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Got a fishing story you'd like to share?
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 How your luck can change!By Dazza My family used to have a caravan on site down at San Remo, which was the delightful township you encounter just before you cross the big bridge to go to Phillip Island. This was back when I was 8, 9 or 10 years old. We'd get down there just about every weekend and I loved fishing, even back then. Not that I caught anything. In fact, I don't think I'd even caught a fish as such... ever!!! I may have caught a little toadfish or two off San Remo pier perhaps, but apart from that, really, I'd caught sweet F.A.! My dad had taken me everywhere we could think of, from the "Hotties" at Newport Power Station, to the Maribyrnong river, to the Kyneton reservoirs, to St.Kilda pier. The fact was, neither of us had many clues about how to catch a bloody fish. But we kept trying. I'd literally run to San Remo pier, or sometimes Dad would drive over the bridge to Newhaven pier, but we 'd catch jack. Wouldn't even get a bite. But I lived in hope. Then, one day, my dad gave me the best news I could possibly hear. My aunty and uncle also had a caravan down at San Remo, and my uncle had a boat that he'd take out fishing. He'd take out some of the lads, and catch any number of differet kinds of fish. I remember they came back with buckets of fish one time, with a big snapper and a big gummy shark the prize fish. I would look on enviously. I'd always wanna go, but my dad wouldn't let me, as he was very wary of the sea. The one time me and my dad went out with my uncle, we caught nothing. But this day, there was great news. My uncle was selling his boat... and my dad was gonna buy it, so we could go fishing. I was overjoyed. I don't think I stopped smiling for over a month! The first few times we went out, we didn't catch much. A few small flathead, a few small wrasse. But back then, I thought that was fantastic... even though I never caught any of them. But I was still happy just to be out there. I was just hoping my time would come. Then one day, one of the local lads, one of my mates, was gonna come with us, out in our boat. He used to go with my uncle a lot and he was a good fisherman. At this point, I should tell you that this boat we used to take out into Western Port was a 3 metre tinny with an old 5HP Evinrude on the back! Pretty small, eh. But we had no problems... to start with. Anyway, this day, we headed out, to no spot in particular, to try our luck. Back then, we had no idea about "target fish" and different hooks, baits, sinkers, rods, lines, etc. We just used to go out with our $15 K-Mart boat rods, with the same rig as last week, and stop somewhere... and fish. Now, at this point I should mention that just a couple of weeks before I had broken my arm at home climbing a tree. It was in plaster and in a sling and we hadn't been down to the caravan since then. But that didn't stop me from fishing. I couldn't do much, but I could hold the rod. I remember my dad saying, "just strike when you get a bite, and I'll take it and bring it in." 'Yeah whatever', I thought. Like I'm gonna catch anything! My dad dropped the anchor, baited my hook, sent the pippi to the bottom and handed the rod to me, his one-armed fisherman son. And then... THE FISH WENT BERSERK!!!! My rod went off straight away... "I got one dad!" My dad took my rod and brought up a parrot fish that, at the time, seemed monstrous to me! And then, straight away my mate's rod went off, and my dad's rod, and mine again! We had fish everywhere! Strewn all over our little 3m tinny! We had a big bluethroat wrasse, leatherjackets, and any number of different kinds of parrot fish. It was awesome! I just remember getting bite after bite and yelling, "here dad I got another one!" It was the happiest day of my life... and I couldn't even use my right arm! After about an hour they went dead and we headed home about an hour after that. I was so proud. We had a bucket load of fish, and I'd caught a good many of them. I just couldn't wait to show mum when we got back to the caravan. And I remember begging dad to take me out again the next day before we went home. And he agreed to. I think he must have enjoyed it as much as I did. So we got up early again the next morning (Sunday) and put in our little dinghy, with our ancient little 5HP motor and out we went again. We tried to find the same spot. We were probably nowhere near it, but I didn't care. I just wanted to fish. Today though, it was just me and my dad. The first time we'd ever been out, just the two of us. My dad always brought my uncle along, or one of the local boys, who were a bit more experienced. He was always very wary of the sea, as I said before. But today he was more confident. Amazing what a successful trip can do for you. However, this trip would be different. And I would see just how quickly your fortunes can change when you're out there on the sea. We'd been fishing for about 2 hours, without as much as a bite, and the wind was getting up and it had turned on-shore as well. So, much to my disappointment, my dad decided to up the anchor and head home. I remember looking at the water and thinking, "Wow, it's moving so fast today." Now, anyone who's fished the entrance(s) to Western Port knows just how quickly the tide moves there. It's quite amazing to see. We'd never had any problems before, I'm not sure why, but this day, our little outboard was struggling to make any headway against this mighty tidal flow, flying in from Bass Strait. It was almost like we weren't moving... and that was because we weren't. The force of the tide was the same as our poor old motor. We were literally... going nowhere. "This is crazy", I heard my dad say. He eventually decided to anchor up again, and wait for the tide to change, so we could travel "with" the tide, otherwise we wouldn't make it back! So we anchored up again and chucked the lines out. Again, there were no bites and, once the tide slackened, my dad decided that we should try once again to head back in. There wasn't much "slack time" at all I remember. By the time my dad brought up my line, the tide was flying again. But that was ok. It was going in the same direction as we wanted to go. But, believe it or not, the motor wouldn't start. So my dad is trying with all his might to start this thing, (it was an old pull-start) when all of a sudden, the boat starts to rock a little bit. It was like something had bumped us. I looked at the anchor rope, and it was moving!!!! Out of nowhere, the boat did a 180 degree turn and started heading out to sea... and my dad hadn't even got the motor started! I remember being amazed, excited and very scared all at the same time, as my dad tried to yank the anchor rope away from whatever was dragging it, and us, out into Bass Strait. But it was no use. Whatever it was, had no give. My dad had no choice. He cut the anchor rope. It was the second time he'd had to do that. But he had no choice. Whatever it was, it was too strong. Thankfully, my dad got the motor started, and we limped back to shore, disappointed, and shocked at what had happened. We asked some people whet they thought it was that took our anchor and towed us towards the open ocean. We had a couple of explanations. One was that a very large ray might have caught the anchor. Another, and much more likely, was that a huge mass of weed and kelp probably caught on, and the tide was taking us for a ride. Whatever the case, it was an astonishing experience. Not suprisingly, we never took the boat out onto Western Port again. We eventually moved our caravan to Inverloch, just down the coast, where we tried to fish Andersons Inlet in our little boat. But on our first attempt, my dad's home-made boat trailer broke at the ramp, causing him much embarassment and frustration. He had spent many hours on it and for it to break on our first attempt at using it, I think, put him off owning a boat for good. It was sold for about $300 a little while later, minus the trailer, which became scrap metal. So, it just goes to show you, how you might have great luck and success one day in fishing, but things can change oh so quickly. You never stop learning, and you have to respect the sea, and how powerful and angry she can be... and really, you shouldn't ever go out to the sea in a 3m tinny with a 5HP motor... especially when you're a complete and utter novice, as we were. (16 August 2002) |
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