Australia
Meningie 5 April

Probably my last fishing report from our trip to the Antipodese

Our first stop after leaving Adelaide and we find a motel on the shores of a lake. One of a series of lakes formed by the Great Murray River before it enters the sea. I call in at the local tackle shop to ask about a licence, great, don't need one in South Oz. I then ask what fish I might catch, unfortunately it is full of redfin (English perch) and European carp. Great you may think but these must be killed and not returned to the water. A large fine can be imposed if you do, so I didn't bother!

Robe 6 April

Next day we stopped at a place called Robe. Desperate to have a bit of fishing we found a lovely sandy cove. The bait this time was pipie's (cockles) purchased locally and frozen. The fishing in the cove was not easy as there was a lot of floating weed, but I did manage to catch something mostly brown with stripes and teeth, with some blue colouring around the mouth. After a few tackle losses we moved to another nearby beach where I fished off some rocks - I caught two more of the same species, later identified as blue throat wrasse (female).

Aireys Inlet 10 April

Found a nice long surf beach where I hoped to catch an Australian Salmon. The sea was fairly calm with an offshore wind which I hoped would help me cast out over the breakers. You really need surf casting gear i.e. 12 ft rods etc., but I only have an 8ft so I was hoping these conditions would help me a little. After finding some accommodation for the night it was off to the beach. As we were driving back to the beach we could see clouds coming in and the wind had changed to onshore with white horses coming in. Ah well, nothing new for me, something always seems to blight my attempts at fishing! I did try for an hour before the rain came and did catch three small fish, later identified as Tommy Rough.

JULE