hi guys, yep ive just got back from one of the best adventures/ holidays i think i have ever had up the straight in a house boat out of rainbow beach. to say it was awesome just doesnt do it justice, maybe more like magical would better suit our trip.
for starters the weather turned it on with glassed out condition up untill the saturday when that SE change came through. the weather allowed us to head up to ungowa, south white cliffs, yankee jack creek, garrys anchorage and every little spot in between.
FISHING AND CRABBING KICKED ARSE!!!
caught, parrot, squire, bream, greasy cod, estuary cod,sharks( lots of them + plenty of other vermin ) golden trevalley, sand trevally , a little big eye trevally i think, watson bonito ( about 85-100 kg worth), whiting, flathead, grinners, huge shovellys, tailor, mud crabs , sand crabs im sure theres more i cant rember. wasnt able to hook up to any long tails although i did see some break the surface every now and then.
caught the trevors on poppers which were great as they are my first ever popper cuaght fish. the wernt big but were of good size to catch on light gear.
tested out the new tss4 on the bonito , which tottaly kicked arse. had aball chasing them around in the punt, they were an instant hook up when you cast into them and fight like little rockets as well. the would boil up when the tide would stop running and chas the bait around for an hour or too before the runn took over again.
caught some good cod around the 50-60 cm mark around the coofe rock near garry's anchorage and off the drop off from dream island on the way up to yankee jack creek.
yannkee jack area kicked but, with good flatty and whiting on the sand banks and plenty of sand crabs. had so much crab for the week i was sick of eating it. brought a rubbish bin bag home full of sandys and muddys which im still trying to finnish off.
tailor ( chopper ) were to be found almost every where at night and provided a good feed. caught a good feed of bream and cod from up one of the small feeder creeks in teebar as well. one was as black as anything and had obviusly been living in the mud for some time.
snapped a live fibre rod in two on a big shovely, which i was very dissapointed about as it is the only rod i have ever had break due to handiling and playing a fish and it should not have happend.... it was also a prize from a straddie clasic which was one buy my partner angela so she wasnt speaking to me for a little while, but after ti explained how the rod hasn't been built right and it would have happend to her at some stage any way she was ok about it, and plus now she has a two piece rod
the house boat was tottaly awesome very clean, well kept and looked after and was a pleasure to stay on and use as a mother ship for our fishing ecursions. would recomend rainbow beach house boats to anyone without hesitation.
i will be posting some photo's when i work out how to load up them from the new camera.
Drew
Good to hear it all worked out well
Its a great part of the world to explore. Right on the junction of our northern and southern species so you can catch just about anything. Plenty of places to explore and lots of good fishing territory.
Looking forward to the pics
Cheers
Neil
Great to hear you had such a great holiday Drew, i look forward to the pics ...foxy
greta reoprt and sounds like an awsome time
Drew. Sounds like you had a good trip. I have been fishing the straights all my life(I am 61) and I never get tired of it. There are still a few creeks there that I have not been in. Waiting to see the photos . Bob.
I love the place, but sometimes its not so good to me, I was up there on the 14/15. Were you up at Ungowa weekend just gone or the one before? and hurry up with the picks. Pics a bit blury but these bonito were everywhere but miniature.
I hope you got stacks of pics, with a catch variety like that!
You say fish, I say yes please.
Top stuff Drew sounds like a hell smorgasboard you had ...
Mark
cheers guys pics coming soon.
elprez, was in the bay area near the mouth of yankee jack creek, just south of south white cliffs on the 18th, 19th and 20th before heading back south before that big gusty sou east change came through.
the bonito were all around 1 kg fish, which is about the biggest they get normally... i think anyway. still the will make great tailor bait for the next 6 months.
Any tips on chasing those little bonito? I have been trying for a while around the mouth of Kauri Creek when they boil up without much luck. Can see them in the water next to the boat (maybe a foot long) at times but they dont seem to want to take my slugs.
They wouldnt touch my pilly or slice but sound as if they were slightly bigger fish. This blurry shot was taken in the main channel just about due west of where yanky Jack would be.
Looking forward to seeing those pics Drew. I love my houseboat holidays (fishing trips where you get to take the better half
Cheers
Paul
Ranger 188VX - "Sweet Chariot"
stevo, i got on to them out off the bluff on fraser but they were very timid and werent hitting anything. up near yankee jack they were thick and hitting everything and anything. i was using halco twisty i think in 25 and 30g sizes on the new tss4 spin reel. cast and retrive fast as possible
i caught a number on poppers as well which was a surprise as the poppers were nearly 100mm long.
when i cast dead smack into the center of them it was nearly an instant hook up every time with the slugs.
elperez, at one stage they balled the bait up in abpout 4 feet of water near the falts outside the mouth of yankee jack. i was right in the thick of them and could see the sand and darting bonito through the crystal clear water. was great fun.
paul the cruising limit is king fisher bay resort in the north. we only went as far as ungowa which was plenty far enough for us to have a ball.
Yep, thats my retirement plan, a bay cruiser/houseboat and a little tinny just anchored up in that area. Pitty its still 20 years off.
GO HARD MATE
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