Headed down to Albany again last week for a family holiday with a few days of fishing slotted in. Seabreeze had me sucked into thinking the weather was going to be great during mid week and we booked tues and weds in for boating days.

Tuesday morning we headed out early to go explore some new ground out deep but things didn't quite go to plan with stronger winds and bigger than expected swell, the skipper (dad) got sea sick on the way out and after having motor troubles 10km out we decided to head back in closer to find an area with a bit more acceptable conditions. We only got a few drifts in on a shallower reef before the skipper had thrown up enough to call it home time. 1 Harliquin, 2 Break sea, a Leathery and a Sweep that had me calling "Queen snapper for sure" as I'd foul hooked it in the side and it gave quite the tussle!

My bro with a nice Harliquin

The small mixed bag for Tuesdays efforts.

Wednesday was looking slightly better wind wise, though the swell was still to be up so we decided just to stay in close and fish in 30-40m for the morning. As conditions were quite calm and we had a slow drift I thought I'd try the Soft Plastic approach and try and score my first fish using them in deeper water. On previous attempts I'd had the tails bitten off and given up without success. Whilst the 3 others onboard already had their baits down I quietly rigged up and lobbed out an SP without high expectations of catching anything.... it was only a minute or 2 of jigging around before my SP suddenly came to life and gave me a little run for my money. A nice little Harliquin became my first ever fish on an sp fishing offshore and totally filled me with confidence in the artificial approach!

Another drift or 2 didn't produce another else so we moved on to another spot and I thought I'd give the old faithfull bait ago again. 3 Queen Snapper and a Break Sea Cod were landed but things were pretty quiet so it was time to give the knife jig a go this time. 30 seconds of jigging and I was on! A just size Queen Snapper on the jig, another first!

By this time the wind was up and conditions were getting sloppy so we called it a day. The fishing wasn't great but it was exciting to get a couple firsts using the sp and jig.

Friday morning the weather was pretty average, drizzle and windy but we decided to go for a drive out to Cheynes beach / Bluff creek for a looksy and to have fish anywhere that looked good for some salmon if they were about. Had a fun day driving along the beach trying many good looking holes and gutters but only managed a bunch of herring, tho the old man did get snapped off by something of size at one spot.

Cruisin the beach looking for deep holes and gutters.

So overall it was another enjoyable trip to Albany with only average fishing. Hopefully next time the weather can be a little calmer and we can get out in the boat to some better ground.... can't wait!