sadamson Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 (edited) I got a call from a long time mate of over 30 years who now lives in Townsville, that he was ready for some salt water therapy as he was on the mend from a shark bite he got to his right ankle12 weeks ago while fishing the sand flats near his home. It was a nasty little bite 3 operations and 2 marine infections latter he was ready to go fishing. So I packed my gear jumped on the plane and off I went with the blessing of the wife. Thanks Fiona The plan was to spend 2 days out on the reef staying over night on Palm Island. I arrived in Townsville on Monday morning to be greeted by Alan and rain and 20-30 knot winds. CRAP. The weather for the past 6 days was perfect. Soon as I landed I know the reef trip would be off as we had to travel out 45 nautical miles out to sea. I settled in unpacked my gear and made new plans .After catching up as we had not seen each other for over a year (funny thing is it was the same story last year with the weather) So the plan was to fish the creeks . So next morning we put the boat in and headed across the bay to a place called Crocodile creek .Yes we did see a big croc on a mud bank it slid into the water every time we came past in the boat. We set up the mud crab traps and started fishing lots of little fish and I got so new species Grunter, Thread fin salmon, small hammerhead shark Catfish and Bream. We stayed over night in the boat and got tons of bits mostly from sand flies and mosquitoes you can only spray on so much spray. We checked the mud crab traps every couple of hours and got stacks. the rules in Queensland are very strict when it comes to Crabs we released over 50 crabs which would have be legal in NSW we kept 6 huge crabs which went into the pot when we got back great Chile Crab. But the wind did not stop combined with huge tides it made fishing hard. We headed home to cook the crabs clean the boat and sleep on a real bed. Next morning we put the boat into a creek only 2 klms from home 300 metres from the ramp we came across another croc sitting on the bank to close for me. Got some live bait and anchored up next to a nice looking snag cast in my bait less than 1 minute and it got smashed landed a nice 37cm Mangrove Jack. We moved about trolled some lures got hit by a Cod which was not much bigger than the lure. We saw a couple of Barra jump clear of the water and we hooked 1 but could not be stopped straight into the mangroves. Flicked a few SPs got a couple of bream. Sadly it was time to pack up to head home on Friday morning I was only on a 5 day pass and Alan had been off work for 12 weeks with his shark bite he had to go back to work. Had a great time with a good mate and we will be doing it again next year. Edited May 30, 2009 by Reggie the Rabbit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger Cam Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 Great report Reggie on a very interesting fishing adventure considering the adjustment you had to make No doubt it was the best therapy for your mates shark bite Nice photos too. Cheers, Cam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diver1 Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! chilli mud crab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cut_loose Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 Nice fish mate And love the rabbitohs hat go the bunnys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray R Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 (edited) Great report mate, it would have been a thrill to catch up with your mate and snare a few fish as well as those beaut looking muddies. The pics really tell the story, good on you.. Cheers.. Edited May 30, 2009 by Ray R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkymalinky Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 Tough break with the wind mate but glad to see you still got plenty of fishing done. You're tougher than I am... I wouldn't spend a night being eaten by sandflies even for a pile of muddies! You're going to be scratching for a week and then spotty for another couple after that. Some nice looking photos too Cheers, Slinky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robeebee Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 great report and pic's mate thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadamson Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 Great report mate, it would have been a thrill to catch up with your mate and snare a few fish as well as those beaut looking muddies. The pics really tell the story, good on you.. Cheers.. I know Tony i am scratching already and it happened to me last year i hate the little mongrels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squid hunter Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 great looking catches there reggie regards Squid Hunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plankton Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 Nice one. Have fished the same estuary and caught a few similar sized fish. Although, no crabs for me on that occasion. Those are beauties!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olitay Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 I have also fished that creek for a few Barra and fingermark. Nice report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooklineanddrinker Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 Mmmmmmmmm. Mudcrab..... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hookmeup Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Great catch & nice muddy reggy, although I would be a llittle cautious launching a boat with that sign right there in front of you, is it actually safe to wade into the water there, or is that the deckies job ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris 55 Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Nice Reggie they are some good looking Muddies Ahh the joys of sand flies in FNQ after our trip to Cairns last Sept took near 6 weeks to clear up the bites from one afternoon trip to the boat ramp while they ignored me, guess I must taste like crap we were instructed to always unload the tinnie and turn it sideways across the ramp while you kept an eye on the river that way the croc had to get past the boat to get to you and there were a couple of crocs lurking in the area Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain53 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 great report. not impressed with locals[midge/croc] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Good on ya Stephen, congratulations on scoring some new species mate and a nice feed of muddies . Pity about the wind and the sandflies though....they're mongrels . Catch ya soon, Chris... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckytom Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 OHHHHHHHHHH Yeah!!! THAI style mud crab, I can taste it now! Good on ya Mate...Tom the Yank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgema Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 great looking catch there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breambusters Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 Hey Stephen, Great report, good to see Griffo still kicking even only with one leg. Pitty about the weather mate. Next year has to be good, I possibly wouldn't mind going with you next year I would love to catch up with Allan and have a fish with you guys. Also a pitty you missed the trip to Thomos with Stewy last week I went up there with the family on Thursday and smashed em. check the post. Cheers Brad 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