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Rainfall records broken for November

Pemberton has broken it's previous November rainfall record, receiving up to 177 millimetres which the weather bureau says is triple the monthly average.

Meterologist Glenn Cook, says the entire region received a drenching well above the norm, averaging close to 150 mils.

And he says don't expect the wet weather to ease too much over summer.

Deep sea fishing takes the Cold Esky Challenge to a new extreme

Deep sea fishing with no land in sight.. the Cold Esky is really up for a challenge this week.

I'm heading out into Geographe Bay with two very experienced recreational fishermen from Busselton, Rusty Ellis and Dave Vigors.

So hold on... because as I'm about to find out, catching a fish in these waters isn't going to be as relaxing as what I first thought.

Especially if a 75 kilo dogtooth tuna decides to bite the end of my line, which is what happened to Rusty off the coast of Broome.

"I managed to land it with a 15 kilo line, it was massive. If I could have claimed a record on it, it would still be a world record today."

As Dave takes us to his favourite fishing spot, it's out job to get the rods and bait ready. Today we're going to be using fish heads and squid to tempt a few bites.

"You've always got to look after the skipper first, otherwise he'll leave without you. And as you can see it's a fairly good swim, about 12 kilometres, back to shore."

At this stage salt water recreational fishing is license free, but Rusty explains the importance of sticking to the bag limits.

"There are varying bag limits for different fish. The bag limit for dhufish is four at the moment, which is a little bit much but will come down shortly.

"We're always very careful to make sure we look after the fish and not take too much. You've got to respect them for what they are and it's a privilege to be able to come out and go fishing. If you abuse it, sooner or later you'll lose it. So only take what you need."

The skipper's baited up and ready to go, so it's time to learn a few tips and techniques from the experts.

"So lift your bail arm up and let your line drop all the way down to the bottom of the ocean. Close the bail arm over and I'll just check your drag. Yep, that should be enough to pull you out of the boat.

"No big sets on the rod, let it do all the work. Every now and then you've got to feed a little bit back so the fish eat the bait instead of chasing and nibbling it."

The count down is on to see who can catch the first fish. And today, luck just so happens to be on my side. Thank goodness I have Rusty yelling advice from the sideline.

"Pull the rod up and wind it down. This is a big fish! When it goes for a run don't wind, just wait for it to stop. You have to see the wide eyed look on her face! Look at the size of the dhufish, it's about 10 kilos."

Within five minutes of dropping my line back in the water, another dhufish takes the bait. And not long after, Dave lands his first dhufish for the day, quickly followed by a big King George whiting. Meanwhile Rusty's managed to catch a samson on the other side of the boat.

Two hours already on the water and we find ourselves floating very close to Naturaliste Reef, with Cape Naturaliste the only piece of land still in view.

I nearly get pulled out of the boat trying to land a breaksea cod, while Rusty expertly reels in a blue morwong.

Little do we know, the real excitement hasn't even started yet!

"Whoa, look at Dave go. The rod's bending violently and he's broken out in a sweat. What are you letting it get away for?"

"Well how am I going to stop it? Every time you make a little bit of ground on this fish it's off again. Samson fish really know how to put up a good fight."

After spending the last half an hour laughing at Dave, it's now my turn to try and reel in the very large samson that's bitten the end of my line!

"Listen to that drag. Smoke's coming off the line! That fish probably just ran another 20 metres again. It's going to be a long afternoon."

This 26 kilo samson fish is by far the biggest fish I've ever caught.

After about six hours on the water, it's time to head back to shore and get Rusty to teach me how to fillet this freshly caught fish.

"Start right down the bottom and make one nice clean cut right up along the backbone. Then you make a slice behind the pectoral fin, go across underneath the bottom fins and towards the front so you don't waste any of the fillet.

"Then come up on top of the backbone. When you get over the rib area, you should be able to feel pin bones going sideways into the fillet so you cut through them.

"Then you turn your blade around and start from the front and head towards the back. Lay the blade on the bones and follow the ribs around and you end up with a delicious lump of dhufish. There's about three kilos of meat in this one."

It's crucial not to waste any of the fish and Rusty certainly makes sure of that.

"Break the backbones up here behind the head and snap clean off. Chop the rib bones off and you'll see all this meat between the bones here, trim the fins and tails off, put it on the barbeque to cook and then sit there picking the meat out with a fork. Delicious!

"Now we do the same thing with the wings. There's a split bone on the side of the chin. You come around through that and it allows you to get in underneath. Simply follow it around the gill plates on the inside and you should find a big chunk of meat. That'd be more than two centimetres thick."

I'm told the best way to cook the fish is on the barbeque with either some seasoning or lemon. Cook on one side until nearly white through, flip over and cook some more until just turning golden.