Northwest island - Need advice

[johnmclaughlin]

Hi Guys,

Going to northwest isl on 24/9 with mates and our teenage sons. We're all novices. Would love some advice from those who have been on what to take etc and the logistics of getting your gear off the barge and to the campsite etc.

Thanks in advance for your help.

cheers,

johnmac

[CHRIS_aka_GWH]

Re: Northwest island  - Need advice

you need to take everything except insect repellant - there ain't no flys or bities out that far. It also gets reasonably cool at night. Calculate your water then double it. Due to weather we once got delayed in departing by 4 days once - 4 days can be critical if you don't have water.

Food and blankets etc in big plastic crates works well - Have the rods all bound together or better yet in a rod tube. Its all gas these days no open fire. Include bait jigs and a cast net and leave the bait at home.

Are you taking tinnies ?

chris

[GBC]

Re: Northwest island  - Need advice

big gas fridge......

[GBC]

Re: Northwest island  - Need advice

oh - and earplugs - unless you are a bird noise lover

[CHRIS_aka_GWH]

Re: Northwest island  - Need advice

oh yeah - september - DEATH FROM THE SKY STARTS

[Benno75]

Re: Northwest island  - Need advice

Gods own country up there, its an awesome place.


Like chris said, look after your water and make sure you've got more than you need incase you get stranded.

Also a good idea to make a grill or mesh to go around your gas light. Silly mutton birds are drawn to light like a magnet. We did a few glasses in our first trip.

When fishing, if you can skirt the reef edge and head up towards the fish tail. Pick a spot anywhere really, just get away from the area out in front of where you camp and get well past the green zone.

If you haven't got a boat, then fish out off the reef edge at dawn and dusk. Use burley and no weight. You'll probably have more success on the pelagics as the spearos do a pretty methodical job on the reefies anywhere you can walk to from the green zone down past the camp and beyond.

Take a face mask. Its well worth going for a swim, there is a lot to see - breathtaking.

[Benno75]

Re: Northwest island  - Need advice

johnmac - which boat are you going out on?

[craigie]

Re: Northwest island  - Need advice

Boy where do I start ??

What are you doing for refrigeration ? Gas Fridges/Freezers, dry ice ???
Very important to get this right. Have a back-up plan as things do go wrong when your so far away. All sounds a bit cryptic, I'll explain.
On our recent trip to the Island we had fridges and freezers as well as 50 X 15kg bags of ice that would see us through for 2/3rds of the trip, with the barge dropping off another 15 bags of ice at an arranged time and place. To cut a long storey short, The weather blew up, we could not get to the rendezvous point and when the plans were revised the barge failed to show with our ice, he forgot !!. Without the fridges/freezers it would have been no fish and a lot of wasted food !!

Apart from the Mutton bird hazard, watch out for the Cetipeeds !! These things like to hide in dark places. Shoes and under tents are a specialty !! check shoes thoroughly before slipping into them, or keep them safely zipped up in your tent.

When the barge arrives at the Island, you will have approx 45min to get your gear off (barge contents, not your clothes ) before the skipper starts to pull away from the Island. Pick a large high tide for arrival and departure dates for the Island, will give you a bit of lee way for the loading and unloading process.
We found that a good quality upright trolley was a great help. Get one with good size pump up tyres that you can pull through the sand.

Are you taking boats ?
Your fishing options will be dictated by the size of your boats.
Take extra fuel if you can afford it, it won't go to waste.

Put a tarp over your tent to keep the bird shit off it.

Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Cheers
Craigie

pic of our mess tent set-up. Bit of stuffing around getting it there, but well worth it when your trip is 2 weeks duration or more !!

[gforse]

Re: Northwest island  - Need advice

hi johnmac i live in gladstone and want to go to northwest with some mates from work could you please let mr know who you contacted to go and any rough costs thanks garry

[johnmclaughlin]

Re: Northwest island  - Need advice

hi guys,

can't respond individually because i don't have enough posts up yet, but in answer to your questions :


Chris, the tinnies we're taking are 4-5 m's long. do you carry them onto the barge / how do you get em on and off ?

Craigie, thanks for the response. how do 30 guys unload all their stuff in 45 mins ?

thanks again for your advice so far.

[CHRIS_aka_GWH]

Re: Northwest island  - Need advice

last time we went was on an ex-pros boat and we had the tinnies strapped to the roof & lowering them was so easy - a rope on the bow that was slowly let out lowering the stern of the tinnie to the water - in the past we have also used the big cat that goes to Keppel and it craned the tinnies on and off and we've also used the barge and you need to carry the tinnies off - if you have 10 blokes this is a great way in that you can generally carry a lot of gear inside the tinnie as well

here's a surf-rod caught trout - it pays to get creative when the weather blows up

[.Dylan.]

Re: Northwest island  - Need advice

Hi I am going to north west these holidays as well, my mother (yes i am 15) gave me this site from a friend of hers at work to check out what we needed etc. My mother and I both dont know much about fishing, so I am asking what bait, or lures, how many pound line sinkers, where to fish (no boat) and what we would be fishing for.

If you could get back to me on this it would be great.