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Borroloola (Centre Island) and a Croc
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Thread: Borroloola (Centre Island) and a Croc

  1. #1

    Borroloola (Centre Island) and a Croc

    I just returned from an interesting trip to Borroloola in the NT. The trip was a follow up to one I did to Centre Island 2 years ago. We selected the first two weeks on November which suited everyone. We had people from New Zealand, Darwin, Adelaide, Toowoomba and Ayr. In total 10 people and five boats. We launched from King Ash Bay and headed straight out to the old Weather Station on Centre Island to find a group of guys already residing in the old shed. They were kind enough to let us pitch some tarps off the front of the building for shade.
    Anyway the Barra were a bit sluggish to bite. They hit lures down deep but nothing in the above the 2meter range. Everything was down in 4-5 meters of water. The previous trip you couldn’t raise a fish on lure. The lack of bait in the bay made it hard on the live bait fishing side of the house. But we were able to get hold of some mullet. There were only a few Threadfin and the odd Queen fish to be had, which was unusual. The previous trip it was hard work getting beyond the queenies and threadfin to target the barra. There were plenty of small sharks to get past though, they were nearly in plague proportions at times.
    The water temp was about 31 degrees and the fish were heading for the McArthur River mouth. It looked slow going in the river mouth for the diehards but the islands were producing if you had a go around the rocky headlands and colour changes in the water.
    Most of the Barra were in the 70-80cm range with the odd capture and release of the 100 cm variety.
    Talking with the locals there, Centre Island has now been handed over to the traditional owners for their keep.
    Anyway an awesome trip resulting in one broken back boat trailer and one drowned 5.0 meter Quintrex Hornet put to the bottom of the bay by a croc. It appears the croc wanted a ride overnight and got itself onto the back of the boat, resulting in some pretty amazed looks in the morning as we awoke to see one said boat with its bow pointing to the sky and its 100hp 4-stroke under 3 feet of water . We dragged the boat up onto the beach and proceeded to dry her out. We didn’t know how long the motor was under but even with the ignition off you still have battery power applied to the starter motor and trim relays. Well there wasn’t a Bus Bar (power supply) left, so we jerry rigged up the electrics, pulled the carbie manifold off and dried everything out. We turned the motor over by hand and there was no water in the pots. We bled the carbies of water, connected up a 30lt fuel tank as the underfloor one was full of water. With the help of a can of Aerostart and damn good luck it started. We got the trim/tilt working and went fishing that afternoon. The Yammie ran on 3-4 pots every now and again, but it ran. We had to disconnect the voltage regulator as it started to put out some nasty smells. The guys got her back to King Ash Bay the following day with only once having the motor kick itself in limp home mode. With a small time at idle she kicked herself back into life and off she went again at full noise. It’s amazing what you can do with 16 gauge wire, aerostart, a basic tool kit, a lot of good luck and a few beers.

    What a trip.

    Dex

  2. #2
    CQ_Fisher
    Guest

    Re: Borroloola (Centre Island) and a Croc

    great story mate. you've gotta have pics for that.

  3. #3
    Ausfish Platinum Member rando's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2004

    Re: Borroloola (Centre Island) and a Croc

    Mate that sounds like a script from" Bush Mechanics" well done
    rando

  4. #4

    Re: Borroloola (Centre Island) and a Croc

    I am attempting to get hold of some snaps. More to follow.

    Dex

  5. #5

    Re: Borroloola (Centre Island) and a Croc

    Apart from the bow of the hornet pointing skyward what made you think it was a croc?? Were there any scratch marks or had you left bait or fish in the boat........I've not heard of a croc launching itself onto an anchored boat before? I went to King As Bay this time last year and hired one of the house-boats you probably saw around. We didn't catch huge amounts of Barra in the rivers but had a fair bit of success around the rocky headlands outside of the mouths. Sight-casting for big barra in the rocks............I don't think it gets any better. I had some mates who stayed on Centre island a couple of weeks ago..........they might have been the blokes there when you arrived....they're from Mt Isa and Brisbane.

    Great report....any pics yet.

  6. #6
    Ausfish Gold Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2005

    Re: Borroloola (Centre Island) and a Croc

    Good story mate.
    I was up at King Ash Bay for a month earlier this year. I loved the pace, it was the best trip I have ever been on and I hope to get there again. I made a few trips out around center island chasing some reefies and did pretty well.
    Shane

  7. #7

    Re: Borroloola (Centre Island) and a Croc

    Rainman, Clarke Bay is usually free from these big critters, but the crab pots we had out were getting smashed and dragged away. In the end the guys gave up. We saw a number of big crocs around the corner in Survey Bay. The night the boat went under was absolutely still, the water was like glass. I had my 4.35m Hornet anchored in the same area as well. The back of the 5 meter hornet which went under was a bit of a mess. A bait board and crab pots left on the floor of the boat were gone when we started salvaging everything in the morning. Boats this size don't turn turtle for no reason. As for photo's, I'm awaiting some images from the guys standing on the beach whilst my mate and I recovered the boat to send them to me.

    Have fun

    Dex

  8. #8

    Re: Borroloola (Centre Island) and a Croc

    I've heard of crocs sinking boats trying to get in over the side for the bait.

  9. #9

    Re: Borroloola (Centre Island) and a Croc

    Dex,
    Are you sure there wasn't a few too many beers and an accident with the bungs being left out? Sounds like something I'd do.

  10. #10

    Re: Borroloola (Centre Island) and a Croc

    Jennygroup - maybe the Croc took the bungs out!

    Rainman

  11. #11

    Re: Borroloola (Centre Island) and a Croc

    BUNG MAN to the rescue!
    You say fish, I say yes please.

  12. #12
    Needmorerum
    Guest

    Re: Borroloola (Centre Island) and a Croc

    Top report there Dex. What was the trip up like? I'd love to get up to that area, but not sure whether to take our 4m tinnie or our 575 Cruise Craft. What type of fishing is better off, and what were the roads like?
    Look forward to seeing some pics.

    Corry

  13. #13

    Re: Borroloola (Centre Island) and a Croc

    Corry, me and 5 mates went to Borroola this time last year and we took my 4.35 Top Ender with a 50 Yamaha, a 4.65 Angler with a 60 Yamaha and a 4m v-nose punt with a 30 Yamaha. All 3 boats handled everything the Macarther and Carrington rivers had to offer with ease, but the v-nose punt struggled a bit when we went out around centre island etc. We trolled and flicked lures and had about the same success with both, although we had a few early morning sessions sight casting to barra around the rocky headlands in the bay around centre island which were absolutely brilliant. I suppose it really depends wether you want to head out into the big pond or flick/troll lures in the river. With the exception of the last 30 or so kms of dirt into King Ash bay (which was pretty corrogated), the roads were all sealed. We didn't break anything at all on trailers or vehicles but did take it pretty easy heading into King Ash on the dirt.

  14. #14

    Re: Borroloola (Centre Island) and a Croc

    I went up that way myself last year and found there were a lot of wild horses on the road that can make the trip pretty exciting - also the Cape Crawford Hotel is worth a look and a quiet beer.

    We had a failry similar experience with the best fishing out through the mouth of the Carrington River flicking lures around the rocky headlands. I caught a couple of monster threadfin salmon as well which was great until my fishing mate dropped my net overboard whilst trying to land another one. We took my Hornet up there which went really well.

  15. #15

    Re: Borroloola (Centre Island) and a Croc

    Rainman, I can relate to poor net etiquette, I had a similar experience with a mate of mine dropping the net overboard so he could save his rod which was about to get snapped on a mangrove because he didn't get his line in when I was muscling a fish and before he knew it his $500 G.loomis rod was disappearing into the tree. Luckily another boat was handy and they came over and netted the fish for us, WITH THEIR NET. I had to hand over my rod still attached to the fish so I could help my mate extract his rod from the mangroves. Funny stuff. How did you rate the Hornet in those rivers. A mate of mine is thinking about purchasing one, but I've been trying to talk him into a top ender for that sort of fishing.
    Dex, still waiting for those photo's mate.

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