1770 Friday 18th November

[FisHard]

Hi guys,
Headed up to 1770 on Friday. Left Brisbane 4 am and due to roadworks, didn't hit Agnes till about 12. Fueled up the Seafarer and headed north. Condition were ok- 15kt ENE. We made our way up to the Barcoola wreck and dropped some jigs. First drop produced a little AJ. Dam it was good to be back here! We did several drifts over the wreck for a handful of Trevally (a nice Golden, a cute little 3 kg GT and the good old Bludgers) and some more AJs. But the action was slow compared to previous sorties up there.
We then headed out to the wreck of the Shannon, but it was even slower there. It was getting on mid arvo now, so we headed towards Fitzroy, fishing a lump for a couple of RTEs on the way. We had made the decision to fish till dark and then sleep outside the lagoon (not having the balls to make the entrance in the dark) so we anchored up in 10m of water on the protected westerly edge of the reef for the night. It was now blowing 15-20kts from the east and whilst not unbearable, it wasn't exactly paradise We did pull some nice Red throats of the sandy bottom on light gear though, which was great fun.
We hit the sack about 1030, but I hardly slept a wink, worrying about our postion (shouldn't have- we didn't move)
Saturday dawned with 15kts again, so whilst munching on Just right, set a pattern of X-Raps and a couple of little skirted lures and trolled around to the lagoon entrance. We poked our nose in and immediately wished we had stayed in here last night!!! Beautiful!
With nothing on the troll, we headed back to a bit of reef fishing for little results. It was very quiet. Once more, we tried our 2 wrecks with the jigs and only got 2 Ajs and a Bludger, who dispite being only 4-5kgs, really put up on a performance. I was fishing PE 4 over a Smith jig stick and a Jigging Master reel (fairly solid gear) and he took a bit of subduing. I seriously expected a 8kg fish to come up!
By this point, I suggested to my deckie, things were obviously pretty slack, so how about heading to the barn?
We got back to the ramp, tidied up and got home 830pm.
It was a shame the fishing was a bit slow, but every trip to 1770 is always special. This is the first overnighter in my 6.2m Seafarer centre console. It has a bunk in fill in the bow with custom cushions. It worked bloody well! There was plenty of room for us to sleep. It was also the first trip using the front clears and that also was great, offering real oprotection against wind and spray whilst travelling.
It was reassuring it all went well- I've just invested in a new 200 Suzi to go on the back!
Cheers and good fishing to everyone

[outta line]

Sounds like an Awesome trip fishard. I'ts always exciting to go somewhere new or back to a spot you don't regularly fish.And to get fish is an added bonus. I've been trying to talk my mate into towing our boats up there as neither of us have been there (safety in numbers for the first time).Nice boat....and how good are the seafarer cc i had a 5.5 vouge for 8 years.your venom with the clears and bunk in fill with the new suzi what a fishing machine.How manny km did u travel and how much fuel did the 200 use mate?. When i anchor for the night i set the anchor alarm on the gps it eases your mind a little knowing the alarm will go off if you've drifted outside the radius set
cheers mick

[outwide1]

Having fished 1770 myself,i too have to agree on how special this place is.Shame the fish didnt want to play
but there were certainly alot more areas you could of had a look in but as every fishing trip theres never
enough time to look at all the marks.
It would be interesting to have some input from the likes of Lucky Phil and vertico on how this area fishes at this time of the year.
I know it can be a lot better current wise as you dont have the same effect as say fishing the shelf country off Double Island.
We bunked down one night in Fitzroy lagoon when it was blowing 25-30 and it was a sheet of glass inside.
I love that idea and wished Double Island offered the same thing at times when your stuck out on the shelf.
Enjoyed your report Fishard.
Mick

[FisHard]

Thanks gents. Outta Line, I havnt fitted the Suzi yet (next week). I'm currently running twin 115 Evinrude 2 strokes. Probably covered 80-90nm for the round trip and not sure of fuel use, although it has averaged about 1l per klm on good trips, up to 1.5l per klm on bad days. Yes, she is a fishing machine! Get on the phone to your mate and get up there. 1770 has so much to offer.
Outwide, I'm sure there is a lot more ground around Fitzroy (all marks gratefully accepted but we are very casual reef fishers, preferring to concentrate on either jigging or topwater stuff like GTs. There wasn't the regular sea life in general on this trip. Usually you see Turtles and Sea Snakes or a big Tiger Shark will come and say hello. We trolled straight through a big patch of birds without a strike! It just wasn't the same all good, next time it will go off!
o

[Lucky 1]

I am pretty keen to do a very similar type trip. i.e. Leave Friday night/Sat am, and Return Monday-ish. PM me "outta line" if you are looking for another boat to go with. I am not too keen on going there the 1st time by myself either. Sorry if this is hijacking the thread.

[lightsout76]

Thanks FisHard for the report,

It's definately an awesome place up that way and i.... like probably every other skipper out there.... understand fully about not sleeping a wink at night when there's a bit of breeze blowing, worrying about pulling anchor, certainly does make for a long night that's for sure.

I'm hoping to head up before the end of the year or in Jan but i'm intrested to hear how 'VERTIGO' faired up there, also this weekend and it my help persuade an earlier decision for me to go sooner.

Cheers,
Leon.