THE STORY OF JAW'S FIN

by Bob Russo

Friday night and it is pouring down the rain that is, my partner in crime Jock has the flu so I am left to take on the rock we called 'Oasis' but you guys know as 'Neverfail' on my own.  Loading the Hilux with out Jock just didn't seem right but a blokes gotta do what a blokes gotta do.

I got to Kiama and I was getting edgy, not about fishing the ledge but I had done some careful homework and was confident that a good fish was on the cards.  How in God's name would I be able to hold a rod and gaff a fish of any size on the ledge where I would need to fish owing to the seas being up?

A standard gaff was one thing but what if I needed to use my 21ft flyer I had made to fish this rock ledge on a jumbo? Well only time would tell.  Owing to the big seas I opted to go to Greenwell Point to get some Bung (yakkas) for bait and so I knew I was in for a long cold night and a tough day.

Driving along the Pines into The Point and I knew I needed to stop at the pub for a "Heart Starter".  That done and the pub closing I rolled down the hill onto the wharf (In the car that is).  To my surprise I saw Fossils big blue Ford Fairlane parked in the car park.  I knocked on the windows and was greeted by Jaws, Lash and The Fossil.  Asking where I was going to fish I told them and so my big worry was a worry no more.  We would fish together.

On to the wharf and the rain belting down saw Jaws and Fossil last half an hour until they went back to the warmth of the car.  The two diehards, Lash and I stuck it out till 3.  30am and caught about 8 big yakkas.  Cold and ticked off with the lads in the car I loaded the bung into my Hilux with a 12v aerator and big tub on board we headed off to The Range.

Foss managed to guide the big blue tank through the mud and hollows but if any probs had occurred I could have pulled him out.  Getting to the top of the cliff with darkness all around us and that blasted rain still bucketing had us thinking that we were all mad.  Well I knew I was but I couldn't speak for the others.

Getting the extendable jib I had made to lower my gear at this place out of my ute had me wondering if we would be able to fish the ledge, the sea was pounding in below us.  As I got to the edge I decided to wait for the sun to break on the horizon before I was going to venture onto the precarious ledge I would need to go to set the jib up.

Suns up, Jibs secured, gear on the rope, and the lads going down the side of the cliff it was all happening.  I lowered the gear down and had to wait for them to untie it so I could do another three loads.  The gear all down I scampered down the side like a rabbit to get rigged up.  What I saw when I got around the corner had my heart go into sinking mode the seas were huge.

No spinning on the low ledge today boys and how are we going to get baits in from up here I thought.  We would have been a good 40ft off the water and still getting ocean spray on us.  We were there and so we were going to fish and that was that.  We all rigged up and owing to the conditions I made up a double that was at least 50ft long and my trace would have been at least 20ft.  There was no way a bloke could get down low to try and land a fish so I needed all the protection possible to avoid being cut off on the ledge below us.

I can't tell you how the other lads rigged but I will say this keep reading cause what Jaws did will spin you out.  We all managed to get our baits in the water.  The lads were using standard rigs and floats but I was using a home made Torpedo style float but it was a lot larger than standard and was no trouble to sea in the huge seas.  All the lines were tight and if the drags were not slightly on the spools would have been empty.

We were freezing cold but at least the rain had stopped.  Lunch time had been and gone but so were the yakkas.  Only one left.  I did a bit of a song and dance about that.  Me and Lash had been up most of the night and still had our first baits out.  That’s fishing I guess.  We were cold, uncomfortable, tired and ticked off, not a good place for a combyare session I give you the mail.