jimnicdusty Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 thanks for the trip ray it was a cracker. i went throught the pics i took and got the ones off dad i will get rods and todds pics to day and i will send them to you this week. the gopro footage turned out ok so when i have time to go through it all(6hrs)i will make up a dvd and send that to you as well might take a few weeks for the footage as i have to figure out how to do it. once again thakyou very much Ray for organising the trip much appreciated. just to tease everyone here is my species list for the week . queenfish, spanish mackerel, spotted mackerel, school mackerel, sailfish, GT, brassy trevally, big-eye trevally, cobia, longtail tuna, mack tuna, blue tuskfish, barracuda, stripey, remora, groper estimated 400lb, wolf herring, tawny shark, sharp-toothed shark, black-tip reef shark, whaler sharks and a few more fish that i forgot and the ones i dident know what they were. there were also some monumental bust offs, laps of the house boat, screaming drags, huge sharks, lost lures and i also hand fed a dolphin. what a trip cheers Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjc123 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 thanks for the trip ray it was a cracker. i went throught the pics i took and got the ones off dad i will get rods and todds pics to day and i will send them to you this week. the gopro footage turned out ok so when i have time to go through it all(6hrs)i will make up a dvd and send that to you as well might take a few weeks for the footage as i have to figure out how to do it. once again thakyou very much Ray for organising the trip much appreciated. just to tease everyone here is my species list for the week . queenfish, spanish mackerel, spotted mackerel, school mackerel, sailfish, GT, brassy trevally, big-eye trevally, cobia, longtail tuna, mack tuna, blue tuskfish, barracuda, stripey, remora, groper estimated 400lb, wolf herring, tawny shark, sharp-toothed shark, black-tip reef shark, whaler sharks and a few more fish that i forgot and the ones i dident know what they were. there were also some monumental bust offs, laps of the house boat, screaming drags, huge sharks, lost lures and i also hand fed a dolphin. what a trip cheers Ray Best i've ever done up there is 16 so you've outdone me! Did you have a look in the creeks? The barra should have been waking up ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimnicdusty Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 Best i've ever done up there is 16 so you've outdone me! Did you have a look in the creeks? The barra should have been waking up ... i never even tried in the creeks i wasent interested in barra or jacks i only wanted to do some bluewater fishing and try some of the reefs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjc123 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 i never even tried in the creeks i wasent interested in barra or jacks i only wanted to do some bluewater fishing and try some of the reefs. Definitely have a quick look next time as the creeks have some brilliant fishing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raysenior Posted September 24, 2012 Author Share Posted September 24, 2012 Hi, Troy scored a Barra at Norman creek about 60cm i believe, engine failure cut this session short after about an hour and required a slow tow home of about 2hours. cheers snr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raysenior Posted September 27, 2012 Author Share Posted September 27, 2012 Weipa September 2012 Hi Fishraiders , Well after 13 months of arranging this trip it finally came to reality, Wednesday 12th September saw Troy and I meet up at Sydney airport for the trip up to Weipa, we arrived at 2.30pm and set off to pick up our previously sent up supplies. And set up camp at the camp grounds. Early Thursday morning Troy and i set out for a trip to the entrance channel to see if we could pick up a feed for dinner, plenty of trolling around the entrance channel markers resulted in no results, we could see the fish on the sounder but couldn’t raise a strike out of them .We then did some walking along the banks of one of the feeder creeks with lots of casting but once again no results. Same story, fish could be seen but not enticed to strike. Could even see Barra to 50cm cruising by !!!! very frustrating !! That afternoon of to the airport to meet the Bathurst Boys. Jim and his dad Charlie along with Todd and Rod. we are all eager for an early start on Friday with two guides lined up for the day. 7am Friday sees us on our way, we had planned to do only blue water in the area we were going on the houseboat. Our guides both Lee and Josh were a great help in showing us how to fish the area successfully. And gave a few marks for us to try . We scored heaps of different species on this trip but Jim done best with Lee setting him up with a magnificent sailfish after it was dropped on the lure and then enticed back on a skip bait, apparently it gave a good account for itself with lots of acrobatics. hopefully Jim will be along soon and put up pics . we all scored on Mack tuna and a few longtails were landed ,and a few lost to sharks , Troy picked up a big Barracuda, and we all picked up some small Spanish mackerel one of which was kept for lunch and enjoyed under the shade of a nice tree on the beach. On the return trip a troll around a rocky reef Area had me hooked up to some unknown sea monster for about twenty minutes until a huge sea turtle reared its ugly head from the depths and shattered my illusions of success.!! By and large a top day was had by all . A highly recommended team if you want details please send me a PM. Saturday morning 7am and time to get onto the houseboat , by the time all the formalities are done we are on our way southward about 9.30 am for the 3.5 hour trip to Boyds Bay, our anchorage and home for the next six nights. Next morning we all head out to 3 mile for a go at the longtails , with all crews getting into the action, but Jim was by far the winner getting into some great fights to get the fish boatside before the man in the grey suit showed up , believe me once the sharks move in its damn hard to get a fish into the boat , 8 to 9 foot Bull sharks are very common here and im sure if you fell into the water it will be history for you !! Nigh time entertainment was usually supplied by jim , who always appeared to have a fishing rod in his hand from dawn to dusk , many large sharks were enticed to take tuna heads from the houseboat and some were as big as 8-9 foot easy , even a big groper with a mouth that could swallow a man was bought boat side , and released carefully i might add as barbless hooks were used for these little adventures. A trip down to Norman creek was in order so Rod and i set out one morning for the 45 minute trip down , not a lot of fish as encountered here on previous trips but Rod scored a smallish queenie on a popper at the entrance to the creek in the run out tide ,and I scored a couple of Dart, great little speedsters they are. we trolled up the creek for a Barra but were too slow and got smashed by something that hit the mangoves in a big rush , Bugger another 25 dollar lure gone!! The wind was up on the way home so we took our time and slow trolled some minnow lures, I quickly hooked up to my first decent Spanish mackerel of about 7 kilo which was kept for the dinner table , not to be out done shortly afterward Rod scored another one of about 10 kilo this one we released as enough food was had by then, a couple more hits but no more hook ups. Next morning Rod and I went out to 3 mile to chase some tuna , but the sharks were the winners on this day getting us about 6-0 , so we went for a troll around Pera reef to see if we could find some more Spanish , I got a great run and seemed to have a good fish on but when i finally landed it it was a nice longtail that was foul hooked around the gill area, sure gave it a bit more weight through the water. She swam away to live another day . Most days the sea breeze arrived around mid day and lazy afternoons were the order of the day, a couple of times the breeze dropped off about 4pm and allowed a bit of local trolling or casting poppers over the reef , one such afternoon I went for a solo troll around the front of Boyds Bay and had a pleasant surprise of my first cobia catch, caught on the troll this fish gave a magnificent account of itself on the gear I was using and did 3 ariels during the fight ,the first one clearing the water by at least 4 foot , sorry but the pic is only with the cobia on the floor of the tender, I measured it at 34 inches long and released it to fight another day. Very little shore based fishing was done this trip which is a pity as a great many species can be encountered this way, and with light gear is very enjoyable fishing to say the least. Our last day on the housebout saw two crews head down to Norman creek , i scored my first diamond trevally , not a big fish but a first nonetheless, Troy scored his first Barra at about 60 cm long , and lost a small queenie too i believe, our trip down there was short lived as one on the tenders suffered an engine failure up the creek ( lucky for two way radios) , we went back and took it in tow for a two hour trip back to the housebout , and a sore back too boot. Our last night in Boyds Bay was a real eye opener, we had made friends with one of the professional Mackeral boats and were invited over to view the cleaning of the days catch, and to watch the surrounding array of fish, Absolutely unbelievable is the only words for it , everything from small baitfish to huge sharks all swimming around getting a free feed, there were Cobia estimated at 30 kilos easy, GT’S about 4 foot long at least 30 kilos, all different kinds of trevallies , the list goes on and on, Jim Had a ball hooking up on several of the cobia, which gave him a real helluva fight , one even straightened the gaff trying to lift him, then he hooked up on one of the big GT’s and got wrapped up in the broken line with a cobia still attached. He very nearly got hold of his leader again but the cobia once again won its freedom. . Next morning saw us up bright and early for the long trip back to weipa, and the long wait for another 12 months before getting to return to this magnificent place. Cheers Ray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjc123 Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 (edited) Great report mate! Put something similiar in the reports section if you get the chance! Lee and Josh are great guys and even better fisherman. Went with them in April and the year before... Some nice fish taken and yet another successful trip to weipa it seems! Edited September 27, 2012 by mack attack 79 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mustang1 Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Hi Ray Sounds Like an awesome trip!!!! I am heading up to do the same houseboat trip in weipa in a couple of weeks!(first Time) I was wondering if there were any particular Do's or Dont's you might be able to offer in regards to the whole trip! E.g. Gear? navigation requirements? Houseboat Facilities? tenders!!!! travelling? Experience in these type of trips would be invaluable, any advice would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raysenior Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 HiPaul, send me a PM with any questions you have and ill try to answer for you . cheers ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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