North Coast
Getting those post holiday blues DAMPIER/KARRATHA
Troy Honey
What a stellar start to the year it has been with the mixed bags that everyone has enjoyed so far. Sailfish, barramundi, coral trout, trevally, threadfin salmon, mud crabs and bluebone have been abundant. I couldn’t put a better short list together if I tried! The Karratha/Dampier regions have really turned it on for those brave enough to take on the baking sun at this time of year. There have been many days in the 40°C zone, but with the allure of prize fish on offer it has been too much to resist for the locals who have stayed for the holiday period. The winds that plagued us for the last few months have lost most of their puff and have allowed even the smallest of boats to venture out wide in search of some trophies. One angler, Mark Carruthers’s battled his first sailfish recently. His friend Mitchell Stevenson took his wife Angela and himself on a trip off Dampier while visiting from NSW. They spotted sailfish free jumping on the way out, and expecting to find some later in the day and already having a few rods rigged, they dropped the lures out and hooked up straight away. The sailfish swallowed a Richer 6” Dorado lure in the lumo colour rigged on a TLD 30A with a Shimano Backbone and 15kg test mono. Unfortunately, the fight wasn’t too aerobatic, and it only jumped twice when the hook was first set, then went deep and slugged it out for 15-20 mins. The fish didn’t want to co-operate once they got it boat side, running laps under the motor and it took several attempts to leader it in and going for broke when they finally got a hand on its bill. They pulled it up for a few photos, swam it back to life, and let the beautiful specimen swim off to fight another day. It is always good practice
in waters off the Pilbara to be rigged up for what might come along such as billfish, mackerel or tuna. The coral trout have been thick at times, with anglers landing eight or more in a single session. Trolling and casting lures or soft plastics over the shallow reefs and around the bommies close to the islands of the archipelago has been the most productive methods. Queenfish and trevally are often a by-catch when chasing trout in the Pilbara on lure, so be prepared for some solid runs if you hook up onto one of these. Closer in to the banks in rocky grounds the bluebone
position for hook up. Locking in is a term used to describe the action of entering a creek at a higher tide level and fishing through the low tide when the creek drains and the mouth bottom area becomes exposed and boats are unable to exit the creek until the next higher tide comes back in 8-12 hours. During this time the water has run off from the mangroves and with it the fish that spread out within them during the higher tide. The fish become condensed within the creeks, steeper banks and will then feed on baitfish such as mullet, and this is when live baiting works best. Look for drains in the creek banks
Dylan Munn has been getting into monster coral trout using the In-Fish Vibes. are well and truly turning it on for both boat and land-based fishers. I have been having some exceptional fights on these, and there has been quite an interest of late, with people asking how to catch such an iconic fighting and table fish. I will cover this further on. In the creeks and around their mouths the barramundi, threadfin salmon and mangrove jacks are keeping the tinny brigade busy this year, with exceptional examples being caught on a regular basis. It has been well noted that many anglers are choosing to ‘lock themselves in’ on the low tides in order to put themselves in the best
Dylan Munn had a hard fight on his hands with this golden trevally while micro jigging around the archipelago.
and mouths as the tide recedes and work these areas for best results for barra, threadies, jewfish and jacks. Barramundi and threadfin can be caught in the region in good numbers right though to May. BATTLING BLUEBONE The mighty bluebone, a fish species well known for its tearing runs and quality on the dinner table, would be right up on top of my list. Over the last few weeks I have been inundated with enquiries from people asking how to get onto them, so I thought I would go a bit more in-depth on how I go about it. There are your normal ways to land a bluebone, such as with a rod and reel set up, which works well from a boat, but personally, I find fishing from the rocks much more pleasant. From land, using a hand line is my recommended option for a few reasons, the main one being so you don’t damage your expensive outfits when they come into contact with stone. I have scratched up a couple of fairly new Stella’s in my time while landing fish from the rocks and even with less expensive equipment, it can still be heart breaking to say the least. Hand lines work a treat, as they are cheap and they’re usually spooled with mono to give the angler some abrasion resistance against the brute strength of a big bluey. My recommended poundage
is 125-150lb. Anything less and you risk snapping off on the rocks and anything more if you become snagged it can be very difficult to break the line to free yourself. For rigging I use a size 5 bean sinker running, and below that I form a loop with the end of the line with the overall length of about 40cm. I then tie the loop in a double overhand knot and push the end of the loop through the eye of the hook, around the bottom of the hook and pull tight. For hooks I use the Gamakatsu SL12S in size 9/0. They are big enough for the crabs, strong and thin, which provides great penetration. There you go, simple and deadly. If you snag up and have to break yourself off, it is only a matter of seconds and you are back in the water again. For bait there really is no other option in my mind other than crab. I use either freshly caught rock crabs, or if I’m lucky enough to have caught some mud crabs recently, I keep the cooked legs and use them. Both are very effective. To catch your rocks crabs you first need to find the right area. Try around rocky areas, preferably near some mangroves at low tide. Take with you a bucket, a cheap pair of tongs (don’t get caught using the ones from your kitchen, as the supermarkets sell cheap ones for around the $3 mark) and a good pair of leather work gloves. You will
A cheap and effective bluebone rig. 150lb hand line with size 5 bean sinker and an SL12S Gamakastu 9/0 hook with a fresh rock crab claw for bait! every one of them. I leave the very small crabs there for another day and only take the medium to large crabs. In next to no time you will have a quarter bucket full and that is ample for a few hours of bluebone fishing. Now you are all set up with the rig and have the rock crabs for bait, you can start looking for bluebone country. You will have six hours from the low tide until high tide, and it’s best to be down and in the water three hours before high tide. If there is a bit of wind about, even better, as I have most success on these types of days. All around Karratha, Dampier and Point Samson there are a multitude of rocky headlands that will hold bluebone all year round. The best option is to find an area that is safe to fish from and has easy access. Even in
Trolling 4” hardbody lures around the Dampier Archipelago in shallow water, Angler Marni Alexander hooked up to a beautiful coral trout. need the gloves for flipping the rocks over, as they often have sharp edges that cut as well as a bit of protection against nasties such as blue ringed octopus. Last of all, some solid footwear should also be worn. These will help protect you against stonefish and broken glass as well as the sharp-edged rocks. Once you are set up with all of the gear and have found a good spot on the low tide, simply walk around flipping rocks over and you will find a rock crab or two under nearly
the Pilbara, fishing from rocks can be very dangerous and once you are in a battle with a bluebone you need to be surefooted to beat it. Now you are in place it’s time to bait up. With medium size rocks crabs I put them on whole by piercing the hook through the underside of the crab and work it gently through the topside of the crab, being careful not to crack the shell. Using the larger crabs, I will break the entire arm and claws off and use them one at a time. When using the body,
peel the back of the crab off and use that as berley, then break the crab in half down the centre line with each side still holding the legs. Use each side separately on the hook. Casting out you do not need to go far. You want to be near some bommies in the water but try and find a section next to them with flat bottom to avoid constantly snagging up on rocks. This can be as little as 1m out and 1m deep. Bluebone will come right up at your feet to feed on the oysters, which is a majestic sight to see I must say, and the colours of bluebone in the water are stunning. When your bait and sinker hits the water, let it fall to the bottom and leave it sitting there with a small amount of slack in the line. Try not to drag it over the bottom, as this will cause snagging. Bluebone will let you know in no time if they are around. They move in close during the rising tide to feed on crustaceans washed off the rocks, so this is the best time to fish and replicate that with your bait. Smaller bluebone with generally give a ‘tap-tap-tap’ on your line, while larger bluebone pick up the crab to crunch it up and move it around slowly. You will feel this on your line and when it happens, and it’s best not to strike but instead allowing the bluebone to gain confidence that it is safe to eat and swallow the crab and your hook with it. Then it will run and hook itself, but only if you have hold of the handline tight. Do not under estimate a bluebone! It will rip that handline straight out of your hands if your are not holding on tight or are not surefooted. After that, you are on your own. Have a long-handled landing net with you to assist in the landing. But most of all, enjoy the battle and have fun! Bluebone can be caught all year round and when the wind is too blowy to get the boat out, use it to your advantage, as it stirs up the water and brings the bluebones in and keeps you cool at the same time! FEBRUARY 2019
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