Whats your worst fishing trip??
Following on from Ryan C's best capture thread, I thought what about the opposite - the fishing trip from hell!
My worst one was in late 2005 at Kalbarri. For a 3 day fishing trip over the weekend, myself and a coupla mates hired the 6.5m boat "Bulowayo Boy" from Murchison boat hire. Good stable hire boat, and lovely people to deal with, are the lasting good memories of the trip.
On the first day out, we went circa 15nm North, and scored a coupla small red throats and pinkies. The wind picked up about lunchtime, and this was forcast so wasn't unexpected. Early arvo saw us calling for a return to base as the conditions were continuing to deteriorate. With a decent seabreeze, and swell of 2 meters saw us with a slowish return journey. About 15mins into our return trip, a call came over the radio if anyone was in the vicinity of a North West direction from the river mouth. It was the Kalbarri VMR crew.
We answered, and received the reply that a 4m dighy with 4 people onboard was overdue. We altered course and headed further out to their radio'd position, but couldn't find them. After ½ hr of looking fruitlessly for them in their supposed fishing position, we decided to head home along a route close to the shoreline to make sure we had the greatest chance of seeing them if they were in trouble. We were calling in regularly with VMR, to see if they had returned safely.
A km or so North of the rivermouth, we saw what we all dreaded. An upturned dinghy on the reef, debris floating and being smashed against the reef by the wind and waves. One bloke was sitting dazed on the reef near the dinghy. Another was lying prone on the reef and unmoving. He too eventually sat up as we came as close as we dared to the reef. These were the lucky ones.
As we circled the area, we saw another bloke in the wash, and he was dumped onto the reef by the swell. Unfortunately he was deceased. We hung around searching for the other 1, in constant contact with VMR keeping them abreast of what was happening. Eventually, SES vollies, local crayboats, jetski's, police and others arrived at the scene, and they took over. We had been hanging around as close as we could to the rocks without putting ourselves in danger just to keep the blokes on the reef re-assured, and trying to find the other fisherman and also collecting the debris from the water.
The upshot of it all was 1 dead fisherman found on the day, but another still missing. We searched over the next 2 days for the missing person, to no avail. I heard tell that 6 weeks after the accident, a foot was found and thats all.
The Kalbarri SES vollies were absolutely fantastic throughout! cant speak highly enough of their quality of people, service and commitment!
All in all, a nightmare of a trip, but nowhere near as bad for us as the others.
Some salient lessons were learnt tho, now that I've got my own boat!. Always log on/ log off with VMR. always state where you're going and an eta, etc. And dont go out in an open dinghy with 4 people, miles out to sea, with a decent seabreeze forecast!
I just love Exmouth: Its a quaint little drinking town with a fishing problem!
grantarctic1
Posts: 2546
Date Joined: 03/03/11
Wow
Wow that's a pretty bad day. Worst thing i did was drive 250km to go fishing and left all my reel's at home in the carport. Ive never done it again and always triple check all my gear.
TonyT
Posts: 501
Date Joined: 09/07/10
haha classic, bet you were
haha classic, bet you were gutted.
tobefished
Posts: 37
Date Joined: 18/07/11
wagoe reef
Went to Wagoe for a landbased fishing sesh and came up with a big battle scar on the thumb. Let just stay dont stand to close to the edge of the reef...
Fished on the reef at what looked like a nice calm spot compared to where my mates were fishing and next thing u know. 2 Metre WAVE comes over the reef. Lose my gear and lost 1/4 of thumb meat and worst but not least i was out for the next 5 hours with a bandaged thumb untill with got to the medical clinic. Bas%ards kept fishing and left me to bleed to death!!!!!!!
Dont under estimate the good looking reef areas. They come out with the biggest waves and whitewash!
Fishing 101...
Ryan C
Posts: 1575
Date Joined: 08/07/10
a couple of years ago
i bought a new quintrex 620 offshore from allboats and the weekend i picked it up the weather was crap(as you would expect!) so we took it out off hillarys in a large swell and some horrible conditions for a good test and a bit of a fish in close , anyway after a couple of hours just cruising around flicking lures i hooked a good 2/2.5kg tailor near one of the breaking reefs , halfway through the fight my mate goes "look at that" anyway i looked down and there was a dead woman in her late 20's "fark"!!!( i grabbed hold of her but she was quite clearly beyond all help) so i called up on the radio for sea rescue and Freo responded and said "keep an eye on her" we are on the way ! 2 hours later they called and said it was to rough and they had to turn back(in their50' police boat!!) and that they were sending whitfords 8m leisurecat to come and assist! (all the while my mate would not look at her or help me he was too shocked! anyway to cut a long story short sea rescue arrived after 3 hours with a policeman onboard and took over." 6 weeks" later someone from the police came around and asked if we would like counselling and told us the story of her life , apparently she came over from india and lived basically as a slave for 8 men in a house and one night she had had enough and caught a taxi to marmion went down to the reef at marmion angling club took off all her jewellery , shoes socks, jumper and phone and put them on the rocks then walked out on the reef there and jumped off the edge, and comitted suicide. it was a very sad day to test my new boat out thats for sure. cheers
snappermiles
Posts: 2100
Date Joined: 05/11/10
wow there some shocking stories!
mine doesnt even come close to them! my worst was going to coral bay with a mate and his boat with his (trusty) chrysler which i never liked but it always ran like a dream! anyway we got up there and the first day the water pump stopped and siezed the motor! so we hired a boat from there a 6mtr ali crappy little sounder and no gps! out we went to the back of the reef trawling we caught a small spanish mackeral then came across a nice school of fish on the bottom so we anchored up whilst anchoring i noticed a small curved stem in the engine well which was pumping continuosly i asked my other mate and he said he was told it was the live bait tank pump! ok so we started fishing and thats when i noticed the ass end starting to drop we up anchored and slowly drove home on a hell of an angle as half the hull was full! when we got home it was discovered that when the hire mob put the bungs in there was three holes two for the hull and one for the bait tank they blocked the bait tank and not the hull! so our day was killed and they werent going to offer a refund either! but a little harrasment fixed that!! went out with bernie from mahi mahi after that and thats when the fish started!!
ALL FISHERMEN ARE LIARS EXCEPT YOU AND ME! AND IM NOT SO SURE ABOUT YOU!
Aussie Boofhead
Posts: 88
Date Joined: 23/03/09
Mine isnt anywhere near as
Mine isnt anywhere near as bad as those
Mine would have to be when i went on a Charter Boat with my old man in Albany, when i was a teenager, it was our first charter trip .
we got about 5 minutes out from the Emu Point Boat Pen's and the boat started smoking, and then just stopped Dead in the water, the skipper came straight out and said "alright WHO brought the Bloody Bananas..
It was my old man, we had no idea, i never let him forget that day.
told you it wasnt as bad
snappermiles
Posts: 2100
Date Joined: 05/11/10
that bananas theory is crap
my deckie used to bring bananas all the time! he caught his biggest duhie with a banana in his mouth!
ALL FISHERMEN ARE LIARS EXCEPT YOU AND ME! AND IM NOT SO SURE ABOUT YOU!
Lamby
Posts: 3145
Date Joined: 04/08/09
classic about the bananas
classic about the bananas AB
Sure that was a banana in ya mate's gob snapper??
snappermiles
Posts: 2100
Date Joined: 05/11/10
haha lamby
yeh it was i actually got a phot somewhere of him with his rod loaded up and a half a banana hanging out his mouth!
ALL FISHERMEN ARE LIARS EXCEPT YOU AND ME! AND IM NOT SO SURE ABOUT YOU!
brg
Posts: 666
Date Joined: 31/12/09
last christmas went to
last christmas went to kalbarri and the river and all around was a chocolate mikshake sucked
carnarvonite
Posts: 8673
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Gnaraloo
Did a trip to Gnaraloo one year with new posi torque axles on the trailer, the boat weighed somewhere near 1.5 tonne so teach axle stub was rated to 1.5t leaving plenty of leeway. 3 of the 4 were absolutely stuffed before we got to the gate so a slow crawl in to the bay tp launch the boat and put the mooring down. Got on the phone and arranged for 4 [rated at 2.5 ton each] more axles to be sent to Carnarvon arriving in two days.
Went fishing the next day and blew the leg on the black anchor, mate towed us in and had to put the boat back on the buggered trailer to take the leg off. Next day into Carnarvon to pick up axles and stop over night at a mates and pick up new leg off courier next morning. Back to station, fit new leg and put boat back on mooring so that I can fit new axles.
Thankfully weather blew up for next couple of days so were non fishers anyway and trailer finished ready to go.
Next day weather turned to real shit and stayed in shearing shed drinking piss with most of blokes up there when we heard a thump in the distance then bang on the roof, chaps down the old homestead were using a spud gun and lobbing them on to the roof, more people for the party!!!
The day we got out and blew the leg was the only time we got to fish offshore for the fortnight. Pulled boat out in about 1.5 metre swell and headed for home only to demolish another two axles on the way out. Wait overnight in Carnarvon for more axles and fit them at mates place.
The dealer who supplied axles at least gave me a full refund and a full set of normal springs and axles to permanently replace the %$#@&*ng mongrel bastard posi torque things that I'd had fitted after his recommendations.
Still had to fork out for the replacement leg. but hey , thats fishing!!! NOT
cudbfishn
Posts: 1311
Date Joined: 06/04/09
Lived in kalbarri when I was
Lived in kalbarri when I was younger. There was at least 1 drowning and half dozen boat turn overs a year in that river mouth.
Bodie
Posts: 3758
Date Joined: 05/11/07
probably my worst.Finding 100
probably my worst.
Finding 100 Pilot whales beached at hamelin bay a couple years ago. Most dead but a few still alive on the beach, pretty sad day really.
tailor marc
Posts: 2979
Date Joined: 27/09/06
What a day hey Bodie! And
What a day hey Bodie! And that was the 1st day we were acually going to get the boat out. Weather the days before wernt the best. never forget that
My photography pictures... http://westernhorizonsmedia.wordpress.com/
tailor marc
Posts: 2979
Date Joined: 27/09/06
One thing i have dreaded is
One thing i have dreaded is finding a body. Hope it never happens. Iv seen a couple pulled from the river as a kid. Seen a lady try kill herself by walking off the sand bar in maylands once.
Grabbed a girl about to jump off traffic bridge once. Scuffled on the ground until she bit me. , called police and they ened up getting her.
One of the most annoying trips was waiting all year to go to karratha in summer to chase barra. Week before i flew out a cat 5 cyclone was heading directly for k-town. I arrived and spent 2 days packing the house and securing everything. Cyclone missed but totally stuffed the creek fishing. Went out to wandoo rig offshore and everyone got good fish but me. Went home pissed off haha
My photography pictures... http://westernhorizonsmedia.wordpress.com/
bouttime
Posts: 703
Date Joined: 27/07/06
Worst trip ever
Fishing comp out of Jarvis Bay in NSW. Had a 5.5mtr Markham Whaler with twin 90's. The worst boat I have ever owned.
Loaded the boat and headed off for the 300km trip down to the coast. Set up at the caravan park, registered and settled in for the night with a few beers. First day on the water and i go through the pre launch checks, motors kick over, trim up on one motor all good, test the second motor and nothing. Head 20kms in to town and wait for the marine shop to open. 3hrs later and a replacement conection on the trim had us back in on the water. Launched the boat just before lunch and start heading out through the bar. So far so good. Through the bar and my mate starts reshaping a bung for the self draining deck when he slips and chops half his thumb off. We were on our way to the shelf so a quick first aid bandage and head off. Shit day out so we call it a day and head in.
Second day out and the wind is up so we launch on the sheltered side of the bay and head out for kings. Same mate starts to burley up and uses the gaff upsite down. Next thing we see is the gaff hanging out of his arm. Again more first aid and back fishing we go. Hook up A kingy that would have gone line class only to loose it at the boat. Only good fish of the day. Start heading in and notice that the bum of the boat is a bit low and wont plane. Get back to the ramp to find 20 other boats waiting as the tide was to low to retrieve. As we pull up I see water in the boat and it starts filling up. Only way to get it out is to move foward and let it drain. Start mooving and one motor stalls then the second. By the time we have a chance to do anything motors are half under water. Mate jumps out to help push only to jump straight back in as a big ray swims under the boat. Motors won't run and the boats sinking. Ended up getting a tow to the beach and waited about 6hrs for the tide and all the other boats before we got it back on the trailer. Must have been about 10min for all the water to come out of the hull. Found out there were 2 cracks in each ponteen and blew one motor. This boat was a curse.
Ended up trading it in for a plate boat. I have had some shockers but tis one was the worst trip ever
tailor marc
Posts: 2979
Date Joined: 27/09/06
Heard a rumor that a group
Heard a rumor that a group went all the way to steep point. Set up camp , got the roads and reels out then headed to the freezer an someone forgot to load the bait. Apparently they chucked the sh1ts and drove strait back home to Perth. Story came from a reliable source around 5 yrs ago
Not sure if its true because why wouldnt they use lures or crabs off the rocks etc.
My photography pictures... http://westernhorizonsmedia.wordpress.com/
crasny1
Posts: 7006
Date Joined: 16/10/08
Dont like those shots
Years ago went down to help in the rescue. Was bloody freezing, even in 5ml wetsuit.
Worst trip when a Uni student, way into the bush camping and Marroning. Fantastic spot we found the season before. 2k walk straight into the bush got us to a remote spot with a nice clearing next to a Marron filled pool.
Nobody bothered to check the weather though did we. Walked in carring camping gear, food, beer etc. Set up camp and drops some pots in. Knackered from the walks to get gear. Flimsy cheapo tents is all we had. Now all hell broke out with a torrential lightning and thunder storm, blew both tents into the pool, soaked all our food, to bloody wet and cold with no shelter to drink beer, blindly stumbling the 2 ks back to the cars and slept there all uncomfortable and wet.
Tried to salvage what we could the next day, walk it all back to the cars. Wet, cold, tired, NOT hungover and no Marron, and then all mud in the cars didnt make it a happy trip.
Neels
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
Bodie
Posts: 3758
Date Joined: 05/11/07
I've got some worse ones!
I've got some worse ones!
crasny1
Posts: 7006
Date Joined: 16/10/08
Yeh I have had some torrid marron trips
Both overcooked hot and frozen solid. Remeber the old days when they had an easter season aswell. Some bloody cold ones then.
Neels
PS I also forgot to say that we had some girlies with us and was going to show them a marron or 2!!!!
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
Bodie
Posts: 3758
Date Joined: 05/11/07
show them some marron you
show them some marron you say!!! :)
scottland
Posts: 3040
Date Joined: 10/05/10
sorry for the long comment
dad works in the mines on a 4and 1 roster so fishing with him is few and far between. although im starting to think wer'e jynxed.
first story was more poor service then bad luck but when i was 14 booked a charter then woke up at 3:30 and was stoked when i saw the boat only to have the receptionist say the skipper was sick and we were not going dammit hahah
the second was mainly problems caused by us but me and mum flew to karratha for 5 days of fishing landed some odds and sods on the first day but then got struck down with a case of heat exhaustion (forgot to drink through the excitment). the second day was dads stupid fault and we gott bogged down near karratha back beach?? spent half the day digging only to decide we needed a tow truck $250 ( yes we tried winches other 4wd's but we were stuck)
then we had to spend the other half the day cleaning
the next 2 days went to plan but still didn't land a trevalley :( ahhah. then day 4 and 5 happened started to rain didnt think much of it but then it kept raining and kept raining all day 4 then left day 5 (mainroads said all was clear) in the rain got to miniliya wouldnt you know it was closed
25 HOURS LATER we got to leave again mainroads said all was clear to perth so we went only to get trapped in carnarvon couldnt fish as the water was a dirty red colour
spent our time playing pool and doing the ses volunteers washing ahhaah
6 days later they opened the road back north very bumpy ride
got a flight back to perth a further $750 only to have to go shopping on christmas eve for presents so 8 days holiday turned into 11
hopefully the charter with whitey i booked for dad goes better?
i support two teams eagles and whoever is playing the dockers
Walker
Posts: 151
Date Joined: 04/10/09
this easter in augusta was
this easter in augusta was terrible. Down for 10days, rained 8 and not just passing showers. dragged the boat and only dipped it once in the water. salmon season the worst ever. I was bored in a caravan with wife mother in law and 2 toddlers. 10 days . owch