14.08.07

FISHING KARUMBA

Went out in the boat at 0730ish along with what appeared to be a hundred other boats, probably only 50-60. The beach along the airstrip had another 50 people fishing from the beach. The main fishing appears to be along this strip which is bare on low tide (from 1300 onwards. There is only one tide a day here so you only get one chance at it and it’s a long wait for water if you get stranded. Highest tide is 3.6 meters).Used the prawns bought previous day and waited for a while before getting my first strike on the small overhead rod. Wow do they pull, at first he came in quite easily did a couple of jumps out of the water and then he got serious. Peeled of a hundred yards and took 20 mins to land him. Fought all of the way. Measured at 600 mm. got another on the same rig and maybe the same size but this time I put too much pressure on him and broke to line. It’s obvious you have to tire them first. Had hit on the new rod and he spat it out and that was that, nothing more. Came in by 1000 with the tide just beginning to drop.

Cleaned the fish and fitted the new shockers onto the van, had a shower and had a lazy day reading and doing nothing. Went for a walk and cooked fish for tea which is delicious and contemplated whether we will stay another few days. This place is packed with oldies, we are the younger ones. They come up here for up to 4-5 months and are booked years in advance. Spoke to two separate chaps who both go to Cowell fishing in the autumn. We did a rough calculation based on each site having a value of $75G and it works out at $12-15 million plus. There’s plenty a lot for value than ours.