We woke to another cold morning, 2 C in the van a probably a lot colder outside. Deb cranked up the A/C and it took ages before it got to double figures. Outside was all misty, particularly over the river.
After we got ourselves together we got away from Tamworth around 8:30am for the easy drive to Port Stephens and Fingal Bay.
On the way we stopped in Scone, we spotted a market in a park and it was a good opportunity to get out of the car and have a stretch. The market was a bit of a non-event. About 6 stalls all up, selling the usual things, plants, a sausage sizzle, knitted things, Bric-a-brac, and of course a cake stall. We did our bit for the local community and picked up a plate of Chocolate and coconut slice. They weren’t really up to CWA standard, which was a bit disappointing.
We arrived at Fingal Bay around 12:30 and after we got all settled in, Deb had a quiet afternoon reading the paper and I went out to organise a fishing licence for myself. After a bit of searching around I eventually had to go to Nelson Bay to get one, after having no luck in Fingal Bay or Shoal Bay.
After I got back I got my fishing gear out and got a rod ready to do a bit of beach fishing after dinner. Deb was still engulfed in her paper.
As planned I was down at the beach a bit after 6pm in shorts and a t-shirt. Now this was a mistake, it was bloody cold on the beach with a steady wind blowing and the sun slowly sinking. I figured I could last it out to about 7pm. I cast out and had no bites for about 20 mins, then the action started. It seems that there was a school of Australian Salmon roaming around out in the water. I hooked one and it gave me a good fight before finally flipping itself off the hook. I rebaited and cast out again, within 5 mins I had another slightly smaller fish on the line, after a bit of a fight I landed this one. It was about 50 to 60cm of Australian Salmon. I got it off the line, dispatched it and let it bleed while I baited up and got my line back out. In about another 5 mins I hooked onto a big fish. I played it, sorry, it played me for about 5 minutes or more, taking line then giving some back. I eventually got it within 5 metres of the beach and it got free. It managed to bend 2 hooks of the 3 hook gang I had on!
I figured I had enough fish for us for tomorrow (and some left over!) and I was getting cold so I packed up and went back to the van. I think Deb was a bit surprised when I was back so early, and more surprised when I had fish! We have another 2 days here before we move on, so I am looking forward to a bit more fishing. 🙂
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What exciting fishing adventures we hope the school come through again today, tight lines 🙂