The Midwest coast along Western Australia is home to some of the most spectacular fishing destinations within Australia, from endless reefs to sheer cliffs and pristine white sandy beaches. The fishing here is also second to none with epic catches a regular occurance. Hungry pelagics like Spanish mackerel, bluefin tuna and wahoo patrol the deeper waters and baldchin, spangled emperors are withing reach along the beaches and shallow reef.
There's nothing better then waking up in the early hours of the morning with the excitement running through the veins in anticipation of the upcoming drive, knowing that it's only a matter of time before being stuck into some great fishing. With the vehicle packed we were ready for the long drive north, this usually takes around 10-12 hours depending on how keen you are to get there and stops along the way.
Before I go on I cannot stress enough about safety on the rocks fishing these areas, life jackets can be aquired from the store at the camp, the other option is to tie yourself to the rocks with many anchor points dotted along cliff faces at all the popular spots. Even with the cliffs 5-10 meters above the water at most pleased south of the homestead it doesn't take much for a wave to crash over and catch you off guard. With that said lets now talk fishing.
Up early the next morning it was a quick drive to the spot we chose where we'd be sending out the balloons to try hook a pelagic. First ballon wat set out approx 350m out and was sitting nicely we knew it was not gonna be long till we would see some action. As with most fishing the bite usually happens when your busy doing something else and this was no exception, with one of us staying guard over the reel while the other went back to the car to cook breakfast the reel decided to scream off.
Grabbing the rod I quickly set the hooks and it was game on, felt so good being back up here tustling with another pelagic. Being up here twice before and seeing so many fish lost to sharks my first thought was to get it in quickly, no mercy was shown to the fish with the drag on the tyrnos set the basically sunset there wasn't much the fish could do. After about 10 minutes of constant pumping and winding a nice size northern bluefin tuna was at the base of the cliff, now came the hardest part of bringing it up the cliff. With my mate blissfully unaware that we had a fish at the base of the cliff despite all my loud screaming and what felt like a hour before he finally came running back, a few attempts of sending the cliff gaff down we finally had it flapping round on the rocks. I still cannot believe how it wasn't taken by a shark as it was dipping in the water for at least 20 minutes before we had it up and out of the water.
The next few hours saw us hook up a few more times, battling the fish the the base of the cliff to lose them. Unlike the other times I've been there these losses weren't to sharks but rather to the 3 meter swell we encountered on this trip, the constant pounding of the waves knocking these fish off or tangling the gaff in the line.
Fishing the beaches south along the blowholes can be extremely productive with plenty of small trevelly, black snapper and spangled emperor the fish of choice. We decided to try our luck at a few of the local snapper that would hopefully be residing on the beaches, with baits casted out it was only a matter of time.
With the bait only in the water a few Minutes it wasn't long bfore the bites started, a few nice small black snapper were caught and released to grow bigger. Third bait out soaking and something big decided to take it. With the line peeling off the sustain at a record rate we both knew it was something decent, that's the beauty of places like this as it could be any hard fighting fish. Having to walk at least 500m down the beach to make sure the fish didn't spool us and to try to wrestle back some line we finally saw what it was, a shark and a very nice one at that. I'm still amazed at how this toothy critter did not manage to bite us off as we were only running a light 40lb mono leader on smelled hooks!! Sometimes I guess the fishing gods are smiling.
The next day was pretty quiet as the wind and swell were not in our favor but alas that's fishing. The ballon sat our for a good 4 hours before something finally decided to have a crack at it. After a hours fighting this beast a nice healthy (yet tired) 2.5 meter tiger shark was at the cliff, lines cut and watchin it swim off was the closest we got that day to any fish.
As with every trip I go on no matter how good or bad I cannot wait to get back out there, this time a bit more planning will be put into the next.
Tight lines and stay safe
Reece
