June 2005

PO Box 63 KALBARRI WA 6536 PH/FAX (08) 9937 2043
http://www.murchisonboathire.com.au/

MURCHISON BOAT HIRE JUNE 2005 NEWSLETTER
Rain, rain and more rain has been the feature this month. The Murchison River has been flowing brown for two months now. Seven years ago we had this same weather pattern and the fishing was outstanding for a few years after that. Lets hope it repeats itself! Mind you, offshore is still good now but we haven’t had the quantity of big tailor lately as 5 or 6 years ago, but the mulloway boys are doing very well at the river mouth with all the dirty water coming down. The annual schooling up of the dhuies has started; we got 6 off one spot last week (3 undersize). They come in from out deep to spawn and are quite easy to catch at this time of year. So if it’s dhuies you want now is the time!

Start of the whale season now and a few have already been spotted. They are humpback whales and are increasing by 10% each year. In a month or so there will be so many around that they become a shipping hazard. The last thing you want to do is run into one in the boat at full speed!

Andy Hall was mentioned in last April’s newsletter when he and his group were struck with some bad weather. He was up again but for the long weekend at the beginning of the month and brought some gear up for me. To show my appreciation I invited him out for a fish on the Sunday. Forecasted to be a calm day but with a rising swell, we felt confident of a good day. We went out in the 5.3m boat as the 6.1 was still up at Gnaraloo Station. We left the boat ramp at 7.00am and by 7.10am were hooked up to mackerel 2 kms north of the river mouth. The mackerel were going ballistic, it was just one of those dream days when it all comes together. I had a mackerel and two yellow-fin tuna and Andy was on his second mackerel within the hour. As soon as the lures went out, we got a strike within a minute or so! We went on to release another 4 mackerel each before getting tired of it and went for a bottom fish!

Andy Hall with his first boat caught mackerel 16kgs

My 13kg yellow-fin tuna on 6kg line

Andy Hall with his dhuie pair

and the shark we released.
A couple of big snapper first up for me and then two dhuies in a row for Andy. We then got onto a skippy spot that were so thick with them we could not touch bottom without getting a bite! After getting tired of playing with skippy I put a whole sergeant baker on as bait trying to get through them to the dhuies that I new were there. I too did not touch bottom, but no dhuie, just a big shark! Like I said “One of those dream days!”

Gary Veenvliet from Bluewater Tackle Morley was up this month with his dad, Peter, and mates Norman Maschhaupt and Neil Haseldine. They spent a week here waiting for the weather to get better (It was in the middle of all those storms that went through Perth at the beginning of June.) They were down from Exmouth having been washed out up there. Taking the best day of the week they got out to as far as Baldface in the 6.1m boat. Water temp was down so no mackerel around but they bottom fished some of the waypoints around Baldface. They found new spots and picked up fish as shown below including red-throat emperor, pink snapper and skippy. Gary added 3 new waypoints where these fish came from, so are there for anyone to use.

Peter Veenvliet’s snapper.

Neil Haseldine’s baldie.

Dutch visitor Norman Maschhaupt’s sand snapper
Thanks for the pics Gary.

Kalbarri Offshore & Angling Club, Local Competition June 25th

Our local comp this month fell on a day with easterlies blowing all day. Perfect for going a long way north. I had two juniors and my wife Sue aboard and fished in close around 12m picking up 10 pink snapper before the wind calmed down enough to venture further out. Finding a line of cray pots in 23 metres of water we searched the line until we found a likely spot and set the anchor. 3 size dhuies and 3 undersize came up within 15 minutes with red-throat emperor, skippy, cod and baldchin in between! We then fished a couple of other spots making up our bag limit before heading home. A pretty good Day!

Boat Driving Licences:
Most of you will be aware that legislation is now in place that will require all boat skippers to have compulsory training before being permitted to operate a boat. This new licence and testing will start towards the end of this year and anyone who wants to operate a boat must have this licence. There will be a 3-year catch up period but after that it will be illegal to operate a boat with out a licence. The licence testing will involve a theory test that will include buoyage, collision regulations, safety equipment, and basic navigation and also a practical where you will have to demonstrate your proficiency. Those who have owned a boat for more than 5 years will only have to complete the theory part.
The good news is that the licence will be a once only test, be recognised in the Eastern States and that the National Powerboat Competency Certificate (TL3), BoatSmart or Small Craft Competency Certificate will exempt you from further testing. It will also be in your own interest safety wise.
At this stage you don’t have to have a licence to operate one of my boats and the Dept. of Transport has not told me when the cut off point will be. It will be in your interest to get tested soon and avoid the final rush or problems if I get an earlier cut off time than recreational boats.
The good thing is I will be a lot more confident giving you a boat if you have done the course and am sure the benefits will outweigh the hassles.

Remember if you rent our accommodation you get big discounts on our boats. Have a look on my website for the details, and check out the savings.

Check out http://www.oceanoutlook.com.au/ and go to the Geraldton weather for local 5-day weather forecasts, or http://www.buoyweather.com/ and go to virtual buoys, is not a bad one!

Another website worth looking at for sea surface temperatures is http://www.aodc.gov.au/ and go to “online data”, and pick “Near real-time SST” that takes you to a zoom in screen of the area you need. Some times that does not work so try this link www.aodc.gov.au/products/IDG00073.shtml

Laurie