The locals then are the first to complain when services are held back due to funding or when, heaven forbid, they actually get caught doing the wrong thing.
Participants
Me – nicknamed – the Skipper
Roger Smith – nicknamed – Dodger
Target Species
Tailor
Co-ordinates
Cellito Beach
Methods Employed
Beach casting baits on top of the tide
The Tally
Score Dodger Nil – Skipper Nil
.
The Story of the Day
There are days when things just don’t go to plan and this was one of them. Having said that my mate Dodger does come up with some “interesting” schemes at times, he is definitely one to keep his ear to the ground and generally never hears all the story.
This was one of those days.
Spurred on by the meagre picking from yesterday which after dinner had disappeared, Dodger was keen for another go if only to take some fish home to “justify” the trip from Sydney. All he really needs is the slightest reason, which could be a delivery of goods just north of his office to encourage to travel the rest of the way to Smiths Lake (some three hours from his home), but an esky filled with piscatorial delights is never a bad thing when walking back in the front door.
The wind has not abated, and of the truth be known the weather was decidedly worse than yesterday. But the tides were right at dusk and the sea and the moon just right (according to Dodger), so off we go. We take the Cruiser as neither of us have a beach pass and at least I have the recovery gear should we get bogged getting as close as we can to the beach without actually traversing it.
The track to the beach goes along a private thoroughfare to a caravan park owned by the great pearl dealer Pas Palley. From the caravan park another privately owned road traverses around Smiths Lake and onto the beach. We are parking at the end of this road, a short walk to the beach and the surf.
We gather up our gear and head out onto the beach. The weather is worsening as we walk. Scuds of rain are carreering towards us. Thankfully we both have wet weather gear and with the wind at our backs the effect of the wetness is minimised.
When you are fishing from the beach, or any fishing for that matter, the freshness of the bait is key, and the stuff Dodger has brought is something significantly less than that. More that once frozen pilchards is never a good plan and the more times it was frozen the more mushy it gets.
We manage to launch baits into the ocean for little or no return. One suspects we are getting bites as the hooks return baitless, but there is always the suspicion the lack of freshness might actually be the cause.
The approaching scuds and storms provide lots of fodder for my phone.
Cellito beach is 4wd accessible but a sign points everyone to the southern end. Our fishing position is directly opposite the entrance and late on a Sunday afternoon the number of drivers (all locals I suspect) head to the northern end of the beach in defiance of the sign. I bet it will be people like this that will scream blue murder should the beach be closed because of the apparent misuse of it.
This annoys the crap out of me, as does those who enter the beach without a permit. The beach is patrolled regularly and consistently when the Rangers arrive they send at least half of the beach goers on their way (with a fine). In this instance, I am happy to pay the cost of the permit as the money effectively goes to the Council’s ability to open the Lake when it fills above the sewerage levels, creating a major tourist attraction and therefore income for the area.
The short sightedness of the locals and their insular prejudices towards visitors often leads to altercations, especially where dogs are concerned. Locally owned ones running wild throughout the hoards of children enjoying the calmness of the lake on one side and the motion of the ocean on the other with an expectation of safety.
The locals then are the first to complain when services are held back due to funding or when, heaven forbid, they actually get caught doing the wrong thing.
Annoyance aside, the fishing gets no better, although I think I had a decent bite at one stage. We call it quits as tow storms are now converging and whilst this creates spectacular photographs in not the pace to be, so we head back to the Cruiser and then the house. Although we have no fish to clean, because we have been on the beach there is gear to be rinsed and oiled and legs to be de-sanded.
Like I said, sometimes even the best laid plans of mice and men… Especially those of the ever hopeful Dodger.
Author
