King Island report

[Phoenixx]

Well we've just got back from a week with the In laws on King Island, TAS.

Wasn't sure we were going to actually make it onto the island as our trip coincided with the worst weather the island had seen in 3 yrs. 40 knot winds, rain coming in sidewards and wind gusts strong enough to blow the plane off course. We had done 3 laps over the airport when the pilot decided to give it one final attempt or it would be back to Melbourne. Luckily, we made it and after 6 hours of travel with 3 kids under 7, we were finally in front of a warm fire with a real coffee.

Remarkably, the next morning I woke to absolute stillness. The wind and rain had both disappeared. The wife and kids had decided to stay in bed because it was “too cold†(it was 11C) so I went for a look down at the local wharf to see what was around. Ended up fishing for a little over an hour and pulling in 8 salmon all approx 30cm (all caught using Kokoda power prawns). There were hundreds of them in the water feeding on the scraps from the trawlers that had come in. There was one other local on the wharf fishing with gear alot heavier than the 3kg bream outfit that I was using. I thought this was a little strange as the father in law had told me that all they get from here is squid and rat salmon.

Well, I was soon fuming at my father in law as the local pulled in a 60cm snapper. Last time I bloody well listen to him!! This was the bay we were fishing in from the wharf.

The weather turned nasty again that afternoon, and we only managed to get one more fishing trip for the entire week. We headed up to the northern tip of the island through some fantastic bush tracks (seriously great 4WDing up there). The quality and colour of the water really surprised me and as we were tearing down the beach looking for a spot to fish we noticed this nice little drop off and decided to fish the incoming tide to see what was around.

45 mins into the trip and my father in law had 3 gummy sharks on the beach whilst my bait stayed untouched in the water.

Another half hour had gone by before I finally saw some action on my rod. Within 15 mins I had 2 gummys on the beach aswell. All 5 sharks came in at about the same size.

We waited around for another hour with no action and was just about to give up and go home when both rods buckled over and drags started screaming. Both of us hooked up to solid 2kg+ salmon. We tossed them up to the 4WD and quickly rebaited in the hope that the school was still around but unfortunately nothing!

All in all, 15 fish in 2 fishing trips had me calling it a good holiday. The in-laws now have a freezer full of shark to last them the month. I’d recommend this place to anyone wanting a peaceful holiday and as a matter of fact, if the mother in law didn’t live on the island, I’d move there myself.

Thanks for reading

Duane

[Do$tylz]

Hope the wifey doesn't read this report haha.

Nice report mate. We don't get many from tas. Any pics of the salmon man? They're definitely on my to catch list.

[Phoenixx]

Hope the wifey doesn't read this report haha.

Nice report mate. We don't get many from tas. Any pics of the salmon man? They're definitely on my to catch list.

Sorry Mate, no pics of the salmon. The adrenalin was pumpin so hard I forgot about the camera sitting next to me.

The bigs ones fought really hard and very acrobatic in the surf. Despite what other people say, they aint too bad on the chew if cleaned and bled immediately