Fishing, 2002

Some pictures of the fish we caught on our 2002 West Coast adventure.

Here I am doing it tough fishing just out from Honeymoon Bay which is located at Kalumburu Aboriginal Mission. You need to obtain a permit to stay at Kalumburu. There are only 3 places you are allowed to camp. The town campground, McGowan Island area and Honeymoon Bay. Honeymoon Bay is by far the best. The drive to Kalumburu is via the Gibb River Road which is a dirt road full of corrugations that shake the stuffing out of you and your vehicle. But the drive through the Kimberley is well worth it. The fishing is sensational. Even when you are taking it easy.
This lovely trevally was a great fight. I spotted some birds diving into the water so I knew there were some baifish around and an excellent chance of some bigger fish. I motored out to the birds and threw in a lure. Sure enough after a few brief minutes trolling, my lure was hit and the fish attached to it ran like the wind. Then the grind of reeling him in started. He started relentlessly circling as trevally have a want to do. He did not give up until he was completely exhausted. I let this one go as he was a bit too big for 2 people to eat. The good news is I caught another smaller one that became dinner. Yum.
Cathy really enjoyed her fishing. She has become a real fishing nut. Having caught a huge mulloway like this you cannot blame her. This fellow weighed in at 24 pounds. It took her a good half an hour to bring in. At the end of it I think she was more wasted than the fish. Oh and this was the smaller of the mulloway caught. Another at 28 pounds was also landed and another even larger was released. This was in addition to the 10 other mulloway that were released that day. The fish were caught in a deep hole that hadn't been fished for 2 years. A secret spot only known by a few people. Cathy and myself included.
Talk about hang on tight. Now this spanish mackerel liked to go for long runs. From the moment he hammered my lure he made one lighting run after another. All I could do was hold on to my fishing rod and watch the line being ripped off my reel. When given the chance I laid into him. Winding in as much line as possible between runs and working the fishing rod overtime. Thankfully I won the battle and he was let go to fight another day. He made a mess of my lure with his razor sharp teeth but it was well worth it. After all, lures with big teeth marks make great souvenirs of fishing trips and the caught fish.