NQ fishing holiday - Hinchinbrook or Cooktown?

[Coodgee]

Hi guys, I'll be in North Queensland in January and I'm thinking about booking in a 3,4 or 5 day charter. Looking at the options in my price range for a sole charter, I have narrowed it down to Ryan Moody at Hinchinbrook or Mark Privett in Cooktown. Both trips will set me back around $2.5k including transportation from my "base" in NQ (my Nanna's house!).

So my question is, which location would have the better fishing? I think the reef is a lot more accessible at Cooktown but maybe I would catch and release more barra & threadfin etc in hinchinbrook.

I am tempted to go Cooktown because it seems like it's a far more remote place, but it's also probably going to be significantly hotter - so much so that Mark recommends half day trips only, which means I would be finding something else to do every afternoon and evening.

Just thought I would open up the discussion to get other people's ideas and thoughts. Is there somewhere I have missed?

[thelump]

Is the guy in Cooktowns operation called Gone Fishing?

[Coodgee]

Is the guy in Cooktowns operation called Gone Fishing?

yes, that's him. this is his web site http://www.fishingcooktown.com/about-us.aspx

[thelump]

I went on a river 1/2 day trip with him when I was travelling around OZ. He spent the first hour of our 4 hrs trip throwing a castnet for bait while we drove his boat. Then just went and plonked us on a snag for the rest of the time and caught nought. One of the worst charters I had been on. That was back in 04 though so he may have picked up his act.

[Coodgee]

I went on a river 1/2 day trip with him when I was travelling around OZ. He spent the first hour of our 4 hrs trip throwing a castnet for bait while we drove his boat. Then just went and plonked us on a snag for the rest of the time and caught nought. One of the worst charters I had been on. That was back in 04 though so he may have picked up his act.

alright I'll keep that in mind. thanks for the tip. although catching livies like that can be par for the course for a lot of barra charters I think, especially back then when lure fishing was much less popular. You need the baits to get the fish... I have been on trips with mates in Townsville where we spend 3 hours trekking across hot mud flats, throwing our nets hundreds of times in 35 degree heat to get 50 livies and then sit on a prime spot and land 15 barra in an hour or two.

But there is nothing worse than spending all that money on a charter and not catch one fish! what time of year was it?

[STUIE63]

Ryan is known for his big barra. Just watch the weather January is the middle of the wet

[thelump]

alright I'll keep that in mind. thanks for the tip. although catching livies like that can be par for the course for a lot of barra charters I think, especially back then when lure fishing was much less popular. You need the baits to get the fish... I have been on trips with mates in Townsville where we spend 3 hours trekking across hot mud flats, throwing our nets hundreds of times in 35 degree heat to get 50 livies and then sit on a prime spot and land 15 barra in an hour or two.

But there is nothing worse than spending all that money on a charter and not catch one fish! what time of year was it?

Was in the dry season around june. I dont mind catching livies but if it was only 4 hour charter then I think he should have ducked out before hand and filled his liveytank up and not wasted our hard earned.

[fisho_83]

Mate, are you chasing barra? If so, it is closed season then, so that crosses that off the list. I think technically you can't even "target" them, so I guess it is up to the guide if they go down that road or not. Hinchinbrook probably has more options if the weather/wind turns foul, plus you can chase jacks, grunter, salmon etc up the many, many creeks there. From all reports Ryan Moody is cracker of a guide up there. The wet season might create a few problems as well. Though the creeks on the northern side of the island don't run as fresh as the southern end of the channel. Best of luck wherever you go mate.

[Coodgee]

Mate, are you chasing barra? If so, it is closed season then, so that crosses that off the list. I think technically you can't even "target" them, so I guess it is up to the guide if they go down that road or not. Hinchinbrook probably has more options if the weather/wind turns foul, plus you can chase jacks, grunter, salmon etc up the many, many creeks there. From all reports Ryan Moody is cracker of a guide up there. The wet season might create a few problems as well. Though the creeks on the northern side of the island don't run as fresh as the southern end of the channel. Best of luck wherever you go mate.

yeah I am now leaning towards doing 4 days with Moody. He said he mostly targets the threadies in the closed barra season, but as I understand it can be pretty hard to avoid the barras at times even when not really targeting them (what a shame).

The only other thing I am worried about is booking 4 days as a sole charter. Geez you'd want to hope we like each other!

[fat-buoy]

From Cooktown there is good fishing to be done straight off the jetty of an arvo... I have seen some good fish busting up there (mainly queenfish)
When I was at the caravan park I bought a bag of pillies and was casting them out and the fish wouldn't even look at them.. but there was a random whiting in the bag and I put that on the hook and it lasted about 30 seconds before it got smashed.. I got monstored though and didn't even look like landing the fish that picked it up..
Pity the barra is closed at that time of the year or I would have said Hinchinbrook without a doubt and I probably still would for a charter as such... I saw a video where some guys were trolling deep divers along side the pier at Hinchinbrook and pulling up 1m plus barra.. From what I have seen and read the place is pretty alive with fish so there wouldn't be much down time chasing the other species :)

[whiteman]

Ryan Moody has an A1 reputation. I am targeting jacks but catching many more barra at the moment - they are in plague proportions so plenty of sport to be had - just gotta release them without damage. Good reef fishing within an hour of Lucinda. Every time I go to Cooktown I get blown away - windiest place in Oz I reckon but with incredible natural beauty.

[Camhawk88]

Id be concerned that a guide suggesting only fishing half days is not overly keen to work and is trying to get each arvo off to sit in the pub. The heat in Cooktown would not be much different to Townsville maybe just a bit more humid. I think Ryan is your man and as mentioned there are a lot of options around Hinchinbrook.

[martib]

I agree hinchinbrook is the go. Way better

[mortyb]

I recommend hinchinbrook/lucinda area as there are so many options depending on the weather. It tends to get very wet late January in NQ though. I am sure Ryan would be able to put you onto whatever you wanted. But I am bias as a use to live in the area! Let us know how you get on in the 'reports' section.

[Moffy]

Id be concerned that a guide suggesting only fishing half days is not overly keen to work.::) (exactly!!)

Mate went on a charter in cooktown 18 months ago (pretty sure with the stated guide) - based on his feedback alone I'd go Hinchinbrook.

There's also more options open to you in Hinchinbrook whatever the weather.

Yes the reef is closer to Cooktown - but 10 miles or 20 doesn't matter much if it blows its ears off most of the time........(hint - they have had a Wind Farm in the pipeline near cooktown for a long time now).

Moffy.

[Coodgee]

thanks for the advice guys. I've booked in with Ryan Moody for 4 days. My experience has been great so far. he has helped me out with finding accomodation and always gives me a prompt, detailed reply to all of my questions. It's really top class service. I feel like I'm in good hands.

[STUIE63]

Don't forget to put up a report it sounds like a great trip

[Coodgee]

Don't forget to put up a report it sounds like a great trip

will do. I'll be mostly doing catch and release fishing so I want to try to take a picture of every fish. I might get Ryan to take the photos seeing as he will be standing next to me watching me catch fish for 4 days...

[Thumbsuckers]

I have fished with Ryan and found him to be very good. He tries hard to put clients onto the fish. He'll spend some time getting live bait as well but is pretty handy with the net and knows spots where the bait will be. However, it's still fishing and there's always the chance that the fish won't co-operate. But with four days, you are likely to get some good action.

[Coodgee]

I have fished with Ryan and found him to be very good. He tries hard to put clients onto the fish. He'll spend some time getting live bait as well but is pretty handy with the net and knows spots where the bait will be. However, it's still fishing and there's always the chance that the fish won't co-operate. But with four days, you are likely to get some good action.

Sounds like you had a quiet trip with him? Maybe I'll bring my net and the bait catching will be twice as quick!!

[beejay1947]

Good luck with the charter. As mentioned in this thread, Ryan has a reputation as being a top guide with excellent results for his clients.
However as also mentioned earlier this will be in the closed season for barra, and targetting of barra in the closed season has been the subject of discussion on another site, fishingtownsville.net, where it was clarified that if a barra was accidentally caught, it must be released to the water immediately (obviously after de-hooking) and must not be held for photographing or tagging.
Heavy fines apply if caught & convicted.
No doubt one could put up a case that barra were not being targetted, but if digital images of barra were found on your camera, one would assume that this would be a clear breach of the "law" of no photos.
Similarly, if photos were posted on a forum and came to the attention of the authorities, one would assume that both the angler and the guide could be in hot water!
Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to be the "fun police" here as I always like to take photos of my better catches - and like to see shots of others' catches on forums etc - but I am just putting it out there that a photo of a barra in the closed season appears to be a breach of the law/regulations.

Bruce

[odes20]

Hey Bruce, thanks for putting that info up FOI. Im sure a lot of fishos would be tempted to still take a pic. Quite a severe law but better to be warned. Thanks again!

[Camhawk88]

You can still photograph the barra- no law against that, but make sure it is in the water when doing so as it is the removal of the fish from the water to photograph that is the offence.