New Years Kick off in OZ

Well as planned Allan, Graham and I decided to head over to the western beaches to see if we could start the New Year off with a bang or at least with something other than the small pinkies that we have been getting in the bay.

Our trip was good with minimal traffic and strangely enough very few police cars given the holiday period and it being news year’s day. It was a pleasant day even though the forecast was for South Westerlies of between 15 to 25 knots forecast and a swell between 1.5 to 2 meters and the possibility of it increasing later in the evening.

Weapons of choice for this session were to be my Shimano Aspire 130MPT matched with the Daiwa SL30SHB matched with 22 pound Ultima Powersteel (The more I use this line the more I like it). I tied my now standard plaited double courtesy of Lee, who showed me how to tie it properly. It’s amazing how you never stop learning things, that’s what I love about this sport. Then my 70 Pound Shock leader and the obligatory pulley rigs and twin hook rig running a 6/0 circle with a 2/0 circle as a bait keeper to allow the main hook to be kept well clear to work properly.


(The Century TTLD Ultra Lite and Squall and the Aspire 130MPT & Daiwa ready for action)

I was to use my Century Tip Tornado Ultra lite matched with the Penn Squall 12 loaded with 12 pound Ultima Distance also with plaited double and running 50 pound shock leader and pulley rig but with a 2/0 circle and no .4 540 as a bait keeper. This smaller set up was specifically done to target the salmon which we hoped would be available prior to it getting dark.

Sinker choice due to the size of the swell and the large rip that we were fishing required a 6 oz grip lead for the Aspire and a 4/12 0z for the Ultra lite . As it was to prove the swell and rip did become considerably stronger and leads went to 7 oz and 5 oz respectively.



(Allan using my Century Tip Tornado LD Super match mated to his Penn Torque 100 and also his Kilwel Pendulum 1 mated also to a Daiwa 30.)

As expected the winds were quartering into our faces from the southwest but as you will see from the photo’s the beach formation was quite good and our hopes were high that we would get into something worthwhile.
Starting out with the lighter outfits it wasn’t long before the first small salmon had fallen foul of the Ultra lite and Penn... Nothing big but good size for baits, especially the heads which I prefer for sharks and the like.



(Small Salmon destined for bait duty later in the evening)

With all of us taking a few salmon hopes were high and Graham in particular was hoping that he could put a new species on the list of his beach captures.



(Graham set up and hoping for something good)

Well as has been my luck in the later part of 2010 the first capture other than the salmon was one of the not to desirable Port Jackson. Thoughts of a nigh filled with these and skates started haunting me yet again. Still the night was young and we had no intention of leaving early.

As the evening progressed this were going slow with the crabs smashing the baits and proving to be a real problem with the way they decimated the bait supply.




(With the coming of the evening our hopes were running high)

It was with great relief that the crabs suddenly stopped harassing the baits and within a short time my Aspire let out a lovely scream and the fish powered off with the salmon head bait. The elation was short lived as after feeling the weight and power of the fish the line went sickeningly limp as the inevitable bite of from a good shark occurred. Once again my preference for not running a short bite trace had cost me possibly the best fish of night.

Shortly after this we had shouts of elation from down the beach as Graham landed his first ever gummy shark. I must say that the smile of his face made up for the loss of my own fish. It’s great to see someone realise a goal of theirs especially after a number of close calls on previous trips.



(A very happy Graham with his Gummy)




(Mate these things shake about)

At this stage all our hopes were up as things should improve as we progressed through the change of tide and with fresh baits out it wasn’t long before Allan was soon into a fish of his own. But as luck would have it was not to be Al’s night and he lost the fish as well as a few others. I know how that feels all to well.

It was shortly after this that I then had another good run on the Aspire and the fish powered off down the beach using the rip to its advantage and it pulled of line with ease even though I was fishing locked up and with a reasonable heavy drag pressure. Based on the difficulty of controlling the fish and the way it was able to resist my attempts at bring it in, I had images of a quite large fish. As you will see that proved not to be the case as we eventually found that my circle hook had actually taken the fish in the side just in front of the fin and I was therefore trying to bring the gummy in sideways across the rip.




(My Gummy with the hook in its side – still it was good to get one on the board)



(It’s always good to start the new year off with a good fish)

After this things slowed and I decided that as we had a long drive back it would be best if at least one of us had a bit of sleep and therefore I headed back to the car. It’s amazing how tired you get with a long session and it should be stressed that for safety sake at least one member of the party should be fit for the drive back. No point ending a top evening with an accident.

As I woke to the new day I realised that the boys had been at it all nigh and so running back down I was disappointed to find that nothing else was take after I had left. Still it had been a great night and a top way to kick off the New Year.

Looking forward to the next session.
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great report as usual ,Jeremy,what a location! and some good fish too,happy new year mate....keep swingin ' the lead.

great report as usual mate,
would love a bit of that fishing and weather now!

brian

great report and happy new year

Great report Mate and a decent start to 2011.... lets hope it keeps up.