May 20-26
Point Turton Caravan Park
46 members
Point Turton Trip Report
On our trip across to Pt Turton, we encountered showers of rain, but in between the showers it was comforting to glimpse blue skies, so we were hopeful that we’d experience some fine weather and not too many strong windy days. We also noticed loaves of bread scattered along the highway and later in camp someone commented on what a “waste of berley”.
As always when we’ve been with the Pleasure Fishing Group, we were made to feel very welcome on arrival. The foundations for Malcolm and Jenny’s new home and office was poured while we were in camp. It’s amazing how pouring cement can be so noisy but so interesting. I think half the caravan park walked over to watch the proceedings. Our campsite was on the oceanfront over looking the new boat ramp. New members who attended for the first time were Mary and Ted Bailey, Joy and Murray Fraser, Myra and Don Lucas and Nancy Weisbrodt.
On the days that the sea was calm, it was wonderful to be able to walk along the jetty, the breakwaters and onto the landing pontoon, look down into clear water, watch crabs scuttling along sideways, schools of millions of little fish and larger schools of bigger fish. Some of us had the thrill of actually looking down onto a mother and baby dolphin as they frolicked along the jetty length, under it, and chased fish between the jetty and the breakwater. I think the dolphins were seen every day. As well, the salmon trout, feeding along the coastal rocks and then breaking outwards to the jetty, also put on a wonderful show, as they thrashed the sea to a frenzy, then miraculously disappeared, only to appear metres away in a whirlpool feeding frenzy again.
Although we had inclement weather for the whole week, the sunsets and sunrises were beautiful. I think Nancy (new member), June and Colin could best describe the sunrises as whenever I woke up and looked out the window, I could always see the ladies fishing on the jetty and Colin on the breakwater.
Fishing on a whole was disappointing in as much as the fish caught were undersized and had to be returned, although the thrill of that special tug on the line still made the adrenaline race. Total number of “legal” fish caught was 296. Congratulations to Allan for his large fish (on his special bait concoction of bread and oil), and I know the weedy whiting and leather jackets got quite a hiding from the jetty-fishing people. Altogether, weedy whiting, mullet, tommies, sweep, leather jackets and Allan’s “bream”, plus squid and sand crabs were caught. I heard on the grapevine that one fish was handed in for measuring and when the fisherperson was requested to remove his hand so that an accurate measurement could be made, there was a fish head, a tail and no middle. Fact or fiction?
On the Friday evening, we drove into Warooka for dinner at the pub. It was a bit disappointing that for a group our size, a more diverse “special” menu could not have been presented, however, the camaraderie and Port Power winning made it a most enjoyable evening.
Malcolm and Jenny again made our group feel very welcome and put on a sumptuous barbecue for us on the Monday evening. A sing along was good fun, with Kath leading us on the piano accordion. Ross again led us in a rendition of “On Top Of Old Smokey”.
Fishing results for the Pt Turton trip are: John Asztalos (won a travelling rug) for the longest fish (garfish 34cm) which was caught at another location, Doug Murphy won the yellow T-shirt and a reel (donated by Malcolm and Jenny) for the longest fish (32cm mullet) caught in the vicinity of Pt Turton jetty. John Burgess won 2 bottles of premium wine for most fish caught (36) and now leads in the race for the “Bill Dixon Perpetual Memorial Trophy” to be presented at the end of the year luncheon in November 2003. Congratulations to everyone.
Thanks again to Bob and Margaret for organising a really lovely week.
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October 25-31
Wallaroo Nth Beach Caravan Park
37 members
Wallaroo Trip Report
Most people arrived at the North Beach Caravan Park on Saturday 25th October.
We had 37 people in our group: 13 caravans, 1 tent and 4 units.
Again we welcomed new members, Heather & Ron, Kate & Ted.
Our first happy hour was in the BBQ shelter which was cold and windy, so all future gatherings were in the recreation room which was much more comfortable. We used it daily, playing darts, table-tennis, pool, draughts and watching TV. There was also lots of talking.
Sunday: The morning was calm, so the keen fisher people set off in all directions. The jetty, breakwater and mariner wharf were the keenly sought places. Fish reports were poor.
Bob & Margaret found they could get 12 people in their caravan for morning tea, (which lasted until lunch time!)
Monday: Merle caught a 31cm Mullet. This worried all the men as Merle’s name was already on the yellow T/shirt. (Twice).
Kath with her piano accordion lead a fun sing-along in the recreation room. The singing has not improved much, but everyone enjoyed themselves.
Tuesday: Very windy. Some of the girls gave the craft shops a work-over in the morning. In the afternoon it was all hands on deck to help with the dismantling of annexes and canopies. One person had to stop and take photos of the activities. (Bob had a new toy and had lots of fun with it!)
Wednesday: Wind dropped out, and several showers in the morning. In the afternoon, jetty fishers were kept busy with small Tommies. Later on during happy hour, Doug turned up with the biggest smile and a very large Bream (40cm), caught at the marina wharf. He explained that a young lad had helped him land it with a crab net.
(Beat having to fish Doug out of the water!)
Thursday: Too windy to fish anywhere. Winds were gale force overnight. We were pleased to find Colin B and his tent still in camp.
Friday: Still very windy. Colin O cooked up his Tommies at lunch time for tasting. The presentation at happy hour saw Doug receive the yellow jacket for the largest fish caught, while Colin O took the honours for the most fish caught for the week.
The BBQ idea was scrapped as dinner at the pub sounded better.
PLEASURE FISHING GROUP. Emphasize PLEASURE. The weather could not stop this group from enjoying themselves.
Big thanks to Margaret and Bob for organizing another good trip.
Ross Keal
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