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Surf Casting and Angling Club of W.A. (Inc.)
Bluff Creek and Local field day report March 2010 |
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Pat McKeown camped near our camp and we also had a past member Wayne Morris came with us and he and Pat fished together which was good to see.
On the Saturday morning we all had a trip up and down the beach and stopped to have a chat with the Wessels. Peet showed us a salmon that didn't get away (caught the previous night) which will go straight into the open section as it weighed 7.1 kg which is a potential club record. Needless to say we were all green and looking forward to catching its mates.
Everyone signed on at 12 o'clock and made their way to their fishing spots. Very noticeable was the smile on Pat McKeown's face as he was enjoying himself immensely and it didn't go away until he left on the Monday. It's good to see new members enjoying themselves.
The fishing was a battle with the wind and the drift and the fish were proving a bit on the light side. On the Sunday we had a two-hour break from 12 to 2 and I would like to thank Peter Stoeckel for making his barbecue available for those gathered at a pleasant time was spent spinning yarns and comparing fishing stories. Back to the fray on Sunday afternoon and some members gave the fishing a serious nudge for little result. Noticed Mal Harris coming in late and he certainly put some hours in.
I had a request from that "lady in pink" Sandra Wessels to drive past her more often as every time I pass by she was landing a herring! Peet's "Indian dance" apparently wasn't working very well.
At the weigh in on the Monday most were packed and ready to go and the remainder left about an hour later with Dave, Terry and myself staying on until the Tuesday.
Morris Kolman did his usual for Bluff Creek and weighed in the largest salmon at 3.625 kg so he had bragging rights. His bag was over 4 kg. Others to do well were Mal Harris, Peet Wessels, Theo Van Niekerk, and Sandra Wessels continues to catch good bags of fish. I think I might have to ask for lessons or else she might have to drive past me a few times!
The man of the moment was the Lea Taylor. He not only had the largest bag of quality fish, he also was able to enter one of his salmon in the Baron Lure Salmon section as Lea caught all his fish on metal lures, no bait. Congratulations Lea on a superb effort and shows how good he is with lures. I am sure we will benefit from his experience later.
At this point I will say the three of us (along with Wayne Morris) did enjoy Pat McKeown's company but you have to have a certain tolerance as you don't know what he is going to come out with next.
We left on the Tuesday morning around 9:30 and you guessed it - the wind stopped blowing and there were no whitecaps on the ocean. When we arrived at the beach at the bottom of the track, even though the beach was wide, the water was coming right up the beach and into the creek. We had to be a bit more careful. Tyres pumped up and away on home after a very pleasant weekend.
Arriving home I was contacted by Peter Pekaar with a report on the local fishing and I was pleasantly pleased with the numbers who are partaking of Peter and Marcy's office to fish with them and to learn of the number and achievement of those who fished the river with them on the Monday morning. Peter has a report elsewhere in this issue of Real Talk. I look forward to continued participation from club members.
I was really pleased to get a report from my wife Kaye that Trevor Stam had weighed in two herring. This is very special as Trevor hasn't fished for about 15 years, and I hope there will be more to come.
Acting Field Day Officer George Holman
The trip to Bluff Creek
After much sorting and loading it is finally time to depart for Bluff Creek. Making my way out of Perth at 9 o'clock on Friday the 26th Feb, I headed for my first port of call, Williams. After a long drive with traffic doing things they should not be doing - do double white lines mean pass as many cars as you can without being hit? Anyway the day was very warm, with no air conditioning in this limo.
Arrived Williams about midday, drove through to find a lunch spot, found a good spot with tables and shade, parked up and sat down to have a bite and drink when in drives another vehicle and stops opposite where I am sitting, family gets out with kids real happy to be there. After much whining dad takes bikes off car and lets them run around. So much for peace and quiet, pack up and move on towards Mount Barker.
Arrived Mount Barker and refueled for trip to Manypeaks. Got going again and turned off into Millbrook Road from Albany Highway, going along road was being worked on, slowed down spotted a guy up ahead with a sign reads Stop which I did, no other traffic on road wanders up and leans on the door:- "how ya going?"
"Good" I said. To which he turned the sign and I drove on arriving at Manypeaks.
Looked around, not much happening here, then a teacher comes out of the school and rings a hand bell to end the day for the kids. All six walked across the road under escort from the teacher but wait, there is more happening, the school bus arrives, the local dog runs up and greets a boy getting off the bus. Well after all that George calls and gives me the news he is about an hour away.
So with that I wander into the shop and buy a paper to read whilst waiting. Need a walk so thought well go and see the sights. There's the CWA hall, tennis courts, that's the end of the sights that end of town go the other way and find what seems to be a caravan park and a couple of houses. Oh well back to the paper.
George and his merry band arrive for a bit of a chat (hard to get a word out of George)
Well departed Manypeaks for Bluff Creek down the road somewhat and turn off into the road in next minute the corrugations start and very dusty. Backed off to have a car right up my rear, a local farmer's son left in the dust then it starting raining, turned the wipers then it stopped, oh well it tried.
Met up with George and his merry men to deflate tyres and set up for sand etc.
"Let's go" is the cry from George off we go up and down around corners when all of a sudden is a trailer coming at me George reversing to have another go at getting over the hill. I reverse to get out of the way, anyway off we go onto the beach to head for the campsite, arrived about 6 o'clock. Some are already there from the previous day Peet, Sandra and Wayne Morris.
We set up camp. Terry comes over and invites me to dine with them that evening. How could I refuse. We dine on toast and stew, very nice but wait there is sweets. Terry's special ground rice custard, we all settle down from that when Terry gets up and comes out with pumpkin scones his wife had made. This is high living to the max. Terry and Dave sorted dishes whilst George supervised. I watched in amazement at this well oiled machine in operation.
George put up the Loo. Dave was waiting but I beat him. Most upset was Dave he always test drives the Loo.
Saturday.
Very windy. Set off looking for fishing spots with Wayne. Thanks to Terry's "Reading the Beach" talk at the last General meeting it made sense looking at the beach. We went East and West found a couple of spots, went back to camp had a chat, headed back out with George and his merry band looking for spots. Found some more and decided time to fish, loaded up with bait and a 6oz sinker, cast out but a strong wind and undertow brought it back in down the beach. Wayne said you need a bigger sinker and kindly supplied me with one 8oz. My goodness like casting a house brick, anyway got it in the water.
Gave it away for lunch, went back to camp George and his merry crew were there what you get? Nothing I replied. Let's see your rig that's not a rig here copy these which I did. Headed back out at 4 o'clock still blowing, cast out, got a bite then dragged in a good size to me herring. Then a while later another, George was real happy, couldn't catch a herring to save his life but caught other good fish. After 4 hours of wind and sand, time to head home for a feed and a couple of beers.
Said my goodnights and went to bed. Still very windy, rocked the vehicle all night, still warm and out of the weather and a good day.
Sunday
Woke up to a windy day, as a matter of fact a very windy day. George and his bunch of merry men still cutting wood must need their beauty sleep.
Looked over Wayne was stirring waved good morning then onto organizing breakfast. Tried sitting at table, nobody to serve breakfast. Oh well better get it myself. After breakfast had a chat with Wayne decided to go onto the beach and try some fishing. Wind stronger on beach, traveled up and down. Some club members already fishing. Really keen this lot, I thought, better make an effort, located a spot just past the reef at the western end of beach.
Cast in, line came back, caught in rip, oh well, fix that put a bigger sinker on, cast an 8oz out nearly took my arm off, still got out and held bottom. Wayne wanders over, just heard weather forecast winds getting stronger from Albany to Israelite Bay. You beauty more wind. Tried a bit longer, no bites just hard slogging, drove along beach everyone else in same boat. "Just keep trying" is the catch cry.
Wayne and I decided to go back to camp for a while. George and his merry band have woken up and are moving around. Quite a sight in the morning groans, moans much scratching to greet the new day.
George relates the story on the dunny last night. George went up the hill in the moonlight roll in hand, wind blowing, to the spot where the dunny stands but to his amazement it's gone. Can't be I put it here Friday, do we have a dunny napper in the area? After looking around he spots it blown over by the wind. Well no choice but to put it back up, after all effort George sat in the moonlight contented with a job well done. After hearing that, decided time for a cuppa. As time was getting on decided to stay in camp and tidy up ready for the lunch time Barbie.
One more go George decided to go onto the beach and try before lunch, came back no luck.
Well time for the club BBQ over by the creek at the other camp who kindly offered their BBQ to cook on, so cook we did and enjoyed the company at the Barbie. Everyone in good spirits even those that caught a little and those with stories to tell. Well meat is cooked and beer is cold, time to sit and enjoy.
Finished lunch when the dog came over to greet me I thought, but my plate smelt good, better clean that for him thought he, well a few good licks and the plate is like brand new. Well done. Off we go and see what else is on offer at this function thinks he. As the stomach is contented with food and a beer it's time to go back to my camp. Had a chat with Wayne and decide to wait and see if wind dies down. The wind gods must have heard as it got stronger, decided to stay in camp.
George and his merry men came back from the BBQ and decided it was time for a nana nap, off they went snore and more snore then wake up. Terry reading a book, George wandering around, Dave still in bed did not want to get up, any way finally rises and George says "let's have one more cast"
George and Dave got dressed up to go onto the beach, Terry being the sensible one of the merry band takes a chair and book.
Well later on the George and his merry band return to camp windblown, not sure if any fish were caught.
Well had tea and a chat with George, Wayne and the merry band by then time to turn in. Wind rocks me to sleep maybe to dream about the wind calming down and catching that big one or any fish will do.
Monday
Somebody was very keen coming through the camp just before daylight on their way to the beach, hopefully it paid off. After a while daylight started to appear, time to get up and start my final day at Bluff Creek. After making a brew and having breakfast it was time to start packing up. Wayne and I had agreed to travel out together as I was not sure of way out, my wife reckons my sense of direction is off with the fairies. I don't know why she thinks like that!!!
Then George as his merry band appear stunned by daylight!! Well one more cast is the order off they go. Did they catch anything George will have own up to that one.
Any way time is drawing close for the weigh in at 10 o'clock. People assemble all waiting for the clock to chime 10.
Out comes the box with the scales inside. The lid is removed the scales are removed and placed on the table set and ready to weigh the catch with a flurry out come all the prized possessions for the competition weigh in. Lea steps up and weighs in, well done 15 fish @ 7.08kg makes him top dog on the day.
Top Lady on the day is Sandra 8 fish @ 3.296kg, well done. Peet had the fish of the weekend a really good sized salmon. I am sure the photo will be passed around at a few meetings to come!! I would like to add since joining the club and going on field trips I have not gone home empty handed, thanks people.
All the results will be published and announced I am sure.
After much chat about what was caught and missed we all started to think about moving on towards home. I am sure all had a good time with top company with the same interests. I would like to thank all who passed on knowledge and friendship over the weekend.
Well all packed up and ready to go on to Albany to catch with my brother and his family.
Wayne and I set off after saying goodbye to George and his merry band who are staying on until Tuesday. Hope the wind dies down for them?
Well along the track we go, I am in the lead, whoops wrong turn how big is that hill? Wayne catches up and we decide to head for the beach. Smart move can't wander too far there. Arrive at turnoff to Bluff Creek Road track up and over the hill winding through the scrub to come out by the farm gate, park up to pump up tyres for trip home. Nearly all of the group are there, compressors going flat out.
Then in a flurry of dust motorbikes and quad bikes appear out of the track, load up on their respective trailers and tray tops, all take off down the track. By then we had finished so once more goodbye to group and set off down the road, still very corrugated good to get onto the sealed road again.
Go through Manypeaks for last time for a while. See you all next time as I waved to the dog on side of the road wondering where all the traffic is coming from.
Follow Wayne into a truck bay to offload rubbish from trip, say our goodbyes and head off to Albany with good memories of a trip with the Surfcasters.
Pat McKeown
Local field day report Monday 1 March
Left home in the hills around 4:20am to meet with fellow Surfcasters that didn't go on the Bluff Creek trip. Met Shane Wignell, Ray Walker and Marcia and Peter Pekaar bright and early for a 5:45am start under the Canning Bridge at Mt Pleasant area.
After some fishy stories from Peter as to the likely 'hot' spots in the nearby area, it was decided we head back over the bridge and fish lures along the shore.
Peter gave us newer members some instruction on tying a leader to braided line and also how to tie the correct knot to your lure. Thanks Pete for the time taken to show us.
I have never fished lures or plastics before, so I decided to try some soft plastics, whilst the others opted for their favourite hard-bodied lure. Armed with my assorted range of plastic wrigglers, I headed up the shore a few metres and into the water. 1st cast didn't really get much distance on a 1/16 jig head, so remembering my lessons on single handed dry casting techniques, I ripped one further into the river.
Well, it was very worth the long trip down the hill from Gidgegannup; as the moment this second cast hit the water I was on! Let me tell you I was happy. A nice bream of 30cm was now sitting at my feet. You beauty!!!! I heard Marcia and Pete congratulating me and Marcia shouting "I want to use what he's using..."
A few metres ahead Shane is onto a small flathead, whilst the rest of us looked on from a distance. Shane was determined to cover as much ground as possible and was miles ahead of the rest of us. Those on hard lures seemed to avoid the blowies, but I was not so lucky, unhappily feeding them my plastics.
Well as most of the action seemed to occur at first light, and our catch being a few flathead, a grunter and a bream, we all headed back to the car park around 8:45am. What a pleasant way to spend a morning.
On our way back over the bridge, we noticed the schools of large bream gathering underneath us, chasing the small bait fish that were about. Too bad they weren't hungry for lures.
I'd like to thank Marcia and Peter for getting us out there this morning and arranging the time and place. I will certainly be there again next time.
Andrew Vanzyl
Another enjoyable field day
Once again, Peter and I joined forces with a few other members to fish locally on the long weekend. We met up with John Curtis, Ray Walker, Shane Wignell and his daughter, Sarah Wignell, at Floreat around 4.30pm. Sarah fished well and put in a gallant effort lugging the bucket of water from one spot to another to add fish to their collection. Unfortunately, she only weighed in one whiting, albeit of a good size, the others on her hook having escaped. Well, Sarah, that is more than I weighed in.
Peter Pekaar caught a tailor and a Port Jackson shark and that was about it. My catch of a couple of tailor were all too small to keep.
The easterly wind blew all evening, keeping the catch low. There were a couple of men fishing to the south of Sarah and Shane and they landed a small shark. We all gathered around to watch them struggle to remove the hooks. That was quite an exciting end to our fishing session.
Following our weigh-in Ray, Peter and I shared a pizza before heading home. Sarah was a little tired so she and Shane declined to join us.
As Andrew has reported elsewhere in the Reel Talk, on Monday, 1 March, we fished in the early morning in the Canning Bridge area. When we'd had enough, we packed up and made our way back to the car park.
Andrew was inspired to try his luck elsewhere so we parted company and accepted Ray Walker's invitation to join him for a cuppa at his place, nearby in Como. We chatted over coffee at Ray's until we were energised enough to drive home, clean up and enjoy the rest of our long weekend.
I am looking forward to more of these local fishing jaunts. We don't have to drive far or take much gear and the social atmosphere is refreshing. Seeing Sarah Wignell attend with her Dad is encouraging. Hopefully more young members would attend these local field days if they knew other young people were likely to be there. Sarah is now keen to attend dry casting to improve her skills even further.
We plan to attend plenty more local field days when not attending the away venues, so please feel free to contact us to arrange to fish with us and/or suggest venues to try. At the General Meeting prior to each field day, we will confirm if we'll be fishing locally.
Marcia Pekaar
Species caught on the March Field Day were:- Salmon, Herring, Flathead, Skippy, Wrasse, Banded sweep, Whiting, Tailor.
Results.
| Angler |  | Weight | Species | Fish | Total Points |
| Lea Taylor | 7.008 kg | 3 | 15 | 140.1 | |
| Malcolm Harris | 4.084 kg | 4 | 14 | 120.8 | |
| Peet Wessels | 4.81 kg | 3 | 9 | 118.1 | |
| Sandra Wessels | 3.296 kg | 4 | 8 | 113 | |
| Theo Van Niekerk | 3.273 kg | 3 | 12 | 102.7 | |
| Morris Kolman | 4.039 kg | 2 | 5 | 100.4 | |
| George Holman | 2.844 kg | 3 | 4 | 98.4 | |
| Michael Gaudin (visitor) | 1.124 kg | 2 | 7 | 71.2 | |
| Pat McKeown | 0.32 kg | 1 | 2 | 53.2 | |
| Terry Fuller | 0.122 kg | 1 | 1 | 51.2 | |
| David Maxted | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | |
| Kaitlin Stoeckel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | |
| Peter Stoeckel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | |
| Vix Alexander | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | |
| Peter Pekaar (local) | 0.284 kg | 1 | 1 | 22.8 | |
| Shane Wignell (local) | 0.252 kg | 1 | 1 | 22.5 | |
| Trevor Stam (local) | 0.125 kg | 1 | 2 | 21.3 | |
| Sarah Wignell (local) | 0.11 kg | 1 | 1 | 21.1 | |
| John Curtis (local) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| Marcia Pekaar (local) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| Nick Edwards (local) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| Ray Walker (local) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| Simon Ryan (local) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| Wayne Shaw (local) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| Andrew Vanzyl (local) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
Sportsperson of the Year Section Winners for March 2010.
| Best scale fish | Morris Kolman | Salmon | 3.625 kg |
| Best bag of scale fish | Lea Taylor | Mixed bag | 7.008 kg |
Field Day Prizes for March 2010.
| Best scale fish | Morris Kolman | Salmon | 3.625 kg |
| Best bag of scale fish | Lea Taylor | Mixed bag | 7.008 kg |
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This page prepared on 28 March 2010.
