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!
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.
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
The season has started and everyone is heading north for the fish and the weather. First extended hire north for
Ashley Van Viersen and son Jason came out with me for a quick spin in the 7.8m boat. We were just targeting macs
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.
While burling up in shallow water trying to
Circulating on the Internet are these pics of a beach in China.
This months “
Kalbarri Ultra Light 24th & 25th January 2009.
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!