# Waratah Bay, Walkerville, 05/05/07



## Guest (May 6, 2007)

Despite the foreboding weather, it was a weekend of providence for me all the same. I'd allotted this weekend for a kayak fishing / island camping trip at Western Port with AKFF member Kingfisher111 (AKA Steve). He cancelled all plans due to less than desirable weather (unless you, like mostg, were praying for rain, damn you;-) for what appeared to be good reason. This left me all dressed up with no where to go, so I decided to head out anyway. I knew Steve was probably right about this weekend so I looked for destinations that might be sheltered from the incoming north westerlies. The first, most fitting Google Earth rendered candidate was Waratah Bay, approached from the 'end of the road' car park at Walkerville South. This is what it looked like from my parking spot:










I worked pretty hard for the fish this day, ultimately travelling near 17km (in less than calm waters) for only one landed hook up. It came pretty early, in the form of a Barracouta that had probably grown to a length of about 45cm - a good fish that I mistakenly took as a sign of things to come.










From that point on, bites on soft plastic or HB lures were surprisingly few and far between. With light fading fast I turned my attention to the shallow reefs nearby the launching destination, and was quickly awarded with a modestly sized squid.

A few of this guys tenticles were employed to the service of bait fishing, the rest adding to the BBQ'd flavour of the Barracouta later that night. Alas, that poor little cephalopod was the last glimor of light as the sunset over the eastern hilltops. There were bites of course, but nothing to write home about and certainly nothing landed. I knew I was doing something wrong pretty quickly but failed to do anything about it. I'm pretty sure my Snapper sized hook was too large for whatever was on offer (it's hard to say what was on the bite) and I knew it soon after anchoring. Why I didn't switch hooks can only be summed as laziness.

I felt deservady humbled when I landed the yak. There was really no good reason (that I could think of) that went against me today, save for my laziness. I really did throw a lot out there though, covering many miles to tempt a bite. So what went wrong?

It's hard to say. I did sound a lot of fish along the way, but the incoming torrent of sea weed didn't help, neither for my lines nor sounder. It was difficult to know when it was picking up floating chunks of weed or Great White Sharks. I think perhaps I need to mess around with my Sounder settings, but then again, the flowthru of sea weed would likely have confused most on this day.

Not only was I probably offering too large a hook, I reckon I was using too heavy a sinker as well. Again, I was too damned lazy to switch. This cost me more than one fish I'd say.

It was difficult to not pay attention to the undulating reefy surface of the bottom and for that reason alone, Waratah Bay showed loads of promise. I'll be back here for sure and next time for much longer than just a weekend. I could spend a week here without even thinking about it and I reckon every day would bring something new. My target species on this trip was Aussie Salmon and Yellowtail Kingfish - both of which are known to populate the area this time of year - and I won't give up on this place until both targets are granted the great big bulls eye!










I was tempted to stay in the carpark for the night and head out early AM, but was instead overcome with an urge to investigate Inverloch, which is where I drove to next.


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## Shoey (Aug 30, 2005)

Great report mate. I spent a lot of my childhood fishing that area, so you've brought back some good memories. Waratah Bay/ Walkerville is one of the best spots around for big King George Whiting. Look for the sand patches in between the kelp beds and you should do alright. We used to collect big fat beach worms, or go to Sandy Point and pump yabbies. Waratah is also renowned for its whiting fishing during winter, something the other 2 bays lack. Cant wait to see the photo's of the big 'kidney slappers'.


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## Guest (May 6, 2007)

Yeh Shoey, thats what I suspect kept hammering my squid bait. The hook mas marginally to big for whiting. I had a lot of soft touchs on the sps to, which I think I can typically put down to whiting as well.

When I return I'll be back with a whiting strategy in mind, for sure.


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## PoddyMullet (Aug 29, 2005)

Always a great read Josh, and nicely captured on digital. Toothy bugger that coutta. I'm looking out for the Ando's addition :shock:


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## Guest (May 6, 2007)

Thanks Poddy - Inverloch edition is in print now m8. Will be hot off the press ASAP


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## PoddyMullet (Aug 29, 2005)

Stop talking here and start typing on it!! :!: We won't be happy here until ya fingers are worn out stubs (and the bonus is ya won't be able to stick one up at us) :wink: :lol:


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## Garfish (Jun 2, 2006)

I can't tell you how much I'm gonna enjoy these reports mate... love the pics... and love the google earth references.

Trip of a lifetime indeed. I'm already planning, I have my 10 year plan in place :lol:


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## Squidder (Sep 2, 2005)

Shoey said:


> Waratah Bay/ Walkerville is one of the best spots around for big King George Whiting.


Beat me to it shoey, it's the best spot I know of for big KGs. Often the numbers of fish in a session aren't huge, but the size of the fish makes up for it. The Victorian record KG whiting of 2.155kg was taken off Walkerville  :wink:

A #4 long shank or wide gape hook baited with nippers (or squid/pippies if you can't get nippers) would be the go.


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## Guest (May 7, 2007)

Gar, I'm glad to hear you're enjoying reading the reports. I reckon they'll only get more and more interesting. Squidder, thanks for the tip. I'll definitely target the KGW next time and I don't think that'll be too far away. It really is reasonably well sheltered there, which makes it a good yak fishing spot I reckon. I reckon it's a candidate for a Mangoes outing even.


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