Sth West Rocks 2011 days 1&2

Author: josh

Category: Trip Reports

Created on Sunday, 27 February 2011 19:30

Written by Josh

As has been my experience at Sth West Rocks (NSW) on each of my previous visits, once again it's proven why it has a reputation for sporatic tough fishing, but also why the persistant among us persist. Although not a lot of fish have been caught in the first 2 days of this 9-day unofficial annual kayak fishing fest, the ones that have are rather awe inspiring. I pulled up near the ramp just in time to see Danny (AKA Physhopath) help Grant Ashwell (AKA The Grant Ashwell) carry his morning's catch down to waters edge for a vigourous fresh as it comes sailfish filleting session. The thought bubble over my head read: Wow. Just wow.

What an inspiring kick off to the gathering, ensuring a spectacular meal that was shared between the entire posse and setting the scene for what is highly likely to be the most spectacular SWR yak fishing party yet. At the very same moment Grant had hooked is, Louie has also hooked up - onto not just one, but two sailfish! Having no choice but to sacrifice one, he was able to pull up the other and then safely release at the side of the yak. And they had achieved this and then arrived back to land in time for cornflakes.

I got out onto the water soon after, trying not to notice how much choppier the water was getting. Everyone else set their camps and settled in, taking advantage of their 9-day Trail Bay Gail occupation. I didn't catch anything but waves and wind, some of it making for some adrenalin pumping action. After a slow and cautious approach Grant finally coaxed some of us back out into the water, which if anything was by now looking worse than the day before. It wasn't long before we all found it relatively intolerable, all of us heading back in synch. First out on the water (as usual) Grant lost a fish due to having to fight it while fighting the water and when Louies Adventure flipped over that was pretty much anyone needed to see. Even though I was right next to him at the time, wind was howling and water standing up so much that I didn't even see or hear it. 

It's a pretty tight crew at Sth West Rocks this year, a much smaller group, which is probably a good thing. With numbers the way they are it's much easier to keep tabs on exactly who is still out on the water. But just because it's a smaller group, doesn't mean there's any less mojo though. It was really good to catch up with everyone again and meet a few new like-minded people to boot and if weather is looking kind I'll definitely trek back down again next weekend to catch the finale. Thanks especially to Danny and Jo, who not only helped me out with a patch of grass with which to set my little tent, but also with a lot of other hospitality, including a life-saving breakfast!  

As usual, it was good to check out some of the little mods and tricks some of the guys have employed rigging up and working their yaks, and I took some photos of some of that and will go into more detail on it later.