Offshore from Mackay.

[davez104]

Hi all,

Will hopefully be making my first trip out from Mackay in a couple of weeks. I'm thinking of heading out around Keswick Island and was wondering if anyone else fishes around that area and whether they do any good. Or maybe there are better areas to head to that are about the same distance.

I've got a 17 foot haines but my range is a bit limited due to the thirsty 2 banger on the back. 20NM out is comfortable though, I can get out 30NM if the weather is really good without risking running out of fuel.

I've got a couple of GPS marks, just the ones that are in the North Australian Fish Finder book.

Any advise to get me hooked up to a few nice reefies would be very much apreciated.

Thankyou,

Dave.

[krazyfisher]

25nm gives you better ground is that to far?

[davez104]

Depends on the weather, I've done 25NM before in 1.5M swell. The rougher it gets the more the merc likes to drink.

Dave.

[snatch]

Throw in a jerry can and get the extra range. Reef fishing will be on the improve now the water is warming imo.

[krazyfisher]

Dave
I will see if I can dig up some marks for you

[madman1]

See if you can make the M&G on the 21st.

I will fire the GPS up in the next day or so and give you a good inshore mark which has reefies and heaps of macs feeding off of it.

Cheers


Mark

[davez104]

Thanks guys, appreciate it.

I had hoped I might be able to make the meet and greet, but I'll be on the road to Childers that day, back the following day. It'll be during the week after that I will be picking my boat up and, weather permitting, going for a fish.

I have a 25L tote tank from the tinny I could probably throw in to increase my range a bit too, so 30nm might not be too much of an issue, I'll look into it.

Thanks,
Dave.

[KAGEY1]

hey men, what's the m&g? been out of it for a while.
where n when?

Geoff

[davez104]

Well the mechanic rang me at 10am on Friday to let me know that my boat was good to go. A quick look at the BOM website showed 10-15kn SE for the weekend Rang work and asked about taking a couple of days off and bingo, off to Mackay I went.

It was about 5:30 pm by the time I got the boat in the water, but better late than never. Headed out to Bailey Islet for the night. Sounded around and found a few fish in a bit over 40M of water, set the anchor and settled in for the night. The tidal run up here is really something else, not used to quite that much run. I got drilled by one big fish the next morning, a cod I would say, rerigged only to have the whole rig sliced off by a mac on my first drop.

Headed over to Keswick and St Bees for a look at a few marks. The first Bommie I pulled up on didn't show much on the sounder but I did end up with a Mackerel in the box, which was a start.

Went into one of the sheltered bays for a bit of fresh Mac for breakfast and then on to check out some more marks. A bommie on the western side of Keswick showed some good fish so thats where I spent the rest of the day and Saturday night. I ended up getting a couple small Trout (undersize), an undersized Red Emperor, a few legal Grassies and 3 more Macs. I certainly wasn't on fire, but better than coming home empty handed.

Sunday morning I had a bit more of a look around, went for a run up the Northern side of Keswick and through the Egremont Passage, checked out the flash houses and boats moored in there. Then headed for home via Blackwood shoals, Llewellen shoals, Boogers shoal and the Downward Patches.

According to the GPS I had travelled about 85NM for the weekend and burned about 100L of fuel. I still had about 20L in reserve plus the 25L tote tank that I took with. I don't know if the mechanic gave her a bit of a tune up while she was in there or if it was just the good conditions, but she was certainly good fuel this weekend. Looks like some of the wider grounds are fair game on a good day next time around.

Thanks,
Dave.

[Noddy82]

Hey dave, I've done a little fishing around the Mackay area but now days it's a bit further out than tha the distance you're after. If you're not worried about the extra time on the road it might be worth going north to seaforth and going out of victor creek to some of the islands in the area. If the weather's good try and head out to the smith island group (eg goldsmith), it shouldn't be more than 25 miles and you have got geranium shoals a bit further which do produce a few good fish if you're bottom bashing for a feed (trout etc). I guess the best part is if you get stuck due to weather you can troll around the inner islands and pick up the odd mack and queenie. Most of the spots mentioned should be in the NQ fish finder, just use the sounder to look for the fish holding on structure or in holes and you should get a few. Hope the info is of some use.

[davez104]

Thanks heaps for that mate, might give the area a go. I've been picking a few of the locals brains, but a lot of them are a bit secretive about exactly where they head. A few tips I have got are to head out to Scawfell Island or Calder Island, as they don't see quite as much fishing pressure as other spots. They are both within range for me so I think thats where I'll concentrate my next couple of trips.

Thanks again.

Dave.

[Colo77]

Dave, sounds like the average fishing for Bees & keswick. We do seem to produce more & better quality fish out wider. Had some success around Wigton Island. A mate has been doing well around Scawfell & beyond.

In saying all that, I have only been here a couple of years & I'm sure there would be oodles of geat spots closer to shore, just gotta find em.

You're right about that tidal flow. Coming from the Nogoa River in the Central Highlands to the Pioneer in Mackay & offshore really opened my eyes. As a bushy I never dreampt there could be so much tidal flow out at sea. . .Crazy!

Cheers Colo.

[BobbyJ123]

Hey dave, I've done a little fishing around the Mackay area but now days it's a bit further out than tha the distance you're after. If you're not worried about the extra time on the road it might be worth going north to seaforth and going out of victor creek to some of the islands in the area. If the weather's good try and head out to the smith island group (eg goldsmith), it shouldn't be more than 25 miles and you have got geranium shoals a bit further which do produce a few good fish if you're bottom bashing for a feed (trout etc). I guess the best part is if you get stuck due to weather you can troll around the inner islands and pick up the odd mack and queenie. Most of the spots mentioned should be in the NQ fish finder, just use the sounder to look for the fish holding on structure or in holes and you should get a few. Hope the info is of some use.

A good call mate, but it's about 26 km from Newry Island to Goldsmith and Blacksmith.
Another site is Bennet's Rock, about 17 km due north of Newry.

[Moffy]

Hi guys,

A mate of mine lives in Mackay and i get to fish with him every now and then (went on Sunday just gone in fact) we have no trouble getting hold of decent doggies whenever we go usually out around the shoals etc on the charts - but have had no luck geting onto decent bottom fish on a regular basis (on sunday we got 3 rosy job fish all of monster proportions at 6 inches long.....)

Any hints on any inshore areas that are worth a look - (he's only got a 14 foot tiller steer tinny - though it rides pretty well for its size) and has a fair range with the 40 4 banger on the back but i can't see us getting out any wider than the islands (St bees etc) - have colour sounder and chart plotter and knowledge to track down new spots - but we haven't had any luck as yet in finding any decent country.

Cheers,

Moffy.