raysenior

Yes frantic no shortage of fuel .320 ltrs on board .going up next weekend for A look around Cheers snr Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk 2

Sounds good guys, i will check it out soon before dragging the trophy that far !! cheers snr

Thanks guys .will do a recce trip soon and check out swr.thanks for the help Cheers snr Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk 2

Hi, My freind has moved to macksville and i want to exploer the outside fishing in that area, i have a 6.1 mtr Trophy and want to know what the bar situation is like there or other options if possible , where to launch a large trailer boat and perhaps a few locations to check out . any help will be appreciated. i will probably go there over the xmas break so if any local is keen to show me the area would like some company !! cheers snr

Hey Donna Have a good day , away over there, hope your having fun !!! cheers ray

I dunno Stewy.I think it scared some away lol Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk 2

Yes Jim but only one boat .the one we went on.they were catching plenty of mackerel.about two hundred a day.they were too busy to allow us on the boat this year but trung and i moored off the outrigger .there seemed to be only sharks there this year and lots of them .well over thirty .scary stuff!! Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk 2

Hi All, Thanks very much to Grant for his most informative report on this fantastic trip, we all had a ball and will be hard to beat on future trips, Gary and i spent a lot of time fishing together , trolling bibbed minnows and did a little bottom bashing trying to find out What lives down there,!!!!we spent copius amounts of time charting a large area around 3 mile reef and sounded some interesting spots with definate fish on the bottom , i would send down a patternoster rig with some bait with no great success except one smash up only on the bait, and Gary sent down a big paddle tail plastic , spiced with just a little bait to entice the big critters, and that he did , he got smashed big time by creatures unknown , with his rig locked up , still had no hope, finnally he managed to get one off the bottom and up comes this magnificent 1.05 mtr queenie, he sure had a smile on his face after that . shortly after that we were still hunting the bottom species when there was a bust up very close to our boat so I grabbed the closed rod available a 6kilo graphite stick with 1000series el cheapo reel and cast a nice little metal halco slice, , two cranks of the handle and i was on and seriously outgunned , but with some perserverence and expert boat handling by Gary we finnaly got this nice Mack tuna to the boat , pictured Gary holding as my camera was broke . Funny thing, Gary said hey Ray we got some nice fish under the boat some real nice arches showing on the sounder, great, we look over the side of our 14 foot polycraft and here 5 of the biggest Bull sharks lurking beneath the boat , its a good thing these critters are not too smart as they could easily tip us out of that boat , anyway we moved on, but theres so many of these things up there as soon as your catching fish the sharks are there. The rest of the trip has pretty much been covered by the other guys, what i will add as always .is the great time we all had and i can always count these guys as Mates . thanks again fellas!! Cheers snr

You guys have a safe and enjoyable trip.cya when your back . Cheers ray Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk 2

Hi all.This trip was a blast from start to Finnish. I want to thank all the guys for There participation.sorry my camera got destroyed on day one so no pics to add to the thread. The personal enjoyment for me was seeing all the guys getting into new species or personnel bests.including Garry and trung both scoring on Spanish mackerel.and Gary scoring a magnificent Queenie a tad ov. x,er a meter.they certainly were happy chappies .my biggest fish this year was a 1.23.mtr barracuda.we used him for shark bait that night and had a ball I'll add some more when I get to a computer. cheers guys Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk 2

Yeah Right, More to this than meets the eye, note the one long rope going from the fishes mouth back around its body then around its tail , then floating along in the current for many meters , this fish has wrapped itself around that bouy , not done intentionally by any human hand as suggested. my scenario would be enticed to the back of a boat with a big bait and took off with hook line and sinker , then got caught up on the bouy later. my 2c worth anyway. snr

Well done grant . Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk 2

Thanks for the info guys .fingers crossed on the weather. Snr Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk 2

Hi guys, heading to ulladullla for a fish. Weather permitting we will head for the shelf.will put out a four spread of lures. How far back should we set the teaser? Thanks in advance ray snr Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk 2

Great to see Berkeley get behind this .well done . Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk 2

Hi Bruce, Damn i was so tempted to contact you to join this trip of yours, you taught me so much about the weipa area i am in debt to you. but not enough time right now to do two trips this year. I highly recomend any fishraider to take up this offer , bruce and his crew will make you welcome and i am sure you will have a great time. weipa has so much to offer once you have been you just have to go back again. bruce i have sent you a pm . cheers ray snr

All EPIRB owners should also note that the label attached to the epirb should be renewed every 12 months , i just got nabbed with this recently (no fine though) snr

Macka , its illegal to bomb tuna snr

Merry Xmas to all fishraiders hope you do well over the holiday season :snr Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk 2

Hmm several come to mind lol Butchers Pr*ck = moari wrasse noahs ark = shark man in the grey suit = shark . reddies = snapper snr

HiPaul, send me a PM with any questions you have and ill try to answer for you . cheers ray

Hmm Sunday looks like it should be ok , I need a good feed of fish. snr

Weipa September 2012 Hi Fishraiders , Well after 13 months of arranging this trip it finally came to reality, Wednesday 12th September saw Troy and I meet up at Sydney airport for the trip up to Weipa, we arrived at 2.30pm and set off to pick up our previously sent up supplies. And set up camp at the camp grounds. Early Thursday morning Troy and i set out for a trip to the entrance channel to see if we could pick up a feed for dinner, plenty of trolling around the entrance channel markers resulted in no results, we could see the fish on the sounder but couldn’t raise a strike out of them .We then did some walking along the banks of one of the feeder creeks with lots of casting but once again no results. Same story, fish could be seen but not enticed to strike. Could even see Barra to 50cm cruising by !!!! very frustrating !! That afternoon of to the airport to meet the Bathurst Boys. Jim and his dad Charlie along with Todd and Rod. we are all eager for an early start on Friday with two guides lined up for the day. 7am Friday sees us on our way, we had planned to do only blue water in the area we were going on the houseboat. Our guides both Lee and Josh were a great help in showing us how to fish the area successfully. And gave a few marks for us to try . We scored heaps of different species on this trip but Jim done best with Lee setting him up with a magnificent sailfish after it was dropped on the lure and then enticed back on a skip bait, apparently it gave a good account for itself with lots of acrobatics. hopefully Jim will be along soon and put up pics . we all scored on Mack tuna and a few longtails were landed ,and a few lost to sharks , Troy picked up a big Barracuda, and we all picked up some small Spanish mackerel one of which was kept for lunch and enjoyed under the shade of a nice tree on the beach. On the return trip a troll around a rocky reef Area had me hooked up to some unknown sea monster for about twenty minutes until a huge sea turtle reared its ugly head from the depths and shattered my illusions of success.!! By and large a top day was had by all . A highly recommended team if you want details please send me a PM. Saturday morning 7am and time to get onto the houseboat , by the time all the formalities are done we are on our way southward about 9.30 am for the 3.5 hour trip to Boyds Bay, our anchorage and home for the next six nights. Next morning we all head out to 3 mile for a go at the longtails , with all crews getting into the action, but Jim was by far the winner getting into some great fights to get the fish boatside before the man in the grey suit showed up , believe me once the sharks move in its damn hard to get a fish into the boat , 8 to 9 foot Bull sharks are very common here and im sure if you fell into the water it will be history for you !! Nigh time entertainment was usually supplied by jim , who always appeared to have a fishing rod in his hand from dawn to dusk , many large sharks were enticed to take tuna heads from the houseboat and some were as big as 8-9 foot easy , even a big groper with a mouth that could swallow a man was bought boat side , and released carefully i might add as barbless hooks were used for these little adventures. A trip down to Norman creek was in order so Rod and i set out one morning for the 45 minute trip down , not a lot of fish as encountered here on previous trips but Rod scored a smallish queenie on a popper at the entrance to the creek in the run out tide ,and I scored a couple of Dart, great little speedsters they are. we trolled up the creek for a Barra but were too slow and got smashed by something that hit the mangoves in a big rush , Bugger another 25 dollar lure gone!! The wind was up on the way home so we took our time and slow trolled some minnow lures, I quickly hooked up to my first decent Spanish mackerel of about 7 kilo which was kept for the dinner table , not to be out done shortly afterward Rod scored another one of about 10 kilo this one we released as enough food was had by then, a couple more hits but no more hook ups. Next morning Rod and I went out to 3 mile to chase some tuna , but the sharks were the winners on this day getting us about 6-0 , so we went for a troll around Pera reef to see if we could find some more Spanish , I got a great run and seemed to have a good fish on but when i finally landed it it was a nice longtail that was foul hooked around the gill area, sure gave it a bit more weight through the water. She swam away to live another day . Most days the sea breeze arrived around mid day and lazy afternoons were the order of the day, a couple of times the breeze dropped off about 4pm and allowed a bit of local trolling or casting poppers over the reef , one such afternoon I went for a solo troll around the front of Boyds Bay and had a pleasant surprise of my first cobia catch, caught on the troll this fish gave a magnificent account of itself on the gear I was using and did 3 ariels during the fight ,the first one clearing the water by at least 4 foot , sorry but the pic is only with the cobia on the floor of the tender, I measured it at 34 inches long and released it to fight another day. Very little shore based fishing was done this trip which is a pity as a great many species can be encountered this way, and with light gear is very enjoyable fishing to say the least. Our last day on the housebout saw two crews head down to Norman creek , i scored my first diamond trevally , not a big fish but a first nonetheless, Troy scored his first Barra at about 60 cm long , and lost a small queenie too i believe, our trip down there was short lived as one on the tenders suffered an engine failure up the creek ( lucky for two way radios) , we went back and took it in tow for a two hour trip back to the housebout , and a sore back too boot. Our last night in Boyds Bay was a real eye opener, we had made friends with one of the professional Mackeral boats and were invited over to view the cleaning of the days catch, and to watch the surrounding array of fish, Absolutely unbelievable is the only words for it , everything from small baitfish to huge sharks all swimming around getting a free feed, there were Cobia estimated at 30 kilos easy, GT’S about 4 foot long at least 30 kilos, all different kinds of trevallies , the list goes on and on, Jim Had a ball hooking up on several of the cobia, which gave him a real helluva fight , one even straightened the gaff trying to lift him, then he hooked up on one of the big GT’s and got wrapped up in the broken line with a cobia still attached. He very nearly got hold of his leader again but the cobia once again won its freedom. . Next morning saw us up bright and early for the long trip back to weipa, and the long wait for another 12 months before getting to return to this magnificent place. Cheers Ray.

Hi, Troy scored a Barra at Norman creek about 60cm i believe, engine failure cut this session short after about an hour and required a slow tow home of about 2hours. cheers snr