Hi all,
I'm not one to usually put up a fishing report, but with the amount of fun I just had, I thought I'd break that and share my experience for all to enjoy. Here it goes:

Last week was the last of this semester's uni final exams, and I hadn't been out for at least 2 months, so you can imagine where I was coming from. I definately had a bit of an itch, but a quick check on seabreeze told me that the weekend would not be too enjoyable out wide, or even a bit nearer in. This obviously did not please me much. However, after recieving a friendly call from long-time fishing accomplice Rob, who had other ideas, plans were set for Wagoe. Neither of us had ballooned before; I hadn't even a clue of where it was; and a quick pep talk from Mr. Paul Willis and hasty net search was all that prepared me for the trip. Rob pulled off the masterstroke by ensuring we had a tank of helium, and off we went. The day before, Paul advised me that conditions might not be perfect, as the winds might not be blowing a true easterly, as shown on the forecast.

After getting slightly lost in the dunes in the dark, and a brief cold sleep, we woke up early to pick a spot on the beach to start. Birds were flying about and diving, and this was a good indicator. We set Rob's rig up first, with guesstimates of the amount of gas needed, and sent it out. While we were doing mine, I remember Rob going 'hey, did you see that splash?' and before you know it, the rod was bent and the drag was screaming; we were on. This took less than 10-15 minutes from when we stopped feeding line out on Rob's rig, and were still setting out mine.

With blood really flowing now, we pulled it all the 400-ish m or so in, interspersed with some nice runs. It washed up in the surf for me to gaff it (and get soaked with a nice wave), and boy this was a nice fice. Probably not past the 20kg mark, but I would have called it around 18kg, there's a picture below for all to see.

[img_assist|fid=196308|thumb=0|alt=robs mack headshot]
[img_assist|fid=196313|thumb=0|alt=robs mackie wagoe|caption= ]

This 10-15 minute wait *bang you're on!* continued until we had a total of 3 macks, all of them fat and heavy, as per the pictures below, and then we ran out of room in the esky. And it was only 10.30 or so in the morning. Without wanting to risk unsuccessfully catching and releasing a fish dragged back 300-400m or so, and through a pounding surf, we reluctantly stopped and settled in to fillet and clean our fish, making space for at least 1 more. The rest of the day was spend 4-wheel driving and taking in the (new and spectecular to me) coastline south of just where the Kalbarri Cliffs start. Having just come off exams, this was certainly a great way to unwind. With the swell at 2.5m, the reefs were rather unfishable, and we settled in for an early evening that night to catch up on lost sleep.

[img_assist|fid=196317|thumb=0|alt=my wagoe 1]
[img_assist|fid=196320|thumb=0|alt=my wagoe 2]

The next morning we were greeted with at least 2 mackies free-jumping, as spotted by Rob (I still had the sleep in my eyes). Again, Rob's rig was sent out, and before long, we could see a mackie splash, and we were on. This time before we didn't even need a rod-holder. After a nice tussle, a slightly smaller mackie came ashore (but still a nice size) and we decided that was it. No need to be greedy, we already had a heap of fillets, and although we could make some room for more, that's alot of mackie to go through. Obviously this was a very drawn-out and reluctant decision.

[img_assist|fid=196323|thumb=0|alt=robs wagoe mack 2]
[img_assist|fid=196302|thumb=0|alt=wagoe beach]

The rest of the day was spent losing sinkers fishing off the reef-ledges (with the swell dropping to less than 1.5m or so) and exploring Lucky Bay where we threw some poppers for not much. The evening was spent relaxing on fold-up chairs while soaking a bait on the beach. A couple of nice tailor were brought it (for metro standards, at around 50cm) and big rays and sharks warmed us up. We tucked in around 11 and then headed home on Monday, all in all content and never thinking its supposed to be this easy. Mackies shorebased sure is fun.
Certainly a great weekend for me.

[img_assist|fid=196305|thumb=0|alt=wagoe relaxation]

Thats it guys, thanks for reading.