Shades Fishing News

Scott Kitchell loves big jew fish. It’s fair to say he’s obsessed with them.

That, in part, explains the shark.

While most of us were rugged up in front of the tele on Tuesday night, 26-year-old Scott was in a different realm.

Dressed in waders, two jumpers, a jacket and footy socks, at 8pm he was sitting on the sand at Marcoola, his heels dug in deep. It didn’t help.

He tried to snap off whatever was pulling him towards the water but the thing on the end of his line dragged him anyway.

“I was trying to use the sand like a fighting chair,’’ an exhausted and bruised Scott said yesterday morning.

He knew whatever latched onto the mullet head at the end of his nine kilo line with a 36.28kg trace wasn’t the jew fish he had hoped to catch.

In its initial run it took almost all of the 300 metres of line his reel holds.

The decision to get a look led to a two-and-a-half hour battle, dragging Scott south some three kilometres from where he hooked on near Marcoola Surf Life Saving Club.

“It pretty much hammered me,’’ Scott said of the 2.56 metre tiger shark he cut off as soon as it was close enough to see. “I don’t kill ’em if I don’t eat ’em. It must have weighed over 100 kilos.”

By that stage it was nearing 11pm, the gear Scott had left on the sand had long been washed away by the tide, and he had a tiring walk back to the car.

Scott doesn’t go fishing for sharks. If he did he said he would catch one every night, because he goes fishing every night.

“I love it,’’ he says of his quest to bag big jew fish.

“Once you catch one off the beach you’re addicted. I can’t help myself. I get home at 6pm and say ‘no more tonight’. But then I’m gone.

“I sit there and get excited and I just know I’m going out again. If it’s low tide at nine o’clock, I’m there at 8. It’s heaps better than TV.’’

This has been going on every winter since he was a teenager.

“They’re a thrill to catch. My girlfriend never sees me. She’s so used to it,” Scott said.

Source: Sunshine Coast Daily

A TROPHY for the biggest flathead and a $250 prize are among Kimberley Busteed’s favourite HookUp memories.

Kimberley, a former Miss Universe entrant now turned TV presenter, will return to the region on Friday, June 6 to host a segment on The Observer Boyne Tannum HookUp for Channel 7’s outdoor adventure program Creek to Coast.

“I love doing TV work and presenting,” Kimberley said. “And I’m really excited to be doing a show on my area, my locality.

“The HookUp is such a great event.

“I actually entered one of the first years it was run and I won the trophy for the biggest flathead,” she said. “I was stoked.

“I can’t wait to get up there and go fishing.

“I want to get out there with family and friends and catch some big ones.”

The Observer Boyne Tannum HookUp will be the focus of a segment by the Creek to Coast team along with a second feature on the Boyne Tannum region.

“We’ll be up to co-host the event and to talk to the locals on their secret bait and where they go to fish.

“I’ve got a lot of good memories of the event,” she said. “It should be great.”

As fishers gear up for the fishing bonanza, HookUp organisers are busy behind the scenes.

Committee president Jeff Amos said tickets for seniors and juniors were still available but anglers shouldn’t waste time.

“We have unlimited junior entries available and we’ll sell them till Monday,” he said. “But seniors still thinking about getting into the competition should be quick.”

Mr Amos said the long awaited pontoon would be officially opened on Saturday at 2.30pm, with or without the top structure in place.

“Liz Cunningham (Member for Gladstone) is coming down on Saturday with the mayor (George Creed) for the opening,” he said. “We can’t promise the pontoon will be there for the opening.

“We had a setback when they were a week late with the pylons but the guys from the Gold Coast are trying their hardest to have the pontoon ready for the HookUp.

“I’ve told them that come the June long weekend we’ll have 30,000 people tramping the park,” Mr Amos said. “They understand the urgency we need that pontoon.”

This year’s 13th annual HookUp won’t hold any hoodoos for organisers.

“Luck is what you make,” Mr Amos said. “We looked at how we could make 13 into a positive and came up with 13 years, 13 boats to give away.

“This year we’re giving away over $200,000 is prizes, so we’re going to have a good time.

“The only setback for people could be if it rains,” he said.

“But then it always rains at the HookUp and everyone still has a good time.”

Source: Gladstone Observer

Toowoomba council has closed the dam wall and waters of Loveday Cove at Lake Cooby because of high levels of blue-green algae.

The closure will affect boating and fishing enthusiasts, but council says the Loveday Cove picnic area will remain open because taps there are supplied by a bore.

Council says the Toowoomba water supply is treated to remove algal toxins.

Source: ABC

Take the kids fishing? Anyone who ever has can attest to what a frustrating experience that can be.

Just getting the bait on the hook, the hook in the water and keeping it there can occupy more time and patience than many parents are prepared to deploy.

Forget about dropping a line yourself.

The number of fish lost while dads – and some mums – untangle lines, re-bait hooks and deal with offspring who insist on reeling in for a look every minute or so would fill a freezer.

Yet a Queensland government Sunfish program is encouraging families to … take the kids fishing.

Parents, and kids, can learn how to make the experience not only enjoyable for all concerned but also an educational experience.

The Suncoast Barra Park at Bli Bli plays host on Sunday to a morning of tuition that aims to take the trauma out of tangled lines and low attention spans, and to turn the thought of a day on the water with the children into something other than a nightmare.

Tony “Sharkie” Schembri, of Nambour, lives to fish.

He was taught how by his father when he was a kid, lessons he has not forgot and which he feels he has a responsibility to pass on to his two young sons Caleb, 2, and Corey, 6.

Speaking from the Fred Haig Dam (Lake Monduran) near Gin Gin, where he was spending two days chasing barramundi, Schembri said teaching his kids to fish was giving them a skill they could use all their lives.

“It’s all joy,” he said, despite having just lost a good-sized fish as he tried to handle his mobile phone and a taut line.

“You just have to have patience.

“You have to remember that you are taking them fishing.

“If you think you are going to be able to wet a line when you are out with them you are kidding yourself.’’

Dave Clarke, who manages the Barra Park, has a team of volunteers, all experienced Coast recreational fishermen, who will be on hand to teach casting and baiting techniques on Sunday.

They will also be telling parents that fishing is about a lot more than just catching food.

Dave’s a catch-and-release man himself and clearly hooked on the sport.

“Fishing is an outdoor activity that puts you in touch with the environment,’’ says Dave, who was caught and mercifully released from behind a bank desk in an earlier life.

Now free of the indoors, he is relishing the opportunity to turn youngsters on to a life far removed from shopping centres and computer games.

“Fishing is about engaging with nature,’’ he said.

“The earlier they start the more they will learn. It’s a fun and relaxing pastime but there is a whole education in learning about how tides and moon phases impact on feeding habits of different species.

“There’s more to fishing than just catching fish.

“It can bring a lifetime of pleasure, travel and an awareness and appreciation of the fauna and flora of the different environments in which you fish.”

Despite the cooling weather, the Suncoast Barra Park, which is part of the Ski and Skurf complex just east of the Bli Bli bridge, is as likely a place as any for parents to get their kids hooked on the sport/hobby/lifestyle.

The park’s two smaller lakes are stocked with more than 2000 barramundi ranging in size from 1 to 3kg as well as estuary cod and moses perch.

The big lake carries the big fish – barramundi in the 4-6kg range.

The biggest fish caught measured 1.23 metres and weighed in at 23kg.

Dave’s best catch was a barramundi that also measured just over a metre.

He reckons that there has to be whoppers over 30kg in there somewhere, a theory he hopes to prove one day.

To register for the Take the Kids Fishing Day at Suncoast Barra Park call 5448 7514, or call into your local bait and tackle shop. The day starts at 9am and continues through to a sausage sizzle at noon.

There will be tackle available for those who don’t have their own as well as lucky draws with great prizes.

The cost is only $5.

By Bill Hoffman

Source : Sunshine Coast Daily

IF you thought you had missed out on one of the sought-out spots in this year’s Observer Boyne Tannum HookUp think again.

Despite places being snapped up quicker than trout on live bait, there are still plenty of spots up for grabs in Australia’s biggest family fishing competition.

HookUp committee publicity officer Darryl Branthwaite said in spite of talk around Gladstone that the competition was already full there were still a couple of hundred senior spots available.

“Tickets have been snapped up quickly, but there are still places left for those fishing enthusiasts who delayed and then thought they’d missed out,” he said.

“So my advice to all the anglers out there is if you’re keen to be in it, get in quick and then tell your mates that there is still room for people to get involved, because those few remaining tickets won’t last much longer.”

With work on the new jetty at Bray Park underway, Darryl said the HookUp committee was hopeful it would be up and running in time for the event on June 6 to 8, despite a few minor set-backs.

“Construction on the jetty is currently a week or so behind schedule because of the trouble we’ve been having digging the post holes for the piles to go in,” Darryl said.

“We’ve gone through at least two drilling heads already because the auger has to drill through rock in the river-bed which has been extremely difficult and slowed up the process.

“All fingers and toes are crossed though that we’ll be up and running in time for the HookUp, but unfortunately it’s out of our hands at the moment.

“Whatever happens the show will go on, and the jetty will be of benefit to the entire community once it’s finally completed.”

A not-for-profit event with all proceeds going to charity, the HookUp contributed $2000 to the Gladstone Salvation Army this week to coincide with the official breakfast launch of the Red Shield Appeal, held on Tuesday.

“The Salvos do an amazing job and in the end all of us have been touched by them some way or another because they offer help to everyone, irregardless of who you are,” Darryl said.

“Come the end of the HookUp we will also be donating $10,000 to the McGrath Foundation and are hoping to match that figure for Relay for Life too.”

Source: Gladstone Observer

A Queensland researcher says a survey of recreational fishing operators shows support for protected areas on parts of the Great Barrier Reef.

Dr Stephen Sutton from James Cook University’s Fishing and Fisheries Research Centre says about 1,700 anglers were part of the study.

He says most recognise the importance of managing the reef, but are concerned about consultation methods.

“Recreational fishers seem to not be very happy with the consultation process and the process that was used to implement the 2004 zoning plan and that appears to have resulted in sort of a decreased level of trust among the recreational fishing community for the marine park authority itself,” he said.

Source: ABC News

ORGANISERS of the 2008 The Observer Boyne Tannum Hook Up have vowed the decision to scrap a local mail out of entry forms is not biased against the region’s residents.

Concerns have been raised over the Hook Up committee’s decision to cut down on postage costs by not mailing out entry forms to those living in the 4680 postcode.

Instead organisers will on Saturday host an official launch to this year’s event, inviting all local residents to come to Bray Park, Boyne Island, to register their entries.

For those unable to attend the launch, entry forms will also be available from Boyne Island Bait and Tackle and Pat’s Tackle World after this date.

Hook Up Committee president Jeff Amos said there seemed to be some confusion surrounding the decision to only post entry forms to those not living in the 4680 postcode.

Mr Amos said some local residents were under the misconception non-local entries would be accepted first, but this was not the case.

“On Monday we will mail out all the interstate, intra-state and overseas entries,” Mr Amos said.

“If any entries come in before our launch day we will not be processing them until the launch day.”

Mr Amos and Hook Up Committee publicity officer Darryl Branthwaite were hoping for a huge response to the launch which will be held from 6am to 5pm.

The day will include processing of 2008 entries, the displaying of some of the boat prizes, incentive prize giveaways, sausage sizzle, bar facilities and live broadcasting by 4CC.

“We have a huge range of prizes to be won by those who register on the launch day,” Mr Branthwaite said.

This year’s Hook Up will see more than $200,000 in prizes up for grabs between June 6 and 9.

Like last year, senior entrant numbers will be capped at 3000 and junior numbers will remain unlimited.

Source : Gladstone Observer

Five fishermen have been rescued off Mackay in north Queensland after spending more than four hours floating in open sea.

The group was fishing on Cole Reef, about 93 kilometres north-east of Mackay, when their boat sank at around 6:00pm AEST.

They managed to activate a distress beacon, which led searchers to their position.

Daniel Hoare from the Central Queensland Rescue Helicopter Service says he was running low on fuel when he spotted the men, and dropped a life raft.

“It was due to sheer luck that we put the search light straight onto the guys, they were clinging to eskies,” he said.

“There was actually five guys [and] a trawling vessel that was in the vicinity picked the five guys out of the life raft.”

Source : ABC News

Big news for the organisers of this fantastic tropical Boat Show, Oceanic Insurance Brokers has signed up as Major Sponsor for another year, and rumour has it they are in negotiations for a lot longer.

A great line up of exhibitors will be seen at this year’s Oceanic Whitsunday Boat & Leisure Show 2008. Looking for a new engine for your boat, a great line up ranging from Cummins Engines, Volvo Penta, & Yanmar. Local dealers such as Whitsunday Yamaha, Cannonvale Marine, Whitsunday Home Hardware, Quadrant Marine will also have a great line up of products to show off including a full range of outboards to choose from.

Lightwave Cats, Fountaine Pajot, Seaquest boat sales, Powercat Marine will all be on display, so come and see these quality built vessels. Looking for Marine Electronics, ocean going footwear or even specialised sunnies to get you on the water, all will be at this year’s show. R Marine Whitsunday will have a wide range of their vessels on display, as well as Reef Marine from Mackay with their quality Kevlacats.

Major Door prize this year has been kindly donated by Sunsail, picture yourself and a friend on a 3 night fully crewed charter from Sunsail.

Scott Hillier from Creek to Coast will come and show the kids some exciting fishing techniques including how to throw a cast net.

Don’t forget to have a look at the Art Show which will be set up in the new position right in the boat show area, you may even find that special piece you have been waiting for. The Art show is open to all ages and entry forms can be found on the web site www.whitsundayboatshow.com and follow the link to the Art Show. $12000.00 prize money has been donated by the Sudholz Construction Group and the Rotary Club of Airlie Beach our Art Show sponsors.

Only a couple of booths are still available so for more information, or details on how to exhibit, please contact Dalwyn McErlane on 0408461192

Airlie Beach – What a great place for a Boat Show.
Saturday June 7, 9.00am – 5.00pm
Sunday June 8 9.00am – 4.00pm

Source : Power Boat World

THE future of barramundi fishing in the Fitzroy River will hinge on a decision made tonight by the Fitzroy River Fish Stocking Association amid controversy about illegal netting near the barrage.

Secretary Christine Ward said the group had been stocking barramundi and other species of fish in the Fitzroy for 20 years but a failure by local and state governments to enforce laws to protect their investment had prompted a rethink.

“The main item on the meeting agenda is to decide whether or not we will continue to stock the Fitzroy River at this time,” Ms Ward said.

During the Easter weekend, a group of four indigenous men was caught on camera by The Morning Bulletin using a large net to fish at the barrage.

Source: The Morning Bulletin