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Surf Casting and Angling Club Logo Surf Casting and Angling Club of W.A. (Inc.)

Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin field day report April 2003.
 


It's a funny thing about the weather, one day it can be blowing a gale and bucketing down, the next day calm conditions can prevail. So it was on the Cape-to-Cape field day. Friday and Saturday was only fit for a duck but Sunday was glorious. So all you fair weather fishers, you missed out big time.

Only 8 hardy souls braved the conditions to sign on at the Busselton Jetty. The boundaries had been extended to the Busselton jetty to allow access to sheltered water in light of the forecasted bad weather. All fished from Bunkers Bay to Dunsborough. The west coast was under a serious barrage of 5 metre swells that sent spray tens of metres into the air.

The word around town was that Salmon had arrived on their migration north. Although this was good news for us, it was also good news for the locals as well as all the other visitors to the area. Even the weather on Saturday did not deter them, so getting a good spot was like winning the lottery. Not being ones for crowds, Vix and I moved around on Saturday with only a few herring to show for it.

The Club owns an air conditioned holiday house at Kalbarri which is available for rent to the public and club members at competitive rates

With rising panic we decided we would have to confront the hordes early the next morning. We arrived at the rocks near Eagle Bay before sunrise only to be greeted by three other vehicles. Obviously some people don't have homes to go to.

Not long after sunrise all the positions were taken and not very much longer after that the first salmon were caught. They would arrive in small pods, which would mean three or four hook ups would occur at a time. Then all would go quiet for another half hour or so apart from the plague of resident herring. It was great to be there, a calm morning, clear waters and salmon leaping out of the water. That's the thing about fishing, one days a sow's ear and the next day a silk purse.

Tip:- if you want to get to the weigh in on time with more than 30 seconds to spare, don't leave a live bait in the water when there are salmon around. They wreak havoc to your time schedule.

The weigh in at Busselton showed some healthy catches. Everybody caught salmon. Terry 2, Tony 2, John 1, Vix 1, Spencer 4, Kade 4 and 3 for me. Tony displayed his usual fishing prowess with a range of species including 11 western rock blackfish. Spencer and Kade presented a good catch of skippy, herring and salmon, one of which scored Kade the heaviest scale fish, at 4.12 kg.

Another terrific fishing trip, even the ordinary weather on Saturday would have to be better than staying at home.

A word of warning though, some of the salmon down South can be difficult to subdue at times and will try to tear your leg off if you are not careful!

Hope to see you on the beach next time. Malcolm Harris, Field Day Officer.

===========

Vix Alexander seems to have got into the swing of things with the responsibilities of a fishing mate when it comes to helping land fish. Malcolm Harris had a live herring bait out and looked like he was tearing his clothes in frustration after the third salmon (or was it the fourth?) had gone for a run and spat the herring and hooks back out again. He claims one of his earlier salmon had taken to his trousers, but I ask you - how could a salmon do so much damage? Pack up time had arrived and the bait was left in the water while the gear was taken up to the car.

Anyway the rod went off once again and Malcolm scrambled down to the rocks and had the salmon well hooked this time. Most of the gear was up at the car in sight, but the doors were open and Vix was trying to keep one eye on the valuables and one eye on the salmon. She gaffed this one for her fishing partner, at the price of a ducking and sore back when she slipped on the rocks and ended up in the shallow water with the fish.

Vix, we know you got a good natured ribbing when the one and only full sized Bluff Creek salmon caught by a club member "miraculously grew legs, out ran its pursuer and scuttled back into the water", but you've more than made up for it now. Greater love..... So that's the reason Mal and Vix arrived at the weigh in at about 30 seconds to 12.

Just in case anyone thinks that falling into the water from the rocks on the south west coast is dangerous, and it isn't right to treat it lightly, we were fishing from low, safe rocks on the protected side of the Cape in super calm conditions on the sunny Sunday morning. Even during the full fury of the storm on Friday and Saturday, I had been standing less than half a metre above sea level and didn't get more than my feet wet - apart from all that rain from above...... The waves were moving parallel to the rocks and were not breaking on to them. Those reef boots with the steel spikes are just so good for moving around on the rocks - check out Hints and Tips:- Reef Boots . TerryF.

Fish species caught on this field day were:- herring, salmon, skippy, wrasse, western rock blackfish, tailor (small), tarwhine and rock cod.

Results.

AnglerWeightSpeciesFishTotal Points
Tony D'Alonzo 17.8 kg730298.3
Kade Ross 16.5 kg311245.3
Spencer King 16.2 kg312241.8
Malcolm Harris 11.5 kg315184.8
Terry Fuller 11.3 kg230183
John Romano 6.3 kg223132.5
Vix Alexander 4.7 kg28116.5
Filomena D'Alonzo 0 kg0040

Sportsperson of the Year Section Winners for April 2003.

Best Scale FishKade Ross Salmon4.12 kg
Best Bag of Scale fish Tony D'AlonzoMixed bag17.825 kg

Field Day Prizes for April 2003.

Best Scale FishKade Ross Salmon4.12 kg
Best Bag of Scale fish Tony D'AlonzoMixed bag17.825 kg

Final Field Day Sections for 2002/2003.


SectionForAnglerSpeciesWeight.
1ABest Scale Fish (1st Six Months)Spencer KingSalmon4.475 kg
1BBest Scale Fish (2nd Six Months)Tony D'AlonzoCobia12.45 kg
3Best Shark (4.5 kg min)Tony D'AlonzoShark8.15 kg
4Best Mulloway (2.0 kg min)Tony D'AlonzoMulloway4.35 kg
5Best Tailor (1.0 kg min)Tony D'AlonzoTailor2.1 kg
6Best Salmon (3 kg min)Spencer KingSalmon4.475 kg
7Best Skipjack Trevally (0.5 kg min) Paul TerpkosTrevally, Skipjack 1.50 kg
9Best Scale Fish (Other than above)Tony D'AlonzoPink Snapper2.45 kg
10Best Bag Of Scale FishTony D'AlonzoMixed Bag33.05 kg
11Best Bag Of Mulloway (2 Fish Min)Tony D'AlonzoMulloway13.30 kg
12Best Bag Of Tailor (2 Fish Min)George Holman Tailor7.10 kg
13Best Fish On S/H Rod 4kg b/s line (max)Bob HendersonBlack Bream0.746 kg
14Best Fish Caught on Fly RodJohn JardineTailor0.875 kg

Final Field Day Top Ten for 2002/2003.


PositionAnglerTotal Points
1Tony D'Alonzo3621.2
2Malcolm Harris1343.9
3Vix Alexander1068.3
4George Holman950.6
5Ross Kember545.1
6Spencer King608
7Terry Fuller592.6
8John Romano470.7
9Filomena D'Alonzo466.6
10Ken Black451.0





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This page last updated 27 April 2003.

Display of this page was updated on 21 January 2013. Contents updated as above.

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