Archive for October, 2009

Enviromentalist Loss, Surfers Gain

Friday, October 9th, 2009

 There was an interesting story in the local press this week, regarding a company that was looking at using Albany’s waves as an energy source.

Apparently the company had been conducting a feasibility study to assess the potential of using the power of  the waves off Albany’s Sandpatch Beach to produce zero-emission renewable electricity. To do this though they needed some periods of relative calm. Their study concluded that our waves are too consistent.

Lots of these waves got to a good thing for surfers

Lots of these waves got to a good thing for surfers

Bad news for enviromentalists, but excellent news for surfers.

Albany Fishing

Friday, October 9th, 2009

Sorry for the short break in transmission, I have been enjoying a lovely break holidaying in some of the areas not too far from Albany, the South West really is a beautiful place even for those of us who have lived here all our lives.

Before I left I had been doing some fishing with small children in the Albany area and I wanted to let you know what I thought of some of the spots we visited and their relative merits.With the closing down of the town jetty I was a little stuck for ideas at first. (More on the town jetty at a later date)

Watch out they steal your bait, and your spearmint milk!

Watch out they steal your bait, and your spearmint milk!

The first place we tried was the Kalgan river. Apparently a great place for catching black bream and the much sort after muloway. We had no luck here but I am a rank amatuer and I think that showed. I saw a guy pull in a couple fo lovely sized black bream while we were there. He clearly knew what he was doing.

Overall I would say it is not a great place for kids to actually enjoy the fun of pulling in a fish. However, if the kids are more interested in playing with a ball or running around then there is a great lawned area there for them to enjoy. If you know what you are doing in the fishing department then you can happily fish and keep an eye on them at the same time. Plus there are great BBQ facilities for cooking up the fish after you haul them in.

Next we tried the groin  at Emu point. This turned more into a fun fest than a fishing trip with the kids wanting to build sand castles and play in the water as it was a nice day. I am reliably informed by those with more experience

Lots of room for kids to play

Lots of room for kids to play

 that this is a good place to fish when the tide is coming in. It is certainly tons of fun and fish or no fish you cannot go wrong.

Lastly, we went to the Middleton beach jetty and here we struck pay dirt in terms of actually catching fish. We pulled up a flathead, a whiting and a couple of skippy. Only the the skippy were size for eating but the kids nearly popped with the excitment of catching a fish all on their own (nearly). We also had a visit from a huge stingray that did lazy circles around the jetty to the kids delight. Middleton is beautiful and a bit of fishing followed by fish and chips on the beach watching the sun set really cannot be beaten. Tons of fun!

Great for catching fish and having fun

Great for catching fish and having fun