Pat Clarkson

Hi all Finally my first post. Whilst I have been visiting the Fishraider for an awful long time, opportunities to contribute have not been plentiful. In the past my beach fishing has been limited to the lovely seven mile beach at Gerroa on the South Coast. I would pump my nippers then stroll down at sunset and fish for whiting & bream. Unfortunately the house down there was sold and it has taken me a couple of years to get back into fishing. This summer I was up at Lake Macquarie and frequented the beach at Budgewoi early mornings with my stepdad. Hours go by very slowly when you do not get a bite or at least a nibble however finally the moment came and the lovely sound you hear on those tv shows of the line being stripped from your reel, then the panic of realising you have something bigger than a whiting or bream and have no idea what to really do whilst then realising you are still using the little light whiting rig. Well the years of watching Rex & IFish must of kicked in I slowly and patiently brought the fish in to the beach and realised in the rough surf I had no idea how to get it up from the slope of the sand into the safe ground. Seeing the size of the fish I did what any amatuer non successful fisherperson would do. Drop the rod and dive on the fish. Probably not recommended as a method but with a light line and a large wave approaching it actually worked. So finally a decent size fish and a post on this excellent site.