Hey folks,

Spent most of last week up in Leeman and a large chunk of it trying to hunt some decent fish. For those that don't like to read - the beaches were in poor condition generally due to weed and not much was on the bite anywhere last week.

Day 1 - went for an evening bash at Coolimba jetty just after sundown. Was surprised to find no baitfish on the bite at all. Stayed a few hours for one bite, a nice little wobbegong that would have been around 5-7kg. He was released courtesy of a badly timed gaff shot. :-)

Day 2 - dawn session on the Leeman jetty produced nothing. No squid. No bait fish. Not even a blowie bite. Water was dirty and full and weed. Scoped out the coast from Leeman through to Arrowsmith looking for a nice spot to spend the evening session. Entire coast was chockers with weed (Gum Tree, Knobby, Palm Springs) - the exception was Illawong which must have a been a bit sheltered. Popped up to Denison / Dongara and the beaches immediately north had some fantastic deep gutters and were relatively weed free. Went back to Illawong in the evening only to find gale force winds coming in off the coast with rain too. Gave up about an hour after dark as the weather got too much for me. In hindsight should have gone further north.

Day 3 - decided to head south in search of a beach worth fishing. Checked out Little Anchorage, Ti Tree Bay, etc. All were full of weed both on the beach and in the water. Ended up at Sandy Cape just north of Jurien and while there was a bit of weed around, the sheltered bay looked worth a crack. Burleyed up but again no sign of any bait fish at all. Cruised down to Jurien and threw a line at the marina. Again no sign of any bait fish and with some big winds picking up and rain on the move I packed up. Went for an evening fish off the cliffs near Taylor Bay. Didn't expect much due to the murkey / weedy water. A big stingray took a whole mullet on sundown and decided to pack up after that. Landed successfully and of course released to flap another day. At least I got to stretch the arms and test out the gear.

Day 4 - dawn session at Hill River. I felt more confident that the fish would be on the bite with it being 24hr + after the new moon and the Almanac promising me a 'black' day. First couple of casts I felt a couple of definate chopper bites but it shut down soon after without me getting a fish on the beach. Again no signs of baitfish. Spent the night session at home with the family. Bought fish and chips instead. :-)

Weather was poor and that hindered fishing with cold westerly winds, huge swells and rain to boot. But there was something else in the air last week as fish were definately off the bite. A nice little break nonetheless and our first family trip. Will head back in summer when the baitfish return....probably en route to Wagoe.... :-)

Countryside there is beautiful at the moment - wildflowers just starting to pop there heads out and green, green, green. Probably went a month of so early.

Roberta - did cruise around the caravan park looking for you but not sure if you were there?

Cheers,

Buschy