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Information on the quality and location of local Boat Ramp facilities. Includes photographs, maps and some video content.

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FishingTownsville.net promotes catch and release fishing.

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Popular fishing spots including GPS locations, sounder shots and maps.

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Fly Fishing

Chasing Golden Trevalley on the Magnetic Island flats.

Relaxing!

Enjoying one of the many beautiful beaches of Magnetic Island.

Monday 29 March 2010

Barramundi Drought Broken - sort of!

PhotobucketWell my Barramundi drought was sort of broken yesterday. I managed a few, but only rats. Dad and I headed south without the boat to try our hand at some land based fishing. Dad managed a 6in Barra first cast on a gold bomber at our fist location, followed not long later with a tiddler for me.

We then headed to our main spot for the morning, but the tide took a LOT longer to turn than expected. We fished for about 2 hours past what we thought was going to be change of tide time, and managed only 1 Rat barra and a nice jack. We were feeling pretty sorry for ourselves after putting in literally hundreds of casts with a whole multitude of plastics and hard bodies. Then a couple of guys showed up late in the morning and throw the cast net for some bait. First throw and they nail a 64cm Barra IN THE NET. Talk about rub salt in the wound! We knew the fish were there, we had seen a meter plus monster crash bait around the mangroves. But we couldn't entice them.

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We joked with the guys for a while about their lucky capture, but then got a little jacked off when they lined up and threw their live mullet right into the path where we were clearly working our lures! And then they nail another Barra within minutes of the live mullet hitting the water, only to release it with a 7.5 double twist dive from high on the bank! After spending hours waiting for the tide to turn, we really got locked out of where we wanted to fish right at that critical tide change. Oh well, we had managed a few fish, even if it wasn't the big Barramundi.

Now late in the morning we headed to the freshwater to try our luck. I managed another couple of Rat Barra and a nice Sooty before we headed home with our tails between our legs!

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Till next weekend.....

BCFC April Tackle Night - Fishing Hinchinbrook and Lucinda

The Baptist Church Fishing Club is holding its April Tackle Night this Thursday night where local fishing guru Trevor Fuller will spill the beans on fishing the spectacular Hinchinbrook Channel. Come along to get your fishing map and learn how and when to fish Hinchinbrook’s hottest fishing spots. Details are:

When: Thursday 1st April @ 7.00pm
Topic: How to Fish Hinchinbrook and Lucinda
Speaker: Trevor Fuller
Where: BCFC Club Room (Church Hall 38 Canterbury Rd, Kirwan)


The April Fishing Comp is OPEN so you can fish wherever you like. Comp details are:

When: 12.00am April 2nd – 5.00pm April 3rd
Landbased Spot: Insulator Creek - Meet Mitch 6am Sat 3rd at Yabulu Servo
Weigh-In and BBQ: Saturday 3rd @ 5.00pm (38 Canterbury Rd, Kirwan)

Everyone is welcome. If you would like any more info on the above, or BCFC in general check out http://www.bcfctownsville.com/

Sunday 28 March 2010

Nq Flyfishers an update

Just an update on what has been happening. We had a very good meeting with 16 members and new members present. Lots of discussion on weather and where to fish! The weather so far this year has caused some problems to the club but we still have managed to find somewhere to fish. After much thought the group moved the venue to Toolakea Beach. We meet on Saturday morning with 7 members ready to go fishing. We spent a far time on the water and Richard walked away with 2 flathead. One was perfect for his top ten. Well done Richard. I believe Dave will be looking for a new 8wt rod as his 2 piece become a 4 piece. I think Caradoc may need to review his safety procedures as he decided to go for a short dip. We all had a great trip and looking forward to the next meeting and trip.

Saturday 27 March 2010

Baptist Church Fishing Club Website

The Baptist Church Fishing Club now has its own domain and website. Follow the link below for details.

http://www.bcfctownsville.com




Wednesday 17 March 2010

Cyclone Ului threatens the local fishing industry



Sunday 14 March 2010

Fly tying with North Qld Flyfishers

We had a great night tying some flies last Thursday so thought I would post the pics. We are getting a great turn out at the moment at the new venue. So if you have an interest in fly fishing why not come along and have some fun with like minded souls. We also now have a highly committed group fly fishing. There appears to be members who are fishing every weekend, so come along and enjoy.


Friday 12 March 2010

Longtail Tuna Study

FYI
 
ANSA has for some time now been actively involved with Dr Shane Griffiths and a consortium of recreational refishing groups and scientists led by the CSIRO to gather data on longtail tuna. ANSA National and both Queensland and NSW Branches as co-investigators, have contributed $2200 collectively to support the data collection project.
 
Members would be aware that longtail tuna are a unique species classified by the Commonwealth government as “recreational only”. Regrettably, very little is known about the actual capture of this tuna species by recreational fishers.
 
The project is testing two cost-effective survey methods for collecting data in longer-term surveys on recreationally important species such as longtail tuna; online reporting and surveys of tackle store customers. Shane has set up a website www.longtailtuna.com.au, which facilitates anonymous reporting of data concerning longtail tuna captures and related fishing effort. Registered users submitting catch data on the website will enter a monthly draw for longtail tuna Tshirts.
 
The tackle store survey component in the project is a big job for such a small research team and the project is fast approaching an end, but the research team is keen to get as much additional data before that time. Therefore, ANSA is looking for volunteers around the country to assist the project by undertaking at least one 3-hour interview in any major tackle shop in your local area. Basically, someone just needs to stand in front of the store (with the store owner’s permission) for 3 hours and interview customers as they exit. Each interview takes about 90 seconds to reduce the burden on busy customers.
 
If you are interested in undertaking such an important volunteer role then please get in touch with Shane on (07) 3826 7364 or email at shane.griffiths@csiro.au. Shane will arrange for you to be provided with copies of the survey questionnaire, instructions for completion, and a free limited edition longtail tuna t-shirt as featured on the website.
 
This is a commendable project that has ANSA backing and all members are encouraged to participate in the collection of catch and effort data. If you can afford the time to go the extra yard and volunteer to do the tackle shop survey this will be very much appreciated.
 
Please circulate amongst your ANSA and fishing colleagues
 
Regards
 
John Burgess
Executive Officer ANSA


Wednesday 10 March 2010

Osprey Reef Cleaner Stations - News article

Just an interesting story from the news tonight.



JCU Barramundi Research

James Cook University is currently running a research project involving tracking the movements of several large Barramundi in Cleavland Bay. Recently 25 large Barramundi (around the magic meter mark) were released into the salt water below Aplin's Weir. These fish had a special acoustic tracker inserted into the abdomen and have been tagged with a special green external tag. More fish are expected to be tagged in the next few months.

If a fish with a green tag is caught anglers are urged to record the tag number, release the fish in good condition and call the fish tagging hotline (07 4781 5973) to report the tag number, date, time and location of capture.

If you want to keep the fish, the researchers would like you to report the capture information to the hotline and return the transmitter. A small reward available for tag recaptures and the transmitters can then be re-deployed in other barramundi. These transmitters are worth a considerable amount of money and should be returned to JCU as soon as possible

Information about captured and released fish helps reveal how well the tracking system is working. This information will be valuable to ensuring accurate results are collected.

Contact: Amos Mapleston 4781 5253 or Michelle Heupel 4781 4519

More information can be found here.


Fishing rule changes for Bream, Tarwhine and Tailor

From 1 March 2010, the following minimum size limits apply:

   * yellowfin and pikey bream will change from 23 cm to 25 cm
   * tarwhine will change from 23 cm to 25 cm
   * tailor will change from 30 cm to 35 cm

Fisheries Queensland resource manager Mark Lightowler said the changes to size limits were part of last year’s overhaul of the inshore fin fish fishery regulations.

"The introduction of some rules was staggered because of the implications for net fishers, one of our main stakeholder groups," he said.

"We work closely with our stakeholders to minimise the impact that rule changes may have on our fishing industries.

"Commercial net fishers who take these species needed time to alter gear and fishing practices to ensure they could reduce the number of undersized fish they catch incidentally."

Mr Lightowler said feedback from public consultation showed strong support for the increase in size limits for bream and tarwhine.

He said being able to keep bigger fish resulted in a better feed for the family.

"It is a win-win situation for both fishers and fish stocks.

"By increasing the minimum size limit, fish can grow larger and mature - this helps the sustainability of a species by allowing these fish to spawn a number of times before they are caught and kept."

Mr Lightowler said the minimum size limit for tailor would increase from 30 cm to 35 cm for biological sustainability reasons.

"Our research has shown that over time the abundance of older fish in the tailor stock has decreased," he said.

"Figures from recent stock assessments indicate that one-year-old fish are supporting the population.

"This is not ideal as poor reproduction from one-year olds in a particular year could see stocks plummet.

"Consequently the minimum size has been increased to enhance the proportion of older fish in the population."

Mr Lightowler said research suggested that taking tailor sized 35 cm or above would protect approximately 50% of one year olds.

"This would therefore ensure the continued sustainability of this important recreational species," he said.



Townsville Boat Ramps - Alligator Creek

Alligator Creek Boat Ramp is a private ramp located inside the locked gate of Cleavland Palms estate to the south of Townsville. This ramp is only accessible to Cleavland Palms residence and their friends. However, if you have access, this is a reasonable quality gravel ramp with good access to Alligator Creek and Cleavland Bay.


From the ramp to the mouth is good deep water with little in the way or sandbars to worry about. In fact, in most places the water depth is in the 5-10m range. The mouth has reasonable access to the ocean on all but the lowest of the low tides. Stick to the right hand bank on the way out, and stay well to the right of the white marker a couple of hundred meters out to sea.

The ramp may only be gravel, but its good and firm under the wheels. No need for a 4wd, even on low tides. Possibly the only issue with the ramp is that is angle is quite shallow, requiring the car be backed in fairly close to the water (maybe even with back wheels in water depending on your trailer configuration).


I see no reason why even 5-6m aluminum boats couldn't be launched here and, considering there is a pontoon near the ramp, a medium Glass boat could probably go in on reasonable tides.


From the mouth its a quick hop to Crocodile and Cocoa Creeks, and even the cape and weedbeds are very close. Its probably a good thing that this ramp is closed to the public (even though I'd love to use it), as it would probably get flogged worse than the Bohle if it was open.

Sunday 7 March 2010

Day for the kids

PhotobucketPerfect weather today, so I decided to take the kids out on the big boat for a fish. I wanted to keep it simple, just play around the island and catch as many  as we could of what ever we could find. We hit the ramp at 5am and found a few parks still remaining. North Cardinal was our first destination. Thought we might pick up a couple of Doggie Mackerel on sunrise. But despite a massive amount of bait, the mackerel didn't want to play. Sebastian managed a 44cm Nannygai off the bottom of a pillie, but despite that it was very quiet.

Next stop was my honey hole inside the island. There are usually large numbers of Nannygai here, average 35cm with the odd keeper just over the 40. But not today, a remora and small trevalley was all that we could find to play.

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Next we headed to West Point. I really didn't want to go that far today, but we needed to find fish! I pulled up on a mark I normally fish for Fingermark. But today it was alive with Nanny's. For the next hour or so we got the kids onto fish after fish, but not one went any more than 38cm. Lots of fun for a couple of keen boys. I even got into the action with my Sustain 1000 and 8lb braid. I flicked around a 4in Gulp and found the Nannygai very keen to 'gulp' it down. Good fun!

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PhotobucketOn the way home we ran in pretty close to the beach just inside West Point. The water was crystal clear in the 2.5m range. I could see lots of starfish shooting under the boat as we sped home at 30knots. So I pulled up and gave the kids a look. Soon we spotted Golden Trevally and Mackerel cruising around and harassing some small schools of bait. I flicked out another Gulp on the 1000 and soon had a nice little Golden beside the boat. I had another taker after that, but the hook pulled.

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Kids fell asleep on the way back, so I stopped at middle reef for a bit. Very quiet here, I only managed a LongTom on the plastic. Then it was finally home to clean the boat. An interesting day without venturing too far.

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Still not Barramundi for us!

Even though the BCFC was holding a Land Based competition this weekend, Dad and I decided not to enter as we were getting desperate for a Barramundi. With the road into Cocoa questionable, we decided to try Alligator for something different.

We got there before sunrise and conditions were fantastic, total glass in the creek. We headed to the mouth to set out our pots. We were half way through putting out the pots when the sun began to rise and Barra started boofing on the opposite bank. Well, we couldn't get the post out fast enough! We ducked over and started flogging the water with lures. I managed two strikes pretty quickly, one good one that almost pulled the rod from my hand. But despite the razor sharp hooks they didn't hold. Unfortunately that was the last we saw of the Barra. As the tide dropped they appeared to have moved off.

We tried all sorts of things for the rest of the morning, but only managed some small Bream and Manjrove Jacks on Pillies.


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But, as cranky as we were for taking the pots and missing the best bite of the morning, we cleared 15 good crabs for the pots before heading home. Have a date with a Barramundi next weekend! NO POTS..lol

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Thursday 4 March 2010

Baptist Church Fishing Club - Landbased Hotspots


BCFC is holding it's March Tackle Night tonight so come along and join us for a great night as Garry Dunkly from the Fishing Warehouse spills the beans on Townsville's best Landbased Hotspots. Details are:

When: Thursday 4th March @ 7.00pm
Topic: Landbased Hotspots
Speaker: Garry Dunkly - Fishing Warehouse
Where: BCFC Club Room (Church Hall 38 Canterbury Rd, Kirwan)

The March Fishing Comp is also our special Landbased Teams Comp with fishing between 12.01am March 5th – 5.00pm March 6th. Teams will be organised at tonight's Tackle Night. The Weigh-In and BBQ will be on Saturday 6th March @ 5.00pm (38 Canterbury Rd, Kirwan).

Everyone is welcome. If you would like any more info on the above, or BCFC in general, just shoot us an email at bcfctownsville@gmail.com or post a comment below.