Ellicoight's Big Adventure haha

[ellicat]

I've put this report into the Camping section rather than Fishing Reports for reasons that will become obvious later on.

I did the report because Rocket75 asked for it - so blame him hahaha (J/K Rod)

It would seem somewhere around the 3rd of January I turned into the Glenn Robins character Russell Coight . I'm sure I've always had a bit of him in me, but not to the recent extent

Before leaving I was working like a dog to get some work out of the way before we left to "seek sun"Â. The trip was decided on only a day or two before we left and there was a bit to get ready and to buy as well as the work. Intention was to leave about 8am on the 3rd. But some last minute work problems saw me have to work until about 2:30 that morning and then start all the packing etc when I got up . So ended up not getting away until just after 2pm. The packing wasn't up to my usual standard (dealing with some new items) and we took extra water as we ran short last time. In the end the boat had a bit of extra weight than normal. I looked at it from behind at some stage after we had left and thought the trailer wheels looked to be a bit splayed "nah, that's an optical illusion"Â I told myself unconvincingly. A look from the side and then a feel under the mudguards told me I was going to have to avoid pot holes at all cost - only about 15mm clearance over the tyre. It was a Coight gamble that fortunately only resulted in the trailer self-braking occasionally. The tyres are a little smoother around the middle and the underside of the mudguards are a bit shinier than before. :S

With limited exploring time on the first day, we decided to head straight for the old faithful spot at Gibraltar between Texas and Yelarbon. It rained most of the way there, but we could see the blue sky in the west and that kept the spirits up. Sure enough it fined up as we neared Inglewood. There is a shortcut road before you get to Inglewood that takes you down the east side of Coolmunda dam and as you drive along you can look to the west and see the water in the distance. Last time I was out there in September/October there was no water visible at all - just dead trees and earth. This time, as we passed, the water was only a few hundred metres from the road - never seen it that close before - yahoo! :woohoo: Certainly got the dreaming into full swing.

We reached our destination just before dark and rushed to get the new tent and new toilet room setup before dark. With military organisation we managed it with enough time to spare to have a quick look at the river from atop the bank and then watch a beautiful red sunset. Despite the clouds building in the east I took my second Coight moment to gleefully recite to the wife and kids "Red sky at night - Shepherds delight"Â (meaning it was gonna be fine weather). Apparently there mustn't be any shepherds in the area as we had some overnight precipitation. We did however awake to a fine and somewhat steamy morning. After the long day beforehand we took the day slowly and organised a few things to make the camp more comfy and then the wife and kids had a quick splash in the river while I set some shrimp traps.

I like camping away from everyone and the river is long and has plenty of access points. A bloke and his kids showed up from Warwick right where we were camping. Had a chat and they'd caught some cod at Bonshaw weir (about40kms away) the day before. They thought where we were would be worth a shot too and talked of putting in some set lines etc. My mind kept saying "You're kidding buddy! F off mate, F off . Not here. Go away". I breathed a sigh of relief when he took my suggestion at some other places where I'd got onto some previously. Phew! - they didn't return. :whistle:

About 2pm we ducked into Texas to get some bread, a couple of small tarps for extra shade and pay a quick drop in visit on my dad. He wasn't there. With no mobile coverage on my phone we headed to the phone box and tracked him down getting rained on at the Gold Coast. Haha - sucked in I thought. Then it started to rain on me. :pinch: We headed back to camp. It rained non stop all night and the next day. I wandered around the camp site in the rain setting up extra shelter where we could have a smoke away from the kids and also an extra bit off the tent awning. This one proved to be a Coight move also as it changed the water flow off the tent fly and ended up creating some leakage into the kids side of the tent.

Normally I'm a stickler for wearing good footwear in the bush to protect against bities and burns etc. However with the wife along and wanting to get out of wet shoes I let my guard down and opted for some thong-time. :cheer: Naturally during this time a species of ground wasp managed to take a chunk out of my toe. Ouch! - it stung like a bastard despite the use of half a litre of Stingose. :evil: Even the next day it was uncomfortable. Also, when I went to change from the thongs I managed to find the only patch of burs around with my bare foot.

Anyway on a brighter note, although I hadn't had a fish and it was day 3 I had a heap of shrimp from the traps. Carrying my live bucket down the bank the aerator slipped off and stopped working. No problem - I had a spare. Well the spare wasn't working either after a dose of salt during the BRC. *^$^(&*) this - nothing seemed to be going well. Managed to get them both working in the end though.

We'd planned to move on if the weather didn't play it's part but with the new palace tent and a toilet room and a smokers house erected and all of them wet it was too much of a task to be bothered so we battled on.

Finally towards the end of day 3 the rain eased off a bit. Got the blow up boats inflated and dragged out and setup the fishing gear for everyone and headed down the bank for my first fish of the trip. Well this is where the Russell Coight in me completely took over proceedings.

First I busted the top runner on Mitch's rod that I was going to use to toss some HB lures with. :blush: So I put that aside and decided to run my heavier spinnerbait rod with the HB lure instead and use an old Daiwa rod and reel that the wife normally uses for the spinnerbait. Having never used it for this purpose before I thought I'd give it a test cast from the bank before leaving in the blow up. It cast well - straight onto a snag - couldn't believe my luck. :blush: Oh well, not to worry I'll just paddle out when I launch and retrieve it. (Left the Tackleback at home ). So I set up my tray of lures and the HB rod in the blowup . The blow up had only half the bottom inflated because the Murray I got in October pierced one of the cells :blush:. Also when I caught that one I got so excited I dropped and lost one of the little paddles :blush:. So this time I had a large double ended aluminium offset paddle I found in the shed. I was to quickly discover that this is near useless, cumbersome and just made me frustrated. :evil:

So I went to get in the boat and slipped and nearly ended up A over T in the river :blush:. I stood up and noticed I'd set up the boat backwards :blush:. A quick adjustment and I was off. Grabbed up the line on the snagged spinnerbait rod. (The rod was propped up on the bank). Pulled on the line and it was coming pretty easily. Then the wife yells out to me that I've just pulled the rod and reel in. ^*$^%!!! :blush: Fortuantely it was just within her reach. I got it off her and began heading downstream - trolling the spinnerbait and casting the HB. Managed to hook up a submerged tree with the spinnerbait so paddled back using the piece of crap paddle and then off again towards cod hole number 1. I could barely get to it - the weed was thick enough to walk on. I couldn't believe it - it was thick from top to bottom with only a couple of clear patches of water showing - absolutely hopeless for tossing lures . So I started casting towards and under the willows.

Managed to launch the HB into one of the willows about 3 foot above water level. :blush: Great!!!. Tightened up the drag and wound myself across the river to retrieve it. Good idea that - burying the hooks deeper into the branch. :S Whilst trying to get that out I managed to get the other rod tip in amongst the willow too and snagged the spinnerbait. :blush: $hit!!. Get that out first then - easy. Then with a bit of a tension curve in the HB rod I managed to set the HB free. I let it go and it flung across and the trebles tangled with the spinnerbait (through the blade swivel as well) . After that I got the $hits and paddled back - by hand!! :whistle: The rest of the family said nice things but I still sulked like a spoilt child for a few minutes. :pinch:

Checked the traps again and retrieved a few shrimp and headed back (with the kids paddles) to the clear patch in the water with some shrimp. I couldn't help myself and trolled the spinnerbait on the way. Of course it got snagged up in the weed on the way, so I opened the bale and just left it out there. I scraped across the top of the weed until I was in a good position to lob the shrimp into the hole. Well &*%$ me if I didnt lob it straight onto the edge of the weed and snagged it as well :blush:. I almost cried. :pinch: Decided I'd had enough and it was nearly dark so untangled and headed back. The family had gone back to camp by now, but little Dan came down to help me bring in some gear. He asked if he could have a cast with a shrimp while I got my gear together. Sure. Well he had a bite (as the lucky prick always does) but didn't hook up. Then when winding in he thought he had a strike (just a snag I reckon :whistle:) and he yanks back and his rig comes flying out of the water narrowly missing my head but managing to rap around the two rods in my hand about a dozen times. If we'd had mobile coverage I'd have called the asylum right about then.

At least the rain had gone for now so went back to camp and only just managed to get the all important campfire alight with wet sticks. The bottle of metho sure helped ( if I'd taken cordial I might have drunk it ) :laugh:.

Stayed up late and woke up late the next day to find the sun shining and the birds chirping. Around lunchtime, with renewed spirit, we boys talked mum into another night, seeing as the weather now looked good. And to be honest I couldn't face packing up . We might have time to fish Coolmunda the next day too. So we made a list of things we would needed to stay the extra night (like toilet paper and milk and sugar for coffee) and headed into Texas with the idea of calling in on Dad again. Well of course all the bloody shops are closed on a Sunday out there. Just as well they have a servo with some extras. Stayed too long at my dads and didn't get back until around 4pm. Went down to have a bit of a freshen up in the river.

Just after walking into the water, a ute pulled up at the top of the bank and a bloke hops out and tells us that he's a local and had just received a call from someone in Texas to say they've just witnessed a 3 to 4 foot wall of water come through the river there. Well that's just great :S. Got the kids out of the water and went back to camp. At least this would be exciting to watch. We waited and waited.

A wet cattle dog cross showed up out of nowhere (about 30kg - info for Rocket75). So we said g'day to him and then went for a look as to where he'd come from.

I went for a wander down to the river. Yep - no wall of water but she is rising pretty fast and is up about two foot or so and the run is getting stronger. I guess the bank is about 6 metres high where we were so at this point I was thinking all good if it comes up 4 feet. The dog tried to cross back over but the current was too strong and getting worse. We think the dog must have been washed downstream and from the other side. We called him back out of the water as he had absolutely no hope of crossing back. We went for a walk upstream a bit and whistled to see if we could get the owners attention without success.

The flooding river got higher and higher and we watched in amazement. At 10pm it was still coming and the sound of trees breaking and seeing them wash down the river was awesome as well as daunting. The decision was made to leave. So at 2am we were all packed up and on our way back. The water at this point was close to a metre and a half from breaking the bank where we were.

It was pretty sad leaving the dog behind:( . We had nowhere to put him and figured he'd find his way back when the flood water subsided. He ran along beside the car as we drove off:(

The trip back was interesting with some water in the floodways etc and the Condamine in Warwick was in flood too. The first time I've seen it that way since about 15 years ago.

I'll post some photos up later.

Sorry about the novel length, but it just kept coming lol.

[kriso]

that was a great report and woulda been a great funniest home videos set hahahah

[Angus]

HAhahaha. Written only as Ellicat could

Angus

[rumrunner]

before i read this i will just say holy shit ellicat remember the dislexics next time!:ohmy:

i hope its a good read:unsure:

[ellicat]

I already apologised in advance rumrunner. But at the end though LOL.

Also I've broken it up with some smileys;)

[chubbstar]

:laugh: :laugh: Oh well mate, You made it there and back in one piece, Thats all that matters.

Thanks for the report I needed a good laugh. You were missed.

Jayson

[Malcolm]

Thanks for a good laugh at your expense,chin up mate a couple of more weeks and you will feel better about it and it will be really funny then.

[Stinger]

Great read ellicat.

[rumrunner]

wow what a bummer!

poor dog!:ohmy:

it was like reading a short novel for me but i enjoyed it very much thanks mate!

Ian.

[Gazza]

Remind me not to go camping with you LOL :silly:

Good read

Gaz

[Do$tylz]

Mate you'll have a laugh about all of this sooner or later.

At least the only thing that hurt was the wasp.

[bootyinblue]

That is an absolute crack up of a story to read! Sorry that your camping trip did not go according to plan right from backing out of the driveway with the overloaded boat.

Ohhh well there is always next year Mr Griswald!!

[Gazza]

Mr Bean more like it (him being a bean counter lmao)

Gaz

[Rocket75]

At least you practiced catch and release on that 30kg effort!

I'm sure he found his way home, dogs seem to have a gift for that, and he wasn't going to be short of water in the mean-time.:silly:

Thanks for taking the time to post your report, was a great read.

Rocket

[Dinodadog]

I kept saying how much more but I could not move away from the computer, it was like a novel it kept reeling you in.

Dino

[STU]

classic elli as long as the kids had fun

[ellicat]

Thanks for the replies guys.

As promised here are some pics...

Looking upstream from a little island in the river.

Looking downstream from the same island

Some more shots looking around the river

Shrimp haven

Camp site 2nd day

Russell Coight in action

Smokers retreat

Mitch with a new do

View of the bank the bank we camped above

....more to follow later after I've taken Michelle to dinner;)

[rayke1938]

Excellent report I enjoyed every line of it. Was dissapointed when it ended.

How about submitting to Bush N Beach.Shure they would publish it if you have some photos to.

Cheers

Ray

[Feral]

very well written Ellicat - a great read.

[Mack_attack]

Atleast with the floods the majority of the weed should be washed away.

Could have chucked the dog in the boat, i'm sure he wouldn't have minded

[Terry H]

Haha, great read Russel Coig...I mean Ellicat!

That reminds me - I've been meaning to watch the 2nd season for a while, I will have to hit my mate up for it

[ellicat]

Thanks for the extra responses. Rayke1938, I reckon BnB might lose too many advertising dollars with a story that takes up that much room :laugh: .

Mack Attack, I reckon the dog had a better chance of getting home by leaving him there. There was nowhere to take him at 2am even if there was a space left for him to stand one-legged in the boat:S Also he'd been well fed by us (4 chicken breasts, 1/2 doz cold snags, a couple of breadrolls, hals a carton of cream) before leaving and managed to grab a squeeling creature in the long grass for a late supper too. Probably had his normal weekly ration in one go

Anyway here's some more pics to finish off the tale -

Dog making new friends

Dog having a go at crossing the river

Dog failing to cross river

Dog returning to new friends

A bit of the rising river

The last of the little island we'd been using

Where the wife and kids were in an earlier pic

The first large log to go by

Where the little island was

About 30-45 minutes after she started to rise

Did I mention some of the nasty looking vermin moving to higher ground (lucky we didn't encounter any Joe Blakes - this was bad enough for a city kid lol)

Still rising

A different view from the bank, right in front of the camp. The trees in the foreground were about a metre under by the time we escaped in the dark

Might be a good spot to be back at real soon;)

[Mack_attack]

yeah i'm sure he would find his way home after the water slowed down a bit. No wonder he wanted to follow you, that would have been the best feed he's had in years.

[kriso]

shoulda cracked out the inflatable and a skid lid and gone rafting! lol

[ellicat]

That thought did cross the mind mate lmao

[maxi]

bloody ripper story..surely you made it up..hahahaha