Yes its the windy time of year again when we all sit at home cursing the Easterly wind for blowing so hard, watching the water temp rise and dreaming of chasing Spanish Mackerel. I took the chance late the other afternoon and go out with my son for a couple of hours just before the Easterly wind gave way to the Sea Breeze.
We saw quite a few different species of fish including plenty of juvenile WA Jewfish, which is a good sign for the future.
We went out to one of my favorite locations, the plan was to hunt King George Whiting and then off to one of my Crayfish holes to try and grab a Crayfish to go with the Whiting we didn't yet have.
We arrived at the spot just as the wind started to turn, so I knew we didn't have too long. Luckily after about 10 minutes of searching I found a nice Whiting in a patch of sand between the reef and made a successful shot.
With the first part of dinner taken care of we moved a short distance and anchored near my Crayfish hole. The hole is quit a mission to get too some times as it is directly under a break, ensuring it remains untouched 99% of the time. Once we were above the hole I made a couple of reconnaissance dives to see exactly where in the hole the Cray's were and got my son to have a look as well before I disturbed them too much.
Then with a torch in one hand and loop in the other I entered the cave and made strait for the largest one, unfortunately I lost control of the torch and touched the cray with the loop. He kicked out of the way and retreated into his hole, so I moved onto the next one a couple of feet away. This time I made no mistake and we had the beginnings of a fantastic dinner in the bag.
Having achieved what we set out to we then set off on the return journey to deal with the usual chaos of the local boat ramp, then home. Once home we had the usual chores of washing the boat and gear to contend with before filleting the Whiting, and cooking up a wonderful dinner of fresh Crayfish and pan fried Whiting fillets.
I couldn't think of too many better ways to spent a nice summer afternoon and evening.
