So, the annual trek north to Coral Bay done and dusted again...What a year...Left down South on Good Friday at 3am trying to get through past Perth before they all woke up and got moving-perfect timing..rolled into Northbrook Farm Stay late arvo for a well earn't coldie- uneventful day  except apparently Gero ran out of Diesel at a lot of places due to increased traffic...pays to be ahead of the rush. :)

Day two , off to CBay...  [  hopefully no one on here - sorry if so..]..but passed a nice fibreglass boat sitting on the side of the Brand highway instead of its trailer with  A LOT of fibreglass embedded into the Bitumen the previous 50 m...ouch...they already looked like that had enough people to help so off we rolled into CB mid Arvo to 40 degrees and water at 28 degrees- too lovely..Rum time !!!

Forecast looked average at best -   but fishable in a reasonable sized boat so in we went the next day. Fished the first 3 days been selective with what we kept and pretty much the same result for all 3 days..worked  through plenty of boated  fish to keep our bag of nicer eating fish-   reds were plentiful and really good size. Sharks where bad, but we only had one drop on each mark to minimze chances-pays to have plenty of spots and find new ones..   Cobia were as thick as i've ever seen at CB. So, off to a good start with plenty of Reds in the freezer plus a lot more Robbo's than we normally see. Spangos where plentiful and much larger size on average than normal..some in the low 70cm's, a lot in the 60's. 

A cpl days of family time taking the boat to Five Fingers for a snorkle and a squid, four wheel driving all all round relaxing...

Enter Cyclone !!!  We where never worried about it hitting CB with every forecast having it pass by and hitting  lower down.  The media did a fantastic job of scaring out half the towns tourists. We lost 4-5  days to a bit of wind and rough weather...nothing that rum and card games couldn't fix !!!  Mood was a little down around town with the passing of the local who was electrocuted with the unfortunate accident at the Pub. Condolences to his family

To all the fishos in Kalbarri and Northampton etc- hope you all pulled through. It was devistating driving home through the damage..

Fished the last 4 days of our holiday  post  Cyclone for some great fishing to end the trip on a high. Reds where thick and on the chew..easily getting our bag limit of top quality fillets each day...we took out the neighbours on the last day as over the years they are in the same house next door  at the same time and have become friends of course over this time...great guys...- they had a pretty shit trip fish wise and  then had a mechanical failure on the second last day..over a rum that night we said we would take them out the last day and get them on a cpl of fish..Great to see them get on the fish and tick off a lot of PB's for Reds/Robbos/Goldband etc.  I love to see others having a great day and i just skippered the whole day..loved it !!   Full bag for the boat...don't judge me for having a Tomato Cod in one of the pics...they had never seen one and wanted to show their kids...yuk !! All the good red ones where already on ice and didn't make the photo that day too..

So all in all, it was the least amount of days we got out fishing for the 2 week window from the last 10 years- but the quality and size of the fish made up for that. Didn't get the window of weather to head out the 80 km's North  to the big Ruby spot for a throphy fish day...they can wait till next year. A cpl of points below for any that are interested or heading up there soon..hopefully answers a cpl of questions before they are asked

FYI- we don't troll as not super interested in trolling, but we did throw skirts out a few of the days as it was that rough we where only going slow anyway...Hooked a sail fish only for it to drop the hooks - plus a few other palegics.

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We fished both North and South..South been the better direction this trip where as North has been favoured the last 2-3 years. Depth was between 70m and  120m mostly..One day out to the 200's for Goldband, reds where thickest in 68-80 metres [ for us anyway ] 

Sharks - People winge about the sharks all the time..YES, they are bad and have got worse and something has to be done..but the same stories every arvo  are told at the filleting tables of people going to the same spots day after day and hooking 20 fish to land 2- Don't go to the same spots !!!  We fished most spots for 1-2 drops maximum.....in fact i think we prob caught 50-60 % of our fish on new spots found this trip..I hear people say there aren't any spots left..well my advice is if you don't look for them...you won't find them....plenty to find if you know how to work a good sounder.

Baits outfished jigs as normal up North..but Peral Perch def love jigs..  Herring and mullet fillets doing the damage for bait. freshly caught across the year , filleted and cryovacced. But as usual, fresh fish baits always are best !!

Rigs- the ole simple 2 hook patnoster with 3 way swivels always are the best...plus we run only 60lb on the hook leaded as the sharks tend to either break this or go through it easier than the 80lb we use for the main lines..

Great to see Adam and Bernie on the 2 charter boats getting clients onto some good fish too...these guys are always happy to chat and pass on some 'general' advice..Not many towns that Charter operators do this and they should be applauded..Adam is alweays the first on FW to give advice on CB too ...

Kids had a blast as normal running a muck..good times

Heaps of turtles when snorkling..don't need to talk about the 5m+ Tiger that was stalking the kids and wifes..that we haven't told them about yet either..!!

Great to catch up with the friends you make and go there the same time every year. This is what makes CB awesome.

Covid has definetley had an impact on the staff around town..the same guys who have worked there for years are great, but the normal backpackers who always light up with their attitude etc...not there and replaced with others who lets say where not so friendly...a lot of people talking about the staff issue..but still love the place. It's hard to get shitty on holidays there isn't it ??

Absolute love Coral Bay...counting down to next April already..

Asnormal, we don't take many photos, but here a cpl that made it on to the phone..

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