queensland Top End

[samsteele115]

Hey guys,

I've been up north past Lockhart River since last Friday with a mate and doing a bit of fishing. Currently having a rest day after 4 long magical weather days out on the reef and in the cooking sun. 

Its been neap tides and hardly any flow so far (thus fishing has been a little slow for some species) but things are starting to move a bit more now and should be firing in a few days time for the next reef trip. 

Here are a few pics! 

The shack 

The ramp

Restoration rock 

The town 

The rig (Liams renegade 420, same as what I used to own. Love those things!)

Day 1 on middle reef. Caught about 15 trout on the flats and 4 of the 7 species up here so far. All on Gobblers lures ripped past the shallow bommies. 

Day 2 on outer reef 50km offshore. Some bigger fish around and subsequent dustings. Lots of trout and co again. Nice bluefin trevally off the top. 

Amazing sights many sharks 

day 3 outer reef. Passionfruit trout and coronation trout. 

Day 4 Bligh Reef. Not many pics, but a stunning day! No wind all morning, it was HOT (Suffered heat stress later that day). Had a 100kg+ black marlin followed stickbait to the boat. Same with Wahoo. Caught 4 species of tuna so far (longtail, mac, skipjack, yellowfin) as well as 3 species of mackerel. Some big yellowfin 60km offshore but could only get small ones past the sharks. 

Lockhart River ramp

yellowfin sashimi. The best I've had 

Rest day feat. Iced filter coffee

Still over a week to go, will post more as the trip unfolds. 

Cheers,

Sam

 

[Old Scaley]

Sensational @samsteele115.  Looks like a top destination, are you staying put for the week or moving around the area? Stupid question really- why would you leave. Love the look of that passionfruit trout.

[samsteele115]

5 minutes ago, Old Scaley said:

Sensational @samsteele115.  Looks like a top destination, are you staying put for the week or moving around the area? Stupid question really- why would you leave. Love the look of that passionfruit trout.

Staying at a mates place in Portland Roads for 2 weeks

Sensational! 

[Kat]

As soon as I see you have posted a new report I get both excited and jealous!  I know I am always going to see big fish and beautiful locations - and can dream that one day it might be me in the pic instead of you lol.  

Looks like you are having a fantastic time with just the right amount of relaxation.

Sashimi looks fantastic - but where's the wasabi?

Cheers Kat

[samsteele115]

1 minute ago, Kat said:

As soon as I see you have posted a new report I get both excited and jealous!  I know I am always going to see big fish and beautiful locations - and can dream that one day it might be me in the pic instead of you lol.  

Looks like you are having a fantastic time with just the right amount of relaxation.

Sashimi looks fantastic - but where's the wasabi?

Cheers Kat

Haha Thanks Kat! You'll make it happen when the time is right.

Prefer ginger over wasabi! 

[Kat]

I like both!

[ellicat]

Top spot, beautiful. Some beaut fishing. A great mate to have.

Will you be able to tear yourself away to come back to your southern paradise ? haha

 

[Allnighter]

Woooooooooow

Hey ! Thats's MY dream you're livin !

Good onya Sam, froooothin......

[jon]

Unreal man, that’s paradise up there u lads must be eating like kings, love the colours on the passion fruit trout they are such a beautiful fish. Well done!!

[samsteele115]

Thanks guys! Having an enjoyable time that's for sure

[Brodie_S]

Wow it looks amazing up there good job on those coral trout . Idk if you know this or not but it’s a good idea to freeze sashimi before eating it I’ve heard stories of people having horrible experiences because they didn’t freeze the sashimi issues were due to parasites it’s not uncommon for fish to have parasites in them freezing them first kills the parasites . Looked like a awesome trip with quite a few decent fish landed awesome job on the reefies

[kmcrosby78]

Sensational Sam, I don't know what's more stunning, the beautiful fish you're catching or the crystal clear, coral-filled water you're catching them from. Enjoy mate - very jealous!

[benno573]

Awesome mate. Coro trout are the best eating fish in the sea IMO. Love the variety of captures. Hope the weather plays along for you for the rest of the trip.

[Drop Bear]

Yew how good! 

That is a bucket list for me for sure.

Do they rent out the house? 

I need to do something like this next year...

 

[Drop Bear]

11 hours ago, Breaming with bro said:

people having horrible experiences because they didn’t freeze the sashimi issues were due to parasites

This is especially good advice for freshwater fish.

"The US Food and Drug Administration recommends raw or semi-raw seafood be blast frozen to −35℃ or below for 15 hours, or be conventionally frozen to −20℃ or below for 7 days, as this will kill any parasites in the fish."

There are not too many parasites in salt water fish that will hurt you. If you cool the fish down in the fridge or on ice it is normally enough for marine species. There have only ever been 2 cases of infection from sashimi in Australia so it is extremely rare. 

[samsteele115]

16 hours ago, Breaming with bro said:

Wow it looks amazing up there good job on those coral trout . Idk if you know this or not but it’s a good idea to freeze sashimi before eating it I’ve heard stories of people having horrible experiences because they didn’t freeze the sashimi issues were due to parasites it’s not uncommon for fish to have parasites in them freezing them first kills the parasites . Looked like a awesome trip with quite a few decent fish landed awesome job on the reefies

Thanks mate! Didn't know that was the reason but usually do it anyway. No worries So far 

[samsteele115]

4 hours ago, Drop Bear said:

Yew how good! 

That is a bucket list for me for sure.

Do they rent out the house? 

I need to do something like this next year...

 

Na they don't rent it out. I think there might be a rental here though from what I've heard. Worth checking out. It's all off grid and inaccessible for most of the year so not really much of market for tourism/Airbnb etc.. i just got lucky

[samsteele115]

Had a quick go this morning. Caught tuna, trout, cod, GTs. This one sight cast on the flats

Hehe angle just for laughs

Just a medium one

[Kat]

Wow that first photo had me going!  Lol.  That destination is now on my bucket list too.

[Kat]

I just looked it up on Google maps.  It is only 1 day 5 hours drive.  Add on a boat and trailer and maybe two days.  Lol.  Any camp grounds up there?

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Great job Sam, that reminds me if the stories my uncle/grandma have told me about their commercial fishing on Swains, trout, lipper, reds! You are in a paradise right now! 
 

You’ll be having great feasts and fun on the reef. My uncle said if he gets better from his cancer we might do a trip up to Swains and catch some like that. (We have the family commercial fishing boat, haha).

Cheers Hamish 

[Old Scaley]

1 hour ago, Kat said:

I just looked it up on Google maps.  It is only 1 day 5 hours drive.  Add on a boat and trailer and maybe two days.  Lol.  Any camp grounds up there?

Might need a couple of extra drivers and a 4x4 to do it in a couple of days @Kat. The last 6 or 700ks you will be off the bitumen. Lots of great spots between your place and there so get that fourby, boat and trailer and take your time on the way up. You will have the road trip of your life. 

[Kat]

Just now, Old Scaley said:

Might need a couple of extra drivers and a 4x4 to do it in a couple of days @Kat. The last 6 or 700ks you will be off the bitumen. Lots of great spots between your place and there so get that fourby, boat and trailer and take your time on the way up. You will have the road trip of your life. 

Lol.  Yeah dreams are free though.

[samsteele115]

1 hour ago, Kat said:

I just looked it up on Google maps.  It is only 1 day 5 hours drive.  Add on a boat and trailer and maybe two days.  Lol.  Any camp grounds up there?

It'll take ya a week easy haha. Plenty of spots along the way that offers amazing reef fishing without being in the middle of nowhere. 

I think there's camping 20km south 

Edited December 13, 2020 by samsteele115

[samsteele115]

We got out to the outer reefs again today. Amazing conditions. Some big fish too! 

 

[John]

great photos and looks like a great trip.

[Brodie_S]

Awesome job on those reefies definitely would have been tricky pulling those fish out of the reef 

[GregOug]

Now I’m getting jealous

[Do$tylz]

13 hours ago, samsteele115 said:

 

oh man. That's a big ugly trout!!!

Amazing location and you are truly spoilt with those conditions too. Keep them photos coming so the rest of us keyboard/office warriors can live vicariously through you

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Sone more stunning photos Sam. Good work. Are you releasing or still keeping them? (Or a bitta both?).

Cheers Hamish 

[samsteele115]

Been eating fish every day but keeping only 1 or 2 a day. Released these trout as they didn't come from too deep and weren't showing visible signs of barotrauma. Plus don't wanna risk ciguatera in the bigger reef fish 

[Drop Bear]

Yew look at those Trout!!! Killing it mate well done. 

[kmcrosby78]

Sensational trout Sam - what gear/line did you need to stop it reefing you? 

[samsteele115]

9 hours ago, kmcrosby78 said:

Sensational trout Sam - what gear/line did you need to stop it reefing you? 

Good point. Fishing light was out of the question. Fishing for me has become a lot more about sustainability and lower impact (than say buying commercially caught fish) and less about sport. I got reefed twice on the trip but would have been a lot more back in the day when I used to like catching big fish on light gear. Each to their own! But not for me anymore, I don't like the guilt of leaving lures on the reef or a whole spool of line and lure in a fishes mouth.

Anyway, tangent. The gear used: 

10000 shimano saragosa with 65lb J Braid and 100lb Varivas mono shock leader. On a shimano Terez 40-80lb rod. 

Tight drags! I now have a bent spool shaft because of it. Thanks Mr trout. 

I also used a topwater setup: 

Penn slammer III big size (forget actual size lol) with 80lb J Braid and 150lb Varivas mono shock leader on a PE 6-8 Penn ocean assassin popping rod.

this was intended for a big GT but only managed small and medium ones this trip. And heaps of sharks!! Caught many on poppers which was weird and annoying. Kept one yesterday and it was quite a delicious change I must add 

[samsteele115]

I also think it's important to share "real" pictures. These are taken from the same spot. The plastic pollution problem up here isn't surprising but still very disappointing. We can all do better by minimising single-use conveniences especially now that there are a growing number of less harmful alternatives. Most common items: bottles and caps, cans, food packets, toothbrushes, cups. 

[Drop Bear]

Yep great to post those Sam,

Looks like a job for an OzFish clean up Australia Day... or month haha. 

[Drop Bear]

Here is something I found next level ironic. I wonder how this came to be? Makes me very sad. 

[Old Scaley]

24 minutes ago, Drop Bear said:

Here is something I found next level ironic. I wonder how this came to be? Makes me very sad. 

Do you mean the plastic kid’s toothbrush beside the bamboo ones? Or the plastic packaging on the bamboo toothbrushes?  Or both? @samsteele115 have you been up close to the tip on the gulf side of the cape? You would be shocked at the amount of rubbish on the remotest of beaches. Most of it with Indonesian labels. I guess they will become as environmentally conscious as we are when they are as rich as we are.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hey Sam

That is very sad. It just shows that places don't have to be crowded to get litter on them and how far some things travel. I wish Australia could have a system where they paid people to clean up (like how some countries pay people for each bag of trash they collect). 

@Drop Bear, that's sure ironic. I would wonder what people were thinking doing that. Sadly, I'm not sure that there are many other plastics/substances that are environmentally friendly and cheap to put things in.

Cheers Hamish  

[Drop Bear]

2 hours ago, Old Scaley said:

Or the plastic packaging on the bamboo toothbrushes?

Plastic packaging on bamboo toothbrushes. Seems to defeat the point.