February 28, 2004 Opal Mining Update - No 31 No fish one week and then we got some

Site Map Home Page Archived Pages Contact Guest Book

Got up early (6.30) and was at the boat ramp and fueled up by 7.30, was going to find another fishing hole and is on the end of the most northern point of Hinchinbrook Island (Cape Richards) but the swell and the sea was too rough for us to spend time to try and find this hole, so we went back across to the rock off the north end of Goold Island, where we caught those Bat fish. This map below which is a photo I took of it, shows you just how big this island is and as I said before it is 11 miles out to Mona Rock that's the small island of the east side of Goold Island and about 16 miles out to the Brook Islands.

This is the rock which is straight across from Cape Richards point, roughly 2 mile away, the sea was a lot rougher than what you see here and we could not hold anchor as it keep dragging, after trying for a couple of times and catching one small shark we pulled in the anchor and went on a tour around this Goold Island.

Did not take any photos on this trip around, (we went to the right of this photo) nice island as islands go, full of trees and bush just has it has been for millions of years, the depth of water is not deep in this area, just 20 feet some 100 meters out from the island, we was hoping that on the lee side of the island we would find a spot to fish, but it was even more shallow there, a few small sand beaches and some mangrove trees but no fishing spots, was a nice slow trip, people pay good money to do this. After we had been right round the island it was a bit early to come home even if it was a bit rough, so we went back up along the island to the first fishing hole we found about a mile and a bit back from the fishing spot above, but today the tide was wrong, as high tide was at 7.00am and the tide was now running out, by now it was around 12.10pm and low tide was at 1.20pm so we stayed to see if there would be action after the tide had turned. But I only caught another shark and that was on a mackerel rig the sea was still rough and Pat wanted to come home, for which I was glad, so we pulled up anchor and came home, so no fish today for us, saves me a job when I get home, no fish cleaning. Tuesday, Did not go out today as the tide is still no good, so we will have a rest day and I will play around on the laptop, may go out tomorrow, the good part is there is sunshine out side and yesterday was also very good in the sky if not on the water, looks like the weather is on the improve, but as for catching fish, who knows. Wednesday, Same as Tuesday, tide is wrong for us as the high tide is still to early in the morning for us to get out to see in time to fish it for an hour before high tide and it rained again around lunch time, so if we had gone barra fishing we would have got soaked as it really threw it down heavy for over an hour, so we had a rest day. Thursday, A rest day again and looks like some rain this morning and while I was catching up on this it has sprinkled a little, the high tide today was at 8.45am and is getting a bit later every day, so it wont be long before we are out again, but fish, who knows. Friday, High tide this morning was at 9.20, so after I had been on the internet we went and put the boat in the water and followed a couple of locals out to where they were going to do some fishing, which was to the right as we go out of the channel markers about 3 or 4 kilometers down, this below is one on them, I lost the other so it must have gone up the creek, this boat is anchored to one side of a creek (small river) all the creeks here have Mangrove Trees lining the banks which breed and hide small fish and this is what brings in the bigger fish to feed, hopefully.

The guy above has a big fish hooked and was playing it for over five minutes, it was even caught around the anchor line for a while at the end and I though he was going to lose it, but he managed to get it loose and they brought it on board with the help of the hand net, like the ones you use for trout fishing but a lot bigger, you can see the big island of Hinchinbrook in the background.

Here it is, it is called a Queenfish, this is a nice size but not good for eating as it is to old and tough, the guy put this back in the water after we had took this photo and tried to revive the fish as we were leaving, so I hope it recovered and got away, as these are the breeders for the next generation of there kind, so is best to let them go if you are not going to take them for food.

As for us, well we will have to satisfied with watching someone else catch a fish and at least I have couple of photos for you to look at, cant just rely on us that's for sure, today was a perfect day, when we got up this morning at 7, there was not a cloud in the sky, that's a first since we have been here, some came up later as you can see in the photos above, but the water was perfect, but the sun is very hot and as we were trying some lure fishing and I did say TRYING, boy that is hard work and I think we will leave that kind of fishing to the younger ones, to hard on the shoulders and also you have to stand in the hot sun all the time, like the boat above, not for us anymore I can tell you, so we have decide to just throw out a baited hook with or without a sinker, these guys above were fishing with bait on hooks with no sinker. Tomorrow the weather should be the same as today and the high tide is at 9.55 am so we will be up early and in the water for 7 am, we have already fueled the boat up and so we can launch the boat and head straight out, the first spot we will be trying is try to locate the big fishing hole of the point at Cape Richards (J in the top map) we should be there by or before 8 am which gives us a couple of hours before high tide, if we do no good there we will move across to Mona Rock (H on the top map) which is the small island in the second photo above, all being well should be home by 12 o'clock, earlier if nothing is biting but the weather is on the improve and the water is clearing up, it was very dirty after all that rain they had here and from the run-offs, but they have had no serious rain for a week now so the mud is starting to clear away and I think it will not be long before we are onto good fish. Saturday, Was up at 6 o'clock this morning and had the boat launched and was off at 7 o'clock on the dot, the weather was perfect and stayed that way until we got home, we did a lot of miles today, starting at the deep hole off Mona Rock (H on the map above) we had a line and bait in the water at 8 o'clock on the knocker and as high tide was at 9.55 we was hoping to have a good day. The fish finder showed plenty of activity down below, particularly the 1/2 before high tide, but nothing was on the bite (again) and we was fishing in 98 feet of water, so we waited until 10.30 then moved out to Cape Richards (J on the map above) to try and find the deep fishing hole there, but we could not locate it again, the sea was perfect, you could have water skied on it but as far as fishing nothing so far. So we did a bit of drift fishing around there for a while and not even a bite, so after 1/2 an hour we went back to the hole of Mona Rock, 2 mile across from Cape Richards and the fish finder said there was nothing in the hole, don't know where they went but they had disappeared so we went out to see if we could find the Brook Shoal, which is about a 1.5 miles in front of the very small island to the right in the Brook Islands (I in the map above) we came across a boat fishing out there but not on the shoal so we did some drift fishing near them for about 20 minutes and nothing again so we headed back to the hole at Mona Rock. There was a couple of boats there fishing, I forgot to mention that we were the first boat out there this morning at this hole and was joined by 3 others shortly after and we were the last to leave the spot and nobody caught anything, all of the boats we came across, nobody had caught anything and when we came back and got the boat out of the water and hung around talking to some of the locals that had been out, again nothing was caught, was starting to think it was only us, make me a bit happier to think I am not the only me, but I am not happy to be catching nothing, I did forget again to mention again that Pat did catch about a 3.5 foot hammer head shark, but as she forgot to put the camera in the boat I could not take a photo, but that was all we got for the day. Sunday, Was not up as early as yesterday as the high tide was at 10.25 this morning, we decide to fish in close today in one of the creek mouths, in fact the creek that the chap above caught that big Queenfish in, so we was there fishing at 8.30, 2 hours before high tide and we stayed until 12 o'clock and all I caught was one small stingray, we saw this boat coming up the channel on the other side to us, it is a cruse ship, did not know they came up this way as there is a lot of shallow water, but it must be safe when the tide is on the rise and another little boat going past, the locals are out in numbers today.

Here is a close up it or as close as I can make it with my camera, quite a big boat for these waters, must be on its way to Cairns some 230 kilometers from here, worth a photo.

Here we are coming back into the boat ramp, which is just to the right of the big boat you can see in the background, the building on the left is the house that the people live in that run the bait shop right next to it, called Port of Call.

And this is the view back out to the sea where we have just come from you can see another boat coming in, this is a very nice place, pity we are here at the wrong time of the year to catch the fish we want.

In this photo you can see three of the houses that are here, there is a few more and there are still building, there is a Marina here which I will take a photo but I can tell that the people who live here are Port Hinchinbrook are rich and well off, not like the people of Cardwell who are just normal working folks like most of us.

This is the big boat that was anchored at the fuel jetty, we don't often get to see one of these up close, a proper fishing boat, could use mine as a dingy.

This is a nice boat, bit out of my league, but I can dream.

I count 11 rods on this boat, this is the type of boat they use to go and catch Marlin with, you need deep pockets to hire this for a day or two.

Monday, Today we went to a creek further down the Hinchinbrook Channel called Damper Creek, a local in the pub told me about it, it is a very large creek and as you go into to the mouth it splits in two with a left and right channel, we were told to go into the left channel and with the fish finder look for a hole just past the intersection, which we found and was 20 feet deep at the time, as we was there 2 hours before high tide which was at 10.54. We fished there for about one hour when I caught my first decent fish since we have been here, it is called here a Grunter as they are supposed to grunt when you have them out of the water, this one didn't, the real name is a Spotted Javelin Fish and they are a excellent eating fish, we have caught them before in Broome, Western Australia.

This was the third (I had caught another of the fish above first, but smaller) and last fish I caught, it is called a Brown SweetLips or better known as rubber lips or blubber lips by the locals, lucky I have a proper book that identifies all of the species by the proper name, but I have caught most of the fish they would have in this area in the past, this is also a very good easting fish, I caught this one about 1.5 hours after the tide had turned, Pat had not caught a fish at this time and was not impressed that I was having all of the fun at this point.

We was running out of time to get out of this creek as the water was getting low in the mouth and as I not know the area at all, I was a bit concerned as the water had dropped 5 feet since the high tide, this was some 3 1/2 hours after high tide and the water was 5 foot deep when I came through 2 hours before, so I knew that it would be low water by now, but I did not want to leave until Pat had caught a fish, she had been getting a lot of bites for over an hour and all she was doing was to keep replacing the bait, the fish whatever they were would not take the hook, that was until this Grunter came along and would you believe it was caught on the last piece of bait, as I had already put things away and cleaned up, we was 20 minutes later in leaving, was supposed to go at 2 o'clock.

Anyway Pat caught here fish, normally it is her that has the luck not me, nice to have a change, so we was off and when I got to the mouth of the creek the water was low as expected, but what I did not know was there were sandbars almost right around the mouth of the creek but a little way out and the water was breaking over them, at first I though I would be stuck inside as I tried to go forward and was in water less than a foot under the back of the boat. But as I stopped and looked around I saw that to the right side of the mouth the water looked deeper, so I slowly made my way over there and sure enough it went to 5 foot and before I knew it I was out and on my way home, the water is not that deep in the main channel to start off with, it ranges from 11 to 15 foot in most places when the tide is low, we will be going back there tomorrow and will remember that we must leave a bit earlier and not later than 2 1/2 hours after the tide has turned. Can we catch more tomorrow, well I hope so, the freezer is still a long way from being full, this is our catch for today, some people might think that, Gee that's not a lot, but I can tell you it has cost some good money just to get these and things can only get better, but if they do not have any more big rain while we are here, the catches should get better.

Tuesday, Went out to the same spot again, but was not as active as yesterday, we did both get good bites just after we put our baits in the water but never hooked up, then we played the waiting game for over 2 hours before I got another bite, I did catch another of the Grunters that went 44 centimeters in length, then while I was waiting for a bite I was fishing with another rod for live bait with a line with little lure hooks on it, I caught a couple of Wolf Herring, they may look big here but they are about 12 inches long, they do grow big but they are full of bones and are only good for bait, as they are oily.

Here is the entrance to the creek we are fishing right now, there is a left and right branch here if you look closely, we are fishing just inside this left branch.

These tress are called Mangrove Trees and as you can see they live in salt water, a lot of small live in among the root system as they tend to breed here then move out to sea when they get big enough, so it is a good feeding area for the bigger fish, hence why people come and fish around and near them, they a funny looking tree with the root system they have and the tree breaths through its roots that poke up in the air through the mud when the water level has dropped and leaves then exposed for a short time.

To the right and right next to the fishing rod is the middle of the Creek and where the right hand branch is, today the water was to good as you can see, there was not a lot of movement in the tide today, so this would have lead to the fish not being as active as yesterday, but there is not a lot of movement in the tides for the next 2 or 3 days so it may be the same again, may have to try out in the deeper water.

This is a shot looking back at the entrance to the creek mouth where we came in, will have to remember to sneak around to the right when I am ready to leave and go home and miss the sand bars, this creek is around 15 kilometers from the boat ramp or 8 nautical miles.

This is a shot of this branch of the creek as it is going back into the hills, I have no idea how far it goes but I have been told they go a long way up there to fish for the Barra.

We did catch 4 sharks, one of them twice and he has now got 2 hooks in him and I caught 2 stingrays, both of the same breed, this is the first and smallest of the 2, it is called a Coach whip Stingray, Beautiful looking thing, I tried to take a photo of the tail but the photo was no good as I need a Polaroid lens to stop the glare on the water, surprised I took this photo this good, in fact I am quite proud of this photo, anyway the tail on this is very long and thin as the name would suggest and is banded all the way along, very unique.

Wednesday, Went out late today as we had to pay the registration for the boat and trailer at the post office and there was not much movement in water today with the tides which is not good for fishing but we went out anyway as the weather was great and it is nice to just relax on the water and hope for the best, it was very quiet and I never got a nibble all the time I was there, Pat on the other hand had a lot of bites on her side of the boat and one time she pulled in one rod to check the bait and she had this little Estuary Cod on, which I put back after this photo, they grow to 180 cms (6 foot) and can weigh in at 106 kilo, this is just a baby.

I finally had enough at 2 pm and as I was pulling in the rods, we use 2 each Pat had a big bite and had what we hoped was a big fish on, but she had another type of the Coach whip Stingray, there are only 2 kinds so we have caught them both now, this one has more of a maze pattern to it, they call it a blotch pattern, another unique type of fish, I got the hook out of it without much trouble and it was on its way.

Thursday, Had a day off today because there was only .10 (almost 4 inches) of a meter in movement between the high and low tide so they was very little chance of catching any fish. Friday, Today was a bit better between the tides about a foot and a bit, so we went back to the creek early this time, we had baits in the water by 7.40 and straight away we started getting bites over the next hour and a half I had caught one of the grunters, just over legal size and this one which is called a Fingermark Bream, (also excellent eating) I also caught another of the Coach Whip Stingray like the one above, Pat caught 2 of the small Estuary Cod and a Bat fish which was all put back, we the stayed there until low tide which was at 13.55 plus another 1/2 hour for nothing, might as well come home at 9.30 as after that is was dead.

Saturday, Was going to go out deep today, around Goold Island (G on the map above) but we went out for dinner last night to the local Bowling/Golf Club and did not get to bed until about 11.10 and although I was out like a light Pat did not sleep well and had to get up around 12.45 to take a sleeping pill, so when I got up at 5.45, she did not feel well and going out fishing so I went back to bed until 7.30 then I got up again. Did not want to spend the day here in the cabin so we decided to go into Cairns and do some shopping that needed to be done, bought a compass for the boat and got a roller changed over (where the boat winches up against) for nothing where I bought the boat from as they fitted it with a V-block which is useless and they admitted they should not have put in on so I got a replacement, as I said for nothing. We have to go back again into Cairns again sometime soon as we have not finished shopping, I need to buy a small freezer to bring back to Coober Pedy, was hoping to fill it this trip, but that isn't going to happen now and I also need another boat cover, plus a bunch of other stuff, should be going out fishing tomorrow we hope, but we did come back threw some heavy rain and the forecast is for some showers, which don't worry us, but also there could be a thunderstorm, which does, so wont know until we get up. Sunday, Was not up at 5.45 this morning and was in the water by 6.45 and fishing in the creek 20 minutes later, again the small fish were biting and Pat had a couple of rod benders that took line out and she even played one for a couple of minutes but they both spit the hook out so again we missed out on a decent fish to bring home, we did catch 3 small fish, the first one I forgot to take a photo of, but it was a small one of the 3 kilo fish Pat caught last year, a Spangled Emperor, this below is a Fringe-Finned Trevally, had it been big enough we could have eaten it, but this went back.

Another fish that is useless to us, this one I don't know what it is, but I do know that they like our bait and are a waste of time. Well we have just over 3 weeks left and have not caught anywhere near the fish we want. was hoping to fill the freezer or come close but I have only 2 layers in the bottom so far, we are to say at the very least, very disappointed so far with this place for having a name for being the best fishing spot in Queensland, I am sure they are a lot of fish here but getting them to bite and also getting them big enough is the main problem. We will keep trying and perhaps we will have some photos of bigger fish next week, but don't hold your breath to long. Hope you have enjoyed this issue and look forward to the next one, hopefully I will have some more good photos to show you in the next issue and maybe some of Good Looking Opal and lots of it, I am still hoping that this will be a good year for us in mining, so stay with us over the next few months and find out what goes on in our part of the world as far as Opal Mining goes. Stay Tuned for the next Issue, who knows what I will have to report. Until the next issue......... and wish me lots of LUCK. Cya Later, Stuart Bird. To return back to the Archived Page for more Updates click, Here!

Top

Index Page | Site Map | Opals | Black Opals | Gold Pendants | Inlay Rings | About Our Opals | Earrings Opal Rough | Triplets | Doublets | Inlaid Opal Pieces | Wire Wrapped Opals | Valuing Opals | Opal Glossary