email: lasue@wn.com.au http://www.murchisonboathire.com.au/Never, ever, ever take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night!
A very difficult month to report on anything as all the boats have been out of town nearly all month! The 5.3m boat has been on hire in Port Gregory for 3 weeks this month and the 6.1m is currently at Gnaraloo Station after being up at the Mackerel Islands (Onslow) & a week in Kalbarri. No one sent me any photos after promising they would (Except Kevin Hick, thanks Kevin) and the kids from the Port Gregory hire took the camera sand boarding only to return with it clogged with sand never to work again! However the fishing has improved remarkably with good catches from the beaches. It has been rumoured that someone caught a 1.05m tailor from Black Rock over the school holidays. That is a seriously big tailor! No photos available that I know of so might just be a rumour!
Mackerel & tuna are still being caught but that won’t last!
Adventure Bound fishing shows are on Access 31, 7.30pm Saturdays.
Here is an unusual pic. Took this two weeks ago. Some sort of inversion. Cloud or mist flowing
over the Sand Patch and out to sea on a very gentle easterly. I know I should have been out there!
A spectacular sunset over the river from the dinghy boat hire. There have been a few good ones this month.
During the School holidays we luckily got a free day and I shot out with my two sons on a
relatively nice day. We went searching for new spots and came upon some nice looking ground
south of the cliffs.
First drop resulted in a double hook-up of rankin cod and estuary cod for me, followed
by a nice baldchin groper for son Ben. It went very quiet for a while and then the wind shifted swinging the boat on the anchor.
Both Ben and I hooked up at the same time with both of us landing these big estuary cods!
Both of them were over size (longer than a metre or more than 30kgs) so we had to release them. Mine went down easily without problems, but Ben’s struggled. Release weights are just not heavy enough and in the end we had to puncture it’s air bladder with a spike and it swam down itself.
Ben trying to release his cod. We could have used the spare anchor to lower it down but
I feel that by the time we set it all up the fish would have died.
I feel that spiking the air bladder may be fatal but there is not much you can do!
We need to be more prepared, but we don’t catch fish like this all that often.
Close up of the eerie green eye. What are they thinking?
Ben went on to catch one of the biggest sand snappers that I have seen.
They are actually called Painted Sweetlip after the very ornately coloured juveniles.
Whales are around in numbers again this year and they will be here for a few more months yet.
Last year we had a mother give birth in the estuary entrance and she stayed around with her calf for about 6 weeks.
Kevin Hick sent me the following details of his 7-day trip up to Gnaraloo Station at the end of July.
This is his story.
7 Days of Madness and Mayhem.
The sixth annual trip to Gnaraloo Station was better than ever in July 2007. Ten keen fishermen, all members of the Gnarly Gnobs Fishing Club escaped the wild Perth weather to wet a line just south of Coral Bay. Those on the trip were: Kevo, Macko, Micko Roberto, Bobbo, Collo, Davo, Krisho, Jeffo and Chappo. I know, not original.
The first 3 days resulted in great catches and the reds were abundant and good size.
The best red of the trip was Roberto’s 10.5 kg monster.
We needed a good solid fishing platform and Bulawayo Boy proved it was up to the task, as the swell was up to 4 metres on some days. This fishing is not for the faint hearted, as Gnaraloo Bay can be tricky to navigate through when the swell is up and there is a high tide. The “washing machine” as it is affectionately called, lived up to its name.
Species caught were red emperor, spanish mackerel, northwest snapper, rankin cod, spotted cod, baldchin groper, spanish flag and golden trevally. Friday was a complete wash out which allowed the boys time to ease the aching muscles and lubricate the throat.
Saturday and Sunday resulted in further good catches so with our bag limit reached we headed home to count the number of sleeps until Gnaraloo ’08.
These are his photos
Getting there was wet, good thing they had a boat! 
The Gnarly Gnobs Club at the Blowholes Sign.
It was mostly reds, reds and more reds says Kevin, the biggest being 10.5kgs
Filleting and photographing the days catch.
Out from Gnaraloo Station in red emperor country.
One of the golden trevally at the filleting tables
Patrick Heroux emailed me regarding a trip out fishing in one of my boats. He is from Canada and has been working here in Australia for the last couple of years. A visit from his dad and mate both French speaking Canadians, but also spoke quite good English, spent a week waiting for the weather to clear. They stayed in my accommodation and took advantage of the discounts on boat hire when staying there. They managed to get two days out in the 6.1m boat
and the 5.3m. First day they went south and totally blanked out! Second day heading north the water as a lot clearer and they were into fish straight away. Nothing big, no dhuies but a splattering of baldchin groper, breaksea cod, samsonfish, tarwhine, silver drummer, wobbegong, pink snapper and a surprise mackerel for Patrick!
Silver drummer for Daniel Nadeau (fight like hell but no good to eat)
and Denis’s samson fish
Patrick Heroux with his baldchin groper
and August 5th, surprise mackerel
We catch these now and again. They are called grinners, Saurida undosquamis, and grow to about 45cm. They have this enormous mouth, capable of eating big prey for their size.
This makes the 61st species photo that appears on my website page “Species you are likely to catch” Have a look, all are caught in Kalbarri; there are some bizarre ones!
Great Skua. They are a bit of a pest but entertaining to feed. They can make your day miserable by stealing your drifting bait that is carefully positioned under a balloon at the back of the boat.
So it is best not to feed and encourage them.
Kalbarri Offshore & Angling Club, Local comp 30th June.
Weather was a shocker again and no boats went out. I had a fish for tailor at Chinamans, but just on dark the rain started to hammer down, I’d had no hits and feeling like a drowned rat went home. Daniel turned up 10 minutes after I left and nailed these two with the biggest at 4.95kg or 80cm! I know I should have stayed! But there was beer and pizza at home!
http://www.youtube.com/v/USYbtyXxhvY
Short video clip of a double hook-up of big yellow-fin tuna from my boat in Kalbarri.
The caravan park at Port Gregory is under new management and a booking agent for my boats.
You can now book a boat and pick it up in Port Gregory.
Remember if you rent our accommodation you get big discounts on our boats.
Have a look on my website for the details, and check out the savings.
5-day weather forecasts, http://www.buoyweather.com/ go to virtual buoys, pick the location you want. This is the one I go by!
Big bait – big fish
Laurie
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