Monday, May 5, 2008

April 2008

lasue@wn.com.au (08) 9937 2043

Another run of mulloway at the beginning of the month! The river had another small squirt of dirty water and it
really brought the fish in. 20 or so mulloway were caught the first evening with multitudes the following evenings.
The mackerel went ballistic just out from Black Rock in the dirty water with some locals saying they have never
experienced it as full on as it was. Guys were getting their 2 mackerel each within 50m of trolling just past the rock.
It was busy at Chinamans when the run was on as shown in the above pic, but everyone got a mulloway.


If there were no spots left on the beach they went out in their dinghies and anchored on the entrance.


To prove a point yet again, here is Joel and twin Daniel Fimognari. They were fishing at Chinamans
and casting a mulloway rig baited with a mulie more into the river than the entrance.
The big surprise result was this estimated 18kg mackerel!

The mackerel persisted out the front for a couple of weeks, now it is back to normal
with mackerel all over the Sand Patch and beyond.



Mackerel, mackerel, mackerel!
Lance Sav, Lou Parker, Reto Abplanalp, Richard Harding, Carmine Barbato, Quint Martin and
Brice Parker in the front had a great day out in the new 7.8m boat
It was Brice’s 10th birthday and he was lucky enough to land the biggest mackerel for the day!
It is his first mackerel too, so well done Brice!

The group caught 7 mackerel, 1 tuna, 1 snapper, 3 skippy, 3 dhuies, but only one was size
& a baldchin groper making a very successful day out.

Brice shows his first mackerel caught on his 10th birthday.

Nic Harch is not really an angler but a short sunset/sundowner trip out late evening on a calm day
saw Nick land this chunky baby yellow-fin just off Rainbow Jungle in 25m of water.

First and biggest fish for Nick! And a clean release as well.

XXX size snapper
Now look at this for a snapper!
Paull Weber has been booking my boats for a few years now, coming up with his father in law, Peter Roach, for a quiet fish.
Unable to get his usual boat, the 6.1m, had to settle on the 5.3m. First day the weather was a bit off with a big swell
made for a difficult day but the next morning dawned a good one. Heading to the old Kalbarri favourite, the Sand Patch,
they anchored along a cray pot line in 18m of water. The fish were about half an hour apart but they were good ones!

4 pinkies, a big surf parrot fish (caught by the tail!), sand snapper and tailor made up the catch.
Paull holds up the biggest snapper that went 9kg!!! and he caught it on the little flick stick shown in the pic!!
Its 10kg braid but the little reel and light rod groaned and complained all through the extended fight.
Peter Roach holds one of his. Your jacket is pinker than the fish Peter!

Did you know?
The new 7.8m boat is licensed for 10nm offshore and 6 persons. Puts you out on the red emperor spots
if you are so inclined.

Theory
During a recent bottom bouncing trip (see above pic) I noticed a disproportionate hook up rate of good fish
to the anglers that had the lumo squid soft plastics just above the baited hook.
Could this have been the difference?
Lumo squids are available from Ranger Outdoors Bentley; ask for Brendan, he will tell you about them!


Frequent hirer bonus
A trip out in the new 7.8m was a treat for frequent hirers, Colin, Andy, Jeff, Gil and Caroline.
Being able to travel that bit further with the bigger boat and being licensed to 10nm offshore,
made sure they were able to get into some top fish.

Colin was about to win the “Bite of the Month” with this baldchin groper but got knocked off by some better fish a few days later! “Same Shirt” Andy with his double header! I had a short fish and showed them how!

Gil was well pleased with the size of his red-throat emperor, and Caroline got a mac on the way back to add to the other
two caught on the way up. The odd coloured lure on her rod accounted for a lot of macs during their trip!

Another amazingly calm afternoon, powering it back at about 3pm in the 7.8m boat


2 superb days on the 7.8m boat
(Written by Ben Malton)
Anzac day weekend for the crew from Ranger Outdoors in Bentley will be one which will be remembered
for a while to come. The crew drove up in convoy from Perth, leaving at first light making it to the pub in
Kalbarri just in time for the footy, a couple of counter meals and a few beers later and it was time to head home, there was business to be done in the morning. The first day was off to a slow start with a troll for macs produced nothing, even if the boys were
looking the part with the ‘Berkley Gulp” and “Penn”shirts all round; so it was time for a bottom fish. The conditions went from good to
even better as did the size of the fish which were produced. A large baldchin and a superb dhufish
from Lunty were in the mix with about 10 red throat weighing up to 2kg. Damo’s red emperor which weighed
in at 8kg had “bite of the month” for about an hour before management, “Spoon” stepped up with an awesome 9kg red emperor, the biggest from the boat to date.

Damo with his red emperor of 8kg Spoon trumped him with a beauty of 9kg

Spanner with one of the large red throats Lunty’s dhufish was up there, about 6kg
Damian Lunt, Brendan Mitchell, Ben Malton, Steve Spencer & Damon Driessen
each with their two best fish for the day.

The Second day’s focus was on game fish, as we left the mouth the weather was looking average, the new 7.8m boat
however got us out past sand patch in no time, sitting comfortably on 60km/h, what speed! The fishing
started slowly and it didn’t look good until suddenly there was boiling water everywhere, the tuna were
here! Within a few minutes we had a great tuna session which saw a double hook up. In the excitement
Damo’s tuna, the biggest of the day estimated at 6kg, was released without a photo. After a mad panic to get the
casting gear ready Spanner had a few small tuna under his belt.

After we were all sick of catching tuna, bottom fishing was on the cards. Another possession of red-throat and blue-line emperor was followed by
Brendan loading his rod up with the “Dhuie Slayer rig” which seemed to consist of lumo squid soft plastics above his bait, it did not disappoint,
two dhuies within 30 minutes of each other nearly landed him in the water swimming home. Lunty and Laurie then provided the entertainment with a double
hook-up with two large Samson fish which would have gone 15kg each.
Luntys Sambo tested his new gear Brendan’s Dhufish the larger going 11kg

Fishing for whiting down in Perth will never be the same again, an unforgettable trip that will hopefully be repeated soon.

Gary Rossiter had the 6.1m for a week over the holidays. The crew did well with mackerel, tuna and bottom fish.
Here they are powering it back home after fishing north of Kalbarri at about 3pm.
Look how calm it is! Another great day out, not so sure about the brown-eye from Gavin though! They all caught fish as shown below.

L to R Gavin & Dominic O’Malley, Garry, Brendan & Jake Rossiter. Garry Rossiter landed this 10kg yellow-fin tuna.

Dominic O’Malley shows his first mackerel and some bottom fish from Brendan Rossiter.

Kalbarri Offshore & Angling Club, Local comp 19th April 2008.

No juniors had weighed in for the bottom boat section for the whole year, so all my son had to do these school holidays was catch a fish bigger than 35cm to win for the whole year. He was ready and willing, this was his chance!
Steven Eley also a junior asked if I had room. Sure you can come! Well Steven had 6 skippy in the boat before son Jared had his first! All over, the fat lady has sung for Jared!
Nik Bramwell did well with 4 snapper one of them, shown above, he landed on 3kg line that went 7.5kgs!

Thevenard Island
Last year the 6.1m boat spent a lot of time up at Thevenard Island in the Mackerel Islands group off Onslow.
It is also up there this year.
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
I will be up at Gnaraloo Station for 10 days or so in June trying out my new 7.8m boat.
I take over the boat from Brett & Roger Simm who will have it the week before me.
If anyone wants to take the boat after me, I will finish with it on Sunday 8th June.
It will save you the tow all the way up.
The 6.1m boat will also be up there and the hire finishes on the 28th May if you want it after then.
It will save you the tow up as well.
Gnaraloo contacts for accommodation:
Barbara: 9315 4809
Email: bookings@gnaraloo.com.au
Website: Gnaraloo.com.au

Game 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

Saturday, March 29, 2008

March 2008


PO Box 63 KALBARRI WA 6536 PH/FAX (08) 9937 2043
http://www.murchisonboathire.com.au/

The fishing has been great with plague numbers of small yellow-fin tuna with a couple of
mackerel amongst them. The river has stopped flowing but the water out the front of the mouth is still
very dirty making the mackerel fishing difficult, but the tuna are making up for it. The big run of
mulloway has stopped as the river is slowly clearing up but still the odd one is being landed, all good sizes too!
When you see the birds sitting on the water as shown above, that means that the tuna and mackerel have
shut down and the bite is over. Turn your attention to bottom fishing and pick up a snapper, dhuie or something.

Ian Steve Pickering, Brian McGinnis, Andy Coles show off their catch from the 6.1m boat
earlier this month. They were here just as the river had stopped flowing.
You can see the dirty water in the background.

On one of the evenings they anchored just off Black Rock and soaked baits for mulloway.
The major run of mulloway was over but there was still a chance.
The only bite for the evening came for Ian landing this beautiful coloured fish.
Theory
A couple of weeks after the river flooded there were thousands of these oyster, scallop, bi-valve sort
of shells washed up on the beach. It made me think! I suspect that the fresh water killed them all
and it is these that the mulloway and sharks that are so plentiful at the river mouth are probably
gorging themselves on. As they die they come loose from the cracks in the reef and are an
easy meal for all sorts of fish???

Bite of the month
Daniel Kwek comes up every Easter, usually booking the 6.1m boat but couldn’t help himself and took the 7.8m
for the 4 days. He comes up with different friends and regulars, always picking up good fish.


Day 1, dhuie, snapper and baldchin. Day 2, mackerel, baldchin, tuna among others

Day 3, tuna, tuna, tuna Day 4, dhuies, coral trout and snapper among others

Tony’s dhuie weighed in at 13kgs, while Daniel’s coral trout, at 5kgs is the biggest caught from any of
my boats was the fish of the trip. I have also put you up as “Bite of the Month” Daniel.

Triple hook-up on tuna. Tony shows the new garfish teaser that they were using. Big bait big fish.

These guys take their fishing seriously. They catch fish. The reason that they catch fish is that
they use only the best gear, best bait, best lures, best teasers, and dare I say it, best boats.
Above is a couple of shots of their gear, 2 x Salt Water Stella 20000’s, Ryobi Safari, 2 x Van Staal’s, Accurate spinning reel,
Shimano jigger, 2x Penn 50TW’s, 2 x Saltiga spinning reels. Nothing under $800.00 each and some little change
from $2000.00. The rods were all off the shelf but quality stuff. They bring their own bait up from
Perth, human consumption quality squid, mullet and mulies, kept in top condition.
They start early, do the miles, fish hard and pray, it seems to work!

Did you know?
Trolling small “skirts” and “bullets” at high speed (10+knots) is a very effective way to get into the tuna.
You cover a lot more ground and you can keep up with the tuna schools if they are moving fast.
Blooded the 7.8m Walkaround
Sometimes I get out to fish myself. I did just that just before Easter in my new 7.8m boat when Sue was back from the mines.
We shot out to the 3 mile and there were tuna all over the place! They were so thick that in one spot
after a hook up and release the tuna were jumping all round the stationary boat. I grabbed my 6lb braid flick stick
and shot out a chrome slice, hooking up immediately. Sue had a go and she can’t cast far and made a mess of
it but still came up tight!

Sue watches the line peel off the 6lb braid outfit, and the result.

I struggled with one that might have been bigger than the rest and got bust off, but this very pretty and chunky striped tuna was a bonus.
7.8m Thunderbolt Walkaround
My new 7.8m boat is proving to be quite popular with bookings for Thevenard Island, Exmouth, and
Gnaraloo where it will be operating over the next couple of months.

I have worked out some rates and they can be viewed on my “Hire Rates “ page

You don’t have to catch a lot of fish to have a good time! Here is what Peter Hughes had to say!
Laurie,
It was a great weekend. Despite not feeling 100% and being the
worst fishermen to visit the region, we had a lot of fun. Thanks for all your help.
The following is a short paragraph on the fish and the weekend…
Well we did it. After threatening to head north from the ‘mind numbing’ drone of the
big smoke for some time, we finally took the plunge and headed for the sanctuary and promise of

where the big fish play amongst the majestic coast line of Kalbarri. It was worth it.
Despite the fish coming away with the bragging rights, young Stuart Bain from Geraldton,
landed a nice pink snapper just as the sea and the wind suggested we turn the
‘Roller’ back to quieter waters and awaiting iced cold beers.
It was a miracle we got away with that fish however, as just as he started to wind it in
,
the reel decided to give up the ghost. Some quick hand line work and a handy new net helped save the day.
Anyway, much to talk about over a cold one in the local as the sun bled away the day’s proceedings into the big blue.
It was a great weekend. We have vowed to return and have already started the count down,
but will ensure we come armed with a couple of decent reels…
Stuart Bain with the only fish for the day.


My next door neighbour and his father in law were out in the 5.3m picking up a
couple of fish. Nice one George!

Kalbarri Offshore & Angling Club, Local comp 22nd March 2008.


Paul Maindok landed a nice 11.9kg dhuie, while Kylie Martino holds her 5.45kg mac caught on 3kg line.
The first mac she has ever caught! All the bream caught in the river are tagged and released.
New Bag Limits and Closed Season
The newly released draft paper of the new bag limits and a closed season recently released by Fisheries Minister
Jon Ford has prompted a lot of debate among anglers here in Kalbarri. Cutting the bag limit of snapper to 2 and
increasing the size to 50cm is going to make a difference helping to increase stocks of pink snapper but closing
the fishery for 4 months is not going to make much difference. The resident dhuies, snapper & baldchin are still
going to be there waiting to get caught when the season opens again. You can still go out fishing during the closed
season and catch other fish such as mackerel, tuna, cods, red-throat emperor, blue-lined emperor, red emperor,
trevally & sharks etc, but I think a lot of the tourism will now head further north or put more pressure on other species.
You can still hire one of my boats & tow it north so it won’t affect me too much, & it is still a draft paper
& you have until the end of April to send a submission to the minister & tell him what you think!
Thevenard Island
Last year the 6.1m boat spent a lot of time up at Thevenard Island in the Mackerel Islands group off Onslow.
It is also up there this year.
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
I will be up at Gnaraloo Station for 10 days or so in June trying out my new 7.8m boat.
I take over the boat from Brett & Roger Simm who will have it the week before me.
If anyone wants to take the boat after me, I will finish with it on Sunday 8th June.
It will save you the tow all the way up.
The 6.1m boat will also be up there and the hire finishes on the 28th May if you want it after then.
It will save you the tow up as well.
Gnaraloo contacts for accommodation:
Barbara: 9315 4809
Email: bookings@gnaraloo.com.au
Website: Gnaraloo.com.au

Game 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

Last year's bloggs
http://www.murchisonboathirefishing2005.blogspot.com/

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

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

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