Around Oz the First Time - Chapter 60 - 80 Mile Beach Day 5

Today is a Monday of a Queen’s Birthday weekend in Western Australia and is going to be a warm one. Expectations of in excess of 40 degrees might mean the air conditioning cops a hiding today. It’s a slow start, with a nice sleep in.

We are not going anywhere. Although the internet is awful, Robyn can struggle through, even though she does grumble at outages which are constant.

High tide will be around 11.30am, so 10.00am will be a good time to start at the fishing pursuit. Today it will be catch and release as we have more than we need, in fact we have three bags in the freezer with enough fish for everyone in each. I go first, eager to get the “early worm”.

The tide is still rising, and I go immediately to the strip baits option, having set some aside yesterday as we filleted the catch. Before the others arrive, I have landed a small shark. Easily returned to the water, I am off the mark. The fisherman next to me acknowledges my first catch. Silver Leader arrives as I catch another shark, and after a quick snap, this one is returned as well.

The fish slow for a while, but as Forbsy arrives, his first cast is met with a toothy terror biting right through the line. Immediately thereafter, I get a good strike, another shark, this one is about twice the size of the first two. Even though we are catching fish and they are fighting hard, they are not the targeted species.

All of a sudden, the fisherman next to us seems to be on and hauls in a large salmon, perhaps things are about to change. Forbsy has another fight with something that his gear won’t allow him to land and he is bitten off again. I look around and the fisherman next to us is walking across to me.

From Canada, Jeff is unaware of what he has caught, a nice blue nose salmon. Happy, he returns to his gear to blood the fish and return to fishing, but he goes missing for a moment. He must have gone to tell a mate of the fish he has caught as another fisherman appears to follow him back.

Just as he sends his bait heading into the sea, I get a huge bite. Thankfully I am using my heavy gear. The fish is taking line, so I tighten the drag. The fish jumps, and jumps again. It’s a shark, and a larger one, around 1.25 metres long and is not happy at being hooked. I get it to the back of the breakers and it uses the swell to hold its position. A large set comes through and I use this to wash the fish up the beach.

Now with the fish on the beach I need to get the hooks out and return it to the water. The fish has already bent the top hook of the gang, and I have trouble getting the hooks from the mouth of the shark. Once the fish is unhooked, I gab it by the tail and Silver Leader snaps some photos for me. The tide is at hits top and the water is right up the gear. I could throw the shark back here, with it slithering past Forbsy and Silver Leader fishing in knee deep water, but I walk down past them and launch the shark into the oncoming waves.

This shark attack is getting a bit boring. I have caught 4 and the others have also caught several. There have been very few salmon, although Forbsy caught a smaller one which I have used for more strip baits.

With the new baits the luck changes. Forbsy and I are on almost immediately and the fish are more than decent, approaching 500mm in length and putting up a great fight. As the tide falls the salmon give way to small trevally and the final shark of the day. Robyn has joined us now, I offer her the line while I go to the bag for a new bait, and as I return, she seems to be into a fish, but alas its just another clump of seaweed. Seems she can only catch things starting with “sea” – seaweed and seagulls.

Jeff, the fisherman adjacent to us is from Toronto in Canada, and much more of a novice than I. I walk over to him with my last salmon and offer it to him, which he accepts with glee. I notice he has tied his pilchard on with cotton in a vain attempt to slow the fish from stealing as quick as we have endured. The material is called ghost cotton and he says, they use it all the time in Canada.

His efforts in catching fish is very naive. He watches the top of his rod rather than feel the bites through the line, and when there is a strike he attempts to rip the fish’s teeth out and immediately allow the line to go slack, giving the fish every opportunity to spit the hook. I suggest to him it might be easier to feel the bites via the line and to always keep contact and while he suggests that makes sense, changing his habits are difficult, which I can understand.

As I pack up, I notice he appears to lose another fish. I wander over with a strip bait I found I still had in my bait bag, unwind the ghost cotton off his mangled bait and set him up with the new rig. Results are immediate, he is on. Its only a small trevally, but he is ecstatic that not only did he feel the bites and is able to strike, but the bait is still usable even after the fish has been caught.

I suggest to him I am off and if he likes we can meet at the cleaning table sand I will help him fillet his fish, again he is very appreciative, and packs up to head off to the cleaning tables with us. At the table we get talking about His hometown and that the Calgary Stampede is one of the things on my bucket list. I am not the best filleter in the world, but my teacher back in Smiths Lake used to do it for a living. I impart my meagre knowledge, and show him the correct technique and we manage to produce great fillets ready for him to throw on the barbeque, which if his enthusiasm is anything to believe will be for lunch.

He is travelling around Australia, working here, camping there. He has just come from a 6 month stint on a property near Broome, which he thoroughly enjoyed and now is simply bumming around checking out fishing spots. There is no plan, just like a Grey Nomad, he is simply wandering, enjoying his new found fishing passion. He is young, maybe 30 and travelling alone. He is easy to talk to and I suggest to him to join us for a beer later in the afternoon at the Silver Leader Beer Garden.

Although we were on catch and release we caught three fish of note today, which I have filleted and were going to give to the van behind us if they had no luck today, but the fisherman who seemed to come back with Jeff after he caught his first fish, has also had no luck. He is also close by and I offer the fillets to him, and before he can answer his wife has snaffled them and put them in their fridge.

I show their children pictures of the largest shark I caught this morning, noting it was right out front of the park and they suggest they will not be swimming here, but enjoy the more refreshing pursuit of mud pie making, throwing and adorning their bodies. Thank goodness for the shower at the edge of the beach I suspect their mother says under her breath. There is enough sand here to troop through the van without adding sticky grey mud to the list. It may be great for the complexion, but the idea of adding it to the washing does not appeal.

The fishing done, its time for lunch, and with my “cankles” looking as bad as ever, I think an afternoon with my feet up and iced might be in order. There is plenty of ice in the freezer, despite its fullness with other things, so I grab a couple of tea towels, prop the cankles on cushions to get them above my heart, and Robyn ensures the poultices are positioned properly and I lay back, exhausted from the fishing and nod off.

I awaken to the smell of lamb chops cooking, have I slept all afternoon – no – Robyn has started on a braised chop stew for dinner. Tonight’s repast will be one of her specialities. The lamb chops are browning in the saucepan, the onions and carrots are chopped ready to go. She is spicing and adding condiments, secret Robyn business, to the pot. I suggest I can peel potatoes for her, she retorts they are not needed yet.

For the rest of the afternoon we are teased with the smell of the impending dinner. Close to eating time I am allowed to peel the potatoes, and thinking they are for the pot, which is what I would do, I throw the first lot in only to be told the potatoes are for mashing and I should retrieve that which I have incorrectly added to the stew. This I do and start the boiling process on the stove next to the stew.

At 6.00pm Robyn dishes out the tantalising meal and we go and join the others. Silver Leader comments they have been terrorised by the smell all afternoon as well given they are down wind of us, and were eager to see what we were having. It’s the last day of the long weekend and there will be expectation of the parts required turning up soon, but I believe they may not get a call tomorrow as there will have needed to be a working day for the parts to get to Port Headland from Perth, meaning the trip will be tomorrow to pick up the parts. Luckily the mine mechanics, because the fishing has been so good are staying the entire week, having been joined by friends. This means that rather than Silver Leader, Forbsy and I who have little, or in my case no, experience in mechanical attributes, there will be “experts” available to fit the part and relocate this fan belt which seems to go up and down and around many pulleys in the engine.

In any event, tomorrow will give us another high tide and another chance to chase the elusive salmon prize. Whilst we have caught plenty of blue nose salmon, we are yet to see a threadfin, and the trevally have been hand size, perhaps there is a big one to have some fun with. Certainly, there will be more sharks to play with.