North West Island

[zigfreed]

Hi All

Got back from 18 days on NW Island last week, my first trip there. Had a ball and will be going back for more. Although no records were broken we did get some nice fish.

Highlights were a triple hookup on cobes- landed two, a triple hookup on rat yellowfins- got the lot. Biggest bummer was dropping a cobe around 20kg on SP's and 30lb braid, opened the gape up on a 1oz TT jighead. Used baits, hardbodies and placcies during the time we were there.

I must thank fellow Ausfisher Craigie for steering me in the right direction via PM and say G'Day to ex-ta-sea (aka Tony) who i met on the island while we were there.

Enjoy the pics attached..........

[zigfreed]

A few more.......as you can see we had some pretty horrible conditions.

[zigfreed]

Eventually we ran out of beer and rum and had to go home...........

[Pete62]

Mate, awesome, conditions were s**thouse, no fish, Lobbies were undersize, no wonder ya don't wanna go back;D

Excuse my ignorance but where is NW Island??

Good Job, Pete.

[zigfreed]

G'Day Pete

Its about 90k's ENE off Gladstone, 6hr barge trip.
I must confess we had about 8-10 days of winds and didnt
fish most of these as they were designated beer and rum days.

Cheers

Mick

[WestOzDesertFisher]

Sounds like a great trip. Awesome pics, love the conditions. JUST LOVE IT! thnx for sharing

[BLOOEY]

Sounds cool. I've got a mate who has been there and is keen to go again. Did the barge tow the c/console there? Ben

[zigfreed]

G' Day Ben

Yeah mate the barge towed the c/c out there and back, obviously done at your own risk.

Just on the off chance a couple of months before i left i contacted club marine to enquire if i would be covered for the tow and being moored on a temporary mooring on the island. Could'nt believe it when i got written confirmation on email that i would be covered if anything happened.

cheers

Mick

[lethal098]

yeah i dont think i could handle those conditions, hahahahah. looks like a sensational trip and can understand why you would go back, dont know if i could handle that as any other trip would not een rate close to it. how much did the barge cost?? if you dont mind me asking
cheers lethal

[zigfreed]

G'Day lethal,

I went over with a group of about 14 people so the costs get split up. It cost $325 each for this trip and that included barge,camping fees, rubbish surcharge, parking of car and trailer in a security compound and extra water.

Cheers


Mick

[lethal098]

mick, thats not to bad at all, i can just imagine what the beer and rum would have cost compared to that. cheers lethal

[whatscracken]

Looks like a great trip mate, I'd love to go on an 18 day fish! Sounds like the only way to go.

Cheers

[jtpython]

I'm yet to go there mate but by the look you had a ball
Awesome stuff
JT

[dog tooth]

zigfreed
do you know how much it is to take the boat over if your not with a group
who do you contact

hey there is some nice fish there
did you see any gts

cheers

[iceknight]

Where the barge docks. do you need a 4wd to tow the boat? or is it road?
Howd ya go getting the crays? swimming in thoese shark infested looking water?

[zigfreed]

zigfreed
do you know how much it is to take the boat over if your not with a group
who do you contact

I rang a couple of years ago and was quoted 6K
Curtis Ferry Services- Gladstone- 07 4972 6990

hey there is some nice fish there
did you see any gts

Tried on a couple of the windy days for GT's, we could see them swimming
in the lagoon but they would'nt take poppers or placcies.

cheers


Where the barge docks. do you need a 4wd to tow the boat? or is it road?

Mate the barge docks on the beach, no vehicles on the island as there are no roads. The island is only about 3k long by about 1k wide. Most people set up a temporary mooring while they are there.


Howd ya go getting the crays? swimming in thoese shark infested looking water?

Speared the crays while snorkelling in the lagoon. Only saw black tips in the lagoon which are pretty harmless. A few of the boys went over the reef edge to get some though. My nuts were'nt quite big enough after dumping frames the day before and watching 6-7 bronzies up to 8 foot long cleaning all the frames up.

Cheers guys


Mick

..................................

[wags on the water]

Zigfreed,

Did you notice any turtle nesting activity on the island while you were there? And for anyone wanting to swim over the reef edge, I've notice some very large killing machines feasting on turtles over the years.

Wags

[Benno1]

great pics and post Zigfreed...makes you appreciate whats in your backyard doesnt it...seeing water like that...the scenery...i love it.

Mrs Benno1
Sunny

[zigfreed]

Zigfreed,

Did you notice any turtle nesting activity on the island while you were there?
Wags

Hi wags

There were heaps of turtles there. It was like trying to drive through a minefield at times when heading down the end of the fishtail, lots of ducking and weaving up to a couple of hundred metres off the reef edge. I did find it amazing how agile and fast they are under water after seeing how much they struggle to get up the beach and lay.

[Giveway]

If you are heading up to NorthWest Island the best place to stop before heading out is at Complete Angler in Gladstone. Ask for Mick. His shop is just around the corner from the barge and he will sort you out with the right gear, bait and Ice. I have also spent many hours fishing North West on Mick's boat and the bloke is an expert on the area. Always come back with a great feed. I guess you can't beat local knowledge. He also has security carparking available. His shop is always well stocked with good quality gear unlike the supermarket type fishing outlets. I once spent a week out there on the island and it is magic.

[Dirtysanchez]

Hmm, very interesting stuff. I would love to do that !
I think we shall have to have a M&G out there, first 20 members in get the gurnsey ;D

[honda900]

Is there anything on the island, itself, as in structures? or do you order your xtras and have em delivered on the barge?

Regards
Honda

[thirsty merc]

Hmm, very interesting stuff. I would love to do that !
I think we shall have to have a M&G out there, first 20 members in get the gurnsey ;D
Great idea there ds , have been thinking hard about doing a trip like this to n/w and getting the boat towed by barge. What size is your formosa zigfreed, 480?

[zigfreed]

Is there anything on the island, itself, as in structures? or do you order your xtras and have em delivered on the barge?

Regards
Honda

Hi Honda

The only structures on the island are 3 composting toilet blocks. Everything beyond that you need to provide for yourself.


Great idea there ds , have been thinking hard about doing a trip like this to n/w and getting the boat towed by barge. What size is your formosa zigfreed, 480?

Hi TM,

The Formosa is a 4.5mtr. Just be aware that the ferry company will not tow fibreglass boats. If you need to get a glass boat out there you would need to pre arrange it with the skipper so they take it on the barge with the trailer then lanch it off the trailer when you get there.

Cheers

Mick

[Liberty]

Hi Honda

The only structures on the island are 3 composting toilet blocks.

And a grave.

My Grandfather discovered about NW during WWII. He had just been released from Internment (he was a German) and was allowed out. For some bizarre reason, Granddad (an Engineer by training) decided he could be an Undertaker in Gladstone.

Anyway long story short, a US fighter went in off NW and Granddad was sent out to recover the bodies. The story goes a fighter jock was showing off to his girlfriend ...

Our family went out to island every year for about 20 years. I've spent about 3 months between NW and Masthead.

Magic place.

Nigel

[jeep]

great report zigfreed.catching curtis barge just after xmas for 2week trip hope weather is better this year,last year stuck in gladstone 3nights did not make it out.1980 was first trip and have been nealy every xmas since.early days could lite fire on beach,cook trout on fire and toast marshmellows,shame our kids cant do same now:( .ther was a hut on the island once but tide n/parks took down.log books and diarys are at glastone libary.great spot to fish and spearfish all around island the fishtail end of reef worth going to.lets just hope n/parks,greenies and government leave it alone.

[zigfreed]

And a grave.

Anyway long story short, a US fighter went in off NW and Granddad was sent out to recover the bodies. The story goes a fighter jock was showing off to his girlfriend ...

Nigel

Hi nigel

Is that who is in the grave then? I heard it was a skippers daughter who died from a disease around the early 1900's. I completely missed going to have a look at it.


Hi Jeep,

Mate they already have their finger in the pie out there here's hoping it doesnt get any worse. Would have been gold back in the 80's
It is a pretty sad day when the best experiences we have in life will only be stories told to kids who will never get what we had.
Enjoy your time out there Jeep.

cheers guys

Mick

[yessir]

Hey mick saw this post the other day, didn't even realize it was you till just now after looking at the photos last sunday on your deck with the boys. Jeez im glad we ran out of beers bit dusty on monday. The photos look heaps better on the computer, what a week. Catch you Marty.

[craigie]

Good report Ziggy,

Brings back all the great memories of my trip in August/Sept this year.

Nice variety of fish you caught and love those crays, something we have failed to catch :'( . What lures did you get the Tuna etc on ?

The grave is that of little Eliza ! Parks actually removed it from the island, it was only the public outcry that forced them to put it back.

Our group of 25 are booked to go back again in August / Sept next year.

Just a little side-line mentioned previously, we have a host of gas fridges and freezers that are available for hire if anyone else is heading to NW Is. Offer is open to all, just send me a PM.

Cheers mate,
Craigie.

[banksmister]

Im back in this year Craigie
Iwill say those big gas freezers are a life saver only way to go
very quick at freezing the fish down

[bugman]

Craigie,

Can you let Rumbo know I'm keen to come this year. Will bring boat if required. Plus personality;D

Brett

[zigfreed]

Nice variety of fish you caught and love those crays, something we have failed to catch :'( . What lures did you get the Tuna etc on ?


Cheers mate,
Craigie.

Hi Craigie

The crays were not as thick as i expected. There was a dive charter there who i think may have given the place a bit of a cleanout.

Tuna and cobes caught on halco laser pros. The red and white pattern and the one that looks like a pilly did the most damage. Most other fish caught on 7 inch gulps.

Thanks for the heads up;)

cheers

Mick