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Mullaway_Chaser
04-06-2003, 01:47 PM
This is a picture of my mulloway caught at Hillary’s on 02/06/2003 (yesterday) .

Winter has just started and it has been raining continuously for about 2 weeks with a constant easterly wind blowing in allot of seaweed . but along with it a whole lot of fish too ;) . I decided to chance a day of fishing the day before but the wind was just too terrible . I decided to go Cleggy's new shop at north beach shopping center and pick up some fresh mulies and find out where the fish are biting. (You will be amazed at how well informed a fishing shop owner is ! And more often than not you get some "Top Secret" info for free :)

That night I got my gear in order and was ready for the next mornings fishing which turned out to be a big disappointment because the weather had still not eased up, you would have needed a shot-put as a sinker to cast into that wind , so I had no other option but to wait .

At about 5pm I saw my window of opportunity , the wind died down but I could see the looming dark clouds on the horizon and #knew I would only have a few hours of fishing , so I packed my little red Suzuki #and was off to Hillary's.

As most people who live I Perth know , trying to fish from the breakwall at Hillary’s harbor can be sometimes more crowded than the train station at peak hour ! #And today was one of those days that I just don’t have the patience to smile and untangle a inexperienced fishermans burley blob from you perfectly positioned cast just a few seconds before , enough to drive any fisherman crazy >:(.

So I drove along west coast highway to the bp servo and pulled into the parking bay just in front of it and unloaded my fishing tackle . Now , my fishing tackle is no ordinary tackle mainly because of my bitter sweet luck in the past ! I always seem to hook the catch of a lifetime and then something goes terrible wrong !

I even remember a occasion where I had not had a bite for about 5 hours with a tailor fillet and I closed my eyes and said " I wish #a big fish would take my line " Kids ,this is where you need to be careful what you wish for ! Well a big fish did take my line , IT TOOK ALL OF IT ! )

I think my girlfriend was tired of my winging about my bad luck and decided to treat me for Christmas with a Purglass Executive CQX 14 Ft rod which I mounted my Shimano Speed master IV with 25lb test on , needless to say , I have caught allot more fish since then #:)

Getting back to the story :)
When I got to the beach I noticed there was a mountain of seaweed that had been washed out onto the beach to the left of the groyne , but the right was clean as a whistle but there was a fisherman fishing that side. So I decided I would just have to cast straight or behind that seaweed , maybe there would be a little something lurking behind that gunk !

I baited up with a nice fat mulie in beautiful condition #and casted in about 20 meters . I introduced myself to the other fisherman , and asked if he had had any luck and he said , well there are a few whiting and allot of bream , I think he could see I was after something a bit bigger , so he said well I am sure there is something else out there mate and winked .
After 15 minutes I had a nice tug on my line , and it went quiet after that so I reeled in to expose my mulies tail been bitten off a millimeter short of the hook , and it was a clean bite . Taylor came to mind .
So I put a fresh mulie on and cast in , this time a bit deeper and more to the left , about 5 meters behind the seaweed , I remember contemplating recasting but thought lets see if there is something there . After about 5 minutes I felt the rod tip wobble once , now you know this is very strange because my fishing rod is carbon fibre and is extremely stiff, #I couldn’t figure out what type of a byte that was , and then I felt a slow pulling almost like a squid , and I actually thought well it must be a squid between all this seaweed , and I decided when he sucks again I am going to set the hook and if I am lucky I will hook the squid ? And then it sucked again , and I set the hook like planned , except this suspected squid amazingly started taking the drag off my reel and I could feel no wait , I have something nice on here , and that’s when I felt the classic head shakes of a mulloway , and I just knew it was a mulloway.

I played the fish for about 15 minutes and people walking on the beach were intrigued and were shouting advice and compliments at this spectacle , and the fish eventually showed itself , it is such an incredible feeling when you have been fighting a fish and eventually it comes to the surface and all is revealed , the magnificent silver color of the fish gets me every time !

When a mulloway comes straight out the water it is sterling ! Well I managed to lead the fish to the side of the groyne that didn’t have the seaweed , but it got snagged on some very shallow rocks , so one of the spectators offered to hold my rod while I went and got my fish and it worked out perfectly and I was left with this whopper on the beach , it felt good ! Reel good ! ;D

I must extend my thanks to the man that helped hold my rod so I could land the fish ! Thanks

And as I was leaving the other fisherman that was fishing the other side of the groyne looked at me and said you see , I told you there was something else out there :) #

It was just an incredible moment and day that just played out perfectly .

Mullaway_Chaser
04-06-2003, 01:49 PM
More pics at bottom of page .

Cubesy
04-06-2003, 03:35 PM
Good story & good fish :D

Dominator
05-06-2003, 07:16 AM
Great story and nice fish mate. ;) ;) ;)

Cheers,

Dominator.

Mullaway_Chaser
05-06-2003, 05:56 PM
This is another Mulloway caught in June 2001 from the southern breakwall of Hillary's Harbor it weighed in at 17kg's caught with 9kg line , there is a really good story behind this one and i will post it soon #:)

Mullaway_Chaser
07-06-2003, 10:22 AM
Same Fish as at top.

Mullaway_Chaser
07-06-2003, 12:04 PM
I just love this fish !

Mullaway_Chaser
07-06-2003, 12:08 PM
Notice the Brilliant Bronzey colour !

setthehook
08-06-2003, 04:50 AM
Nice fish man!!
p.s i think it's Mulloway. ;) ;D ;)

Mullaway_Chaser
08-06-2003, 11:20 AM
Thanks for that SetTheHook ;)