Walkerville South 11/2

[4liters]

With the stiff WSW wind forecast and a couple of overhead reels added to the collection recently my first thought was to head somewhere where the wind would be blowing offshore and put a couple of balloons out. I had a couple of squid from last night and picked up some yakkas and silver whiting from the local fish shop as well.

A quick look at Google Maps suggested Walkerville South would be a safe pick for today, the wind would be blowing straight offshore and that part of the world feels pretty damn fishy so I was confident of getting at least something.

Turned out I was wrong. There must've been some eddy effect from the cliff and the entire time I was there the wind was either blowing along the coast to the north or straight back in my face. At one point my balloon was floating behind me as it drifted up a channel between the rocks. The wrasse were happy about that though. While this was happening my weather app was mocking me by showing the real time wind speed and direction at the station on the top of the cliff was exactly the westerly I was after. In front of me the sea was flat as a tack - perfect conditions in close for the kayak which I left sitting in the shed.

On to plan B. I hadn't really thought I'd need plan B, and it wasn't so much a plan as chance that I had a bait slider sitting in the tackle pack from a previous trip. The sinkers were on 4oz breakaways and I'd never tried to cast either of my big reels before so it was always going to be a bit iffy. Turns out neither a Penn Squall 60LD or a Fin Nor Biscayne BLD25 are really meant to be cast (or I'm just **** at casting them, or the sinker was too light, or I'd put too much line on them) and I spent quite a bit of time unraveling birds nests.

On to plan C. I'd bought my light surf rod with a view to catching more bait if needed but with plans A and B scrapped it saw a bit of use. The baits I put out were getting stripped within seconds of them hitting the bottom, and eventually I hooked a couple of undersize salmon. I put a couple of slivers of yakka out and ended up with a 30cm salmon which was the only worthwhile fish of the day. After a bit I decided I was wasting my time, packed up and left.

On the way back I stopped at Bear Gully, which looks like a great place to launch the kayak on a low swell day like today with Cape Liptrap within striking distance. Not so sure about fishing there landbased though, at high tide it looks like there would be a lot of shallow rocky areas to cast over to get to deeper water. After that I checked out Cape Liptrap, looks like it could be a great spot for a fish, I was there at low tide though so I don't know how fishable it would be over the high tide. p**** of a walk back to the top too, especially if you happened to catch something. I picked up a couple of cool looking rocks with quartz veins running through them to put in my fish tank and headed home.

Frustrating day, but I learned a bit and got to scout a few new spots for next time. Ballooning baits sounds like a ridiculously simple concept but getting the right conditions and knowing how the conditions play out locally seems like a far more subtle thing than I anticipated. Looks like it ight be blowing its arse out next weekend so I might be getting a bit more LBG practice.

[laneends]

In front of me the sea was flat as a tack - perfect conditions in close for the kayak which I left sitting in the shed.

.

That will teach you. Not a bad place for the kayak

[4liters]

In front of me the sea was flat as a tack - perfect conditions in close for the kayak which I left sitting in the shed.

.

That will teach you. Not a bad place for the kayak

I was a bit worried about the wind, which was forecast to be just a bit high for my liking. Otherwise I would've taken it because it's a spot I'd love to figure out.

[Nude up]

Great read bad luck on the balloning, the best laid planes of mice and men!

[Cross Dogs]

Good recon mission (gotta look on the bright side). I've had a few sessions down that way on the kayak. It doesn't take much to make things a bit lumpy there, so your hunch was safe. I've been dumped there and that wasn't fun. If Willy Weather says the swell is less than a metre, then you are go for launch at Bear Gully. There's a tiny beach that faces away from the swell and not far out are lots of weed beds that hold big squid.

[CarlG]

Nice read Goony, the wind shadow effect is something we've come across time and again. You know most of the spots we fish, and anywhere there is a rock upstand behind you, there's an issue. Those times are where sliding is very effective as an option.

[4liters]

Nice read Goony, the wind shadow effect is something we've come across time and again. You know most of the spots we fish, and anywhere there is a rock upstand behind you, there's an issue. Those times are where sliding is very effective as an option.

Bugger, guess I better learn how to make a paravane or something. Do you know if the effect is less pronounced on high or low wind days?

[4liters]

Good recon mission (gotta look on the bright side). I've had a few sessions down that way on the kayak. It doesn't take much to make things a bit lumpy there, so your hunch was safe. I've been dumped there and that wasn't fun. If Willy Weather says the swell is less than a metre, then you are go for launch at Bear Gully. There's a tiny beach that faces away from the swell and not far out are lots of weed beds that hold big squid.

Interesting. I'll definitely check out Bear Gully next time the swell is down, I'd love to fish around Liptrap at least once this season.

[CarlG]

Nice read Goony, the wind shadow effect is something we've come across time and again. You know most of the spots we fish, and anywhere there is a rock upstand behind you, there's an issue. Those times are where sliding is very effective as an option.

Bugger, guess I better learn how to make a paravane or something. Do you know if the effect is less pronounced on high or low wind days?

High wind produces a bigger vortex I think..
Remind me about the paravane next time we're gonna meet up. Got a great variant to show you.