ADVICE Fishing the Top

[YOYO]

JULY fishing up the cape.

Have been planning this trip for a while now and can't wait till i get up there. We will be touring and fishing all the way to and from the tip.

Will be stopping over at vrilya poin for a few days. Also hope to do a bit of fishing in the billabongs aroung lakefield national park.

Any one that fishes the cape please let me know what to expect any hints or advice will be much appreciated

Thanking you
Yoyo :)

[batesy72]

G'day Yoyo

There's plenty of fish in the waterways in Lakefield. She's pretty untouched, the country around there. Beware of handbags with teeth though - you'll recall the incident last year with the canoe fella.

Have a chat to the rangers at in the park for any fishing info. It's a big park, so they may be able to direct to a few spots.

If you want to touch base with them before you head off, you can contact them on the following numbers:

Phone: (07) 4060 3260 or (07) 4060 3271

Sorry I can't help out a little more, this board isn't really pumping yet as our magazine hasn't hit the stands. Once that happens you should find a few more people logging on and adding their two cents..


Cheers
Batesy

[ant]

YoYo- what sort of fishing are you planning on doing? Lure, fly, bait........

[YOYO]

Mostly lure fishing and hoping to be using Live bait quite a fair bit to.

I would love to catch a spanish mackarel if they are around. Any tip for fishing vrilya point. Is it any good as we are camping there for a few days.

[YOYO]

Are soft palstic lures good up there or are the hard bodied variety the go.

I don't really know what to do up there as far as anchoring or drifting.

I do well around the creeks drifting and cast and retrive lures for flatties and whiting but obviously i will use bigger gear than what i use for them up there.

[ant]

yo yo- soft plastics are good to use, just as hard bodied lures are also. It really depends on where you are fishing and what you are fishing for. Plastics are great when you are drifting (or at anchor) in some deeper water-just drop them down and jig them.
I would not use them for mackerel as you will loose a lot of lures. The best bet is the simple metal slice such as the Bumper Bar lure.

For hard bodied lures I would not leave without a few of the following:
gold bomber in both the small and larger size, Ridgeback 'Scud', Halco scorpion in the 90'-these things are awesome, particularly in the slightly deeper water. Big barra love them.

Hope I have been of some more help and ask away with any more questions.

[Nedly]

Hi Ant,
What advice do you have for land based anglers.
I will be taking some rods with me, generally in the 6' to 8' range, both spin and bait.
This trip is primarily for touring, only fishing as and when we have time.
We will be staying at places like Chilli Beach, Weipa, Seisia for a few days, and overnights at Dulhunty etc.
At this stage, unfortunately, we will only be passing through Lakefield NP.
Timing of our trip is August this year.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Nedly

[Nedly]

Have I said something to upset Ant?
Maybe he is not a landbased angler.
Perhaps there is no advice that can help during August.

Hhmm, a thought, maybe he hasn't had time to respond because he is out catching fish before all the Southerners arrive.
I know that's what I would do.

Oh well, chuck and see I suppose.

[batesy]

Ant's in way over his head with work.

Poor bugger works 8 til 4 everyday for the government, then works 5-11pm as the editor of 'Fish & Boat'.

I warned him though... told him you gotta have some life besides work - but he never listens to me. Probably a good idea too, since I'm broke and lazy.

[Nedly]

Ant's in way over his head with work.

Poor bugger works 8 til 4 everyday for the government, then works 5-11pm as the editor of 'Fish & Boat'.

I warned him though... told him you gotta have some life besides work - but he never listens to me. Probably a good idea too, since I'm broke and lazy.

So he's the one !!!!!!!!!

I figured there had to be someone making the government work, never thought it would have been Ant.
So my taxes are paying him ............
WHERE'S MY INFO :) :) :D

I enjoyed that.
Batesy, nothing being wrong with lazy, practice that as much as I can (allowed) myself, broke part's not real good though.
I have my hammock and esky, I'll be right when I get up there.
Hope I can finds a couple of trees close to the water so I don't have to get out of my hammock to cast.

[batesy]

You're taxes are paying him too much.

He's got two boats, 90 (yep 90) fishing rods, and lives like a rockstar ... well almost - he has a nice house, long hair and pulls birds (even if it is only a cockatoo out of a cage each morning!)

[burdekinbarra]

You got any of these up there
61

[batesy]

Plenty of those fish ... thankfully not many of those other frightening bloody things that are attached to it :)

[ant]

Plenty like that up in the cape. Only difference is that ours still have their throats in tact and are swmming and breeding for the next season.

Once they get over 75mm. they deserve to go back in the water to continue to breed. It is all about sustainability.

[Nedly]

Plenty like that up in the cape. Only difference is that ours still have their throats in tact and are swmming and breeding for the next season.

Once they get over 75mm. they deserve to go back in the water to continue to breed. It is all about sustainability.

75mm :eek:

750mm

[batesy]

Once they get over 75mm. they deserve to go back in the water to continue to breed. It is all about sustainability.


75mm ...!! Wow, you let them go back pretty small, Ant. Actually, how do you even catch em that small?


DEAD FISH ALERT: Ant's got his moderator badge on and he's looking for trouble! :)

I can't catch fish, so I guess I'm safe.

[ant]

Nedly- Well picked up. Yes I actually meant 750mm! You would think that I would be more on the ball- guess it was at the end of a very long day when numbers and letters start to get very blurry.

Don't mean to be nasty with my comments about fish sizes, but it is something that I feel pretty strongly about. Fish are too good to catch only once, particularly the bigger ones as they are our breeders-besides the smaller ones (legally smaller- barra on the west coast have to be 600mm before you can take them) are a lot better tasting as with most fish.

[burdekinbarra]

Good point ANT, I run the Burdekin Fish Restocking Group and we have released over 1.3 million barra. At the moment we spend around $50,000 per year releasing barra across the floodplain. We should practice what you say, but we also need to keep the community excited. if a bloke spends lots of money fishing like we do up here and he also tags and releases almost every barra he catches, he is entitled to (1) one trophy fish in his lifetime. What annoys me are the guys who use nets and the guys who kill too many big fish. The morale of my story is that of all the thousands of barra I have caught and many of them over 700mm, I have only killed one grandma

I need to find a new photo, it's not a good image.

[YOYO]

Good point ANT, I run the Burdekin Fish Restocking Group and we have released over 1.3 million barra. At the moment we spend around $50,000 per year releasing barra across the floodplain. We should practice what you say, but we also need to keep the community excited. if a bloke spends lots of money fishing like we do up here and he also tags and releases almost every barra he catches, he is entitled to (1) one trophy fish in his lifetime. What annoys me are the guys who use nets and the guys who kill too many big fish. The morale of my story is that of all the thousands of barra I have caught and many of them over 700mm, I have only killed one grandma

I need to find a new photo, it's not a good image.

Mate you think you are really good telling me about " of all the thousands of barra i have caught " . All i won't to do is catch one. Now if, If i catch one i am going to think thats nothing compared to the thousands of barra burdekinbarra catches. I bet i have caught more puffer fish then you. That should be my new name toadfishYoyo.

[burdekinbarra]

Yep, some us live in paradise

[campdog]

Good point ANT, I run the Burdekin Fish Restocking Group and we have released over 1.3 million barra. At the moment we spend around $50,000 per year releasing barra across the floodplain. We should practice what you say, but we also need to keep the community excited. if a bloke spends lots of money fishing like we do up here and he also tags and releases almost every barra he catches, he is entitled to (1) one trophy fish in his lifetime. What annoys me are the guys who use nets and the guys who kill too many big fish. The morale of my story is that of all the thousands of barra I have caught and many of them over 700mm, I have only killed one grandma

I need to find a new photo, it's not a good image.

I need to catch a barra big enought to take a photo of.:

[burdekinbarra]

here's my little bloke with a 150mm barra
129

[campdog]

here's my little bloke with a 150mm barra
129

Bout the size of one I caught in a cherabin trap.Everytime i get a legal barra nad dont take aphoto my mate says ,put it back you will get a bigger one, never happens.
One day.

[burdekinbarra]

And when you do, campdog, it will be (one of ) the greatest days of your life. especially on lure. there's something special about catching a barra on lure, especially when it is one that you tagged when it was only 150mm and you catch it 100k away in a different spot