THE TRIP BEGINS
As we head off into the sunset after a hard and tiring week of work, we start to unwind and come to the realisation that the weekend
is now upon us. The best bit is we’re only hours away from smelling the sweet sea breeze from the coast, and the scent of a late
night barbie with the lads.
We start out towards Innes National Park after making a quick stop at Port Wakefield for munchies for the journey ahead. Then it’s
off again on the anxious drive towards our destination of Pondalowie Bay. It’s here we’ll set up for the evening in the shack before
heading out on our bottom bashing expedition early the next day with Reef Encounters Fishing Charters.
After driving for nearly three hours and drawing closer to our destination the tension starts to build as we can clearly see the wind
picking up – we realise this may impact our chances of getting out in the boat.
We hit Innes National Park, get our passes and begin the drive through the windy roads revisiting some of the very common scenery out
here of roos and emus before finally pulling up to the shack in the fisherman’s village on the Pondalowie sea front. Some of us begin
to unpack the cars while others run down to the beach to inspect the weather – seeing exactly what we’ll be up against when daylight
hits. By midnight activities are drawing close to an end, with some of us finishing off making rigs and others a few beers. TIME TO FISH!
The alarm hits and there are a few sore heads around the place and many restless fishermen waiting for the day to begin.
We quickly stuff down brekkie and then begin the trek down to the beach for the ride in the tinny out to the charter vessel.
We start up the tinny after being greeted by our skipper Mark Wynbergen of Reef Encounters, then roll up the pants, jump in and
head out to the 45 foot Harriscraft charter vessel ‘Vixen’ that awaits us.
They day looks promising with a lazy 10-15 knot breeze blowing. Whew. It seems manageable considering the average conditions
the night before. Mark’s boat is moored in Pondalowie Bay just 18 NM from Wedge Island. We find it’s too hard to access the Wedge
waters with our own boats given the notorious seas and distance, so we choose to travel with Mark whose knowledge of these waters is
without peer. These trips happen frequently given the great success we’ve had with him. It’s a place that keeps you coming back for
more that’s for sure!
As we start the journey out wide of Pondie we’re visited by some of the friendly local dolphins who get a ride on the boat’s wake
until we hit deeper water and begin to put the pedal to the metal and head straight for our first spot.
We start getting the rods ready. For deepwater work I run with a Daiwa Caldia Kix 4000 with 30lb line and a 6’ 3’’ Monster Mesh
spinning rod as my first choice. When heavier artillery is required I change over to a custom built Project X Sabre 10-15km rod
built by Keith at Fishermans Paradise. This is matched with my Saltiga Z40 with 60lb line on it for the big boys when they start hitting.
As we get to our first drop, the boys are on deck running to all corners of the boat eagerly awaiting the call from the skipper
for the all clear.
We get it, and all lines are in. Within 10 seconds of hitting the bottom there are bent rods everywhere.
Snapper after snapper, nannygai after nannygai. It was more than worth the drive already!
We make a good start and after 30 mins have a solid feed in the esky so it’s time to play. I sent down a couple of pillies that
I picked up earlier from the local store at Marion Bay, only to be smashed on the way down without hooking up. After a quick
re-bait it was straight back in the water again. The offering reached the bottom this time and tap after tap I kept patiently
waiting for a big take – a good tactic on these reefs when there are a lot of little pickers around.
Finally the heavy hit I wanted eventuated. After leaning into the fish, it initially felt like it was a mowie (blue morwong) but
it ran for the reef like a groper.
Line peeled off thick and hard, keeping in mind I was only working with 30lb braid.
It can become quite a strain when fishing deeper
waters with a line class like this. The fish ran and ran and I tightened the drag marginally and bang it’s gone. Reefed. A certain groper.
I then turned to the heavier gear drifting down two pillies which got slammed within seconds of hitting the bottom. Relentless!
I’m on, but this one’s not as big but still a lot of fun as colour becomes visible 10m from the surface. The excitement builds and
this one’s a certain mowie – a 12 pounder for that matter. These are great table fish and a fun fight to go with it.
The day to this point generally consisted of a heap of nannygai, snapper and swallowtail. As the day wore on we started to run into
the larger species such as big morwong, shark and the odd samson with plenty of other species such as trevally and so on blended in.
As it approached 4pm we began the enjoyable big boat ride back to Pondie to clean the fish and relax in preparation for another
session the following day.
When not in the boat it’s worth keeping in mind that the entire area of Innes National Park has some great spots. If you don’t
have access to a boat then check out the many rock, beach and cliff fishing spots, which always produce some form of life – whether
it’s tommies, salmon, snook, squid or the odd barracuda. There are also plenty of whiting and snook around the bay at Pondie and
salmon in the winter months. No shortage of options!
A FRESH DAY. WHAT WILL IT BRING?
We got up early again for our final day out on the water before heading back to the hustle and bustle of the city.
It’s a little bit harder to get up this day considering the work we put
in pulling up 10-15 pound fish the previous day,
but all of us are keen as mustard to head out.
We hit our first spot and decided to anchor rather than drift and it proved to be a good tactic. Within 30 seconds of hitting
the bottom we’re on to some corker fish and the skipper jokingly yells out “all lines up” knowing damn well there are a couple
of solid creatures on the line. Mark is a pretty relaxed guy to spend a day on the water with!
One of the guys alongside of me was struggling with what seemed to be a school shark while my line is fairly racing off the reel.
I put the rod in the belt and leant back and started to get some string back on the reel.
You’ve got to love the struggles and
consistent fishing that these deep reefs provide.
The guy next to me is sweating and gets his seven foot schoolie up to the surface and loses it on top of the water as it bites
through the line, but my fish is still on and fighting hard. The exciting thing about these waters is it could be anything that
takes your bait or jig down there and unless you’re an expert at recognising the fight of the fish it’s only when colour appears
you truly know your quarry.
My 30 pound line is getting a real workout and I can now see why as I have a huge morwong on with a decent snapper below it.
Not a bad double by any means.
The morwong ends up weighing 13lbs and the snapper 10lbs. Very typical of what happens out here in
the waters surrounding Wedge Island.
Overall the day finishes up with two noteworthy fish being decked – these include a 45 pound groper and a nice kingy. Again plenty
of snapper, nannygai, whiting and swallowtail graced the fish bin. A great day out one would suggest!
We headed back to shore at 4pm as usual to clean up and set sail for the city once again. I look forward to our next visit to the
Wedge with Mark, which hopefully isn’t too far away. Who know what fish of the deep we’ll get connected too. Sure it’ll be all class!
