LIGHTNING DOESN’T STRIKE TWICE
After a dry spell trying to catch barramundi while in Kununurra a month ago, I have worked hard to make up for this during some fantastic bluewater fishing on the Dampier Peninsula, north of Broome. Yes, I have conducted a few skipper’s courses while in this area, at One Arm Point and another at Middle Lagoon, but the priority was some R&R before making our way to Port Hedland for more courses.
We arrived on the peninsula during full moon spring tides with strong winds, so small boat fishing was out of the question initially. Anyone camped out in the open was being sand blasted, so we opted for a nice isolated bush camp, using solar panels and gas as the main energy sources. Now my good mate, Jungle, was unable to make the trip this year, so I just had to try out one of his favorite fishing spots in his absence. I had firmly imprinted in my brain all the required information to make the landbased bluebone fishing trip a success. Huge tide required, windy is best, long walk, large cooked prawns or crabs for bait, 30lb mono minimum due to the craggy rocks and oyster shells, mid-size spoon sinker to cast into the hot spot, 6/0-8/0 single octopus hook and be prepared to go hard if you hook up. With the planets all aligned, Viv and I headed off to spot X and on my first cast a huge long tom was safely landed and released. With the wind blowing a gale, the deck chairs could not even be erected, but for the next hour I experienced one of the most sensational beach sessions ever. I landed four bluebone up to 5kg, another Long Tom and on the final cast was sharked. Viv managed to video the biggest bluebone, so if interested, check it out on my Sea Soaring Marine facebook page. The next day the wind was still up, but not quite as strong, with the tide a bit lower and I could not resist the temptation to give it another crack. Viv was not inclined to come this time as she reckoned lightning would not strike twice in the same location. Well she was spot on, as spot X reeked revenge and I lost no less than eight rigs during the session, with only an undersize bluebone for my efforts. Later in the day, on low tide, I returned to retrieve my tackle and pay respect to the ocean for bringing me back to reality!!!
As the wind decreased during the week, I resorted to my long successful small boat, north west technique of fishing the inshore reefs on the low tide change, not the high tide. With bigger boats chasing fish up to 50kms offshore, I never ventured beyond 5kms and over three trips landed many fish species including my first ever barramundi cod. We only ever kept enough for ourselves, but all the ‘keepers’ were five start fish including, coral trout, bluebone, cod, perch and emperors.
On this particular trip I did very little trolling for pelagics, however other vessels venturing offshore had some unbelievable action. Bob and Lucy Rowe stay here six months every year, with Lucy a very keen photographer. On one day she asked the guys to remove the hooks from the dumbbell poppers as they approached a school of mackerel and trevally going ballistic. Many of her photos do not look real as they capture mackerel doing acrobatics, sometimes three or more metres in the air, creating mayhem as they smash the poppers. She has promised to email me her best one for next week’s article.
Meanwhile there are whales breaching everywhere, turtles laying eggs on the nearby Lacipede Islands, mud crabs to be found, crayfish hiding under flat coral bombies, creeks to explore. Perhaps I best leave it there!!!
To answer last week’s question, the native Kimberley plant regarded as having the highest known quantity of vitamin C in the world is Gubinge. This week’s question is, “What colour is the outline on the dorsal fin on a Barramundi Cod?”?’
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