THIS SPECIAL REPORT FROM NEIL MAY OF:

OFFICIAL HOBIE KAYAKS SUPERSTORE

Dirk Hartog Island (WA)
Invaded by
14 Hobie Kayak Fishermen

On Saturday 9th May 2009 a Skywest Fokker 50 hit the tarmac at Denham Airport where 10 excited fishermen got off and passed through the terminal building (tin shed).  Two of the 14 man expedition were stuck at Exmouth Airport where their plane was grounded with a cracked window and the other two starters were already in Denham (one being a local and the other being the chosen one to haul the trailer load of Hobie Mirage kayaks from the train terminal in Perth to the Denham Jetty).

The kayaks at Denham jetty.

Later that day when the waylaid couple finally made it from Exmouth, introductions were done and it was off to the local Heritage Resort for a few drinks, dinner and some excited banter about expectations of what the next week would bring.

The group was made up of Scott (Organiser & Hobie dealer Mornington), Neil (Melbourne), Rob (Melbourne), Grant (Melbourne), Bryan (Melbourne), Simon (Melbourne), Trev (Yackandandah), Neil (Hobie Dealer Geelong), Steve (Sydney), Dave (Sydney), Kevin (Hobie Dealer Gosford), Paul (Brisbane), Anthony (Brisbane) and Mark from Geraldton.

The yaks are loaded for the trip to the island.

After brekky on Sunday most of the group made for the local Caltex servo, which is also a great tackle shop for those wanting that special lure or forgotten tackle. After raping and pillaging the tackle shelves of the servo it was about time to begin loading the 14 kayaks on to the cray boat for the trip to the island. The 14 yaks were made up of 6 Hobie Outbacks, 6 Hobie Revolutions and 2 Hobie Adventures (and a partridge in a pear tree!). During loading there were kayaks and personal stuff going everywhere and then suddenly the jetty was empty and the mooring ropes were thrown clear as the donks roared.  The boat was no more than 30 metres from the jetty when the cry rang out, “Where’s Paulo?”, and there - sure enough - over the road from the jetty was Paul, running, shouting and waving (seems he couldn’t resist that last latte).

The kayaks were loaded on a barge for the trip from the cray boat to shore.

We arrived at the island about an hour and a half later where the kayaks had to be manhandled onto a barge for the trip into the beach in front of the lodge. Once there it didn’t take long for everyone to unload. Kieran (the DHI Lodge Owner) and Sandra (the DHI Lodge Manager) introduced themselves and allocated rooms but it was in one ear and out the other as all the group wanted to do was get a fish in before dark.

The set-up of Steve's Hobie Adventure kayak.

As all of the yaks were de-bagged and set up it was like a Hobie Factory with fish finders, GPS units, cameras and rod holders being fitted like crazy. Once the sand had settled the “Hobie Armada” took off in pursuit of that trophy catch. Plenty of pink snapper and pike were taken on lure and fly.

Anthony and a small snapper.

At dinner that night Kieran asked what the group had planned for the next couple of days on the island and the general consensus was to spend the next morning pedalling the Hobies down to the bottom of the island where Kieran would bring lunch. Then the plan was to pedal to Steep Point for some really big fish including the chance at macs, tuna, GTs as well as the possibility of a shark or two in the mix. After a fantastic fresh fish dinner (but only soup for Kev as the poor fellow is allergic to fish) and a couple of bevvies the group toddled off to their well appointed twin share rooms (all with ensuite).

The breakfast table at the lodge.

At 6am Monday the group was tucking into brekky under headlamps and they were all on the water as keen as mustard by 7am.  The forecast was for a one knot tide and a 10-15 knot wind in their face for the 23 kilometre journey. It turned out to be all of that a bit more for a lot of the way as they battled up to 4-foot chop which made for a reasonably wet trip. Most couldn’t resist having a troll along the way with snapper taken as well as the biggest toadies (WA blowfish) you have ever seen (the record was claimed by Scott at 65cm).  These blowies are the meanest looking things with buckteeth that grind at you and gaffs just bounce off them (very weird).

First in from the 23km pedal.

Still waiting for the rest to arrive!

Set 'em up and let's get going.

The fittest of the group started arriving about 5 hours from the start with the tail dribbling in over the next half hour or so. There were a couple of very tired people after the pedal and after lunch the fittest set off to Steep Point for the spoils. The oldest in the group was seen having a nap in the sun behind a sand dune (maybe he knew something or was he just knackered). The fishing that arvo around the point was poor for the yakkers however of the few that fished from the motor boat Bryan was able to land a nice Spaniard.

The DHI vehicle arrived at the beach (to pick up the guys that were unable to fit on the motor boat) and headed back to the Lodge for a well deserved shower and another 5-star dinner. The meals consisted of appetisers (normally fresh fish bites or antipasto), followed by a main and sweet to a very high standard. It was hard to believe it was a fishing trip and not a resort island stopover.

A beautifully-coloured pinky.

First fish on a popper for the trip.

Nice fish Scotty.

The next day after a 7am cooked brekky (yum), the group headed off in 2 vehicles back to the beach opposite Steep Point where the kayaks were left overnight. The majority of the group headed off toward Steep Point for another go and the rest headed back toward Sunday Island to chase some big snapper. Again the fishing was tough out at Steep Point while the few heading for Sunday Island caught snapper, pike, tailor, flathead, blowfish and some small reefy stripey things. Next the barge arrived to load all the yaks for the trip back to the lodge (beats pedalling back).

It was a late breakfast on Wednesday with the wind up and the water quite rough out in front of the lodge.  Some of the group headed straight out from the lodge about 1km and some fished the reef off the point to the left of the lodge about 1-2km and some fished the shallow reef east of “Bird Shit Island” about 500 metres where the Osprey had a nest and tormented the tripe out of the other birds nesting on the island.  Makes sense to me to build your home next door to a free KFC.

Paul with a big tailor.

Grant and Anthony chasing tailor.

The coastline of Dirk Hartog Island.

Take care!

Paulo, Anthony and Grant headed off in the island 4x4 Troupy to the front side of the island where Kieran had suggested they go to get in touch with some reasonable tailor - from the rocks. He explained the previous night that they are very fickle and the angler has a small window of opportunity where once you get about 5 fish they shut down.  Anyway, the boys did very well with the smallest fish 70+cm and the largest fish estimated at 1 metre (someone was so excited he forgot to measure). Kieran was correct-a-mundo as after the 4th hook up they shut down and not another fish was taken.

While all this was happening, a few of the boys that were sick of the bouncing around, met behind the point out of the wind and fished from the beach where good-sized whiting, bream and flatties were plentiful. The best bait being plastics such as “camo worms” and “pumpkin seed worms”. Most pedalled back to the lodge for lunch. After lunch, it was back to the reef off the point to the left of the lodge for some more popper and lure tossing. Pink and black snapper as well as mackerel and other reefies were taken on lures like B52s, Gold Bombers and X-Raps to name a few.

Another nice pinky.

Up close and personal.

Fish were also caught on poppers and the most amazing of these was big pink snapper on poppers – unheard of down south. This reef is less than 2 metres under the water.  Fantastic fishing where the yakker had to be aware and fight to keep their catch away from the reef or lose tackle. Sone great fish were caught with some of the best being a 73cm snapper and 70+cm spotted mackerel. To this stage, all of the Hobie kayaks seem to be handling the stress of the trip with flying colours. The only repair needed was a busted rudder line (most likely operator error).

Neilo is pretty pleased with his 73cm snapper.

Two grinners on one lure.

Thursday morning saw another early start and the group had the use of the DHI large charter cat with skipper Mike and assistant Tracy. Seven kayaks were loaded onto the vessel which then headed the 70 odd km to the top end of the island. The weather was to be 15-20 knot winds in the morning abating to 10-12 knot in the arvo. It wasn’t long before it was apparent that this was going to be a very rough ride. It took about two-and-a-half hours to go the distance.

Lunchtime near Turtle Bay.

Eating on the run.

Once around the corner into relative calm (but still pretty lumpy) waters, the seven kayaks were offloaded with their owners into the deep murky waters around from Turtle Bay. Again the aim was for big palegics. The other half of the group stayed on the cat and set off trolling with 4 rigs out the back. It wasn’t long before there was a scream of one of the reels and the excited yell for the engines to be cut. The other 3 rigs were wound in leaving the back of the boat clear for the bluefin tuna to be landed without a problem.

A solid mac taken from the mother ship by Trev.

The guys on the boat then thought there should be a system as to who would get the next strike, just to even it out. While some elaborate formulating was taking place, a rig started to zing and then another - that is when the plan went pear-shaped and the nearest bod grabbed a rod and started to play. The boys in the yaks were, in the meantime, hooking into tuna and macs as well. On the cat, the magnificent seven were having some great fun with tuna and a couple of Spaniards (Spanish mackerel) as well as some spotted mackerel. A couple of times, sharks were seen breaching the water chasing their prey. Most of the guys in the yaks had “shark shields” deployed and were praying like hell that this technology worked. Suddenly, it was lunchtime and the cat rounded up all the yakkers for a salad roll and a cool drink. By the way, it was shorts and t-shirt weather every day.

Paulo with a tuna that didn't get whacked by the sharks.

Once lunch was over, the boys in the Hobies took off again as the cat set off to chase some more of the same or even bigger. The Hobie fleet found themselves pedalling like crazy chasing palegics busting up on bait balls, casting their lures into the middle of the tormented bait ball and winding like crazy and then aching with anticipation on every retrieval until bang, you get hit by a freight train. The next trick is to get your fish before that bronzy wants to make it his lunch. There were plenty of stories that night over dinner but there was one story told by the blokes on the boat about the tuna that was released and then moments later busted up on by a shark and then a minute or two later, another tuna was on the line and then the shark was eating that tuna but forgot to spit out the lure and the story is that about 15 minutes later, the 6ft bronze whaler was pulled to the back of the boat for photos before being released to terrorize again. A couple of bevvies on the way back and it was an early night for most.

Robbie is on to a good one.

It's still giving Robbie a run.

Friday broke being a perfect day, with the water flat and a leisurely breakfast. It was like waking up in paradise. Well, everyone soon stopped dreaming and headed off to that spot they all wanted to try or revisit with three heading to a reef out wide (5-6km), another small group heading to the other side of “Bird Shit Island” and the balance heading out front and back to the reef out from the point to the left of the lodge.  Some of the boys started chasing squid and were very successful with the view to using them for bait.  It was a very cunning stunt that turned up some huge runs without reward. Whiting heads were also good bait, drifted across the reef producing beautiful snapper. Most pedalled back in for lunch and when it was known that there were squid out there, it was decided to bring some back that night to form part of our appetiser on the last night on the island.

Nice pinky Neilo.

Trev with a nice pinky at sunset.

The last afternoon was more of the same and great catches were reported, making sure that both Neil and Mark had fish to take home. There was one more shark incident on this afternoon, where one of the yakkers (Trev) was bottom bouncing a whiting head for snapper when he saw a fin approaching. It then disappeared and reappeared about 1-2 metres from the Hobie Outback and circled before another yakker was called. The two of them sat calmly for a while before getting back into it and it wasn’t long before one of them had a huge run but alas it was a big ray that tethered itself to the bottom (another bust off). Later that afternoon and into the evening was quite eerie as the whole group worked quietly to pack up their yaks and gear ready for the trip home.

Another mac from the yak for Grant.

Anthony with a good tuna.

A nice mac for Robbie.

Saturday – up at 6am for a beautiful cooked brekky and then down to the beach to load the luggage and kayaks onto the island’s cat for the trip back to Denham where everyone went their own way for the trip home.

This trip to Dirk Hartog Island with 14 Hobie kayakers was an awesome trip and thanks must go to Scott for the organising of such a trip. It was fantastic how 14 blokes from different walks of life and from different corners of the country could get on so well over the week fishing. There were plenty of laughs throughout the week and it is a Hobie week of fun that this old fart will not forget. 

Thanks to all you blokes.

Neil May.

WESTVIC KAYAKS & KAMPERS
1/28 Wood Street, Geelong South, Victoria 3220
Ph: 03 5221 8500
Mob: 0409 106 903
info@kayaksandkampers.com.au