Fish_More Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 Hi all Heading to 1770 for Easter. Going to a long haul of about 13 hours to get there, but hope the weather gods are nice to me and it is worth it. Want to spend some time chasing macs up around Bustard Head and also some trout out around the reefs. Any suggestions of areas to try more than greatly appreciated. Also, if anybody else is heading up that way, feel free to give us a shout as there is safety in numbers when you are 80km offshore. Cheers Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 I'm tempted but currently dropping a fortune into my latest boat. I don't have any hot spots but found fish everywhere that looked promising on navionics. It can be busy on holidays and some of the QLD lads can be pretty cranky around the ramp, so avoid peak times. Where are you staying ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish_More Posted March 13, 2020 Author Share Posted March 13, 2020 Taking the other half and billy lids with me, so have a house at the Sunrise estate booked. That way if the weather is bad, still have something to do. My parents might come up for a while as well. Have not told the other half and Dad, but whoever is not coming with me fishing might be on boat trailer duty as not sure will get a park at the ramp if the weather is good. Hoping to head in the direction of Fitzroy to see what I can find. Boat has a 280 - 300L tank, so especially if throw some gerrys in, think should be pretty safe with range even if decide to do an overnigher. Motor is a 150hp Yamaha HPDI but have never really tested the range. Other thing to think about if do an overnighter is, what about a toilet, especially if the other half comes? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 You can buy a cheap porta loo, there are also well kept toilets on Lady Musgrave ( and camping areas). When I headed to Musgrave last year I only took one 20lt fuel backup to go with my 100lt fuel tank, my engine was extremely efficient even in 30kts of SE running home after five days out there. My latest boat has a 150lt tank and roughly 2/1 fuel burn cruising. Be very careful in regards to marine park zones as fisheries were using helicopters each day I was out there and caught many vessels in green zones. The river was very shallow on my last visit, two boats flipped over in what I would call flat bar conditions!!!!...they don't seem to be used to bumpy conditions up there. The wrecks about forty k out had fish and as soon as we got insight of the outer reefs longtail tuna were everywhere. The snorkelling inside Musgrave is well protected and always been very safe from big sharks, though there are a few cute little reef sharks there. We spear the outside reefs and haven't yet lost a fish to sharks, in saying that we've been lucky not loosing fish on rod and line either. Carefull of turtles, they can be in big numbers at times. The petrol station does twenty kg bags of ice at a very good price as well as smaller bags. The tackle store has gear but is a little pricey and limited in my opinion. The tackle store should have the zoning maps if you don't already have them on navionics etc. I plan exploring around Fitzroy on my next trip, looks like it has a protected lagoon simular to Musgrave. By the way Musgrave has an emergency phone next to the toilets but most mobiles work from Musgrave if you are close to the tower, south west side of the island. Ive purchesd a Garmin inreach mini for those offshore trips which works off the iridium sat phone network, handy for weather forcast updates and two way communication. I can't see myself having my boat quite up to being ready for an Easter trip but would be good to do a tag along in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 Just to add, Musgrave has an area for storing fuel, it can be awful onboard with strong fuel fumes especially trying to sleep at night. If you do have a break down marine rescue charge for a tow back which includes a rate for those who come out to tow you. However if you drop into the marine rescue office next to the ramp a pay a membership fee you will then be covered for free tows so I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirvin21 Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 15 hours ago, Fish_More said: Hi all Heading to 1770 for Easter. Going to a long haul of about 13 hours to get there, but hope the weather gods are nice to me and it is worth If you're traveling from Mudgee it'll be quite a bit more than 13 hours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish_More Posted March 14, 2020 Author Share Posted March 14, 2020 5 hours ago, dirvin21 said: If you're traveling from Mudgee it'll be quite a bit more than 13 hours I put it into google maps and got 13 hrs 12 mins. Sounds about right to me. We normally do Brisbane (via Newell) in about 10 hours. Brisbane to 1770 is generally about 5 hrs and you cut the corner off and normally go up through Kingaroy area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish_More Posted March 14, 2020 Author Share Posted March 14, 2020 16 hours ago, JonD said: Just to add, Musgrave has an area for storing fuel, it can be awful onboard with strong fuel fumes especially trying to sleep at night. If you do have a break down marine rescue charge for a tow back which includes a rate for those who come out to tow you. However if you drop into the marine rescue office next to the ramp a pay a membership fee you will then be covered for free tows so I believe. Thanks. If I take extra fuel it will only be 2 x gerrys that would go into the boat tank as soon as I got out there. It is probably a good idea to go see the VMR when I get there to find out the local knowledge and join at the same time in case of a worst case scenario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish_More Posted March 14, 2020 Author Share Posted March 14, 2020 16 hours ago, JonD said: The river was very shallow on my last visit, two boats flipped over in what I would call flat bar conditions!!!!...they don't seem to be used to bumpy conditions up there Bit surprised with this, you always need to respect a bar, however my recollection of it is that it is one of the tamer bars around. Will go for a drive up on the headland and watch a few boats going in and out before heading out myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 2 hours ago, Fish_More said: Bit surprised with this, you always need to respect a bar, however my recollection of it is that it is one of the tamer bars around. Will go for a drive up on the headland and watch a few boats going in and out before heading out myself. I friended the local charter of Facebook which is a great way to see how the catch is going from day to day. He also posts a lot of aerial shots of how the river and bar is, which at the time of my last visit was extremely low. The boats that had gone over were pretty outclassed by the conditions, one being under 4m and the other about 5.5m but only 1.5m wide ( simular to dragon race boats ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 Have a great and safe trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsswordfisherman Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 Swordie and I will be staying at 1770/Agnes Water next week. We certainly won’t be taking our 355 tinny offshore though 🤪 We are at Ballina and it is howling. Moving off to a dam tomorrow to get some red claw. Hope you have a great time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 This is how the entrance looked on my last visit in calm conditions. When the wind and seas built up with gusts approaching 40kts conditions became ugly offshore and even sent waves well up river past the sand bank on the right. It was on high tide over that shallow sand bank at the right of the picture where two boats overturned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish_More Posted March 17, 2020 Author Share Posted March 17, 2020 Wow, that is very different from last time I was there! If the weather is up a bit, might drive up to Turkey Beach and head out to Rock Cod Shoals to avoid the bar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish_More Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 Trip cancelled! Hopefully get the opportunity later in the year to give it another crack. At least they are giving us a full refund for the accommodation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingie chaser Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 That's a shame but understandable given the current situation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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