Easter 1770

[Scalem]

Hi all, been a while!

The wife decided to surprise me and booked the week accomodation from 13th April at Agnes. Ive been whining about dragging the Yalta up for ever, virgin territory for us, she saw a vacancy on line and .... there you go. So when i started doing my research on tide times and speaking to others about the bar, she suddenly speaks up and asks " dont tell me we gotta cross a bar?"

Maybe that sets the scene what kind of trip i have ahead, see how we go, might try catch some muddies and jacks if nothing else. The checklist is being ticked.. new epirb, check vests, repack bearings bla bla. It will be a bit lame compared to you seasoned salties, unless i know one or two others up that way with your own boats i can boost her confidence ( and mine to a lesser degree) by having a bit of a buddy up for safety. I will be getting all the run down from one of the VMR guys.
Who will be up there?
Let me know?
Cheers
Brian

Sent from my SM-A520F using Ausfish mobile app

[rtp1984]

Hey Scalem.

I will be up there with my Yalta.
by no means a gun on the fishing up there, but will be happy to keep in touch, as we will have no other boats with us as well.

cheers Rob

[Crunchy]

Hi all, been a while!

The wife decided to surprise me and booked the week accomodation from 13th April at Agnes. Ive been whining about dragging the Yalta up for ever, virgin territory for us, she saw a vacancy on line and .... there you go. So when i started doing my research on tide times and speaking to others about the bar, she suddenly speaks up and asks " dont tell me we gotta cross a bar?"

Maybe that sets the scene what kind of trip i have ahead, see how we go, might try catch some muddies and jacks if nothing else. The checklist is being ticked.. new epirb, check vests, repack bearings bla bla. It will be a bit lame compared to you seasoned salties, unless i know one or two others up that way with your own boats i can boost her confidence ( and mine to a lesser degree) by having a bit of a buddy up for safety. I will be getting all the run down from one of the VMR guys.
Who will be up there?
Let me know?
Cheers
Brian

Sent from my SM-A520F using Ausfish mobile app

My first visit up there we arrived late arvo, all the A/fishers were on the piss & saying "leave it till morning" but I was just so keen to get out for my first trip off 1770 so off we went....anyway got stuck on a sandbank in the river for about an hour, spent another hour clearing the water intake out and headed out 2 hrs behind schedule, very rough seas out at the reef, couldn't see F/A, arrived into Fitzroy for the first time in pitch black....not good.... but lesson learned and chalk it up to experience....still had a cracking good time by the way.....

Since that experience I now take my time, check the weather, err on the side of caution, check what the bar is doing with the locals and follow a track someone gave me (But it can change at the river mouth) and its a doddle really, just don't go in or out couple of hours either side of dead low.....sorry I cannot be arsed remembering how to post a pic here but if you drop me a PM I can send you a copy of the track out the river but be aware it may have changed a bit as the sandbank at the entrance moves around....all care no responsibility.... if the weather is good you will regret not going out so just take it easy for the first time!

[baitable]

As a rule of thumb whatever the tide forecast predicts: ie. Low 0.6m - will be the same amount of water you have left over the sandbar. The bar is pretty much non existent in my books but if you want to play it safe, just wait to you have light before crossing over... Easter usually brings crap weather so you may have a limited window. If it is crap weather, maybe consider pancake creek via turkey beach or flicking lures in baffle creek. Oh and yes, the sandbar is constantly shifting, if in doubt sit and watch a few boats cross.

[Bremic]

The few times I have been there, when the bar is messy, you wouldn't want to be out there anyway, as the conditions in general will be crap.

[Funchy]

Just time your run to follow out other boats. God knows there’ll be a shite load of them up there at Easter (including me )

good luck

[Dignity]

And if the weather is good for fishing get there well before sunrise as parking is limited, even more so with the new walkways built. Gladstone City Council is definitely not active in trying to assist boaties with facilities.

[Scalem]

Hey Scalem.

I will be up there with my Yalta.
by no means a gun on the fishing up there, but will be happy to keep in touch, as we will have no other boats with us as well.

cheers Rob

Thanks Rob, can you send me a pm with your #, its always good to have similar vessels keeping a tab on each other.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Ausfish mobile app

[Scalem]

Just time your run to follow out other boats. God knows there’ll be a shite load of them up there at Easter (including me )

good luck

Feel free to pm your moby, that would be gr8. Another thing i have to do is download a newer version of maps and know where the heck the green zones are... Apparently there are so many bommies and structure its easy to find your own marks. This trip will be a tribute to old mate Barry Day ( Dayoo) R.I.P who taught me his art of making jig heads. Jigs, hardbodies and placcies should offer enough variety to bag one or two. I'll do a search on here a bit later, see how others find these methods.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Ausfish mobile app

[Lucky_Phill]

Hey Brian, The others have provided good info.

PM me if you want GPS points , but let me know where you want to fish... how far out or in, what species etc.

Muddies will be thin and Jacks are scarce.

The bar is a non-issue, just cross it at least an hour either side of the low tide, keep on the plane and keep it straight. Track log it on your GPS in case you have to return after dark.

cheers LP

[Gumby_III]

Hi Brian & Rob

We will there from 10th to 19th April. Maybe also have a few days spare at the end if the weather is playing ball. Happy to share where is working and not up there and also safety in numbers if you like.

Boat is a white 640C.

Cheers
Mark

[ozynorts]

As a resident I hope that all of you are reconsidering your plans to travel up here for the school holidays. Please consider the travel restrictions and the health of others.

[Funchy]

As a resident I hope that all of you are reconsidering your plans to travel up here for the school holidays. Please consider the travel restrictions and the health of others.

Yeah we have cancelled coming up even though we own land up there and it will soon enough be our fulltime home. All the best to you all and hopefully this will all be over soon.

[Scalem]

As a resident I hope that all of you are reconsidering your plans to travel up here for the school holidays. Please consider the travel restrictions and the health of others.

Update, there has been a lot happen in the past few weeks hasnt there? Not because you posted this ozy, but because i was beginning to feel the sentiment all unneccessary travel was being discouraged, especially from higher concentration Covid19 areas like Brisbane to regional areas. This trip has been on my bucket list for so long, it has almost become "necessary" for me as a boatie, but alas, not this time. Thanks to everyone who replied, i envy you all for having had the freedom in the past to go when all the planets were aligned, the weather played ball and you had the leave pass.

Some positive - wasn't happy with one of my batteries that could not hold 100% charge for long, and could only deliver 400cca. New 680 mf battery installed.
All 4 sets of bearings now repacked or replaced. One set would not have survived the trip, grease was milky and bearings rusty.
Trip cancelled. Close... but not quite.
Take care everyone, its so good to reach out to the Ausfish crew and get helpful responses when i need them. Thats always been the case.

Cheers
Brian

Sent from my SM-A520F using Ausfish mobile app

[Lucky_Phill]

All good Brian, I suspect there will be many " last minute " trips in the months after we get back to normal.

Plenty of opportunity then and it will be better with the fish having a rest from fast dropping lumps of lead

And yep... ideal time to do all the trailer, boat and tackle / reel maintenance (y)

offer still there for gps marks

cheers