Nicnat Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Hi All Rodhogger and myself have just returned from a 7 day DIY trip on a houseboat up in Weipa. We booked this trip almost a year ago and have spent the last couple of months frantically preparing the many bits & pieces required with anticipation reaching fever pitch a few weeks back. There was a total of 6 of us on the boat with RH and myself joined by another mate and his son, my father-in-law and a work mate. We didn't get off to a good start with half the party having their flight delayed out of Sydney and therefore missing the Weipa connection in Cairns. So rather than boarding the houseboat early the next day, we didn't get going until late in the afternoon. However, this proved to be the low point of the trip and as the week progressed just got better and better. Rather than cover every day I thought I'd hit the highlights as there is just so much to cover. So here goes the highlights of the best fishing week RH ever had ... 1. After the late start we anchored in the lee off a beach in a couple of meters of water and with darkness setting had a quick dinner and then put out some baits for sharks. Prior to the trip RH really really REALLY wanted to catch a big bitey and as soon as it got dark they came. It started off with a few 1 & 2 foot models until one of the bigger baits went off and RH set the hook into one that had one too many Red Bulls and went screaming off. A 5 minute fight followed with more and more line being lost and eventually we got busted off with close to 300mtrs of line missing. This was followed a little laterby a 2mtr shovelnose that we got to the boat. However, later in the week we stepped up the gear we were using and RH managed a couple of 1.5mtr models on 50lb that we pulled into the boat, one whaler or bull shark that went close to 2mtr that looked too angry to get into the boat and he hooked a couple of BIG ones that we didn't even get close to stopping!!! Have you ever watched 300mtrs of 50lb braid dissappear at a rapid rate with 15kg of drag set??? (the video is hilarious) 2. We spent one of the first days chasing salmon in the rivers as they taste great and go very hard and managed to catch a couple which we were thrilled about. After this we ended up anchoring near the mouth of one of the main rivers which has a rail bridge going across and the houseboat operator told us to throw some poppers around at night as the salmon chase bait there under the lights. Well when we got there to have a look there were fish going off everywhere. Huge splashes and boils everywhere and with 6 of us fishing for around 1.5hrs we managed to hook and release 70 plus fish (we lost count). Every cast either resulted in a hookup, big hit or bust off. We lost close to 20 or more poppers and other assorted lures and had some destroyed by the ferocity of some of the hits. We ended up fishing with crushed barbs and no leader as we got busted to often. It was absolutely insane and when we stopped around midnight (sore and covered in muck) they were still going ballistic! 3. Chasing jewfish under the same bridge on the slack of the tides (another local tip) we used plastics and twitched these under the pylons. Having caught a few jewfish down our way, I'm used to a good first run and then generally the fight gets a lot easier, even on larger fish. Not these northern jews - we went through a couple of packets of Gulps and Slam baits and every fish hooked went HARD. Generally straight for one of the pylons and other structure. RH did most of the fishing here and he got dusted big every time on solid 30lb gear that didn't make an impression on these fish. We actually netted a smaller model later in the week that was floating on the surface and almost dead as it had just busted off someone else with a big 10/0 hook and 60lb trace still in it's mouth. Bad ass fish! 4. Whilst we actually only went chasing Barra up the creeks a couple of time we ended up catching around half a dozen up to around 50cm. These are the tiddlers up there and need to be 60cm to be kept and the locals catch the bigger ones on live baits generally. We had a go throwing Gold Bombers and similar and was great fun doing stuff we had only seen on DVDs. Great heart starter twitching these lures out through a drain and watching a silver flash smash the lure as soon as it clears the muddy water. 5. Early in the week we anchored off this beautiful beach just south from the main river system and shipping channel. There is this great little creek that empties out and creates a nice set of sand bars and when the tide is rushing out through the main channel there were a heap of splashes made by fish chasing bait. We found out these splashes were Queenfish and tuna and they seem to be there virtually every day. The first couple of days as soon as the tide started to run out we would start throwing metal lures as these schools and have an absolute blast watching big Queenies engulfing the lures. On light spin outfits these things went hard (everything up there seems to hit hard & go hard ...) and RH managed a couple of 80-90cm fish that really stretched him. These things jump like crazy and with crushed barbs we only every landed 1 in 3, however with that many around who really cares. 6. Everywhere you go around Weipa you obviously see all the warning signs relating to crocs and being such a hot and sweaty place it's a real shame you can't go swimming. Arriving with our typical southern attitude we thought this was all a bit of BS and were even told that to see a croc would be a real bonus. Surprise, suprise then when we sight 4 crocs within the first 2 days all within a few miles of town. It made lure extraction from mangroves, anchoring and other such tasks that much more interesting. The place is generally alive with all sorts of animals and apart from fish jumping everywhere saw turtles, eagles, sea snakes, dolphins, rays and heaps of sharks. The place is absolutely buzzing with aquatic life. 7. By the last few days we were actually getting almost sick of fish, both eating and catching and had a few "quiet sessions" on the boat just watching fish busting up around us and taking in the scenery. If you don't mind it on the warm side of hot, it's a magic place. We even started to look forward to the afternoon storms coming through to have showers. I hope I haven't bored you with the above and have tried to keep things to highlights only as I could go on and on. RH was on fire all week and is already bugging me to go back. If you have ever thought of going, just do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogtooth Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Great report , Nicnat Good to see rodhogger rodbending......... I have planned a 6 week 4wd trip to weipa and cape york next year april and may ........ Cheers John..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 That is absolutely fantastic. Great read and some magic photo's there mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwineil Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 am sooo jealous - i ve been up that part of the world for work and the locals always rave about the fishing ... now i know why Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew399 Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Nice report mate, definately on my to do list! Looks like a top place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joel99 Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Awesome read Nicnat, sounds like you guys had an amazing time. Nothing beats the top end. My dad took me on a similar trip when I was around RH's age and 10 years later the memories are still some of the best I have. Looks like he enjoyed it to, well done to both of you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hookerbruce Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Thanks for an up to date report on Weipa. We will be there in three weeks. I'll spend a couple of days fishing the river then a week on the house boat. The rail bridge is fantastic spot where we've lost a lot of lures and had a great time when the tide is running. Some of those bust offs in near the pylons could have been the resident cod you just can't stop. If you get down the coast a bit the fishing around the bait balls is unbelievable. Were you on tillytoo or Tillymay Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesds Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Wow, what an awesome trip! I am so jealous. I just hope my travels around the tropics next year will get me some fish like that. Great post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanger Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 What a cracker of a trip!!!! Im very jealous!!! Well done on some great fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Brunker Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Great report Nicnat. You had to take a break because you were catching too many fish, I wish I could have that problem... Cheers Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewhunter Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Great report mate & awesome piccies as well. It's been almost a year since I did the same trip with some great mates. Gee I wish I was back there. I found your post very interesting as we did things alot differently & caught great fish as well. Just goes to show how good a fishery it is. The houseboats & tenders are well put together & the fishing options are endless. Glad to hear you had a fantastic time. Fishraider social in Weipa anyone? Cheers, Grant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicnat Posted April 24, 2009 Author Share Posted April 24, 2009 Great report mate & awesome piccies as well. It's been almost a year since I did the same trip with some great mates. Gee I wish I was back there. I found your post very interesting as we did things alot differently & caught great fish as well. Just goes to show how good a fishery it is. The houseboats & tenders are well put together & the fishing options are endless. Glad to hear you had a fantastic time. Fishraider social in Weipa anyone? Cheers, Grant. Hi Grant Thanks for your advice about taking lots of metal slugs & slices. We went through a heap of them and yes I agree totally that the fishing options are endless. I feel we barely got to know the system and there were a heap of other places we wanted to try and just didn't get around to them. Now that we have a better idea what we are doing we are already discussing the next trip!!! Put us down for that Fishraider social up there!! Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tan the fisherman Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Now that a TOP report - Lucky you could get the time off for such a great trip - when my 2 y/o gets to RH's age, we're going!! Thanks for a great read and great pics. Tan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jahajo Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 What a top report nic nat Goodwork RH on getting all those fish Cheers hazza Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WANNAFISH Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Wow that was good fishing trip. Now you have to top that off next time you go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erroll Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 sensational fishing and a top report, well done. cheers erroll Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rehab Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 Great report - I was wondering - I am heading up to Cape York and timing my trip around the tides / moons - did you do that when you all went up? I have been told it makes the difference between catching fish and catching nothing? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glennmreid Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 Great report. Love the photos. Weipa looks like an awesome place to fish, I am really jealous. Sounds like the species you catch is endless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnv Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 sounds like a great time had by all, by the look on the young felles face ,well done john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now