Reply With QuoteWell done Jono....good report & good pics.
Yes .....Wathumba is great spot to camp & fish alright.
Must get back up there v soon.
Hope u kept those Spottie frames......
Where are the shots of your AMM in action..???
Cheers
Phil
A few of us, including a handful of kids, headed up to Wathumba Ck in 3 boats for a few days camping and R&R the weekend before Christmas. It was an uneventful trip up Saturday morning, with basically no surface action/feeding birds seen at all during the 50km journey from Urangan. Seas were a bit sloppy at first with leftover northerly chop, but by Arch Cliffs, it was a perfect glassoff.
We entered the beautiful paradise near the top of the tide and were relieved to see our favourite campsite vacant. In fact, the whole place was deserted, making us wonder what everyone else knew that we didn’t! It stayed like that for 3 days – no one else camping there!! You beauty.
We spent the next couple of days pottering around between Rooneys and Wathumba, catching the odd shark, schoolie, golden, etc. There were longtails spread out all over the place, once we found birds. Unfortunately, no sign of spotties amongst the tuna.
Packed up on the Monday morning and set sail for home around 8 o’clock. We checked out some birds a couple of km straight out from the creek, and I finally changed target species from macs to tuna by tying on a popper. Then we headed south to check out the next school and bingo, the longtails magically turned into spotties. A couple of casts of the popper and I realised I was wasting my time with it, so back on went the slug. First cast away and a massive rooster tail of whitewater followed by slack line. Oh that’s right, fast retrieves for spotties!! The next hour or so was chaos, with spotties popping up everywhere, lures flying back and forth, explosions on the surface, lightly set drags screaming, fish flapping around on the deck amongst the gear, a nearly-seven-year old either catching fish or helping land them in the net, double hookups, and 11 fish being slipped into the ice cold slurry in the 126 litre eski. Yes, it was one of those memorable sessions, and the perfect way to break up the journey home.
A couple of other random thoughts - We were very fortunate not to be rained on the whole time, despite the storms to the north, south east and west. Sandflies were ok. The new baitmate bait table on the Haines was awesome (thanks Rod).
Jono.
Well done Jono....good report & good pics.
Yes .....Wathumba is great spot to camp & fish alright.
Must get back up there v soon.
Hope u kept those Spottie frames......
Where are the shots of your AMM in action..???
Cheers
Phil
Phil.
Can you believe I left Hodad at home! Didn't seem to be worth the extra stress and dollars to tow it up from Caloundra to Urangan then steam it to Wathumba. I would loved to have had it up there, but I must say it is alwalys very comfortable on the Haines Signature. And those steering wheel thingies make steaming lost distances pretty easy!!
It's time to focus on Spanish now, and waves.
later.
Jono.
Jono
That sounds a top way to start your Christmas season. I cant wait till some of those Spotties turn up closer to me. I think its time to break out the Spaniard rigs as well
Cheers
Neil
A Proud Member of
"The Rebel Alliance"
nice work - which side of Wathumba do u camp on? Nth or south ?
just one more cast........
the side you can't get to (easily??) by 4wd.Originally Posted by chiefsimo
Great reprt and pics, mate. She's an awesome stretch that one. And yes, the northern side on shouldn't be open to 4wd, but we've seen em many a time burl down towards the creek via Rooney's point! Must come around from the cape. Nuts how they never seem to get busted. Great report.
Cuzza
JSS,
Sounds like a great trip. I didn't realise that you take the boats up the creek to the camp - doesn't that mean you have to worry about the tide all the time or is there low tide access in and our of the creek?
I pity the poor soul in the open tinnie - bring on the era of fuel guzzling fibreglass half cabs ........
Ed
Wathumba. One of the few things, boating/fishing related that I miss about SE Qld. Truely a great place. Thanks for the report and don't tell too many people
Regards,
Dave.
Ed, I'd say there is "lowish tide access" to the creek, depending on your boat of course. I'd struggle to get the Hodad to the campsite at dead low, but an hour each side would probably be fine, or if it is a high low rather than the low low's we had - i would be out of the boat pulling it by hand in between the stingrays, of course. The Haines needed a little bit more water, but we still weren't really restricted by the tides on this occasion.
If you're sensible, you can easily anchor your boat to move with the tide just next to the campsite (it's a steep bank). On the other hand, a minor miscalculation and you can end up high and dry waiting for the water to return. Could be frustrating on a dead calm morning!!!
Don't pity any of us current boat owners!! Fancy having 3 kids at this time of year and having no boat - that seems unAustralian. When's that sea trial you've organised?
There's no doubt cabins have their place, but I don't think that place will be in my driveway. A centre console with bowrider configuration, now that's worth some more thought......
Jono.
JSS, Maybe this Sunday if I can get some holes patched and the rest of the gear screwed on - time is the hardest thing to find.
Thats good news about the deep bank near the campsite although the pic of the boats high and dry on a nice day probably would make me cry. I'll let you know if there is anything happenning Sunday.Ed
Posting Permissions
