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From Cowell we travelled further west across the width of Eyre Peninsula to the coastal town of Elliston, and then north to Venus Bay. We’ve been coming to Venus Bay for a week or so each year for the past few years; it’s a tiny, peaceful settlement on a large, shallow bay connected to the Southern Ocean through a narrow channel between two rocky headlands. The bay itself is very protected and safe, but the entrance to the ocean can be hazardous when the run-out tide clashes with the incoming ocean waves, generating large, sometimes perilous, swell at that point. Only a few weeks ago two young men drowned at the entrance when their boat capsized in the swell after a rope fouled their propeller.
Not having a boat, our preferred fishing spots were nearby Mt Camel surf beach, and the local jetty. In a midnight session on the latter we scored three dozen tommy ruff and trevally, and in a dawn session on the beach we hauled in two dozen big mullet and salmon. The tides are big at this time of year and having neglected to store our gear high enough up on the beach, it was all washed away by a large wave. It wasn’t a pleasant sight seeing our items racing towards the ocean when the wave receded, particularly our camera. Needless to say, the dunking rendered its electronics insensible, but surprisingly in the days since, as it has dried out, it has regained all its faculties. Like us after a big night on the turps.
This morning we were up before dawn again to fish a rocky ledge on the shore of the bay about a 40 minute drive away. We were hoping to score some large flathead, but never saw one all day. But we did land some nice salmon, including a monster that we released back into the water, several garfish, a flounder and again a stack of tommy ruff. Another good day piscatorially speaking.
Of course fish now features big on the menu; crumbed, battered, steamed, stuffed with chilli and ginger and fried. There’s nothing like fresh fish eaten the day it’s caught.
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