Cape York----Tackle??

[No_Idea]

I'm headed to Cape York for a month in july but i have no idea of what equiptment i will need. I'm a gold coaster, therfore i have a lot of light tackle.

We are taking a 12ft tinny and motor. We intend on fishing the East coast (inside the reef) and some fishing in the gulf.

I guess i will also need a cast net??

What tackle will i need for the trip?? What lures are good and cheap (I hear i will lose a few)??

[caveman]

GET YOURSELF AN ABU6500-C3 FROM AMART ######### FOR $95 AND SOME GOOD BRAID, I DON'T KNOW MUCH MYSELF

CHEERS GARY

[spike2]

if your fishing the gulf then use mainly shallow divers like gold bombers and b52's , soft plastics can take care of an deeper water stuff . on my first trip l found the hardest part was getting my lure under the mangrove branches which can extend over the water up to four metres and only be half a metre off the water .most of the fish sit in tight under the mangroves . as long as you can cast low and accurately you will get fish , a tackle back on these trips is worth while taking
good luck you should have a ball

[No_Idea]

So i will need a good baitcaster and i'm guessing a pretty solid rod??

Maybe a spare? I'd hate to go that far and have a hardware failure.

[afro]

Only if you can can cast a baitcaster. If you cant your trip wont be much fun at all, over-runs with braid are not the best thing in the world. Practice in the backyard before you go, it will pay dividens.
Cheers, Justin.

[caveman]

yeah it defently pays to practice with the baitcasters, i went to awonga thinking i was ok with the baitcaster 400mts later of platypus pink later ::) (bloody wind) and to the point of throwing it in the dam and driving home but got the hang of it slowly, so practice all you can

cheers gary

[Toby]

Hello.
I've just been up north QLD I took a abu 6500 with 30lb and a 7000 with 40lb and trust me the 65OO only just stands up to the pressure. when I hooked any big fish on the 6500 I stuggled to pull them in . It just doesn't have the guts to cope . For casting lures It's OK but you might lose a few lures in the process.
I found the 7000 gives you the extra bit of guts you need.

Mind you My mate was using the abu 10000 and he was busted up many times.

[Daintreeboy]

When you say you're fishing inside the reef, does that mean you're fishing offshore? If so, what kind of fish are you chasing? Caveman's suggestion of an ABU 6500 C3 is a good one for estuary fishing and will be all that you need for that (at least for a short trip like this one). A 7000 or equivalent will be ok for mackeral and the like for the offshore. Take some 80 - 110lb handline too for some ballz to the wall Coral trout or even snag fishing. The lure suggestions made here are also pretty good, just cover your bases with all the depths. Don't forget some cheap metal slugs too, they are excellent on all pelagics including tuna. As for rods for these two outfits, for the smaller reel, somewhere between 50 and 120 bucks for a baitcasting rod (you should be able to get a combo for the reel if you ask the tackle shop) will do. Try for a stiffer type if possible. Same again for the 7000 except a bit thicker in the butt as you won't be really using this for luring. Email me if you want more info. Cheers.

[CHRIS_aka_GWH]

I'm led to believe all you need is a tarp...

...to cover the boat once enough fish have jumped in of course. ;D

chris

[No_Idea]

I have no idea what fish i am chasing?? I will see when i get there.

A few mates have said the fishing is a bit slow up there at the moment, as the cape did not get much of a wet season.

I have been looking at a Penn overhead, but if Abu's are better i will probably get one of those. The penn looks bigger and meatier (stronger) than the abu.

We have a snapper winch for the reef's and maybe a shark or two.

[Toby]

Hello.
I have just come from nrth Qld. It was my first trip and I reconed the fishing was great. but the guys I went with said the fishing was the worse they've seen it in about 5-6 years. Contrary to the weather reports we get down here about north qld they barely had 8inches of rain. without a wet the fish just dont bite aswell. you should find the roads in good condition though as theres been no water to wash them out.

anyway. I took up a 6500 abu 30lb, a 7000 abu 40lb, a big spinning reel soley used for slugs(need it handy as scools of trevally/queenies come and go real fast) and I took a penn 330gti loaded up with 80lb. depending on what type species you are targeting depends on the gear. initially we targeted jacks in the creeks. As you all know you need to double you gear strength when catching a jack when compared to similar sized fish. It's not that the gear cant handle the weight of the fish. It's the STOPPING power you need. you need to have the ability to actually turn the fish as fast as possible before it snags you. This is where my 6500 stuggled a bit with larger fish even loaded with 30lb. In the end I was mainly using my 7000. loaded on a silstart crystal tip 701 medium weight rod. It had a nice whippy tip. (I can cast it just as far as my 6500)

The 7000 can be mounted on a heavier rod giving you at least a chance to pull the fish in.(barely)

The fishing up there is nothing like it is down here. The guys I went up with say. 'ALL" first timers up there always take too lighter gear. So take up a few options. A big penn or similar is good with tonnes of line. I used my penn with a floating live bate rig sitting about 2m above the coral. It worked great. except when I got a snag I stuggled breaking the 80lb line.

And regarding tackle. take lots and lots and lots and lots of hooks. I used ganged 5/0 hooks and single 6/0 for livies. One moring I used up a entire box os 5/0 in about 4hours. So be prepared!!!!!!

[neptune]

An abu would not be stronger than a new penn international baitcaster.

[krazyfisher]

penn 965 will do the trick for jacks and most of the close reef work and you can toss a few lures with them no problems with bombers and b52 30lb braid should be good and a 8kg rod (I use a 10-12kg struddie) but if you are going after big gt's and the likes you will need bigger penn 330 or simular size and 15kg rod If you want spinn gear 850ss penn and a good 8kg rod good for tuna and mackeral either way any combo under :-/ $200-300 will have problems either breaking or drag but you will have fun

[Rolcar52]

Mate, we went to The Cape last September, had an absolute ball as I'm sure you will. We used Abu 5600 C4 reels loaded with 30 Lb Berkley Wiplash braid line, I used Abu Morrum Braid Collection rods, a 6'2" Barra rated @ 5-10 Kg line, 10-30 Gm lures & a 5'6" rated @ 5-6 Kg line & 15-30 Gm lures, my mate's rod was a 5'6" ugly stick not sure of it's rating but must be similar to the Abu rod. We didn't fish the East side much was to windy most of the time, didn't fish until we got to the Jardine river, hooked up a couple of Barra 700 to 800 long didn't land them though they either spat the lure or we pulled the hooks out, not sure as we had never caught Barra before or used braid line! Lures used were Gold B52 & Light Blue Barra Classic. At Siesia, we started off useing our Barra rods & lures on Siesia jetty, caught a few Wolf Herring apparently only good for dog food according to the locals. Locals were useing live bait hooked through the eye with 6/0 hooks & 80 to 100 Lb handlines, not very sporting we thought so we did the same useing our rods { much to the snikering of the locals } we had 30 Lb Braid broken off like cotton, soon changed to 100 Lb handlines { bugger being sporting } had this broken off twice. Did see a Queenfish a meter plus & a GT about the same size landed & a young local bloke almost land a shark 6' long. Plenty of bait around the jetty only need $3.00 bait jigs to catch it ,watch the locals & do the same!
If you fish the Jackey Jackey make sure you have a GPS otherwise we will be reading about you in the paper! Albany Passage between Albany island & Somerset Beach was good caught Queenfish 600 to 800 long & got cleaned up by something big while trolling, used Smiling Jack Blue shallow diving pilchard & light blue deep divers.
On the West coast at Mapoon we caught Barra 600 to 800 long, couta 1000 plus long, Queenfish 1200 plus long, Eustary Cod 500 long, Mackeral & Golden Travelly caught on Gold Bombers mainly.
You can get to Mapoon with a light weight boat trailer but if you go to The Cape you would be better off with a heavy duty Off - Road trailer with Orac type coupling the corragations will soon wreck any weak equiptment, be prepared to wreck a battery, be carefull if this happens we heard of someone paying $1500.00 to get a battery delivered from Siesia to Gunshot Creek, poor bugger got well and truely ripped off, also I presume that you are going in a four wheel drive otherwise forget it! Hope this helps you decide on your gear, as I metioned earlier you will have a ball!