Red Bluff. We had four guys going and only limited space for gear in the dual cab. Trying to

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2 Red Bluff By Rob Gaff Red Bluff is a beautiful destination at the very start of the Ningaloo coast and is always an adventurous place to visit. Join Rob and his mates as they get some big hook-ups, fishing this unpredictable coastline. We had four guys going and only limited space for gear in the dual cab. Trying to fit all the surf gear, fishing gear and camping gear for the trip into the limited space was always going to be a challenge. We were all able to pack light enough to fit all the gear in to cover all our fishing bases. I was particularly keen to try my plastics that work so well for me down south, on these ledges up north. The only problem is that based on previous trips to this area, using lighter gear usually ends up in tears. We started our trip at 2am where there was a lot of excitement and the usual banter already getting thrown around... We checked all the gear was strapped down and headed off on the 14 hour journey. Most of the early hours were filled with excited discussions of previous trips and what this trip may hold. It didn t take long though for us to take shifts driving or keeping the driver awake. About 2 hrs out from Canarvon we heard a small 15

3 humming noise over the stereo and on inspection it revealed a nasty flat tyre. It was destroyed from the seconds of driving after being punctured; it just shows that any unusual noises should be investigated immediately. We put the spare on and made our way into Canarvon where we were lucky to get another tyre that matched the others perfectly. A quick feed at Chicken Treat and we were on our way again, with only a short stint left of the driving. As we passed the King Waves Kill sign that signals the start of the Quobba stretch we all began to get excited. We were itching for a fish and stopped at a shallow lagoon on the way to prospect with some poppers. We could see a few fish in the surf but they were fairly shut down. Brado managed to hook a nice spanish flag though on a small Yo- Zuri popper and that was the only catch for the afternoon. We continued on and were soon on the crest of the cliffs at Cape Culvier. The view was stunning and we were pumped to fish the ledges but the surf looked a little too rough and the decision was made to play it safe. The sun was now setting and so we continued through to the Bluff instead, to set up camp and plan the next day over dinner. The weather for the trip was looking good although the swell was predicted to be quite solid for the trip. Good for surfing but not so for launching a tinny from the beach and so we had left the tinny behind. On the first morning this seemed like a good idea as the surf wasn t huge but it was rolling perfectly around the point. This got all of us (except for Brado who was too keen to fish) running out to the point and suiting up for a surf in perfect tropical surf conditions. The water was warm and the waves were incredibly fun; but when a longtail tuna stated smashing baitfish within casting distance the fisherman inside took over. I had soon joined Brad on a nice The water was warm and the waves were incredibly fun; but when a longtail tuna stated smashing baitfish within casting distance the fisherman inside took over. ledge not far from the surf. Brad had been entertained by all sorts of fish looking at his baits but not eating them all morning. I threw some metals around for a while but with no results I switched to a soft plastic. Within seconds a long dark shape zoned in on it and bit me off before I even had time to realise that I was on. I beefed up my leader and threw my plastic out again and it didn t take long to get another fish interested. I could see some 16

4 fish amongst the reef stalking it and with a few little jigs of the plastic, one of them nailed it. There was reef all around and so I clamped down on the fish in an attempt to pull it from the reef. My little 4-6kg plastics rod was loaded to the butt as it put brakes on whatever had eaten one of my all-time favourite plastics. As it got close I could see a brightly coloured golden trevally of about 2kg. It was being shadowed by another but by the time Brad helped me to land my fish it had disappeared. The 70mm squidgy fish in the cool mint colour did the damage and this lure was very successful on these smaller fish for the whole trip. There were plenty of other reef fish around but they started to shut down as the sun rose higher in the sky. We spent the rest of the day exploring the nearby coastlines and discovered that a spot we had planned to fish was in a no fishing sanctuary zone. The whole Ningaloo stretch has sanctuary zones to We were hooking all sorts of unusual but pretty reef fish until a big excited bronzie of around 7ft decided to crash the party and scare all the fish away. It was swimming round at the base of the ledge only feet from us! protect the coastline from being over fished and it makes sense to be aware of these zones if you re ever planning to fish Ningaloo. We headed back to the campsite and decided to explore the ledges that were close to camp with the soft plastics again. We discovered what the long skinny shapes were that kept biting my lures in half and off as they showed up in good numbers. Mini barracudas would fly out of no-where and smash the lure. If you were quick you could set the hooks before they swallowed it and bit you off! The mini barracudas were everywhere and loved to steal your lures. The faster you moved your plastic away from them the more fired up they would get and were actually fun to catch when there wasn t much else around. We were also hooking all sorts of unusual but pretty reef fish until a big excited bronzie of around 7ft decided to crash the party and scare all the fish away. It was swimming round at the base of the ledge only feet from us. It was amazing to see such a big predator so close but it shut our session down pretty quickly! We headed back to camp and scoffed some much needed energy food before setting up for a night fish on the beach. We made our way down the short stretch to 17

5 Brad and I found an unbelievable looking ledge and with the swell low and the tide down we could get down to the lower ledge to have a crack at raising some bigger fish. the beach and it was a magic evening with a good sized shore break stirring up the water and a slight offshore breeze making conditions perfect. It didn t take long for a bit of action and there were a few hits with 2 of the boys getting bitten off by something big and toothy. Knowing what could be hanging around from earlier in the day I decided to go with the heavier 15kg rod with 650m of line. I employed a rig that would handle a certain degree of toothiness but hopefully not spook any of the more desirable species. With 90lb plastic coated wire, a running sinker and 3 snelled 5/0 gamakatsu circles, I was confident that I was in with a chance. Not long after the sun went down I had a massive hookup. I was just fishing a whole mulie bait and it was hit extremely hard. It took a short powerful run and then I felt it launch from the water behind the surf in the darkness. The rest of the fight was extremely erratic and I had no idea what I was connected to, I just knew that it was angry! On the heavier 15kg outfit I managed to get the fish under control and soon beached a very angry barracuda. They are an aggressive fish and this one was determined to bite me while I was getting the hooks out. I picked it up for a quick photo and it launched out of my hands a number of times turning and trying to bite me! I managed to get a photo and then release the angry fish before the crazy thing could get a hold of me. It was pretty exciting to catch such a big barracuda from the beach and was a memorable capture and proof that the rig worked, at least for the toothy fish around. There was a fair bit of action with lots of hits and another bust-off for another one of the boys on the beach. I decided to stick with my light gauge wire rig to see what else might turn up. It wasn t too long before my surf rod loaded up again. I set the hooks and knew that this fish was not as big as my last hook-up, but it was putting up a solid little fight. With lots of headshakes I was calling it for a trevally but to my surprise, as I beached the fish there was the shiny silver belly of a small mulloway. I had heard rumours of mulloway being caught this far north and I guess the rumours are true. Unfortunately it had engulfed the bait and hooks were a long way down, so being a good eating size anyway, we kept the fish for dinner. After that hookup things went a little quiet and we packed it in for the night and headed back to camp absolutely fished and surfed out for the day. The next day began in much the same 18

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7 This time on the beach it became clear that there were toothy critters around again, but the sort that need heavier gauge wire than 90lb... Brado and I both loaded up on heavy gauge wire rigs, long leaders and heavy lines. This soon paid off as I hooked up in a big way with line screaming off my reel! way with a surf in the morning at the point and then using soft plastics to explore the ledges on the way back in. Again there were loads of small reef fish and toothy critters destroying our plastics which made for loads of fun on light gear. It was very visual as they would zone in on your lure in the crystal clear water and even though they were only small fish it was loads of fun. The great thing about fishing plastics in this environment is that you can change the retrieve to suit whatever the fish are chasing; whether it s a fast erratic retrieve or a gentle jig and pause motion the plastics were accounting for most of the fish. Brado and I were keen to find some more fish and the other boys were keen to explore and surf the reef breaks to the north of camp so we parted ways for the arvo. Brad and I found an unbelievable looking ledge and with the swell low and the tide down we could get down to the lower ledge to have a crack at raising some bigger fish. Brado worked some baits on the bottom and I tried cubing and throwing plastics and other lures around. It took a while to raise the attention of any fish and I have to say that we were disappointed to catch more of the same little reef fish that we had been catching the whole time. With such a great looking spot we were sure we d find some bigger fish but it wasn t to be. The highlight came with a school of big long toms moving in and crunching and destroying our lures once again. These fish went off on the light gear again and really performed with impressive jumps all over the place. With the lack of serious action and our stomachs growling we made the move back to camp and crashed for a while before setting up again for another night fish on the beach. This time on the beach it became clear that there were toothy critters around again, but the sort that need heavier gauge wire than 90lb... Brado and I both loaded up on heavy gauge wire rigs, long leaders and heavy lines. This soon paid off as I hooked up in a big way with line screaming off my reel in a way that suggested I was hooked to a big angry noah. The fight 20

8 only lasted around 2 minutes and in that time I lost around 450m of 15kg line without it showing any signs of slowing down. I ended up getting snapped off on my wind-on leader and thankfully got all my braid back. Brado was next to hook up and although his fish didn t head for the horizon it was definitely big putting up a solid fight on 10kg gear. Brad really put some pressure on his outfit and it was up to the task. He had a solid shark under control in the shore break and within about 15 minutes he had it landed on the beach. It was about a 6ft lemon shark and considering the gear he was using he did really well to control such a big fish. We snapped some photos and by this stage a small crowd had gathered to see what the commotion was about. There were cheers all around as the fish swam off strongly into the surf and that was the perfect note to head back to camp on and get some sleep. The next day we rose to a distinct lack of swell which had us cursing the fact that the tinny got left behind. We all decided to go and give the ledge, that Brad and I had found, another go to see what was around at the early hours of the morning. The long trek was made and as we neared the ledge it was obvious that it was too high tide to fish the same spot. Some further exploration was the next decision and we continued on to find a safe platform to cast from. We found another lower ledge this time a little safer than the last. We decided to keep one person spotting swells as it wasn t a particularly big ledge to fish off of. After spinning for about 45 minutes with absolutely nothing to show for it I decided to change my tactics. I rigged up a lightly weighted mulie and belted it out. As it was sinking it got smashed and something T: stripped line off incredibly fast. My 15kg E: sales@balista.com.au outfit wasn t having any impact on this fish and it soon pinged my line on a bommie AUSTRALIA S FIRST L.E.D LURES 21

9 We started climbing the very steep hill to the ledge which we thought was the top. By the time we got there I was already crapping myself as one wrong move would end up with a power slide down the hill to a certain death! further out. This whole bust off thing was starting to become disappointing especially when it had been so hard to get a hookup. This ledge went quiet again after that hookup and so we moved around the point to a higher ledge that we could fish from. We all belted some baits out with renewed enthusiasm but it was soon clear that there only pickers around. I decided to belt my little plastic out there to catch some of the dart swimming around below. The plastic then turned up a few dart and a Spanish flag. I had one more big hookup on plastics and it also moved with considerable power and ended in much the same way as most of the other big hookups on the trip. Well with that bust-off we called it and headed back to camp. Being up on one of the higher ledges one of the boys decided we d go straight over the bluff instead of walking all the way back around We started climbing the very steep hill to the ledge which we thought was the top. By the time we got there I was already crapping myself as one wrong move would end up with a power slide down the hill to a certain death. Whose idea was this! I was not happy when I found out the supposed top ledge was only the half way point. The next 20 minutes I clambered up the mountain goat style bluff and one of the boys took my rods as they could see I was struggling. It s true what they say about not looking down. By the time I reached the top I decided to let my mate know that I thought it was a stupid idea and for what was left of the rest of the trip I decided to keep on reminding him. The photo looking down the hill doesn t do it justice and I m not afraid to admit that I was scared After a long break to recover from our climbing ordeal, we packed our spinning rods and went for one last fish on the bluff s ledges. Spinning didn t turn much up again but the plastics caught some beautiful little blue line emperor and some small gold spot trevally before the sun disappeared. A quick fish on the ledges with baits turned up a few undersized spanglies and of course a few good hook ups only to get smashed by sharks on the way in! I managed to get a smaller spanglie in before the sharks got him and that was a good enough fish for me to end the trip on. The bigger fish were obviously going to get smashed if we hooked any more anyway. The next morning we promptly packed up camp and headed to some lesser known reef breaks for a surf. It was the perfect way to end an awesome trip before embarking on the long drive back to civilization and reality. We had learned a few valuable lessons from this trip. You often had to go light to get a hookup but when you finally hookup you just wish you had the heavy gear to stop whatever is on the other end. Trying to fish these ledges is a real balancing act but persistence is the key to finding good fish. The other lesson was not to listen to anything my mate tells you Seriously though, the fishing was a little hard but the locals tell us that we were there on the wrong tides and moon phase and they assure us the fishing gets a lot better. We still managed some great captures for the trip and had some wild adventures. 22

10 The whole place is amazing and I highly recommend stopping in at Red Bluff. There is a range of accommodation options and it is definitely a family friendly place to visit unlike some of the other spots along the Quobba stretch. Going the light gear and the plastics along the ledges in front of the camp was definitely the highlight for me, as the water is so clear and you can see just about everything. There are a lot of great fishing options to cover at Red Bluff just respect the environment and it will be a great place to visit for the generations to come as well. Shore Based Set-Ups Soft plastics outfit: I use a 7 ft 4-6kg Shimano Jewel rod teamed with a 3000 size Daiwa Revros. This was loaded with 300m of 10pd braid which accounted for a lot of smaller fish but bigger hookups were not always converted. I was using 10-15kg fluro carbon leaders. This smaller outfit was very light and great for jigging and spinning the plastics but the 4-6kg fast tapered blank had enough backbone to put some pressure on fish when needed. Going light when the fish were shut down was a great way to get some strikes. Spinning outfit: I use a Daiwa Sea-Jigger rated to 10kg. This is teamed with a 4000 size Shimano sienna loaded with 20pd braid or at night I was using 20pd mono. Heavier surf outfit: consisted of a 10ft Silstar graphite surf caster with a reliable old Penn 850 Spinfisher loaded with about 700m of 15kg braid. This outfit was perfect for most hookups but for the bigger sharks I was left wanting a heavier outfit! BLUNT KNIVES DRIVING YOU CRAZY? We Guarantee It! Commercial KE-280 Professional KE-3000 Recreational KE-198 $456 RRP plus postage & handling $297RRP plus postage & handling Nirey electric knife sharpeners really work. $159 RRP plus postage & handling Features a patented, angle controlled cushion contact system, which produces razor sharp knives and polished edges in seconds DESIGNED FOR CONTINUOUS COMMERCIAL USE The KE-3000 utilises the same patented cushion contact system as the KE-280 but uses a lighter frame, motor and transmission. DESIGNED FOR THE KEEN FISHER Every good fisher knows how vital a well-sharpened knife is! It's safer to use, holds its edge longer, makes gutting easier and helps you fillet like an expert, improving presentation, cooking and flavour. AUSTRALIAN IMPORTER TOTAL KNIFE CARE Call for Distribution Enquiries Safe and simple to use, with coarse and fine sprung loaded grinding wheels producing 15 precision edges. DESIGNED FOR RECREATIONAL & HOME USE ORDER YOURS TODAY! For your nearest stockist, Call Visit or info@totalknifecare.com.au Now used by thousands of Australians! 23