QLD - DOUBLE ISLAND POINT FEB 2012

[indiedog]

Nothing to report here........

Well, maybe a little bit. Just finished cleaning half of DIP beach out of the car so will put something up later. There are a few guys with some good stories to tell. Shame the weather didn't really listen to the weather report but there were still a couple of windows which allowed us to get out. There are very good fish there, quite possibly the fishiest place I've been, and with good weather it would totally go off. Bit of an effort to get there, and no doubt that's why it's not over fished, but I'll be back that's for sure.

Hopefully the others will tell their tales before I get to mine......

[antsrealm]

Indiedog, I'd just like to say that was a great trip and we had a fantastic time, thanks for the effort putting it together.

Off the TI we managed to land a few small sharks and two school mackerel. Had some other excitement as we came past a flock of birds hitting a bait ball but sadly ended with no fish but a great adrenaline rush and lot of excitement as the drag went off. A lot of new experiences for me with this trip and had a blast !

I've uploaded all my decent photos to photobucket and I'll provide the link below so I don't overload the thread ;P

http://s1173.photobucket.com/albums/r584/antsrealm/Double%20Island%20Point/?albumview=slideshow

First time for me meeting all the guys from the forum and you were all great to get along with. Looking forward to future trips.

Special thanks to Buck for towing my trailer up. Without that the trip would not have been possible for me. Much appreciated

Thanks,
Tony.

[noddy]

Nice photos. The bundy with the shark is my favourite!

[grinner]

awesome trip yet again indie.
special thanks to indie, lazy and des.

massive number of stories.
incredibly funny characters.

from des talking about winning rodeos to buck (another indie) riding bulls and driving road trains.
big kev chasing down goannas in the desert.
great international flavour, plenty south africans, pommies, israeli boys with unpronouncable names cooking eggplant and handing round raw tuna.
pommies as well. (mr flump, very funny guy, mr gary, very funny guy as well)
and martin from switzerland




will post some pics later though my camera shat itself trying to take photos of the cliff faces which probably had something to do with the big swells and spray. so i only got a few from the launch.



good fun surfing the stealths in those beautiful little waves.
thanks again to des for killing one of his steers for us. and providing the safety boat.

would be interested to know how many kilometres got sailed, tony or flump or trev mite have a gps and can work it out

even the beach fishing was great with blokes lined up and ron catching tailor and trev catching dart and feeding them to eagles

thanks again especially to the organizers.
the girls on the trip and the kids also deserve special mention, really got into it, big smiles all round.

great little freshwater creek to have a bath in

great stuff.

[Barrabundy]

Don't talk it up too much fellas, I'm jealous already and I have t even looked at the photos yet!

[scater]

Keep Em coming boys, great photos antsrealm!

[Bretto]

Great photos Tony. I'm still pissed I couldn't make it.

[BIGKEV]

Will be posting something more comprehensive in a day or so when I have some time, possibly witha bit of video, didn't take too many photos as there were cameras going off everywhere so didn't see the need.

It was a bit of a mission for me to get up there and I almost put it in the too hard basket at one point, but I'm bloody glad I went now. Was an absolutely fantastic weekend apart from that relentless bloody wind that wasn't supposed to be blowing. I've just had a look at the live graphs on Seabreeze for DIP and it has been less than 5knts all day today and looking to stay that way so hopefully the guys that were sneaking in an extra night are making the most of the conditions.

In regards to fishing, I lost a couple of good fish on the Sunday including one that saw me capsize shortly after the initial strike threw me off balance and I overcorrected as a bit of the sloppy swell hit me side on, resulting in me clambering back into the ........................... 2-3k offshore with the rod still in the holder going off, it was only then that I flicked on my head mounted gopro and got just enough footage to show me lose the fish shortly after and have a little tanty, my apologies must go to Lazybugger as I think I made him blush with some of the expletives coming from my mouth. There were even more bad words to be heard between DI and Fraser when I found out that my reason for dropping the fish was knot failure, I was not a happy camper.......

I really have got to get up there again soon, and if you own a 4wd and a yak it should be on your list of things to do also. For those not confident in transiting the surf zone, launching up here is a piece of cake with little waves that you can walk out past and then you have direct access to some very fishy waters.

Looking forward to seeing plenty of photos and reading plenty more accounts from the weekend.

Kev

[Buck]

This is my first trip report so where to start.
I woke up at 1.00am on Thursday & after a quick coffee I was in the Nissan & heading for Antsrealms place. After a few quick introductions & throwing Tony’s trailer on the back I asked Tony if he wouldn’t mind driving while I had a rest & Ange followed us up in there little Rav 4. We arrived to a strong wind at a beautiful camp ground so settled in with a few cans & socialised with Indie & Couta’s families.
Friday saw me overly keen & even though the wind was still blowing I launched the stealth out into the bay. I paddled out & when I turned I was shocked at how far I had been blown out by the wind so I turned around & paddled back in. Damn you mother nature. When I got back in Tony had just finished setting up his TI & it was so very lucky for me that Ange changed her mind about going out so I scored a seat! I quickly set up in the back & grabbed a few rum cans for luck. Grinner & Kayakone had arrived so we all launched together.
We hadn’t been out there for long when my rod tip bent back so I put my rum can down & I bought in 2 firsts for me. My first shark & my first fish in a yak. He was quickly released & then Tony got on to one that was a little bigger. This part I’m not proud of, I got onto my 2nd fish & as I was bringing it in I took my eyes off the line. It was difficult to sit & bring a fish in from over the back of your right shoulder, Just as I turned & looked I flung another shark up out of the water straight at my head. It scared me a little & I out a scream that sounded like a girl. Unlucky for me because Tony was filming the entire thing & couldn’t stop laughing at me. We didn’t get much else for a while so went back in.
I had a rest for a while so Tony could take Ange out for a sail. He managed to land a nice shark that just didn’t want to be released so with Lazy’s help we managed to fillet him on the beach.Back at camp Lazy also helped us to season & cook up the shark. I was so surprised that it tasted so good.
Saturday saw us launch as early as we could with the tides slowing us up just a little. We covered a bigger area with Tony landing another small shark that we released. On the way back in for lunch Tony caught a very nice school Mackeral. I cooked up a quick sausage sizzle to keep us going so while Tony took Ange for another sail I pulled the stealth off the roof racks for another paddle. The wind had finally died & feeling a lot more confident off I set. On the way back in I ran into another yaker that had landed a very nice long tail Tuna. ( I can’t remember his name & I think I got the fish right. Please correct me if I’m wrong.) After Tony got back I set up again in the back seat with more rum cans to go & chase these Tuna. We set off in a similar direction to where this Tuna had been caught trolling a Halco laser pro 120 in gold colour when I managed to spot a some birds working over a bait ball. We managed to sail right through the middle of it & BANG my reel started that noise I had been longing for. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Right at that time Indie called in to see how we were going. Tony was talking to him & I watched in amazement while line was stripped from my reel. What to do? I was overly excited, Under experienced & half cut on rum. I thought well I have to stop him before I run out of line so I started tightening the drag. This fish was still stripping line at a fast rate, I’ll tighten the drag some more. I had just managed to stop it from peeling line when the braid snapped right back at my reel. SH*T! We started to head back in & Tony got onto a nice fish that put up a great fight. Right below the yak it spat the hooks. We troll a little further & I hook a good fish on my little baitcaster. Being a little more wiser I don’t over tighten the drag & I land another first for me, My first school Mackeral that went 65cm. I was so happy that I didn’t care about the previous monster that I lost. Almost back at the vehicles Tony’s lure was acting funny & upon inspection it looked like we had crossed lines. We released the braid from the lure & then my line went funny. I bought in my lure & more braid was wrapped around it. I then pulled arm over arm of this mystery braid only to find that my 120 Halco laser pro in gold was attached. How did we do that??????
It was a race to pack up & get back to camp before the high tide blocked us but we struggled through & made it in time to get a nice bit of steak off Des & settle in to share some stories & a few more rum cans before packing up & heading for home on Sunday.
A big thanks to everyone involved & I cant wait to see everyone again at the next big fishing trip.

[Lazybugger]

While the weather and beach conditions weren't the kindest as everyone else has mentioned it was a marvelous weekend. Plenty of good stories, wonderful scenery, new mates made and we even got some fishing in.

The only fish I caught for the trip was a grinner on the Saturday trip. On Sunday I had a spotty yakside which was lost when trying to untangle the other line. I had an even bigger run later but the hooks were dropped. Both of these were on a halco crazy deep. I also had a very large yakka (des has a pic of it rigged on the beach before launch) on a trolling rig which I had high hopes for but unfortunately it got bitten in half with no hookup.

No photo's from me as my camera is dead but hopefully we'll get to see a few more. I know Des was taking plenty on Sunday.

A great trip and I'll certainly put my hand up for another crack at the place.

[antsrealm]

In addition to my earlier post here is the video Buck mentioned of his stylish landing of the little reef shark !



[tube]http://youtu.be/UaHW2MKo9_Y[/tube]

[Buck]

Classic ant. Thank you so much for letting me tag along. I had the best trip. Also thanks for that link. I'm sure that will get a few laughs.

[keza]

Great stuff guys, can't wait to hear more.
I embedded the video Tony, if you hit the edit button you can see the difference with the code.

[BIGKEV]

Here's a little vid from the limited footage I took over the weekend. I was having way too much fun catching up with everyone and talking crap to think about doing too much else.

WARNING
Before playing the video please be warned there is some rather bad language at the point that I lose a fish. Please turn it down if there are kids around or your offended by profanities.

[indiedog]

Couta101 (Douglas) and family and I hit the beach at 11am on Thursday. Both of us were a bit apprehensive not having towed such heavy trailers on the beach before. It really couldn’t have been easier and we soon reached the top end of the camping zone. After scoping numerous sites we settled on an area right at the northern end and set up camp. Douglas and his better half had a great time battling the wind setting up their mobile palace. The Indiedog-house went up relatively quickly but the new porta-loo and tent was a learning exercise! The horse flies moved in shortly after to add another dimension to proceedings.

The camp is set up.

Thursday was written off with setting up and the howling wind and then we quickly got into relaxation mode. The pups (kids) explored the sand dunes, picked flowers, and did what they wanted. We sat around and talked to Antsrealm (Tony), Ange (Ange), and Buck (Brad). So there was no fishing but life was pretty good.

Young Indie pups.

The girls explore with the site marker in the background.

Later after the tide dropped Tony, Ange and I and the fam' took a drive up to the point and across the Leisha Track where the white foamy water was replaced with calm blue seas. What a difference. The big hills provided some shelter but we could see that not too far offshore the water was being whipped up with some serious chop. That night was pretty quiet with everyone in bed by around 9.30ish. Special mention for Buck who had driven up from Tamworth no less to join in the activities. There was some late movement with Chelsea1 and his mate Reg turning up late and trying to spotlight me in their headlights while I was trying to have a pee.

Friday morning was a pretty cruisey affair due to the wind which seemed to get stronger overnight, not to mention the rain that hammered in at 4:00am. After brekkie Tony, Ange, and Brad headed up to the point and we followed an hour or two later. I got the yak off the car and launched to find I hadn’t connected the battery and left the gps in the van.... 25knots of wind (as shown on Seabreeze) made for a pretty ordinary session and I only ventured several hundred metres offshore before having enough. No fish in my short session but Tony in his TI managed a small shark as a keeper. Kayakone and Grinner had turned up in the meantime and Grinner soon left for his first on the water outing. On my way in I had opened the spool on my overhead to leave the pillie rig a hundred or so metres out. Soon after I had a big run and had the biggest Grinner ever taking drag off a reel. With nothing for it I tightened the drag and soon after the line parted. I lost around 150m of line with that effort! Grinner then turned around and came back to shore having forgotten something, so had I remained calm I could easily say I may have landed a 70 plus kilo Grinner, easily a record. At least I got my pille rig back......

Back at camp and others were turning up in droves. I met many from the forum I hadn’t met before. Lazybugger provided some exercise with the old “push the car through the sand dune” trick. The big trailer on the back wasn’t doing anyone any favours. We discussed moving the big paddle site marker up to the end of the camp site where access was easier but it was decided to leave it where it was for the entertainment value the soft entry sand provided. The fire was started and we enjoyed the warmth of it and of the company present. The persistent wind and the early high tide meant that an early start wasn’t on the agenda. Again I wasn’t late to bed.

Mrs Indie and pups.

Saturday morning had me thinking that this trip could turn out to be a total blow out. Many brave souls headed up to the point after breakfast to see what could be done. I and the family headed up a bit later to check out what the options were. We were there for a few hours when at midday the wind just dropped right off. Unfortunately for me the better half and the kids had had enough of waiting around and so I drove them back to the camp site. After a bit of lunch I drove back up and got the yak into the water. One of the boys landed with a very good fish and I was then in a hurry to get out. My lack of recent trips was showing and while this time I had connected the battery, I failed to fill the transducer housing with water....... So no sounder reading. I worked the area around the headland and to the west as once you got clear of the headland the strong south-easter hit you in the face. Unfortunately once you got much west of the headland the same happened again. A couple of hours of bouncing around on the swell and chop and I headed for shore. Tony had managed a spotty so there were definitely fish around.

Tony's spotty

Gathering in hope

Back at camp and everyone was definitely in relaxation mode. The few good fish that were caught had everyone excited and hopeful that the wind would finally drop as predicted. Some fantastic food was prepared by some of the crew and shared around. Hopefully those who caught the fish will tell their stories as I don’t wish to spoil it for them. One or two other stragglers that we hadn’t seen finally turned up letting us know that they were camped well down the beach due to arriving late and not wishing to set up in the middle of everyone. Bah! Should’ve jumped right in!

The fire was well attended and it was again interesting to hear what goes on in other people’s working lives.

Saturday night's fire

Sunday and most of us packed up camp before heading north again. The wind certainly hadn’t listened to the forecast and instead of dropping by 3 knots had increased by about 5. Couta101 and I were the last on the water and we headed north and east clear of the headland. The stiff wind and the big swells coming around the headland meant I didn’t venture too far and was conscious of the family back on the shore. I was trolling a HB and one of my pillie rigs. On my last westward troll the reel starts screaming and I am saved from a very large donut. A few runs later and a 75cm spotty comes yakside and in the hatch. The wind in the meantime has blown me 250m at least back offshore so time to put the head down again.

About halfway in and the pillie rig goes off again. The weight on the rod wasn’t heavy and I wind like crazy on the Abu 7000 which is pretty lowly geared. The fish is down deep and now under the yak and then realizes it’s hooked. It bolts under the yak and with virtually no line out there is little stretch in the system and bang, it’s all over. I wasn’t sure if it was the shock of the run or if the line connected with the trailing shark shield or what. Whatever it was smoked me big time. Bugger. Head down again and I slog it back to shore, again losing a couple of hundred metres when packing up.

My only catch!

That was it for the adventure, except for taking half of the beach home with us. Great to meet everyone and we had a great time in spite of the wind. Thanks to Lazy for helping out with the organization and to all who came making it a great trip. Hopefully we'll do it all again soon.