Weipa Report September 2008

[TobyW]

Just Got back from Weipa and it was AWESOME...

If you haven't had the chance, Grab some buddies and get up there before Rio Tinto open up there second Mine and Port, and the place changes for the worse..

Day 1

Got there a day early as I booked the wrong flight online, Checked into Caravan park, grabbed some cold beers and beer coolers and headed to rocky point for a LB sess.. Lost a couple of lures as decided not fish Bait, saw some Queenies smashing Bait less than a meter from me, and Barra getting Air, but could not hook anything with life.. Some local Ladies of indigenous heritage came down with there 150LB Hand lines and casting net, and cleaned up on some Catfish & Barra.. Interesting technique of hooking up to fish and dragging in whilst sitting down on rock.. Once the fish got to Shore they left it on the bank and threw stones at its head till it was lifeless (10 mins..) interesting techniques they had.. Regardless I ended up chatting to a few of the locals and they were very friendly, and hospitable.. They tried to teach me Cast Netting in a nice 30Kn Wind which didn't work too well.. Back to the Caravan Park for a night of Prep with Rods and Gear.. Acouple of the other ads on Charter arrived and ended the evening at Bowls club with Beers and Burger

Day 2

We board the House Boat, and head to location A, Outside a nice river mouth, The Arrangement was 6 x Crew + Skipper and Chef, Houseboat with 2 x Polycraft Tenders w/ 60Hp Yams on the back...

We Hit the Markers hoping for GT's, The other boat picked up a huge Golden trevally, My first fish was a tiny little Tea Leaf Trevally.. Up ther RIver we head in search of Barra But tide was a little high so we hit the River Mouth and COme across some Queenies & Barracoota which were our boats only real Action for the day.

Back to the House Boat we go for Beers and Dinner and then we Rig up for some Beer and Sharking.. Wasnt long before we had some Whalers at the back, and Fisrt Hook up for me was a nice 2.5m Bronzie ( I was Sure they were Bronze Whalers But my fish ID book suggests you dont get them that far north.)

Using TLD 30 I hooked up to 5 nice sharks, got 1 to the boat, and installed some confidence in my knot and Plait efforts as all lost fish were pulled or bent hooks..

Next morning up at Sparrows and back to the Markers we Head whilst HB head south to next Anchor Pos.. Markers Delivered some Golden Trevs and What we call a Mackvalley/Weipa Yakka (long trevally type fish yet to be Identified, also looked like Giant Yakka with similar flesh to Yakka)

We then Troll for 4hours for Zip... What!!!?? Not Happy Jan.. Back for Lunch and then Head out to a nice Deep Gulley that Heads out Wide.. Trolled for 30mins ith Heaps on the sounder but no Hits and I decide to Drop a knife Jig whilst still in Gear.. As Im bringing up Jig My other TLD Goes Off and Im onto Nice solid Fish.. 20mins Later I bring a nice Long Tail BF tuna on Board.. Great Fish and Im Pumped, Blood Everywhere and some nice Sashimi for DIns..

More Sharking that Night and Pick up some Squid and "Blurters" from the mothership..

Day 3,

There are reports of More Tuna Outwide and we're off at Sunup, End up chasing schools for fisrt half of day. Efforts delivered more Tuna and first Spanish Mack about 1.2m.. As we return to house boat there are a couple of Tawny sharks at the back which Chef is feeding.. One of the other guys is 30mins into a GT off the front of the boat, and I spy another GT Dart in for a bate.. I had a rod with Popper Ready nearby so out she goes and as Popper gets back to boat on first Cast the GT appears from nowhere and smashes it... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

I saw all this happen 1m from me, watching from above.. Awsome sight I'll never forget

He heads for some Bommies and I realise Im fishing 15lb Mono on a 4500 Baitrunner.. Farkk... Turn him away and somehow he heads out away from reef.. I'm allready knackered from the outwide Tuna on Light gear from earlier, My arms are aching.. 40mins Later I have him almost boatside and the sharks turn up.. Ended up having Tug-o-war with a tawny having his Tail in mouth and me pulling him closer to net.. In He goes and Im calling for a beer and a chair.. Could hardly hold im up for Photo... Released to see another day after some quick snaps..

Spent the arvo Bait fishing a Drop off for some reef species and played get em to the boat before the local noahs gets them.. Hooked some sharks a couple of times and they put on a nice display of aerial jumps before being busted off.. Spent the rest of the night sinking tinnies in large quantities..

Day 4.

Off to the Reefs we went to work the plastics... Coral Trout, Queenies, Tusk fish, and plenty of Wirra.. All on plastics.. Nuc Chicken should be banned up there to keep them there for generations to come... Arvo was spent working wash around a headland Site Casting for cruising Queenies and GT"s..

Day 5

Heading back north we hit the reef again for more of the above, pass the Markers again for more Trevally and tried for some Black Jew (no Joy) Chased a huge school of Tuna that spooked really easily, proved to be quite a challenge to hook up, Birds were working them hard, and Dolphins were keeping them busy too...

We Then Did a 10K run across the bay to our Estuary spot in glassy conditions.. was a great Run and reminded me of what holidays should be like

We anchor close to a nice Rock bar and grab some travellers to keep us hydrated for next mission.. Wind was perfect for the drift and before too long I meet Mr Jack.... BANG!!!!! The Bugger stole my Gold bomber and I was starting to get a little distressed about my loss until I hooked my first Barra.. Ony went 55cm but I was stoaked, and it was fish I wont Forget.. Ended up with Barra, Mangrove Jack and FingerMark for Dinner. It was my first HB Lure Fishing and I furkin loved it.

Day 6

up the Creek we go and work the mangroves.. Took me about half the day to get my casting in check, but once in we were all hooking up to Barra, MJ, and FM with the odd Pikey Bream and Coota making appearances.. I'm really getting hooked on the Barra fishing by now..

Day 7

More Creek work and More Fish, had a Hot Live Bait session on a creek mouth that delivered heaps of Species and plenty of great Fish.. More HB fishing for the rest of the Day and made the most of last light with some great Barra hook ups..

In Summary it was an awesome experience and I hooked up to all the Fish I had hoped to plus more.. Weipa's Tides are Weird due to Gulf and location.. some days have 2 tides, next day may have 4.. A run in may stop halfway through, and you think it will turn but it will continue on running in..

Wind was predictable, In from the NE in the Morn, Swing to the West around 2pm, but was not too strong on average. Temp was around mid thirties for most part and humidity was there but not as bad as wet season..

Local Tackle store was well stocked and surprisingly most stuff was cheaper than in Sydney. ( food and petrol are not on the other hand)

Got back home on SUnday night around 2130 to find my electricity had been disconnected.. (Energy Australia you unsavoury characters..) Had to wait around for 4 hours before they reconnected it.. FIsh tank was sitting at 16 degree's (norm 29) and had not been filtered in 3 days... Fortunately all fish (texas Cichlids + a snail called Gary) are battlers and are having party now as I Type.

Sorry for Bad Spelling or Grammar.. Im still knackered as Straight into work today and back to reality..

Ive probably missed a few details, and most photos were taken on others camera's so will update in next couple of days or so..

Get to Weipa people, and if you haven't Fished for Barra with Lure... Put it on the list up the top.

Ive been thinking about doing a weekend up in NT for the Barra when they are really firing over summer (wet Season), FLy up Fri back on Mon.. Anyone else interested in a quick dash up north for some Mundi???

[knuckle]

Tobyw,

Awesome post mate and fantastic pics also.

Cheers

Knuckle

[robeebee]

great report mate

what an awesome trip

[double pluggers]

Good one Toby a trip like that should make going to work just a little easier for the next few weeks. Sounds like you had a blast, I think you might find the bay fishing a bit slow in comparison.

[Ray R]

What a marathon read, all worth it though , great holiday had , and you obviously enjoyed every minute, great read and pics, good onya, thanks for sharing the experience of a lifetime.. Cheers...

[Steve07]

What an awesom trip Toby,great report & photo's of all the action mate.Brings back lots of memories for

me as well, been there a 3 times now & simply love the place.Once you get the casting spot on in the river's

amongst the snags the barra fishing is very addictive & top fun,with the gold bomber one of my favourite

hard body lures to use up there.The bluefin tuna,queenies & big trevally are awesome fun to catch as well.

Like you said its a great part of the world,the fishing can be mindblowing & its a trip that if you can you just

have to do at least once in your life.

Well done & the hardest part of experiencing fishing like that is you have to come back to fishing in your own

back yard in sydney & we all know what a big difference that is.

cheers mate

Steve

[loxo]

I'm so jealous

Great report mate, sounds like an awesome experience.

[Robbielites]

Nice work!!!!

480 views and 6 replies........

I am guessing there is a bit of winter envy going on

Feel free to PM me the next batch of photos

[Red]

Sounds like you all had a ball. Love the pics.

Cheers

Red

[duke]

Hi Mate,

Looks like a great charter, could I get the details P.M if you wish

Thanks

Duke

[Penguin]

Well done, looks like a fun fishing adventure.

penguin