On the Hunt in OZ

With the thought of a reasonable off shore wind and a high tide peaking at 2.30 am I decided that I needed another dose of sanity by heading down to the South West beaches. The destination of choice was made after checking the surf cams and I headed off looking forward to targeting a few salmon and hopefully a Gummy or School shark given the state of moon phase.

Arriving on the beach shortly before sunset I was greeted with a low swell and a falling tide, the bottom of the tide was scheduled to occur at around 7.30 so I had a little time up my sleeve to try and get some fresh Salmon for bait.
The outfit of choice was my Tip Tornado Super match and Penn 525 Mag loaded with 14 pound Ultima Distance and running an 80 pound Powerflex shock leader. The rig I had set up was a two hook clip down rig with SRT springs, cascade swivels and an Imp to connect the 6 oz grip lead to. Given the calm conditions I could have dropped the lead size down to 4 oz but with the intention of changing to bigger fillet baits and a pulley rig I had left the lighter leads at home.




(Unclipped 2 hook rig with cascade swivel and SRT spring)





( Two hooks in clipped position – SRT spring guarantees release on impact )

The fishing Started of slow as expected with the calm conditions and I had to start searching out wider to find the fish. I eventually got them sorted out wide behind the swell and started getting into the Salmon with the Whitebait and Squid strip cocktails doing the damage on fish from a ½ to 2 ½ pounds on the old scale.





( One of the many Salmon taken on the two hook rig – note IMP clip for bottom hook )

The two hook rig was working well with a number of fish being taken on both the top and the bottom hooks. I was running 2/0 circle hooks as I find these negate the need to strike the fish when fishing at the longer ranges. This combined with the 6 oz grip leads was very affective.
Another welcome catch was a reasonable sized Elephant fish which was destined to be taken back for Mum and Dad as they have been complaining about my constant catch and release. (I hate cleaning fish)




( Yet another of the many Salmon taken during the session )




( A face only a mother could love – The Elephant fish taken at range )

Later in the evening Lee decided that he too needed a break and had his heart set on getting into a Gummy or School shark. After a long day working on his video career the thought of relaxing on the beach with a bait in the water and a good cup of coffee was all the prompting that he needed.




( One of the many Skate taken during the session - This one by Lee on the Kompressor S)

Luke day was also on the hunt for a good fish but was having a hard time of it closer to Melbourne with the weed proving too much of a hassle on the beaches that he normally hits. Coming down he to got into s few good Salmon as well as the resident big Skate.





( Luke with a Good sized Salmon )


Interestingly both he and Lee got a few species that we don’t see on the beach all that often. Lee’s capture of a small Saw Shark was a first for him and a big surprise for all of us as its normally only caught in the North of NSW.




( The tropical visitor to our Victorian Beaches ???? )


The fishing was consistent on the rise but shut down around the top and it wasn’t until the change in the early part of the morning that we again started to get into the fish. On interesting bit of action was when Lee & Luke hooked into a large Skate together so it proved when the fish was brought to shore )




( Lee & Luke fighting the same Skate – greedy things they are )


By this stage we decided to call it a night and head back home, really looking forward to the coming weeks fishing but may have to slow down a bit as we lead into the June Championship comp. Need to get things sorted out there.




(Yet another Skate taken during the session – with so many of these on the prowl we though a Gummy Should have been among them )



Regards till next time.

some weird and wonderful looking fish you have down that way, thanks for sharing the pictures well done lads

I know every time I read one of your reports that I'm going to be extremely jealous and this time is no exception, excellent fishing again lads well done. I'm constantly amazed by the impressive weird and wonderful fish you guys catch over there.

Funky fish and a good report to read. Nice one.

Quick question, what does elephant fish taste like?

Not the tastiest looking things..

The taste excellent

Really? I caught one once in Namibia, wee thing about 35 cm long. Weirdest looking fish I've ever seen. Bit a a highlight on that trip.