Dave Knight and Chris Foot, two cousins who haven’t seen each other for over 20 years decided to catch up for a two week fishing holiday in Exmouth. The pair had a fantastic trip catching a large variety of fish, which included everything from Queenies off the rocks at Trisel access (on the few days it was too windy to get out in the boat) to tuna, trout, cod, trevally and giant herring in the gulf. The highlight for the trip was a day out sailfishing with both Dave and Chris catching and releasing their first Sailfish and Chris following it up the next day with his second sailfish. We reckon they will be talking about this trip for the next 20yrs!
The marina has had a good variety of fish lately including gold spot trevally, queenfish and the odd cod. Schools of hardy heads nervously hug the walls when the predatory fish come through to feed. Dolphins have been seen in the marina almost daily and manta rays have been frolicking at the entrance. The whales certainly haven’t been shy this year and many locals have been getting out to see them from the marina of an afternoon as the southerly backs off to glass in small tinny’s, jet ski’s and even kayaks.
Apparently, there has been quite a few entrants for the Betta Billfish Bonanza next weekend. Briefing is the 14th, fishing is the 15th,16th,17th and anyone is welcome to go to the clubhouse of a late afternoon and evening to see what has been caught for the days. There will be plenty of fishing tales told overlooking the Exmouth Gulf each day no doubt.
Mangrove jack are a sweet tasting fish and tend to be more prevalent in the warmer months. It certainly has been warm lately and we expect these critters to show up in bigger numbers in areas such as the creeks in the lower gulf, the marina and around various structures at Bundegi. Using a half mulie floating down slowly on a 4/0 hook with 50lb leader without any weight is one of the options you can try. The turn of the low tide is a good time to start this and these fish are great to target of a late evening, when it’s not so hot! They are best eaten fresh so if you catch a few remember to put some back for next time.
Knight Snr & Jnr