Introducing my mates to new and different forms of fishing is something that I really enjoy doing. We had booked in for another charter in mid October with Mark Wynbergens Reef Encounters that operates out of Pondalowie Bay. My mate Lyall was having a bit of trouble finding the fish of late, with one spot remaining on the charter boat we were more than happy to give him the opportunity. Although he had never done anything remotely like this before and didn’t really know what to expect, he eagerly jumped at the chance. A short lesion on rigs, fishing gear and on what species we expected to encounter and Lyall was rearing to go.
Gary, Lyall and I arrived at Mark’s shack in Ponde late on the Friday night and Lyall was immediately impressed with the myriad of fishy photos that adorned the brag walls. It was like a diary through time of the many piscatorial battles won and lost over the years from this fabulous little corner of our state. Before long the rest of our party arrived. Gary, Greg, Scott and Steve were all veterans at fishing these deep offshore waters, whilst Neville was also a first timer at open water
charter fishing. After the introductions we got to know each other with a few quiet beers and then hit the sack around midnight, full of anticipation for what tomorrow would bring.
After breakfast everybody downed the obligatory Kwells as there was a large south-westerly swell running outside and, coupled with the strengthening north-westerly wind, things looked to be pretty sloppy offshore. There was a westerly change on the way and the relentless ground swell was being kicked up by the approaching disturbance from within the deep latitudes of the Southern Ocean. We told Lyall to be sure to hang on as this thing really boogies. As Mark opened the twin Yamaha 150’s we were confronted by several huge green faced swells reared up menacingly as soon as they hit the shallow of water at the entrance to the bay. I looked around as we launched off the top of one of these mobiles mountains and I noticed that Lyall was hanging on for dear life, and afterwards he admitted to thinking, “What the hell am I doing here?”
As we headed further westward the large swell began to round out, making things a lot more comfortable on board, and it allowed Lyall to finally loosen his grip on this leaping and diving white-knuckle ride. As Mark eased “Freedom II” down off the plane some twenty kilometres offshore the sounder showed an absolute plethora of fish hanging over a reef system on 50 metres of water. Baits were hurriedly threaded on and eagerly released into the deep blue. It didn’t take long, bang, bang as soon as Lyall’s sinker touched the rocky bottom he was on. Instantly a huge smile appeared on his face as he wrestled a nice sized snapper into the boat. It wasn’t long before Neville pulled in another good snapper, much to his delight.
I smiled to myself, what a perfect way to start the day, getting the newcomers to break their duck early is always a good way to keep their minds off the lumpy, confused sea conditions. Everybody was soon into good fish, with snapper, nannygai and trevally being the most commonly caught species, and the occasional heavy run from what I suspected were large rays. This is how charter boat fishing should be, a chorus of screaming drags, bent rods and a boat full of smiling fishos. The full walk-around cabin gave us plenty of fishing space and nobody seemed to have an advantage in any spot around the boat as everybody was getting into the fish. We had some monumental tangles though, which is par for the course out here, especially when mono meets braid in the swirling waters down below, forming a union that is almost inseparable.
There were some great fish caught that day. Greg took the honour of landing our biggest snapper for the day, Gary caught a couple of the biggest swallowtail we’d ever seen, I landed a thumper King George whiting and a snorter of a nannygai, and Neville pulled in the biggest trevally. Lyall managed to snare a big harlequin fish and its colour straight from the water was nothing short of sensational. That fish was definitely the highlight of the trip for Lyall. There were also several extraordinary captures,
Neville landing two fish on the one hook, whilst I landed a nice nanny on no hook at all, the leader to the sinker had somehow bounced off the seafloor as I struck and wrapped around the hapless fish’s bottom jaw.
Mark told us that it’s been done before though as he has seen several barracouta that have tried to eat a moving snapped lead, only to have it slip through their mouth and outside their gill over. The surprised fish then clenched their gill covers shut and were landed without ever touching a baited hook. Mark kept us amused with his many fishing stories of years and years of fishing these superb waters around the bottom of Yorkes. There is no substitute for local knowledge. No wonder he knows exactly where the fish will be hiding.
Gary caught several large ling, a slippery cod like species that inhabits the caves and ledges of these deep reefs. Gary also received two scorching runs in a row, only to have that sickening feeling as his braid sliced across the top of the reef, only to have it let go with a loud crack. We moved around on the same reef system, but it didn’t seem to matter where we stopped, there were fish everywhere. Our last drop was a ground that Mark name “Mowie Ground,” because of the abundance of blue morwong that normally reside there. In no time flat, Neville, Scott and I each landed a beautiful specimen of this much sought after queen of the deep reefs.
It was late afternoon and with storm clouds threatening we bid a hasty retreat to the safety of Pondalowie Bay, and we surfed our way back in astride some monstrous fast moving swells. The severe wind change hit us on the beach as we cleaned our day’s catch that boasted 30 snapper, 30 nannygai, 3 blue morwong, 12 big trevally, the harlequin and a host of other different species. A bag limit of snapper and nannygai, how many other charter operations can deliver that sort of action? Lyall and Neville had had their first taste of open ocean, deepwater reef fishing and it’s fair to say that their
appetites had been sufficiently whetted to ensure that they would return again soon.
The south-west corner of Yorke Peninsula is an enormously exciting area to fish in these wild, remote offshore waters. This is due in most part to the lack of heavy fishing pressure associated with easy trailerboat access. Smaller boats can be launched from the
beach at Ponde using a 4wd, but most wouldn’t venture too far offshore. The nearest half-decent boat ramp is at Marion Bay, but this still entails a good 40 kilometre run through inhospitable waters out to these deepwater grounds. Even charter boats are at mercy of the weather in these waters, as it can really blow down
primarily on the southern rock lobster that are prolific in this area just has to taste good.
Now for the hoodlums that haunt these deep reefs, samsons, kings and blue groper. Blue groper are totally protected in our gulf waters and the waters of Investigator Strait, and after that monumental fight they must be released immediately. Samsons and kings are unpredictable but may turn up anywhere at anytime on these remote offshore reefs, and hooking one of these speedsters will promote absolute mayhem on board. School sharks and gummy sharks are regularly hooked from the deep-water grounds and bronzies, makos and hammerheads put in a regular appearance also.
Big schools of salmon regularly patrol these fish rich waters, particularly around the offshore islands such as along the northern coast of Wedge or along any of the inshore grounds, and can also be found hammering baitfish schools in open water. They will obligingly swoop on a whole Prichard or well-presented lure cast to the hungry school. Other species encountered are snook, sweep, sergeant baker, leatherjacks, barracouta, pike, flathead, gurnard and huge tommy roughs. The list seems to be endless out here. There has even been a rumour that southern bluefin have been seen around Wedge Island.
Rigs for offshore reef fishing are simple, a two hook paternoster rig tied with twisted dropper loops (Geoff Wilson’s book of knots, page 14) tied in 25 to 35 kilo mono. The heavy mono is needed to counteract the rasping teeth and gill covers of the nannygai; every piece of their outer armoury is razor sharp. You may need to use heavy snapper leads up to 250 grams in this deep water, but the weight will actually depend on the strength of the current and it always pays to use the lightest that conditions will allow. Hooks like the Gamakatsu Octopus in sizes 5/0 to 7/0 should be used on the top dropper,
this way. All of these factors combine to ensure that this isolated section of our coastline can turn on champagne fishing all year round.
Add to that spectacular topography of the ocean floor around here and it’s easy to see why these waters teem with a myriad of marine life. There are offshore islands, reefs, bommies, shoals, big ledges and isolated rocks that attract and hold fish from miles around. Water of over 80 metres deep is not far away, ensuring that the species of fish are many and varied. It’s a lottery out there; you just never know what will arrive at the surface next from these deep cobalt blue waters.
Snapper are probably the number one targeted species and they do abound, ranging from undersized specimens right up to 10 kilo fish. Most of the fish caught around here are in the 38 to 60 centimetre range, give a good scrap and are of course the best size for the table.
The second most sought after species is the nannygai and these orange bucket mouths can be caught up to a staggering 3.5 to 4 kilos in this neck of the woods. Blue morwong are next on the wanted list and are a prized capture both for their fighting abilities and their eating qualities as well. Swallowtails are a much smaller cousin of the nanny but they are also a much sweeter proposition on the dinner table.
Mega whiting up to 60 centimetres long thrive in these deep offshore waters, especially in the breeding season during the winter months. They are the ultimate prize, especially for those long suffering whiting fisherman who continually battle with undersized fish from our gulf waters. Silver trevally are a tough as nails fish that will sort out inferior gear in seconds, and they are also found in good numbers on these offshore reefs. Harlequin fish are another tasty bonus. Anything that feeds
they will handle all of the species mentioned above. I use a much smaller size 3/0 Gamakatsu O’Shaughnessy on the bottom dropper to help in hooking any big whiting that may be interested in your bait. These little beauties are a heavy-duty straight point hook with ultra high strength that can also handle any much larger and angrier predators that may sniff out your bait. Braided lines give the angler a definite advantage in feeling the bites and hooking fish in waters between 50 and 80 metres deep.
Because of the nature of the fishing, tough baits are mandatory out on the deep reefs to withstand the constant hammering that they receive from the waiting horde that lurks below. Squid, cuttlefish and octopus are the logical choice, and they have enough staying power to finally hook that large fish.
Whole pilchards are the prime bait out here; their only downfall is that they are removed from the hooks reasonably easy. Using a cocktail of both Pritchard and squid on one hook can alleviate this. They are however the favourite food of the enigmatic Samson fish and are worth preserving with if targeting this species specifically. Cockles can also be used if mainly chasing the big whiting. Artificials work well when jigged on these deep reef systems. Small plastic squid can be deadly on snapper, trevally and even nannygai, but don’t last as long when the bities like snook and barracouta move in. Small feathered jigs and flasher rigs will also hook plenty of eager fish. When the kings and samsons are there they will take 200 gram Raider lures jigged near the reefy bottom, and more fishos are starting to experiment with those garish knife jigs that have appeared in tackle shops
everywhere. Casting and trolling lures like 60 gram Saftas, Halco Twisty, Raiders and Rapala CD11’s are good for those mobile salmon schools.
Quality charter boat operations in quality fishing locations such as this will keep the happy customers coming back year after year. I know we’ve already booked our next trip to this wonderful part of the world. And still they come, just like Lyall and Neville, more first timers lining up to sample some of this magnificent action. Each successful fishing trip continues to swell the number of hopeful candidates; it’s just a pity that the boat has limited number of spots available, as we can’t take everybody. But the names that are pencilled in on the next charter will be eagerly waiting their turn to fish this fish rich section of our coastline, and they will also dare to dream about amazing bag limits.
