Rockhampton

[CQ_Fisher]

Just spent the weekend in Rocky seeing the family and friends and took the tinnie with me so i could try and get a few crabs down the river while i was there. Put in at Nerimbera boat ramp on Saturday afternoon and headed down river to Casuarina Creek where we intended to leave the pots overnight. We entered Casuarina through the creek between Dunlop & Satellite islands and a couple of hundred metres down the creek i spotted a 5 foot croc on the mudbank, he didnt hang around for long, once he heard the motor he slipped down into the water and that ws the last we saw of him. (biggest one i've seen up there so far) So to cut a long story short we came back in the morning to collect the pots and out of 8 pots we got 3 legal bucks. Not the greatest, but at least we got a feed for our troubles. Should only get better from here on though. Left the boat at mum and dads ans will give it another try in a few weeks.

Cheers
JD

[Dug]

From a friend and fellow rocky reffo

The Diary of a Rockhampton /Queensland SUMMER by an Englishman


August 31st:
Just got transferred with work into our new home in Rockhampton !! Now
This is
a city that knows how to live!! Beautiful sunny days and warm balmy
evenings. What a place! I watched the sunset from a deck chair on the
verandah. It was beautiful. I've finally found my home. I love it here.

September 13th:
Really heating up. Got to 35 today. Not a problem. Live in an
air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see
the sun everyday like this. I'm turning into a sun worshipper.

September 30th:
Had the backyard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of Palms and
rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing lawn for me. Another
scorcher today, but I love it here.

October 10th:
The temperature hasn't been below 34 all week. How do people get used to
this kind of heat? At least today it's kind of windy though. But getting
used to the heat and humidity is taking longer that I expected.

October 15th:
Fell asleep by the pool. Got 3rd degree burns over 60% of my body. Missed
3 days of work. What a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson though. Got
to respect the ol' sun in a climate like this.

October 20th:
I missed Kitty (our cat) sneaking into the car when I left this morning. By
the time I got to the hot car for lunch, Kitty had died and swollen up to
the size of a shopping bag and stank up the $3,000 leather upholstery. I
told the kids that she ran away. The car now smells like Wiskettes and cat
poo. I learned my lesson though. No more pets in this heat.

October 25th:
The wind sucks. It feels like a giant bloody blow dryer!! And it's hot as
hell. The home air-conditioner is on the blink and the AC repairman charged
$200 just to drive over and tell me he needed to order parts.

October 30th:
Been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. $450,000 house and we
can't even go inside. Why did I ever come here?

November 4th:
It's 35 degrees. Finally got the ol' air-conditioner fixed today. It cost
$500 and gets the temperature down to 25, but this darn humidity makes the
house feel like it's about 30. Stupid repairman. I hate this stupid place.

November 8th:
If another person says, "Hot enough for you today?" I'm going to strangle
him. Bloody heat. By the time I get to work the car's radiator was boiling
over, my clothes are soaking wet, and I smell like baked cat!!

November 9th:
Tried to run some messages after work. Wore shorts, and sat on the black
leather seats in the ol' car. I thought my butt was on fire. I lost 2
layers of flesh and all the hair on the back of my legs and my bum. Now my
car smells like burnt hair, fried bum, and baked cat.

November 10th:
The weather report might as well be a bloody recording. Hot and sunny. Hot
and sunny. Hot and sunny. It's been too hot to do anything for 2 damn
months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Doesn't
it ever rain in this damn place? Water rationing will be next, so my $2,000
worth of palms just might dry up and blow into the bloody pool. Even the
palms can't live in this heat.

November 14th:
Welcome to HELL!!! Temperature got to 41 today. Now the air-conditioner's
gone in my car. The repairman came to fix it and said, "Hot enough for you
today?" My wife had to spend the $2,500 house payment to bail me out of jail
for assulting the repairman. Bloody Rockhampton . What kind of a sick
demented idiot would want to live here?

December 1st:
WHAT????? This is the first day of Summer???? You're kiddin me!!!!


There was a post from someone in America looking for info on Rockhampton too:-)

[Local_Guy]

how long ago was that written. ???

[CQ_Fisher]

Dug, you've been given Rocky a bit of a flogging lately . Mate, its not all that bad . I lived my 1st 21 years there and have alot of mates still there and still have a bloody good time when i go back. A town is what you make of it. Granted, it is a stinking hot place to be in summer [smiley=angryfire.gif] but you have to look at the positive effect that the heat has on the fishing/crabbing [smiley=thumbsup.gif] When i lived there (b4 i had a boat) i used to fish from the banks and all i ever caught were catfish, but since i've been getting into the lower reaches of the river, i'm starting to see some much better results and really enjoying my time on the Fitzroy (and at the same time avoiding my in-laws ). Bring on the Rocky summer!! I probably wouldn't be saying that if i didnt live in Gladstone now

Cheers
JD

[snapperhead]

head to the coast and go for a swim, oh thats right the water is full of stinkin feral algae this time of year

[krakatinne]

CQ_fisher No barra - king salmon did you throw a lure at a snag or two . Casuarina is one of my hot spots ,new boat 2 weeks away. Was the water cleaner in casuarina than in the Fitsroy ? Good tides coming up 19 to 22 prime time for barra . If boat arrives i will be there. I allways check out any snags around where i see a croc they love to eat barra

[Kev_McC]

Whats the go in Casuarina mate?...I fished once around Balaclava but am yet to try Casuarina - the system is so massive it's hard to know where to start. 19-22 Oct, so you like the smaller tides for the Fitzroy system? Is that water clarity, ease of fishing, or both? I notice those tides have the lows early in the morning - is that your preference? Interested in your experiences...I've got a near new top ender that is yet to have a barra come over the side and I need to fix that. You'll be very happy with the boat choice - what donk did you go for?
cheers, kev

[CQ_Fisher]

Krakatinnie,

Didnt have time to throw any lures, but did find a few good looking snags and gutters that i will be looking forward to getting back to with some more time on my hands. I'm really begining to like the area, i see alot of potential Congats on the new boat, you'll be like a kid at Xmas when she turns up. From memory i cant recall if there was much difference from the water in the Fitzroy to the water in casuarina sorry im no help to you there. Where do u normally launch from when attacking the area, Thompsons Point?

[krakatinne]

KEV_McC Went for a 70 4 stroke johno. Low tide in the morning is not a preference but [ cq_Fisher] I launch at nerimbera. I like to chase low tide down the river this gives me lots of time to change my plan of attack if the barra won't play the game . Late arvo is good but i have found it only leaves a small time to fish , ? will i try a new spot or will they come on here. yes kev casuarina is a big system thats whats so good about it so many places to fish people can't make a decision where to fish