Well where to start. Hit Lucinda at around 9am Sat 14th. Unpacked and hit the water – run the dust out of the motors and that stuff. Mucked around because Sunday was going to be our first real day.
Sunday dawned bloody windy – as usual. The decision was made the night before – over a few Goldies, that we would drive to Fishers Creek to launch. The other 2 boats followed me out of Fishers on about a ¾ tide. This would give us about a 40min run to our first spot. Hit the snags just as the water was draining out and managed some follows etc. Worked a few drains with no luck. Managed my first barra for the trip (70cm) from a pile of sticks in a tiny creek mouth. This fish well and truly knitted me into the sticks. The Knotted Dog did the trick. I used the same KD the whole trip.
Over the next few days the fish alternated between the snags and the drains. Frustrating as hell when you are in the middle of about 20 or 30 barra boofing bait and not one wants to look at your lure. One of the guys in the other boat managed a 94cm fish later that arvo.
On around day 3 we did some scouting and poked our nose in a small creek. The tide had just started to run up. 20 meters in and we were sight casting to barra on the snags. In 2 days we caught and released around 12 from the creek alone.
On the 19th we were blessed with some good weather so we followed the big boat out to Britomart Reef – some 46km from Lucinda. Fishing the reef ledges from 20m to 30m we managed 7 coral trout – best went around 4kg – a big red throat, wire net cod and maroi cod. I was using a Charter Special spooled with 50lb BB. I could not stop some of those critters and got bricked many times, as did the others, those trout go like the clappers. Flesh baits were the order of the day. Noticed some long toms swimming out the back of the boat. Pulled out the fly rod and tied on a clouser. They struck it every which way until about the 4th cast I hooked up. A meter of long tom tail walking out the back of the boat. A quick pic and back it went. The Yammy 50hp 4stroke used 20litres of fuel out and back – some 100km of running. Did another run out on the 21st. More of an assortment of fish this trip. Only 4 trout but a big spangle emperor,another nice red throat and a jack. A huge batfish that peeled about 20m of 30lb BB. The thing was the size of an esky lid.
On Sunday the 22nd one of the guys in the other boat hadn’t managed a barra. I took him to a few spots and played guide for the arvo. I poked the stern into some likely snags a told him to bash away. As he was casting to flubbed a cast at some snags only to have to chewed on the first crank and get bricked by a BIG jack. Oh well. Next snags similar event but I dragged a 65cm barra to the boat. Took him to out little bonanza creek where he managed 2 barra – 1 keeper for the nights dinner. He was stoked. They had been casting to all the wrong areas and not casting tight enough.
We did a trip up to Zoe Bay around 20 min run up the eastern side of Hinchinbrook. What a magnificent place. As you round Hillock point you are greeted by this palm lined white sandy beach. The water is crystal clear. The creek at the northern end is just so pristine. As you head into the creek you pass over plenty of coral bommies. The creek proper has snags that held 20 – 30 jacks, the majority small fish. It must be a nursery of sorts. It is a limited fish zone – lure, fly, or one baited hook. Great place for a swim in the shallows. Clear enough you can see for a couple of hundred meters. On the way out I dropped a clouser down beside some of the bommies. Managed to extract a couple of small wire net cod.
Lures I had most success on where the C Lure Jack Snack in green / yellow and the Snagmaster in the same colour.
I didn’t manage a barra on the wand – a bit disappointing but I caught fish on it.
There’s heaps more but I’ve tried to be as brief as possible and still make a good read.
I’ll post some photo’s later this week.
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