Weekender in Mackay

Last weekend I went on a fishing trip to Mackay with a couple of pals. We found some dirt cheap flights at a hideous hour of the morning:



And in no time we were at our cheap little hostel in Mackay:



Mackay can be a tough place to fish due to its huge tides and limited landbased access, but I'd managed to snag a few good fish the last time I was up there and was confident we'd get on to a few. Our first stop was the breakwall at east point where I'd caught a couple of nice queenies the last time I was up there:



Unfortunately, the current was absolutely ripping through here making it almost impossible to fish. We had a few casts and were about to make a move, when my dad landed this cute little fella:



It wasn't much, but we were on the board! By this time it was around 3pm so we decided to head to a low tide spot on the pioneer river and have a crack at some queenies and little GT's on surface lures:



The tide was perfect and there were fish breaking the surface everywhere. I tied on a duo realis pencil and it didn't take long before something crunched it, and after a short but brutal fight, this beautiful little GT popped up:




Nice! Over the next hour we had a heap of boofs, boils, swipes and a couple of heart breaking bust offs, but we couldn't land another fish. Dang. When the surface bite shut down, we swapped our surface lures for vibes and hards and a steady stream of cod started hitting the rocks:





For a little fish these guys can certainly make the rod bend when they're trying to get back to their home, but they did get annoying after a while (where were all the jacks and barra?!). Unfortunately nothing more substantial took an interest in our lures, and when the light started to fade:



We decided to call it quits. The next morning we were at the flats at first light, hoping for a few flatties:



We tied on a mix of plastics and vibes and it didn’t take long to register the first fish of the morning:



Over the next couple of hours we caught a heap of small flatties but nothing over about 35cm. I hooked into what I’m sure was a big flatty but pulled the hooks halfway through the fight (goddamit), but that was as close as we got to a big fish. Luckily there were lots of little fellas around to keep us entertained:




After heading back to the motel for a late breakfast, we decided we’d spend the middle of the day exploring, before heading back to the ‘GT spot’ for the evening low tide. We covered a lot of km’s and explored some really fishy looking areas:




But all we managed for the day was one big catfish, which took a liking to a plastic and gave my old man some serious stick on bream gear:



At 3pm we made our way back to the GT spot, but the tide was a little higher than the day before. GT spot day 1:



GT spot day 2:



It seemed to take bloody hours for the tide to recede enough for us to fish, and when it finally did, the place was dead. There was absolutely no surface activity whatsoever – no boofs, no boils, not even a leaping mullet to get the heart pumping. So after fruitlessly throwing surface lures around for about half an hour, we quickly changed tactics and the cod started rolling in:




In amongst the cod we also caught a couple of little grunter, which were a welcome change:



We did have two solid hook ups from big fish, both of which buried us in the rocks quick smart. They were most likely big cod, but we'll never know. Oh well, the sunset was mint:



Our flight home was in the afternoon the next day, which gave us time for one last sesh in the morning. We decided we’d try something different and fish the freshwater reaches of the pioneer river in the hope of catching our first sooty grunter. This involved a bit of a drive, but the scenery was beautiful:



It took us a while but we finally found a place to access the river:



And first cast, I had a hit:



Only tiny, but a sooty is a sooty! Over the next couple of hours we caught a heap of these little guys and even though we caught nothing over about 25cm, it was a heap of fun and a new species for all of us. Not a bad way to end the trip:




After a quick swim we packed up the gear and made our way home. We didn't land any trophies, but who's complaining when you're catching fish with your mates.

Cheers!

Marlo magic

Last Friday I decided I'd had enough of writing my thesis - I was going fishing. This was the plan: make the four and a half hour drive to Marlo Friday afternoon with the pup, sleep in the car, and fish the flats hard for two days. The weather was spot on (this guy was enjoying a bit of sun beside the road):



And the flats were looking perfect:



I tied on a trusty 80mm wriggler and started doing some prospecting. The fishing was slow to start off with but I was just happy to get away from the city and spend some time with my mate:



After about half an hour of fruitless flicking I had my first real bite, and after a short but spirited fight this little guy appeared:




It wasn’t a monster, but it was a start. I chucked him back, had another cast, and my plastic hadn’t even hit the bottom before I was on again:


2 in 2 casts - can't complain. I thought I might be in for a blinder of a session, but after that the fish went quiet. The sunset was nice though:



I headed back to my car, found a quiet place to spend the night, and hit the hay ready for an all out assault on the flats first thing in the morning. And when I woke up, the weather was mint:



There were flathead lies everywhere:



And it didn't take long before I came up solid to my first fish of the morning:



A beautiful flatty around the 40cm mark - nice. I changed over to a chubby and second cast, I landed another:



Over the next 45 mins I landed another three nice flatties on the chubby, ranging from about 30-45cm:




Until a larger fish (60+cm) decided to keep it - goddamit. I tied on something slightly bigger (a dunk) in case there were any more big girls around, and it didn’t take long before I came up solid again:



Another nice flatty, and a great way to end the session. By now it was almost 10am and I was starving, but on the way back to the car Luna decided to swim across a channel:



I think it was a bit further than she thought and she wasn't coming back. So I stripped the clothes off and went and got her - trust me, it was cold. Lucky I love ya Luna:



So after we finally got back to the car we had some breakfast and headed in to Orbost to get some supplies. I was keen to head back to the flats for the low tide in the evening, so in the meantime I decided to go for a drive and explore the fresh water parts of the Snowy. I ended up following a 4WD track that started getting pretty gnarly:



I um’d and ah’d about whether the old girl could make it through this, but she handled it like a boss:



At the end of this trail there was this lovely campsite:



I went for a bit of an explore in the river but it didn’t look too fishy (wide, shallow and devoid of structure), so after a few half hearted casts I just decided to go for a swim with Louie and enjoy the scenery. After the swim we had a late lunch, bought another two chubbies from the tackle shop, then headed back to the flats. And sure enough, it didn’t take long before I had another beautiful, 50cm+ flatty on the shore:



I caught another little flatty around the 30cm mark a couple of casts later, before running into my mate Goody. Thank god he showed up, because after this the fish shut down and it would have been batshit boring without someone to talk to. After trying just about every lure I own I eventually reverted back to the trusty 80mm wriggler and, sure enough, I finally came up solid:



A mullet - not the most impressive catch, but it was a fish and the first mullet for me on a lure. After some more fruitless flicking I went back to a dunk hoping for a big flatty when it got absolutely smashed! This was a better fish, and after a really spirited fight, up popped this guy:



A bream - finally! It was just shy of 40cm, but super fat.  Unfortunately this bream must have been on its lonesome because we flogged the water until dark for zilch. We reluctantly called for last cast and amazingly, I had a hit:



Another nice flathead around the 40cm mark - it's amazing how often I catch a fish on the last cast (probably because my 'last cast' often lasts a while). By the time we’d unhooked and released her it was dark and we were getting eaten alive by mozzies, so we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. I’d planned to stay another night and fish the morning, but a cold front had started to come through and I was hanging for a warm bed. I think I like this Marlo joint..

Cheers!