Turtle Rock W.A

Western Australia Fishing Reports
JS270
Rank: Australian Salmon
Rank: Australian Salmon
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Turtle Rock W.A

Post by JS270 » Mon May 21, 2018 5:11 pm

Well just got back to Melbourne after a visit to WA for the ASF national and State casting comps as well as a trip to target a few fish afterwards.

Must say that I have fish W.A previously but was generally targeting the big Salmon on the southern end of the state :water: This time around however we decided to head north and after a 13 hour drive arrived at the Warroora Station as our base camp then fished the coast around that area. The fun started with a trip up to Turtle Rock , so named due to the abundance of Sea Turtles that frequent the area.
Area to the south of the Station
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The platform to the right of Turtle Rock Image

Our plan was to Spin the area in the hope of getting either some GT's or Spanish Mack , sadly this was not what went to plan and therefore we started to deploy some baits out in the hope of getting something interested in floated baits. Started trying to drift out some squid under the bobby corks but this proved to be a waste of time as the little cod and sweep just destroyed the baits .

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Due to the slow drift the plans had to be changed so we organised the balloons in clusters and with the assistance of the prevailing easterly wind were able to get the baits out further , we also changed up to fish baits with Snook and Scads being put to use.

John was the first to see action when his bait set at around 300 meters was smashed but a mack but that was short lived as the fish broke his braid main line with its tail , John as expected was not a happy camper but it did give the rest of us the encouragement to get a few more baits out.

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I set up simple rid using 60 pound wire to two 9/0 hooks under a bobby cork but then attached the balloons on a stringer to get the drift that was needed to clear the bait stealers. After getting the bait set out it wasn't long before my Century GT1000 and Stella loaded with 40 pound braid was screaming with a good fish.
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We were hoping for a Spanish but as luck would have it, it turned out to be a nice little Bronze Whaler that put up a good fight and gave us a bit of fun in close on the rocks .
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With the assistance of Chas on the gaff we were able to bring the shark up and take the obligatory photos before placing it back to fight another day and get bigger as well. Whilst a number of people get upset with the sharks that have the bad habit of chewing of a lot of fish from lines, I find them great fun on the right gear . The GT1000 and Stella 14000 with the 40 pound braid provided plenty of fun on this one.
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Sadly for us this proved to be the last fish for the rocks and we headed back to base for a rest and to have a feed and get some additional rigs sorted for the next day.

Day two saw us out on the ledge again early but the wind had died and getting baits out were proving to be very frustrating though we persisted and as luck would have it the winds kicked in not to long after the sun had rising a bit more. John and Paul had opted for heavier wire and bigger baits in the hope of getting something even bigger. For me I stuck with the same set up as the previous day but with slightly smaller hooks in the form of 8/0;s as we only had a few smaller scad and the Pike for bait with me opting for the scad.

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Well I must say that I was rewarded with this strategy as I had a brilliant surface strike that saw a large spaniard hit the bait and then screamed of a blistering 350 run leaving a rooster tails of water coming from the line as well as from its tail. As you can imaging it was music to the ears . The fight wasn't a long one as with most Spaniards their initial runs are the ones that bring the fight to a quick end but it also saps their strength. With the fish taking a less speedy run back in and along the ledge I had a few tense moments with the line catching on the rocks . But once more with the assistance from Chas on the gaff we were able to get the fish onto the ledge. The smile on my face at this stage was bigger than ever given the size of the fish.
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With the big fish on deck and not wanting to run the risk of it being affected by the heat it was decided that Chas and I would take it back to base where we could fillet it out and prepare it for eating :a_goodjob:
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Century GT1000 and Stella did the trick

With issues with our bait supply the boys didn't get any further fish and returned back to camp but with the desire to get out and destress John grabbed his beach gear and headed down to the beach to fish the evening . This was a great decision as he had a ball taking some Alligator Long Tom releasing most as he didn't want to carry them back but did bring back one for Paul. Image

We had a feed of after that and then started the job of packing the cars for the trip back to Perth . That was a bit of a trauma as we had a few issues but thankfully survived that and made it back safe and sound. All in all a great trip and one that will stick in the memory back for a while :water:

smile0784
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Re: Turtle Rock W.A

Post by smile0784 » Mon May 21, 2018 5:17 pm

Great fish there
Well done

Lightningx
Bluefin
Bluefin
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Re: Turtle Rock W.A

Post by Lightningx » Mon May 21, 2018 6:17 pm

Top report and pics mate!
Sounds like you had an awesome trip :thumbsup:

barra mick
Rank: Kingfish
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Re: Turtle Rock W.A

Post by barra mick » Mon May 21, 2018 6:59 pm

Fantastic spanish there....there great tucker is you bleed,spike and straight on ice

Bm

Nude up
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Re: Turtle Rock W.A

Post by Nude up » Mon May 21, 2018 7:06 pm

Great report and a few great fish

JS270
Rank: Australian Salmon
Rank: Australian Salmon
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Re: Turtle Rock W.A

Post by JS270 » Mon May 21, 2018 7:35 pm

BM , fish was bled and spiked and then processed into fillets within an hour of capture as wanted it in the best state for eating :-)

dazz999
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Re: Turtle Rock W.A

Post by dazz999 » Mon May 21, 2018 7:49 pm

awesome report Jeremy how did you and John go at the comps

JS270
Rank: Australian Salmon
Rank: Australian Salmon
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Re: Turtle Rock W.A

Post by JS270 » Mon May 21, 2018 8:33 pm

Dazz ,

I won the comp with casts at 233+ meters on the 100 , 125 and 150 gram . John hit new PB's and made it into the 200+ meter club . Very happy man and good casting given the tough conditions.

Fishbref
Rank: Australian Salmon
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Re: Turtle Rock W.A

Post by Fishbref » Tue May 22, 2018 2:21 am

Kudos man, that's a cracker of a fish...

smile0784
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Re: Turtle Rock W.A

Post by smile0784 » Tue May 22, 2018 7:57 am

JS270 wrote:Dazz ,

I won the comp with casts at 233+ meters on the 100 , 125 and 150 gram . John hit new PB's and made it into the 200+ meter club . Very happy man and good casting given the tough conditions.
Well done fellas

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