Washed in Alone

[wazatherfisherman]

When you're young, you do things that are often foolhardy, even downright dangerous. 

When I was 17, I used to get Wednesday's off work and usually go fishing, either to White Rock near Bradleys Head in the Harbour, or often to the Mattens at Dover Heights. Both locations during the week you'd usually have the spot to yourself, which can be OK for the Harbour, but rock fishing alone is far too risky. Anything can happen, other than the obvious dangers of climbing cliffs, negotiating tracks and the ever present swell, something as simple as turning an ankle can leave you in a helpless position, with nobody to either render assistance or raise any alarm in case of a more serious predicament or immobility. So trips to somewhere like the Mattens were always with companions.

Nevertheless, when young, like they say- "you're 10 feet tall and bullet-proof"- which is great confidence-wise, but not necessarily always a good thing in regards to safety.

The plan had been to travel to mentor Wally's place at North Bondi and go down the cliff and just spend the day chasing Blackfish, however, Wally couldn't go at the last minute due to his wife becoming ill and he rang me just as I was about to walk down to Croydon railway station to get the train to Central. 

Bugger- what to do now? Gear and lunch packed- go to the Harbour? No weed or cabbage though and although quality cabbage grows on the sides of the zoo wharf, you need someone to hold your legs while you stretch over then under the wharf to reach it. Maybe I could still go to the Mattens? If the sea is as predicted- "slight seas on a low swell" and I stick to the safer spots, should be OK. So off to get the train to Central, then the bus from Eddy Avenue to Dover Heights.

On arrival at the cliff top park, first thing all the fishermen do is walk slightly south of the spot you get over the fence, so you can view the conditions far below. A quick look revealed a really flat ocean, however it's an unwritten rule of rock fishing to have a long look at the sea, as sometimes there might be a swell that's quite far apart, even though it looks flat, it can still be too dangerous for fishing. About fifteen minutes is the "accepted" time for viewing the sea, barring rogue waves, you get a pretty good idea of any pattern provided by watching the sea-to-land water movement. Looked pretty flat, maybe too flat in fact. No wash means no food going in naturally, so fish are naturally more cautious and obviously unable to gorge themselves, like Blackfish often do when feeding. 

Sea observed, decision made, down I go, being more careful than usual. Safe at the bottom of the climb, gear untied from pulley and rope tied off to a sandstone protrusion. About half an hour from getting over the fence at the top and I'm at the spot. No water coming over anywhere, bar the end of "Bombie" ledge, which is only fish-able on the lower part of the tide and then only during flat seas as it's only just above waterline.

The whole location is a Blackfisher's paradise, offering up almost every kind of fishing scenario, from a tidal "lake" where you could fish either 6-7 ft deep in the main body of water, or about a foot deep in the shallow end- the most exciting form of Blackfish fishing, to various deep water washes, soupy white water fishing, cunje beds and shallower boulder bottomed drifts. Unusual "straight-edge" fishing for them is also on offer on really flat days, in another spot there, cunje is used instead of green growth and when you can fish there, action is also really fast.

So gear rigged, fixed float set about 11 and a half feet deep- about 6 inches short of the rod's length, 6 and a half pound Tortue mono on the Golden Eagle centerpin greased the night before with Vaseline to keep it floating. Fingers given a good wash to make sure no Vaseline taints the bait. Shoes swapped for rock plates. Keep-net unrolled. Film container with a few spare hooks and an extra couple of bits of sheet-lead in the pocket. 

Now which spot to try first. As there was hardly any swell at all, there wasn't much in the way of wash and if there's no wash going in, then the fish are either really scattered or more likely in an area where at least a little water is moving back off the platforms, bringing in a little food, or at least the chance of some. On days such as this one, with clear water- due to little turbulence, you might take a while to bring them in with burley, as it doesn't disperse with minimal current, often trying a few of the spots before you locate larger numbers of fish, then "activating" them into feeding mode. 

After trying three spots and only catching a couple of fish, I decided to go down onto "Greeny", a long low platform straight out in front of the cave, that we used for a base when staying overnight. There is a large pool all over the back of the platform, which flows off to the most southern extremity of the Mattens, emptying in a permanent wash. Normally, there are really large fish off Greeny, but due to it being low, it's only safe to fish the lower section of the tide. In years to come, it became our number one spot for big Bream and where most of the guys caught their biggest Snapper, often while Tailor fishing in the dark. This day however, the Blackfish weren't there and a few drifts and a heap of burley kicked in provided only a couple of "Cocky's"- Rock Cale- a species treated with contempt by most ocean Blackie fishers. 

After having a look at the nice, soupy looking wash at the extreme end of Greeny- the area's only "permanent" wash, I decided that as the tide went down a bit more and no water at all had come anywhere near coming onto the ledge, that it would be OK to try there next. This spot was called "Bombie", as about 30 yards out from the end of the platform, there is a huge rock under the water that comes up to within about 8 or 9 feet from the surface and it displaces inward moving swell, throwing small curling waves and "lumps" of water in different directions.

There are always fish hanging around this spot, as there are a couple of swirling eddy's, keeping any food washed in in a small area and the water naturally pulls outwards from the ledge. There is also a large cunje bed against the shore, abundant red crabs and really long "streamer" cabbage- the favourite food of the biggest Blackfish. These streamers, up to about an inch wide and eighteen inches long, grow very close to the edge and when the tide covered the ledge, the big Blackfish often come right up onto the rocks, grab a huge bunch of streamers and tear the whole lot off, before rolling back into the water. Watching them from high up above, floating up en-masse and shaking violently to tear the streamers off is quite surreal, with numbers of them actually lying high and dry for a time, waiting for the next swell to float them back off.

On calm days however, with virtually nothing much being dislodged, the fish feed on what's called "black cabbage"- which is the softer (than the strong streamers) green cabbage that grows permanently under water in the larger pools, most other cabbage is exposed at some stage of the tide- black cabbage isn't black, but in fact darker olive green and grows as individual plants more so than in a "colony" of others. It is also softer to touch and has multiple perforations, or holes, throughout the individual leaf structure. The reason the fish feed on it during calm conditions is that due to it's soft, more fragile texture and small individual root system, it is the only cabbage to break off and wash in with minimal wave action during calm seas. I guess fish instinctively know what should be/is washed in and black cabbage is the go-to cabbage for glassed out conditions due to it's availability to the fish.

So after baiting up with black cabbage (which I'd only just learned about) I moved to "Bombie" and cast out well away from the danger zone of close to the rocks- danger zone? Yes danger zone because there are large numbers of big Black Drummer close to the edge at this spot, mainly in the 6-8 lb size range, and too hard to stop on Blackfish tackle in this particular location, some of the deep water spots you'd occasionally manage to stop one, but not where the bottom's in sight- they just go too hard. Drift commenced, float moves to the closest eddy and down it goes. Beauty, hooked up. Two minutes later and a nice fat Blackie is lunging around close to the edge. I look south as I maneuver the fish to my selected wash up spot and suddenly hear the noise that chills rock fishers to the bone- the sound of the water dropping rapidly right on the edge.

Large drops mean large rises in terms of water, and as I turned 90 degrees to face the sound, I was confronted by the level of the ocean at over waist height, just on my low spot on the end of the ledge. The bombie had thrown up a lump of water directly at me. I was standing right in the most vulnerable place too, right on the edge, before I could brace for impact or stand on one leg leaning into the wave - the usual "defence" for a swell over the ledge- the water pushed me sideways, straight off the edge and into the water, where I went under in about 15 foot of water.

Within a few seconds I was about 7 or 8 feet out, in the natural current, but away from the edge. Instant panic. Everything you've learned and read about what to do if you go in, says swim out a bit from the rocks so you don't get "sucked down" with the water flow, but instinct wants you to get out immediately. I still had the rod in my hand and I didn't want to let go of it, I'd built the rod and it wasn't new, but it was my first quality Blackfish reel- a Grice and Young "Golden Eagle" and it had taken a while to save up for- in 1978 four days work only gave me about $72 clear.

Even though the sea was really flat, when you only have your head out of the water, everything looks bigger- the height of the platform to climb back out on, the distance out from shore, the next rising bit of swell, albeit really small, the little bit of soupy looking water- which also looked sinister- I've always been worried about sharks after seeing some big ones just "appear" from out of nowhere. How your perspective can change in just a few seconds.

Also and forefront in my mind was that the two eddy's situated off this particular location, just slowly swirled around in a circle, with anything drawn in, such as a float, would be held pretty much where it was. Getting back in and away from these eddy's could be a life or death move. Some years later, two of the guys- Fraser and Brad were to find out, that making it out of these same eddy's is very difficult indeed, after both being washed in from the same location, under pretty similar sea circumstances, only this time, Rob, who wasn't taken by the wave that got them both, was quick in getting the pulley rope from the cave and managing to get it to them. Brad was to later say that he didn't think he was going to be able to stay afloat, as trying to swim out of the eddy, wearing heavy rock plated shoes, was like swimming with bricks tied to his feet, regardless that he was a good swimmer. 

So with rod still in hand, I swam sidestroke towards the big cunje bed adjacent to where I was originally going to wash my Blackfish out on. The bed, slopes gently into the water from just off the cliff wall and is completely covered in cunje "pods", it sits about 3 feet lower than the platform I got knocked off, but due to the angle of it, combined with both water run-off from the big pool behind the ledge and the oncoming wave/swell action, the water is quite turbulent, however there isn't much current. I had to swim hard, as I knew if I got taken into the eddy I'd be in trouble.

I made it away from the drifting area, out of the current, and just as I was wondering where to aim for, another push from the water behind me landed me on the cunje bed, where I found myself standing up as the water receded. At first, I couldn't move as my rock plates had sunk in between cunje pods and I guess now that I was just startled at being back on solid footing without having to do much, but I snapped out of it pretty quickly, got my stuck plates up and ran the 6 or 7 yards to the safety of the back of the platform. Phew!

Only then did I realise that I was OK, not a scratch on me and I still had my rod and reel in hand. Winding the line in from the reel, which had had no tension on it whatsoever, I discovered the line was wrapped around the cunje in multiple spots, so I broke it off and climbed up off Greeny and went to sit in the sun to dry off from my untimely swim.

It took me a fair while to stop shaking and longer to dry off. About an hour passed before I re-rigged and went to fish a safer spot, keeping in mind what had happened and how lucky I'd been to not get caught in the swirling eddy. After fishing for a short time, I decided to give it away for the day and go home before peak travel time.

I got unusually nervous climbing back up the cliff and took the goat track very carefully also. Thinking about the whole event while on the way home on the bus, it seemed to hit home as to how lucky I was and I couldn't wait to get back to Central, then on the train home to Croydon. I didn't dare tell my Mum that I'd gone by myself, as she would have banned me from going again, but I did fish the same spot plenty more times, albeit never by myself again. 

This might sound like I didn't learn much of a lesson from the experience, but I did. NEVER go rock fishing by yourself- it's just stupidity.

 

 

[Burger]

Waza, you’re a natural story-teller.

Thanks for keeping them coming!

[Yowie]

Another good story.

I have fished by myself from the rocks, however, well away from the water.

No two waves are the same, they may look similar from a distance but will suddenly change right next to the rock shelf. Have I been wet by a wave? Yes. Have I been a bit worried? Yes. Have I learnt the power of the ocean? Yes.

I replied to one of your stories about fishing the Royal National Park many years and standing on a boulder about 8 feet high, and getting wet. Well, I headed past that rock shelf just the other day, and that big boulder is no longer there, obviously washed in.

[noelm]

Got washed in myself once, but I was diving, I have a "secret" Lobster spot that has a step kind of entry/exit point, the lower step is about 2' above water at mid tide, the upper step is always out of the water when it's suitable for diving, I had just got out of the water, took off my gear and placed it on the upper step, and was standing there just kind of "day dreaming" about getting up to the dry area when a "freak wave" (don't like that term, because it's often wrong) hit and it washed me off my feet, on my side, being dragged over some of those "Volcano" barnacles, straight into the water, being a diver, it wasn't too scared as such, but, having big chunks of skin and flesh removed by the barnacles wasn't too flash! I gathered my wits and swam over to the low ledge again and got out, gashing a hole in my shin on another barnacle, Jesus that hurt, the whole incident kind of got me thinking how a fisherman, fully clothed, with shoes on, and possibly a poor swimmer, might not have faired so well.

[Green Hornet]

Another great read Waza.

I haven't been washed in per-se, but slipped jumping over one of the crevices at Moes one day and like "noelm", was shredded by the barnacles. Wedged in with waves washing over me, I was lucky that my mate could help me out with the use of his one piece rod. Later, sitting on the rocks I went into shock and had to be driven home.

I couldn't return to that spot for a couple of years. Tried once and got the shakes just rigging up.

These days I'm uber cautious. We always carry a good, floating rope and PFD's are a must, as help is a long way away.

Any guy that gets washed in and lives to tell the tale is a lucky man.

[wazatherfisherman]

3 hours ago, Yowie said:

Another good story.

I have fished by myself from the rocks, however, well away from the water.

No two waves are the same, they may look similar from a distance but will suddenly change right next to the rock shelf. Have I been wet by a wave? Yes. Have I been a bit worried? Yes. Have I learnt the power of the ocean? Yes.

I replied to one of your stories about fishing the Royal National Park many years and standing on a boulder about 8 feet high, and getting wet. Well, I headed past that rock shelf just the other day, and that big boulder is no longer there, obviously washed in.

Hi Yowie it's amazing when those giant boulders are just "gone". The big one at the Mattens was as big as a shipping container and 40+ yards from the water, nobody could believe it was gone, especially from where it was sitting

[wazatherfisherman]

3 hours ago, noelm said:

Got washed in myself once, but I was diving, I have a "secret" Lobster spot that has a step kind of entry/exit point, the lower step is about 2' above water at mid tide, the upper step is always out of the water when it's suitable for diving, I had just got out of the water, took off my gear and placed it on the upper step, and was standing there just kind of "day dreaming" about getting up to the dry area when a "freak wave" (don't like that term, because it's often wrong) hit and it washed me off my feet, on my side, being dragged over some of those "Volcano" barnacles, straight into the water, being a diver, it wasn't too scared as such, but, having big chunks of skin and flesh removed by the barnacles wasn't too flash! I gathered my wits and swam over to the low ledge again and got out, gashing a hole in my shin on another barnacle, Jesus that hurt, the whole incident kind of got me thinking how a fisherman, fully clothed, with shoes on, and possibly a poor swimmer, might not have faired so well.

Hi Noelm those volcano barnacles are shocking to have a ride over. One of the old Mattens crew- Frank- had a ride over them on his backside wearing only speedo's, he got some shocking injuries that bled for a couple of hours. Still had to climb the cliff to get home though.

[Yowie]

9 minutes ago, wazatherfisherman said:

Hi Yowie it's amazing when those giant boulders are just "gone". The big one at the Mattens was as big as a shipping container and 40+ yards from the water, nobody could believe it was gone, especially from where it was sitting

I remember that one going 'missing'.  

[wazatherfisherman]

33 minutes ago, Green Hornet said:

Another great read Waza.

I haven't been washed in per-se, but slipped jumping over one of the crevices at Moes one day and like "noelm", was shredded by the barnacles. Wedged in with waves washing over me, I was lucky that my mate could help me out with the use of his one piece rod. Later, sitting on the rocks I went into shock and had to be driven home.

I couldn't return to that spot for a couple of years. Tried once and got the shakes just rigging up.

These days I'm uber cautious. We always carry a good, floating rope and PFD's are a must, as help is a long way away.

Any guy that gets washed in and lives to tell the tale is a lucky man.

Hi Pete knowing exactly where those crevices are at Moe's you've got my sympathy! Running and jumping them from the tip of Moe's was always race against that blasted wave break. Wouldn't want to go in the horseshoe where they empty either. Those barnacles are so damaging on skin.

Been in twice fishing and twice while just walking/swimming, it's no fun, especially in remote places. Safety gear so sensible to wear and take.

Like you, I reckon I was in some sort of shock

[Rebel]

Another great Super, Super Story. More please.

[wazatherfisherman]

Just now, Rebel said:

Another great Super, Super Story. More please.

Thanks Rebel!