Yorke Peninsula Mulloway Hunting 2012
- Lachlan Cross
- Jun 20, 2016
- 4 min read
Yorke peninsula Mulloway 2012
The sky was grey, the moon almost full and the winds easterly, it was time for a late season Mulloway trip before the winter temperatures take hold. A window of opportunity had appeared and with my two good mates kris and Shannon we loaded up the pathfinder for a two night trip to the bottom of the peninsula. Arriving late in the afternoon it was a rush to set up camp and get lines in the water before sundown. The conditions were great with the whole beach to ourselves, a gutter was chosen for the trip, different to the one we usually try. By 4 :30 we were ready to commence fishing in the fading light. With relatively low swell and light winds the conditions felt right. Whole pilchards were whipped out to the back of the gutter, while we attempted to catch live baits.
The rig of choice was a paternoster running ganged chemically sharped 7/0s on 60lb trace with 4 & 6oz triangular surf sinkers. The first hour passed without a touch and only a few undersized mullet being caught on the live bait front. With this lack of action Shannon and Kris decided to retreat to the camp kitchen, where I determined as ever kept changing , checking and resetting rods. As always my enthusiasm drained through the lack of action and after re-setting the last bait on sundown I felt it was time to get some feed. As I was leaving the rods I heard a sound a very loud drag screaming sound, to my delight I turned around to see my 4120 doubled over with line pouring out to the west. With a quick dash across the sand I was on to a head- shaking creature, at this stage my certainty of this being a Mulloway was high. The first run took approximately 50 metres line before I was able to turn the head, I was winning the fight now but expecting another run I released the drag just a touch, the next run commenced with no surprise this time only taking 30 or 40 metres of line. Again I turned the fishes’ head and recovered line quickly. The next challenge was to successfully bring the fish in through the shore-break. Using a low rod position I was able to bring the fish in through the break and use the white water to beach it. After landing this fish it was decided that at around 20lbs this was perfect eating size and would be packed up and away to be taken home.This was the only action for the night although we fished hard after the first capture by 10 30pm without another run it was time to get some shuteye.
The next day we were awoken by howling north-westerly winds which were somewhat unexpected, after attempting to fish in these trying conditions for a short in the morning it was decided that our efforts were futile in these conditions. So most of the day was spent exploring the local coastline and searching for fishy looking holes along the immediate beach.
By 3pm the wind had started to subside and we were right back into the swing of things, lobbing big baits out and fishing away just behind the shore break where we started to get into a few decent sized surf tommies and legal mullet both of which were used for live baiting purposes. Kris got a bump on the heavy gear which he hurriedly attended to, the trademark rattle and run in towards the beach was almost certain signs of a salmon, after a short fight he landed a nice little salmon of about 3lbs. unfortunately that was the only action for the afternoon on heavy gear with live baits just being picked at by sand crabs. Just on sunset I was able to catch a big mullet on the bait gear, at over 30cms it was almost too big to live bait but I decided what the heck. I rigged it up on my Shimano beach basher with a 6500 Fin Nor offshore running in excess of 300metres of 50lb braid. I then waited for 40 minutes until all twilight had faded in hope of a run. A quick bait check after 40 minutes revealed sand crabs had again done damage. I then decided it was time to retire to camp for dinner and thought I would set the bait while we ate with a very loose drag setting.
While completing a rod check from camp it was clear that one rod was missing I raced down to the beach to discover the beach basher at a 45 degree angle with line racing out to sea. I picked up the rod and struck feeling a lot of weight. For 5 minutes I could not turn the fish, until I was able to increase the drag and lean back it felt as though the head had been turned as I tried to regain line the fish took off again, I should have known. unfortunately at this moment the trace line gave way, after inspecting the trace there were clear abrasions present could this have been a shark, or was it gill-rakers from a very large mulloway, or was it the work of a ray. I am still undecided, again unfortunately that was the last run of the trip. The next morning we were able to catch plenty of bait yet we were not able to raise a run. We left around lunch time I felt a bit uneasy doing so as I believed I had unfinished business. But all in all it was a good trip for my first lower Yorkes Mulloway adventure and there will be plenty more to come.
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