For the time when your catch is just too large to pull aboard your kayak, Robbie Waller explains that beaching is better than breaching.

A chat with any of Melbourne’s paddle craft piscators can give up an almighty list of the city’s kayak fishing sure things. Whether it’s wearing red road map eyes during snapper season, copping an inker tattoo, juggling buckling rods when a King George honey hole is found, or sitting out long periods of unfishable wind chop; these are some of the southern capitals odds on kayak fishing bets. There’s another brand of unique experiences that Melbourne offers kayak anglers. They are the local marine beasts that for increased safety get beached rather than hauled aboard. They’re big, bad and monstrous, most are a member of the shark or ray family, but larger kingfish and mulloway might also apply for club membership. They are Melbourne’s shore things.
Beaching beasts rather than fatiguing and yak landing them is an attractive Port Phillip Bay and Western Port proposition, largely possible due to the geography of both fisheries. For the most part, these water expanses experience wind chopped waves dumping on their shores, but they lack the rolling surf zones and more powerful breakers which can limit the beaching of bigger quarry. There are exceptions to this generalisation, such as the terrain between Flinders to Somers which can carry swell in some conditions; however, it’s a statement that by and large works. A beached shark or ray is easier to deal with than one at yak side. The solid footing and space offered by terra firma provides additional exit points should things go wrong. As much as there are the obvious jaws and barbs to be aware of when dealing with shore things, there is also the hidden muscle power within a shark’s midriff that is most often saved for an end of battle thrashing about. That’s an energy safer spent anywhere away from a kayak’s deck. For modern-day competition enthusiasts, solid ground offers the opportunity to lay captures on a measure mat. Many online competitions now seek measure mat photos as opposed to weight measures. As for general photography, some Melbourne beachfront leasehold allows different angles of shooting while a haul sits in the shallows.
Slowly paddling or pedalling a large Melbourne sea monkey into shore is a relatively easy process, not requiring too many brain synapses. But remaining mindful of a few points helps to keep the process trouble-free.

Local knowledge
It’s wise to have an awareness of the local shoreline terrain and how it interacts with changing conditions such as wind direction and tidal flow. A solid sandy beach available at high tide may give way to uninviting knee deep quicksand at low tide. A vacant summer beach at 7 am may become crowded by 11 am. A calm headland negotiation on an incoming tide may turn more difficult as a tide turns to combat wind and where Western Port may offer a sandy beach in its southern reaches, the north includes uninhabitable mangrove swamp. Add obstacles such as boat traffic, moorings, rock walls, marine parks, jet ski areas, and swell zones into the mix and it’s easy to see how the decision of whether or not to head for a foothold is based on an awareness of the local territory and how it‘s behaving at the time of a hook-up.
Anchor’s away
Fighting them on the beaches Winston Churchill style also requires an appropriate anchor set up. While quick release cleats and anchor trolleys are now standard kayak fishing fare, a larger float or balloon that marks an anchor‘s location is also required. A cray pot size marker or larger is more painful to stow away, but it pays dividends when a kayak angler tries to locate an anchor during and after a battle. A larger size anchor float also assists the majority of boats to steer clear of an anchor rope and a note stating owners name and marker purpose is also a good idea for any boaters wishing to claim flotsam and jetsam.
Common sense needs to be applied when using quick release anchor systems. In Victoria, there is legislation requiring the location of temporarily unattended moorings be communicated to port authorities. But that’s largely an unworkable technical situation, brought about when an emerging sport produces new issues unforeseen to Marine Acts. In any case, it’s advisable to reclaim a well-marked anchor as soon as a the initial run causes the fish to tire, never straying too far away from it and in high traffic areas I wouldn’t employ one at all.
When winding an anchor rope in, remember to back the reel drag off in case an unexpected fish-running-enthusiasm returns. Interstate paddling piscators are advised to seek information from relevant governing bodies.
A glowing endorsement
Beach work is also aided by the use of a high visibility game line. This may be angler dependent, but for me a game line allows a middle aged kayak hook-man track a fish’s course with his older and often fatigued eyes. This is especially true in low-light and or gloomy conditions, where my peepers serve to constantly remind me I’m no longer wearing the body of a youthful colt. Choosing a high visibility game line on Port Phillip Bay or Western Port is bound to raise an eyebrow or two from seasoned fishermen and or shop staff, who typically run counter with their advice suggesting light-weight transparent lines.
Used in conjunction with a fluorocarbon leader, a 15 to 24 kg high visibility game line is tracked easily when being towed around after an initial fish hook up has detonated line peeling action. That can be a time when orientating a kayak’s bow quickly toward a weaving fish saves heartache, as tangles and a possible reel spooling are avoided. More so, a high visibility game line is freely detected when the tables get turned and a catch is towed in at up to 30 m behind a kayak. That’s a lot of fishing line to have trailing a kayak, but I believe it’s a separation between angler and capture that helps keep the quarry remain calm when under tow. And on the off chance you’re actually towing a live bait for an even larger and unwanted encounter, it’s a distance that allows something of a buffer. Closer to shore, seemingly fatigued fish often try to win freedom by breaking parallel to land. On these occasions, geometry rules in favour of the above mentioned separation. The further a capture trails behind a kayak, the more right angle distance it must cover to alter a kayak’s course.
The fluorescent qualities of a game line can be readily observed when a kayak angler’s head is whipped around to assess the situation and if needed a kayak’s course can be altered accordingly. At times, circling back on a capture and heading in a similar direction foils parallel shore breaking. As a kayaks bow points towards a haul, the rod can be transferred from side-to-side without a trailing line becoming wrapped around vertically stowed rods or safety flags which occupy the space directly behind a kayak angler’s seat.
Fifteen to 24 kg breaking strain may seem overkill, but it gives an angler confidence when hauling catches out of water and onto land where fish lose buoyancy as gravity increases its stress on a fishing line. It can also maximise landing chances on rocky shorelines, where potential nicks cut a fish free. Being a big fan of high visibility game lines, I contacted Tim Staunton from Pure Fishing Australia to chew the fat. Pure Fishing Australia is the distributor of Stren Hi Vis Gold, one of the ranges of high visibility game lines on the market. “High visibility lines have been around for maybe 30 years or more and they’re readily used in the North Atlantic tuna fishery and for marlin fishing. Stren lines hold numerous IGFA world records,” Tim says. “In short, they’re manufactured by adding a fluorescing agent to the nylon mix at the point of melting the nylon pellets,” Tim notes. “Despite being high visibility to anglers, the lines themselves rely on ultraviolet light to glow. Underwater, ultraviolet light gets lost, so what appear to be glowing fishing lines above or near the surface become black underwater,” Tim informs. “This phenomenon occurs according to the light spectrum. Red gets lost first at around 5 to 6 m, then orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet colours remain visible until around 120 metres.”He continues, “Factor in a quality leader and what is a high visibility line to a kayak angler on the surface is a natural presentation to a fish,” Tim informs.

The unusual
Sometimes beach work may involve kayak salvage operations not requiring high visibility line. In an unusual incident, one morning I stumbled across a small inflatable Sevylor kayak, unmanned and near on a kilometre offshore. On the deck was a paddle, a couple of fishing rods, and a bag. A closer inspection revealed unmarked condensation on its deck and a rope tied off its bow. My initial fears that a colleague was missing were put on hold as my mind computed the most likely outcome was, it’d been tethered and floated off. A call to water police reporting the ghost yak revealed no reports of missing kayak fishermen and an arrangement was made to meet the local sergeant onshore. The contents of the bag included ill-gotten gains, as well as tools used for break and enter purposes. It became clear the kayaks owner had either been using the disguise of kayak fishing to access moored yachts, or had managed to steal some fishing rods. It also became clear the offender had needed to swim back to shore, so at least a little H2O justice was served and the whole caper provided me with my biggest beaching yet!
Conclusions
Beaching catches is a tactic worth considering in many parts of Port Phillip Bay and Western Port, as both bodies of water are punctuated with shore lines that encourage this manoeuvre. It’s a strategy that may not enhance a reputation for being courageous, but in many cases it’s a safer option that avoids getting close to the business end of a capture or the raw muscle power from a shark’s body. Knowing the local terrain and variables, being familiar with a quick release anchor, and adopting a high visibility game line can all help the process, but paramount is a kayak angler’s patience and realisation that their kayak is effectively a drag system, allowing line pressure to be varied. “Land ahoy”, is worth shouting. There’s some monster treasure to be encountered on Melbourne beaches, and that‘s a shore thing!