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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 25 August 2014

Weekend Exploits

Definitely some mixed results fishing last weekend. Decided to take the Kayak for a paddle down Alva Beach way to chase some Flathead. This time last year we had a fantastic session with over 20 fish caught in the 50-60cm range. But times have changed! Came home with a big fat doughnut. Paddled all over the upper reaches of the inlet, and made hundreds of cast. Not even a bump! Spoke to a few other anglers in the area and it was pretty much the same story all round. Very disappointing, great looking water and a beautiful place to go for a paddle.


Sunday morning I decided to go for a solo run in the boat. Had to make up for the day before somehow! Winds were predicted to be 15knots, but I suspected the morning would be ok. So I put the boat in early and headed to my spot. Light 5-10knots on the water, easy fishable.

I arrived at the mark I wanted to fish and found another boat already anchored. These guys were bait fishing and their lines we hanging off one side of the boat with current. I did the right thing and dropped the electric in and approached on the up current side. I said hi to the guys and asked how they were going. Initial response was a bit aggressive with usual 'you know its a big ocean out there'. But after a bit of a chat they soon realised I knew the area well and wasn't trying to poach a mark. I was more than willing to move on with another spot not far away. But they were anchored above the mark and sending baits back, while I wanted to sit below the mark and cast lures up. I said I would stay well clear and we managed to politely fish the spot together.

It was quiet, but not dead. I managed a few Salmon and a couple of other smaller fish. But it wasn't producing the bigger fish I had hoped for. So after an hour or so I moved on to the second spot.

This spot was marking up some quality fish. With good numbers of Barra showing clearly on the Humminbird 998. But despite working the Threadybuster over and over the fish, the just would not play the game. But that seems to be a common story with the Barra of late.


I managed a few other smaller fish, but persistence paid off when eventually a decent fish hit the lure. No monster, but clearly a better fish. Soon the familiar pattern of a nice Grunter came into view and was led into the net. Just a quick iPhone photo of this one!


Only a handful of casts later and my Threadybuster was crunched by something solid. I hard hit, but took a second or two before exploding and tearing off line. The Stella 4000FI sung as the 15lb braid pealed off. But eventually the fish stopped and I was able to recover some line. Then off she went again! This repeated several times before I got a glimpse of a large silver fish in the water. At first glance I though it was a big GT, but I didn't get a good look before it was off again. But it didn't matter, all I knew is it was a big fish! Eventually I worked the fish back into view and it was then identified as a big Queenfish. Now to land this sucker! I managed to get the fish into landing range several times, but being solo I had to get it in just the right position to grab the tail. I caught a glimpse of the Threadybuster sitting in the side of the mouth, just one hook in the fish! It was a nervous few minutes, and several lunging runs later, before I got hold of the tail and lifted it aboard. At 105cm this was one lump of a fish! I managed to get the GoPro snapping some pics on auto from a rail mount. Didn't turn out too bad for a selfie! Check out the gob on that fish! Did I mention how much I love Threadybuster lures??!!


It was now later in the morning and I had promised to be home early. So after a few more casts I headed off for home. Apparently it was going to blow 15knots. But I ran home at WOT in almost glass conditions.


Friday 15 August 2014

Using Google Earth to find fishing spots

** Warning ** Large images are used in this article. Please allow time for these to download ** Warning **

Recently a comment was made on Facebook about the fact that 'with the advent of Google Earth, no fishing spot is secret'. I have been using Google Earth now for over 10 years to check out various fishing spots and to find ways into new locations. So I thought I would put together a small article that might help a few people get started.

Download Location

Firstly, Google Earth is available for download at https://www.google.com/earth/. The Google Earch application is available for both Windows and Mac platforms. I use a Mac, so screenshots shown here may differ slightly from the Windows version. The web based Google Maps can me used in a similar way, but the proper application offers more customisations and adjustments needed for this article.

Settings

After downloading and installing the software, you want to ensure the imagery being generated is the highest possible your computer and internet connection can handle. The highest settings are not selected by default. Enter the Preferences and tick all the boxes for the best possible settings. The settings I use are shown below. While here, ensure your Lat/Long units match your GPS as this will make entering marks much easier. My GPS is setup to use Degrees and Decimal Minutes (xxº xx.xxx'S xxº xx.xxx'E) so that is how Google Earth is setup.

Changing the date

Google Earth compiles its imagery from a series of scans made from satellite passes. Some of these images may date back as far as 2002 or even earlier. The newer scans will generally be at a higher resolution as new satellites and better technology is used. This will allow the user to zoom in further and still keep the detail needed to identify objects. But the latest scan is not always the best! And sometimes the 'default' image that loads is not the latest scan. In the Google Earth toolbar is a show historical imagery  button. With his enabled a timeline slider will appear in the top left of the screen. Small lines on the timeline indicate periods in time when images were taken. You can slide the slider, or press the forward and back arrows, to cycles through the various scans taken over time. Sometimes the default, or current, scan is taken on a bad tide or is obscured by cloud cover. In these cases an older scan will give more information that is useful to fishermen. Its always worth cycling through all the images for an area to identify the one most useful. Just keep in mind that creek mouthes and sandbars move over time, so images that date back almost 10 years may be very inaccurate for this purpose.


In the image below the default image for the mouth of Morriseys Creek is show. Compare this to the scan taken back in 2013 where the tide was low and the water was clear. Now sandbars and deeper channels can be clearly seen. Much more useful for fishermen.

Queensland Globe

Queensland Globe is a mapping and data application that can be implemented inside Google Earth. As an interactive online tool, Queensland Globe allows the ability to view and explore Queensland maps, imagery (including up-to-date satellite images) and other spatial data. The Queensland Globe is made available to the public as part of the Queensland Government's open data strategy.

To access Queensland Globe, download the kml file from this link. Open in Google Earth and the options shown to the right become available in the layers panel. Turn on the imagery option to see the Queensland Government high resolution satellite and aerial data. Not all of the images are better than Google Earth, but most are. Most imagery is at a 50cm per pixel resolution, but some of the aerial photography is as good as 10cm per pixel. Compare the examples below with the latest Google Earth image on the right and the Queensland Globe image on the left.



Other features include property boundaries that can assist in identifying places you can and cannot access, and contours that could be useful for hiking.

Extracting a GPS Position

One of the most useful features of Google Earth is the ability to extract GPS positions directly from the map. When you hover the mouse cursor over the map, the GPS position is shown in the bottom right corner. In the interest of accuracy, its best to zoom in nice and close for this.

You can also use the pin  icon from the toolbar to drop a pin onto the screen. Then this icon can be dragged around the map and given a specific name. These can be save into Google Earth for later use. The dialog box for the pin will show its current Lat/Long position.

Checking out Marks

Using the pin feature above, you can also manually add a GPS coordinate into the dialog box. This will move the pin to that position. So if you have been given a GPS coordinate that you want to see where is, you can enter it and then locate the pin on the map. In the example below, the GPS coordinate from Shark Shoal, provide on this website, has been entered and the approximate position show.

Locating Creek Channels

Using the feature described above, its possible to collect a series of marks to enter into a GPS unit to follow deep water through a creek mouth. Select an appropriate scan and use the Pin or Cursor to write down a series of GPS coordinates that follow the deep water into a creek. 10 or 15 points may be needed to get an accurate entry all the way through the flats. Enter these into the GPS unit of the boat and follow. This is great for a new creek you may not have entered before. Just be aware that the GPS coordinate may not be accurate and sandbars and flats change over time. Always proceed with care. In the diagram below an image of Sandfly Creek is being used to identify the deep water through the channel and into the creek mouth.

Locating Dirt Tracks

Google Earth is fantastic for finding tracks into places you would not otherwise be aware of. Dirt tracks are usually really easy to see from above. For the Land Based fisherman this is incredibly valuable information. It will get you into sections of a river or creek that are otherwise only accessible via boat. The one thing you need to be aware of, however, is gates, fences and private property are not identifiable from Google Earth. Often you will identify what looks like a great access point into a creek, only to find its behind a locked gate or on private property when you get there. In the example below, a dirt track from the water treatment plant into Sandfly creek is show. It was once possible to launch a small boat here, but this track is now behind a locked gate.

Inshore Shoals

Shallow water insure shoals are easily identified from clean, clear imagery of Google Earth. Its often necessary to scan through the history as shown above to get an appropriate image. But as shown below, inshore shoals like Virago and Middle Reef off Pallarenda are clearly visible in the clean shallow waters.

Locating Boat Ramps

Unfortunately many of the Boat ramps locate in Townsville and the majority or North Queensland are poorly signed for people new to the area. Google Earth can easily locate ramps on creeks and beach access. Tracking back through the roads in will identify how to locate these ramps. You have to zoom in nice and close and take a good look around to find a ramp. But once found they stand out nice and clear. The image below shows the distinctive parking area and ramp access through the beach at Pallarenda.


And in the image sequence below, the ramp onto the Haughton River at Cromatary Creek is clearly visible, even at low resolution. Zoom in and the ramp is plane as day.

Secret Spots

With Google Earth, those secret spots are thing of the past! If the scan from the satellite happened to be completed on a day with lots of boats on the water, its possible to locate good fishing marks by identifying congregations of boats. Without giving too much away, in the image below a couple of congregations of boats can be seen around Salamander reef and 4ft Rock. There are also 3 boats sitting on a mark somewhere between the two!

Green Zones & Reef Names

There are many kmz files available on the Internet that can be loaded into Google Earth to add additional information. The follow two are worth downloading.

This Green Zone kmz file can be downloaded and opened into Google Earth to display current GBRMPA Zoning locations. While this can be handy when checking out new locations, it will overlay all Google Earth imagery. So it will need to be turned on and off in the side-bar as needed.


This GBRMPA Reefs kmz file will overlay the location and name of every reef in the GBRMPA region. Even many of the smaller shoals are highlighted and named. This is incredibly handy if you are unfamiliar with the Reefs being discussed on the various Social Networking sites.

Distances

Google Earth has a built in tool for measuring the distance between locations. Select the ruler  icon from the toolbar and pick between line or path. Then click location on the map to generate distances. This can be done as either a straight line (useful over open water) or as a path along many points (useful in creeks). The distance can be displayed in any units. In the image below, the distance from the ramp to the mouth at Cocoa Creek is being estimated at 3.06km. Driving distances on land can just as easily be calculated.

Summary

Google Earth is a really powerful tool for locating new fishing grounds, especially for the land based angler. It is easy to spend hours looking around, zooming in and out and dropping pins all over the place to check out at a later date. Just keep in mind that conditions change over time. Always take care when navigating on the water as sandbars and creek often change from year to year with floods. Fishing Townsville takes no responsibility for grounding or damaged caused from using Google Earth to navigate on the water.

Monday 11 August 2014

Townsville Boat Ramps - Cocoa Creek

Cocoa Creek is a small estuarine creek that empties into Cleveland Bay to the south of Townsville. It is relatively close, and provides easy access to, both Aligator and Crocodile Creeks. Please watch the video below for full details on the track condition and how to located the various turnoffs.



The creek is accessed be driving 25km south along the Bruce Highway. Take a left turn onto Cape Cleveland Road towards the AIMS facility. Not far short of AIMS is a dirt road to the left with a sign marked 'Cocoa Creek'. Its about 20mins on the dirt before the ramp is reached. There are several tracks that lead off the main dirt road, but keeping straight will get you to the ramp. The drive from Townsville to Cocoa Creek will take approximately 45mins.

The quality of the track varies greatly from freshly graded to washed out from wet season run-off. For the most part of the year the track is easily negotiated with a basic 4WD. Even a 2WD vehicle can manage the track most of the year, but clearance is sometimes an advantage. And launching a boat at this location should not be attempted with 2WD.


Cocoa Creek boat ramp is not really a ramp at all. Its very much a mud-slide into Cocoa Creek. Again, conditions for launching vary greatly. Over the years the bank has changed considerably, and different sections have become more and less useful. Currently there is a section with a reasonable gradient and some rubble for traction. But it is very muddy down low. Launching at Cocoa creek is very risky and should only be attempted with a 4wd. The smaller boats (3-4m) and experienced drivers can launch on tides as low as 1m. But I would recommend a minimum of 1.5m. Even 2m makes launching safer and easier for boats in the 4-5m range. On 3m tides larger boats can be launched with care. But most people would not subject larger boats to the torture of the track in.



There are no facilities at Cocoa Creek. This is a bush ramp and receives no maintenance or upkeep from Townsville City Council. There is enough parking at the top of the bank, but security is a real problem. Cars are frequently broken into, especially if left overnight. On weekends there are enough people around to keep things reasonably safe. If you are using the area for launching or fishing, it pays to keep an eye out for suspicious activity.


Cocoa Creek is positioned to give great access to Crocodile and Alligator Creeks. The ramp is less than 5min run from the mouth, and Crocodile creek is only another 5mins across the flats. Cape Cleveland provides great protection from SE winds, and small boats can make a safe run to the Weedbeds or the Cape with plenty of protection.


However, the channel at the mouth of Cocoa Creek is very narrow, difficult to negotiate and runs a long unpredictable path. The flats are exposed on low tide, and getting stuck here is a real possibility! The channel should be marked on a GPS during high tide to make navigation easier. The mouth can be traversed on 1m of tide or better, if you know where the channel is! In the photo below this boat is stuck on the flats almost 2km from the mouth of Cocoa Creek.