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Rock fishing is inherently dangerous, and we, as rock fisherman, accept a certain degree of risk as the price for the art form that we practice. This topic has been done to death and doesn't require any further consideration. If you would like to contribute to a conversation about rock fishing safety, you can do so here. viewtopic.php?f=105&t=23090
Now on to it.
The last two months have been a complete blur. Minutes turn into hours, hours into days and days of the week into nothing. At the end of February I started a new job as a relief teacher to compliment the work I do coaching at Absolute MMA. I adore the martial arts in all forms however a more stable, more day time friendly role in a secondary school would allow me greater freedoms with some other goals i'm looking for, plus my body is falling apart. My new job lasted 2.5 weeks, with the writing on the wall with COVID-19 and the relief teaching work drying up in a hurry, coupled with the gym just closing until this mess is over, I took the opportunity to get the hell out of Melbourne before we all got locked down.
Driving through the twisting roads of East Gippsland I got to witness the destruction from summers fires first hand. For a couple of hours with the cruise control set at 100, nothing but regrowth on heavily burned areas, as far as the eye could see.
Arriving around midday at Saltwater Creek, I chucked the swag up and immediately took off for a look around. The devastation is endless, the entire place, minus the 100 odd metres of campground, has been obliterated. From vegetation so thick you can't even see through it, let alone trying to walk through it, to this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6QNAJj6dLg
I was actually overcome for a little while, the ash on the ground is like walking through fresh snow. While the big Gum's on the road in had begun to recover, here nothing lives at all.
I fished SWC for salmon and the Pulpit for a couple of days. I really like this area because of the lack of mobile reception, while the world goes crazy, the martial arts are cancelled and teachers are panicking about everything, I can fish in peace.
Pulpit, as always, is stunning.
as is SWC
An ample supply of predawn slimeys and yakkas getting smashed by big pike. No sign of any pelagics, but that's what i've come to expect from this spot. I cannot strongly enough recommend coming here for a look around, it's a spectacular place to learn the LBG game and there's no chance of being interrupted by a big fish.
I didn't see another person for 3 days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeuTnIJ1UE4
(April 14 is the upload date, not the date i took the video)
The time came to move on. Coming out of non reception isolation with a plan of heading up to JB for a few days, I recieved a string of panicked messages from the Iron Princess, telling me that she's been told not to come to work, and that they are placing restrictions on where you can and can't go. After decoding the mixed messages (while driving through the bega valley) and some calls to locals, I came to the following conclusions.
IPs fight that weekend in Sydney was cancelled, and she had been advised against flying.
School was closed.
Flights were being cancelled.
National Parks and camp grounds were closed.
So unless I want to pay 2k for 4 days in an airbnb at JB, fishing the tubes or B was out of the question.
We found an Airbnb at Coffs Harbour, a lazy 10 hour drive from where I was and 14 for IP, which would take us for 10 days for a reasonable price, so off I went and she joined me in her car a couple of days later, driving up from Melbourne in a single hit. I've been as far North as SouthWest Rocks, fished Hat Head for a week a couple of years ago, but never spent any time in any of the towns up there. I dont' like Airbnb, I have a great distaste for being close to anyone, I don't need a bed or a shower or a fridge or a kettle, i'm quite happy being uncomfortable in my swag with my jetboil and a little cooker. Largely, I did not want to spend 10 days in some hole of a backward town with nothing but boomers and bogans.
And then I got there.
Pulling into the breakwall (before I checked in cos fishing first) I walked 3 metres from the car onto the top of the wall, heard a little girl say "daddy daddy tuna" and was met with a carpark sized eruption in front of me. Mack Tuna exploding all around the surface.
And they would...not....take....anything....I....cast.
A couple of the local boys were having similar problems. Many new 4 letter words were learned. Eventually I hooked into a 5kg model on a 1.5oz GT icecream, 12lb tasline and 20lb leader. A solid 20 minutes including a couple of freespool moments and me ballerina'ing along an unfamiliar ledge, I had it up on the breakwall for a pic.
What we discovered were dozens of the most fishable, gorgeous rock ledges, beaches and estuaries you can imagine. Super friendly locals, 10 min drive to more fishing than you could do in a year. Coffs and Port Maq appear to be heaven on earth, and I was absolutely not expecting to fall instantly in love with the place.
Fishing dawn, dusk and any tide change for 10 days is exhausting. Mistakes were made, fish lost, skin sunburnt, knees hands elbows scraped, phones cracked and tempers flared. But when you see your Popper disappear in a bow wave and the drag on the Expo scream, it's all worthwhile.
I hooked 3 big pelagics spinning, one confirmed spanish that snipped me and what i suspect were two long tails. I landed 0/3. 20+mack tuna, probably 100 tailor, trevally, flathead, whiting, bream, all from similar sorts of areas within 10 mins drive of Coffs. All 3 were on GTicecreams of some description, with smaller metals doing most of the damage on the smaller fish.
I won't go through and describe each session in detail, and will just post a heap of uncaptions pics. Spots include the Gallows, Coffs Creek, Sawtell, Muttonbird Island, Look at me Now headland, Woolgoolga, Nambucca heads, South West Rocks and probably a few more.
I can legit see myself moving into this area 3-5 years from now.
Packing the gear up back in Melbourne at the start of April is absolutely heartbreaking. We should have 2 more months of solid fishing every weekend ahead of us. Not heading into the city every night to do my classes at Absolute is even worse. This is the time of year we start to amp things up towards the Nationals then the Worlds, instead we are relegated to doing drills in my living room. Not having certainty about the future, the fear of the unknown, is a far bigger issue to most people than any tangible threat ever will be. The current situation is historically unique, we are about to experience the most trying times for Australia since the second world war. With patience, co operation and love, we, as fisherman, as a country, can get through this together. Stay home. Wash your hands. Show respect for people who do the same for you.
Straight arms!
Popping on the heavy gear, get a hookup and it's another one of these .....
