Darren Keep

Went out fishing with Nathan from guided down under in Rockhampton. It was a suprise for my 30th birthday. All i wanted was a big thready and to be able to achieve it i was stoked. My wife got the first one coming in at 101cm and i followed soon after with a 122cm then backed up by a healthy salty barra at 77cm the first fish i got caught and got bricked by a 51cm jack. I also hooked the biggest barra i have ever seen in my life that bent the treble in its 2nd jump. I literally thought i hooked a turtle for most the fight until the jump. I said some crazy stuff when i saw the size of this thing.

Thanks for doing the report Hamish. I only wish I had taken a video of your face when you caught that snapper. I have never seen someone so excited to catch a fish.

Whilst an unfortunate event and I’m glad you survived such an ordeal. I find it hilarious that you joined this forum just incase the aforementioned “pink Pantie caster” might actually be reading. Mistakes happen bud if you didn’t get badly hurt just suck it up untill your next Lycra clad adventure 
tight bikes

@aussie123 will probably know. Looks like a mullet, carp and aussie salmon threw their keys in a bowl .........

Thankyou so very much today. Miller and I really appreciate it. He can't stop thinking about our next trip out. I'm very proud of how he conducted himself , the 50cm comment was a bit of banter not meaning to take away from his brilliant effort but more along the lines of the" typical fishing measurement " . I see the passion in his eyes for fishing and the lake in general already. I sure know what santa is considering placing under the Xmas tree. 

Good day at NPD today with Hai,Craig and Miller.
Got a bit boring with Miller standing in the bow repeating himself just quietly repeating himself saying I am on. He had a bit of a problem with the bigger bass and yellas having to get Craig to give him a hand supporting the rod. His biggest bass went 49.5 with Craig saying if he had caught it it would have been 50cm.😞
Took us a while to locate a school but it got a bit hectic when we found it with one quadruple hook up and numerous triple hook ups.
Going to pull my redclaw pots as we only caught 2 redclaw from 4 pots. I will wait for about 4 inches of rain to bring them on again.
I was slack on the counter but but recorded 62 bass and 6 yellas.
It was a delight to have Miller on board it bides well for the future generations when you meet a quiet well behaved and polite young man. He is a credit to his mum and dad.
Cheers Ray

Hi all,
 
Had an awesome week on Moreton last week.
 
Took the barge over on Saturday 19/10, weather was average at best, we even had hail on the way over!  The squalls moved out to sea just as we arrived and we quickly set up camp at north point before the next storm came through.  After the storm passed, the sun kind of came out and the ocean glassed off.  No time like the present – kayak was launched with the aim being to get a couple of dinners for the next few days.  Conditions were amazing and in short time 2 nice pan sized snapper and a school mackerel were on board and I was heading back to the beach before the next storm arrived.  A LOT of plastics were lost to school mackerel, at one point I was right in the middle of a bust up with a heap of schoolies, tailor, a few small sharks and even some snapper racing around smashing into the bait.  Awesome to watch.  Crumbed snapper for dinner followed.
 
Sunday morning presented a 30kn SSE so after a bit of a lie in, we headed down onto north point beach where the wind would be at our backs.  First spot wasn’t all that sheltered, however, the first flathead of the trip was landed – a nice mid-40’s model that was released as dinner was already well in hand.  A move to another spot provided both more shelter and more fish.  5 more flathead were landed and released, 3 of them going over 60cm long.  Awesome session, could easily have filled the freezer but was happy to release them to fight again another day.  Mackerel in a thai red curry for dinner was superb!
 
Monday the SSE was still up around 20kn but was forecast to drop through the day.  Another lazy start and a mosey down to North point beach showed the wind was up but the ocean was flat.  Kayaks were launched and a lovely paddle along the back of the surf break featuring dolphins, turtles and 1 nice 42cm snapper for me.  The rest of the day was spent relaxing on the beach, a few more flathead were landed and released.  We headed up to the lighthouse on sunset for happy hour.
 
Tuesday morning I awoke early and it was totally still.  We had a quick breakfast and launched the kayaks again in idyllic conditions.  We were greeted by a pod of dolphins, a few turtles and even a manta ray.  I landed one nice snapper but could barely get a plastic near the bottom without being snipped off by the school mackerel.  I put a slug on to have a bit of fun and caught 4, the last one was hooked up around the gills so wouldn’t release, I shared the fillets around the camp site that afternoon.
 
Wednesday I headed out kayaking early again, this time I bagged 3 nice snapper and another schoolie that was kept at the request of some neighbours.  We then jumped in the car and headed for Tangalooma for a snorkel, timing it with a tide change for best water clarity and least current.  Highlights were two wobbegongs and a huge blue parrot, generally a very good snorkel.  On the way back I found middle rd block by a fallen branch, when I picked this up to move it a squirrel glider jumped out of the end and climbed up a nearby tree and then glided away.  Can’t believe it stayed in the hollow during and then after the branch falling!
 
Thursday morning I elected to sleep in and we then headed over to our favourite spot on the island where I landed a very nice tailor off the rocks (released) and then spent a few hours looking in rock pools and relaxing on the otherwise deserted beach.  We headed back to camp for a late lunch, conditions were not perfect but I went for a final kayak and nabbed 3 nice snapper – should have been 4 but had to pay my taxes for the week which was a good bit of fun getting towed around for about 15 minutes before the teeth inevitably won out.
 
Friday morning I headed up to the north point rocks early and had a spin for tailor.  I landed 10.2 tailor, the 0.2 coming when a huge Spanish Mack decided to grab a hooked tailor, narrowly missing the treble on the back of the slug – part of me was disappointed, the other part quite relieved.  All tailor were released.  Friday afternoon we had a fish with some pippies for dart and landed a couple, pretty quiet as the northerly was ramping up by this point.
 
Saturday was pack up day – good thing too as the northerly was 20kn+ at sunrise and only set to increase.  We packed up and headed right down to the southern end of the island out of the wind a bit for a final swim, chill out and picnic lunch.  We watched a 2-2.5m hammerhead cruising in over a shallow bank and through the south passage bar – likely heading in to birth some pups.   Then all too soon, that was it, back up the beach and across middle rd and onto the barge home.
 
Some photos from the week are below, might throw some video footage up on the you tubes or grab some stills out of it and add them soon.
 
Cheers,
Benno <’><

Well with a friday off work and with a wet and windy weekend coming, i pondered the thought of heading to Mud for a quick solo session. 
Checked the radar, didnt look too bad and besides the weather bureau always seem too early in their predictions. Lol
So hooked the tinny up, grabbed the rain coat and headed out.
ZERO trailers at the boat ramp, yep its official i'm the only mad idiot.
Conditions ended up being not too bad  across to Mud's western side.
Arrived at spot x, hit spot lock on the minny and enjoyed the serenity while looking back at brissy's ominous weather.
Anyways, landed a couple of good eating size snaps around the 65 cm range.
Headed home before dusk, made it safely back and happy i went afterall.
I should add that although wet, the forecast was only for 10-15 easterlies.
 

Friday the 27th of September we left brisbane early morning and arrived in 1770 just after lunch with 3 boats and 7 crew members. We settled into out digs for the next 10 days while making plans to head out early to the outer reefs the next day.

Saturday morning we left the ramp at 5am and headed for the live bait grounds filling our tanks with yakkas and scad. Setting our course north we powered on for the fishing grounds arriving at 9am and dropping live baits we immediately hooked up to good fish landing some qaulity maori cod. The next 2 hours were full on landing big coral trout and maori cod until it went quiet so time to move out to a red emperor spot.
 
The weather was perfect and by lunch time it had glassed out and we were able to run from 1 spot to another like we were on a lake. 

I dropped a good fish calling it for a good red then my deckie Terry lands a big spangeled emperor it soon went quiet here as well so we moved back to our final area for the arvo. 1 of my live yakkas were swallowed by something huge and sure enough after i got him away from the bottom i coud gain some line Terry slid the net under my big trout going 70cm and 1 of my biggest trout ever.

A few more drifts and more qaulity fish hit the deck then my rod buckled again and line peeled with plenty of head shakes. This fish was testing me out and little by little i brought him closer to the boat a 10kg amberjack surfaced and landed on the deck. Time was called soon after as the sun set and we headed for our anchorage where all our boats pulled up for the night.
 
The next morning saw us up early and into the fish again so far we had caught coral trout, spangeled emperor, red throat emperor, tuskies, moses perch, hussar, amberjack, maori cod and coral cod. Just before lunch we made the call to run down to fitzroy lagoon for a snorkel and a few beers before heading for home.


 
We got back on the ramp around 5pm and pulled into our yard finding the rest of our crew had arrived from brisbane swelling our numbers to 14. Plenty of beers help the fishing tales get better by the night as fisherman tell good yarns on the drink.
 
The next morning we filleted the catch while the new crew up there went 4wd driving in eurimbla national park. They came back with stories of big barra in the creek but no hook ups stiil they had big smiles and dirty trucks.
 
Tuesday was good enough to get the boats out early before the wind set in so we headed up to bustard head trolling for mackerel. As soon as we got there we landed a school mackerel on the 1st pass then another Spanish mackerel hit the deck soon after. We dropped a few more mackerel then landed a big coral trout on the troll before the wind started and we had to head home.
 
The next day we all went 4wd driving in deep water national park and saw some beautiful beaches, fresh and salt water creeks. We finished at baffle creek where the boys caught some small GTs before we headed home.

 
Thursday just over half our crew went home while the rest of us went 4wd driving again into eurimbla national park up to Turkey beach. Found another awesome creek with rock bars everywhere so we walked the banks flicking lures the had a cob loaf for lunch we whipped up on the back tray of the ute.



 
Friday was good enough to get back out to bustard head and we got another schoolie and Spanish mackerel along with a good gold spot cod. I was fishing with Giffo and he landed a big queenfish that jumped and fought hard. We headed back in around lunch time so we could be ready for a big day the next morning.


 
Saturday morning we set off early for Lady Musgrave island with the best weather so far for the trip as we pulled up just off the island the sounder lit up so we dropped baits down and both boats instantly had hook ups there was a patch of coral cod we had stumbled apon so drifting close to each other we could see these cod coming in thick. Then in another spot close by we caught big red throat emperor and my wife Sheryl caught the biggest 1 of these out of all the boats for the trip she was stoked to say the least. We stayed close by each other only because we could as the fish didn't mind and the drift was slow then both boats starting catching coral trout it was awesome watching each other get these good fish close by.


 
The wild life turned it on also as whales cruised by close as well as 50 plus turtles sunbaking on the surface along the reef edge all close by and soon enough the sharks made a visit eating the back half of Sheryl's big cod she fought up. This was a big tiger shark that then cruised around us for the next 10 minutes and came back form time to time chasing any released fish from the boat.
 
The fishing went around 11am so we went into the lagoon for a snorkel seeing plenty of amazing coral and fish even a turtle had a swim next to us I found a bright blue star fish to show the wife.


We had some lunch then left the lagoon for another quick fish before heading home where the other boat crew had to head home for Brissy only leaving Lance Sheryl and I for the last night before we headed home ourselves the next day. Definitely a top 10 days we had up there with plenty of new reefs and national parks we got to explore we are already planning another trip like this next year.

Finally north east winds started today after 10 months of south easterlies, so the beach is going to fire in the next few days. Hit the beach late afternoon with live mullet and managed a new PB at 116cm. My wife took the video; its a bit too long and  gets boring sorry!
Was released healthy.


WhatsApp Video 2019-10-08 at 6.56.10 PM.mp4 WhatsApp Video 2019-10-08 at 6.54.03 PM.mp4

Bloodworms are hard to beat when targeting whiting. As a kid Digging bloodworms in the passage always resulted in us having whiting for dinner! 
My son & I picked these ones up on yabbies in the passage yesterday along with plenty of bream that went back in the water. 

Been fishing landbased around the Broadwater lately for a feed of whiting. Not in great numbers, but all a decent 30odd cm.
Using bloodworms for bait. They are so expensive that if you don't use them all you have to go fishing everyday until they are all gone. Bugger.

Good luck all that go. 
I can’t go but I did get s fix on the weekend at Hervey Bay. I didn’t catch this but did net it. 
12.7 kg amazing fish. Scarlet Sea Perch or Large mouth Nannygai 

I've tried all winter to catch my first Mulloway fishing every Wednesday night from from 8.30pm to 5am on the Tweed River in my Quinnie, with no luck what so ever, I've tried live mullet, live whiting, hard bodies and plastics, Every deep hole I could find, Even at the river mouth.
I was told the start of September is getting a bit to late in the season for the Tweed so I give up until next year, I go down to the old Chinderah bridge with a bit of mullet fillet, no sinker, and I drop it down on a fast incoming tide, 2 min's later I was getting little soft bites I thought were bream and I give it a tug,  My line takes off , A large bend in my rod and the real screams. my next thought was a stingray, 10 min's later it surfaces, To my surprise its a big Jewy,  I was and still very happy with that catch, I had to walk it down to the rivers edge then run down to the water and drag it on to the sand, Yippee, I picked it up and the hooks fell out, Lucky night for me,
Here is the photo. 100cm Jewy for my first ever, now I need a bigger esky.

Gday, just got back yesterday. Explored around Hook, Whitsunday and Hamilton Islands for a long weekend. Drove up and back towing a ski, so got 2.5 days of fishing in. Didn’t make it out to the reef, with fuel range on the ski holding us back a bit.
Managed a heap of sweetlip half a dozen trout, couple cod and some squid. Saw tuna busting up a few times but could tempt them with anything we threw at them, and got smoked a few times by big fish. Fishing mostly with jigs.
Beautiful place, very keen to get back and get out to the reef.

It was a great trip. 
It ended up being a sailing trip and not really a fishing trip. 
I towed lures for 5 days straight for one hit and one fish. Bludger Trevally. 
It ate really well. It was a good size one and we had it for about 4 meals including 2 large sashimi platters. These fish eat a lot better than their reputation. 
The weather was fantastic! 
We trolled lures around the shallows a fair bit and caught a very nice cod that went 73cm. The lads wanted to have this whole and we baked it in the oven. It was terrible. Like a rubber ball with no flavour at all. I have experienced this once before with some spangled emps.  I have no idea what causes this?
There was a school of smaller Bludgers smashing fish in the shallows. We creeped up to them and my mate, who thinks all fishing is rubbish unless it is fly fishing, plopped a paddle tail soft plastic in the middle of them. They shouldered each other out of the way to get get to it and he was on fast to a nice fish. It fought like a trooper in the shallows. Jumping clear a few times and circling our tiny little tender 3 times. We had no net or gaff so landed it with a glove. Great fun and he is a bit of a convert now to soft plastics. 
So plenty of fish to eat and a fair bit of sport. 
I caught about 20 small fish mostly coral cod and other cods and a few small trout. I caught 2 grassy sweetlip one morning and hooked a large shark that was not hooked but really wanted the bait. So much so that I got it right up to the boat a few times before it opened its mouth and let the trev frame go. 
A stunning trip and what a fantastic place to explore for a few days. 
So despite the lack of fish, especially on the troll, I will be back for sure.
 
 

G'day everyone,
I am back from an amazing part of Australia and have some stories to tell and things to share. 
There is a lot to catch up on with real work and the new lure business also, I will get to photos videos etc as soon as time allows.
Rather than doing a full report with heaps of photos etc like i would normally, I will be doing small videos and releasing photos slowly to get whatever mileage I can to promote the business. (I don't expect I will be doing a trip like this for a very long time so I need to make the most of it).
I am expecting to release small videos of the trip on FB and the Gobblers web site so if you would like to follow that part of the journey you can.
One of the best investments I made before the trip was to buy that drone. It gives a whole new level of appreciation when you see where we were and the amazing places we saw.
Here is a small sample of what I mean.😉


 
Cheers Wayne

Fished of the Broome jetty today from 10:20 to 13:15 with lures and bait. Zero bites. Saw one 50cm long Tom in the water and saw two small queen fish landed. Fished the end and 2/3rds of the open boardwalk (approx 160m).
Hand reels needed 12-16oz sinkers to hold bottom with the tide. Used squid and mulies. Tide seemed too strong and shallow waters were too packed early on to even bother trying to catch livies.
Poppers and lures with a large enough bib to dive fared best. Anything else just skimmed across the surface with the strong tide.
Will try beach fishing on cable beach tomorrow north of the rocks.

a lot of flathead around that time

a lot of flathead around that time

So the threadies are on the chew at the moment and my god the fishing is fun. This week I went out three times for a number of them best going 1070 was nice to crack the metre mark. Fish were caught on gulp shrimp and live mullet/prawns. As a bit of fun I've reverted to fishing with Handline when using live bait and it's been awesome!! I'll say it yet again 
I
Love
The 
Net
Free
Zone 

Well well well this is nice. 
A long time mate of mine that I haven't see for about 20 years is coming back to Aust.
He has bought time share in a sailing boat that is kept at Airlie Beach. 
He has invited me and another mate to spend 6 nights on the boat with them.
They are both keen fishers but the trip is more about getting some hours up sailing his boat for his licence. I don't really know much about this or why he needs hours up. 
Anyway it is a lure only trip (though I will take some hooks if we get some fusiliers or something for bait). One mate only fishes with flies. He is pretty good at it too. 
We don't really know the way around up there but expect it to be pretty fishy especially when we are a few hours away from Hamilton. 
Wish me luck. Hopefully I will get loads of fish and loads of photos. We are not taking enough food and will be relying on cooking fish on the BBQ... One Spanish and we eat like kings,,, nothing and we starve haha. 

I was lucky to get a call from @tugger on Friday to see if I was interested in an offshore trip on Sunday. I couldn’t say yes fast enough. The weather prediction was good so I knew we would have a great day.
We were at the ramp around 5am, meeting up with @straddiebrad and Kurt, and set off over the Bay in the dark with Mark giving me some good oil on navigating the Bay in the dark. We crossed a very timid bar at first light with Brad and Kurt right behind us. We headed to Mark’s live bait spot and gathered enough livies for the day while the other boys headed north.  Then it was off to the rock.
We fished a mix of livies and dead baits, with fish falling mostly to the dead ones. They weren’t chewing their heads off but we had a steady stream of snapper coming over the side. Mark is a great skipper and fisherman and I learnt a few things yesterday that will improve my fishing in the future.  Around turn of the tide Mark suggested we drop a floater out for a Spanish. He has a unique way of rigging the dead bait for mackerel and it certainly works. The bait was in the water for less than a minute and the reel started screaming. Mark selflessly handed me the Rod and said “Do you want to have some fun?”  It was fun fight and we soon had a fat 125cm toothy critter on the deck. A new PB mack for me, but I can’t take all the credit.
We headed home early afternoon and were back at Mark’s place to do the clean up by 3pm.  Great day out, Mark. Thanks mate.  As usual for me, there are only a couple of poor photos, but Mark might have some.
 

Hi all. 
Headed out after work last night with a mate to see if the snapper where still around. Launched at 5.30pm and on the anchor by 6pm burleying up and putting some baits out.
Took about 1hr but slowly they the came on the chew
Caught 6 around the 70-75cm mark with 4 being released. Then the sharks rocked up and took the body of a solid fish in the  mid 7kg bracket.😫 So we up anchored and headed for home as we didn't want to see any more fish destroyed by sharks. Good to spend a few hours on the water again. Hope to get out again in the coming days. 
cheers Josh <><

Just not getting the use it needs, I tend to stick to the spinning reels.Purchased 6 months a go on special for $420, willing to part with it to a good home for $300.It has only seen fresh water about 3 times. Google it they are a magic reel. No more wind knots,overruns,tangles etc.
Dino