ALVA BEACH - landbased

[kingkev]

Heading down Ayr way on the long weekend and will do the tent thing with family at Alva Beach caravan park.

Any tips..............??????/

Looking to get into whiting and flathead

cheers

[Scott nthQld]

Kev, never fished it myself, but from those who do, I've been told its best fished on the last of the run in first run out. most people I know tend to just walk the beach casting soft plastics and pick up a few flathead.

Best advice i could give is walk out there at the bottom of the tide and pick your gutters and channels, and any yabby/soldier crab beds, gravel patches, weed beds etc, and when the tide comes in target these areas. Will be a bastard of a spot to fish this time of year though with those SE'ers blowing straight in your face.

Light gear, peeld prawn and squid baits, have a livey out, salmon etc like to cruise the flats would be a pretty god recipe for success I reckon

[kingkev]

I will get there colse on low tide so have thought about walking out looking for gutters and topping up with yabbies for the onslaught

Are soldier crabs any good for bait? maybe a paternoster rig for them otherwise they dissaper into the sand for no fish to see

[Scott nthQld]

dunno about soldier crabs for bait, never used them, but if you can find their holes, you can bet the fish will be there when they are covered. I don't think you'd need to worry too much about them digging in though, I reckon as soon as you put a hook in them they'll die, also it would quite possibly be too shallow for a paternoster to be very effective for keeping the bait off the bottom any how

[levinge]

Mate fished there a few times,

Things to look out for....

Sunset and sunrise watch the bities...

Tidal gutters change yearly due to big tides, but as Scott said, check out the area before proceeding to fish. You can get pretty big Flathead down there, they lay up in the shallows of the beach at night (big suckers)...

about 300m short of the creek to the southern end of the beach is a ledge (where the tinnies launch). pretty good fishing spot there.

A mate who love fishing for flathead down there, uses a technique of walking the gutters and flicking his SP out, bouncing them up off the bottom on the retrieve. He does pretty good with it.

Hope this helps a bit

You can access the beach also by 4X4

Good luck, you'll have fun down there.

[kingkev]

I heard that 4x4 driving South on the beach is OK but North can be tricky

is that correct?

[levinge]

North tends to get pretty ordinary and you have to watch the tides as most of the beach flats go under and you'll get stuck. The beach closest to the dunes does get chopped up a bit by quads and yahoo's 4X4ing without care....

Alot of people utilise removalists trolleys to cart their eskies, rods and chairs up and down the beach...

Going south there is a track which will bring you out where the tinnies launch, just watch the soft stuff as it does get cut up a bit, but you can access all the beach to the creek from here...

[kingkev]

Thanks for that. I might just drive down and park somewhere on the beach and then walk around till a hot bite comes along.

There are some big night tides so i will be looking for those gutters. Not sure if I should take a long beach rod with me .

Is there anything else other than whiting and flathead?

[mylestom]

You won't need your long beach rod, just your normal gear.

Yabbie beds are to the south toward the creek mouth, pretty average beds though.

My son lives there and the bities (Mozzie, midgies) can be pretty bad at times, particularly of a night time. Be prepared.

Tide goes out along way and depends on depth and sandbars.

Back up again in August for a few weeks with family.

Regards

Trev

[levinge]

Thanks for that. I might just drive down and park somewhere on the beach and then walk around till a hot bite comes along.

There are some big night tides so i will be looking for those gutters. Not sure if I should take a long beach rod with me .

Is there anything else other than whiting and flathead?

Good sized Grunter will take a bait, stingrays also, not big ones though....

Should get some Salmon in there also at times..

[madman1]

The camp ground nearest the boat ramp is pretty good. Was there a few years back when living in Mackay.

Top spot Alva. I always said I wanted to go back but never got around to it.

You'll have a great time.

Cheers

Mark

[kingkev]

Not happy to hear about the bities............the buggers are usually around at sun=-up and sunset................which are also the better times to fish. I will cast net around TVL first and take some creek praws with me just in case castnetting is too difficult and the yabbies won't come out to play. Thinking about taking a drive to Wunjunga...........I have heard of nice grunter off the banks there

[levinge]

Good luck and have fun Kev..

One day we have to cure you of that sea sickness matey..

You certainly deserve to be on the water!!

[kingkev]

Just got back from Cooktown..................not a bite landbased. Put the wife on a charter for a day while I babysat. She came home with MIL fish and coral trout.
She can do my reef trips/boating for me.................I am no good

[levinge]

Sounds like you might have to take up knitting and sewing there Kev.

Ya Missus is turning into a Hunter/Gatherer....

Not good for the Man Brand....