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After a hot session on the Tailor with my good mate Moorey a couple of weeks ago I thought I'd used up all my metro fishing mojo for at least 3 months, but it was not to be, King Neptune was to smile upon me sooner than usual. Fishing the Perth metro area can be a bit hit and miss at the best of times, so getting a couple of red hot sessions on good fish only a couple of weeks apart is a real treat.
I knocked of early and with the sun out, a light breeze blowing from the south west and with a few hours to kill, I thought I might treat myself to a big hit of my latest addiction...soft plastics.
I grabbed Rob one of my regular fishing buddy’s and headed down to a local stretch of beach and rocks Ive been meaning to re-visit minus the bait. We got started about 3pm and it wasn't long before I was absolutely smoked by something big! We had heard rumours of a few Yellow Tail Kingfish being caught locally and from the strength of the fish that had just brought me undone iI called it for one imediatly.
I was being a bit of a land lover and still hugging the shore but I knew I needed to be on the edge of the reef holes to have any chance of not being busted off on the edge of the reef again. I needed more leverage. My 6'6" raider and 4000 size reel was going to need all the help they could get against an opponent like the one that had just toyed with me.
I waded out up to my waste in the surge and started working the 5" pink Gulp jerk shad through the reef hole that was about 20 meters long and about 7 meters wide. The tide was dropping and the water was sucking out, but the swell was still pushing fresh water over the top. After about four our five retrieves with big exaggerated jerks and drops I was on again. The power was immediate. Was it a yellow tail king? Was it a jumbo tailor? As the fish breached the surface it was clear. Salmon!
In such close quartes its was a real tug of war, i would gain 5 or 6 meters and then the fish would strip it back off the line again. Anyone who has ever fought a Arripus truttaceaus (Western Australian Salmon) from the beach will tell you what a handfull they are. Fighting them in and around structure, in water up to your waist, all while having to walk backwards over broken ground to get them to the beach, and thier an absolute nightmare!!
I yelled to Rob to come and give me a hand and by the time he'd navigated the reef to where i was I had worked the fish toward a narrow piece of beach that was only visible for a few seconds in between waves crashing on the rocks behind it. I worked the fish up onto the sand and Rob pounced. Victory!
What a feeling, metro salmon on light gear. I weighed the fish when I got home and it was 4.5kg bled..JPG)
We worked the same hole with no luck for about another half an hour before moving on. im sure the fish spook ease and will go off the bite if their not 100 percent at ease. It wasn’t long before I was on again and landed a very respectable 51 cm tailor this time on a 4 inch chartruce neon Gulp minnow. Another hole and rob had himself a really nice 48cm flathead that absolutely engulfed a 5 inch pearl jerk shad. The Berkley Gulps were really doing the damage.
As the sun started to drop we decided to start the walk back to the car. I rigged up with a red and white 105mm Halco rooster as it was defiantly getting towards Tailor time.
I was getting good distance with it reaching the back of the white water and ripping it through as fast as I could. As we walked past the hole that I was initially busted off in I walked out onto the reef and launched the popper into the middle of it. I had cranked the handle about three times before I came up solid again. My heart raced as I fought the fish in skinny water on top of the reef. I was falling into every hole as I backed toward the shore and was being swamped repeatedly. I was soaked to the bone when I finally I beached the fish and Rob performed the same manoeuvre that had secured the first fish. The salmon was mine!
What an afternoon. We were in the car just as the sun set and on the road home. The more I use the soft plastics the more I enjoy fishing with them, what a buzz.
Cheers Russ.
I knocked of early and with the sun out, a light breeze blowing from the south west and with a few hours to kill, I thought I might treat myself to a big hit of my latest addiction...soft plastics.
I grabbed Rob one of my regular fishing buddy’s and headed down to a local stretch of beach and rocks Ive been meaning to re-visit minus the bait. We got started about 3pm and it wasn't long before I was absolutely smoked by something big! We had heard rumours of a few Yellow Tail Kingfish being caught locally and from the strength of the fish that had just brought me undone iI called it for one imediatly.
I was being a bit of a land lover and still hugging the shore but I knew I needed to be on the edge of the reef holes to have any chance of not being busted off on the edge of the reef again. I needed more leverage. My 6'6" raider and 4000 size reel was going to need all the help they could get against an opponent like the one that had just toyed with me.
I waded out up to my waste in the surge and started working the 5" pink Gulp jerk shad through the reef hole that was about 20 meters long and about 7 meters wide. The tide was dropping and the water was sucking out, but the swell was still pushing fresh water over the top. After about four our five retrieves with big exaggerated jerks and drops I was on again. The power was immediate. Was it a yellow tail king? Was it a jumbo tailor? As the fish breached the surface it was clear. Salmon!
In such close quartes its was a real tug of war, i would gain 5 or 6 meters and then the fish would strip it back off the line again. Anyone who has ever fought a Arripus truttaceaus (Western Australian Salmon) from the beach will tell you what a handfull they are. Fighting them in and around structure, in water up to your waist, all while having to walk backwards over broken ground to get them to the beach, and thier an absolute nightmare!!
I yelled to Rob to come and give me a hand and by the time he'd navigated the reef to where i was I had worked the fish toward a narrow piece of beach that was only visible for a few seconds in between waves crashing on the rocks behind it. I worked the fish up onto the sand and Rob pounced. Victory!
What a feeling, metro salmon on light gear. I weighed the fish when I got home and it was 4.5kg bled.
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We worked the same hole with no luck for about another half an hour before moving on. im sure the fish spook ease and will go off the bite if their not 100 percent at ease. It wasn’t long before I was on again and landed a very respectable 51 cm tailor this time on a 4 inch chartruce neon Gulp minnow. Another hole and rob had himself a really nice 48cm flathead that absolutely engulfed a 5 inch pearl jerk shad. The Berkley Gulps were really doing the damage.
As the sun started to drop we decided to start the walk back to the car. I rigged up with a red and white 105mm Halco rooster as it was defiantly getting towards Tailor time.
I was getting good distance with it reaching the back of the white water and ripping it through as fast as I could. As we walked past the hole that I was initially busted off in I walked out onto the reef and launched the popper into the middle of it. I had cranked the handle about three times before I came up solid again. My heart raced as I fought the fish in skinny water on top of the reef. I was falling into every hole as I backed toward the shore and was being swamped repeatedly. I was soaked to the bone when I finally I beached the fish and Rob performed the same manoeuvre that had secured the first fish. The salmon was mine!
What an afternoon. We were in the car just as the sun set and on the road home. The more I use the soft plastics the more I enjoy fishing with them, what a buzz.
Cheers Russ.