Quick little report for Waratah bay

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Kimtown
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Quick little report for Waratah bay

Post by Kimtown » Mon May 18, 2020 10:00 am

Preface: I speared nothing, water clarity wasn’t great, breath hold was even worse and no sight of any shelf fish around

HOWEVER, there were plenty of whiting around off the rocks at Walkerville south which is really good for the land based whiting anglers. I seen plenty of school size (30-33) on the broken sand as well as quite a few grass whiting, however all were too quick and smart for silly old me.

Next time I go, I’ll be burleying there while diving imo which will hopefully keep draw them in and keep them occupied, as once you shoot at whiting and miss, that is pretty much the last time you will see them (very much similar to hooking and dropping one in terms of angling)

No sign of any crayfish but the water clarity was pretty bad around the reef areas... which was surprising, I thought it would be great Viz

happyfriggincamper
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Re: Quick little report for Waratah bay

Post by happyfriggincamper » Mon May 18, 2020 12:06 pm

No idea about spearfishing but imagine whiting are a tough spear being such a slim profile? What sort of range do you have to be in to have a decent chance, and how close is generally too close where you spook them?

smokin_reels
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Re: Quick little report for Waratah bay

Post by smokin_reels » Mon May 18, 2020 12:55 pm

Also wouldn’t a spear obliterate one ?
There is always more to learn , fish to catch , places to see and friends to make.

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Re: Quick little report for Waratah bay

Post by Matty H » Mon May 18, 2020 6:31 pm

Not the standard Waratah Bay models...

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Kimtown
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Re: Quick little report for Waratah bay

Post by Kimtown » Tue May 26, 2020 3:20 pm

happyfriggincamper wrote:
Mon May 18, 2020 12:06 pm
No idea about spearfishing but imagine whiting are a tough spear being such a slim profile? What sort of range do you have to be in to have a decent chance, and how close is generally too close where you spook them?
Within a meter of them to have a relatively high percentage shot

A spear is generally always a pretty clean shot @smokin_reels

Edit: sad that this website doesn’t have a tag feature yet... sort it out @fishvic lol

MasterBaiter24
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Re: Quick little report for Waratah bay

Post by MasterBaiter24 » Tue May 26, 2020 4:56 pm

Have you tried smashing sea urchins for burley?

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Re: Quick little report for Waratah bay

Post by shazdoggg » Tue May 26, 2020 9:20 pm

Most spearos will use a pranger(multi-pronged tip) if specifically targeting whiting and gars. Never taken a kgw on spear but have heard from good account you want to approach from above in deep water or dive down and throw up sand in shallow water to get them to come close. Berley would most likely help, but you would most probably need still need to sit off them to get a decent shot.

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Re: Quick little report for Waratah bay

Post by Davo » Mon Jun 15, 2020 12:46 pm

Kimtown wrote:
Mon May 18, 2020 10:00 am
Preface: I speared nothing, water clarity wasn’t great, breath hold was even worse and no sight of any shelf fish around

HOWEVER, there were plenty of whiting around off the rocks at Walkerville south which is really good for the land based whiting anglers. I seen plenty of school size (30-33) on the broken sand as well as quite a few grass whiting, however all were too quick and smart for silly old me.

Next time I go, I’ll be burleying there while diving imo which will hopefully keep draw them in and keep them occupied, as once you shoot at whiting and miss, that is pretty much the last time you will see them (very much similar to hooking and dropping one in terms of angling)

No sign of any crayfish but the water clarity was pretty bad around the reef areas... which was surprising, I thought it would be great Viz
Vis needs a lot of flat days to really clear up, down there. There is a bit of clayey cliff around towards north W, and dirty water from waves at north Walkerville/waratah gets brought south on the outgoing. Even when it’s clear out over the weed beds at south, a slight wave on the south side of Bird Rock can cloud up the vis all around the rocks. I have snorkelled there a bit - it’s not the place to find a cray. At least that’s my experience.

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Re: Quick little report for Waratah bay

Post by Kimtown » Mon Jun 15, 2020 1:51 pm

Davo wrote:
Mon Jun 15, 2020 12:46 pm
Kimtown wrote:
Mon May 18, 2020 10:00 am
Preface: I speared nothing, water clarity wasn’t great, breath hold was even worse and no sight of any shelf fish around

HOWEVER, there were plenty of whiting around off the rocks at Walkerville south which is really good for the land based whiting anglers. I seen plenty of school size (30-33) on the broken sand as well as quite a few grass whiting, however all were too quick and smart for silly old me.

Next time I go, I’ll be burleying there while diving imo which will hopefully keep draw them in and keep them occupied, as once you shoot at whiting and miss, that is pretty much the last time you will see them (very much similar to hooking and dropping one in terms of angling)

No sign of any crayfish but the water clarity was pretty bad around the reef areas... which was surprising, I thought it would be great Viz
Vis needs a lot of flat days to really clear up, down there. There is a bit of clayey cliff around towards north W, and dirty water from waves at north Walkerville/waratah gets brought south on the outgoing. Even when it’s clear out over the weed beds at south, a slight wave on the south side of Bird Rock can cloud up the vis all around the rocks. I have snorkelled there a bit - it’s not the place to find a cray. At least that’s my experience.
Cheers for the reply

Have you got much experience in finding crays? I don’t lol

Davo
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Re: Quick little report for Waratah bay

Post by Davo » Wed Jun 17, 2020 2:51 am

Kimtown wrote:
Mon Jun 15, 2020 1:51 pm
Davo wrote:
Mon Jun 15, 2020 12:46 pm
Kimtown wrote:
Mon May 18, 2020 10:00 am
Preface: I speared nothing, water clarity wasn’t great, breath hold was even worse and no sight of any shelf fish around

HOWEVER, there were plenty of whiting around off the rocks at Walkerville south which is really good for the land based whiting anglers. I seen plenty of school size (30-33) on the broken sand as well as quite a few grass whiting, however all were too quick and smart for silly old me.

Next time I go, I’ll be burleying there while diving imo which will hopefully keep draw them in and keep them occupied, as once you shoot at whiting and miss, that is pretty much the last time you will see them (very much similar to hooking and dropping one in terms of angling)

No sign of any crayfish but the water clarity was pretty bad around the reef areas... which was surprising, I thought it would be great Viz
Vis needs a lot of flat days to really clear up, down there. There is a bit of clayey cliff around towards north W, and dirty water from waves at north Walkerville/waratah gets brought south on the outgoing. Even when it’s clear out over the weed beds at south, a slight wave on the south side of Bird Rock can cloud up the vis all around the rocks. I have snorkelled there a bit - it’s not the place to find a cray. At least that’s my experience.
Cheers for the reply

Have you got much experience in finding crays? I don’t lol
Well I’m a bit old and unfit nowadays, but used to get a few when younger, mainly down the west coast as I lived in Geelong then. There’s a few likely enough spots at Bird Rock, just never see them there. I think the issue is that the decent shallow reefy area is relatively limited and people do give it a going over from time to time. Usually some abs but marginal for legal size so be careful. They are getting thinner as well. Mostly I launch the tinny for squid, whiting, flatties when down there.

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