Fishing Destinations the missus will love!
Part 1
By Russell Hood-Penn
It was the 19th April 2000 and cyclone Rosita was on a crash course for the Western Australian coastline south of Broome. Lying directly in its path was the original Eco Beach Wilderness Retreat. Rosita was the most powerful Cyclone to cross the Western Australian Coastline in living Memory. It was approximately 11pm when the cyclone impacted. The Resort never stood a chance, in all 41 cabins were destroyed, 25 of them being tossed directly into the rampaging waters below. Karl Plunkett the resorts owner described the devastation as “Looking like the moon.” “Rosita tossed a three tonne sea container over the hills and it landed more than a kilometre away”. He added. It took nearly nine years for Karl Plunkett to rebuild the retreat and if it was a great place before Rosita, it is an absolutely magical place today. It is a superb combination of ecologically sustainable luxury accommodation and wilderness paradise. The Eco Beach Resort has been re-built to have a very minimal impact on the natural surroundings and to also promote self sustainability. Solar powered villas, recycled grey water, decking made from recycled materials and composting are just some of the things that help make Eco Beach an award winning Resort.
“Here it comes!” My wife exclaimed, we were waiting outside the Eco Beach gift shop in Broome town proper for our transfers to the Resort. The yellow coaster bus had no sooner pulled up than out jumped the driver, “G’day Mate, we’ll chuck your bags on, we’ll be heading out in about half an hour, I’ve just got to grab a couple of bits and pieces.” He said. “No worries” I replied introducing myself. The driver was Neil McKenzie. I was to find out later that Neil is a member of the Yawuru people and one of the traditional land owners where the Eco Beach Resort now resides. “Good to see you remembered those mate” Neil said as I passed him my fishing rods, ready to be loaded onto the bus. The resort is located about 130 kilometres south west of Broome and transfers are provided by either bus, private car, boat, catamaran, plane or helicopter. After a quick stop for some provisions, a couple more guests and two chapters of my book we arrived at the resort.
We were quickly checked into our luxury safari style Eco Tents and it wasn’t long before my mind turned towards refreshments and fishing. We decided to grab a couple of Coronas from the famous Jack’s bar and head down to the beach for a bit of a butchers hook. The main reception area of the resort is perched in the dunes about 50 meters above the beach below and provides an excellent vantage point from which to view the surrounds. The beaches around the resort are truly spectacular especially around sunset when the orange glow of the sun dipping toward the horizon illuminates the endless scorched red cliffs to the south. There are a lot of great spots within walking distance from the resort that scream fish and it wasn’t long before I’d earmarked some likely looking structure for a bit of a flick on sunset. Id brought along for the trip a 4 kilo spin set-up on a 2.8 meter Starlo Stick and a second 10 kilo outfit on a 3.1 meter Rovex Bario, just in case. We headed back to Jacks bar for another Corona and relax by the pool while we waited for the sun to drop.
What an afternoon, soaking up the thirty something degrees, sipping Coronas by the pool overlooking the beautiful Roebuck Bay. We also ordered a couple of delicious anti pasto tasting plates to keep the hunger pangs at bay until after we got back from our sunset expedition. About 5 pm head down to the beach and had walked no more than 100 meters from the path leading down from the resort when my Kokoda stick bait attracted a strike, it wasn’t a hook-up but the speed of the attack had me calling it for a Queenie. The mellowing sun reflecting off the rippled water highlighted every flash of fin. It wasn’t long before my stick bait had enticed another follow, about a meter behind the lure. “C’mon, C’mon” I chanted to myself as I let the lure hang in the water for a split second. Bang! Fish on. Immediately the fish burnt about 20-30 meters of line but it was the noticeable lack of ariels that had me questioning whether the fish that was now tearing arse all over the place was actually a Queenie. It wasn’t long before the fish was beaten and as I beached it, the distinctive Black Tips of a Reefy Appeared. That was defiantly a first for me, a Shark on a stick bait. A couple of juvenile Trev’s rounded out a fun session and before I knew it the sun had slipped below the horizon.
Back at the Tent it was time for a quick scrub before heading back down to the restaurant for a good feed and a bottle of wine. All the Eco Tents have their own ensuite which makes a nice change from bathing in a bucket of water by torch light. Naomi was loving it, a fishing trip for Naomi usually spells a week alone at home or a week in a tent on a cliff or beach somewhere, being ravaged by flies during the day and mossies at night with the nearest flushing toilet or hot shower a million miles away. By no means is my wife a shrinking violet either, we spent three months living in a tent between Perth and Darwin in 2007, so she no stranger to roughing it. I must admit though, it was nice to be able to head down for a fish, relax under a hot shower and then enjoy an A La Carte meal while sipping wine overlooking the water. Twice cooked pork belly on Kumara smash with pear and blue berry salsa, Black Angus MSA graded steaks, Seared prawns with chorizo pea and pumpkin. These are the kind of dishes you would normally associate with an inner city restaurant menu, not a Kimberly wilderness retreat. We had read some reviews and spoken to people who had stayed at Eco Beach and they raved about the food, but even with that prior knowledge it still blew us away.
The next morning saw me back down at the waters edge flicking lures albeit with a bit of a sore head from the night before. Naomi was enjoying a sleep in and would walk down to join me once she woke up. I headed south along the beach for about 3 kilometres looking for a spot called the caves. I had heard from one of the staff that fishing off the ledges down that way can be dynamite at certain times, with even the occasional Coral Trout being taken from the shore. Well they were smack on the money, Naomi arrived just as my Halco Laser Pro was absolutely smashed right at my feet by one of these dirty fighters. I didn’t even have time to lock up the drag before it had slipped back down into the labyrinth of bombies that they call home. I was well and truly done. I tied on another minnow, locked up the drag and started casting. It wasn’t long before I was on again and this time I got the better of the fish. It was a lot smaller specimen than the first Trout but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway as the resort encourages sustainable fishing through catch and release, and besides, the chalk board at the restaurant stated that tonight’s menu was a seafood BBQ banquette, so I wasn’t going to be missing out on fresh fish for dinner. Once again the small GT’s kept things interesting on the light gear as we made our way back to the resort.
By ten o’clock we were back at the restaurant for a quick brunch before putting in some serious beach time. Once again the food was amazing, these guys really know how to run a kitchen, considering the remoteness of the resort, the quality of the ingredients and variety of the food the prices are very reasonable. The bar has a great range of beer and cider (all ice cold) and they are always looking for new wines to accompany the menu. Make sure you take a good book as during our stay we made it a point to just chill out and relax. Naomi and I both work full time so this kind of time off is invaluable.
The next few days portrayed a similar pattern, spinning in the morning, relaxing during the day, and another flick on sunset before returning to the restaurant for dinner and drinks. You really can make your time at Eco Beach as relaxing or activity packed as you like. Blue water kayaking, guided bushwalks, “My Country” indigenous tours with traditional land owner Neil, mud crabbing down at Jacks creek, its all there for you to enjoy. The resort also has a dedicated charter boat Snag-A-Barra and during our stay we saw a heap of photos of quality fish people had caught out wide. The sails were also on while we were there and the skipper had no problem teasing them up for the punters. Yoga, whale watching, sunset cruises on the catamaran and at the right time of the year you can see turtles hatching almost every night. There really is an endless list of things to do and see.
I couldn’t think of a better place to escape the winter blues here in Perth and spend a few days relaxing and soaking up the tropical Kimberly warmth with the missus. Oh, did I mention the fishing?
Happy Hunting!