Shades Fishing News

MORETON Bay fishermen will soon find out which parts of the bay will be made off-limits to fishing.

Sustainability Minister Andrew McNamara says he has almost finished making his preferred changes to the State Government’s draft Moreton Bay Marine Park zoning plan.

But Mr McNamara has signalled further changes might be made when the document goes to Cabinet for approval in the next two months, and warned he could be overruled if other ministers wanted to adjust proposed no-take zones.

Fishing groups have consistently attacked the government’s draft zoning plan, which proposes fishing bans in 15 per cent of the marine park, while environmentalists have called for even stronger protection to safeguard marine life.

Mr McNamara spoke about a delicate “balancing act” when he visited the Redlands last week to accept petitions from about 1400 residents concerned about planned green zones.

The petitions, launched by State Labor Member for Redlands John English, called on the Minister to scrap the suggested bans on shoreline fishing at Victoria Point and Point Talburpin.

The State Opposition ridiculed the petitions last month after discovering two other Labor backbenchers had distributed near-identical petitions in their areas.

Mr English confirmed the Minister’s staff and the Labor Party had input into the wording.

The Liberal National Party claimed a backroom deal had already been done to make the proposed changes and the petitions were simply a ploy to make the MPs appear like community heroes at the end of the process.

But Mr McNamara told the Bayside Bulletin he hadn’t yet made up his mind on the petitions and accused the LNP of being out of touch with the processes of government.

“If I could announce today, and do a photo for you, and shake John’s hand and say, ‘Yep, good on you, it’s done’, I would,” he said.

“Cabinet is not a rubber stamp. It’s a very vigorous contest of ideas. Every minister will have their fingers all over this when it’s done.”

If certain green zones were removed from the draft plan or modified, he said, other areas would have to be added to maintain the same “overall percentage”.

The comments suggest the final plan is likely to include green zones covering about 15 per cent of the Moreton Bay Marine Park - the same level of protection as the draft plan but an increase on the bay’s existing 1 per cent coverage.

Source : Redland Times

Flathead have made Swan River fishing more interesting with increased numbers, with Fremantle and Claremont yielding good numbers.

Try near the Police Academy in Maylands for bream.

Sand whiting to 30cm were a treat for boat fishers close to shore at City Beach and Hillarys, Simon Darthwaite and Brendan Earle catching good numbers off Mindarie.

Good size skippy were caught around Mindarie and the Five Fathom Bank. Garfish and herring made for good targets at marinas, heaps of small garfish around Fremantle rock walls.

Reasonable numbers of pink snapper have been nabbed from Cockburn Sound, which will close to fishing on October 1.

Some squid around, but numbers are decreasing with warmer waters.

Busselton

Busselton is supporting large numbers of squid and crabbing is a popular pastime, drop netting from both boats and the Jetty productive. Herring are another Jetty species on tap, early morning and just before dusk best.

King george whiting fishing is best in good conditions. In good weather larger boats have found good jewfish towards Naturaliste Reef and off the west coast, one weighing 23kg and another 24kg. Shore anglers have landed some excellent tailor near Dunsborough.

Albany

Weather governs what you can do in Albany. Reasonable mixed bags have resulted from deep sea outings, pink and red snapper and the odd jewfish featuring and the odd queen snapper, breaksea cod and samson fish. Leatherjackets remain a problem.

The story is similar for waters from Walpole to Bremer Bay. Shore fishing is a tad quiet, small herring and skippy are biting with fair numbers of sand whiting.

Salmon are a possibility east of town at Cheynes Beach, Bluff Creek and Bremer.

Be careful where you choose to 4WD and rock fish. Salmon spots around Albany yield the occasional fish, Gull Rock, Nannarup and Little Beach turning up the odd salmon.

The Harbours are working for king george, squid and the odd snook, near Frenchman’s Bay and Seal Rock best.

Two Peoples Bay launching is hampered by weed with Wilson Inlet offering salmon, pink snapper and king george among them.

Albany region rivers hold quite cool waters and are fishing slowly because of that, although those near-Albany Kalgan and King are performing better for bream and school mulloway.

Source: Perth Now

A man caught with thousands of Bass yabbies - a prized species investigators suspect is being targeted in organised crime poaching - has received a prison sentence and been fined and forced to forfeit his expensive boat.

Bach Nguyen, 39, was arrested and charged after taking 3823 yabbies in a wetland area of Western Port Bay. He pleaded guilty in the Frankston Magistrates Court to six charges.

Nguyen and others were targeted during a Victorian Fisheries operation between 2006 and this year in a crackdown on environmental crime recognised by the Australian Crime Commission as a growth area for organised crime gangs.

Prosecutor Ben Carroll yesterday told a court that Fisheries officers who raided Nguyen’s Tecoma home in January found equipment and items to support the take, storage and distribution of large quantities of live Bass yabbies.

Mr Carroll said a search found numerous aquarium air pumps, air hoses and air stones, 20 litre plastic water containers, food containers, tubs and old bait pumps.

He told Frankston Magistrates Court that Nguyen claimed the reason he caught the yabbies in one day was because the “tide went out and his boat got stuck so he just kept taking them”.

Nguyen said sometimes friends paid him for petrol, food and accommodation in exchange for yabbies and admitted he could sell them but only to pay for petrol for his next fishing trip.

He pleaded guilty to six charges that included three of taking fish for sale without authority and using commercial equipment to take more than the catch limit.

Magistrate Ross Betts said jail was warranted for such serious offences and that others had to be deterred. Nguyen was sentenced to six months’ jail, suspended for two years, fined $2000 and had his boat and equipment taken.

Source : The Age

Anglers have found a few golden perch and redfin on the move despite the inclement weather.

Small catches of golden perch were reported on lure from Yerrabi Pondage, Lake Ginninderra, Lake Burley Griffin and the Molonglo River. Best lures were bibless minnows, small deep divers and spinnerbaits.

A few fat pre-spawning redfin were reported on bait and lure in Burley Griffin.

Best locations were around the Acton ferry terminal and the rowing regatta assembly area on Lady Denman Drive. One angler, who fishes several times a week, said his best catch was six fish in an hour using soft plastics.

A few golden perch were caught in Burrinjuck Reservoir on bait. Best locations were in deep water against a rocky shoreline in the lower reaches of the Murrumbidgee Arm. Live yabbies and shrimps were the top baits.

Blowing in the wind

Gale force winds made fishing almost impossible in the mountain lakes for several days this week but after the big blow settled a few fish were taken on the troll and on bait in Jindabyne and Eucumbene.

The favoured location in Jindabyne was Creel Bay where some large browns were caught on flatfish behind Cowbells and Ford fenders. A shore-based angler caught three Atlantic salmon in a session.

There were some smallish rainbows caught on bardi grubs near Old Adaminaby but fishing generally was slow in Lake Eucumbene. The water level has risen markedly in recent weeks and although it is covering new ground it hasn’t yet reached the grass growth on the banks. Fish should start feeding along the shoreline when the water level reaches the grass.

Flying high casting call

The first of the free pre-season fly casting classes staged by the Canberra Anglers Association on the lawns in front of Old Parliament House last Sunday attracted a surprising number of casters, despite the awful weather.

The second of the classes will be held on Sunday from 10am until 12 noon.

Persistence pays off

Ten consecutive weekends of bad-weather at the coast have disillusioned many anglers but the more persistent found good fish in the estuaries.

One group working small hard-bodied lures caught good bream, estuary perch and bass and the occasional tailor in surprisingly warm 17 degree water. Another group did well with similar lures on bream and two flathead. Both groups fished well upstream and concentrated on the entrances to the smaller creeks branching off the main river arms.

Tip of the week

Take advantage of the free fly casting classes and get ready for the trout season opening on October 4.

Bryan Pratt is a Canberra-based ecologist

Source : Canberra Times

Steve Cooper

PORT Phillip Bay snapper reports are starting to filter through.

The first reports of snapper usually come from anglers fishing offshore from Barwon Heads or Torquay in Bass Strait, which are already happening.

Next are reports of small numbers of snapper off Portsea and Sorrento, which is also happening.

Then follows a trickle of snapper from Mornington to Black Rock. During the past few weeks snapper to 9kg, with most 3-5kg, have been caught along this stretch of Port Phillip Bay.

Not many fish, but enough to send a spark of hope into the heart of a red-blooded snapper aficionado.

The optimum time is usually from mid-October.

Seasoned hands don’t need to be told what they need for snapper fishing, but newcomers to boating and snapper always have plenty of questions.

The most common questions usually focus on the desirability of spending extra dollars on technology in the form of a sonar (depth sounder) and Global Positioning System or GPS.

Will you catch more snapper with a sonar and GPS? The answer is yes - most of the time, perhaps.

Sounders are great value because not only do they reveal any fish that happen to be about your area, they also show the terrain, depth of water and most have water-temperature gauges.

The transducer signal is cone-shaped and most show a 2m diameter window in 7m of water.

It is a narrow window, and because no arches show on your sounder does not necessarily mean there is no snapper.

GPS units offer a sure-fire way to specific marks or way-points where you may have previously caught snapper. They are also the best way to mark the spot you happen to be fishing.

Most anglers will buy units that combine sounder and GPS in one.

In recent years I have used many different makes and models, including Garmin and Lowrance. I now use a Navman 6570, which has been renamed Northstar 657.

Apart from the name change, the only other discernible difference is the buttons have gone from blue to grey.

In price terms, it is a mid-range unit and features things such as maps, tides (based on location) and moon phases.

As with most combination units, this one allows you to have the sounder and GPS on at the same time.

The value of a GPS is manyfold. These units have removed the need for triangulation - sighting up three fixed objects on land to find a mark.

And the map facility shows you where you are on the bay, which can be seriously handy in the middle of the night or in a fog.

GPS technology works by receiving signals from satellites that are then interpreted by the GPS to give you a position calculated as latitude and longitude on the water. This is a measure of distance, not time.

In that regard, one degree equals 60 nautical miles or 111km; one minute equals one nautical mile; and one second equals one-60th of a nautical mile.

As for accuracy, if you can get within casting distance of a mark, you are close enough.

If you are still unsure, start sounding around until you find fish or the terrain you seek.

While GPS units have taken off among snapper enthusiasts, the reality of the technology is that the way-points should only be used as a starting point.

They are not a guarantee for success because snapper tend to move about as they graze the seabed.

Source: Herald Sun

Matt Conners

THE river glistens in the afternoon sun as a pelican glides to a slow descent just off the wharf. A canoeist drifts by as a CityCat ploughs upstream.

Apart from the gentle hum of Breakfast Creek traffic, it feels a world away from the fringe-CBD setting.

So, too, does the afternoon activity. As the city winds up to peak hour, here we are sitting on the edge of the river. Fishing.

Back in the murky, polluted days of the ’70s and ’80s, the only thing you could catch in the Brisbane River was a cold. Or if you were really unlucky, cholera.

Keen anglers brave enough to wet a line faced pulling up old boots, tyres and other flotsam and jetsam dumped by the city that had turned its back on its waters. There were fish to be caught, but constant dredging and river pollution made for a difficult catch and a truly unenviable meal.

How times have changed.

Ever since river dredging halted in 1993, the dying river has reversed. Pollution minimisation of southeast Queensland waterways also has helped, and while it still has a way to go - particularly in reducing effluent outflows - the Brisbane River is at its cleanest since the early 1900s.

And the fish are back.

Brisbane-based anglers are returning to the river and catching an array of local species, including some very good eating fish. Publicly accessible pontoons, walkways and riverbanks mean you don’t even need a tinnie, making it an ideal school holiday activity to keep the kids busy.

If you are at a loss about where to start your Brisbane River fishing expedition, before you wet a line it pays to go online.

City portal ourbrisbane.com features some great places where you can fish, but if you want the real inside information, head to Brisbane Fishing Online (brisbanefishing.com.au), a community built around local recreational anglers.

And like many good ideas hatched in Brisbane, it started over a beer at the Regatta Hotel at Toowong.

Keen anglers John Petrie and Angus Gorrie were lamenting the lack of respect for our main tributary and devised a plan to hold a fishing competition, the Brisbane River Classic, with the inaugural event held in 2006. From there, BFO was born.

The site includes a wealth of information of fishing sites, hints and local fish species, but it’s the piscatorial forums where the real gold resides. Join as a novice and you’ll soon meet a bunch of anglers keen to share information and encourage others to enjoy river fishing.

Gorrie says Brisbane Fishing Online wants to promote the river as an angler’s dream. “The river is fishing unbelievably well but only the people who are doing it actually realise it,” he says. “Other people are highly sceptical but the quality and quantity of fish coming out of the river are just phenomenal.”

Species caught in the river include snapper, flathead, estuary cod, mangrove jack, jewfish, bream, moses perch and the ubiquitous Brisbane River catfish.

“You are almost guaranteed of catching one of those,” Gorrie says of the catfish. “It’s fun for the kids, at least.”

And despite catfish being considered vermin, BFO encourages catch-and-release practices with all species - even catfish - as well as obeying bag and size limits.

“We also try to raise a lot of money for stocking groups and community awareness on things like catch-and-release fishing,” Gorrie says. “We want to preserve the waterways and be able to take our kids fishing in 10 years.”

As for the eating part of fishing, some stigma of the much-maligned river remains, but Gorrie says you need to think about the fish you are catching.

“People still have very differing views on it but the simple fact is that a lot of the fish we catch in the river are migratory.

“People who put their noses up at a salmon or a snapper from the river and then buy some at the shop, there is a high chance they are buying a fish that has come in and out of the river to Moreton Bay anyway.”

One particular breed, threadfin salmon, is said to be the river’s best-kept secret.

“They’re quite a big fish and can get up to about 1.8m and 20kg in the river. Some people will spend $6000 on a charter to go up to Darwin to catch one of these things. They don’t realise there is an incredibly healthy population on their doorstep.”

Brisbane Fishing Online

BRISBANE Fishing Online has more than 3700 members who share their Brisbane River fishing tips, insights and stories about the ones that got away on a daily basis.

A few members shared their insights into Brisbane River fishing with couriermail.com.au

Name: Ash Anderson, 27

Occupation: Business Relations Officer

Suburb: Jamboree Heights

What are your favourite spots: The mouth of the Norman Creek, Moggil Ferry Park, Newstead and Breakfast Creek, Kookarabarra Park, Karana Downs

Any secrets to fishing the Brisbane River: It has a very strong tide flow. So if you are using bait, use either a very heavy sinker or float your bait by not using a sinker. Fish around bridges, creek mouths or mudbanks.

What bait do you suggest: I find mullet strip is the best all-round bait. Prawns also are good.

What types of fish do you regularly catch: Squire, Jew (Mulloway) catfish, bream, whiting, estuary cod, flathead and threadfin salmon mainly. Also the occasional shark in summer.

Do you regularly eat the fish: No, but my wife and daughter do. Pan-sized flathead, squire or threadfin seem to be the favourites at the table. Bream with lime juice isn’t too bad either. The best table fish from the river so far has been the Jewfish. Very white, clean flesh.

Name: Andy Chan, 26

Occupation: Work Force Co-ordinator

Suburb: Cannon Hill

What are your favourite spots: Newstead Park, Breakfast Creek (walkway outside Breakfast Creek Hotel) Bretts Wharf, Southbank (Along the bank under the Rock Climbing walls)

Any tips for bank fishing: Persistance

What types of fish do you regularly catch: Bream, flathead, estaury cod, threadfin salmon, Jewfish, catfish

What bait do you suggest: I mainly use lures (soft-plastics and hard-bodied lures) but you can’t go past prawn meat

Do you regularly eat the fish: Yes occasionaly, I will only keep around 1-2 fish max per fishing session as I fish for fun not for food.

Name: Kris Lubbers, 25

Occupation: Sales and parts rep

Suburb: Moggill

What are your favourite spots: I have a kayak as well but the good thing about the Brisbane River is that you can fish anywhere. If you’ve got a couple of spare hours you can throw a rod in the car and off you go. If people want to start, the parks around Jindalee and Seventeen Mile Rocks are good.

What bait do you suggest: I don’t use a lot of bait but most servos near the river sell bait. With lutres, it really depends what you are fishing for. I have more luck on plastics.

Do you regularly eat the fish: I’m not one of those fishermen who fish for a feed and you’ll find that a lot on BFO. It’s more of a fun sport than anything. It’s a great way to get out and about and meet new people.

Source: Courier Mail

THERE is an awful swirl in the pit of Tony Wood’s stomach, as violent as the grey sea below him, when the Westpac Rescue Helicopter winches a body out of the water.

The angle of the neck delivers the verdict; the head is snapped back grotesquely and the eyes are glazed.

“It can be prevented so easily,” said Mr Wood, the helicopter’s chief crewman.

He and the Westpac service are on a mission to get more people to wear life jackets, following the deaths of eight fishermen off Sydney in the past 12 months.

“There is nothing more disheartening, discouraging … when instead of a live, smiling body coming up that wire, all we have is dead eyes … all

for the sake of a life preserver,” he said.

“We have had … eight bodies pulled from the water, all of which I am sure, if [they] had been wearing life jackets, or flotation devices, [they] would be here today with their families.”

About 80 per cent of rock fishing fatalities in the state were within 30 kilometres of Sydney - a stretch of coastline that delivers great fishing and great peril in equal measure. Yet a life jacket costs just $80, the equivalent of three days’ bait.

Rock fishing is listed by the NSW Government as the most dangerous sport in the country. But unlike other extreme sports, such as boxing, there is no licence requirement to wear specific clothing.

When the National Marine Safety Committee launched a discussion paper in 2006 on the mandatory use of life jackets while fishing, it received a barrage of letters against the idea.

The Recreational Fishing Alliance of NSW’s submission acknowledged that although they did save lives, “there will be locations and times when it is not practical to have a life jacket on”.

The president of the South Sydney Amateur Fishing Association, Stan Konstantaras, agrees. Instead of enforcing mandatory life jackets, the association has been running educational programs - 90 per cent of them aimed at people of non-English speaking backgrounds - to raise standards.

“Enforcement is never going to work,” he said. “What would you do? Is someone going to go around to the rocks and fine these guys to enforce it?

“From an occupational health and safety point of view, it would be very difficult to get workers to have to go down to the rocks and patrol, and we barely have enough Fisheries officers as it is.”

He said the educational programs were already paying dividends: “Last month I saw five Koreans on the northern beaches, they all had life jackets on - that would be unthinkable a few years ago,” he said.

But that has done little to assuage Mr Wood’s fears that the Westpac Helicopter is being used as a retrieval service for dead fisherman, rather than a rescue service for those clinging to life.

“It’s soul-destroying … for the guys who actually go down and out and pick you up out of the water,” he said.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

ANGLERS looking for a school holiday treat should travel to East Gippsland in Victoria for this year’s Festival of Fishing.

The event kicks off on September 20 with a two-day Fishing Expo at the Lakes Entrance Mechanics Hall. Fishing clubs, tackle stores, environment groups and tour operators will provide displays and demonstrations to introduce visitors to fishing and East Gippsland’s favourite fishing spots. Gold coin entry fee applies.

Exhibitors include Nicholson Angling Club, Gippsland Lakes Fishing Club, Fishcare, Coastcare, VRFish, Parks Victoria, and charter and tackle operators.

From September 22 to 26, a series of daily events will take place at various locations under the Get Into Fishing banner.

Anglers can participate in the free events, including fishing for beginners workshops with Fishcare and angling clubs, discovery walks along the coast, or hop aboard an affordable fishing trip or eco tour on one of the amazing East Gippsland lakes.

At the end of the week, September 27 and 28, a family fishing competition will be run by the Gippsland Lakes Fishing Club at Lakes Entrance.

The competition covers rivers, lakes, surf, or ocean with a prize for heaviest fish in each of 13 species categories: tailor, Australian salmon, black bream, luderick, flathead, whiting, snapper, trevally, trout, estuary perch, Australian bass, gummy shark and carp.

Each competitor may only weigh in one fish per species over the two days of competition. There will be additional prizes for entrants with a disability card, 10 years and younger, and women who weigh in a fish.

Any entrant weighing in an undersized fish will be disqualified from the competition.

Entrants may pre-register (before September 24) for the competition by phoning 1800 637 060, visiting www.fishcare.org.au, or registering on either day of the competition at the GLFC rooms from 7am. Entry to the competition is free, and open to everyone.

GLFC will host a barbecue on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon at their clubrooms near North Arm boat ramp at Lakes Entrance.

Steve Cooper

Source: Weekly Times Now

Recreational abalone divers are being reminded of the importance of maintaining good biosecurity practices by keeping their gear and boat clean and disinfected between trips.

The Department of Primary Industries and Water previously posted all recreational abalone licence holders a copy of the brochure Help protect Tasmania from Abalone Viral Ganglioneuritis.

The brochure and information in the current 2007-08 Recreational Sea Fishing Guide advises recreational fishers on how to identify the signs of Abalone Viral Ganglioneuritis and what they can do to prevent the spread of the disease.

The General Manager of Biosecurity and Product Integrity, Alex Schaap, advised fishers to:

· RETAIN all abalone waste, including shells and offal and dispose of it in land-based waste disposal such as your household rubbish. It is illegal shuck abalone at sea or use abalone viscera as fishing bait.

· CLEAN and DRY all boats, fishing and diving equipment. This includes catch bags, gloves, knives, measuring devices, wetsuits, buoyancy vests, masks, regulators, tanks, boats and people who have come into contact with abalone. Allow equipment to dry in the sun.

· REPORT any signs to the Disease Watch Hotline 1800 675 888 (24-hours).

“These simple practices can help ensure any outbreak of the disease in wild abalone stocks is not spread to new locations and that any outbreaks can be successfully contained,” Mr Schaap said.

“While I am sure recreational dive fishers have been following these recommendations, which are in everyone’s interests, it is timely to remind fishers of the important role they can play in protecting our abalone stocks.”

Source : NSW DPI

7 SPIRIT Bay is located on the northern most part of the top ends mainland; the Coburg Peninsula.

You cannot drive into 7 Spirit Bay, it is surrounded by vast reserves of thick bush land.

But those who do their home work will find a hidden oasis: a full on Peppers Resort complete with its own fly in service from Darwin Airport.

The area is so magical and far removed from every day life that even local Northern Territorians dream of getting there ‘one day’ Our flight aboard the Direct Air 8 seater revealed exactly why the sea water at 7 Spirit Bay is so clear: the big estuarine rivers and flood plains so common in the NT really petered out as we drew nearer to our destination.

It was already looking like full on blue water fishing turf as opposed to the more typical big river barra country and as the plane descended for landing I got to lay my eyes on perfect beaches and bays the crispness of which I had never seen before.

A few buffalos watched us touch down and we were greeted by staff from the Peppers Resort who drove us 30 min through the bushland to our accommodation.

So far we had been spoilt with a great flight, a warm welcome, and the resort looked extremely inviting, but it was time for business: I had come to catch a big jewfish and with out one my adventure would not be complete.

On a mission we stepped aboard the 7 meter ‘in house’ charter boat skippered by head guide Paul Kroes.

Paul regularly catches good sized jewfish around the 10 kilo mark, but you have to get past all the other fish like emperor, cod, and coral trout first, which as strange as it sounds is actually problem when you have jewies on the brain.

Amongst the pick pick pick of the smaller fish I did get a few dull thuds that had me more sparked up.

The thuds happened just as each fresh squid bait was dropped to the bottom, after that the pickers would take over again.

I am no expert on the northern black jewfish, but the dull heavy bites were very suspicious stuff.

I had that feeling these were jewfish.

Soon afterwards Paul got some similar bites and agreed they were more than likely jews.

I was hoping we hadn’t missed our chance.

We received no more dull thuds and as so often happens up north the sharks moved in.

Paul figured that even though he usually anchors up to catch the jews, they were not going to co operate the usual way so we pulled in the anchor and set about plan B.

Paul slowly sounded over a few of his marks while I trolled a bait in short ready to drop right on their noses.

Within about 10 minutes the little Lowrance showed a perfect arch about 10 feet off the bottom in 40 feet of water.

Hoping it wasn’t another shark I dropped down and ‘BANG’ I was on.

It really felt like a big jew and when we finally confirmed this was the case all and sundry began cheering.

After several massive power dives near the boat a magnificent 12 kilo jewfish graced the landing net.

What a sight, and what a start to the trip.

The WOW fish was secured in the boat on tape and the sun was yet to go down on the first afternoon of fishing! We went on to catch more huge jewfish over the next few days, too many to fit into one show.

Most times we saw them on the sounder first; it was text book jew fishing.

The bait rig was 80 pound mono line a one ounce running ball sinker and a whole or piece of squid on a 8/0 circle hook.

For lure fisho’s 30 pound braid main line, 30 pound fluro carbon leader, a white buck tail jig and a slam soft bait in the tail worked best.

While jewfish were my personal target there are stacks of other fish that also fight and taste exceptionally good.

We didn’t even make it to Orrontess reef further out where the jewfish are even more abundant along with mackerel, red emperor, sailfish and even marlin.

The Spanish mackerel grow huge up there; one mackerel caught 4 days earlier was a staggering 40 kilos! During the trip we also visited gorgeous Trepang Creek where we caught jacks, cod and tarpon on lure.

The area was mystical with huge crocs and birdlife to gaze at the whole time.

Our guide Ranger Tom takes regular tours to Trepang and his knowledge of the landscape, flora and fauna made the trip extremely satisfying.

I had not come for barra because the area is not really known for them, but rest assured if you want to catch some the guides know where to get them.

I can’t finish this article without mention of the accommodation, or what Peppers call ‘habitats’.

These wonderfully designed cabins give you the chance to soak up the scenery and landscape of this ancient land in privacy.

I loved the way the rooms blended in with the bush, and I couldn’t help but think this was the best way to take in the sunsets that indigenous people have been privileged to for thousands of years.

Enchanting is the best word to describe the experience.

I felt especially lucky to get to this place, and if your partner is making you save hard for a 5 star resort and you want the fishing to match, make no mistake this is it!

For more info check out www.peppers.com.au and follow the links to 7 Spirit Bay or check out www.travelnt.com

Source: North West Star