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Surf Casting and Angling Club of W.A. (Inc.)
Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin field day report April 2003.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Angler | | Weight | Species | Fish | Total Points |
Tony D'Alonzo | | 17.8 kg | 7 | 30 | 298.3 |
Kade Ross | | 16.5 kg | 3 | 11 | 245.3 |
Spencer King | | 16.2 kg | 3 | 12 | 241.8 |
Malcolm Harris | | 11.5 kg | 3 | 15 | 184.8 |
Terry Fuller | | 11.3 kg | 2 | 30 | 183 |
John Romano | | 6.3 kg | 2 | 23 | 132.5 |
Vix Alexander | | 4.7 kg | 2 | 8 | 116.5 |
Filomena D'Alonzo | | 0 kg | 0 | 0 | 40 |
Sportsperson of the Year Section Winners for April 2003.
Best Scale Fish | Kade Ross | Salmon | 4.12 kg |
Best Bag of Scale fish | Tony D'Alonzo | Mixed bag | 17.825 kg |
Field Day Prizes for April 2003.
Best Scale Fish | Kade Ross | Salmon | 4.12 kg |
Best Bag of Scale fish | Tony D'Alonzo | Mixed bag | 17.825 kg |
Final Field Day Sections for 2002/2003.
Section | For | Angler | Species | Weight. |
1A | Best Scale Fish (1st Six Months) | Spencer King | Salmon | 4.475 kg |
1B | Best Scale Fish (2nd Six Months) | Tony D'Alonzo | Cobia | 12.45 kg |
3 | Best Shark (4.5 kg min) | Tony D'Alonzo | Shark | 8.15 kg |
4 | Best Mulloway (2.0 kg min) | Tony D'Alonzo | Mulloway | 4.35 kg |
5 | Best Tailor (1.0 kg min) | Tony D'Alonzo | Tailor | 2.1 kg |
6 | Best Salmon (3 kg min) | Spencer King | Salmon | 4.475 kg |
7 | Best Skipjack Trevally (0.5 kg min) | Paul Terpkos | Trevally, Skipjack | 1.50 kg |
9 | Best Scale Fish (Other than above) | Tony D'Alonzo | Pink Snapper | 2.45 kg |
10 | Best Bag Of Scale Fish | Tony D'Alonzo | Mixed Bag | 33.05 kg |
11 | Best Bag Of Mulloway (2 Fish Min) | Tony D'Alonzo | Mulloway | 13.30 kg |
12 | Best Bag Of Tailor (2 Fish Min) | George Holman | Tailor | 7.10 kg |
13 | Best Fish On S/H Rod 4kg b/s line (max) | Bob Henderson | Black Bream | 0.746 kg |
14 | Best Fish Caught on Fly Rod | John Jardine | Tailor | 0.875 kg |
Final Field Day Top Ten for 2002/2003.
Position | Angler | Total Points |
1 | Tony D'Alonzo | 3621.2 |
2 | Malcolm Harris | 1343.9 |
3 | Vix Alexander | 1068.3 |
4 | George Holman | 950.6 |
5 | Ross Kember | 545.1 |
6 | Spencer King | 608 |
7 | Terry Fuller | 592.6 |
8 | John Romano | 470.7 |
9 | Filomena D'Alonzo | 466.6 |
10 | Ken Black | 451.0 |
Copyright © 2003 Surf Casting and Angling Club of W.A. (Inc.)
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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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