[troppo]

The biggest ever Central Qld AKFF outing kicked off at 6 am from Kemp Beach and out to Iron Pot, 1 km from the coast.

It was Freckles first trip with the forum and he ended up being the only one to take home fish. Not to worry, he will soon learn how to be like the rest of us and go home with nothing.

Here's a few pics. Don't have time to tell any more story tonight.

[edit Sunday arvo]

Sea was murky. Winds were light NE and I was surprised the swell was not as big as what I expected given the wind. It was still choppy though.

What was bigger than expected was Freckles paddle. Home made job, like his yak, the blades were huge. When he paddles, he doesn't do many strokes but he powers along. He has been fishing these waters from his yak for many years. As a fishing platform, his yak has plenty of room and handled the sea with no problems.

Iron Pot is easy to acces from shore. There is a rocky kind of beach on the shoreward side you could probably land on in emergencies or at the right point of the tide. The rest is basically straight up and down cliffs.

The shoreward side must have some rocky bottom. I lost a SX40 clone I was trolling on 4 kg fireline when the rod bent over and then when I grabbed the rod, the line went limp. At first I thought it was a strike - and it may have been - but later in the same area I lost a fishy sp I was slowing dragging along, so it could just be the snaggy bottom. Dale lost a huge lure he was trolling in a similar way. His fireline seemed weak and he wondered if one of his rod runners had a nick in it and was causing the line to fray and break.

Because Iron Pot mostly goes straight into the water, we could paddle with no problems to within a metre of the cliff on the downwind side. The water being murky I had no idea how deep it was. Given the amount of barnacle on the rock (it was low tide) I reckon fish must be swimming up and down the walls feeding. But it was only a quick trip so I didn't try much against the wall, simply did mostly trolling.

Freckles drifted using pilchard on 3-gang hooks. He caught a trevally and a mackeral. Good on him.

Overall, a great trip.

 

[RedPhoenix]

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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[Davey G]

good to seee a 'cast of thousands' turning up for the iron pot trip Troppo.. how was the fishing?

 

[YakAtak]

Nice pics mate, and well done to Freckles, goes to show, you don't need a yak worth thousands to go home with a feed.

 

[Dodge]

Troppo good to see you had a good turnout up your way, and grat to see the old bloke at the fore..you beauty Freckles :wink:

 

[Freckles]

Hi guys,
We surely had a great time going over to Iron Pot Island. The water around the island is on average, about 25 feet deep. The Eastern side has around 30+ feet of water and only on the Western side is it shallower. At low tide the reef that is not exposed is only 5 or 6 feet under the surface. The reef (all ROCK) is no place for a landing 'cos of all the oysters and shape of the area itself. However, I can remember going over to Iron Pot a few years (many years) ago and landing on the exposed section of rocks. In those days there was a covering of about 2 or 3 feet of soft sand and stoping there was delightful. It was also a great place to clean the fish after a full day on the water in the yak. Alas, those days are gone.
There were lots of turtles to be seen as we paddled around the island and as always, there were hundreds of birds resting on the rocky crags. The white areas that appear in the original photos (other thread from Troppo) are the bird droppings from many years of them perching and breeding on the island. These birds looked like they were Booby birds. Can any one with me verify this? This is also a top place to see dolphins when they come in to feed on the fish that congregate around the rocky sections. There should be better fishing here next month as hopefully, the cloudy water will settle and clear.
That huge paddle!!
This paddle was made as a replacement for one I lost in Corio bay. The shaft is made from aircraft alloy tubing and is very strong and light. I never had the heart to cut it shorter than the length it came in. The blades have a deep curve formed in them and they really dig into the water to give a super purchase for powering along. I can actually get the yak up on the plane and then it really moves. The blades wre laid up from about 10 layers of CSM and compressed tightly with a roller. This resulted in an immensely strong blade, but I digress.
The day out was fabulous and those who didn't turn up missed out on a wonderful trip. When are we going to Fishing Creek? --- OOHH -- :shock: Crocodiles, We need numbers for safety
Freckles 8)

 

[troppo]

. When are we going to Fishing Creek? --- OOHH -- :shock: Crocodiles, We need numbers for safety
Freckles 8)

Yup, numbers for safety. Once the crocs have eaten a number of us, they are full and the rest can fish in safety! :shock:

Great to meet ya Freckles and for sure Fishing Creek will be a great place to do a trip together.

 

[shayned]

They would prob getthe slowest ones first wouldn't they, maybe the ones that couldn't get up on the plane, now who did you say suggested the trip again? :lol:

 

[Y-Knot]

beautiful area for fishing guys, and what a perfect day from the looks of those photos Troppo.

 

[Russ]

Wish I were there it sounds and looks like a beaut spot. Thanks for the report boy's.

fishing Russ

 

[troppo]

They would prob getthe slowest ones first wouldn't they, maybe the ones that couldn't get up on the plane, now who did you say suggested the trip again? :lol:

:lol: :lol: :lol: Ha ha ha, that's funny Shayned! Yeah, who is the slowest? ha ha . . . oh, oh . . . I'm the slowest. :shock:

[I'm getting a faster yak]