Rods ?

[Emujim]

What size rods are best to take for land based fishing.Is it nessesary to take a beach rod or will 6footers be big enough.

[Scorcher]

What size rods are best to take for land based fishing.Is it nessesary to take a beach rod or will 6footers be big enough.

Emujim,

My thoughts are that 6-7 ft is adequate in most circumstances.

I've taken a 12 ft Beach Rod up there about 6 times, and don't think I have ever used it once.

Whilst most of my fishing is done from a boat, the times I do fish from the shore, I would normally only need to cast 10-15 metres (max) into a gutter or channel. No need to break any casting records provided you choose your spots.

Scorcher

[campdog]

I like to take a 6-7ft spin stick for off the rocks or beach, a good uglystick .I also use it in the boat for spinning for pelagics. My beach Rod is still in he shed and never used it on a cape trip.

[ant]

Scorcher and Campdog,
You guys have made me redundant. Great advice- exactly what I would have said. Only thing to note is that obviously, a multi piece rod is an advantage when traveling. And make sure you put the rods in a tube of some sort - I use the pvc pipe.

[Scorcher]

Scorcher and Campdog,
You guys have made me redundant. Great advice- exactly what I would have said. Only thing to note is that obviously, a multi piece rod is an advantage when traveling. And make sure you put the rods in a tube of some sort - I use the pvc pipe.

Actually, last trip I could have got away with a piece of bamboo with 10ft of line attached to the end!! Didn't do a great deal of fishing.

In the rock pools at Vrilya Point, I caught Coral Trout, Bream, Mangrove Jack & Tusk Fish by just standing on the rocks and flicking the line a few feet out. Great action !! I caught more Mud Crabs by hand OUTSIDE my traps than I did inside them!

Beside the Wenlock River bridge, I was catching small Barra no more than 10ft from where I was standing on the sandbank.

It's amazing how many rods you can fit in a 9ft piece of 100mm PVC tubing. I've got 3 x 7ft Ugly Sticks, 4 x 6-8ft Boat Rods, and 2 x 6-7ft Game Rods ready to go for this years trip. No point leaving something at home, then wishing you had it when you got up there !

Scorcher

[Nedly]

I take a 7' ugly stick for flicking metal lures of the beach, another 7' stick for bait.
Other rods I take are 5' to 6' for throwing hard plastics around the rivers and waterholes etc.
I have a 2 piece (yuk) beach rod just in case, I'd hate to need it and not have it.
I'm fortunate that I can carry the shorter rods inside the truck, rigged and ready to go. I have mounted a couple of 'rocket launches' to the inside roof of the canopy to hold the rod butts and use guides for the sticks.
The longer rods live on the roof in a PVC tube. I tie these rods together in an attempt to reduce the risk of damage to the guides.

[Emujim]

Thanks Everyone,
I think my beach rod can stay at home, I have a couple of 6 ft spin rods and a 6 ft Silstar powertip. They should be enough to catch a feed.

[highlift80]

Thanks Everyone,
I think my beach rod can stay at home, I have a couple of 6 ft spin rods and a 6 ft Silstar powertip. They should be enough to catch a feed.

That's all you'll need.

[plucker]

You will only need a 6ft rod for the majority of the time up there. If you are fishing the creeks, most of the Barra, jacks, cod, fingermark will be near the bank in the snags anyway. Should give you enough for a feed.

[dave]

I just picked a new barra baitcaster rod and reel up today
The rod is a shimano raider by ian miller 5"9". 3 pices comes in a 25 inch hard case to fit on my bike .
The reel is a shimano calcutta 200B with 20 pound berkley fireline and 40 pound trace ,100mm CRYSTAL MINNOW LURES ~ Barra Killers !!!...
110mm MAGNUM POPPER LURES!

[plucker]

I use 30lb braid and 60lb trace for flicking lures.
Mate of mine uses 100lb trace and still loses them in the barnicles. But he is an extremist.
For a dumb old barra 20ld braid and 40lb trace should do OK.
You might have to lighten up a bit for the sooties though.

[ant]

For barra and most estuary fish, I use 30lb braid and a 50-60lb Fluorocarbon leader. When it comes to sooties and the like, I usually go to a 15-20lb Fluorocarbon leader depending on the country I am fishing in.

[dave]

I use 30lb braid and 60lb trace for flicking lures.
Mate of mine uses 100lb trace and still loses them in the barnicles. But he is an extremist.
For a dumb old barra 20ld braid and 40lb trace should do OK.
You might have to lighten up a bit for the sooties though.

if i new what a sooties is ? sootie grunnter ? harhar flicking lures is all new to me ,
but i seem to be doing ok with this bait caster sofar been practicing alot in your mums dam ant and them perch are very quiet harhar mabe its just me or my lure choice or the cold but there getting big now jeff was saying

anyway. i gave the lot to my boss to set up who is alot wiser then me, a mad fishman with 3boats. goes to the cape evey year and loves the cape yorker mag as well has copy 2-3.never gets sick of me talking about the cape, anyway i should be all set up right to go
as every thing you guys say is just what he said .harhar never listen to sales people he said the 30lb braid would be to much for the 200B culcutter .$199 on ebay

thanks guys i should be right now ,and have plenty of lures to lose :rolleyes:

dave!

[plucker]

Sooties are Sooty Grunter, or sometimes refered to as black bream. They can be found in nearly every freshwater stream North of Ingham. Can be lots of fun on light line using small poppers/lures/soft plastics and are usually really agressive. Good practice for a first time lure flicker. They are also found in shallow running streams and it is not unusual to see a few come out to attack your lure at the same time.
Unfortunately they are not that good eating.

As for the Calcutta 200 and 30 pound braid, I have a few of them and they work fine. I have the drag set finely, and also use the rod and my thumb as the extra drag.
The 30 pound braid comes in handy if a barra takes you over or around a snag, and has the extra stopping power if the fish is bigger.

[dave]

I wounder plucker if there the same as the ( javelin fish ) grunnters down south a bit from ingam ?
i was fishing at the baffel creek mouth up near 1770 and hooked in to a few around 30cm last weekend on my okuma spinner combo. when i dragged it up on the sand in made these grunnting noise! tasted good:rolleyes:


dave!

[plucker]

Not the same I would presume. Sootys are very dark in colour and generally dont taste that good. They are a great sport fish that will take most small bream lures and poppers. They live in the fresh running streams and might grow just past 2KG.

The javelin fish you would have caught near in Baffle creek are called Grunter up here and are much more silver in colour with the a few wide bands down the body. They live in the saltwater and grow to 5/6 KGs. You would be hard pressed to catch too many of these on lures, as they prefer bait prawns in particular - and they taste good.

[geoffjy]

Not the same I would presume. Sootys are very dark in colour and generally dont taste that good. They are a great sport fish that will take most small bream lures and poppers. They live in the fresh running streams and might grow just past 2KG.

The javelin fish you would have caught near in Baffle creek are called Grunter up here and are much more silver in colour with the a few wide bands down the body. They live in the saltwater and grow to 5/6 KGs. You would be hard pressed to catch too many of these on lures, as they prefer bait prawns in particular - and they taste good.

Hi Plucker,

In recent months i have caught quite a few grunter around the area and they seem to be taking a preference to the Berkley Gulp plastics. If there are grunter there you wont have any problems hooking up.

Geoff

[dave]

yeah thats clears things up ! yes spot on we were catching them on prawns

hay there geoffjy !....man you got the life up there , any time you want to swap jobs let me know,harhar"
Its great to have local cape yorkers ON THIS FORUM with vast info on the cape to share the knowlege around such as your self :)

..dave..

[plucker]

Here is one for you Dave

The Grunter bream both small spotted and spotted has a legal size limit of 30cm on the east coast and 40cm in the gulf. The gulf also has a bag limit of 10!!! No limit on the east coast!!!

The sooty grunter has a legal limit of 28cm and a bag limit of 10.

[geoffjy]

The same can be said for mangrove jacks up here. The bag limit on the west coast is 5. East coast there is no limit. Its a bit wierd up here when 15 minutes either way you can be on the East or the West coast.

[dave]

]Thats crazzy , Yeah some people are greedy and take more fish than thay can eat:mad:
I only take what i can eat in a day or two,i like eating fish fresh! not frozen .

thanks for the info plucker.

[Redback]

OK now I want to do a bit of fishing when we are at the Cape, I am pretty much a dumbarse when it come to fishing, only fish if I'm camped near water.

Also I don't want to spend hundred of dollars on something I'll only use once every blue moon, are the $70 to $100 K-Mart rods OK for me and what breaking strain line and lures would be good or is bait better:confused:

English too please not fisherman talk:rolleyes:

Baz.

[Scorcher]

OK now I want to do a bit of fishing when we are at the Cape, I am pretty much a dumbarse when it come to fishing, only fish if I'm camped near water.

Also I don't want to spend hundred of dollars on something I'll only use once every blue moon, are the $70 to $100 K-Mart rods OK for me and what breaking strain line and lures would be good or is bait better:confused:

English too please not fisherman talk:rolleyes:

Baz.

So Redback,

I'm gathering that any fishing you do will be land based? Not taking a boat with you? That you don't do a lot of fishing normally, and that you would be targetting no fish species in particular?

Just out of interest, what time will you be up at the Cape, and what areas are you visiting that you may potentially "wet a line" ??

This will help the "Brains Trust" in answering your Q's.

Cheers

Scorcher

[Redback]

So Redback,

I'm gathering that any fishing you do will be land based? Not taking a boat with you? That you don't do a lot of fishing normally, and that you would be targetting no fish species in particular?

Just out of interest, what time will you be up at the Cape, and what areas are you visiting that you may potentially "wet a line" ??

This will help the "Brains Trust" in answering your Q's.

Cheers

Scorcher

Yes anything and land based:rolleyes: :grin:


Wednesday 1st July
Depart Daintree Village then north to Cape Tribulation. WujalWujal, Bloomfield Falls Via the Bloomfield Track onto Helenvale “Lions Den Hotel” Camp and Dinner with Beer!

Thursday 2nd July
Depart Helenvale “Lions Den Hotel” Have a quick look at the Annan River Gorge, North to Cook Town Look at Cook Museum
Lunch with Roverrescue at the TopPub
Isabella Falls, Then onto Old Laura North to MickFienn Water hole two night camp.

Friday 3rd July
MickFienn Water hole, Boating with Roverrescue or day trip from here.

Week 2
Saturday 4th July
Head North through Lakefield NP and come out at Musgrave roadhouse. Then North to Archer River

Sunday 5th July
Archer River Road house then North East to Lockhart River Two day Camp at Iron Range Cooks Hut

Monday 6th July
Day trip to Cape Weymouth, Chilli Beach and Iron Range Gold fields back to Cooks Hut campsite.

Tuesday 7th July
Head West on Frenchmans track to Batavia Downs then turn North on Telegraph Road Camp at Dullhunty River.


Wednesday 8th July
North on the OTL Stopping at the Twin Falls for two night Camp.

Thursday 9th July
Relaxing Day at the falls with the option of a day trip to Fruit Bat Falls

Friday 10th July
Head North to Jardine River Ferry Crossing then onto Bamaga and to the Tip to Camp two nights at Seisia Holiday Park

Week 3
Saturday 11th July
Day trip to Thursday Island and Horn Island

Sunday 12th July
Explore the tip area then head south to Vrylia Point to camp the night and watch the Sunset over the Western Ocean.

Monday 13th July
Short drive back to Twin falls to swim and camp

Tuesday 14th July
Head South via Bypass road to Captain Billy Landing Camp

Wednesday 15th July
Head SouthWest find camp Bramwell Station

Thursday 16th July
Head West to Weipa via Batavia Downs, Camp two nights

Friday 17th July
Do mine tour and Explore surrounding beaches

Week 4
Saturday 18th July
Head South via Peninsular Development Road to Camp somewhere in Mungkan Kandju National Park

Sunday 19th July
Head SouthEast to Hann River Road House

Monday 20th July
Head to Maytown Gold Fields (Rough drive but fun) Camp Palmer River Gold Reserve? Or more likely bush camp further South

Tuesday 21st July
Depart camp adventure cross country to Chillagoe Camp

We leave the group here and head for Norminton (if the road is open) the south to Winton and then head for home.

Baz.

[Scorcher]

Redback,

I'm a bit of a fishing nut, and tend to take 10 fishing rods (but only use 3-4), a dozen reels, several hundred lures, enough hooks & lead to last a year, and ancillary gear that fills up half my 80 series, even just for a 3 week lightning trip into the Cape. I'll try my best to help you out though......

A couple of points:
From your itinery, you will only have a few land based opportunities to wet a line in "fishy" territory - Seisia, Vrilya Point, Weipa. I don't know anything about MickFein Waterhole, so can't comment on what's there...others may know.

July is not the "fishiest" of months, with Barra being harder to catch, if you were hoping to latch onto one of them.

From a land based perspective, I would guess that some of the primary species you will pick up at the time of the year will be Queenfish, Trevally, Black Bream and Salmon.

With not wanting to spend a lot of money on gear that may get little use, I would suggest that you will find a few combo's around the $100 range that will do the job (unless you hook onto a "train"). To give you a reasonable chance of landing a decent fish up in the Cape, I would suggest having a reel that will hold 10 kg line.

Lures vs Bait ? In your case, I would suggest that you should grab a few lures, in case you can't readily access bait (either fresh or bought). Suggestions of lure types have been discussed in other threads, so I won't go over that.

How to get fresh bait? Bait nets are the best, but, for a 1-off trip, is hard to justify buying one. Maybe find somebody who has 1 and look sad & they might take pity with you and throw you a few baits. Bait jigs work well off Seisia warf. The other option is to buy some pkt bait - prawns, white bait, Pilchards etc, which you will easily get from Seisia or Weipa.

Lots of luck, and let us know how you fare.

Scorcher

[Redback]

Redback,

I'm a bit of a fishing nut, and tend to take 10 fishing rods (but only use 3-4), a dozen reels, several hundred lures, enough hooks & lead to last a year, and ancillary gear that fills up half my 80 series, even just for a 3 week lightning trip into the Cape. I'll try my best to help you out though......

A couple of points:
From your itinery, you will only have a few land based opportunities to wet a line in "fishy" territory - Seisia, Vrilya Point, Weipa. I don't know anything about MickFein Waterhole, so can't comment on what's there...others may know.

July is not the "fishiest" of months, with Barra being harder to catch, if you were hoping to latch onto one of them.

From a land based perspective, I would guess that some of the primary species you will pick up at the time of the year will be Queenfish, Trevally, Black Bream and Salmon.

With not wanting to spend a lot of money on gear that may get little use, I would suggest that you will find a few combo's around the $100 range that will do the job (unless you hook onto a "train"). To give you a reasonable chance of landing a decent fish up in the Cape, I would suggest having a reel that will hold 10 kg line.

Lures vs Bait ? In your case, I would suggest that you should grab a few lures, in case you can't readily access bait (either fresh or bought). Suggestions of lure types have been discussed in other threads, so I won't go over that.

How to get fresh bait? Bait nets are the best, but, for a 1-off trip, is hard to justify buying one. Maybe find somebody who has 1 and look sad & they might take pity with you and throw you a few baits. Bait jigs work well off Seisia warf. The other option is to buy some pkt bait - prawns, white bait, Pilchards etc, which you will easily get from Seisia or Weipa.

Lots of luck, and let us know how you fare.

Scorcher

Thanks for that, I have an eye on 2 rigs at K-Mart and one might fit the bill, one rod is 6' approx with 15kg reel and line, the other is a colapsable beach rod, from looking at the info here I may go with the other rod and not the beach rod, both are under $100.

Thanks, Baz.

[Scorcher]

Thanks for that, I have an eye on 2 rigs at K-Mart and one might fit the bill, one rod is 6' approx with 15kg reel and line, the other is a colapsable beach rod, from looking at the info here I may go with the other rod and not the beach rod, both are under $100.

Thanks, Baz.

Yes, a rod about 6ft is fairy versatile. I've found that you don't need to cast long distances in the Cape to get to where the fish are, so a Beach Rod is usually overkill.

Scorcher

[plucker]

Yes, a rod about 6ft is fairy versatile. I've found that you don't need to cast long distances in the Cape to get to where the fish are, so a Beach Rod is usually overkill.

Scorcher

ON top of that the beach rod is harder to pack away than the 6ft er