Freeeedom
19-01-2011, 12:12 PM
Arrived at the Deep Water Bend ramp about 5.30 this morning to find it closed. I couldn't see why, both the ramp and the pontoon looked fine and there was very little debris against the pontoon - nothing like it has been lately.
Anyway there wasn't much I could do about it, so I headed for Clontarf and ran up the Pine from there. The first thing to mention is that many of the beacons that mark the channel have gone, so, if you don't know the Pine well, be careful, especially across the bottom of the tide. Some of the ones I noticed missing include
- the first red beacon upstream from the Hornibrook Highway
- the red beacon opposite the Dohle's Rocks boat ramp
- the red beacon half way between Deep water Bend and the freeway bridges
- the green beacon just down stream from the freeway bridges
- the buoy marking the wreck just upstream from the freeway bridges
- the bouys making the go slow area under the bridges to Redcliffe have all moved (one of the green ones is up on the flats on the Sandgate side level with one of the red ones still in the channel, giving a false impression of a safe channel).
I didn't go any further up than the freeway bridges, but last time I was up there the buoy marking the wreck between Castle Hill and Stinky Wall had moved downstream about 50 metres. I would be surprised if it survived the latest flood. This wreck is just awash at low tide and represents a real danger to the unwary if it isn't marked (and to the idiots even when it is marked!).
There is still a bit of debris in the river, including a few large logs and bits of sawn timber, plus the odd gas bottle, drums and rafts of sticks and hyacinth. If you keep an eye out directly ahead you can spot these and avoid them with reasonable safety, but I wouldn't be tearing around flat strap admiring the scenery if you want to keep your prop intact.
I thought there might be some muddies around so I put the pots down while I fished. Managed one undersize buck for the whole morning. I guess the muddies are closer to Moreton at the moment.
There was a terrific variety of fish to be caught. You could choose between little catfish, big catfish and huge catfish. A large freshwater eel made for a change at one stage. I did catch 5 bream - kept 3 nice fish (one of which had one of my rigs lost earlier in the day trailing from its mouth). One of the released fish was a good size, but had a huge bleeding ulcer on its side - this is fairly common after floods.
The water was totally fresh, even at the top of the tide. As I ran back down about 10.00 a.m. the (slightly) cleaner water pushing in from the bay on the high tide had just reached a little above Dohle's Rocks. Might be a couple of weeks before some salt starts to work its way further up the river.
Cheers Freeeedom
Anyway there wasn't much I could do about it, so I headed for Clontarf and ran up the Pine from there. The first thing to mention is that many of the beacons that mark the channel have gone, so, if you don't know the Pine well, be careful, especially across the bottom of the tide. Some of the ones I noticed missing include
- the first red beacon upstream from the Hornibrook Highway
- the red beacon opposite the Dohle's Rocks boat ramp
- the red beacon half way between Deep water Bend and the freeway bridges
- the green beacon just down stream from the freeway bridges
- the buoy marking the wreck just upstream from the freeway bridges
- the bouys making the go slow area under the bridges to Redcliffe have all moved (one of the green ones is up on the flats on the Sandgate side level with one of the red ones still in the channel, giving a false impression of a safe channel).
I didn't go any further up than the freeway bridges, but last time I was up there the buoy marking the wreck between Castle Hill and Stinky Wall had moved downstream about 50 metres. I would be surprised if it survived the latest flood. This wreck is just awash at low tide and represents a real danger to the unwary if it isn't marked (and to the idiots even when it is marked!).
There is still a bit of debris in the river, including a few large logs and bits of sawn timber, plus the odd gas bottle, drums and rafts of sticks and hyacinth. If you keep an eye out directly ahead you can spot these and avoid them with reasonable safety, but I wouldn't be tearing around flat strap admiring the scenery if you want to keep your prop intact.
I thought there might be some muddies around so I put the pots down while I fished. Managed one undersize buck for the whole morning. I guess the muddies are closer to Moreton at the moment.
There was a terrific variety of fish to be caught. You could choose between little catfish, big catfish and huge catfish. A large freshwater eel made for a change at one stage. I did catch 5 bream - kept 3 nice fish (one of which had one of my rigs lost earlier in the day trailing from its mouth). One of the released fish was a good size, but had a huge bleeding ulcer on its side - this is fairly common after floods.
The water was totally fresh, even at the top of the tide. As I ran back down about 10.00 a.m. the (slightly) cleaner water pushing in from the bay on the high tide had just reached a little above Dohle's Rocks. Might be a couple of weeks before some salt starts to work its way further up the river.
Cheers Freeeedom