Leeroy

It is with a heavy heart that I tell the tale of a long lasting friendship that ended on Friday.
It was about 1982 I was introduced to GT270 and we became inseparable for nearly 43 years.
I dressed it up with all the nicest of accompaniments over those years and it served me well with many fine encounters of being triumphant.
Sadly on Friday it threw a tanty with the grinners around Mud...what a terrible way to go....topped itself about shoulder height is a most unexpected way...what a disgraceful way to go after being such a champion for so many decades.
Now standing in the corner with all the other dis-used, abused and broken, like a naughty child told to stand in the corner facing the wall....not a whimper at all.
Thank you Mr SnyderGlas for creating my prototype friend, he was an outstanding comrade for so very long.
My initial thoughts were disbelief and a hollow sense that grows within....thoughts of finding a suitable replacement to fill the void and then the realisation that nothing else could fulfill the spot in the rack.
To be honest, i don't think I could develop that amount of trust into something I could buy today...pure graphite just does not have the personality or the toughness of glass and graphite blends.
Anyway, enough of the dwelling on loss and time to regale the stories from Friday....6am launch....live baits by 6.15am....Mud at 6.25am.....Bloody bastard grinners within seconds ad they didn't stop.
So After several spot changes I found ourselves well east of Mud on a rubble patch i had not previously encountered in 12m of water. 1st cast was a small squire, then a few grinners....retie the leader and cast out again only to feel another grinner on the bait....ripped the bait away from it harshly and BANG...huge hit and peeled 30 odd metres from the reel then all became slack...reeled it in to find a lot of grinner teeth marks on the last 40mm of leader...dirty little shytes.
Oh well....came back to the rock wall and the water was filthy so went to the tripods for a quick look..not much there but in crossing the channel i spotted a school of jew so spent the next 30 minutes trying to coax some interest out of them....I left them sleeping and quietly motored away, defeated once more.
Into the river!!!!  I don't know why i got excited then, the high light was the biggest flounder I have caught in 30 years, and a couple of jumbo bream in the kilo class....snapper flathead and jew we encountered were all wearing nappies....
I ended the day with a leisurely drive from Pinkenba to Petrie that took 1.45 hours in the Friday afternoon Gateway traffic....so relaxing indeed.

After an enforced lay off I finally got to wet a line with Rick ,Joy and Amelia this morning. It originally looked that it was not going to happen as Rick had car problems and we did a turn around and went back to my place and swapped cars and we headed off an hour later. After doing our shrimp pots we headed upstream to just before the plantations and got stuck into the bass. Final tally being 79 bass and one tandanus. I had a bit of a problem handling a couple of bass around 45cm but just had to play them out.

Lots of spots on the Tweed to land based fish.
Letitia Spit at fingal. Lots of different options.
Behind the hospital can be good for tailor,trevs and flatties.
Boyds bay bridge.
The rock wall along Chinderah all the way through to fingal boat ramp.
Just a start but look and you'll find some good spots.
 

Lots of spots on the Tweed to land based fish.
Letitia Spit at fingal. Lots of different options.
Behind the hospital can be good for tailor,trevs and flatties.
Boyds bay bridge.
The rock wall along Chinderah all the way through to fingal boat ramp.
Just a start but look and you'll find some good spots.
 

Hi all,
 
Was hoping to wait until the photo issue was rectified but some of you may enjoy the story regardless.
 
On 7th Dec with a very fully loaded car and trailer we jumped on the morning MiCat to Moreton Island with 21 nights of relaxation in my favourite place to look forward to.  I let the tyres down as far as I dare with the load on, had the obligatory smiley pie and coffee and soon we were on the beach at Tangalooma.  After a bit of a challenge getting to the top of middle road, we had a beautiful run up the eastern beach towards cape moreton.  Unfortunately, I was pretty much run off the road by a peanut coming down the hill from the lighthouse and the trailer then developed a mind of its own when trying to reverse out and I ended up needing to deploy the recovery boards to get me back on the straight and narrow and have another crack at the hill.  No dramas the second time and we were soon picking out a site at North Point campground.  A few hours of work followed and soon we had a camp set  up that would survive anything but the worst weather in a fairly shady and sheltered corner of the campground.
 
Next morning I was up at early AM and went for a bit of a walk around to check the gutters on the beach and all that, had a cast but wasn't successful.  After breakfast we headed off down the beach with the kids to some beautiful little low tide gutters that were about knee deep and calm.  While playing around, I noticed some birds circling in the surf break and then saw some fishy-shapes chasing bait in the waves.  I grabbed the only rod I had with me (the 2-4kg flick stick with 10lb) and threw a 20g halco twisty on.  Second cast I was away.  After a very good argument on the light gear, I had the first fish tacos of the trip sorted with a 53cm tailor.  About an hour later he was sizzling away in a frypan back at camp.
 
Next few days were a bit tough on the fishing front.  Early morning starts up the rocks spinning were mildly successful, however, I did work out I could put the little fella in his backpack carrier and take him along with me.  And the best part was he absolutely loved it... well.... for the first 90 minutes or so anyway. But was still pretty cool hanging out with him and managing to catch a couple of fish along the way. 
 
Morning 4 was a complete bust on the fishing front, could not get a hit on a slug or a plastic anywhere so I was walking back across kind of a swampy section near camp and my morning took a massive turn - for the good!  There at my feet was my lunch, now if I could just get hold of him with all 10 fingers still in tact...  A few interesting moments and near misses later and eventually I had my prize - a 1.7kg full as buck muddie.  Even the young fella appreciated this - I held it up to show him which was met with a "Wooooowwwwww" from him.  Glad I had strapped him in to the backpack well though.  A crab wrap for lunch was a very unexpected but welcome addition to the menu that's for sure.  After the crab wrap, during the midday nap period, I went for a walk down to the rocks given the swell was picking up a bit and landed 3 mid 40's tailor in the first three casts.  Then a surfer paddled right over where the fish were sitting, sat there was a minute and then paddled off again.  Needless to say, the fish disappeared thereafter.  Maybe the surfer was a vegan or something and that was his idea of a protest.  Still, three tailor was ample for dinner.
 
Next day I had collected some pippies and headed over to a favourite rock fishing spot of mine, however, it was very quiet but I managed to pull three nice dart out, the best one going 43cm.  There's another dinner sorted!
 
After 7 days, the outlaws headed home and were replaced by @ellicat and my mum.  After a new false starts, ECat and I finally found where the flathead were hiding.  I was first on the board with a lovely 63cm model.  While it was only 1 or 2 each time we tried the spot, they were all quality fish in the mid 50's.
 
The weather finally became good enough for me to try a kayak trip which saw me throw the tub in early and head on out.  It took me a while to to find them but I managed 3 snapper 43-49cm, one just legal spangled and a 38cm grassy.  I then hooked something huge that had me scrambling to get on top of it to try and pull it out of the rocky rubbly bottom.  A good battle ensued and a stud 53cm grassy surfaced, much to ECat's distain as he is yet to crack the 50cm mark on a grassy and I have now 4 times in his presence.  Sorry mate - oh wait, no I'm not... 😛   I headed back in and watched ECat land a legal flatty from the beach as I was coming back in.
 
All too soon, ECat had to head home - hope you had a good trip mate.  Glad you got to witness the might BT50 recovering a brand spanking 300 series jsut before getting on the barge - that was a bit of fun. 😉
The day after he left, it was forecast to be 20kn+ northerlies but they never showed up and the ocean completely glassed out around lunch time.  I grabbed the kayak and headed out, not knowing the carnage that was about to unfold.
 
Things started slowly, it took me a good 1/2 hr before I got my first decent hit - and what a hit it was.  Ripped 20lb line off the reel under fairly heavy drag and ended up busting me off on the rubbly bottom about 100m away, my best guess was a GT or a kingy - or so i thought... maybe another culprit was to blame as will soon be revealed. I soon after I found a patch with some nice snapper, and put three 40-48cm models and a bonus grassy into the box.  I tried a different area and first cast hooked the 3:14 express from central that had me chasing after it flat out while it peeled line from the reel.  Surely this couldn't be a shark, I would have been busted off ages ago... what could this be?  After about 10 minutes I got sight of the fish and about 10 minutes after that I had 85cm of cobia doing it's best to escape from under my legs on the kayak.  A very quick brain spike and bleed and a louder than necessary yahoo and then a minute to recover, check leader, plastic etc and we were back into it.  Next cast a 43cm grassy came to play.  Followed shortly after by a cracking 55cm snapper that gave me a real run around and completed my bag out.  I decided that was enough and just one more cast... wholly hell.  Seconds after the lure hitting the water two things happened.  A manta ray surfaced just near where my lure landed and my rod was just about ripped out of my hands.  For a second I thought I had hooked the manta but it zigged and whatever i had zagged.  Knowing cobia love hanging around mantas i quickly worked my way out over sand and settled in for the battle.  This one was far heavier and more stubborn than the first one and was slugging it out down deep, I would make a metre of line and he would take 2 back.  This went on and on.  About 1/2 hour later I finally had the fish yakside - now how the hell do I land this thing?  I ended up tailing it and lifting by the line as well and got it on my lap.  A quick spike and bleed and a rather nose heavy and slimy, bloody kayak headed back to the beach.  The big cobia went 110cm - not huge by cobia standards sure but everything seems bigger on a floating bit of plastic.  It also meant a double bag out for the first time ever on the yak.
 
At this point I will mention that ECat had been kind enough to loan me his 60L freezer which was a very welcome item in the campsite after such a trip - on top of my 80L fridge/freezer.  approx 11kg of fillets were recovered from the days captures - a day of kayak fishing I will not forget in a hurry.
 
Other than that day, a few more nice flatties found their way into the box but the fishing effort was rather half hearted - I was happy to finish on a high.
 
Roast turkey and potato bake made for an awesome Xmas dinner, plenty of time spent with the small people at the beach.  Luckily, we only copped one storm on Xmas eve with a fair bit of wind and 57mm of rain in 1/2 hour, got the edge of a few others but nothing too bad.  Everything stayed standing and dry on the inside at least.
 
All too soon - even after such an extended stay - we were packing up and heading back to the MiCat for the trip home.  Middle road had washouts about 1/2m deep in some spots from the storms the previous two days which was pretty crazy to see.
 
I will attempt to add some photos when the site is fixed if people are interested, I didn't take heaps but there's a few that people might like.
 
Hope you enjoyed the read, I tried not to make it too long.
 
Cheers,
Benno <'><
 
 
 
 
 
 

HI Guys,
Was hoping the photo issue was solved before posting this trip but better late than never.
Left home early on the 4th October and met mate a Nudgee and did the drive to the old stomping grounds of Hampo (also known as Rockhampton).
Met a mate with his 4.53 Territory Sea Jay, stocked up with ice and fuel and headed north to Stanage bay.
Road in was really good after hearing all the horror stories. 70km of bitumen and only 30km of dirt which had mostly been recently graded but pretty dry and dusty in some parts.
Set up camp late arvo and rigged up ready for the first time chasing barra. Excited was an understatement.
Now unfortunately due to the first night piss up we were up a little bit late the next morning and definitely a bit shady. Anyway we were off. Headed out the front for a jig on some rubble ground for no luck and a sea sick mate who had never been offshore, nothing to do with still being hungover.
Headed up the passage to the first creek and saw fish on the side scan straight away, second snag we fished and about half an hour in I hooked the first barra on a vibe in deep on the snag. Great hit and fight and landed my first barra at 75cm.
A few casts later on the same vibe I hooked a lot bigger one and lost it not long after. A mighty swirl is all I saw. Doh!
Change of spots and with lots of fish on the sounder tried the same vibe and hooked a 63cm grunter which gave me a bit of curry. PB and back she went.
Back to the first snag a little bit later later and a change of lure to a fat shad and I had annother 76cm Barra. A lot better fight and eventually in the net.
And then I lost the magic vibe on the snag, and as much as we tried we couldn’t get it back. I shed a tear or two I have to say. Didn’t get a bite on any other colour all trip.
Day two was very slow and bloody hot. The dog was not happy and we had to constantly wet him down.
Straight to the creeks and hit probably 20 creeks for a few fingermark biggest by my mate at 42cm. Missed a few bites on Texas rigged paddle tails and learnt a bit of respect after being dusted a few times.
Skipper got a 65cm barra at one of the last snags for the day. Back for more beers and snooze for me. The other two went out for a late arvo session with no luck on the ledge out the front.
Saturday was windy with 15 – 20kt SE blowing early but we’ll just go ‘around the corner’ my mate said. 60kms late we get back to the ramp broken, battered but with my mate getting a 76cm barra. Bugger only started fishing 6 months ago. I won’t forget that trip back in a hurry and either will my back.
Good feed at the pub that night and packed up camp in the morning for the drive back home.
Great trip with a couple of good mates and already planning the next one.
 https://imgur.com/gallery/clIm6RJ

I tried to get a couple before i left but it was the week of the flathead classic and couldn't find any anywhere local. Allready ordered a few more.
 

Then you should be set for next trip. 👍

Good report. Looks a place you don’t want to forget to pack your reef shoes.
 
Love the campfire! Who doesn’t?

HI Guys,
Was hoping the photo issue was solved before posting this trip but better late than never.
Left home early on the 4th October and met mate a Nudgee and did the drive to the old stomping grounds of Hampo (also known as Rockhampton).
Met a mate with his 4.53 Territory Sea Jay, stocked up with ice and fuel and headed north to Stanage bay.
Road in was really good after hearing all the horror stories. 70km of bitumen and only 30km of dirt which had mostly been recently graded but pretty dry and dusty in some parts.
Set up camp late arvo and rigged up ready for the first time chasing barra. Excited was an understatement.
Now unfortunately due to the first night piss up we were up a little bit late the next morning and definitely a bit shady. Anyway we were off. Headed out the front for a jig on some rubble ground for no luck and a sea sick mate who had never been offshore, nothing to do with still being hungover.
Headed up the passage to the first creek and saw fish on the side scan straight away, second snag we fished and about half an hour in I hooked the first barra on a vibe in deep on the snag. Great hit and fight and landed my first barra at 75cm.
A few casts later on the same vibe I hooked a lot bigger one and lost it not long after. A mighty swirl is all I saw. Doh!
Change of spots and with lots of fish on the sounder tried the same vibe and hooked a 63cm grunter which gave me a bit of curry. PB and back she went.
Back to the first snag a little bit later later and a change of lure to a fat shad and I had annother 76cm Barra. A lot better fight and eventually in the net.
And then I lost the magic vibe on the snag, and as much as we tried we couldn’t get it back. I shed a tear or two I have to say. Didn’t get a bite on any other colour all trip.
Day two was very slow and bloody hot. The dog was not happy and we had to constantly wet him down.
Straight to the creeks and hit probably 20 creeks for a few fingermark biggest by my mate at 42cm. Missed a few bites on Texas rigged paddle tails and learnt a bit of respect after being dusted a few times.
Skipper got a 65cm barra at one of the last snags for the day. Back for more beers and snooze for me. The other two went out for a late arvo session with no luck on the ledge out the front.
Saturday was windy with 15 – 20kt SE blowing early but we’ll just go ‘around the corner’ my mate said. 60kms late we get back to the ramp broken, battered but with my mate getting a 76cm barra. Bugger only started fishing 6 months ago. I won’t forget that trip back in a hurry and either will my back.
Good feed at the pub that night and packed up camp in the morning for the drive back home.
Great trip with a couple of good mates and already planning the next one.
 https://imgur.com/gallery/clIm6RJ

HI Guys,
Was hoping the photo issue was solved before posting this trip but better late than never.
Left home early on the 4th October and met mate a Nudgee and did the drive to the old stomping grounds of Hampo (also known as Rockhampton).
Met a mate with his 4.53 Territory Sea Jay, stocked up with ice and fuel and headed north to Stanage bay.
Road in was really good after hearing all the horror stories. 70km of bitumen and only 30km of dirt which had mostly been recently graded but pretty dry and dusty in some parts.
Set up camp late arvo and rigged up ready for the first time chasing barra. Excited was an understatement.
Now unfortunately due to the first night piss up we were up a little bit late the next morning and definitely a bit shady. Anyway we were off. Headed out the front for a jig on some rubble ground for no luck and a sea sick mate who had never been offshore, nothing to do with still being hungover.
Headed up the passage to the first creek and saw fish on the side scan straight away, second snag we fished and about half an hour in I hooked the first barra on a vibe in deep on the snag. Great hit and fight and landed my first barra at 75cm.
A few casts later on the same vibe I hooked a lot bigger one and lost it not long after. A mighty swirl is all I saw. Doh!
Change of spots and with lots of fish on the sounder tried the same vibe and hooked a 63cm grunter which gave me a bit of curry. PB and back she went.
Back to the first snag a little bit later later and a change of lure to a fat shad and I had annother 76cm Barra. A lot better fight and eventually in the net.
And then I lost the magic vibe on the snag, and as much as we tried we couldn’t get it back. I shed a tear or two I have to say. Didn’t get a bite on any other colour all trip.
Day two was very slow and bloody hot. The dog was not happy and we had to constantly wet him down.
Straight to the creeks and hit probably 20 creeks for a few fingermark biggest by my mate at 42cm. Missed a few bites on Texas rigged paddle tails and learnt a bit of respect after being dusted a few times.
Skipper got a 65cm barra at one of the last snags for the day. Back for more beers and snooze for me. The other two went out for a late arvo session with no luck on the ledge out the front.
Saturday was windy with 15 – 20kt SE blowing early but we’ll just go ‘around the corner’ my mate said. 60kms late we get back to the ramp broken, battered but with my mate getting a 76cm barra. Bugger only started fishing 6 months ago. I won’t forget that trip back in a hurry and either will my back.
Good feed at the pub that night and packed up camp in the morning for the drive back home.
Great trip with a couple of good mates and already planning the next one.
 https://imgur.com/gallery/clIm6RJ

Well writing this report on the last day of the comp says it all.
It all started last year when good mate said we should do the Cooktown Barra comp as he has an airbnb there so we have a free roof over our head.
I left Brisbane and drove up to Clairview (recommend BarraCrab van park).  Someone had caught a nice barra at the creek mouth on a livey but I had just done 9hrs driving and was more interested in a beer and chill out.
Next day was Townsville for a catch up with some good friends.  Although the weather was good we chose the next day as reported best day to head out to the reef.  Suited me to chill out after 2 days sitting on my arse in the 4WD.
Tuesday we hit the water early with a gentle breeze in our face.  Some entertainment as we witnessed the pleasures of our failed youth justice policies with 2 young aboriginal kids barely able to see over the dash of a dual cab 4WD doing circle work in the Coast Guard car park.   
Heading out inside Magnetic Island I plotted for a pinnacle towards Palm Is that I had picked off Navionics maps.  Sounded over it and it was marking fish just off the 10m top as it dropped quite quickly down to 20m.
First drop a nice trout that just went size.  Then a just under small mouth nannygai.  Then another trout and then just couldnt get past the spanish flag and hussar.   We werent out for a feed so everything was going back anyway.
Tried some slow fall jigging and 3rd drop a small trevor was on.  Next drop, massive hit and someone with big teeth swam off with my Palms Slow Blatt…..bugga.
Mate was getting a few back on bait so went back to the other rod.  Strong hit converted to a nice cod which was released.
Saw the most spectacular action when something was chasing a tuna of around 5 kg which did about 7 leaps past us over about 50 or so metres.  Amazing how fast they are and how they fly so well through the air.   Unknown whether it escaped but whatever was chasing it was clearly bigger enough to eat a 5kg tuna.
The bite went off just as the tide changed and with the wind picking up we headed back in.  
WEDNESDAY - drive day to Cooktown.
THURSDAY (Cooktown) - probably best chance for the reef at Cooktown but the wind was definitely not playing well.  We headed out but it was already at 15 and strengthening.  Only made it to one of the close in reefs as the tide was dropping.  Hooked a few undersized trout and the usual mix of hussar and other little reef critters.
Used low tide to map a track down the river although with barra on spawning the only chance of fish would be around the mouth of the river.
Sovereign hotel for dinner, mates wife won a voucher for free pizzas in the raffle….at least one win for the day.
FRIDAY (Cooktown) weather reports not pretty but we got out and trolled the headlands down past the Annand River mouth.  Found a nice spot with some mangroves and thanks to Ray dropped the Minn Kota and started flicking a 4.5” Scotsborough paddle tale plastic on a 7/0 TT 3/8th oz jig head.
Great strike from under a mangrove and a nice silver barra got up on its tale and threw the lure.  
Then mate tossed his lure into the trees and we were in pulling it out.  Anyone living there was no longer around.
Worked a few more similar spots but with the mangroves and rocks and a falling tide it was back towards deeper water as I had already given the prop a smack.
We worked our way back along the headlands casting hard body and plastics into every likely spot without success.
Wind was already heading towards 20kph as we got back to the mouth of the Endeavour.
The warning signs were there - nothing marking on the sounder at any point.
A spot of lunch and we headed upstream to try and get something on the board.  Again nothing showing on the sounder - could not even find any bait holding anywhere.
Did a troll through the mouth where I landed a legal school mackeral which was released.
Day 1 of comp - one barra not landed.
By the look of the sad faces at the boat ramp no one was having any luck.
Free pizza for dinner then beers at the RSL and picked up a $50 bistro voucher in the raffle.  Another free dinner sorted.  And at least a win of some sort.
SATURDAY - hit the water early and the wind was already at 25kph did a run out the mouth and along north shore but nothing showing.  Got in along the rocks but again nothing.
Unfortunately my boat is not probably the best for tight estuary and we had a look at the Annan Boat ramp but my mate wasnt so keen on swimming out to climb up the stern (just joking) as its just too high to push out and get over the bow.    Lesson learnt I will have to get the optional bow ladder from Formosa for ramps with no pontoon.
Hit the Endeavour and flogged every likely looking spot we could. The river is like a funnel and it was tough work with the wind making it hard just to get a lure in close to where you wanted.  With shoulders aching and wind burn it was in for a late lunch. 
Pretty sad when you couldnt even get a bream to follow a lure out of a snag. 
Again absolutely nothing showing on the sounder.  
After lunch we opted to stay in with wind well into the 20knot range making the river and unpleasant place and our spirits sagging.
 
Sunday. - well here I am typing.  Easily over 30 knots and the river a mess of white caps - all you see is boats packed up.  I think everyone is in the same boat.  I imagine the winner will be out of people who have gone up to Lakefield to fish the Normanby.
Although its 8.30am we will head down to Archer Point and see if we can get something off a sheltered spot off the rocks, but the boat is cleaned and not going anywhere.
Although the fishing has been tough and less than rewarding it was great to be back up north flicking lures.
 

I tried to get a couple before i left but it was the week of the flathead classic and couldn't find any anywhere local. Allready ordered a few more.
 

HI Guys,
Was hoping the photo issue was solved before posting this trip but better late than never.
Left home early on the 4th October and met mate a Nudgee and did the drive to the old stomping grounds of Hampo (also known as Rockhampton).
Met a mate with his 4.53 Territory Sea Jay, stocked up with ice and fuel and headed north to Stanage bay.
Road in was really good after hearing all the horror stories. 70km of bitumen and only 30km of dirt which had mostly been recently graded but pretty dry and dusty in some parts.
Set up camp late arvo and rigged up ready for the first time chasing barra. Excited was an understatement.
Now unfortunately due to the first night piss up we were up a little bit late the next morning and definitely a bit shady. Anyway we were off. Headed out the front for a jig on some rubble ground for no luck and a sea sick mate who had never been offshore, nothing to do with still being hungover.
Headed up the passage to the first creek and saw fish on the side scan straight away, second snag we fished and about half an hour in I hooked the first barra on a vibe in deep on the snag. Great hit and fight and landed my first barra at 75cm.
A few casts later on the same vibe I hooked a lot bigger one and lost it not long after. A mighty swirl is all I saw. Doh!
Change of spots and with lots of fish on the sounder tried the same vibe and hooked a 63cm grunter which gave me a bit of curry. PB and back she went.
Back to the first snag a little bit later later and a change of lure to a fat shad and I had annother 76cm Barra. A lot better fight and eventually in the net.
And then I lost the magic vibe on the snag, and as much as we tried we couldn’t get it back. I shed a tear or two I have to say. Didn’t get a bite on any other colour all trip.
Day two was very slow and bloody hot. The dog was not happy and we had to constantly wet him down.
Straight to the creeks and hit probably 20 creeks for a few fingermark biggest by my mate at 42cm. Missed a few bites on Texas rigged paddle tails and learnt a bit of respect after being dusted a few times.
Skipper got a 65cm barra at one of the last snags for the day. Back for more beers and snooze for me. The other two went out for a late arvo session with no luck on the ledge out the front.
Saturday was windy with 15 – 20kt SE blowing early but we’ll just go ‘around the corner’ my mate said. 60kms late we get back to the ramp broken, battered but with my mate getting a 76cm barra. Bugger only started fishing 6 months ago. I won’t forget that trip back in a hurry and either will my back.
Good feed at the pub that night and packed up camp in the morning for the drive back home.
Great trip with a couple of good mates and already planning the next one.
 https://imgur.com/gallery/clIm6RJ

That's why I usually have 3 of every lure in 3 or 4 different colours in my box, that way if one colour and style is working and I loose it, I've got two spares.
That practice has caught me a lot of fish that I otherwise wouldn't have caught when i lost a magic lure.

HI Guys,
Was hoping the photo issue was solved before posting this trip but better late than never.
Left home early on the 4th October and met mate a Nudgee and did the drive to the old stomping grounds of Hampo (also known as Rockhampton).
Met a mate with his 4.53 Territory Sea Jay, stocked up with ice and fuel and headed north to Stanage bay.
Road in was really good after hearing all the horror stories. 70km of bitumen and only 30km of dirt which had mostly been recently graded but pretty dry and dusty in some parts.
Set up camp late arvo and rigged up ready for the first time chasing barra. Excited was an understatement.
Now unfortunately due to the first night piss up we were up a little bit late the next morning and definitely a bit shady. Anyway we were off. Headed out the front for a jig on some rubble ground for no luck and a sea sick mate who had never been offshore, nothing to do with still being hungover.
Headed up the passage to the first creek and saw fish on the side scan straight away, second snag we fished and about half an hour in I hooked the first barra on a vibe in deep on the snag. Great hit and fight and landed my first barra at 75cm.
A few casts later on the same vibe I hooked a lot bigger one and lost it not long after. A mighty swirl is all I saw. Doh!
Change of spots and with lots of fish on the sounder tried the same vibe and hooked a 63cm grunter which gave me a bit of curry. PB and back she went.
Back to the first snag a little bit later later and a change of lure to a fat shad and I had annother 76cm Barra. A lot better fight and eventually in the net.
And then I lost the magic vibe on the snag, and as much as we tried we couldn’t get it back. I shed a tear or two I have to say. Didn’t get a bite on any other colour all trip.
Day two was very slow and bloody hot. The dog was not happy and we had to constantly wet him down.
Straight to the creeks and hit probably 20 creeks for a few fingermark biggest by my mate at 42cm. Missed a few bites on Texas rigged paddle tails and learnt a bit of respect after being dusted a few times.
Skipper got a 65cm barra at one of the last snags for the day. Back for more beers and snooze for me. The other two went out for a late arvo session with no luck on the ledge out the front.
Saturday was windy with 15 – 20kt SE blowing early but we’ll just go ‘around the corner’ my mate said. 60kms late we get back to the ramp broken, battered but with my mate getting a 76cm barra. Bugger only started fishing 6 months ago. I won’t forget that trip back in a hurry and either will my back.
Good feed at the pub that night and packed up camp in the morning for the drive back home.
Great trip with a couple of good mates and already planning the next one.
 https://imgur.com/gallery/clIm6RJ

I tried to get a couple before i left but it was the week of the flathead classic and couldn't find any anywhere local. Allready ordered a few more.
 

I tried to get a couple before i left but it was the week of the flathead classic and couldn't find any anywhere local. Allready ordered a few more.
 

Great story.
Well done.

Great report, sounds like a nice trip. 

HI Guys,
Was hoping the photo issue was solved before posting this trip but better late than never.
Left home early on the 4th October and met mate a Nudgee and did the drive to the old stomping grounds of Hampo (also known as Rockhampton).
Met a mate with his 4.53 Territory Sea Jay, stocked up with ice and fuel and headed north to Stanage bay.
Road in was really good after hearing all the horror stories. 70km of bitumen and only 30km of dirt which had mostly been recently graded but pretty dry and dusty in some parts.
Set up camp late arvo and rigged up ready for the first time chasing barra. Excited was an understatement.
Now unfortunately due to the first night piss up we were up a little bit late the next morning and definitely a bit shady. Anyway we were off. Headed out the front for a jig on some rubble ground for no luck and a sea sick mate who had never been offshore, nothing to do with still being hungover.
Headed up the passage to the first creek and saw fish on the side scan straight away, second snag we fished and about half an hour in I hooked the first barra on a vibe in deep on the snag. Great hit and fight and landed my first barra at 75cm.
A few casts later on the same vibe I hooked a lot bigger one and lost it not long after. A mighty swirl is all I saw. Doh!
Change of spots and with lots of fish on the sounder tried the same vibe and hooked a 63cm grunter which gave me a bit of curry. PB and back she went.
Back to the first snag a little bit later later and a change of lure to a fat shad and I had annother 76cm Barra. A lot better fight and eventually in the net.
And then I lost the magic vibe on the snag, and as much as we tried we couldn’t get it back. I shed a tear or two I have to say. Didn’t get a bite on any other colour all trip.
Day two was very slow and bloody hot. The dog was not happy and we had to constantly wet him down.
Straight to the creeks and hit probably 20 creeks for a few fingermark biggest by my mate at 42cm. Missed a few bites on Texas rigged paddle tails and learnt a bit of respect after being dusted a few times.
Skipper got a 65cm barra at one of the last snags for the day. Back for more beers and snooze for me. The other two went out for a late arvo session with no luck on the ledge out the front.
Saturday was windy with 15 – 20kt SE blowing early but we’ll just go ‘around the corner’ my mate said. 60kms late we get back to the ramp broken, battered but with my mate getting a 76cm barra. Bugger only started fishing 6 months ago. I won’t forget that trip back in a hurry and either will my back.
Good feed at the pub that night and packed up camp in the morning for the drive back home.
Great trip with a couple of good mates and already planning the next one.
 https://imgur.com/gallery/clIm6RJ

HI Guys,
Was hoping the photo issue was solved before posting this trip but better late than never.
Left home early on the 4th October and met mate a Nudgee and did the drive to the old stomping grounds of Hampo (also known as Rockhampton).
Met a mate with his 4.53 Territory Sea Jay, stocked up with ice and fuel and headed north to Stanage bay.
Road in was really good after hearing all the horror stories. 70km of bitumen and only 30km of dirt which had mostly been recently graded but pretty dry and dusty in some parts.
Set up camp late arvo and rigged up ready for the first time chasing barra. Excited was an understatement.
Now unfortunately due to the first night piss up we were up a little bit late the next morning and definitely a bit shady. Anyway we were off. Headed out the front for a jig on some rubble ground for no luck and a sea sick mate who had never been offshore, nothing to do with still being hungover.
Headed up the passage to the first creek and saw fish on the side scan straight away, second snag we fished and about half an hour in I hooked the first barra on a vibe in deep on the snag. Great hit and fight and landed my first barra at 75cm.
A few casts later on the same vibe I hooked a lot bigger one and lost it not long after. A mighty swirl is all I saw. Doh!
Change of spots and with lots of fish on the sounder tried the same vibe and hooked a 63cm grunter which gave me a bit of curry. PB and back she went.
Back to the first snag a little bit later later and a change of lure to a fat shad and I had annother 76cm Barra. A lot better fight and eventually in the net.
And then I lost the magic vibe on the snag, and as much as we tried we couldn’t get it back. I shed a tear or two I have to say. Didn’t get a bite on any other colour all trip.
Day two was very slow and bloody hot. The dog was not happy and we had to constantly wet him down.
Straight to the creeks and hit probably 20 creeks for a few fingermark biggest by my mate at 42cm. Missed a few bites on Texas rigged paddle tails and learnt a bit of respect after being dusted a few times.
Skipper got a 65cm barra at one of the last snags for the day. Back for more beers and snooze for me. The other two went out for a late arvo session with no luck on the ledge out the front.
Saturday was windy with 15 – 20kt SE blowing early but we’ll just go ‘around the corner’ my mate said. 60kms late we get back to the ramp broken, battered but with my mate getting a 76cm barra. Bugger only started fishing 6 months ago. I won’t forget that trip back in a hurry and either will my back.
Good feed at the pub that night and packed up camp in the morning for the drive back home.
Great trip with a couple of good mates and already planning the next one.
 https://imgur.com/gallery/clIm6RJ

HI Guys,
Was hoping the photo issue was solved before posting this trip but better late than never.
Left home early on the 4th October and met mate a Nudgee and did the drive to the old stomping grounds of Hampo (also known as Rockhampton).
Met a mate with his 4.53 Territory Sea Jay, stocked up with ice and fuel and headed north to Stanage bay.
Road in was really good after hearing all the horror stories. 70km of bitumen and only 30km of dirt which had mostly been recently graded but pretty dry and dusty in some parts.
Set up camp late arvo and rigged up ready for the first time chasing barra. Excited was an understatement.
Now unfortunately due to the first night piss up we were up a little bit late the next morning and definitely a bit shady. Anyway we were off. Headed out the front for a jig on some rubble ground for no luck and a sea sick mate who had never been offshore, nothing to do with still being hungover.
Headed up the passage to the first creek and saw fish on the side scan straight away, second snag we fished and about half an hour in I hooked the first barra on a vibe in deep on the snag. Great hit and fight and landed my first barra at 75cm.
A few casts later on the same vibe I hooked a lot bigger one and lost it not long after. A mighty swirl is all I saw. Doh!
Change of spots and with lots of fish on the sounder tried the same vibe and hooked a 63cm grunter which gave me a bit of curry. PB and back she went.
Back to the first snag a little bit later later and a change of lure to a fat shad and I had annother 76cm Barra. A lot better fight and eventually in the net.
And then I lost the magic vibe on the snag, and as much as we tried we couldn’t get it back. I shed a tear or two I have to say. Didn’t get a bite on any other colour all trip.
Day two was very slow and bloody hot. The dog was not happy and we had to constantly wet him down.
Straight to the creeks and hit probably 20 creeks for a few fingermark biggest by my mate at 42cm. Missed a few bites on Texas rigged paddle tails and learnt a bit of respect after being dusted a few times.
Skipper got a 65cm barra at one of the last snags for the day. Back for more beers and snooze for me. The other two went out for a late arvo session with no luck on the ledge out the front.
Saturday was windy with 15 – 20kt SE blowing early but we’ll just go ‘around the corner’ my mate said. 60kms late we get back to the ramp broken, battered but with my mate getting a 76cm barra. Bugger only started fishing 6 months ago. I won’t forget that trip back in a hurry and either will my back.
Good feed at the pub that night and packed up camp in the morning for the drive back home.
Great trip with a couple of good mates and already planning the next one.
 https://imgur.com/gallery/clIm6RJ

Some nice fish there, well done .

Ahh Stanage....the place where we all learn rules the hard way.
I have had some good runs there and some where you just can't buy a bite.
It must be getting quite busy there these days to afford so much black top coming in.