ESKeption!

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hi all

On Boxing Day, my family decided that we would go to Esk for a couple nights as a nice little camping trip. It was in the back of our minds for a while, but this decision was very quickly made. We packed our bags, and after loading the yak and the  5 x pushies on the car we set off. A loud drive with my siblings arguing (and me too) was had, but eventually we got to the Esk Caravan Park in the mid arvo. We pitched the nine man tent (it works great @ellicat), and set up our camp. After about an hour and a half our camp was set, so we went for a little ride.

We then had dinner, which consisted of left over Christmas ham and salad. Mum went to her motel room (what kind of person books a motel room on a CAMPING trip!) and Dad and my siblings (and me) went back to camp. We read our books for a bit, but then went off to bed nice and early.

The following morning we were all up nice and early, and after a bit of time we went for a ride on the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail. We did this for a bit under an hour, but then complaining from my brother was too relentless so he got his way and we set back to camp  It was a nice big track, and was good to get outdoors for a ride. 

The next significant part of the trip was going to Somerset Dam. We had the yak loaded on the roof, and I knew there would be some ski lice there... It was a nice drive up and around, but when we got there, it was absolutely disgusting how many jetskis and water ski boats there were. Probably about 200, and that's all I could see! They were all doing the same thing, just taking their boats up, and doing whatever in it. You wouldn't want to be out in a yak in that, which is for sure!

Everyone was rather disappointed, so we looked up on Google maps for other water access. There was a river crossing somewhere four minutes away (I do not recall the name) so we drove there. It was the Upper, Upper Brisbane River, I believe up from Wivenhoe but below the Ski Boat Central at Somerset. It wasn't exactly full, but Dad and I trekked right over to the other side to fish in a bit of water. I had a spinnerbait on the overhead reel. It goes great on the new Shimano Cranx Rod I got for Chrissy.  

I did one cast, then another, than another. All up, I covered pretty much the whole body of water (not big by any means) in about 20 casts. Seeing as though everyone else was waiting we had to get back to the car quick. I didn't even know if you could catch fish in there, but now I can say that I have fished in a puddle officially  

Fishing away

Quick Stats:

Weather: Sunny, little breeze

Tackle Used: 15lb and 20lb braid mainline and fluorocarbon leader, a golden spinnerbait, Diawa Mag ci4 reel, Shimano Cranx Baitcast rod.

Fish Caught: 1xSquat all

We got back to camp and all ate dinner at the Red Deer Cafe. It was delicious, and we still had left over Trifle for desert, Yummo!)  The next morning was to be our fishing time. We decided to hit Wivenhoe (only ten mintues away) and got ready for an early departure. Permits were purchased over the phone, kayak and rods were ready, and the alarm was set. We woke up a bit before four thirty, and set off to get to the dam.  My dad had found a possible launching spot, so once we got to that road (Paddy Gully I believe) we drove. Then, we found a sign saying,

"PRIVATE PROPERTY! NO ENTRY!".

That was disappointing, so we headed on to Hays Landing Boat Ramp. We were there a bit after five, and I believe we were in the water at around 5:30AM. The water was so low the boat ramp was blocked off unfortunately, so we had to carry/drag the yak over some long reeds to get down to the water. 

Lovely Sunrise

I had a spinnerbait and my dad had a green, deep diver on. We fished the bank the same side as the ramp at first, or at least in that area. We would cast out, then do different retrieves each time. After about 20 minutes of nothing here, we moved spots to the other side. On paddling over, we noticed that it was full of life with everything surfacing everywhere. We found out some were turtles as we kept seeing their heads poke up, and after some more casts we still got nothing around here.

Now, we paddled out to the middle of the little cove of water. There were lungfish surfacing everywhere, and we kept seeing their backs going out of the water. Then, we saw this weird thing. It had a rectangular head, not a snout... Kind of like a mega eel. He went back down, and we figured it wasn't a turtle, so if anyone may have an idea what it might be it would be appreciated. Lungy?

My dad was reeling in  as I was looking away, than I heard the sound of line screaming. I turned around and asked what was happening, and I got the response, "I'M ON!". This brought excitement to the yak, and it was only about quarter past six at this point. He asked if I wanted to wind it in, but I let him go for it. If he got it up it would be his first fish on a hardbody. First before me! 

The fish kept running away, and it didn't want to stop. After about 3 minutes of back and forth, Dad got him up. We saw the leader, hoping for a big Aussie Bass... Then, all our hopes were crushed. Guess what surfaced? A 60-70CM Forky. . We didn't even bother bringing him into the yak, and I just paddled us to the bank. I gave dad the pliers and he got the lure out of it's gob, then we let him back. He went through the reads after a nasty shove with the paddle, which I believe it deserved. 

Noooo!

We did about another hour of casting, in the same spot and different spots, as well as some trolling. I changed lures to a smaller spinnerbait, but still could not manage anything. We trolled back to the ramp and had no touches to whole way which was disappointing. There was a South-African fellow (we could tell from his accent) back at the ramp who said he catches many catfish here. He was putting his yak in, but I could only assume it would be boiling with the sun coming up. We packed up the gear into the car and said bye-bye to Wivenhoe. 

Quick Stats:

Weather: Sunny, no breeze

Fish Caught: Forky x 1

Tackle Used: 12lb and 15lb braid mainlines, 20lb leaders, deep diving hardbodies and spinnerbaits, Abu Garcia Veritas on Diawa Shinboi 2500, Shimano Cranx  rod, Diawa ci4 Baitcaster reel

Time Fished: About 5:30AM-7:30AM 

Back at camp, we went for another ride on the trail, and then it was time to pack everything away. We were out by eleven, and we had a slight detour to go to the Condensery at Toogoolawah . An interesting story behind this; it was the first place to make Condensed Milk in Australia, Nestle stuff, and was a massive factory with the train going by. It had burned down in '51 I believe, and the remaining building was refurbed and in 2015 was made and opened into a museum. It has some nice art in there, but I noticed it was all by the same people (Christine Chapman and some other fella) and all for sale. We left after some food, and had to go back to the Caravan Park to pick up a left behind dog collar, and then set off home.

Help me!

We got home and unpacked, which was nice. Overall, I think it was a nice little spot for a couple nights. Good facilities, wide range of accommodation, and a couple things to do nearby. Esk Caravan Park. Now, I'm trying to convince Mum and Dad to take us to Tallebudgera Caravan Park, so we can try for some whiting, flatties, breambo, and Jack's under the big bridge. 

I hope you enjoyed the report everyone. Thanks for reading!

Cheers Hamish

[ellicat]

Good couple of days camping there. Are you allowed campfires ?  Glad the tent is doing its job.

Did you lose your dog ? haha

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

29 minutes ago, ellicat said:

Good couple of days camping there. Are you allowed campfires ?  Glad the tent is doing its job.

Did you lose your dog ? haha

Hi Brian

Yep, it was some good fun. They had the biggest fire pit I’d ever seen which I would’ve made a massive teepee and log cabin in laced with eucalyptus leaves, but alas the fire ban signs were up .

My sister wanted to give Lily Dog a run through the washing machine for dogs they had there. Guess who left the collar on the top of it? Lol. My dad has a few more good photos of the trip he will hopefully post up if he gets his gear together and logs on!

Cheers Hamish

[ellicat]

Haha.

Shame about the fire ban.

[kmcrosby78]

Fun trip and very well written recount Hamish, well done.

[rayke1938]

wivenhoe home of he of the forkies  they love hardbodies with a rattle in them. They are not as active in the winter. they go hard and are delicious smoked.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

On 01/01/2021 at 7:45 AM, ellicat said:

Haha.

Shame about the fire ban.

Yep, sure was!

17 hours ago, kmcrosby78 said:

Fun trip and very well written recount Hamish, well done.

Cheers KM, glad you enjoyed it.

5 hours ago, rayke1938 said:

wivenhoe home of he of the forkies  they love hardbodies with a rattle in them. They are not as active in the winter. they go hard and are delicious smoked.

Ah, no wonder we got one then Ray! Thanks for the tip on smoking them, something I’ll need to try one day.

Cheers Hamish