WEST COAST ANGLING CLUB (INC)

Our Club was formed in 2001 is the product of a merger of two of the oldest angling Clubs in Australia, being West Coast Angling Club formed in 1904 and Victoria Park Angling Club formed in 1908. We are a " Not for Profit " organisation and try to provide a boat fishing experience for those who dont have a boat of their own. All the revenue collected from trip fees, memberships and fundraisers is spent on keeping the boat in a condition suitable for offshore fishing. It is a Members Only club but visitors can come once to see if they enjoy it before they join. After one trip as a visitor you must join the club and pay the membership fees to be allowed to go on a trip again. Everyone who comes on board is expected to have a current Recreational Fishing from a Boat License.

Our boat is the 10.1 metre Ex Cray boat Thalia 11. It is currently in a pen at Two Rocks and we fish inshore in 20 to 30 metres and off shore to 50 metres of water. When conditions are suitable the skipper may opt for a deep dropping experience to 300 plus meter depths looking for Grey Band Cod and Hapuka. On these trips electric reels are used. Thalia 11 is built from solid fibreglass and is powered by a 278 Horsepower Volvo Diesel making it a very stable but heavy boat that will cruise at 9knots. 

Our Skippers have vast experience and local knowledge so members usually enjoy good fishing. They are aided by a Furuno echosounder with a 1000 watt transducer so finding the fish is the easy part. Getting them to bite is an entirely different story. Species caught in deep water are Pink Snapper, Shark,  Skippy trevally, Baldchin Groper, Dhufish, Foxfish, Breaksea Cod etc. Inshore fishing catches include King George Whiting, Sand Whiting, Skippy, Snapper and sometimes Dhufish. Trips are for members only, with a minimum of 4, maximum of 8 per trip plus the Skipper.

We adhere strictly to bag and size limits set by the Department of Fisheries and are a safety conscious Club. The club has a self imposed minimum size for Dhufish of 55 cm with a boat limit of 2 and we release all others as soon as they are caught. At the end of last Winter before e the demersal ban come into effect, we experimented with some inshore trips looking for Snapper and Skippy. The Boat left the marina at about 2pm and travelled north to the grounds where it was anchored up and fishing commenced. Many snapper were caught and on several occasions the crew bagged out on good skippy. A very relaxing way to spend an evening. We have since purchased an electric anchor winch that is in the process of being fitted.