Weipa-contact Dave Donald for more information
Check out Dave Donalds site at www.weipafishing.com for all the latest info on anything you need to know about fishing Weipa.
Hooker 5.9mtr
Fish Weipa in purpose-built sportfishing boats with Dave and Josh.
Southwind UB 580
Weipa, on the western coast of Cape York Peninsula, is the site of the world's largest bauxite mine operated by COMALCO. Its 2000 residents enjoy modern shopping facilities, including a Woolworths Supermarket, and a daily jet service from Cairns. The township is situated on a point between two major river systems, the Embley and Mission, on the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Visitors to the town can choose from accommodation options including a well-maintained campground with self contained cabins, a hotel/motel and motel. Tours of the mine workings, a modern bowling club and 18 hole golf club are available as well as the extensive fishing options. Weipa is 850kms by road from Cairns, the last 600k's unsealed gravel. Driving time is usually 11 to 12 hours and should only be attempted from May until November, during the dry season.
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 12 September, 2003
Weather: Moderate south east winds easing late in week (19 to 34 degrees C)
Fishing Methods: Live baiting, trolling and lure casting.
Clients Details: Ian and Joanna from Melbourne, Peter from Sydney, Ray from Port Macquarie
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish, golden trevally, gold spot trevally, brassy trevally, tea leaf trevally, gold spot estuary cod, black spot estuary cod, pikey bream, barracuda, doggie mackerel, narrow barred spanish mackerel, coral trout, stripey, black cod, wolf herring, Qld groper, grunter, ooglie, shark, shovel nosed shark, catfish (2 species). (25 species). Sighted whale shark, dolphin, rays, sharks, dugong, turtles, sea snakes.
Crocodiles Sighted: 20 (best day 8)
Report: In typical September fashion, the fishing is already showing signs of going into overdrive. The river fishing is starting to hot up with some good sized barra on the chew, particularly on live baits. Best barra this week was 80cm landed by Ian and best jack 45cm landed by Ray. Ian and Joanna, fishing with Josh, found a hungry school of big grunter over in the Pine River and called us over. The fishing was fast and furious during the early part of the tide with numerous grunter to 63cm being landed on cut mullet baits. A few nice fingermark rounded off some great fishing. At a couple of spots, we found the fish too big too handle, with probably big Qld groper running the lines through snags and rocks. One small (10kg) groper was brought to boat and released. Ray landed the 2 best fish for the week, an estuary cod weighing 18 kilos and a big spanish mackerel just 1 kilo lighter. Both were taken while lure trolling, the cod on a shallow reef area and the spaniard on a deep reef well offshore. The shallow reef trolling proved to provide some spectacular fishing with Josh, Ray and Peter landing some great coral trout, big cod, golden trevally and other assorted reef species while a couple of k's further south, Ian, Joanna, assisted by yours truly were landing some big fingermark (best 65cm) along with the regulation cod and golden trevally. The goldens weighed up to 7 kilos. No trip would be complete without some shipping channel action and the tea leaf trevally were ready to help out. Ian landed some nice trevors to 6kg on Squidgie shads while Josh and the boys trolled up some on Scorpions. As is par for the course, the resident groper grabbed a couple of fish on the way up while a big whaler gave Ian a fright, hitting the side of the boat as he was lifting a small trevally aboard. Just another top week in paradise!
STILL A COUPLE OF SPOTS LEFT IN NOVEMBER 2003! GET IN QUICK, THIS IS PRIME TIME FISHING!!
JUST A REMINDER THAT BOOKINGS FOR APRIL/MAY/JUNE/SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2004 ARE ROLLING IN. BE SURE TO BOOK EARLY TO GET YOUR SPOT IN THESE PRIME MONTHS.
BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 22 August, 2003 (9 to 22 August)
Weather: Moderate south east to north east winds most days (18 to 32 degrees C)
Fishing Methods: Lure casting/trolling, live baiting
Clients Details: Norm and Jim from Melbourne, Bill from Newcastle, Ron from Sydney, Stewart and Susan from Gold Coast.
Species Landed: Barra, mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish (2 species), golden trevally, tea leaf trevally, brassy trevally, gold spot estuary cod, black spot estuary cod, king threadfin salmon, pikey bream, barracuda, narrow barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, broad barred spanish mackerel, coral trout, milkfish, grinner, stripey, ooglie, wolf herring, grunter, archer fish, Qld groper, shark, catfish. (27 species). Sighted dolphin, dugong, rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes.
Crocodiles Sighted: 29 (best day 8)
Report: While I headed south for the Sydney Tackle Show, Josh kept Norm, Jim, Bill and Ron very busy! Highlight of the week was the capture of a huge milkfish which measured 145cm and was estimated to weight around 20kgs. Reputedly one of the fastest fish that swims, the milky ran off a massive amount of line at just about light speed necessitating Josh chasing after it before the reel was spooled. 45 minutes later, the massive fish was brought to boat hooked in the tail! As milkfish are plankton eaters, they rarely grab a lure so hooking one accidentally is one way to get a great fight. Barra activity improved during the week with some nice fish being landed. Best went to Susan with a 75cm fish on a soft plastic. A couple of big king salmon were also boated in the same areas as the barra. Luring the snags produced some nice jacks, cod and a few barra along with a couple of beautiful Qld groper. Josh was showing Norm and Jim how to work a lure when a big groper grabbed his lure and uncerimoniously smashed him up. That's NOT how you do it! Sharks and big groper have been busy offshore grabbing trevally, queenfish and mackerel as they come to boat. Lure losses have therefore been high some days. Stewart and Susan ran out of large Squidgies at the shipping channel the afternoon we spent out there - then got stuck into my lead head jigs! The reefs have been trolling well for estuary cod to 8kg, golden trevally to 7kg plus some nice coral trout, stripies, queenies and doggie mackerel, typical mid winter fishing in this part of the world. Next week, Josh and I are off for a bit of exploration/field testing at the Skardon River, about 100kms north. Eddie Riddle from Fish N 4 Wheels will be filming some of the antics there. Look for the report next week!
There are still a couple of spaces left in November for those interested. Meanwhile, April/May/June 2004 is filling fast so be sure to get your spot booked quickly if you are thinking of visiting at this time. September/October 2004 is another prime time that is starting to fill up.
BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald Sportfishing
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 8 August, 2003 (25 July to 8 August)
Weather: Moderate to strong south east winds most days (17 to 32 degrees C)
Fishing Methods: Lure casting/trolling, live baiting
Clients Details: Mike and Frances from Sunshine Coast, Jim and Don from Melbourne.
Species Landed: Barra, mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish (3 species), golden trevally, tea leaf trevally, brassy trevally, diamond trevally, gold spot trevally, big eye trevally, gold spot estuary cod, black spot estuary cod, king threadfin salmon, pikey bream, barracuda, narrow barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, broad barred spanish mackerel, coral trout, stripey, ooglie, wolf herring, grunter, catfish. (25 species). Sighted dolphin, dugong, rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes.
Crocodiles Sighted: 67 (best day 14)
Report: Large bait schools just south of the Embley River provided some great casting and trolling opportunities for Mike and Frances during their stay. The bait was being worked by everything from small school to large spanish mackerel, trevally, tuna and queenies. A couple of lures headed to the tackle shop under the sea in the midst of the hot bite while those left at the end of the session were very scarred. Some excellent golden trevally to 8 kilos came to the boat, the best (grey) mackerel going 7 kilos. Unfortunately, the hooks fell out of a very big spaniard. Mike also battled a 10 kilo longtail on light tackle for nearly half an hour before getting the photo he needed. Further down the coast, we found the big queenies a little off the chew but still managed some great fish to 12 kilos, and lost a couple of the best to sharks. The barracuda's were in plague proportions, attacking a couple of their smaller cousins on the way in. Jim and Don had a top session on big macks down near Pera Head, landing half a dozen spaniards to 17 kilos on trolled Halco Scorpions. They also got stuck into the big queenies, again landing and releasing fish to 11 kilos. Don had a win with the usually (hard to keep on a hook) giant herring bringing a meter plus beauty to the net on a lead head jig. The fight was so fast and furious, it took Don quite a while to lose that glazed eyes look! Cooler water up the rivers has slowed the barra and salmon quite a bit. The fish seem to want to lie in the shallows soaking up a bit of warmth rather than bite. This won't last too much longer. However, both parties landed barra including an 88cm fish for Jim and a king salmon of 93cm for Don. Some nice jacks, fingermark and a swag of queenies, trevally and blue salmon have rounded out some reasonable days upriver. Gropers have again been a nuisance in a couple of hotspots, grabbing fingermark and queenies when they get the urge. The cool weather has the crocs out in large numers on the mudbanks at low tide.
I'll be in Sydney next week for the (trade only) Tackle Show at Rosehill Racecourse as a guest of Top Catch Tackle. Looking forward to catching up with all the latest on the fishing scene. It's very important for a guide like me to keep abreast of 'cutting edge' developments. Josh will be minding the store while I'm away.
STILL HAVE SOME PRIME DATES IN OCTOBER AVAILABLE!
AND A REMINDER THAT APRIL TO JUNE 2004 IS FILLING FAST!!
BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 4 July, 2003
Weather: Light to moderate south east winds early in week, getting strong from Thursday on (18 to 31 degrees C)
Fishing Methods: Fly fishing, lure casting.
Clients Details: Warren from Brisbane; Stephen from Melbourne
Species Landed: Barra, mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish (2 species), golden trevally, tea leaf trevally, giant trevally, gold spot estuary cod, Qld groper, pikey bream, longtail tuna, barracuda, broad barred spanish mackerel, scad, coral trout, stripey, parrot, tomato cod, black cod, cobia, remora, shark, grunter, swallowtail dart. (25 species). Sighted manta rays, dolphin, dugong, rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes.
Crocodiles Sighted: 27 (best day 7)
Report: This week featured another couple of HUGE offshore days with both the shipping channel and Pera Head producing some non-stop pelagic action. One area held masses of grey mackerel, longtail tuna and trevally as well as they ever present (and large) men in grey suits. The macko's were so thick, at times, that lures were eaten on the drop, most of them snipped off at the 60 pound leader by the sharp teeth. Those that did reach the bottom hardly ever made it back up - if the trevally didn't get it in the first few meters, the greys would catch it before it got to the surface. Lure losses were heavy but some big greys were landed, the best going around 10 kilos. Tuna were a constant 'problem' grabbing lures meant for the macko's. Oh, what a problem to have! Then the sharks would turn up, with sometimes 2 or 3 big whalers waiting under the boat for an easy feed. Some of the sharks were getting up around the 4 meter mark and when they get that size, their appetite can be quite large. Down the coast, the tuna were also prolific and we found one particular bait school being attacked by large sharks, trevally and longtails. The sharks seemed happy to continue feeding on the masses of baitfish while we fought tuna only 10 meters away. Big poppers brought plenty of attention. Jigging lead heads off the bottom brought up a nice cobia, a remora, some small whaler sharks, a couple of big queenfish and some huge giant herring. The herring proved as difficult as ever to land, screaming off a hundred meters of line then jumping high and usually throwing the hook. Stephen got lucky once and landed a 7 kilo beauty. Two big queenies were both sharked within sight of the boat. Stephen then went on to land a 12 kilo giant trevally on his barra baitcasting outfit while tossing lures over shallow reef. We had to chase the fish for about 100 meters when his line was down to the final couple of turns! The rivers continue to be on the quiet side but Stephen managed to land some nice barra, jacks, Qld groper, fingermark and grunter. I was comprehensively smashed by 2 big heavyweights, probably big Qld groper. Best barra went a touch under 70 cms and best jack 48cms, not bad fish for the cooler months. Another great winter week in paradise!
BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 20 June, 2003
Weather: Strong south east winds early in week moderating on Thursday.
Fishing Methods: Fly fishing, live baiting, lure casting & trolling.
Clients Details: Mark from Baton Rouge, USA; Brian, Cal, Rob, Clarrie and Ray from Melbourne
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish (3 species), giant threadfin, king threadfin salmon, golden trevally, tea leaf trevally, gold spot trevally, brassy trevally, giant trevally, fringe finned trevally, black spot estuary cod, gold spot estuary cod, pikey bream, longtail tuna, mackerel tuna, barracuda, narrow barred spanish mackerel, broad barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, cobia, scad, coral trout, stripey, parrot, black cod, large mouth nannnygai, sweetlip, wolf herring, swallowtail dart, grunter, long tom, shark, archer fish, flathead, ooglie, remora, eeltail catfish, forktail catfish (42 species). Sighted manta rays, dolphin, dugong, rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes.
Crocodiles Sighted: 35, best day 12.
Report: This week featured one of THOSE days! Josh and I headed south with our 5 Melbournian clients and found the tuna in a very hungry mood. After a couple of hours of hookup after hookup on both mackerel and longtail tuna, we stopped for a bite of morning tea and a well earned breather. However, the fish had other ideas and it was all hands to the rods when I noticed a school of fish on the sounder. Shortly after, we had 5 anglers all hooked up at once - a real guides nightmare! Somewhere in the middle of the tuna, a 12 kilo cobia turned up, and it took a fair bit of unknitting of crossed lines by Josh to ensure the beauty made the net. The mayhem continued until lunch when the boys opted to rest their sore arms and backs and have a more 'sedate' afternoon trying some trolling. WRONG! All was fairly quiet until we tried a local hotspot and the reels started screaming once again. In the midst of landing spaniards, queenies, barracuda's and giant trevally, the big boys arrived. Our 2 largest GT's, around the 20kilo mark, were both eaten by a huge tiger shark, the second one only 5 metres off the boat. Ditto for a spaniard better than 20 kilos that had been released - it wasn't quick enough to escape the monster. In the midst of all this, the barracuda's decided to eat one of their mates on the way in, a school of remora moving in to pick up the scraps. The session ended when 4 big 3-4 metre whalers moved in under the boats making any further lure trolling out of the question. The boys breathed a sigh of relief, they were buggered! Some of the years best river fishing topped off a HUGE week, Ray landing the biggest barra for the season so far, exactly 1 metre of the most handsome fish that swims. You could NOT get the smile off his face - and he gladly shouted the bar that night!! Earlier in the week, I had probably my toughest assignment so far this season! Fly fisher, Mark, had travelled all the way from Louisiana to sample his first ever Aussie fishing - and it was blowing 30 knots, some of the windiest weather we've had this year, and this continued for most of his 4 day stay. 21 species of fish on fly and his most productive fishing day ever later, Mark went home a very happy lad - that illustrates just how much depth there is to the fishing here (when combined with a bit of local knowledge). First morning, Mark had a ball landing queenies to 7 kilos and golden & brassy trevally to 5 kgs all morning then it was up the river for a productive session on the barra. Next day, we braved the wind and headed down past Pera Head where we managed to find some tuna in fishable water. Mark landed his first tuna species (longtails) and needed nearly all the backing on his reels during a couple of the fights. It was more of the same on the other 2 days - great Weipa fishing - the pity being that the weather eased (and the fishing got even better) the day after he flew out.
For those of you who have been inquiring about the lack of Fishing Reports over the past couple of weeks, my apologies! A very busy charter schedule complicated by having a daugher very sick in hospital (now well) and Denise having to fly urgently to Cairns meant there definitely weren't enough hours in the day. Things are almost back to 'normal', thank goodness!
BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING, 0740699064
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Fishing Period: Mid wet season (to 14 February)
Weather: Variable winds. A few storms and showers.
Fishing Methods: Fly fishing, trolling.
Species Landed: Queenfish (3 species), swallowtail dart, longtail tuna, giant trevally, tea leaf trevally, brassy trevally, diamond trevally. Missed a couple of barra, saw mangrove jack, cobia & plenty of small to large sharks.
Report: Gavin and I headed out for the morning for a mid wet season look around. The wet, to date, has been disappointing, the rain very patchy and not much of it. The road from Weipa to Cairns has remained open until last week except for a couple of short breaks. This is the first time I've heard of the road remaining open at this time of year. Conseqently, there's not a lot of dirty water in the rivers and the Gulf waters off Weipa are quite clear.
First stop this morning was the mouth of a small creek along the beach just south of Weipa where we raised a couple of nice barra but couldn't get them to take our flies. My first fish was a beautiful diamond trevally and this was followed by a couple of queenfish and dart. We sighted a pile of barra and jacks on another snag but couldn't get their interest. Heading down the coast, we travelled around 20 kilometers without sighting working fish. A medium swell breaking on the beach curtailed any plans we had to head there. Eventually, we headed to the outer leads and finally found fish working bait schools in the area. Gavin was bitten off by a couple of mackerel while trolling lures but some hard working tuna schools soon had us puuting the lures away and bringing out the flies. We worked a number of bait schools over the next couple of hours landing longtail tuna to 5 kilos, queenfish to 4 kilos, tea leaf trevally to 5 kilos and brassy trevally to 6 kilos. Lots of small oceanic queenfish kept swiping the flies meant for the larger fish. One particular bait school had sharks from 1 to 4 meters long in attendance but they left any hooked fish alone. However, one of the released longtails was chomped after swimming about 30 meters! A couple of big cobia swam past the boat but didn't manage to find our flies. A top morning was had by all!!!
Bookings have been steady but there are still some spaces around Easter and in May/June. This is prime fishing time up here so if you are thinking about heading this way when the weather here is usually not too hot and the fishing going beserk, April to June is the time to consider. But don't wait too long, bookings are limited.
Keep an eye out for this weekends FISH N 4 WHEELS program, on Channel 10 Saturday, and 7Central Sunday. Host Eddie Riddle & I have a ball fishing soft plastic lures on the local piscatorial inhabitants. There's plenty of good info there for aspiring plastic purveyors!
BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
2002 reports
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 22 November 2002
Weather: Moderate to strong south easterly winds most of week.
Fishing Methods: Lure casting and trolling, live baiting.
Clients Details: Bob, Scott and Simon from Newcastle/Sydney
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish (2 species), golden trevally, tea leaf trevally, brassy trevally, diamond trevally, black spot estuary cod, gold spot estuary cod, Queensland Groper, giant herring, narrow barred spanish mackerel, broad barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, stripey, parrotfish, barracuda, ooglie, shark (21 species). Sighted dolphin, dugong, rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes.
Crocodiles Sighted: 4 (best day 4)
Report: The inshore waters south of Weipa really came alive this week with bait schools everywhere. Queenfish, golden trevally, giant herring and mackerel have been harassing these schools providing non stop action for hours on end. Bob, Scott and Simon left their best until the final day when they landed well over 100 fish on metal slices and soft plastics. The highlight came about mid morning near the rocks at Westminster when fingermark joined the feeding queenies and goldens. We landed 3 big fingermark, the 2 largest going 5 and 4 kilos respectively, all taken on soft plastics jigged under the boat in 3 metres of water. It was champagne fishing and one of the benefits of braving the hot November weather. A great session on fingermark up one of the rivers also kept the boys very busy. Over a dozen big fingermark were taken on live bait along with cod and trevally, not to mention a couple of spectacular bust offs. Simon landed a beautiful Queensland groper at another spot upriver, the 6 kilo fish being released after the photos. The leads again turned on some fantastic action, both when trolling and jigging. One of the new 8m Halco Crazy Deeps outfished everything else on the troll but was eventually taken home by something a little too big. Big sharks again sampled a couple of our trevally when the jigs came out. Some big queenfish were also landed in the area. The boys went home with a considerably lighter tackle box than when they arrived but they all had big grins on their faces! Great stuff!
BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 15 November 2002
Weather: Moderate to strong south easterly winds most of week.
Fishing Methods: Lure casting and trolling, live baiting.
Clients Details: Dave and Greg from Melbourne.
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, queenfish (2 species), golden trevally, tea leaf trevally, brassy trevally, black spot estuary cod, gold spot estuary cod, narrow barred spanish mackerel, broad barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, stripey, tomato cod, matty cod, parrotfish, grunter, barracuda, king salmon, scad, swallowtail dart, shark (22 species). Sighted dolphin, dugong, rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes.
Crocodiles Sighted: 1
Report: The underwater freight trains were, once again, active out around the harbour leads grabbing hooked trevally half way back to the boat. One huge shark ate a tea leaf trevally only a couple of meters from the boat convincing the lads that swimming was out of the question in spite of the hot weather! During one hot trevally bite, Greg broke out the fly rod and had an absolute ball wrestling with 4 to 5 kilo fish, some of which followed their mates hooked on lead head jigs. Greg also landed his first fly rod queenfish, dart and barra on the trip. Fishing up the rivers was certainly not up to the usual standard of this time of year, probably due to the unseasonal south easters that have been blowing now for over a fortnight. However, the boys still managed to land some nice jacks, grunter and a big king salmon as well as the ever present barra. Soft plastics and prawn lures (DOA and Prawn Star) worked very well with the 6 kilo king salmon grabbing a Prawn Star and a couple of grunter being taken on a Berkley soft plastic.
BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 8 November 2002
Weather: Moderate to strong south easterly winds most of week.
Fishing Methods: Lure casting and trolling, live baiting.
Clients Details: Ned & Lorraine from Mackay.
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, queenfish (2 species), giant trevally, golden trevally, tea leaf trevally, brassy trevally, black spot estuary cod, gold spot estuary cod, narrow barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, stripey, coral trout, grunter, pikey bream, barracuda, king salmon, archer fish, Queensland groper, catfish (22 species). Sighted dolphin, dugong, rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes.
Crocodiles Sighted: 2 (best day 1)
Report: This week saw some of the best GT and queenfish action I've seen all year! We found a patch of big fish working scad baits wide of the beach and the piscatorial bully's were ready to eat anything that hit the water. Poppers, lead head jigs, soft plastics, barra lures - it didn't matter what we threw at the fish, they crashed it big time. The queenies averaged from 8 to 12 kilos and the GT's 14 to 17 kilos so there were some very sore arms after a couple of hours of non stop hook-ups. At one stage, Lorraine decided to man the video camera (a poor excuse to have a rest!) and I teased the fish right to the side of the boat with a hookless popper. It was absolute mayhem! The fish were slamming into the side of the boat and hitting the popper even when it was just jiggled on the surface. There was water going everywhere, all over Lorraine, all over me, then all over the camera. The footage was sensational. The fishing continued all morning, eventually tapering off around lunchtime, but by this time my clients were nearly exhausted. Lunch on the beach was a very welcome respite. Another afternoon, after a slow morning, we headed to the leads to jiggle a few lead heads and the trevally were going ape! The lures were getting hit on the drop or almost as soon as they hit the bottom. In amongst the procession of tea leaf and brassy trevally, a big spaniard (15kg) decided to get in on the act and was brought to the boat to be released by Ned. Then a couple of big groper joined the action and started snavelling the 5 to 7kg trevally we'd hooked. We lost 4 fish to these unstoppable underwater freight trains. In contrast to the offshore fishing, the rivers were a little quiet although activity started to pick up markedly on the final day. Highlight of the river fishing was when Ned and Lorrine managed to land 3 beautifully marked juvenile groper during a fairly quite session in the upper Embley.
BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 1 November 2002
Weather: Light north westerly with sea breezes early in week turning strong south easterly later in week. Humid.
Fishing Methods: Lure casting and trolling, live baiting.
Clients Details: Stuart and Sureyya from Brisbane.
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, queenfish (2 species), fingermark, golden trevally, tea leaf trevally, brassy trevally, black spot estuary cod, gold spot estuary cod, narrow barred spanish mackerel, broad barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, longtail tuna, grunter, pikey bream, barracuda, king salmon, giant herring, wolf herring, archer fish, Queensland groper, catfish, swallowtail dart, shovelnosed shark (25 species). Sighted dolphin, dugong, rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes.
Crocodiles Sighted: 8 (best day 6)
Report: The week started in spectacular fashion at one of the harbour leads with heaps of big tea leaf trevally hammering our lead head jigs. Stuart then hooked a screamer and the line started heading for the top, the fish jumping and cartwheeling while ripping line like a freight train - big giant herring. These fish are experts at dislodging lures but luck went Stuart's way and we boated a meter plus GH going around 7 kilos, one of the largest I've seen. Back to the tea leafs and a big groper decides to join the act and grab Sureyya's fish. Bye bye! Then a few mackerel started showing so we tried trolling. A couple of nice grey mackerel came aboard on a new Reidy's Daly Devil. Next day, we found some big longtails down off Pera Head and landed the 2 largest tuna I've seen this year around 14 kilos each. There were plenty of others in the vacinity but Staurt spent much of the time playing something huge which he lost after nearly an hour. In fact, smash ups were the order of the morning with 4 lures going west, 3 by big fish finding the reefy bottom. Up the rivers, the action was a little slow but we managed to land quite a few jacks, fingermark, cod, queenies, barra and one very nice groper going 6 kilos. Fishing picked up on the final day with a great session on king salmon (and barra) in the morning on lures then a hot bite of big grunter on fresh garfish in the afternoon. A 2 meter shovelnosed shark once again had Stuart huffing and puffing for quite some time before it could be released.
Bookings for March to June 2003 are filling fast. Don't miss out on the run-off action, make sure you book early!!!
BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 25 October 2002
Weather: Moderate south east winds turning west to north west later in week. Very humid.
Fishing Methods: Fly fishing only.
Clients Details: Peter, Deb, Richard, Ricky, Brian and Cara from Perth/Brisbane.
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, queenfish (2 species), giant trevally, golden trevally, tea leaf trevally, brassy trevally, diamond trevally, big eye trevally, gold spot trevally, fringe finned trevally, bludger trevally, scad (2 species), black spot estuary cod, gold spot estuary cod, narrow barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, longtail tuna, grunter, pikey bream, barracuda, stripey, coral trout, parrot, tomato cod, matty cod, blue salmon, king salmon, giant herring, wolf herring, batfish, mullet, flathead, archer fish, tarpon, swallowtail dart, snub nosed dart (Indo-pacific permit) (40 species). Sighted dolphin, rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes.
Crocodiles Sighted: 2
Report: Yes, we boated a couple of the enigmatic snub nosed dart or Indo-Pacific PERMIT during this 7 day trip on the mothership "Eclipse". The first (7kg) fish was taken by Peter on a pink thing fly that was allowed to settle on the bottom, the other on a Clouser minnow. Dozens of these fish were sighted along the beach flats near the McDonald River and at least one other picked up (and dropped) a crab fly. The shallows in that area were also teeming with schools of golden trevally and some fantastic sight fishing was had stalking the moving fish. Deb and Peter experienced multiple double hook-ups in a morning long session. Queenfish and giant herring were other species also taken along the beaches. Some big bait schools were sighted offshore and produced big queenfish to 7kg, narrow barred spanish mackerel to 10kg and giant trevally to 14kg. Richard landed the largest GT on a 9 weight outfit and the stubborn customer took well over an hour to bring to boat. Deb landed the best longtail tuna, a beauty going just on 9kgs. In the Wenlock River, we found big numbers of king threadfin salmon working jelly prawns on the run outs but finding a fly they would eat proved very difficult. A couple were taken on small Clousers along with blue salmon, tarpon and heaps of barramundi. It's frustrating when the water is literally boiling with big salmon and they continually refuse fly pattern after fly pattern! Down at Boyd Bay, berleying with fish scraps attracted the usual lemon sharks and their entourage of trevallies of all types. A few big GT's dropped in for their share and a couple were hooked. Unfortunately, those that grabbed flies were lost when the hooks pulled out after short fights. Newcomers to fly fishing, Brian and Cara had a ball, Brian rounding off a great introduction to the sport with a beautiful (coral) trout, then joined Cara in a series of queenfish double hook-ups on the final morning. The final tally of 40 species for the week just demonstrates once again that the western Gulf coast is definitely one of the world's best fly fishing destinations.
BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 18 October 2002 Weather: Moderate south east winds early going lighter later in week with strong sea breezes in afternoon. Fishing Methods: Fly fishing only. Clients Details: Hisashi, Akiko, Mineyoshi, Toshi, Masa and Yuki from Nagoya, Japan.
Species Landed: Barramundi, queenfish, golden trevally, tea leaf trevally, brassy trevally, black spot estuary cod, gold spot estuary cod, narrow barred spanish mackerel, broad barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, pikey bream, barracuda, stripey, dart, ooglie, catfish (17 species). Sighted dolphin, dugong, rays, manta rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes. Crocodiles Sighted: 3 (best day 2)
Report: How do you teach newcomer fly fishers how hard to fight a fish? Simple, put them in 3 boats anchored 30 metres away from one of the harbour lead posts and get them to cast into a hoarde of big tea leaf trevally. The results are mayhem, a couple of ruined fly lines, heaps of popped tippetts and lost flies, and even a broken rod or 2! But our anglers soon learned how to red line their tackle and land some great fish. The first time we tried these tactics, I don't think I've laughed so much all year. In between yelling instructions, pointing out free swimming fish and helping anglers re rig broken tippetts, the 3 guides were rolling around the floor as our Japanese clients tried to control some of the toughest fish that swim. Apart from stirring up the trevally, we landed some nice barra, the best going to Toshi at 86cm. On the morning before the Gulf barramundi closure, my 2 fly fishers had a great morning landing and releasing nearly 30 barra on Clousers and Deceivers. Some beautiful golden trevally came to boat, the best going 8kgs. Some came from the lead posts but quite a few were landed on the shallow flats. Another hot session happened just south of the Embley mouth where we found queenfish, mackerel and trevally working baitfish. The fish bit solidly for 3 hours, sitting underneath the boat for most of the time. Hisashi decided to use a floating line and popper fly, the fly able to slide up the shock tippett away from the hook when the fish was hooked. A queenfish would grab the popper and race off only to have a mackerel come and bite the popper off as they followed the hooked fish. His popper supply dwindled alarmingly until we finally headed off in search of other species. Masa landed the first catfish I've seen landed on fly, an 8kg "rocket" or salmon catfish - and can these things pull. We've landed them on lead head jigs, now on fly. What a great week! BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald Sportfishing
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 9 August 2002 Weather: Moderate south east winds all week. Fishing Methods: Live baiting, lure trolling. Also Snake Catching! Clients Details: Bryan & Alexia from Singapore, Allan & Mark from USA, Bob and Lisa from Sydney.
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish, golden trevally, tea leaf trevally, gold spot estuary cod, black spot estuary cod, barracuda, grunter, doggie mackerel, broad barred sapnish mackerel, pikey bream, catfish, black tip whaler shark, stingray (16 species). Sighted dolphin, rays, sharks, turtles, dugong, sea snakes. Crocodiles Sighted: 9 (best day 4)
Report: The sea snake catchers arrived back in town this time in the company of a National Geographic (USA) TV film crew. It was great to catch up with Bryan & Alexia and to find that Bryan was now fully recovered from his life threatening horned sea snake bite reported last visit (October 2002). First night on the water was spent getting back into the snake catching routine we'd developed over their 3 previous visits and shooting some preliminary film. At first, the snakes were quiet then, all of a sudden, they were everywhere. The presence of a camera crew always inhibits proceedings but Bryan was more than happy with the nights catch of around 40 snakes which kept him & Alexia busy milking venom all next morning. The second night started off in relaxed mode, having a bite to eat while watching the last rays of a beautiful Gulf sunset, but there was something intangible in the air. We were just about to get organized when Bryan spotted a large snake just off the bow. His yells became almost hysterical as I finally started the motor and headed it way. The snake started to dive but Bryan put his arm deep in the water, grabbed the last 30cm of tail and heaved the 1.5metre beauty aboard. It was the sea snake he'd spent 6 years, from the Barrier Reef to Ashmore Reef and half a million dollars trying to find, the holy grail, a Stokes sea snake - and its capture was all on film! It was congratulations all round, then another huge snake appeared in the spotlight. Bryan grabbed this one - at 2.3metres long, the largest Elegant sea snake he'd ever heard of! What a night. Like catching a 50 pound barra and a 2,000 pound marlin in the one day! Whatever followed could only be an anticlimax. The next couple of nights were spent getting more footage - then the crew tried a spot of fishing with excellent results. They had fresh fingermark on the barbie to put the icing on a fantastic trip! Meanwhile, Bob and daughter Lisa, flew in for a couple of days and experienced some great winter action. They landed a great mixed bag of fish in the rivers including barra, jacks, fingermark, cod and queenfish then had their arms stretched on big trevally out along the Leads. They capped the trip off with a great morning down the coast landing some big queenfish and grey mackerel near some bait schools. BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 26 July 2002 Weather: Moderate south east winds all week. Fishing Methods: Live baiting, lure casting. Clients Details: Victor & Dorothy from Melbourne
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish (2 species), golden trevally, Papuan trevally, giant trevally, gold spot estuary cod, black spot estuary cod, king threadfin salmon, barracuda, Qld groper, grunter, catfish, shovel nose shark, black tip whaler shark, ooglie, remora, pikey bream. (20 species). Sighted dolphin, rays, sharks, turtles, dugong, sea snakes. Crocodiles Sighted: 38 (best day 12)
Report: Quality barramundi fishing was the highlight of this week! Victor and Dorothy landed some excellent fish with the best 3 going over 80cm (largest 85cm) and lost a horse well over the metre mark. The big fish took a live bait near a fallen mangrove, ran away from the snag and jumped in open water three times, before racing around the end of the tree then into the pile of branches. Its fourth jump came right in the middle of the snag with the inevitable consequence. It appeared to me to be the largest barra hooked so far this year! All but one barra (kept for the table) were released. The couple also had the honour of each landing a nice Queensland groper, with Victors marginally larger at about 5kg. Groper are beautifully marked at this size and are certainly not a common catch, so they were well received by all. We encountered one of their larger cousins, probably around the 150 to 200kg mark, which ate a couple of fingermark as we tried to bring them to boat, forcing us to move to another spot. Other highlights included a very hectic lunchtime session on fingermark where the fish were biting so well, we had to leave the baits out of the water so we could finish our rolls. A couple of golden trevally and queenfish joined the ravenous fingermark when we finally resumed fishing. Some excellent grunter, cod, and a big king salmon rounded off a great week. As far as mid winter tropical estuarine fishing goes, it certainly doesn't get much better! BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 19 July 2002 Weather: Moderate south east winds early in week becoming strong from Thursday onwards. Fishing Methods: Primarily lure casting with some trolling. Clients Details: Bill & Karlena from Sydney, John & Michelle from Cairns.
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish, tea leaf trevally, brassy trevally, gold spot estuary cod, black spot estuary cod, blue threadfin salmon, longtail tuna, broad barred mackerel, barracuda, Qld groper, grunter, archer fish, tarpon, black jew. (17 species). Sighted dolphin, rays, sharks, turtles, dugong, sea snakes. Crocodiles Sighted: 21 (best day 5)
Report: Bill & Karlena concentrated their efforts lure casting the mangroves for barra and mangrove jack. They raised plenty of barra but quite a few were suffering from the mid winter 'blues' - due to low water temperatures and gusty trade winds. Consequently, the ratio of turning strikes into boated fish was a little less than usual with some fish just bumping the lures or rolling past the rear treble. Some nice fish were boated each day nevertheless, along with some barracuda, estuary cod and archer fish. A great session at the harbour leads found big tea leaf and brassy trevally hitting the lures before they reached the bottom! Diminutive Karlena was almost dragged over the side of the boat on a couple of occasions by the hard fighting trevors pulling against a heavy drag. I backed it off quite a bit to ensure she stayed with Bill and I! A short visit by good friends and former Wilderness Lodge managers, John & Michelle from Cairns, saw us up the river chasing a couple of fish for the table. First live bait of the morning was taken as soon as it hit the bottom and this set the stage for a very hot bite for the next hour or so. Fingermark to 3kg made up the bulk of the catch with a 4kg black jew, estuary cod and queenfish on the go as well. A big groper stopped the bite when he grabbed a nice queenfish I had almost to the boat. A nice barra and plenty of queenfish from one of the mudbank drains topped off a great morning. Next morning, it was out to the leads in very windy conditions. Wife, Denise, boated an excellent brassy trevally of 10kgs but the other half a dozen that we hooked either smashed us up around the lead post or fell off the hook. In any case, it was a hectic and memorable couple of hours.
BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald Sportfishing
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 12 July 2002 Weather: Light to moderate south to south east winds all week. Fishing Methods: Lure casting & trolling, live baiting, fly fishing. Clients Details: Jim, Pat and Darrell from Canberra, Alastair, Shonie and Manny from Sydney.
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish (2 species), golden trevally, tea leaf trevally, giant trevally, fringe finned trevally, gold spot estuary cod, black spot estuary cod, blue threadfin salmon, king threadfin salmon, longtail tuna, narrow barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, broad barred mackerel, barracuda, pikey bream, Qld groper, grunter, cobia, archer fish, coral trout, tusker, black cod, tomato cod, catfish, shark etc. (39 species all up). Sighted dolphin, rays, sharks, turtles, dugong sea snakes. Crocodiles Sighted: Heaps
Report: Our 10 day trip on the mothership Eclipse saw us visit a number of different areas including Hey River, Port Musgrave/Namaletta Ck, Jackson River, Janey Ck, Pine River/Nominade Ck and Boyd Bay. The fishing started off fairly quietly with strong south easters and neap tides slowing the action. By the time we reached the Jackson River, the weather had moderated and the fishing satrted to improve with heaps of mangrove jacks and plenty of barra coming on the chew. Pikey bream were so thick they became a nuisance when using live bait. One was grabbed by an enormous groper as it was being brought to boat. The fly fishers boated some nice tuna as we headed back south, then everybody got stuck into the grey mackerel around the 8kg mark just off Janey Ck. We found plenty of barras in the Pine as well as some big jacks and grunter. Down to Boyd Bay where we burleyed up trevally, sharks and groper around the back of the boat. A huge GT that swam around the edges could not be hooked. 86 year old Jim landed a 10kg cobia here on a trolled Reidy's Aqua Rat to really top off a great trip for himself and wife Pat. Great stuff! BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 29 June 2002 Weather: Moderate south to south east winds all week. Fishing Methods: Lure casting & trolling, live baiting. Clients Details: Doug, Greg, Brian & Steve from Wollongong
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish, golden trevally, tea leaf trevally, gold spot estuary cod, black spot estuary cod, blue threadfin salmon, king threadfin salmon, longtail tuna, narrow barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, barracuda, pikey bream, Qld groper, catfish, shark. (18 species). Sighted dolphin, rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes. Crocodiles Sighted: 28 (best day 12)
Report: This week again featured the capture of some quality barra up to 87cm, very pleasing for this neck of the woods in mid 'winter'. Some excellent king salmon also came to boat along with plenty of queenfish and some blue salmon. Working the snags early on the run out tide found jacks, fingermark, estuary cod and plenty of pikey bream keen to eat live baits. Again, there were some BIG smash-ups, the lads finding it very difficult to halt some of the hot runners. One respectable Queensland groper made the camera - so some of the 'unstoppables' were obviously close cousins! A day down the coast saw us encounter plenty of big queenfish up to 10kg and more unstoppables, in fact, there were 6 lures lost in a couple of hours. One lure was taken by a sizeable spanish mackerel after it bit the leader near the end of a long fight. Fortunately, one of its smaller mates hit the deck not long after followed by more school mackerel. A hot session at the harbour leads saw plenty of arm stretching by trevally around the 5 kg mark plus a couple more big queenies. As I'm away on an extended charter on the mothership Eclipse for the next 10 days, the next report will be week ending 13 July. BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 22 June 2002 Weather: Light south to south east winds becoming moderate later in week. Fishing Methods: Lure casting & trolling, live baiting. Clients Details: Neil, Henry, Greg, Brett & Steve from Robinvale, Victoria
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish, golden trevally, brassy trevally, tea leaf trevally, gold spot estuary cod, black spot estuary cod, blue threadfin salmon, king threadfin salmon, longtail tuna, narrow barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, coral trout, stripey, tomato cod, barracuda, pikey bream, Qld groper, stonefish, catfish, ooglie, shark. (24 species). Sighted dolphin, dugong, rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes. Crocodiles Sighted: 25 (best day 8)
Report: Although the tides were not the best and the weather was a little cool, there were some excellent barra landed this week. The best was hooked on a live mullett and went 85cm while there were quite a number of others in the 75cm to 83cm range, great fishing for mid winter. Some big king salmon to 90cm also came along on the livies along with quite a few big mangrove jacks, fingermark and estuary cod. There was also a couple of memorable smash ups, the identity of the culprits unknown. However, two big Queensland groper were landed and released, the best weighing 12 kilos - and it's possible their cousins might have caused some of the broken lines. One bully that was certainly positively identified was a big whaler shark (around 2.5 metres) that leapt out of the water to grab a jigged trevally that was nearly boatside then ate another barely 20 seconds later. Poor Henry thought the shark was coming aboard as it jumped a metre out of the water toward the bow with his trevally clenched in its jaws. Another nasty customer turned up while lure casting for barra near a rock ledge. The big stone fish ate a Reidy's B52 lure which took some getting back from the tightly clamped jaws. Big barracuda also made a couple of unwelcome appearances during the week, one 1.5 metre pick handle turned up on a live bait right up the top of the Hey River in a side creek. Another reason (other than crocs and sharks) to keep your toes right out of the water up this way! BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 15 June 2002 Weather: Moderate south east winds becoming light later in week. Fishing Methods: Lure casting & trolling, live baiting. Clients Details: Magnus & Sarah from Byron Bay.
Species Landed: Barramundi, fingermark, queenfish, golden trevally, brassy trevally, tea leaf trevally, gold spot estuary cod, black spot estuary cod, blue threadfin salmon, king threadfin salmon, longtail tuna, narrow barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, barracuda, pikey bream, grunter, black jewfish, catfish, ooglie,shark. (20 species). Sighted dolphin, dugong, rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes. Crocodiles Sighted: 13 (best day 8, hooked 1.5 metre croc on lure but it fell out about half way to boat)
Report: Had some great lure casting sessions for barra this week, particularly on the early run in tide. Gold Bombers and B52's worked best although soft plastics had their moments. Magnus also landed a very nice grunter on a Bomber while working the gutters for barra. A couple of big king salmon came aboard on live bait after running the duo all around the boat, the best up around the metre mark. There were also some hectic sessions around the harbour leads, including a great afternoon where big tea leaf and golden trevally, in the company of some high jumping queenfish, kept us all very busy. Sarah landed the best golden, a 7kg beauty, which managed to flick out of my grip and back over the side just as she was getting the camera ready. I was reminded of my blunder quite often during the trip! We found a stack of blue salmon in a hole up the Hey River and M&S had a ball landing these high speed jumpers. A couple of fingermark and black jewfish came along as well. Magnus hooked a small croc on a lure and we were debating just how we would remove the hooks when the croc shook it head and the lure came free. The croc had came out of nowhere and grabbed the lure aggressively. I think Magnus was happy he didn't have to endanger his pinkies!! BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 8 June 2002 Weather: Moderate south to south east winds becoming light later in week. Cool! Fishing Methods: Lure casting & trolling, live baiting. Clients Details: Harry and Ron from Adelaide.
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish, giant trevally, golden trevally, brassy trevally, tea leaf trevally, gold spot estuary cod, black spot estuary cod, Qld groper, king threadfin salmon, longtail tuna, narrow barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, barracuda, pikey bream, flathead, shark. (19 species). Sighted dolphin, dugong, rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes, giant groper. Crocodiles Sighted: 26 (best day 7, largest 4.5metres)
Report: The piscatorial bullies were out in force and Weipa recorded its coldest morning in 20 years (12 degrees on Tuesday) this week! While live baiting 25k's up the Embley River on Monday, something took off like a Tomcat leaving an aircraft carrier and had 150 metres of line out under heavy drag in no time at all. The fish then see-sawed from one side of the river to the other somehow avoiding rocky outcrops and bankside snags as Ron puffed and panted and tried to get his pumping style into some sort of order. 30 minutes of hard work went by before the fish revealed itself as a big GT, but it took another 15 minutes to get it in the net. Going close to 17kgs, the fish was photographed then successfully revived and released. Later that afternoon, we found a patch of barra and king salmon really on the bite. Harry landed a bruiser of a king, going better than 1 metre then a couple of very nice barra. He then hooked a barra in the bragging class, was bringing it to the boat quite nicely when the next bully showed up - a 2.5metre whaler shark. The barra went from 90cm plus to 55cm in one bite. The fish went very quiet after that! Next day, at a fingermark hole, things went quiet very quickly. I tossed a soft plastic to see if the queenies were around and hooked a 5kg model just under the boat. I started to gain line after a couple of minutes and the fish flashed just under the surface - with a big brown shape in pursuit. A groper going at least 150kgs then proceeded to eat the queenie then rub my line off on the bottom! Bully number 3!! The week ended with a great session at the harbour leads landing golden and tea leaf trevally plus tuna on lead head jigs, Lazers and soft plastic Sliders. BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 1 June 2002 Weather: Light south east winds most of week, strengthening Friday. Fishing Methods: Lure casting only. Clients Details: John from Wollongong..
Species Landed: Barramundi, fingermark, queenfish, golden trevally, brassy trevally, tea leaf trevally, fringe finned trevally, gold spot estuary cod, black spot estuary cod, blue threadfin salmon, longtail tuna, doggie mackerel, barracuda, ooglie, catfish ( 16 species). Sighted dolphin, dugong, rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes. Crocodiles Sighted: 17 (best day 4)
Report: Barramundi were the predominant species landed this week. Great tides and superb weather meant that the barra were very active, although not quite as prevalent as previous years, probably because of the poor wet season. John landed a stack of nice fish but dropped a beast that was easily the largest when his Prawnstar lure came loose during a high jump. We worked a range of lures to try and identify which ones were working best and the Rio's Prawns, Prawnstars and soft plastic shad tails comprehensively outfished the standard hard bodied models like the Bomber and B52. Our best session saw us land a swag of barra to 78cm and drop a couple of big king threadfin (on soft plastic tails) during the first half hour of a run in tide. A big swell coming from the south of the Gulf hindered our efforts to fish down the coast but we found some excellent casting near the Embley River mouth for golden and brassy trevally along with some big queenfish, landing over 30 fish in a couple of hours on our best morning. BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 25 May 2002 Weather: Light south east winds all week. Fishing Methods: Lure and fly casting, live baiting. Clients Details: Geoff and Violet from Mackay, Kim and Steve from Brisbane.
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish (2 species), golden trevally, brassy trevally, tea leaf trevally, fringe finned trevally, cale cale trevally, gold spot estuary cod, black spot estuary cod, king threadfin salmon, blue threadfin salmon, longtail tuna, narrow barred spanish mackerel, broad barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, barracuda, coral trout, tomato cod, matty cod, stripey, grunter, shark, ooglie, catfish ( 27 species). Sighted dolphin, dugong, rays, manta rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes. Crocodiles Sighted: 11 (best day 5)
Report: A 3 day soft plastic lure R&D session with Kimmy Bain (of magazine writing and 'Escape With ET' fame) and dad Steve (also writer and importer of Slider lures) proved to be action packed as Weipa turned on its best! Kimmy managed to land a fish on her very first cast, and also on her last cast. Both were longtails around the 7 kilo mark. The plastics proved dynamite on the tuna and did not require a high speed retrieve, like conventional slugs and lures, to attract a strike. In the end, we drove away from the tuna schools to find other species. Overall, the plastics accounted for around 15 species for the 3 days including barra, fingermark, grunter, sharks and 5 species of trevally. We found the barra took the plastics better than conventional hard bodied lures and were less liable to be spooked by the plastics in shallow water. Very interesting stuff, and I'll be doing more testing when the opportunities present themselves, to extend our techniques further. Keep an eye out for all the details in future articles by Kim. Geoff and Violet had an absolute ball and were hooked up to hard running tuna within an hour of their getting off the plane. They really enjoyed live baiting the barra, salmon, fingermark and jacks, as well as jigging lead heads around the harbour. Violet landed the best salmon, a 7 kilo beauty taken in the Embley, but missed an even larger specimen the next day in the Hey. The big thready went beserk, repeatedly tearing off line and jumping before the line parted. Geoff trolled up a trophy fingermark going better than 5 kilos in a shallow reefy area just south of the river mouth. Another sensational week in paradise! BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 18 May 2002 Weather: Light south east winds all week. Fishing Methods: Fly fishing mainly, some lure casting Clients Details: Kojima and Ochiai from Tokyo, Japan
Species Landed: Barramundi, queenfish (2 species), golden trevally, brassy trevally, tea leaf trevally, gold spot estuary cod, longtail tuna, narrow barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, barracuda, coral trout, black cod, stripey, swallowtail dart, giant herring, catfish ( 17 species). Sighted dolphin, rays, manta rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes. Crocodiles Sighted: 2
Report: My two Japanese clients were just about tuna'd out by the end of their week! Yes, the longtails were everywhere, from Pera Head right up to Duyfken Point, some even venturing into the mouth of the Embley on the high tide. On our best day, Kojima & Ochiai landed well over 20 tuna to 10kg, going down in tippett size to 3kg to test their fighting skills. At one stage, a nearby school of chopping tuna was smashed by a large marlin while one of the boys was fighting a fish. On other occasions, schools of trevally and queenfish joined the tuna in their feeding frenzy. Some extra large queenfish were hooked out of these schools but all managed to throw the fly sometime during the fight. Ochiai landed the best trevally, an 8kg golden, near one of the channel markers, and there were plenty of Tea Leafs in the vacinity as well. Best fish off the shallow reefs was a beautiful coral trout going 3 kilos, a great capture in amongst the bauxite rocks. Up the rivers, the barra were not being very cooperative, in spite of the lure anglers getting bumper catches. The ever present small queenfish, however, kept things interesting. The boys headed back to Japan with sore arms courtesy of the hard pulling tuna! From the number of phone calls I've been receiving, the first of the Weipa segments screened this wekend on 'Fish N 4 Wheels' has been very well received. Thanks to those who took the opportunity to offer their comments. Eddie and I had a lot of fun doing the segments and I think that fact is very obvious. Fishing is all about having fun, enjoying yourself and the fish you catch - after all, that's primarily the philosophy behind Dave Donald SPORTFISHING. Keep and eye out for Weipa Episode 2 (lead head jigging, fly casting, Qld groper), due in 3 weeks time on both Channel 10 (east coast major centres) and Seven Central (regional Australia). BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 11 May 2002 Weather: Strong south east winds easing to light late in week. Fishing Methods: Lure casting, trolling, live bait fishing. Clients Details: Greg & Bill from Sydney, Geoff, Neil & Dixon from Newcastle.
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish (2 species), golden trevally, brassy trevally, tea leaf trevally, fringe finned trevally, blue salmon, king threadfin salmon, gold spot estuary cod, black spot estuary cod, Queensland groper, longtail tuna, narrow barred spanish mackerel, broad barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, barracuda, coral trout, tomato cod, stripey, archer fish, tarpon, catfish, flathead, sharks. ( 27 species). Sighted dolphin, rays, manta rays, sharks, turtles, dugong, sea snakes. Crocodiles Sighted: 2
Report: Last weeks prediction of the fishing about to go ballistic was confirmed when huge schools of baitfish moved inshore just of the Red Cliffs early in the week. The bait attracted a wide range of predators, from blue salmon, queenfish and tarpon when it moved close to the beach, then mackerel, tuna and trevally when it moved further out. Around the reef edges, some big fingermark joined the procession and we landed a couple of beauties over 5 kgs! Some of the queenies were real brutes, weighing as much as 12kgs. There were lots of mackerel - doggies, greys (to 8kgs) and spaniards (to 12kgs) plus heaps of longtails to 10kgs. Some big giant herring were also working the school edges. With all the macko's around, even using wire traces, lure losses were high. Neil was outstandingly effective at losing lures causing him to be nicknamed '5 minutes' - that was about as long as his lure lasted! Up the rivers, the barra and jacks are getting hungry and we found plenty ready to grab a lure in the Embley, Hey and Pine Rivers. '5 minutes' again upstaged everyone by hooking a horse barra, then slipping over in the middle of the fight, upending and emptying the contents of my tackle box all over the floor. The fish unfortunately chose that time to spit the lure out and Neil was left face down on the rear casting deck with a knee punctured with several of my favourite lures. Luckily???, the hooks were barbless. You can imagine the sensitive, touchy-feely comments the crew bestowed on the unfortunate angler. He's still wiping the brown stuff off! A top week - and I think this one coming might be even better!!! For those of you who get the "Fish N 4 Wheels" program, keep an eye out for the Weipa program being screened next week (Sunday 19 May, 5.30pm, Seven Central) with yours truly as Eddie's (Riddle) sidekick. BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 4 May 2002 Weather: Strong south east winds all week. Fishing Methods: Lure casting, trolling, live bait fishing. Clients Details: Brian, Colin, Darryl, Graham, Simon, John from Sydney.
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish, golden trevally, brassy trevally, tea leaf trevally, giant trevally, blue salmon, king threadfin salmon, gold spot estuary cod, black spot estuary cod, Queensland groper, longtail tuna, narrow barred spanish mackerel, broad barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, barracuda, coral trout, parrot fish, stripey, grunter, catfish, flathead, sharks. ( 25 species). Sighted dolphin, rays, sharks, turtles, dugong, sea snakes. Crocodiles Sighted: 17 (best day 8)
Report: Barra and jack activity has remained good in spite of some very ordinary weather conditions. Strong south easters, which are unusual for so early in the season, have made conditions difficult at times. The barra have been quiet but when they decide to bite, they are going beserk. Best times have been half tide down and the first of the run in, but the places that work one day don't necessarily perform as well the next. Best barra for the week went 77cm but a much larger model was lost when a lure hook straightened just as I was about to put the net under it! Quite a number of the jacks landed measured in the mid to high 40's and at that size, they really pull hard. A couple made the table along with some nice fingermark. There were some good sessions on longtails and big queenies down the coast with the fish working bait schools in close. Trevally have also been stretching arms around the leads as usual but fishing has been restricted to those inshore. Some nice goldens have been taken while trolling the river mouth along with plenty of small mackerel. With the quality of fishing we have had this week, my prediction is that when this wind drops, Weipa fishing is going to go absolutely ballistic! BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 27 April 2002 Weather: Light south east winds all week. Fishing Methods: Lure casting, trolling, live bait fishing. Clients Details: Antonio, Ray, Mark, Mal, Mick, Zoran, Steve, Sam, Bob etc from Wollongong/Tamworth.
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish (2 species), golden trevally, brassy trevally, tea leaf trevally, giant trevally, blue salmon, king threadfin salmon, gold spot estuary cod, black spot estuary cod, Queensland groper, longtail tuna, narrow barred spanish mackerel, broad barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, barracuda, black jewfish, coral trout, parrot fish, stripey, matty cod, grunter, catfish, archer fish, sharks. ( 28 species). Sighted dolphin, rays, sharks, turtles, dugong, sea snakes. Crocodiles Sighted: 1
Report: This party of 12 anglers of Croatian descent certainly enjoyed their fishing! The party was split between 4 boats/guides and I somehow landed the job of hooking everybody into a decent trevally or three! There were some tackle busting sessions along the shipping channel but ultimately, the boys all got to have their arms stretched by the ever present trevally and queenfish. Other catches included fingermark to 5 kilos, a couple of longtail tuna, plenty of small mackerel, a number of whaler sharks (all taken on lead head jigs) and some huge 'rocket' catfish that pull as good as any big trevor. Up the river, the barras were quiet but we had some great sessions on big fingermark, queenfish and brassy trevally. A couple of nice black jew came aboard as well. The final day found us over in the Pine River on a lure casting day. The jacks were ravenous early on, with a few barra and fingermark thrown in for variety. Then we came across a snag where the first lure was chased out by a red hoarde and ended up in the mouth of a good fingermark. Something like 15 fingermark, jacks and barra ended up coming off that one particular log! Mid afternoon, we fished a shallow area and found big queenfish, barra and jacks in a receptive mood. Last cast of the afternoon produced the jackpot, a nice Qld groper about 4 kgs. A great way to end an excellent trip! BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 20 April 2002 Weather: Moderate south east winds with some afternoon storms and squalls, easing late in week Fishing Methods: Fly casting, lure casting, trolling, live bait fishing. Clients Details: Phil and Neil from Sydney; Ken, Gavin and Tim from Mackay
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish (2 species), golden trevally, brassy trevally, king threadfin salmon, gold spot estuary cod, black spot estuary cod, Queensland groper, narrow barred spanish mackerel, broad barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, barracuda, coral trout, parrot fish, stripey, matty cod, grunter, sawfish, catfish. ( 22 species). Sighted dolphin, rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes. Crocodiles Sighted: 6 (best day 4)
Report: This years tackle testing field trip by Top Catch Tackle was down to 2 members, the enigmatic 'fat' Phil and sidekick Walshy, but this did not hamper the ongoing tackle development that occurs as a result of their intensive Weipa forays. No trevally ever gives up easily and, given their legendary stubborn fighting qualities, make perfect subjects to find weaknesses in tackle. We spent a couple of long sessions around the harbour leads putting their tackle to the ultimate test. The lure boxes came back a lot lighter but the boys landed more than their fair share of t-leaf, golden and brassy trevally to 10kgs, queenfish to 8kgs, mackerel to 4kgs and a big rocket catfish of 8kgs on their offerings. Stand out lure was a nondescript soft plastic about 10cm long called a Strip Bait. The trevally just kept coming on these clear/blue speckled tails until all the samples we had were taken to the undersea tackle shop. Their new range of lead head jigs also worked exceptionally well. Some nice tuna came in on trolled barra lures when they were a bit finicky on metal lures. A great day over at the Pine River saw some nice barra and mangrove jacks come aboard, but there were a few memorable smash ups around the snags. As usual, Phil headed back to the big smoke with plenty of ideas for improving and developing their range of tackle. The Mackay mob have been haunting the rivers for the past week or so but wanted the opportunity to test their heavy fly tackle on some Weipa muscle, so, on my only free morning during their visit, in windy conditions, we headed seawards for a short session. There were a few wipe outs around the lead posts but the 3 lads each managed a respectable trevally and a few near misses. Tim lost a big queenie boatside then nailed his first longtail on the way home. I think they learned quite a deal during that short trip!! BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 13 April 2002 Weather: Moderate to strong south east winds with some afternoon squalls, all week. Fishing Methods: Lure casting, trolling, live bait fishing. Clients Details: Jack, Ron and Bruce from Echuca.
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish, golden trevally, brassy trevally, gold spot trevally, blue threadfin salmon, gold spot estuary cod, black spot estuary cod, Queensland groper, narrow barred spanish mackerel, broad barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, barracuda, coral trout, parrot fish, stripey, painted sweetlip, grunter, catfish. ( 22 species). Sighted dolphin, manta rays, rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes. Crocodiles Sighted: 3
Report: A spectacular afternoon session on barra capped off a great week for these 3 regular clients from Victoria. The two best fish were 90cm and 91cm and were in superb condition. They all fought spectacularly, jumping repeatedly in between some sizzling runs. Mixed with the barra were some good queenies to 4 kg and blue salmon to 3kg. Just prior to the barra action, we fished one of my favourite holes landing some excellent fingermark to 3kgs. However, a school of trevally and queenfish moved in and were so hungry, the boys just couldn't get their baits past the ravenous hoard. We ran out of bait in record time and left the fish biting. Some excellent mangrove jack were also a feature of the river fishing, no matter where we went. In another deep hole, we landed jacks, fingermark, estuary cod, queenies, and 2 sizeable Queensland groper, one going 4kgs, the other 9kgs. Both were released. Down the coast, the wind made conditions a bit uncomfortable and fishing was not up to its usual standard for this time of year. However, some good fish, including a 5kg painted sweetlip (mother in law fish!) were landed trolling before Bruce hooked a hard fighter and had it nearly to the boat when there were a couple of bumps on the line and the fish came easily. The 2kg golden trevally had a triangular shaped bite out of it and when I threw it back after taking the hooks out, a big spanish mackerel, easily 20kgs, swam out from under the boat and grabbed what was left! We trolled the area solidly (for a few small mackerel) but the big one had obviously had its fill. Let's hope the weather, which is more like we normally get in June, eases and lets the fishing really hot up! Dave Donald, Dave Donald Sportfishing
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 6 April 2002 Weather: Light to moderate south east winds early in week, strong with showers later. Fishing Methods: Fly and lure casting, trolling, live bait fishing. Clients Details: Ian from Toowoomba, Reg from Gold Coast, Eddie from "Fish N 4 Wheels" TV show.
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish (2 species), tea leaf trevally, golden trevally, big eye trevally, brassy trevally, gold spot trevally, king threadfin salmon, blue threadfin salmon, gold spot estuary cod, Queensland groper, longtail tuna, narrow barred spanish mackerel, broad barred spanish mackerel, doggie mackerel, barracuda, coral trout, parrot fish, stripey, swallowtail dart, tarpon, long tom, archer fish, flathead, cobia, grunter, catfish. (30 species). Sighted dugong, dolphin, manta rays, rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes. Crocodiles Sighted: Nil
Report: 30 species this week, exceptional for so early in the fishing season! Some clients are very resourceful people and Ian is certainly one of those! After first visiting Weipa some 18 months ago, he returned with 2 tackle boxes filled with 'secret' inventions designed to catch the watery inhabitants. I took one quick look at his pride and joy (when he wasn't looking) and stifling laughter labelled his offerings "Woolshed Floor Lures" as many of them resembled the detrius you'd find in such a location. Ian then proceeded to catch his share of the local trevally and queenies with them and even landed a macko or three! His favourite 'jig', which was sent to me for comment some months prior and ended up adorning my office desk (and not being tested as he suggested) worked very well, so well in fact, that a big one took it to the undersea tackle shop leaving Ian devistated! He had wanted it to display in HIS office! Reg used my lures and also did VERY well. I won't comment as to who generally caught the most! Their visit was action packed with fishing in the rivers and along the coast going great guns, best barra day they landed close to 20, best trevally session around 45. The presenter of "Fish N 4 Wheels" (that top NQ fishing show on Seven Central), Eddie Riddle, and I, have known each other for a long time. He was really looking forward to visiting Weipa and from start to finish, his 2 day visit here was an absolute BLINDER! I started off by making some preditions about what species we were about to catch on camera and Eddie had the audacity to say "Well, we can edit out any that we don't catch!" We caught them all - and a couple of extras along the way! First, we landed some barra from the beach and both got smashed up for good measure. Then more barra at another spectacular location followed by tuna on the way to the queenfish spot. A big jack off the rocks made my prediction rate 100%. Next day, we had another fantastic start with a double hook up on trevally as we were introducing a segment on lead head jigs. Then we threw a fly around and caught queenies, dart and long tom. Off up the river to an area where I mentioned in passing to Eddie that occasionally we had caught a rare Qld groper. First fish Eddie pulls is a beautifully marked groper! As Eddie says, "It doesn't get any better than this!" Eddie landed 22 species in the 2 days and went home with more than enough film for 2 complete shows! We both went on like headless chooks in the show but isn't that what fishing is all about, having lots of fun!! BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 29 March 2002 Weather: Light to moderate south east winds early in week, light winds with afternoon sea breezes later. Fishing Methods: Fly fishing only. Clients Details: Ray from Irian Jaya.
Species Landed: Barramundi, mangrove jack, queenfish (2 species), tea leaf trevally, golden trevally, big eye trevally, brassy trevally, blue threadfin salmon, gold spot estuary cod, longtail tuna, barracuda, coral trout, parrot fish, blue parrot fish, stripey, swallowtail dart, giant herring, tarpon. (19 species). Sighted dugong, dolphin, manta rays, rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes. Crocodiles Sighted: 1 (near boat ramp)
Report: What do you do when you have a client who has fly fished many parts of the world and has still to land his first tuna? Try and catch him one, of course! But there are many other species to catch in the Weipa area so there was no real urgency. "Tuna - no problem!" I told Ray. There were a couple of fleeting chances on scattered schools during the first couple of days but when day 4 came around, it was time to get serious. I should have started to twig when we found a hard working tuna school about half an hour south and Ray somehow pulled his fly past a couple of noses without result. Then the school sounded and disappeared. Another 10 mins, another tuna school, and Ray hooks up! He plays it perfectly, brings it to the boat after a lengthy fight - and the hook falls out as I'm about to net it! We motor over to another school, there are tuna chopping madly under a heap of terns, it's one of those times when you just can't miss. Ray casts - and his fly gets wrapped around a tern! Suddenly it hits me - this client is the ultimate tuna jinx, he's never going to catch one! Meanwhile, Ray is removing his fly from a squarking, struggling bird - his expression is fierce and there seem to be feathers flying everywhere but there are no swear words. Back to my impossible task and we approach another tuna school. Then Ray hooks up again, but this time the fish makes the boat. The camera burns film. Tuna at last He follows up with another 6 longtails to 8kgs and I even get to sneak a couple hooked while he is playing his fish, now the pressure is off. We had other memorable sessions, a bite at the harbour leads that went for 5 hours, the smallest fish a 3kg tea leaf trevally, queenfish to 10kgs, brassy trevally to 8kgs. Another off a rocky headland where Ray landed his first mangrove jack and a beautiful blue parrot that went over 5 kilos. Then a session off the beach where we landed salmon, barra, tarpon, giant herring and queenfish. Fly fishing doesn't come much better than this, the 2002 season already away to a brilliant start. BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 22 March 2002 Weather: Light to moderate south east winds, showers and storms some afternoons. Fishing Methods: Mainly fly fishing, some lure casting and live baiting. Clients Details: Wusty (local), Ray from Irian Jaya.
Species Landed: Barramundi, fingermark, queenfish (2 species), tea leaf trevally, golden trevally, big eye trevally, king threadfin salmon, blue threadfin salmon, gold spot estuary cod, doggie mackerel, broad barred spanish mackerel, barracuda, coral trout, swallowtail dart, giant herring, tarpon, grunter. (15 species). Sighted longtail tuna, snub nosed dart (permit), dolphin, manta rays, rays, sharks, turtles, sea snakes. Crocodiles Sighted: 1
Report: Well the 2001 Weipa season is finally underway, the first official charter fish landed being a 75cm barra on fly off the beach on the second cast of Ray's visit. The perfect way to usher in what looks like being another superb season here in paradise! Ray then followed that up with heap of blue salmon, tarpon, giant herring, queenfish and more barra. In fact, he was complaining about how many flies he had ruined by the hard fighting fish! The wet season was a bit of a fizzer although the Weipa weather bureau reakons that we've nearly made our average thanks to 3 weeks of steady rain in February. The south easters have started already (about 6 weeks early) and the changeable weather this week has been more like the stuff you normally get in May. A few vehicles have already made the trip through from Cairns but the Archer River is still going up and down so you can be delayed if there's been rain over Iron Range way. However, it looks like the road will be trafficable by Easter with the current weather pattern. For those of you thinking of coming up for a fish, I urge you to book early as the calender is filling up fast. Current indications around the local traps is that the 2002 season is set to be the biggest ever with Aussies travelling internally instead of going overseas and overseas visitors looking to come to a safe destination. Best wishes & tight lines, BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING
WEIPA FISHING REPORT
Week Ending: 9 February 2002 Weather: From Thursday 7th, north westerly winds, showers/rain. The monsoon has finally arrived! Fishing Methods: Lure casting, fly fishing.
Report: Yes, the monsoon has arrived, and it will be interesting to see how long the rain will last. So far, the rain has been steady but not heavy. Further south, the tropical areas are still much in need of decent rains. How do I know? Well, I've just returned from a trip south to Brisbane, Mackay & Cairns and nobody can remember a longer and hotter summer! In Brisbane, I caught up with my mate (reknowned fishing/boating writer) Warren Steptoe where we headed up to Boondoomba and Bjelke-Petersen Dams for some bass & yellowbelly fishing. Accompanied by local stocking group president, Les Kowitz, and amateur gourmet chef, Chappie, we fished Boondoomba for 2 days for a couple of bass and yellows. The company was great but the fishing was slow. On to B/P Dam, Kingaroy, and the message was even worse - the dam was shut down and prospects for the Humminbird BASS Pro Round 3 to be held that weekend looked tough. I had nominated for a non-boater position in the tournament and had yet to land a single fish! The 3 days with the lads had produced plenty of 'bumps' but nothing in the boat. Well, perseverence and a bit of luck finally had me coming good in the 118 strong field of the BASS event. I fished chartreuse/black 'bass vampire' flies to take 5th overall and 3rd in the non-boaters, a great result for a once a year BASS fisher. Then it was on to Mackay for my first encounter with barramundi and sooty grunter in dams. Long time mate and Mackay Fish Stocking (MAFSA) stalwart, Keith Day, had me hooked up to my first Teemburra barra within a couple of hours of landing in Mackay but, unfortunately, the fish unceremoniously smashed me up big time around an ironbark log. When I did land my first, a 73cm beauty, not long after, the fantastic condition of these less than 2 year old fish showed why I had been stiched up in that initial encounter. These barra are explosive and take no prisoners in the tree studded waters. A visit to beautiful Eungella Dam the following day with Gavin Adams, another MAFSA member and good mate, saw us into the sooty grunter for which this dam is famous. I landed my first couple of sooties on conventional lures then switched to soft plastic Sliders and the new Atomic Bats. The big sooties went crazy over the worms, particularly a chartreuse/black Atomic Bats Fat Grub. The Grub eventually attracted one of those 'barramundi cod' shaped monsters that all dam anglers hope for, a sooty going 52cm and weighing approximately 5 kilos. I was stoked! and ended the day by landing another a couple of Teemburra barras on the way home. BarraDave Donald, Dave Donald SPORTFISHING 2002 BOOKINGS: A late cancellation has left the weeek of May 18 to 24 available for booking. The fishing around this time is often the best of the season. A great opportunity to sample Weipa at its best!