# VIC: South West Road Trip



## Fishane (May 11, 2014)

Hi Guys, please allow me to introduce myself. My names Shane and I'm a fairly experienced kayak angler from Melbourne. I generally get to fish out of the yak around 2-3 times a week in a variety of different locations and styles of fishing. I regularly lurk here but mostly post on VYAK where I run the annual comp and generally try to contribute. However like a few of us Vics, I thought I'd also start to contribute more on a national basis. So to kick things off, here's a trip report from last weekend:

I've had a long term ambition to have a decent go at catching a Southern Bluefin Tuna. As a bit of context, the Victorian Southern Bluefin Tuna fishery is centred around Portland on the west coast where larger boats and charters generally travel 45-60km's out to the continental shelf to troll for tuna. The Southern Ocean isn't a very friendly place as it's generally windy with swells of 3-4m and fickle enough to keep the coast guard busy. In recent years tuna numbers have made a rapid resurgence so it's now a major focus for recreational fishers. Most catches are school tuna in the 10-20kg range although there are a few barrels caught getting up around 130kg. Later in the season the tuna come in closer but not as consistent as out at the shelf. An extra motivation for me is that to the best of my knowledge, no one has targeted and caught a SBT from a kayak in Victoria.

I had done a couple of trips out of Port Fairy in the last 2 years but these have just shown how difficult it is with so much empty ocean to cover just to try to find any tuna. What I really needed to do was get into the better and more productive water near Cape Bridgewater to the west of Portland. But for this, I'd need a couple of days calm enough to safely surf launch the PA and then be free to get there. :?

After weeks of checking reports daily, monitoring weather, gearing up waiting, the forecast was finally looking good for this last weekend.  My family had something on for Sunday so I needed to take Friday off work. After checking with the MD and cashing in a heap of brownie points I was locked in to go. I checked around to see if anyone else could make it but in the end it was going to be a solo trip as expected. The plan was to head down late Thursday, stay with my in-laws in Warrnambool then get to Cape Bridgewater early to fish all Friday and Saturday. However late in the week Friday's forecast worsened so I decided to call into Bullen Merri in the morning expecting the wind to drop for the afternoon.

*Day 1*
I headed off from home at 4.30 and arrived at Bullen Merri at first light. Bullen Merri is a crater lake near Camperdown that's stocked with brown trout, rainbow trout, Atlantic salmon, Chinook salmon and Australian bass. After checking out the North ramp (water too low), I headed around to the south and launched about 7.30. It was a cool misty kind of morning but at least being in a volcanic crater the stiff SW winds weren't an issue. I flat line trolled around the north shore with plenty of fish on the sounder but only one tentative hit. Then I cut straight across to the south side setting the downrigger to run around the 25m thermo cline with the bottom at 45m. No hits crossing so I raised the down rigger to 10m and also put out a pink Tassie with a big sinker to get it down.










Half way around the south shore I finally got a good hit on the Tassie that started peeling off plenty of drag. A nice little fight ensued until I could finally see a slab of silver darting towards the surface. A couple of short runs later and I had a nice brown/rainbow/Atlantic/Chinook? in the net. :?: I couldn't be sure what it was until I opened its mouth to reveal the black inside identifying it as a Chinook Salmon, all 53cm of it.  I continued back to launch without further action, packed up and was on my way to Portland at 11.










I hit Portland around 1pm and continued straight onto Bridgewater Bay. The launch I'd chosen (but not visited) is where the Cray boats launch at the beach near the cliffs of Cape Bridgewater. While there was plenty of surf elsewhere in the bay I was pleased to see it was a bit less along the beach in front of me.










I set up again and launched through the surf at 2pm out into the relatively calm sea beyond. The tall cliffs provided good shelter from the SW wind and swell but out further beyond the cliffs I could see it was a different story. There was also something else, birds. :yahoo:

I picked up a couple of small Aussie salmon on the way (bait for bottom bouncing tomorrow) as I headed out keeping plenty of distance from the cliffs. The main reason for this was the seal colony at the base of the cliffs and particularly the kind of visitors they attract. (This was backed up by plenty of noah sightings in recent weeks including two guys in a 15ft boat off the Cape 2 days ago that battled a 100kg tuna for 7 hours. They managed to get it up in a big hurry when they spotted a very big shark underneath the boat.)










As I came out of the shadow of Cape Bridgewater the swell and wind picked up making progress messy. The swell was mostly 2-3 metres but the moderate SW wind was making them very steep and created about another 1m of chop on top. Ahead there were birds flying and on top of the water but I couldn't see much diving activity. I was in 25m when I put out the big tuna HB's, (one on each side and a shotgun off the rocket launcher) and moved in amongst the birds. In a wave ahead I saw a flash of colour that I took to be a seal. But soon after I spotted 4 dark torpedo's side by side and moving at amazing speed, they were definitely tuna. :up: A minute later I got a massive hit on one rod but the lure came back empty. I threw it back and pressed on.

Again a huge hit but this time followed by a scream of zzzzzzzzz's as the heavy drag peeled off in a long run. It was a frantic tricky fight as the tuna raced off downwind while I had to lean back to balance the yak into the swell. I got line back after the first run but this was followed by a few shorter runs. I finally got him close enough for a gaff shot, nailed it and lifted him into the yak. 8)  I bled him straight away and brain spiked him and pretty soon everything was covered in blood. Once he'd bled I slipped all 97cm's (maybe 15kg?) of him into the front hatch and started off again.










I didn't have to wait long for the next hit.  These tuna hit and run with amazing power but thankfully they do tire. This fight was similar to the last except the lines got a lot more tangled. I tried a gaff shot but he went deep and then circled his way into the fins where he got off! :twisted:

I trolled around for a while longer, chased some birds and headed a bit deeper. There was one more hit but no solid hook up. The front of the PA was getting low so I pumped water out of the full tub (forgot to fit the extra seals), shifted the tuna to the back and started my way back in. Once close in I could see that the surf was up a lot more than earlier. So I took my time and tried what the yanks call the "Paris Hilton" technique. This is basically staying pointed into the waves, pedalling into each wave and eventually letting them push you in. This was a lot of fun with the bigger sets but took a long time so I picked a break in sets and powered in for an easy and upright arrival at the beach. Then it was time for some pictures, pack up and head off to the Portland cleaning tables before finding somewhere to stay for the night.



















*Day 2*

I got a PM from another yakker Cruiser to say he was now free and was headed to Port Fairy on Saturday. A quick PM reply saw him decide to come to Portland so I slept in and pottered around at launch while I waited for him. ;-) After some car issues Cruiser arrived just after 11am, he set up his AI and we set off around 11.30.

What a difference a day can bring! After Friday's stiff south-wester and messy seas, Saturday dawned with hardly a breath of wind, mostly sunny skies and a silky sea spread out before us from the launch at Bridgewater bay. However the swell was still up and appeared to have swung around more to the south so the Cape was no longer giving any shelter. The surf was definitely up a lot more than yesterday as I headed out first in the PA. One thing going for the PA is its ability to punch through and then ride over the waves. While I got a chest full of wave a few times, I was easily out the back and headed out towards the end of the cape. 8)










I got out past the end of the cape before Cruiser and I caught up again. There was barely any wind so Cruiser was having to pedal his AI most of the time. The sea was as good as you could possibly hope for it down here. Around a 2m swell rolling through in sets with just a silky ripple on top of the water making it very easy to cover distance.










The only problem today was that conditions were too calm, with hardly a sign of life anywhere. No birds, no dolphins (that were with me half the trip yesterday) and no sign of tuna.  We covered a lot of k's moving out to 70 metres and then along west across Cape Bridgewater. There were a couple of other boats out trolling but no-one seemed to be seeing anything in close. (I understand from that Carters on the shelf still managed to bag out). So while it was a beautiful day in an amazing area, we ended up doing a lot of distance (well over 20k's) without a sniff of tuna. One possible reason for the lack of action was that it was a strange tide day, with 12 hours between changes instead of the usual 6.

Towards the end I decided to shift to a drift and bottom bash in 45-50m with some bait. I'd caught 3 salmon on the way out yesterday so I gave one to Cruiser and used the other 2 on bottom rigs. Over about an hour this only yielded a flathead and gurnard perch but then I got a decent bite that was pulling off drag. It took a while to get it up with a vertical up and down fight, not knowing what I had. When it finally surfaced it was a very nice gummy of 111cm :clap: , so at least there was plenty of flake for a consolation (I expect Mrs Cruiser was happy with it). 










We made our way back into the beach as the sun was dropping behind Cape Bridgewater. It had set by the time we reached the breakers and I could see by the size of them that it would be interesting. I'd tied a drift chute onto the rear as I wanted to try out method 2 for getting a PA in through surf. This worked really well coming in through the outer waves as the chute would stop the PA from broaching on the wave. However closer to shore I was hit by a much bigger wave that broke on me so I had to jump ship. This allowed me to try out the 3rd method, which is holding the rear handle and using your body to steer/swim the PA into the shore. This worked a treat and we were soon on the beach, upright, in one piece and just a little wetter than usual. After the normal pack up, a change and shower in the SLSC toilets and a bit of a natter, we were both on our way home after another great day. 

Here's the video of the tuna. Btw I'm not trying to say anything about me with the song; I just like it for the video. Hope you enjoy.


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## Stealthfisha (Jul 21, 2009)

bloody nora! another sensational first post!!!!!!!
welcome!
hope you enjoy it here and look forward to more reports!


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## wokka1 (Jan 31, 2011)

Show em what you did on 7/12/13 Shane ;-)


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## Zed (Sep 18, 2006)

Silversalmonkingtrout and tuna in the same report?
I must have switched channels by mistake.

Thanks for the report!


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## Fishane (May 11, 2014)

wokka1 said:


> Show em what you did on 7/12/13 Shane ;-)


There's a bit of a taste in the intro Wokka plus the video's on the youtube channel for anyone interested.


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## Deefa (Dec 22, 2012)

Well done Shane, your efforts finally rewarded. 
I think you are a tad crazy with surf launch and return in a PA!

Edit: Love the video. 
1. Lucky nothing let go while you were leaning into the swell - you would have had a swim!
2. Never seen a tuna brought on to a kayak _next_ to the seat - the PA certainly has enough room!


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## alangoggin (Mar 7, 2011)

Loved the report Shane, great read during my smoko.

Congrats on getting the target species you set out looking for! That takes a lot of dedication, especially fishing somewhere that's not known for catching tuna from kayaks. Well done again mate


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Ripper report Shane. Congratulations on a first for Vic.

I sure hope you don't hook a 100 kg one (Hemingway - The Young Man and the Sea). :shock:


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## Yakwannabe (May 11, 2008)

Great footage and story well told. :shock:


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## crag (Nov 8, 2010)

brave man splashing blood around in Bridgewater Bay, BIG toothy critters hang around that seal colony.


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## Fishane (May 11, 2014)

crag said:


> brave man splashing blood around in Bridgewater Bay, BIG toothy critters hang around that seal colony.


Yeah, I was pretty concious of that, gave the seals a wide birth and tried to stay vigilant. Thankfully there was plenty of wave action to wash the blood away quickly and aslo plenty of dolphins cruising with me. 

I'm back down that way again on Monday to have another go. ;-)


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