and several pink snapper as well.

Nic Bramwell landed 2 nice mulloway from the beach to win the land based section.

Popular Northern Destinations

Thevenard Island
There are new managers at the Onslow Mackerel Motel, Colin and Rosa will now look after you on the mainland.
Rosa will take your accommodation booking if you would like to visit. Phone her on 9184 6586
Colin will sort you out with a lock up storage area for trailers and your vehicle when you are at the island.
Drew is still the Island manager: 9184 6444.
This year the 6.1m and 7.8m boats are already booked for Thevenard Island but there are still spaces available for adventures in this great place.
bookings@mackerelislands.com.au
Check out the website: http://www.mackerelislands.com.au/

Gnaraloo Station
Gnaraloo contacts for accommodation:
Barbara: 9315 4809
Email: bookings@gnaraloo.com.au
Website: Gnaraloo.com.au

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.
Triple tuna hook-up
Dhuie and snapper
Beach mulloway

Noel and Robyn are willing to accept bookings for my boats at Port Gregory
I will deliver the boat down there for 2 or more days hire for free.
& return it to Kalbarri for you.

Remember if you rent our accommodation in Kalbarri you get big discounts on our boats.
Have a look on my website for the details, and check out the savings.

5-day weather forecasts, http://www.buoyweather.com/ go to virtual buoys, pick the location you want.
This is the one I go by!

Big bait – big fish
Laurie

September 2009

2009-10-03T06:09:00.000-07:00

www.murchisonboathire.com.au/

MURCHISON BOAT HIRE SEPTEMBER 2009 ELETTER
We are well into our quiet period now and even with the school holidays on right now
few hires are happening. Mainly the weather is a little off, the swell is usually up and not a lot of fish around at this time of year.
So the 2 month closure will not have much effect on my business and it will give me time to do maintenance on the trailers, boats and equipment etc.

2 new boats ready to go!

The two new 6.5m boats are completed, surveyed and ready for hire. I took them out for a test drive last week
& with the new 150hp 4-strokes and Stainless steel props, they get up to 31 knots. That is around 59km/h, just short of the top speed
of my 7.8m with the twin 115hp motors! That will get you from Bundigi to the Murions in 20 minutes, Fremantle to Rottnest in 17 minutes,
Onslow to Thevenard in 22 minutes and Tandabidi to the marlin grounds in 14 minutes.
Equipped with the same Koden sounders as all my other boats, and with Garmin
Chart Plotters with maps from Esperance to Queensland. I will be uploading all my waypoints to them when I get the
special computer upload cable.

The boats with new 150hp 4-stroke Yamaha motors, new paintwork, new sounders, new radios,
new seating, new carpet, new safety gear, new anchor rope and totally rewired

One of them is currently in Shark Bay. Weather looking good, Steven should have a good trip!

New fishing regulations again!
Well the government backed down from their draconian licensing costs and modified it to what shows below.
This has been copied from an AAAWA newsletter. It is still not set in concrete or legislated yet so there
may still be changes, but better than what was originally proposed. There is no doubt in my mind that
something has to be done and I feel that we have to accept some more restrictions.
Making boat anglers pay $150.00 a year was just a bit too steep. The proposed $30.00 is more in line but
why only for boat anglers when landbased anglers still fish for the same fish? Seems a bit unfair!

Here is a summary. Please note there are lots of other details not covered here.

• Abolishing the proposed annual $150, fortnightly $60 and daily $20 demersal scalefish licence
• Introducing a mixed daily bag limit of 2 demersal scalefish from the West Coast Demersal Scalefish sub
category, of which only 1 can be a dhufish
• Introducing a mixed daily bag limit of 2 pelagic scalefish from the West Coast Pelagic Scalefish sub
category.
Some pelagic species moved from High Risk to Medium Risk category
• A daily boat limit of 2 dhufish will apply, however, there will be a boat limit of 6 dhufish permitted for
charter boats in recognition of the business pressures on charter operators
• A requirement to carry a release weight will apply to all (boat) anglers fishing for demersal species, to assist
in mitigating barotrauma and improve survival rates of demersal scalefish returned to the water
• A two-month season closure from October 15 to December 15 inclusive remains for demersal species.
• The State wide $30 recreational boat fishing licence remains but will only apply to people fishing from
registered boats and will be used by researchers to build a database of boat fishers and their catch
• Any non-licensed boat fishers - not just those under the age of 16 - may fish for free with a licensed fisher
provided the provisions of the licensed fisher’s daily bag and size limits are honoured
• A simple $15 ‘ticket’ system is proposed for charter clients who don’t already hold a boat fishing licence
• Standardisation of other fishing licence fees to $40 for marron, lobster, abalone, net fishing and freshwater
angling. Licences taken out concurrently are entitled to a 10 per cent discount on the transaction
• All funds raised through the sale of recreational licences will be placed in the Recreational Fishing Trust
Fund to exclusively fund activities related to recreational fishing
• A 50 per cent discount for fishing from a registered boat licence will apply for pensioners and people under 16.
• Note:- No licence is required for line fishing from the shore for finfish.

Proposed West Coast Demersal Scalefish sub category. Proposed combined daily bag limit
of 2 in West Coast, with individual species daily bag and existing size limits. Applies from 15 October
when the 2 month closed season starts.
Cods. Coral trout and Coronation trout, Dhufish, 1 per person, 2 per boat, 6 per charter boat Emperors
Groper, baldchin and tuskfish, Groper, western blue, Hapuku/bass groper/trevella and grey banded rock cod,
Parrot fish, Pink snapper Queen snapper (blue morwong), Tropical snappers and sea perch (mangrove jack,
fingermark, job fish, stripey sea perch etc.), Red snapper - bight redfish, nannygai and swallowtail
Red emperor Foxfish and Pigfish

Proposed West Coast Pelagic Scalefish sub category. Proposed combined daily bag limit of 2 in West Coast,
with existing individual species daily bag and size limits. Will begin on 16 December.
Barracuda Billfish - sailfish, spearfish, swordfish,
marlins, Cobia, Mackerel – shark mackerel - broad-barred (grey) and Spanish, narrow-barred Samson fish/amberjack/yellowtail kingfish
Mahi mahi (dolphinfish) Mackerel – wahoo trevally, giant and golden Tuna - southern bluefin, yellowfin, bigeye

Remember this category is just for the WEST COAST region which has its northern boundary between Kalbarri
and Shark Bay. Does not affect Steep Point or the Gascoyne region.

West Coast Medium Risk category list then becomes:- Proposed combined daily bag limit of 12 in West Coast
from 15 October, with existing individual species daily bag and size limits. Transfer between categories will be
from 16 December.
Bream – north-west, black and yellowfin Trevally – silver (skippy), diamond, etc.
Flathead and flounder Goatfish, mackerel, australian spotted, and mackerel, queensland
school, bonito – leaping and oriental, and other tunas, leatherjacket snook and pike
tailor, tarwhine, whiting – king george whiting – yellowfin
# cobbler # mulloway
# salmon, australian # sharks and rays
# trout, brown and rainbow
# = denotes moved from high to Medium Risk Category

This list is just for the West Coast and does not apply in South Coast. See West Coast Guide for all current
individual species daily bag and size limits.

West Coast Low Risk category and species is not changed, but the proposed combined daily bag limit is reduced
to 30 in West Coast from 15 October.
Demersal scalefish caught in other regions during the two-month closure (such as Shark Bay pink snapper) can
be taken into the West Coast Bioregion during the two-month demersal scalefish closure, but can only be
transported by land or air, not by boat. It will not be an offence to store or possess on land demersal scalefish
taken outside of the closed period (for example: frozen dhufish or pink snapper).

Did you get that?

5.3m boat magic
Brendon Shinnick and mate Brett called in looking for a boat for a spot of fishing.
Brendon is a crayfisherman from Lancelin, so with that kind of experience, I had no
worries letting him have a boat and pointed him towards Baldface, about 25km north.
He told me that the sounder in the boat was the same as his one and had no trouble
finding ground with it. And look what they ended up with.
Brendon takes it from here.

First stop was Bald Face and could only raise a nor’ westblowie but the occy was skinned, mullet and mulies cut up, and we were readyto start fishing, although conditions weren't perfect we were ready to giveit a crack for the first time in these waters.We travelled further north and were in 30m of water and came across a nicecoral lump, only small with very little fish showing but too good not to see who was living there.

First fish from it being a Breaksea Cod then a nice coral Trout, another Breaksea Cod a Black Damsel Fish and a small Estuarycod. The easterly was getting stronger so we came in shallower and picked upa nice bar tailed flathead and a red lipped morwong, then decided to anchor and berley and could only raise a small whaler shark and an eel.

We worked back towards Bald Face and came across some nice ground holding fish and picked up an amberjack on a floating mulie and dropped our remaining burleyon top of the fish which soon produced two nice pinkies the bigger one at 5.5kg.
The breeze had picked up at this stage so we decided to head home with only a couple of the better eating fish in the esky.

This photo is of Brett hooked up to his amberjack.Thanks for the day Laurie,Brendon Shinnick, Skipper/DirectorCatalyst Fishing Company (CFC)

Ethanol Fuels Warning
There have been a few warning circulating about the dangers of using ethanol added fuel.
Being marketed as E10, it is 10% ethanol and causes problems with boats. E10 itself does not actually damage engines; damage to
engines results from the solvent effect of ethanol as it virtually dissolves fuel tanks and fuel lines and fragments are passing through
filters and being deposited in engines. Also when left in tanks for long periods it reacts with water creating an acid that
corrodes injector nozzles and needles.Basically, to use E10 without fuel tank problems fibreglass tanks must be replaced. Forget aluminium – they too run the risk of
corrosion from the solvent-like E10. Stainless steel can withstand the effects of E10, but would undoubtedly lead to a rather
hefty price increase in boats at the retail level.
So please do not refuel my boats with E10 ethanol. Not available in country towns yet but will
turn up some where some time.

Tiger sharks feed on a whale carcass
Here is a link to a video shot in Exmouth recently of tiger sharks feeding on a dead whale.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/6101647/whale-carcass-sends-tiger-sharks-into-feeding-frenzy/

Bite of the month
Brendon Shinnick gets bite of the month this month for his great
coral trout catch up at Bald Face. Nice fish Brendon
See all the previous Bite of the Month winners on my website.

Playful sea lion

Unusual sighting for Kalbarri this month was this playful sea lion that circled the boat while we were on anchor.

It did a few laps, leapt out the water and then left us alone.

Kalbarri Offshore & Angling Club Monthly Comp 19th September 2009.

Local comp winner was Ron Neumann, landing 2 dhuies from around Bald Face.
This may well be the last time you ever see a guy holding up 2 dhuies that he caught, as the
new bag limits will limit you to one dhuie only!

Craig and Jason release river caught bream back into the river after the comp. It was one of the
highest number of bream caught in one comp, with 20 being released. The club has tagged and released
over 475 bream over the last few years. Only 2 have been recaptured? Does this mean that they are not surviving?
Rubbing the tag off, do other bream nip it off, or are there so many bream in the river that the chances of recatching one limited?

Popular Northern Destinations

Thevenard Island
There are new managers at the Onslow Mackerel Motel, Colin and Rosa will now look after you on the mainland.
Rosa will take your accommodation booking if you would like to visit. Phone her on 9184 6586
Colin will sort you out with a lock up storage area for trailers and your vehicle when you are at the island.
Drew is still the Island manager: 9184 6444.
This year the 6.1m and 7.8m boats are already booked for Thevenard Island but there are still spaces available for adventures in this great place.
bookings@mackerelislands.com.au
Check out the website: http://www.mackerelislands.com.au/

Gnaraloo Station
Gnaraloo contacts for accommodation:
Barbara: 9315 4809
Email: bookings@gnaraloo.com.au
Website: Gnaraloo.com.au

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.
Triple tuna hook-up
Dhuie and snapper
Beach mulloway

Noel and Robyn are willing to accept bookings for my boats at Port Gregory
I will deliver the boat down there for 2 or more days hire for free.
& return it to Kalbarri for you.

Remember if you rent our accommodation in Kalbarri you get big discounts on our boats.
Have a look on my website for the details, and check out the savings.

5-day weather forecasts, http://www.buoyweather.com/ go to virtual buoys, pick the location you want.
This is the one I go by!

Big bait – big fish
Laurie

August 2009

2009-08-31T20:51:00.000-07:00

Email: lasue@wn.com.au http://www.murchisonboathire.com.au/
MURCHISON BOAT HIRE AUGUST 2009 ELETTER
I have been thinking about another boat for a while now and even got a quote for a 6.8m walkaround much the same as the 7.8m,
but what did pop up were the two 6.5m Blue Water Boat Hire boats that were at Exmouth. After making enquiries, Mick
Dell’Agostino unloaded them to me this month. Bought without motors, I am presently stripping them down,
repainting where needed and adding in new gear, new sounders, new radios, new deck washes, new carpet, new seats, new
storage cabinets, bait boards, new anchor rope, total rewire and repowering with new 150hp 4-stroke Yamahas.

They are going to take a lot of work to get them up to Murchison Boat Hire standard, but are going to be really nice when finished.
Licensed for 6 persons to 5nm offshore, the same as the 6.1m
Due for survey on the 17th September, I am going to have to pull my finger out to get them ready!
After that the trailers will need to be looked at and revamped.
They will be priced a bit more than the 6.1m but will be noticeably bigger and faster.
Rate Rise
Well it had to happen, next year we will be having a small rate rise. This is the first one for 2 years and we kept the price the same this year during the so called “recession”. It was in fact the busiest year we have had yet! Unfortunately
everything is still going up so a small 5% increase as from 1/1/110 will occur. To be fair on those already booked and paid their
deposit/bond will get the old price for next year. This will also apply to anyone who books a boat for next year and pays
their deposit/bond before 1/1/10. So if you want to save: plan, book and pay before 1/1/10
The new prices will not be shown on my website until 1/1/10, but if you would like to know before, ring me or email me
and I will let you know.

Surprise Tuna
Early August the weather was exceptionally good. Calm fine days with little wind persisted for a couple of weeks!
I was in the middle of a kitchen renovation so found it hard to find time to get out, but a few delays gave me the chance
to get out on one of the better days. New competition fishing partner Jason Agrela and Daniel Jenks were aboard and we
headed north in the 7.8m boat. While looking for a ledge that I know about, we put some lures out. Not expecting much at this time of year and with 20.4 degrees water temp, it did not look hopeful. Just as we passed a plume of fish on the sounder, Jason’s chrome silver multi Halco went off resulting in this northern long-tail tuna.
We turned and had another pass over the spot while I marked the fish plumes on the GPS. This time Jason’s & my gear went off.
Double hook-up of yellow-fin tuna! You can see the differences in the two photos.
We dropped baits on the fish schools that I had marked only to find swarms of big nor’ west blowies in residence!

We headed further out to deeper water and fished a couple of spots on my GPS resulting in this 9kg dhuie for me as well as a size red emperor, baldchin and big snapper. Jason and Daniel got a couple of smaller dhuies, snapper and red-throat emperor.

Exmouth Marlin
Paul Seamer had the 6.1m boat up in Exmouth for a week or so, telling me they had a great time. Not a lot of information was forthcoming but these photos sent from Christian De Ran shows that they got into some fish.
The highlight being this black marlin caught on a Halco Redhead!

Gnaraloo 2009
Dave Allen has been to Gnaraloo many times and returned with this report and pics. He did well again!

Why would you want to go anywhere else? This was our sixth trip up to Gnaraloo and we were expecting big things of this wonderful place. We took over the 7.8 metre boat from Laurie at the station which saved us having to tow the boat up. I must say I was even more excited when I first got a good look at it. We normally hire the 6.1 and decided this year to move up to the 7.8. It was fantastic, we felt extremely safe and fished on days when other craft had to turn around and come home early. The conditions throughout the week were very testing, as the northerly winds churned things up a bit. The 7.8 definitely saved our week.

It was a very unusual week for us. We like to do a lot of trolling for Mackerel,
Wahoo and tuna but found the water temperature
to be much cooler than normal which resulted in few mackerel boated. The only tuna around where some good sized Mack tuna (great bait) which provided us with a lot of entertainment. With the cooler temps, we were forced to do a bit more bottom bouncing than usual. To our surprise we found that the saddle tail perch and red
emperor seemed to like the conditions. We came across a lot more pearl perch, Rankin cod and spangled emperor than previous years
and had some great success in very shallow water close to land on one particular day.

It was good to see that the station owners had began to do a bit of work around the place. Paul seems to be a lot more motivated to enhance
the station as a tourist attraction and has begun to build rock walls and new roads around the chalets. I have never seen so many whales up there
before; they were everywhere and big ones too. Even to the point of us having to keep a good eye out as they did not seem to care about the boat at all.
The bay is a beautiful place and this year was no exception. Our virgin for 2009 was a guy named Dave Stanley, soon to be renamed shark man.
He is a keen fly fisherman and had a ball catching endless golden T’s and nor west snapper varieties off the beach. There was also a large bait
school cornered in the south east corner of the bay by some very large bronze whalers. These sharks attacked the school non stop for a whole
week. It certainly made me think as I was swimming out 100mtrs every day to fetch the boat from the mooring. Speaking of this, thanks
Laurie, the mooring was fantastic. Dave has been renamed the shark man as he hooked the only big sharks of the week. He did this three
times which was good for the rest of us as he kept them busy while we continued to catch good fish. We thought it was funny; however, Dave was not amused.

We were really hoping to get a chance to chase some sail fish. Laurie had given us a fair idea where to look and we certainly had all of the gear.
We spent a few hours trolling gardies and lures on what seemed to be the perfect day, only to go without any reward. We decided to catch a
few bottom fish for the table as it was getting on in the day and moved to one of our more reliable spots. On the way to this spot we decided
to send out a high speed jet lure just in case. We always do this and have had some good hook ups in the past. Getting close to our spot we
decided to bring the jets in. I stopped the boat and the boys reeled in the two jet lures. As this was happening, a sail fish grabbed one of the
jet lures and took off. We were so surprised to see a very large sail fish jumping out of the
water and out of control. What surprised me was its speed. The line was facing one direction and the fish was jumping out of the water
40 metres away in the opposite direction. I took control of the rod and set myself for a long haul. The sail did a few more jumps and we thought
the hook was set when the fish decided to go deep. Lots of line continued to peel off the reel at this stage, which we were not too worried about
as we had plenty. After a few minutes of trying to bring the sail back up I felt a few more big kicks and then nothing…lost. Bummer.
We did not have a chance to try for sails again for the whole week. There is always next year.
It was another great year up at Gnaraloo station with lots of more great fish and some even better times had with our crew and others up there.
We did very well on quality bottom fish and had some great fun with the Golden spot trevally in shallow water. The sun shone for most of the
week and the boat was excellent. Our week was made even better when on our return journey; we only had to tow the boat back to Carnarvon
for the next change over. We are already booked for 2010. By the way, I have three new words for cockroach:
red throat emperor, they were everywhere and tasty too.

Thanks must go to Laurie who always makes our experience the best he can. Thanks for the help and the hire. Sorry mate, no picture of Wahoo this year.
Enjoy the pics.

Dave Allen

Fishing the Mackerel Islands by George Raffa

It had been ten years since my last fishing trip to Thevenard Island and I intended to make this trip a special one. With me were my two sons Ricky and David, and fishing fanatic Paul De Boni. Planning started ten months ago with the necessary bookings including the most important of all, an appropriate fishing vessel. Some research led me to Murchison Boat Hire, in particular the 7.8m aluminium centre cab. The ultimate success and enjoyment of the
week was in no small part due to the comfort and safety of this magnificent boat. Our travel north was greatly assisted by Laurie offering to meet us at the Kalbarri turnoff with the boat. This saved us approximately two hours travel.
We arrived in Onslow on Saturday evening and spent the night at the Onslow Mackerel Motel setting up our rods and reels in anticipation of the next day’s fishing (we did not wish to miss a single moment). We awoke to a magnificent day with light breezes (which continued for the next three days) and the excitement of getting into the water spurred us to quickly load the boat, launch and head for the island. By 11.30am we had arrived and
settled into our “Coral” unit and by 12.30pm we had lunch and were heading for Airlie Island for some light spinning action. Our plan for the week was “catch and release” only keeping one or two quality fish for the evening meal.

Over the next seven days we fished Airlie and Rosily Island, Rosily Shoals, Penguin Bank (including a long stint of trolling for sail fish in 60 to 70m) and drop-offs immediately west of Thevenard Island. All of the most successful way-points are still on the boat GPS, some were more successful than others and those lucky enough to hire Laurie’s boat next will certainly have a head start.
The fish caught were many and varied both in size and species but some of the more memorable ones included
mackerel, queenfish, trevally (both spotted and golden), barracuda, GTs (although not the 20klg plus that we were hoping for),
rankin cod, black spotted cod, coral trout, red emperor, sweetlip emperor and spangled emperor. We even managed to raise two
sail-fish but unfortunately without a hook-up. With the experience gained we hope to rectify the latter on our next trip.

Needless to say that it is not too often that one gets the opportunity to fish seven straight days. This we did with varying success
each day but in total the various experiences culminated in a magnificent week. The highlight of the week was undoubtedly
on the third day when casting poppers on the west side of Rosily Island for GTs we spotted a dozen or so torpedo shapes
chasing fish in the shallow waters. We immediately thought that they might be large barracuda or mackerel. The uncertainty
was soon dispelled when one of these predators took David’s popper and gave him a ten minute fight. It turned out to be a
magnificent mackerel of around twenty kilos. The action did not stop there as Paul also hooked a large fish only to see it jump and take the popper.
Unfortunately our island adventure all too soon came to an end and needless to say it was a grim group of guys making their way back to Onslow against a very stiff south east wind. The trip back to Perth was made more bearable with the many stories of the week’s events and certainly the memories of some of the superb catches will remain with us for a long time. We have already commenced planning for the next adventure.

Kalbarri Offshore & Angling Club Monthly Comp 22nd August 2009.
Some good fish were caught during our August comp.

Son Jared teasing a skua with a mulie. The skua eventually took the mulie from his hand.

Sambo for Nik from his dinghy and junior Beau’s snapper from the same dinghy.

Land based sambo for Daniel and son Jared with his catch.

My mate drowned in a bowl of muesli. A strong currant pulled him in.

Our ice cream man was found lying on the floor of his van covered with hundreds and thousands. Police say that he topped himself.

Apparently, 1 in 5 people in the world are Chinese. There are 5 people in my family, so it must be one of them. It's either my mum or my Dad, or my older brother Colin, or my younger brother Ho-Cha-Chu. But I think its Colin.

Police arrested two kids yesterday, one was drinking battery acid, and the other was eating fireworks. They charged one and let the other one off.
An old cowboy sat down at the Starbucks and ordered a cup of coffee.As he sat sipping his coffee, a young woman sat down next to him.She turned to the cowboy and asked, 'Are you a real cowboy?'He replied, 'Well, I've spent my whole life breaking colts, working cows, going to rodeos, fixing fences, pulling calves, bailing hay, doctoring calves, cleaning my barn, fixing flats, working on tractors, and feeding my dogs, so I guess I am a cowboy.'She said, 'I'm a lesbian. I spend my whole day thinking about naked women. As soon as I get up in the morning, I think about naked women. When I shower, I think about naked women. When I watch TV, I think about naked women. It seems everything makes me think of naked women.'The two sat sipping in silence.A little while later, a man sat down on the other side of the old cowboy and asked, 'Are you a real cowboy?'He replied, 'I always thought I was, but I just found out I'm a lesbian.'
Popular Northern Destinations

Thevenard Island
There are new managers at the Onslow Mackerel Motel, Colin and Rosa will now look after you on the mainland.
Rosa will take your accommodation booking if you would like to visit. Phone her on 9184 6586
Colin will sort you out with a lock up storage area for trailers and your vehicle when you are at the island.
Drew is still the Island manager: 9184 6444.
This year the 6.1m and 7.8m boats are already booked for Thevenard Island but there are still spaces available for adventures in this great place.
bookings@mackerelislands.com.au
Check out the website: http://www.mackerelislands.com.au/

Gnaraloo Station
Gnaraloo contacts for accommodation:
Barbara: 9315 4809
Email: bookings@gnaraloo.com.au
Website: Gnaraloo.com.au

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.
Triple tuna hook-up
Dhuie and snapper
Beach mulloway
Noel and Robyn are willing to accept bookings for my boats at Port Gregory
I will deliver the boat down there for 2 or more days hire for free.
& return it to Kalbarri for you.

Remember if you rent our accommodation in Kalbarri you get big discounts on our boats.
Have a look on my website for the details, and check out the savings.

5-day weather forecasts, http://www.buoyweather.com/ go to virtual buoys, pick the location you want.
This is the one I go by!

Big bait – big fish
Laurie

July 2009

2009-08-06T05:49:00.000-07:00

PH/FAX (08) 9937 2043
Email: lasue@wn.com.au www.murchisonboathire.com.au
MURCHISON BOAT HIRE JULY 2009 ELETTER

A very busy month with the boats away in northern destinations for most of the month.
All reported that they did well but the pretty shocking weather in the first half of the month spoilt
it for some unfortunately, but it sure has turned out nice.
A Keen Fisherman’s Story
Written by David Zhang
Laurie may be the nicest man that I have ever met. What he does is not only to keep his business running
but also for his personal interest, because I can feel his fishing passion.
He showed me how to catch big tailor on the second day we arrived.
His professional skills deeply impressed me.

Day 1
It wasn’t a very nice day to go out fishing. It was ok in the morning, but I could feel the strong wind at the jetty and it was cold and rainy.
Laurie showed me how to turn on the sounder, GPS, log on the radio etc.

I was quite scared when we were passing through those two green markers which lead you away from the rocks
and get you right into the deep sea. The big swells came right toward the left hand side of the boat.

We caught a monster pinky at the spot called `trout` just as the swells were getting worse and worse.
There were 3 people on board, 2 of them were sea sick, and they looked very bad.
I was the only person who didn’t get sea sick but as I can’t swim, I was wondering what I would do if the boat flipped over
We didn’t catch a lot, but the one I caught was about 82cm.
We came back earlier than we had planned.
Laurie said if I could survive the first day, I could also survive on the second day.

Day 2
It was a fantastic day, and we enjoyed it. The water was still not clear enough to troll for mackerels. We tried, but got nothing.
As yesterday, we left the jetty, and once we passed that scary area, we drove the boat just like a swordfish
& right into the trout spot. We dropped the anchor and started to fish.
Because of the drifting, the anchor wasn’t dropped right into the spot, which was between trout and skippy.
After a long, quiet and silent wait, 6 skippies, 2 pinkies, 1 NW snapper, and 2 black bass were dragged out from the sea by us.
It was harvest time!
We came back around 5:00pm, and it was a really long day.
Thanks Laurie, I couldn’t have made it without your help. I’ll be sure to come back.
Thanks David!
(David has re booked for February next year right in the middle of the hottest mackerel and tuna time.
We will see what happens this time)

3 Day Kalbarri Fish Fest

Sam Pusik from Melbourne had 4 great days out in the 6.1m in Kalbarri last month
picking some nice days with the mackerel going off. Bottom fishing was a bit slow but they
made the most of it by getting into a few mackerel.

Details are a but sketchy as I was up north, but son Ben managed the boats while I was away
and put them right regarding the techniques and places to go.

Annual Gnaraloo Trip
Our much awaited Gnaraloo trip finally arrived on the 3rd July. I towed the 7.8m up from Kalbarri taking 7 and half hours!
The road was a bit better this year, but the 2 and a half hour drive over the corrugations is agonising. Dave Allen was to take the boat off
my hands after I was finished with it, so I did not have to tow it back. We stopped and got the obligatory photo at the King Waves Kill Sign
& deflated the tyres to 30lbs making a smoother ride over the corrugations. Paul & Debbie Youngman, myself, wife Sue and son Jared
made up the group. Ashley and Shirley Forde were to join us but were unfortunately unable to make it at the last moment.
We stayed in the Old Homestead which sleeps 9, looks like crap from the outside but turned out to be very comfortable, and with hot salty shower.
We were very lucky with the weather, crappy the week before, great while we were there only to turn bad again after we left. The local wildlife came out to greet us. The resident big cod came to the back of the boat
most afternoons when we arrived back at the bay, hoping for a feed.
A couple of males and a female caspian tern were active on the beach. (It is obvious that the female is on the left)

The whales performed near the boat and with the sun in the right place for a change!
We fished every day bar two that were a bit windy and caught better fish but not as many as last year. Unlike last year there seemed to
be a lack of bait schools showing up on the sounder, but each bait school had fish around it.
Some of the better fish we caught, 10kg rankin cod, red emperors, and 13kg golden trevally. Mixed in with that were
big spangled emperor, loads of big red-throat emperor, bald-chin groper, mackerel and sailfish.
Paul and I did catch fish, but not as outstanding as the ones shown above.

Snorkelling was very good again in the Gnaraloo Bay sanctuary zone and we did have a snorkel at 3 Mile. The water was a lot murkier at 3 Mile but this was due to the larger swell that kicked up on the last day. The fish were bigger and more numerous, but the coral not as good. All the above coral pics by Sue and taken at Gnaraloo Bay.
We did however also catch sailfish! From my last marlin trip to Exmouth we picked up a bit of experience and were able to get onto 4 sails during the trip. 2 in one day, and happening while we were searching for new ground close to the 50m drop-off.
Sue, myself, and Paul. We rigged gardies on home made outriggers.

While pumping up the tyres at the blowholes, son Jared took this series of photos

The swell was really pumping and these guys got wet!

Kalbarri Karma.
A story written by Kalbarri local Karen Hartig. It was printed in last Saturdays West.
It's true what they say about 1 good turn deserves another. Well, that's what happened to a couple of Kalbarri locals who,
with a group of friends, went fishing up the coast North of Kalbarri, and landed not 1 but 2 enormous Mulloway.
"We're going fishing for a few days, and Ross only has enough bait for a few hours!" laughs local boy Lui, "I dig out some
bait from my stash and give it to him, and bugger me if he isn't hooked up to a fish within 20 minutes!"
Ross has called it to be a Mulloway, but Lui's convinced it's probably a Shark.
It drags Ross up and down the beach and over a reef, all the time taking line with it's mad runs.

More than 35 minutes has passed and Ross is starting to think Lui is right.
"This thing just didn't fight like a Mulloway, recalls Ross, so I decided to tighten the drag and put some hurt on him."
Ashley and I were shining our torches in the waves, trying to get a glimpse of what this fish might be
when a few friendly waves washed it up on the beach.
"What is it? Yelled Ross from up the beach.
“Oh my god!!! (not quite the words used) it's a huge Mulloway, Ashley yells back as he plunges his hand into its gill and drags it to safety.
"I was absolutely gob smacked when Ashley dragged it up the beach; I've never landed anything this big before,"
Ross says with a grin from ear to ear. "Must of been the bait!" jokes Lui.
The next morning, after having his fish weighed (31kg) at the local tackle shop, Ross returns with extra stores, including fresh bait,
and replenishes Lui's bait box. That night with fresh bait, the full moon overhead, no wind or swell, Lui sets off on his own
(the rest of us were too tired) to his favourite spot. An hour later, he returned on his quad bike, making enough noise to wake the dead. "How'd ya go?" I asked.
"Yeah, you guys might wanna come a have a look at this" Lui gloats.
We could believe our eyes. There, strapped to the back of the bike was another monster Mulloway. "You've got to be joking?" (Again not he exact words used) laughs Ross, "Must of been the bait hey!" After having Lui's beast weighed (27kg) at the local tackle shop, we all decided that from now on when we go fishing, we all exchange bait, just to be on the safe side.

Bite of the month
Son Jared deserves it this month. Hooking up to a sail on a garfish set for a mackerel, Jared fought the fish on inadequate gear for a couple of hours. His second sailfish took both baits set for sails, both circle hooks setting which saw Paul and Jared
fight the fish to the boat. It had no chance this time and came in fairly quickly.
See all the previous Bite of the Month winners on my website.

Oops

Paul shows off a very good mackerel he caught from my boat at Coral Bay this month.
Popular Northern Destinations

Thevenard Island
There are new managers at the Onslow Mackerel Motel, Colin and Rosa will now look after you on the mainland.
Rosa will take your accommodation booking if you would like to visit. Phone her on 9184 6586
Colin will sort you out with a lock up storage area for trailers and your vehicle when you are at the island.
Drew is still the Island manager: 9184 6444.
This year the 6.1m and 7.8m boats are already booked for Thevenard Island but there are still spaces available for adventures in this great place.
bookings@mackerelislands.com.au
Check out the website: http://www.mackerelislands.com.au/

Gnaraloo Station
Gnaraloo contacts for accommodation:
Barbara: 9315 4809
Email: bookings@gnaraloo.com.au
Website: Gnaraloo.com.au

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.
Triple tuna hook-up
Dhuie and snapper Beach mulloway

June 2009

2009-07-24T02:38:00.000-07:00

Email: lasue@wn.com.au http://www.murchisonboathire.com.au/
MURCHISON BOAT HIRE JUNE 2009 ELETTER
I was fortunate to be able to get on a trip out to Preston Island; it’s about 2km offshore from Cape Preston, 50 odd km west of Karratha. It is part of a mining lease and there will be a causeway built from the mainland of Cape Preston out around this island
& a couple of km out to sea. Only a couple of metres deep between the island and mainland at high tide, you could walk out to it on dry land on a very low tide. At the back of the island it drops down to around 15 metres, hence the reason for the causeway.
More on this below.
Around Kalbarri the mackerel are still full on with most hirers and tourists getting their bag limit each day. Last year the mackerel hung around right into August, hopefully that will be the case again this year.

2 Week Annual Trip Late May
Hi Laurie & Sue.
Just a brief overview of our Kalbarri trip this year.
We had John & Robin Slattery, Richard Cottingham and Ian Freeman on “Bulawayo Buoy”. Geoff McEwan, Jim Laurenson,
Ray Graffin and Peter Jones on “Bandicoot” and Mike Stacey and Ritchie Kirk on “Ocean Reef”.
With 3 boats on the go we did well on the mackerel which was all we were really chasing.
However John Slattery cleverly caught a nice snapper while trolling with a Halco Crazy Deep Redhead.
In the 30 years of fishing at Kalbarri we have never picked up a bottom fish on the troll so it was a first.
On day one we went well north of Bald Face and picked several undersized mackerel which were released.
We then hit Wagoe and did very nicely near Bluff Point.
After that we stayed between Red Bluff and Sand Patch and usually did well. “Ocean Reef” had 3 double hook ups and managed
to successfully landed them all. No mean feat with only 2 people on board to manage the chaos.
Fishing closer to home was a bonus as we saved a fair bit of petrol money.
“Ocean Reef” had a lucky catch when the mackerel managed to wrap the wire trace around a cray line. We thought we had hooked
the cray line so reversed up to it and was pleased to see the fish still connected. As the fish was gaffed the wire trace
snapped however the fish was landed with the lure still attached.
As usual “Bulawayo Buoy” was the champion boat. Not sure what those guys do on that boat but it works.
Even the bananas and orange bucket we hid on board failed to slow them down.
The fish this year seemed to be of a larger size than in previous years, in view of that we had to cease fishing early
into the second week to stay within the possession limits. That wasn’t such a problem as the weather was fantastic for the
entire 2 weeks so we hit the beach and did some surfing plus checked out the cafes and restaurants.
Did some sight seeing including the Seahorse place which is worth a visit.
Mike Stacey with one of the 3 double hook up catches taken on "Ocean Reef".
Shot of "Bulawayo Buoy" trolling past Red Bluff

John Slattery with his memorable snapper on the troll catch, and one of RayGraffin with a nice fish in front of "Bandicoot"
See you next year.
Regards.
Ritchie Kirk.

3 Day Kalbarri Fish Fest
Scott Davies was the hirer for this trip bringing along much the same group as last year.
Merv Hopkins, Brian Duke, mate Matt and his dad, Norm Davies. They fished out of Kalbarri
for 3 days in the 7.8m boat, enjoying some of the best weather this year. The weather reflected the good fishing with them bagging mackerel and tuna each day before landing dhuies, baldchin, snapper etc from the bottom.

Merv with a rarely caught surf parrotfish, Matt’s first dhuie and Norm with a good mackerel

Merv had all the luck catching most of the good fish,

but Brian landed his first mackerel and dhufish during the trip.

Great snapper for Scott and dhufish for Norm, both hooked up at the same time. Scott spent about an hour on this big ray, which was actually bigger than the photo shows.
I have only seen them this size in the WA Aquarium!

Hi Laurie
Just want to say thanks very much again for an absolutely fantastic fishing trip.
That one is going to be hard to top.
Last year I got my first maccy and it’s hard to believe that I got one on each of the 3 days we went out on this trip.
Awesome weather and an ocean bubbling with a huge assortment of fish. Absolutely fantastic fun.

Thanks again mate
Scott and crew

In a hurry?
These pics were taken during the “Kalbarri Classic” out on the 9 mile reef. This 6.5m cat powered by twin
115hp Yamaha 4-strokes gets Darren Westlund on the plane in a hurry.
Blowing 20 knots and a rough sea, it would have been uncomfortable to say the least.

Cape Preston
Surveying the water between the island and mainland in the background.
To get here we used the public boat ramp at the mouth of the Fortescue River and powered
18km to the Cape. Launching is only possible 3 hours before and after high tide and is dodgy
to say the least. A second vehicle was needed to retrieve the boat up the very steep ramp. Exit and entry of the river mouth is crudely marked but I now have waypoints, so getting back in was easy. Most of the area varies from 2 metres to about 5 metres deep 10km offshore, muddy, and I did not see much action fish wise. Zero mullet in the river, no fish swirls even at high tide early morning, little bird activity. My fly rod remained in its bag, it was a bit disappointing.
I suspect most of the fishing takes place around the outer islands that we spotted way out in deeper water.

Bite of the month

No really outstanding fish this month, but nothing really beats
a big baldchin groper, this one caught by Merv Hopkins. Overall his trip was a burster
landing most of the better fish during the 3 day trip with the 7.8m boat.
Well done Merv.
See all the previous Bite of the Month winners on my website.

Snapper Rubbers
With the awsome results I have been getting with the Octo lead jigs, I have been experimenting with some home made ones.
The bought jobs are quite expensive, and they are only lumps of lead with occy looking legs.
Ashley Van Veirsen has made up mould and we are researching some styles of dressings.

So far they are looking the part, but a few more improvements are still needed.
Hooks used are Owner C’ultiva no 2 jig hooks. Very strong and sharp.
They are catching all sorts of stuff. Out fishing bait!

2 Day Blitz
Michael Mac Shane, booked the 6.1m boat and my accommodation getting the discounts offered during the 2nd week end this month. Storms were raging in Perth but it turned out to be a pearler 2 days for Michael’s group. Michael’s email says it all!
Hi Laurie/ Ben,
Thanks for the weekend and especially thanks for the advice and instructions would have wasted a lot of time without it!
Everyone had a great time and will return again. The 6.1m was a fantastic boat and did the job well.
Day 1 we did the boat limit with 7 mackerel and 3 Yellow-fin Tuna. The highlight being a triple hook-up on tuna and a quadruple hook-up on mackerel.
When the fish were biting everything got hit but it was an overcast day and a gold bodied redhead Laser Pro was the standout.
Day 2 started the same but was cloudless.
The macs were biting early and we had 3 on board by about 9am.
We put the next one back because we wanted to save room for some bottom fish but the bite completely shut down.
We drifted and trolled and couldn't raise mackerel or bottom fish. Finally, we decided to troll back at about 2pm, from the 3rd fence, and started to play with the lures.
Smaller blue lures and the skipping gardie did the trick and we ended up with 6 mackerel and a Yellow-fin for the day.
An amazing trip!
Some of the macs were a bit a cut above average. This one around 13kgs

Thankyou again!
Michael Mac Shane

NB: I would like to add, that on the first day that Michael was out, I nipped out with my wife and a couple of her friends visiting from the Eastern States in the 7.8m boat. I was going to show them how easy it is for them to catch mackerel!
Well, we missed the first strike, Michael caught a couple on the 6.1m, we got nothing, moved to a new spot, dropped another and landed a very small yellow-fin. Michael’s tally - 7 mackerel and 3 tuna, me – 1 small tuna!
I have to say Michael, well done; there are not many hirers that out fish me so comprehensively!
Popular Northern Destinations
There have been quite a few hires to Gnaraloo and the Mackerel islands this month, but getting photos and detail is proving difficult
especially towards the end of the month when I have a dead line.
Hopefully some photos and stories will come through for the next newsletter.
I am heading up to Gnaraloo early July with some mates and taking the 7.8m boat, handing it over to Gnaraloo regular Dave Allen and his group. Dave did well last year, even scoring “Bite of the Month”, for his wahoo. It will be our second trip and hopefully do better now that we have some knowledge of the area and a few waypoints.
Thevenard Island
There are new managers at the Onslow Mackerel Motel, Colin and Rosa will now look after you on the mainland.
Rosa will take your accommodation booking if you would like to visit. Phone her on 9184 6586
Colin will sort you out with a lock up storage area for trailers and your vehicle when you are at the island.
Drew is still the Island manager: 9184 6444.
This year the 6.1m and 7.8m boats are already booked for Thevenard Island but there is still spaces available for adventures in this great place.
bookings@mackerelislands.com.au
Check out the website: http://www.mackerelislands.com.au/

Gnaraloo Station
Gnaraloo contacts for accommodation:
Barbara: 9315 4809
Email: bookings@gnaraloo.com.au
Website: Gnaraloo.com.au

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.
Triple tuna hook-up
Dhuie and snapper
Beach mulloway

Noel and Robyn are willing to accept bookings for my boats at Port Gregory
I will deliver the boat down there for 2 or more days hire for free.
& return it to Kalbarri for you.

Remember if you rent our accommodation in Kalbarri you get big discounts on our boats.
Have a look on my website for the details, and check out the savings.

5-day weather forecasts, http://www.buoyweather.com/ go to virtual buoys, pick the location you want.
This is the one I go by!

Big bait – big fish
Laurie

May 2009

2009-06-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

Ph: (08) 9937 2043

Email: lasue@wn.com.au http://www.murchisonboathire.com.au/

MURCHISON BOAT HIRE MAY 2009 ELETTER

Marlin Trip
My long awaited marlin trip turned out a success in the end. I considered Success as actually getting one to the boat over the 10 days.
None of us had caught one before; we knew the theory, the area, had the right tackle, the right boat but no experience.
It took us a while but it happened in the end.
We stayed at Yardie Homestead Caravan Park, in one of the units that are fairly basic but adequate for our needs. The park has a swimming pool and a shop with limited stock, but handy for bread and milk etc. Located on the West side close to Tandabidi Boat Ramp. This is our trip and my assumptions. I am no expert and I am only telling it as we experienced it. More experienced anglers may have other and better ideas.

The gear we used were Penn 50TW Internationals, Tiagra 30s and similar loaded with 24kg mono. We also used a Stella 20000 and a Riobi Safari spinning reel. The spinning reels were invaluable for dropping back baits, and accounted for most of the fish caught.

Lures were pre ordered from Bluewater Tackle in Exmouth. Matt Gates and Jenny Lerch will supply info regarding tackle and stuff, so it is best to get your gear from them, as they have the local knowledge and will supply what’s hot at the time. Prices are much the same as in Perth.

The Riobi Safari and Stella 20000 in action
The first day the bite was hot and we got numerous hits on lures but we were a bit inexperienced and dropped them all. The rest of the week we noticed that the water had turned green and the strike rate dropped off dramatically. We switched to baits and found the strike rate improved as did the hook-up rate.

Skipping gardies and waiting waiting waiting. I made up a couple of mini outriggers from old broken rods with an outrigger clip fixed to the end. It is important to be able to immediately drop back the baits once a fish strikes. We found that the big overheads gave too much resistance even in free spool and the fish often dropped the bait. The spinning reels, with the bail arm open let line out without any resistance allowing the fish to swallow the bait.

The baited rig we used was a standard garfish attached to the biggest chemically sharpened circle hook we could find by a no. 32 rubber band through the eyes. 300lb leader attached to a clip on a 300lb wind on leader, loop to looped to a Bimini Twist double.

Trust me: these fish go off the scale when they feel the weight come on!

A lot of the time is spent down deep but with explosive jumps when they come to the top.

Any where between 70 and 120 metres deep is the norm. We also found ground that went up and down very steeply from 100m down to 160m and out of the range of the sounder. Most of our strikes came from this area but on the top side around 100m to 120m. Numerous spots we tried were: West of the light house, The Steps, North West of the light house and South West of Tandabidi ramp. My GPS on the 7.8m boat now has all the spots that we got strikes so you can just go to them and put the lures or baits out.
I also got a really big sailfish! A strong easterly kept us in close and we trolled gardies for sails between 35m and 50m. This one hammered my gardie on my Stella 20000 giving me an hour’s work out. When the easterly died down we moved out to the marlin grounds and I got the bigger of the three marlin landed for the trip!

The new ramp at Tandabidi was a pleasure! We managed to launch and retrieve even at close to low tide, though a launch at a very low tide is asking a lot.
Paul Youngman celebrates his first marlin release right on dusk, with his Riobi Safari, circle hook and 50lb braid with crew Daniel Jenks and Ashley Van Viersen.
The second day we had about a 1000 dolphins around the boat, they all took turns surfing the bow wave in front of the boat. The water colour shown here is what it should be, but for the rest of the week it was a bit greenish. All in all, marlin fishing is quite achievable and economical from a small boat without the great expenses of a fully equipped game fishing charter.
If you are considering doing it, feel free to give me a call and I will help out where I can.
Yardie Homestead Caravan Park – 08 9949 138

P.O. Box 925 Exmouth WA 6707
No website or email yet.

Warroora Station
After my Exmouth trip Kevin Hick was waiting at the Coral Bay turn off as arranged and he took over the hire of the 7.8m saving me the tow all the way back to Kalbarri. Launching in Coral Bay, Kevin and the group drove the boat 40k south to Warroora Station Lagoon while the rest of the group drove their vehicles to Warroora Station Homestead. The boat was left on a secure
mooring and they fished out from there each day with a couple of other boats.

The Warroora Station Lagoon from a high spot, where the 7.8m boat is moored.
They got into some good fish. Kevin and his group are Gnaraloo regulars and decided to try somewhere new. They did not have to go too far out, but they said the ground was not as good out from the station as they have seen out from Gnaraloo. Accommodation is a bit cheaper but the logistics of travelling down from Coral Bay, mooring the boat and then getting to it with a smaller boat each day was a bit of a pain. The lagoon is not that well protected so receives a fair bit of swell on the beach, so bringing a big boat to the beach is not an option.

During the hire the hydraulic steering failed. They tried to repair it but lacking the right gear had to call for assistance. It was decided that the best option was for me to drive up, buy the brass fittings needed in Carnarvon, fix the steering and get them going quick. Well it was a problem getting the gear in Carnarvon but found it in the end, continued to the Station and repaired the steering. 1300km return trip, Half hour repair job and a $2.00 brass fitting did the job!

One km of long, boring, flat, treeless, straight, uneventful, goat ravaged country not far from Overlander Roadhouse. 1 thirteen hundredth of the trip!
A small spares kit will now be included with each hire going out of Kalbarri.

Coral Bay Trip
While I was in Exmouth the 5.3m boat was in Coral Bay with Chris Glenn. They had a great time and have booked the 6.1m for next year.
Chris’s email says it all
The 5.3m boat was excellent for fishing at Coral Bay and we managed to get out 5 of the 6 days we were in town. The colour sounder helped us pick out the spots to fish as the ground was predominantly flat and we needed to look for “clouds of fish sitting off the bottom.
The first couple of days were spent fishing at a couple of spots that were already on the GPS and we picked up a couple of rankin cods and a heap of charlie courts. My Father-in-law and Brother-in-law also pick up a big sand snapper and a few small sharks which were a lot of fun and made some beautiful curry. We spent a bit of time on each day trawling and I picked up some fun small Tuna, unfortunately we didn't get any mackerel while trawling.
The rest of the time we fished some spots that showed nice colour on the sounder and managed to bag out on Spangled emperor up to 69cm. I also picked up a 1.2m Mackerel and my dad got a 70cm Queenie while floating whole mullies down a burley trail.
One of the boys hooked something big on the last day and nearly managed to spooled, I think he learnt his lesson and will be using stronger line next year.

Cheers.
Chris.

CSIRO Field Trip
Scientists from CSIRO needed a research dive boat and were set on a Preston Craft design. They needed to test out a boat before committing and contacted me for a short hire to see what the boat was like and how it handled the conditions out from Tandabidi in Exmouth.
They are not permitted to endorse a product but this is what they had to say about the boat and their trip.

Perth scientists from the CSIRO Wealth from Oceans National Research Flagship hired a 7.85 m Preston Craft for a research fieldtrip in Exmouth from 16-27 January this year.

The scientists were specifically interested in using this vessel to assess its suitability for their research in the Ningaloo Marine Park. During November 2007 an arrangement of acoustic tracking stations was deployed along Ningaloo Reef and at Coral Bay.

These acoustic receivers can pick up sounds from ultrasonic tags on a range of marine animals; however fish in particular have been targeted for this research.

In the previous field trips scientists have tagged over 250 fish, namely Spangled Emperor, Rankin cod, Trevally and reef sharks. During the January trip researchers expanded the types of fish targeted to include Buffalo Bream, Parrotfish and Cobia.

The scientists are using thin yellow tags about the size of a matchstick to tag fish.

The public are asked to assist the research by reporting details of any tagged animals (size, location, date, tag number) by contacting number found on the tag.

One of the aims of the research is to determine how the park zoning affects the fish targeted by recreational fishers in the Ningaloo Marine Park and whether the zones are in the most appropriate areas. The tagging program is supported through collaborations with the Western Australian Marine Science Institution (WAMSI) as well as Australian Acoustic Tracking and Monitoring System (AATAMS), which is part of the Integrated Marine Observation System (IMOS). The sea-trial proved successful and the Preston Craft was found to be well suited to their work demands, most importantly the vessel had good stability, high flow deck hose, plenty of deck space and environmental friendly four-stroke outboards.

"Photos courtesy of CSIRO"
One of the tagged fish & they did send me a nice pic of the boat from a divers point of view
They are just about to take possession of their new 7.5m Preston Craft boat. It is a half walkaround with the cab to one side!
This is it above. I can’t say much for the colour!

Bite of the month

Bite of the Month must surly go to Paul Youngman with his marlin taken during our Exmouth trip this month.
Without a fish for the whole 10 days, and at 8 minutes to the agreed 6pm lines in, he took his hat off, threw it on the ground and said. “All right, that’s it, might as well reel in and head back!”
We all said, no, no wait; we still have 8 minutes left! Four minutes later he was hooked up to this fish, which gave him a thorough work out on his Riobi Safari and 50lb braid outfit!

See all the previous Bite of the Month winners on my website.

Gnaraloo Trip
John Desmond got an early trip in up to Gnaraloo Station, hiring the 6.1m boat.
He was the first to take up the steel mesh grates that I supply for hirers up there and he left them on the beach for anyone who needs them especially my hirers. I was in Exmouth during his hire but delivered the boat to the Kalbarri/Ajana turn off before I left. They had a few problems with a trailer bearing collapse, (first time for a hirer) but they just pulled the hub off and replaced it with the supplied spare hub that I give each hirer on any long trip.

Hi Laurie, no problems about the boat as we well know things can happen and at least you had the spare's for us to keep going.

I have attached a few photos of our trip for you.
The Red's were between 7kg & 8kg and we boated many.

The Rankin's were plentiful as well, even being a pest at some stages.

At one point we moved spot's because the Rankin's were like Blowie's.

Regard's John Desmond.
P.S. We look forward to once again hiring your boat (possibly next year? yet)

April School Holidays
The school holidays were very busy with all the boats out each day. This was mainly due to the great weather we had. The mackerel were out there in great numbers and some days it was a blood bath with so many mackerel being caught.
It’s great to see some of the kids getting into it and Michael Viljoen pictured below got his first ever mackerel.
Michael hales from Kalgoorlie so he doesn’t get much fishing done, and he did well fighting sea sickness as well as the fish.

First mackerel blood (and lots of it)
Chris Dunbar was in Kalbarri for the first time ever. He is from Australind and has never caught mackerel before. Mainly a beach fisherman catching salmon around Australind, he considered using his beach rod on the 5.3m boat to troll for mackerel, but relented and hired a couple of my rods and reels, bought a couple of lures and had a ball!
First mackerel and above average size for Pete and Chris holds his first mackerel.
Caught just out from the Sand Patch. Just following instructions that I gave him he said.

April 2009

2009-05-17T06:02:00.000-07:00

PH (08) 9937 2043
Email: lasue@wn.com.au http://www.murchisonboathire.com.au/
MURCHISON BOAT HIRE APRIL 2009 ELETTER
The rods and reels of the Easter group of anglers. They are all Penns, Saltigas, Stellas, Van Stal and Riobi Safaris
With gear like that you would expect to catch fish, and so they did, see the story below.
A very busy month for the boats, Easter Holidays occurred in the school holidays and is was full on chaos
over the Easter break with some of the best weather this year and mackerel going ballistic at the Sand Patch.
Every boat out during Easter would have got their bag limit each day.
I have so much content this month that I am going to have to leave some stuff out and hopefully add it in next
month when things quieten down with all the boats out on hire up north such as Coral Bay, Gnaraloo & Thevenard Island

Successful Annual Trip
Steve Pickering was up again with his usual group and a new face, staying in my accommodation and receiving the boat hire discounts.
They flew up via Skywest with me picking them up from the airport. They took the 6.1m boat for 4 days picking up
tuna each day, finally striking it lucky on the fourth day landing a bunch of mackerel
Great trip.Thanks everyone for a wonderful trip and many happy reflections overthe coming months. Here's a selection of some of the pics...Cheers, Philip

The tuna were south along the cliffs

And the mackerel north of the river.

Part of the group enjoying the enclosed back section of my accommodation unit
Another happy group
Ryan says it all

Hi Laurie,
Sorry for the late pics, the couple that had the camera took off up north, and just were able to email back.
Also attached is a “real” mahi mahi, not the pee wee’s you get around here. That was off Cozumel Island in Mexico.
We caught a bunch of them, but this was the largest bull.

Thanks again for the accommodation and Boat Hire,
The 7.8m boat was surprisingly easy to use, great design and amazing fuel efficiency (almost beats my 70hp 2 stroke!!). Accommodation was perfect, and good value.
Thanks again, and we’ll do it again.

PS – That’s Amanda Hensen, (from Perth), with the Dhu Fish, Emily Merrill, (from Houston), with the Tuna, and Paul Hoskin (Perth) with tuna.

Launching the 7.8m boat early morning. The Mahi mahi caught in Mexico
Cheers,
Ryan Snodgrass

Hi Laurie,
Its Wayne Levett, thanks for the boat hire it really made the holiday for myself and Gary my friend.
We are very impressed with the quality of the boat you hired us and especially impressed with the fishing in Kalbarri.
I went on to catch 9 tailor over the next two days from the blue holes thanks to a local by the name of Paul who gave me lots of tips
& ps I did not think much to the three sharks that were rubbing against my legs whilst I was fishing off the blue holes, I trod on one whilst
I was pulling in a tailor and fell clean over panicking to get out of the water but I landed the fish and they never bit me.
They were approx 3 foot black sharks possibly wobbly gongs and I had one reef shark trying to take my tailor as i reeled them past the edge of the reef.
thank you very much for all your help it was a service second to none when you delivered me another rig to the jetty on Sunday afternoon, awsome.
From Wayne and Gary see you next visit. You are highly recommended.

Thanks for the compliments Wayne!
Wayne and Greg had a ball catching mackerel out in my 5.3m boat early April, landing these fish. Wayne hired one of my rods & reels and used one of his own as well.
He had some serious line management problems with his own tackle, lost 2 lures, and ended up with what looked
like about 20 metres of line left on his reel!

Holding up their catch at the boat ramp.

First mac and first tuna
David Brest was delighted with his first mackerel and first tuna on a recent trip out with me. Hiring the 7.8m for 2 days taking the
family out the first day things were quiet with just a few bottom fish such as snapper and baldchin. The second day without
the family it all went off for him with multiple hook-ups of tuna to start, and then triple hook-ups of mackerel.
David took advantage of the popular accommodation and boat hire package that we offer, saving lots on boat hire.

Bite of the month

“Bite of the month” this month was hotly contested, with a few fish vying for the honours. The biggest tuna for the month
goes to Chris Ruck and his partner. With little experience in the way of trolling, Chris hired the 5.3m boat, 2 rods and bought 2 lures.
I told him to go to the Sand Patch, put the lures out and hold on. Whilst free spooling the first lure out at the Sand Patch it was
munched by something, the reel exploded into a birds nest and broke off. The lure had lasted 30 seconds! The second lure went out
resulting in a couple of mackerel and the third fish turned out to be this 25kg yellow-fin which they took turns during the 1 hour
fight. Great fish for a first time troller. It is not always that easy Chris.

See all the previous Bite of the Month winners on my website.

A still from a video shot of the whale shark that was seen south of the river mouth by Geoff Bradbury
The same whale shark was seen earlier by my 6.1m boat at the Sand Patch

Return Trip
Andrew Martin hired my 5.3m boat last January and ended up being “Bite of the Month, landing an 8kg
pink snapper on the troll, as well as a couple of mackerel. Back up again this month showing his New Zealand parents around WA,
Andrew hired the 6.1m and got into a few tuna. Andrew’s girlfriend, Bree, holds up one of the tuna.

4 remarkable days at Easter
Daniel Kwek has been coming up every Easter for the last 6 year hiring one of my boats.
This year the group ballooned out to 11 guys, so two boats were on order. The mackerel and tuna fishing was going ballistic
with everyone bagging out, even those that had never caught fish before!
See the conditions in the above photos. The 6.1m on a glassed out day, all holding up fish with one angler still hooked up on light line!

The water was so clear I managed to get some underwater shots of mackerel

A big tuna for Tom, this was the pending “Bite of the Month” but this 23kg fish was later knocked off by a bigger one!

Bottom fishing was fairly quiet, punctuated by big sambos and more tuna

Some things I learnt over Easter
Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.Walk softly and carry a big carrot.

Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.

There’s no such thing as too much candy.All work and no play can make you a basket case.

A cute little tail attracts a lot of attention.

Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.

Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.Some body parts should be floppy.

Keep your paws off other people’s jellybeans.

Good things come in small sugar-coated packages.

The grass is always greener in someone else’s basket.

An Easter bonnet can tame even the wildest hare.

To show your true colours - you have to come out of your shell.

The best things in life are still sweet and gooey.

Foul Hooked or What?

My Son Ben came up during the holidays and hired my 6.1m boat with 3 of his mates. They spent a couple of days
searching for fish, picking up a couple of tuna here and there. On the last day he asked me to come out
with him & “put him on the spot” The water had started to turn green after an unprecedented mackerel onslaught
a few days back but a move to deeper water resulted in us picking up numerous mackerel and tuna to the point of having
to release most fish. I got a mackerel but look where I hooked it!!!! Right in the tail! I had to drag it backwards all the way to the boat.

Marlin Trip
I will be in Exmouth on Friday starting my marlin trip. What happens will be in next months newsletter.

Thevenard Island
This year the 6.1m and 7.8m boats are already booked for Thevenard Island in the Mackerel Islands group off Onslow.
Helen will take your accommodation booking if you would like to visit. Phone her on 9184 6444
bookings@mackerelislands.com.au
Check out the website: http://www.mackerelislands.com.au/

Gnaraloo Station
Gnaraloo contacts for accommodation:
Barbara: 9315 4809
Email: bookings@gnaraloo.com.au
Website: Gnaraloo.com.au

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.
Triple tuna hook-up
Dhuie and snapper
Beach mulloway

Noel and Robyn are willing to accept bookings for my boats at Port Gregory
I will deliver the boat down there for 2 or more days hire for free.
& return it to Kalbarri for you.

Remember if you rent our accommodation in Kalbarri you get big discounts on our boats.
Have a look on my website for the details, and check out the savings.

5-day weather forecasts, http://www.buoyweather.com/ go to virtual buoys, pick the location you want.
This is the one I go by!

Big bait – big fish
Laurie

March 2009

2009-04-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

Murchison Boat Hire Newsletter march 2009

http://www.murchisonboathire.com.au/
Ph 08 9937 2043

Our big annual Kalbarri Sports Fishing Classic was on at the beginning of the month. The biggest event in Kalbarri each year draws a huge
crowd over the Labour Day week end. We had 36 boats this year and a number or river anglers. The weather the first 2 days could have been
better but the last day was a pearler! Most of the fish were caught on the last day and some of the better fish are show below.
All my boats were competing again this year and my 7.8m who won “Champion Boat game over 7 m” last year were beaten this year and
dropped to 3rd place. The guys in my 5.3m who won their game section last year came in 2nd this year. I was in the 6.1m again this year
with the same crew and managed to pull it off again winning our 6th Classic in a row.

Biggest snapper, 7.8kgs, Steve Wiseman Biggest cod, Paul Maindok, 15.99kg Biggest Dhuie, 9.1kg, Darren Westlund,

Biggest river bream 1.8kgs, Marlin Healey. Champion Junior Bottom, Bryce Parker. Champion Junior Game, Jared Malton

Champion Angler River, Aaron Kenzler

Champion Junior River, Rylee Eley, Highest Point Scoring Tuna, 19.99kgs on 6kg line, Sue Olive.

Mackerel, James Scovell. 3kg line. Mackerel, John Hoye, on 3kg line. My 7.8m boat and 5.3m boat down at Wagoe landing mackerel.

Men’s Meritorious, red emperor 12.75kgs, Gary Renwick. 1.07kg tuna on 1kg line, Stan Sutherland. 4.4kg tuna on 2kg line Laurie Malton,

Big Solo Trip
Daniel Kwek is a frequent hirer and books the boats over the Easter holidays every year, bringing friends and family from Perth
and Singapore. You would have seen Daniel appearing in these newsletters a few times as he is one of those guys that
always lands fish of a life time on every trip, making “Bite of the Month” a few times as well.

I have to admit, but the fishing was really off. We struggled to find bottom fish and when we found them on the sounder
they refused to bite! Over the four days we picked up a few fish but not like it normally is around Easter.

Daniels best catch this trip was this 20kg yellow-fin tuna that took a lure, trolled over a big bunch of baitfish seen on the sounder.

The mackerel took an unweighted mulie out the back of the boat during a drift out from Wagoe. Caught on the little flick rod he is holding.

Bite of the month
Daniel Kwek’s 20kg tuna makes the grade this month. A superb fish trolled up while
we were sounding for a likely looking spot to bottom fish. It sure gave him a workout
on his Saltiga and 50lb braid.

See all the previous Bite of the Month winners on my website.

Tell you what I want, what I really really want, it’s a mackerel!
Roy Killik has been coming up to Kalbarri, on and off for many years. All he wants to catch is a mackerel.
He did catch one on my boat, but a very long time ago. Since then every time he comes up here the mackerel leave town.
He is know as “Should have been here last week” so avoid him if you can!

He did manage to get a respectable snapper to take home though.
I also blame a certain orange bucket. Seems every time I take this orange bucket out with me the fishing shuts down!
The above problem was corrected on the following trip.

Boys Week End
Darryl Friend has been itching to get up here and amongst the fish ever since his dad, Craig, had
a very memorable trip out. He got together a bunch of his mates and hired the 7,8m for 2 days.
Just after “Should have been here last week” Roy Killick left, Darryl and mates arrived. I felt that they might have problems getting into the fish, as it started very slow, then all hell broke loose when trolling past a particular cray pot. I seemed that the fish were only within 100m of a certain pot. Every time we went past, almost to
the exact spot, we were getting mackerel and at one time a sextuple hook-up on tuna, followed by a quadruple hook-up!

It was a full on day catching and, in the end, releasing as they bagged out.

The first days catch with mackerel and tuna, Ryan and Pete show them off. The groups catch with 6 persons on board.
On the second day we had the orange bucket on board for a few hours and no fish.

We decided to “Free Release” it over the side.
It was not long after, we started to get the first few strikes that went on to intensify. (Superstition or what???)

The second day out on the 9 mile reef was much the same with another sextuple hook-up on tuna, followed by a quadruple hook-up!
(After releasing the orange bucket?)

Darryl, Ruben, Pete, Ryan, & Julian. The rest of day was spent releasing tuna.

They had a ball.

Julian’s tuna went 9kgs, nice fish Julian!

They even brought the lemon and soy, with Ruben carving up a fresh sushi on the bait board.
Yes the Tuna was included in their bag limit!
Here’s what they had to say via email on their return.

Hi Laurie,
Thank you very much for a very enjoyable weekend of fishing. The fishing far exceeded my expectations.
The first spanish mackerel that I caught I will not forget in a long time!
The hardest part of the weekend was having to leave to go back to Perth on Monday.
I might get a bit of practice in on surf casting before we come back up to do some tailor fishing. Thanks for the tips!
Thanks again for all your expertise and help to make for a very enjoyable weekend. Looking forward to next year already.
Kind regards,
Ryan

Hi Laurie
Just a quick mail to say thanks for a fantastic weekend. Look forward to seeing the photos. I will send a couple of the sunset ones through soon.
Cheers Pete

Hi Laurie
Thanks for a great weekend we all thoroughly enjoyed and are looking forward to the next trip.
Cheers
Darryl

A tuna at the side of the boat

and around the filleting table.

Tailor fishing at Blue Holes

Marlin Trip

Alls going to plan so far regarding my marlin trip to Exmouth. We are all struggling a bit to find/borrow/beg
24kg stand-up gear but it should all come together in the end. I am re-guiding an old cheap rod, and getting my
Penn 50TW serviced and new 24kg line. I just hope it will hold together for the 10 days!

The 7.8m boat is hired after me in Coral Bay and then comes free on the 21st May.
If someone wants the 7.8m boat up Exmouth/Coral Bay it will be free for a hand over from the 21st May onwards.

Thevenard Island
This year the 6.1m and 7.8m boats are already booked for Thevenard Island in the Mackerel Islands group off Onslow.
Phone 9184 6444

admin@mackerelislands.com.au
http://www.mackerelislands.com.au/

Gnaraloo Station
Gnaraloo contacts for accommodation:
Barbara: 9315 4809
Email: bookings@gnaraloo.com.au
Website: Gnaraloo.com.au

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.
Triple tuna hook-up
Dhuie and snapper
Beach mulloway

Or go to the Adventure Bound website and view them there. Click this link.
http://www.adventurebound.com.au/news/latest/youtube_kalbarri_wa_offshore_episode.html

Noel and Robyn are willing to accept bookings for my boats at Port Gregory
I will deliver the boat down there for 2 or more days hire for free.
& return it to Kalbarri for you.

Remember if you rent our accommodation in Kalbarri you get big discounts on our boats.
Have a look on my website for the details, and check out the savings.

5-day weather forecasts, http://www.buoyweather.com/ go to virtual buoys, pick the location you want.
This is the one I go by!

Big bait – big fish
Laurie

February 2009

2009-03-03T22:25:00.000-08:00

Murchison Boat Hire Newsletter February 2009

http://www.murchisonboathire.com.au/

08 9937 2043

This newsletter comes a bit early this month, due to the Kalbarri Sports Fishing Classic that is on this coming week end.

A very busy time for me as I do a fair bit of the organising & officiating before and after.
Results will be in next month’s newsletter. All the boats are booked for the comp, by the same groups as
last year. They are coming back to defend their titles as Paul Youngman, Steve Fowler and Bob Fowler in the 7.8m won their section,
Champion Game Boat over 7 metres. And James Scovell and his crews in the 5.3 are defending their under 6m
Champion Game Boat title. I have the same team again and am defending the 6-7m Champion Game Boat
section for the 6th time! Pressure is really on!

Family Holiday Fun
Ant Wells made a short trip up to Kalbarri with his family, enjoying a much needed break from
a very stressful job. It was one of those weeks when a minor cyclone was developing up north
& the wind started to blow the day after they got here.
Hiring the 6.1m boat and only after mackerel and tuna, the first day was the best of the 4 days booked.

Michael got one the first day.

Brendan also got one but they dropped another 5 or 6! The rest of the time was spent battling wind and waves.

I have to admit, they were very tough and fished hard in the conditions with a couple of the boys
fighting sea sickness on top of it.

Conditions were right for tailor however, and they found the bite time using the almanac, and got into the tailor at Black Rock.

Poppers were the go! They were handicapped with the limited gear they had.
(Overhead barra gear limiting their casting distance in the windy conditions)
But did very well considering, landing and releasing lots of 2-3kg tailor

Looks like Jamie got in on the action as well

as Brendan holding an average sized Black Rock tailor

Photos were supplied by Lindsey; she even got a shot of one jumping!

In the evenings they also caught a few tailor from the rocks at Chinamans.

Conditions were a bit hairy but they survived!
It was a great holiday for the family, their first time up to Kalbarri, and they stayed in my accommodation getting the
discounts on the boat hire every day. See my accommodation package on my website for more details.

Ballooning at Wagoe

On a recent trip down to Wagoe during the last Kalbarri Offshore & Angling Club local comp, the
Wagoe balloon fishermen were out in force. When the easterlies blow, they fill big balloons with helium & send them out with garfish or mullet baits. They do well on mackerel and tuna. The wind has to be right or you can spend a frustrating week waiting for the wind to change to an easterly!

We troll along the reef edge which is a bit further out than the ballooners but it is fun trolling past close to the balloons and watching the guys on the beach frantically trying to wave us away from their balloons, thinking that we are about to cut through their lines!

Bite of the month
No Bite of the Month pic this time! It is a pity as a nice estuary cod was caught by a hirer’s young son but I never got
a copy of the photo, and when I phoned it was the wrong mobile no! So if you are reading this John Chapman please
email me the pic and I will put it up as Bite of the Month on my website!
See all the previous Bite of the Month winners on my website.

Local comp 21st Feb 2009.
During the local comp this month, there were some good fish caught.
The river has been flowing, but not enough to cause any worry.
It sure turned the bream on! Loads were caught; most had their 4 bream (max number for the comp)

& Di had a mangrove jack, kept it alive to release after the comp.

Brett holds a bream over 1kg

and Craig got a couple of snapper
& a couple baldies from his dinghy.

Sue and I were the only anglers to fish the game section and we got a couple
of 9kg fish on 6kg line down at Wagoe.
Look at the conditions, no swell and no wind!

Snapper Rubbers

It’s not often that I get drawn into new fishing fads, rigs or styles but when one of those “Octo Jigs” got left on one of my boats,
and I tried it out during a bottom bouncing session, I was amazed! It out fishes bait and draws the bigger of the species over others fishing bait right next to me! I have caught nearly all the common species with it which include, pink snapper, blue-lined emperor,
red-throat emperor, dhufish, baldchin groper, estuary cod & breaksea cod. I almost exclusively fish these jigs now & have got together with some very clever guys here in Kalbarri and we are making them ourselves. (They are quite expensive in the tackle shops)
Above are proto types and we have been able to source all the materials to finish them off.
With a bit more experimentation, tweaking and shaping I will get them right. More on these when I am happy with the final
product & I will show you some results.
Hooks used are Owner C’ultiva no 2 jig hooks. Very strong and sharp.

A nicely coloured mac in morning light for Keith Hazelwood.
Keith hails from Texas and is a prospective Son-in law of Paul & Sue who
run the local Kalbarri Café. Paul has been out in my boats a few times so knows the rope.
They landed 2 mackerel, releasing one and picking up a nice skippy on the bottom yesterday.
Keith was telling me about the 25kg odd yellow-fin tuna he caught in Mexico.
He says that they were on a charter boat and all sit around drinking and chatting, the
crew rig up the gear & put the rods out. When a fish strikes, the crew grab the rod
& walk over to an angler and hands them the rod!
It’s quite cheap in Mexico and double the price over the border an hour’s drive away in the USA!
Marlin Trip
Some thing I have wanted to do for a long time, catch a marlin!
Now that I have a boat big enough and a hire mid May gave me the opportunity to plan a trip
at the best time in the best month. And I don’t have to tow it back as a hirer wants the boat in Coral Bay!
I will just meet him at the Coral Bay turn-off hand the boat over and head back to Kalbarri.
The best time is the lead up to the full moon and the best month is May for the weather. Got both right!
It was not hard to get 3 other guys, none having any experience or gear so it will be interesting.
More on the plans later and hopefully lots of pics. With research we have got the spots, depths, lures, bait & theory all sorted out. Just the practice to be finalised!
If someone wants the 7.8m boat up Exmouth/Coral Bay it will be free for a hand over from the 21st May onwards.

Thevenard Island
This year the 6.1m and 7.8m boats are already booked for Thevenard Island in the Mackerel Islands group off Onslow.
Traci will take your accommodation booking if you would like to visit. Phone her on 9184 6444
bookings@mackerelislands.com.au
Check out the website: http://www.mackerelislands.com.au/

Gnaraloo Station
Gnaraloo contacts for accommodation:
Barbara: 9315 4809
Email: bookings@gnaraloo.com.au
Website: Gnaraloo.com.au

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.
Triple tuna hook-up
Dhuie and snapper
Beach mulloway

Or go to the Adventure Bound website and view them there. Click this link.
http://www.adventurebound.com.au/news/latest/youtube_kalbarri_wa_offshore_episode.html

January 2009

2009-02-03T01:02:00.000-08:00

Murchison Boat Hire January Newsletter

http://www.murchisonboathire.com.au/

The season has started and everyone is heading north for the fish and the weather. First extended hire north for
the year was a CSIRO group doing some research out from Exmouth with the new 7.8m boat.
They told me that they had no problems getting it in and out at Tandabiddi.
For those not aware, I will drive any of my boats out to the Kalbarri/Ajana turnoff and meet you there saving you
2 hours on your trip when travelling north. You just have to ring me from Geraldton and I will meet you there.
You will off course have to pre arrange this service and return the boat to me in Kalbarri.

The Macs are back in force

Ashley Van Viersen and son Jason came out with me for a quick spin in the 7.8m boat. We were just targeting macs
& stopped just short of the Sand Patch about 8km north of the river mouth and dropped the lures in.
It took awhile but it then started, strike after strike and then a triple hook-up at the end.
The triple hookup took us over out limit of 2 each so had to put a couple back.
Jason is a computer guru and put some of the video footage on Utube. Click on these links to see the short clips.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgwtq8gdYbc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKHIl5TEW2w&feature=related

Big trip out
When we get a good day here it is worth taking the opportunity to go the extra distance and fish new spots.
Wayne Matthews was in the right place at the right time and Ashley Van Viersen went with me.
We went a long way but the fish were not that co operative and we had to work hard, but we got fish.
On the way north I know a spot that holds mackerel all the time, so when we got there I dropped down to20000 revs
& told the guys to drop their lures out. Ashley was feathering his lure out on free spool and then flicked the brake on.
As soon as the line came up tight a mac was on, catching him by surprise nearly losing his rod!
We trolled a bit longer with no luck, so headed to the bottom fishing grounds.

Wayne shows his best fish ever, and then got a second dhuie to cap off a very successful days for him.
I picked up a very nice pinky, a baldie. I was happy.
On the way back it was a bit choppy so took it slow with a 3 lures out the back. Wayne picked up a mac and then
we got a triple hook-up on macs.
We have to be careful now as the boat limit is 8 category 1 fish, so had to let the macs go.
New species for my website

I am continually amazed at the variety of species we catch. While burling up in shallow water trying to
attract some snapper, my wife Sue hooked up to this juvenile pennant fish. Kalbarri must be the utmost
southern range for these fish which must get pushed down with the Leeuwin Current.

Circulating on the Internet are these pics of a beach in China.
Makes WA a very attractive place to holiday!

Bite of the month

This months “Bite of the Month” goes to
Wayne Matthews for his pair of Dhuies. Not big fish but personally his best fish to date.
Caught quite far north on a trip out with me, during a very slow bite
See all the previous Bite of the Month winners on my website.

Kalbarri Ultra Light 24th & 25th January 2009.
Our annual Ultralight is a big event on the Kalbarri offshore and Angling Club calendar.
I was out in my 6.1m boat as the 7.8m was hired up north. The weather was less than perfect
but we persisted and fished 3kg line. We went to all the right spots but always at the wrong time and blanked out!

Stan Sutherland was in the right spots at the right time and landed this respectable tuna on 2kg line,
while Lance Turner landed this 9.8kg mac on 6kg line.

Sue Olive got this commendable 4.05kg tuna on 3kg line and Ron Neumann a mac on 6kg line.

Look at this snapper brought in by Nic Bramwell caught during the comp from the beach!
It went 7.8kgs

Thevenard Island
This year the 6.1m and 7.8m boats are already booked for Thevenard Island in the Mackerel Islands group off Onslow.
Helen will take your accommodation booking if you would like to visit. Phone her on 9184 6444
bookings@mackerelislands.com.au
Check out the website: http://www.mackerelislands.com.au/

Gnaraloo Station
Gnaraloo contacts for accommodation:
Barbara: 9315 4809
Email: bookings@gnaraloo.com.au
Website: Gnaraloo.com.au

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.
Triple tuna hook-up
Dhuie and snapper
Beach mulloway

Or go to the Adventure Bound website and view them there. Click this link.
http://www.adventurebound.com.au/news/latest/youtube_kalbarri_wa_offshore_episode.html
Archived Newsletters
After a lot of effort on my part, you can now view all my past newsletters in my Blogs.
I have made five blogs; you can view all of my 2005 newsletters with photos at
http://www.murchisonboathirefishing2005.blogspot.com/

And from January 2006 to December 2006 with photos @
http://www.murchisonboathirefishing2006.blogspot.com/

And from January 2007 to December 2007 with photos @
http://www.murchisonboathirefishing2007.blogspot.com/

And from January 2008 to December 2008 with photos @http://www.murchisonboathirefishing2008.blogspot.com/