There is a particular kind of solo fishing mission that requires a hike, a head torch and a willingness to sleep on a rock ledge above a Southern Ocean swell. Surviving Fishing Adventures has just produced one of those - a hike-in cliff camp on Western Australia's remote south coast, anchored by an autumn salmon bite and a 38 cm breaksea cod that ended up on the fire.
The pitch was simple. Pack heavy, hike out, fish for dinner, camp on the ledge, cook the catch. "We hiked out to a very remote ledge to set up camp, catch our dinner, woo, and have fun while challenging ourselves," he said in the opening minutes. "This spot took a big effort to reach - heavy pack, long hike, and some sketchy terrain right along the edge of huge cliffs. But that's what makes these trips special: the challenge, the isolation."
Logistics came before fishing. The casting ledge sat on the edge of the cliff; the camp shelf sat just behind it, barely big enough for the tent. "This looks nice and flat. Not the biggest spot, but it might have to do us," he said, dropping his pack and rolling straight into the wash with a burley pot, a heavy metal rod and a cliff gaff staged on the rock.
The Southern Ocean obliged. Heavy metals into the white water raised salmon almost immediately - clear evidence the autumn run is moving along the south coast. "Where there's one, there might be more," he said as the first schoolie hit the deck. "Yep, there is a few salmon down there."
The upgrade arrived on the lighter rod. A smaller lure in a different colour drew a heavier take, and the fish that came up the swell had a swim bladder distended from depth. "I felt that. Fish on. It's not just a herring. I'm not sure what it is," he said. "Breaksea cod? I think it is. Oh, and a good one. Nice. That's a good size breaksea cod."
The fish measured 38 cm on the mat - "a good eater" - gutted, iced and stored before he changed rigs again. The next round was pulley-rig bait fishing on the heavy outfit. "That is a pulley rig," he said, clipping the bait in and lobbing it out into the wash.
The pulley delivered. After working out the kelp depth by paying line down to the sinker, he hooked and landed a second breaksea cod of similar size. "Here we go. Another beautiful breaksea cod. This one is coming on. Now we're going to pack up the fishing gear, set up the tent, collect firewood, get a fire cranking. I'm hungry."
What followed is the part that most rock fishing videos skip. Rods stowed on the ledge, tent up on the flat, firewood collected from the scrub above, dinner of fresh breaksea cod fillets cooked on the rock as the swell ran in below. The plan for first light was as direct as the rest of the trip. "Tomorrow morning, right back into it," he said.
For anglers eyeing the south coast rock platforms before winter pushes the salmon further east, the kit list is consistent: a heavy throw bait outfit for the run, a lighter spin rod for the breaksea cod, a pulley rig for the kelp country, and the pack capacity to hike all of it in.
