South Oz Sojourn

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South Oz Sojourn

Postby JPS » Tue Dec 06, 2011 11:54 am

The trip over to South Australia was to be a first for many reasons, the first time that I would be fishing in S.A, the first time driving on a beach with my own car and the first time meeting up with some of the newer members of the club.
Well all I can say that it was a brilliant weekend and one that I will remember for a long time to come, many thanks to the guys for making it a top weekend.

Going over the key activities, this started with Eddie’s organisation of the trip that enabled me to meet up with all of the guys at the Salt creek café. This café is a treat with plenty of atmosphere and fishing tackle and memorabilia displayed that wets the angler’s appetite with pictures and trophies of fish that have been taken from the adjacent beaches. The size of the Mulloway taken in South Australia is legendary and with these in my mind I was looking forward to sending some bait out in search or them. The other guys and gal turned up a little while after I got there and after meeting and greeting we all headed down to the park entrance to organise the camping fee’s and let the tyres down for the drive along the beach.
One item that impressed me was the little valve caps that Jonathan had that were set for 18 PSI and you simply screwed them on , with them automatically shutting of at that pre set level, just need to find some for myself now .

After setting up the cars it was a simple matter of just following the other guys and keeping along the same track that they had to ensure a nice firm base to drive along. The beach was quite soft and it would be easy for the inexperienced like me to get them in trouble so I was grateful for the help and advise, it’s so much easier to learn from those that know.

We passed a number of other anglers and it was surprising to see the vehicles along the beach, something you just can’t do in Victoria.

We arrange the vehicles to take advantage of them as wind breaks as the forecast for the weekend had turned less than ideal, we blamed this on Stormboy’s involvement.

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( The cars as a wind Break )

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(Nothing beats a comfortable camp set up)

Setting up was a quick operation with everyone but me knowing exactly what was expected and it wasn’t long before we were getting the gear put. Due to the extreme wind conditions and the state of the surf it was evident that the lighter outfits were not going to cut the mustard so I took out my Century TT Super match mated with the Penn Torque 100 loaded with 20 pound Red ice, through to a plaited double and then to my shock leader and pulley rig with 7 oz grip lead. The other guys were using various other outfits, Harry was running his Penn 535 mag and Poseidon, Eddie was running the same rod but with his Torque as well. Jonathan was running with his Kompressor S and Torque and Mike and Wendy were running the older Pacific Composit Kevlar wraps mated with threadlines.

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( Harry and I waiting )
Casting distance wasn’t a major issue as the beach formation is very similar to that of our ninety mile beach down in Victoria with the primary gutter between right on the shore break to approximately 60 meters before another sandbar which was quite wide whilst we were there. If the conditions were less stirred up I would have had a second set up cast out wide for the fish that work these areas. As it was I targeted the drop off on the far side of the first gutter as I assumed the fish would be working this line feeding on anything dislodged from the wash.
Bait selection was the usual fair with Pilchards, Garfish and Squid being the main baits , I had brought along some much smaller salted pilchards as I find that a lot of the time the fish are feeding on the smaller bait fish, but that’s also because down in Victoria our fish average much smaller than the S.A versions. As it proved I was to take all of my fish on these smaller baits.



The first evening session drew a blank for all of us though that didn’t matter as it was better than being in the office and the drive along the beach for me was a real buzz, it being my first solo drive.

The morning session on the Saturday saw the wind slightly abated but this was short lived. It was however at this time that I took my first fish which proved to be a small Jewfish ( Mulloway ), sorry no photo’s as I foolishly had left the camera at the camp and didn’t want to keep it out of the water as I find that they don’t fair well based on the fish I have taken in Vic.

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( A nice sized Salmon for the Victorian )

The second fish was a nice Salmon around 6 pounds which was considered reasonable by Eddie and the guys but was the biggest that I have taken this year, just wish we had more of this size back home.
At this stage I must have been irritating the others as they were talking about crazy Victorians scaring all the fish away.

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( Second salmon but a bit smaller – destined for bait )

Harry was casting well and it bodes well for the club as he will be targeting that 200 meter mark and based on how he was putting the baits out that won’t be to far away.
Harry has also gotten a TTR that will see duel service as a slide bait rod and also for his field work so he will be well used to the rod by the time the Australian Championships come around.

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( The big guy )

It was great to be out on the beach and even though the wind picked up to the same level as the Friday evening it was still good as the gutter didn’t have too much suspended sand and very little in the way of weed.

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( Eddie as usual with a smile on his face )

One drawback of the strong wind was the fact that I was on the downwind side of everyone and knew exactly when young Eddie was casting as his OTG would kick up the sand which would then come stinging my way .

The afternoon was a laid back affair with lunch and a good B/S session being the order of the day, with the focus of an afternoon session with berley deployed along the beach in the hope of attracting some larger quarry.

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As you will see from the video footage it was quite a rough session and even with the berley we once again drew a blank though I did stick it out till late in the hope of getting that elusive monster.

http://youtu.be/0kp6_HtZGfY


With the plan to head off early on Sunday morning I decided to get out a quick session and one again I took out my TTSM and sent out the small baits hoping to get onto a few of the Salmon that I hope would be there. As it turned out Jonathan also had the same idea and joined me shortly after I had baited up and cast out. It was pleasing to have him there and once again confirm the capture of two other small Mulloway.

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(The scenery was great as well as the company )

Unfortunately Jonathan wasn’t able to get onto a fish for the session but we did get him casting with a swing which was great to see.
It was a pleasure being there but as with all things it had to end so we then cleaned up the camp, bagging all the garbage and then headed out. Once again the drive was a pleasure as it allowed me to study more of the coastline on the way back.




A stop back at the park to re-inflate the tyres and get a few group photos and then it was back to the café for a quick cupper and snack before say the final farewells and commencing the drive back home.

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( Inflating the tyres back up )


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( The South Australian Crew )

Thanks to everyone for the opportunity to join in and I look forward to the next event, and I promise that I wont tell the fish to only bite on my lines.


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Regards

For this message the author JPS has received thanks:
keith (Thu Dec 15, 2011 7:45 am)
JPS
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