benno573

Hey mate, welcome to the forum. No issue at all getting out to the area around Hutchies in your boat on the right day. Getting around comboyuro pt can be tricky though so your caution with wanting to follow someone or take someone out who knows the area would be a good idea to help build your confidence and ensure a safe trip. id be happy to come along but my availability is quite limited with family stuff but if the stars align I will happily stick my hand up.

Only 10 bass??? That’s the most surprising report of the year.

Mulgumpin.

I’ve read your posts... this is BS

Comfortably maintain about 4.5kn which is a little slow but have picked up mackies trolling before so might as well give it a smash.

I would suggest a structural integrity test. They can be a bit rusty but still strong and sharp and they’ll work fine. Just as long as the fish has had their tetanus injection all will be ok. This could also be because I am a bit of a Scrooge with the hard earned. That being said, i have a similar problem with some older hard bodies. I did buy some bulk treble hooks off the inter webs and replaced a whole heap but they rusted very quickly once they hit salt. if you have the time and budget, I would suggest replacing the hooks on lures you think you may use. I actually pilfered some other lures that didn’t work out as planned (and cost like <$5 from a bargain bin) to refurb some of my better or more effective lures. And i am soooo happy I finally inspired someone somewhere to do something.

Burning some long service, loading up car and trailer with far too much camping and fishing gear, 2 kayaks, a sup, and setting up on my favorite island for 3 weeks. Can’t wait. Only 4 months to go. Booked it back in feb so already been counting down for 6 months.

That’s a whole other issue at my end too... also found a box of trolling lures I forgot about too. 4 xrap magnums and 8 laser pros. Wonder if I can troll them on the yak

I have a decent trip planned for a few months time (rona pending) so I thought I would make use of the fact I was stuck at home over the weekend to take stock of my current tackle and see what - if anything - I need to top up before the trip. Three main things - leader and line, plastics and jig heads. by the time I went through every tackle box and bag I could find this is what I came up with... plastics (1 of 2 drawers) leader/line and finally jigheads... now all organized by weight, hook size and head shape And theres another box of bigger heavier jigheads that didn’t fit here as well... Glad I checked... top up order went from over $400 to about $120 as I am actually in need of 40g and 30g slugs and not a lot else. its not a habit, it’s cool, I feel alive... if you don’t have it it’s on an online site... I’m not an addict, maybe that’s a lie.

Did it start with b and rhyme with tubies?

I love walking around my favorite flathead haunt on a low tide to see where they sit - like @samsteele115 I find it rather therapeutic. Quite often see them pushing up towards 1m long but haven’t caught one quite that size there yet. Hopefully this year! It’s amazing how far up the flats they push on the big tides. Good luck trying to get one Hamish.

Looks a lot like a big “anchovy” - like what we got that night in breaky creek @ellicat. Does not have the telltail barbells under the chin of a thready or putty nose.

Don’t be racist. yes.

Not bad for a quick trip mate. Mrs Scaley would be very happy with that lot

Also get them out off Fraser as well - believe they are also known as purple Maori cod? Only ever caught one - nothing like that size though, that is a horse @tugger and boy do they eat well.

Good to see you back mate. Thumbs up!

I see you’ve taken inspiration for videography from the Benny Hill show. Everything seems to happen very quickly at Fraser. Must be why I prefer Moreton, much more relaxed pace over there.

Or potentially more evidence against us when child services come knocking to discuss reckless endangerment...

@Old Scaley Just my sister and her partner, Mrs benno, me and bubs, we had to carry all food but plenty of places to top water up along the way so only carried a max of 4L at a time on the track. We saw some other groups on the first two days but the last two we didn’t see anyone else.7 @kmcrosby78 - what’s a guide? No guides, just work it out yourself. Follow the trail markers and hope for the best. Hence they sent the most expendable one in first... @Drop Bear - looks like some great father/son bonding time there. We were certainly not going to be taking on mt Bowen, even if the weather was mint. I don’t blame you for turning back. Places just inland on the main range recorded 300mm in the last 24hrs we were on the island so who knows how much fell on the range on the island in the same period. @GregOug - we did actually see a croc in Zoe creek one night. Not a particularly big one but a good reminder to remain vigilant. Majority of creek crossings are well into the freshwater sections so not an issue there, few were just above the tide line though so heads were well and truly on swivels the whole time. @Kat - certainly not trying to be a hero, just the most likely to be able to make it over and back and the one that everyone would miss the least if it all went pear shaped.

Hi all, This is not strictly a pure fishing report report but thought I’d throw up a bit of a story if anyone was interested. About 2 1/2 years ago, my sister and I booked a spot on the thorsborne trail on hinchinbrook island. This is a 32km long 4-day hike and has a limit on numbers so slots can be hard to get during busy times (school hols). Major hiccup was since we booked a small person has come into my world... what the hell we thought, we’ll take her along for the ride, what could possibly go wrong with that... so last saturday we jumped on absolute north charters at Lucinda and had an amazingly scenic trip right up the inside of the island to our drop off point. A hasty offload onto the boardwalk through the mangroves and sand flies and we soon arrived on the eastern beach. First day was 6.5km but with a side track up to Nina peak to add on. The information online said total walk time of 6 hrs which we thought was nuts for only 6.5km... how wrong we were. We quickly realized this was not a track you could take your eye off for a second. While the terrain itself was challenging, the “track” at times was bordering on nuts. At one stage it took us an hour and a half to cover 800m across a rocky headland and through the infamous Boulder Bay. But I digress... we decided to ditch the big bags at the bottom and I carried bubs up the side track to Nina peak - what an amazing view. after a lunch stop at Nina bay, we pushed on to our first nights stop at little Ramsay bay. The boulder bay was a serious test for all of us, especially me with just on 30kg on my back. We arrived at our campsite, set up, applied several tonnes of bushmans and enjoyed walking around unladen. Thankfully only about 100m walk to a beautiful freshwater creek for water. There were heaps of juvenile mangrove jack and jungle perch in amongst the granite boulders which was really cool to see. We were treated to a beaut sunrise the next morning to get us motivated for day 2 - 10.5km what a days walk... how we got through this day I still don’t know. After scrambling our way around a headland that seemed to go on and on we entered the bush and started to climb. And then we went down - which was probably harder than the up. Loose rocky surface, tree roots, creek crossings... this track was a serious challenge. We stopped for lunch on the edge of the swamp section - coz that’s what we needed to make our day - MUD. After negotiating the mud, 4 creek crossings, 2 more bog sections and the sandfly ridden hell hole around the back of the mangroves we emerged muddy and battered onto the beach at Zoe bay. Child promptly offloaded to lighten mums load and the remaining 800m was covered in quick time. Camp set up and another several tonnes of bushmans applied. After a hard day, this was a great sight on the beach thankfully the next day was our rest day. We did as little as possible in the morning, with the exception of drying out boots, charging all devices and me throwing every lure I had at the local fish with very limited success. I did land 3 small cod but that was it. We watched a school of 15 or so cow-tail stingrays feeding on the waters edge, some truly massive queenfish smashing into schools of mullet and small sharks cruising in the shallows. That afternoon we walked up to Zoe falls and had a great time relaxing in the refreshing cool water - even a bit of a jacuzzi under a waterfall. the pool at the base of the falls is teeming with massive jungle perch that are so tame they literally nibble your toes. While I would love to throw a line and catch my first JP, I am quite glad there is a “no fishing” sign there - it was really cool to see what many of our wild tropical rivers used to be like without introduced pest fish, habitat degradation and fishing pressure. the next morning we woke to wet tents after a couple of heavy showers through the night. Bad news is all the granite rocks on the track and around the creeks that has provided excellent traction were now more like walking on wet cakes of soap. 8.5km to cover today for our last overnight destination at mulligan falls. We climbed to the highest point on our trek which I am sure on a clear day would afford amazing views. Unfortunately, we had a lot of low cloud and light rain so our view was a little different. The last major obstacle was diamantina creek which is prone to flash flooding and can leave walkers stranded with no way forward or back. We arrived at the creek which is around 40m wide and fast flowing. I was the crash test dummy so I attempted first without a pack and quickly determined the safest way across was to ditch the hiking boots and go with socks only to grip the wet rocks better - like felt soles shoes when rock fishing. With a lot of teamwork, we all made it across unscathed. After arriving at our campsite the heavens really opened up and the spectacular falls just near camp doubled in volume in the space of half an hour. Very glad we got over the big creek when we did. not a lot else to report from here on. A lot of huddling in a tent trying to entertain a bored bub and keep her dry and warm. The rain was persistent throughout the night and a wet and muddy packup ensued - unfortunately meaning the pack was now even heavier owing to wet clothes, tents etc. our last day of hiking was a 2.5km stretch through the rainforest followed by a 5km walk up the beach - should be easy right...? Yeah... NAH. the overnight rain had turned 3 of the 5 creeks we had to cross in the first 2.5km into raging torrents. With no other option to get out, crash test dummy benno was sent into the waters to check it all out and again with careful and methodical teamwork everyone made it across safely. The worst one was sketchy AF, waist deep on me in parts and flowing hard, had to really pick the soft spots in the current behind boulders and things like that. When we finally hit the beach for the final push, we were all a bit emotional that we had made it through all the hard stuff, the last bit of stress with the creek crossings had really got to us all. Despite the 25kn SE we were walking into and sideways rain we all happily trudged our way up the beach, knowing a hot shower wasn’t too far away. a brainwave on the drive back to Townsville and into lockdown saw the deployment of the KFC app and a mountain of fried gold subsequently applied to all and sundry. A massive unpack, clean up, dry out and repack ensued, with my boots and backpack both suffering terminal damage in the final 2 days. Fare thee well comrades... you were both faithful servants. so how would I rate the overall experience? Well... I guess challenging would be the optimal word. Way more so than any of us had anticipated. Amazing place, spectacular scenery and I am 100% sure some great fishing opportunities as well. Would I do it again... unsure. I would love to go back there but possibly not with the the 4 days of hiking. I am glad I did it for sure, but just not sure I want to sign on again anytime soon. Good news is bubs on the whole loved the experience which is the most important thing I guess. big shout out to John at absolute north charters though - went out of his way to help us and made sure the boat home arrived at the pick up point right when we did which was awesome. Even arranged us access to a hot shower upon return at a local accommodation place if we needed it which was hugely appreciated. If you are thinking of heading to hinchinbrook, he’s your guy. anyway, enough from me, thanks for reading if you made it this far, hope you enjoyed the trip. cheers, benno

Congrats @Kat. Look out fishies!

This is the situation I was referring to - @rayke1938 just did it better! also beware of the compliance plate on the van. The old man purchased a brand new van that said 2660kg on the label. Took it to a weighbridge... actual weight 3150 with empty water tanks. MASSIVE difference. Now he has to basically tow it everywhere with no water on board to remain compliant. And the scaleys would care what the label said - just the scales. So certainly worth checking before you hit the open road.

Awwwww I love you too bwian... if id known @GregOug was out there or any other person they would have got a similar warning message.

What tow rig you looking at Robbie? Make sure you consider GCM as well as towing capacity just towing capacity. If I was in your position, I would seriously consider a Ram2500 and just do it all easily. Might be a stretch $ wise. i don’t think any big caravan is really designed to do serious off-roading despite the advertising, all well and good on the occasional dirt road or beach but nothing too much more serious than that. Agree with a lot of what @Ed. suggested re suspension, storage, weight etc.

Comet cod for the win! Plenty of tasty feeds in that lot.