WOW! Loved it here. Certainly not the van
park but the fishing and people.
We headed out day one for a scout around.
The winds were quite strong so fishing in the tinny was off the cards. We checked out the boat ramp and we found a
spot where some locals were fishing off the rock edges and watched them for a
while. They got nothing and neither did we. We only had a quick go though as
too hard with the waves.
We returned to camp and left the boys
behind and Rod and I went for a fish off the beach next to the boat ramp. Rod caught a 140-150cm long shovelnose shark.
It was quite funny watching Rod side step along the beach while trying to land
the shark. I ran to get the gaff but it was not required. We grabbed the tail
and dragged it in with the waves. I
think, well I know, I was more excited than Rod that he caught something.
We had no idea where to bleed it, so we
rolled it over and I cut its throat. Got
the spot right first go. Now you could
imagine Rod throwing the shark on the top of the car to take back to the van
park. On return we were all grinning, well I know I was, showing the boys we
caught a shark!
Of course Mitchell wanted to go for a fish
now so we went off the rocks but caught nothing. The night came and we had showers, watched a
little tv and went to bed.
As the weather was still blowing we took
the opportunity to go for a drive to Cape Range National Park; specifically
Turquoise Bay.
We poked into many of the camp spots along
the way and saw the views. Some camps were better than others but really they
were all along the water and nice.
At Turquoise Bay we walked out along the
beach and saw a shark in the water. We walked up the beach to where the bay and
Drift Bay met and saw many fish and the water’s edge just drop off. Then we saw another shark. There was not a hope in hell we were going
swimming, even though it was too cold for us anyway.
Now although Ningaloo Reef (where we were)
is very famous, and it looked pretty, I think Whitsundays is better. Perhaps because
it was windy, I don’t know.
By afternoon the winds had calmed down so
we put the tinny in and headed out for a fish. We got a few and didn’t know
what they were so threw them back. We deemed this day “Catch and Release” day.
We moved spot and caught a few more and I
landed an 80cm sucker fish. Who catches a sucker fish? Anyway, it put up a good
fight and it was exciting.
We were just about to move when I got a
shark on my line. We moved spot and I got hit another 3 times before I got hit
by a very big shark. It ran and then
came to the top of the water when we saw it was about 2-2.5m long. It snapped
my line. My adrenalin was pumping but the kids were a tad scared. I was alternating lines between mine and
Mitchell’s while he tackled up the other.
We trolled in for mackerel but nothing.
When we returned to the boat ramp Fisheries were there. So we asked him many
questions. Lucky we didn’t have anything to show him.
We had dinner and watched a movie and were
all in bed after a big day fishing and in the sun.
Monday – stupid me took advice from many
people to try and get money from Centrelink. Mitchell and I drove into town to
get reception and waited for Centrelinke to call. Well that proved to be a waste of time. After
talking to the rude person on the other end of the phone, I was still none the
wiser if I am eligible for anything. Waste of time, it just made me angry.
We returned to camp and made up some rigs
and headed out again. It was rougher than the day before. We saw a kayaker
jigging for squid so Mitchell threw his jig in and caught a squid first go – it
inked all over Rod. Very funny moment, the boys and I laughed.
We returned with nothing but had a fun
time. The boys and I went down to the
filleting table, as we did regularly, to check out what people had caught. This
one man caught this massive mackerel. Mitchell got a photo with it and this
man, later known as Mick, gave us some fillets.
The next day the winds weren’t so bad so we
ventured out early and Rod thought it would be a good idea to head out
far. Not so good. The winds blew up, the
swell was huge and I was shit scared. It
was choppy and after I put my foot down and said we were going back in, we were
all wet. He had the shits but I was wet
and scared. No thank you.
So we returned to the van park and had a
shower.
After lunch we headed out again but only to
the first lead. Rod had the shits because we weren’t going out far and didn’t
fish.Mitchell had a squid jig and I wasn’t getting anything so used Rhys’
rod. Mitchell decided to use my rod and
got smashed. He caught a 43cm Black Spotted Tusk Fish, locally known as a
bluebone. Mitchell also got a blue lined emporer, while I only got what I
thought was a leatherjacket, which I gave to the neighbour.
While I was filleting Mitchell’s Tusk Fish,
these guys turned up and were amazed that he caught one and also amazed that we
caught it at the first lead. They told us they are a 5 star eating fish.
Mitchell was quite chuffed by that.
That night we cooked up a feast – squid,
mackerel and chips, done in panko crumbs. Divine!
We headed out again in the morning without
Rhys. The motor on the boat was playing up so we decided to stay in close. I
think I was still traumatized from the day before anyway, so fishing close
suited me.
We returned with a couple of fish and I
went down to fillet them. While I was
there Mick, the guy who gave us the mackerel, came over for a chat. I was telling him how Mitchell really wanted
to go out on a charter boat. Anyway, he said he would take him out; obviously I
had to go too.
So excited as we were we went over in the
afternoon to confirm that we would love to go out fishing with them. So it was
organised for the next day.
Mitchell went over in the morning to see
what time they were going and it was decided 8am. Mick owns a 7.2m Olympian boat. Very nice
and big, so I wouldn’t be scared. I was a bit paranoid either Mitchell or I
would get sick as it was a tad rough out past the reef, but luckily we were
fine.
We trolled on the way out and Mitchell was
geared up with his rod pouch ready for when the first mackerel line went off.
He was quite nervous but Mick and Neil were so good with him. On the journey out we saw lots of jelly fish,
turtle and two minkey whales. Then, the line went off. Mitchell pulled in his
first 83cm mackerel. He did such a great job and was very lucky as the mackerel
didn’t run and cooperated the whole way. He was quite smitten with himself and
photos were all round.
Next minute the other rod went off but
Mitchell declined the offer to pull it in. Luckily, as this one fought. It was
well over 1m long and ran like anything. I also think Mitchell’s arm was still
sore from the first one to attempt to pull in another. Neil gaffed it and got
it into the boat. Mitchell was going to get a photo with it and went to hold it
and it slipped and left all yucky stuff down his leg. Oh and he did jump up on
the seat really quickly. Good move.
We got to our fishing spot and started
bottom bouncing. These guys use electric
reels. Amazing. A new meaning to the lazy man’s fish. Neil showed Mitchell how
to use them and he caught a honeycomb cod.
He gave up after a while as his arms were killing him and I had a quick
go. I didn’t catch anything but felt bad
for Mick as he hadn’t had a fish yet, so passed the rod over to him.
Between Neil, Mick and John they caught a
selection of fish.
We returned to the boat ramp but along the
way Mick was showing Mitchell the line to follow on the GPS. Next minute
Mitchell was driving the boat into shore for a good 10 mins. He was so
chuffed. At one point we nearly lost
Neil over the back. Quite funny. John accelerated while Neil was washing the
bait board and nearly went over the back.
It didn’t help that it was quite rough either.
We returned to Rod waiting for us on the
boat ramp. He missed me. Mitchell was smiling from ear to ear and
didn’t stop talking about his trip. It
was such a highlight.
We came back and went to the filleting
table and watched the boys fillet their fish and Mitchell had a go at filleting
his. He did a pretty good job too. I
tried to give Mick some money for taking us out but he wouldn’t have it.
Needless to say we went to bed early that
night and I had panda eyes.
The Friday morning we decided to go out
early, again without Rhys. We were very
low on squid so I asked Mitchell to catch one for bait. That he did and as I
was netting it it inked ALL over everything, including me and my eye, jumper
and shirt. Yes, the laughs were on me this time.
We got a couple of stripies and cods and
both Rod and I got smashed by sharks. Rod lost all his line as the shark ran
all his line out, before it snapped. It was a big shark. He lost about 125m of
50 pound line. We burllied up and had a school of gar fish around but didn’t
catch any. We returned and I filleted the fish and we had a bite to eat before
heading off.
We thought we would do a bit of sightseeing
and drove around to Exmouth to look at the gorges. It was pretty amazing but the boys didn’t
think it was anything that great. WE also stopped and looked at the shipwreck,
which was quite good and even better because it was low tide, you could see
more.
We grabbed a carton of beer for Mick and
scored some hats from the tackle shop. So when we came back to the van park we
took it over and gave the beer and hats to Mick to say thanks.
My birthday – What a great day.
We started by going fishing, I even made
Rhys come. We went out to the 3rd
lead, which was our favourite spot. We burl eyed up and were getting smashed,
and then along came the sharks!
I got a 2-3m one on my line before it
breached. Mitchell was the only one who actually saw the shark, I just saw the
after splash! Luckily it snapped my line
before I cut it. Rod caught a blue bone,
which initially we thought was the shark, but it sat there. So he waited it out
and finally got it moving and got it in the boat just before the 2-3m shark got
it. Very close. There were sharks smashing us and coming very
close to the boat. We lost more tackle that day than any other and I think the
kids were a tad scared too. It didn’t
help that Mick and Neil told Mitchell shark stories about sharks chewing the
esky and thrashing around in the boat.
We moved into the first lead and parked
up. The burley attracted all these gar
fish so the boys put on small hooks and had a ball catching gar fish. They got
26 in total. It was so nice to see them
work as a team an encourage each other in catching them. I got a spangled emperor and in total we got
6 fish that day, plus all the gar. WE returned just after 12 after a great
finish to the week.
We got back and Rod started cleaning the
boat and gear while I filleted the fish.
Mitchell had a go at filleting gar and we bagged up the rest to
giveaway, as we had no room in our freezer. Mitchell waited for Mick to return
to give him the gar.
The boys made spam sandwiches for lunch and
we potted for the afternoon. New
neighbours turned up with a massive boat they use for marlin fishing. We
chatted with them while they set up and we packed up.
We went over to Mick’s to have a beer and I
decided to have a few kahluas. It was such a nice night but had to be
interrupted to cook dinner. I burnt myself cooking the mackerel and squid and
chips. I returned to Mick’s and this guy Jimmy wrapped my arm in toilet
paper. It was a great night and a great
end to my birthday.
We woke the next morning and didn’t quite
get the early start we hoped for. After packing up and saying good bye to
everyone, we left about 9.30am.
PHOTOS: Exmouth
VIDEO: Mitchell landing his mackerel
