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Quite a day today. Slept in and took the boats down to the Lagoon about 10:30am. The preferred launching area was dry so the Hannans dry launched and left there tinny on the sand and we reversed down to the same area and set about filling in time while the tide brought enough water in for us to go fishing. Whilst high and dry a few bait fish were spotted in the shallow channel near by so Hanno returned to camp and picked up the throw net. After a couple of warm up throws he managed to net several dozen excellent bait fish about 3 or 4 inches long. He had a pre constructed live bait bucket and we finally got to use our live bait tank. About half an hour after arriving at the launching area the water had reached a depth that allowed us to launch the Quinny.
With heaps of live bait and squid and prawns as a back up we headed towards the entrance looking for a hole that might harbour a jewie or two. No luck but Eleni did land a nice golden trevally.
As the incoming tide filled the 3 km of lagoon we headed in towards an island that had produced a few cod back in 1993. Anchoring up about 20 metres out from the island had instant rewards with a 45 cm cod in the esky within minutes. Each caste was resulting in good bights and the occasional hookup. A variety of fish were landed including 4 varieties of cod, lots of undersized finger mark, a groper, a few we could not identify and one honker barracuda that gave Carol quite a tussle.
Each time we brought a fish to the boat a couple of these monster Cuda would follow them up hoping for a free feed. Pete landed the head of a cod that fell victim to one of these circling barracuda.
Although we had lots of fun we only had a few fish in the esky and having spent time in the morning preparing our drop nets it was now time to go mudcrabbing. After off loading our 3 nets and watching the Hannans drop theirs it was back to the island for a little more bottom bouncing.
The action never really reached the same heights as earlier so we decided to check the nets and return to the carpark beach where retrieving the boat was relatively easy, provided we could get the boat to the beach.
No mudcrabs and a seriously snagged net meant it was time to head home.
As we headed through the mangrove bordered entrance to the carpark area alarm bells were going off as the chart plotter indicated 0.5m of water where we had a 1.0m the day before.
As we ran out of water about 40m from shore we decided to make a rapid retreat back out through the mangroves and into the greater lagoon where there was a reasonable depth of water.
Left with no other options than to return to the deeper launching area where we launched the boats earlier in the day, we spent an hour and a half waiting for the water level to drop sufficiently to allow us to drive the trailer across the sandy flats and into the gap between the mangroves that doubles as a boat ramp.
After filleting the catch while killing time in the boat Carol, Eleni and I left Pete in my boat and walked towards the car park and eventually the "ramp" area.
Pete did a great job driving the boat through the gap in the mangroves that was barely as wide as the boat. In the mean time the Hannans had been able to easily drag their tinny over the 6 inch deep water and to the beach and their boat trailer. Oh the joys of tinnies in shallow water.
Anyway eventually we did get back to camp where after giving the car a good wash down and re inflating the tyres in readiness for tomorrow's trip to Broome we sat down to a feed of delicious fresh reef fish to celebrate our last night with Eleni and Peter. Tomorrow we part company in Broome, we will miss them.
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