Shellharbour Fishing Adventures

Fresh from a couple of weeks of catching up with family and friends around Sydney, we took a short detour back down the coast for a catch up with Bev & Fred, and hopefully some fishing.

Fred cutting up the bait

It was great to see Bev & Fred again. Their hospitality is always first class. The week started badly as far as the weather goes, with strong winds almost blowing us into the sea! The big blow continued until Thursday, when there was a drop in winds, so Fred and John decided to give it a go and head out, staying close into shore and hoping to catch some bait for the days ahead. Well the decision was the right one, and soon trolling along, we picked up our first benito, the perfect baitfish. This was followed by another 5 in quick succession, and as the wind had dropped a little more, it was time to try and catch dinner.

Now Fred's Fishing Charters is quite an enterprise. It comes with lunch, corned beef and pickle sandwiches, plus Bev's treats for John, and drinks, and usually includes a wild life tour, and if you are really lucky, some whale watching, though Fred says the price goes up if it includes whale watching! The currency of course is beer, so everyone wins!

Fred and his pelican friend

The birds wait for a feed.

On day one we had this big sea bird follow us around, waiting for an undersize catch to be thrown his way, plus we saw some dolphins, and away in the distance you could see whales spouting.

The pelicans are a classic. They fly in and cruise right up close, staring at you with those big clear eyes, trying to intimidate you to throw them a fish. On one trip we got amongst a school of small flathead, and kept throwing them to this pelican, who by the time he left, had to run about 100 meters on the water, before he could get airborne!!

Not a bad catch!

Nosy seal came for a look

Friday the weather was perfect. Never seen the sea so calm. We pottered around a number of spots and caught a good number of fish. We got amongst the leather jackets. You know immediately, as these little buggers cut your line with their sharp teeth. We were both rigging up again quickly, this time with wire tracers, and soon it was our turn to do the laughing. The day produced some nice leather jackets, a couple of good flathead, plus a couple of nice morwong, not to mention all the wildlife on show.

Saturday was another perfect day. Being the weekend, plus the fact that the weather had been bad for weeks, meant that everyone who had a boat was out there. Still it is a big ocean. We tried a few spots where John again showed his prowess at catching spiny red rock cod of all sizes. They call them poor man's lobster, but we reckon that with all those poison spikes, and all the fuss to skin them, there are plenty of other fish to eat!

Now that's a snapper!

Nice Morwong Fred.

We decided to try a spot a lot further out and in a lot deeper water. We dropped over our lines, just as a huge Manta Ray came swimming by, just below the surface. He swam around us and under the boat a few times, then wandered off. Our big brown bird arrived again, but soon got chased off by the sea gulls! The decision to come out to this spot proved a beauty. John hooked up a really good snapper, the biggest one I've ever caught, and soon we had some other snapper and a really good morwong. We caught some really nice eating fish, and decided to pull up stumps early, as the wind had started to freshen up, and head back for celebrations, and to beat the crowd at the boat ramp.

On the way back in, Fred's phone rang. It was the girls checking on us. Fred killed the motor to take the call, and almost immediately a humpback whale broke the water less than 10 metres behind the boat, with a huge whoosh of air and water. It was enormous, and was quickly followed by 2 others, just as close. I couldn't get the camera out of the bag fast enough. As quickly as they came they were gone, heading north on their migration. What a sight! Gave us both goose bumps! What a way to end Fred's Fishing Charter AND Whale Watching Cruise.

The day finshed with a rather long happy hour or three, and a great Thai Dinner at the Harbourside Thai.

Sunday is a day of rest, but we are heading up to Bev & Freds this afternoon, for our traditional break up party, and one of Fred's fantastic baked dinners, to send us on our way tomorrow.

P.S. Don't think that the girls haved missed out! There has been no suffering. They have had a week of shops, cafes, Bingo and movies, while we have been out re-stocking the larder!