Island Head

[Nathan Busteed]

G'day all,
Would some one be able to tell me if you can camp on the shore in Island Head Creek. Im planning a two night trip with my best mate and the old man. Needless to say both of them snore and three sleeping on the deck of my 5.5M Xtreme Craft center console would be a tad unconfortable. Can it be done? Do you require permits? and who do I contact about entering the Military Training Zone? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

PS. I was planning of leaving from Five Rocks, can any one tell me what the road is like from Byfeild to Five Rocks is like??? And is there even a boat ramp at Five rocks? Is there a better place to depart from???

Cheers,
Busty

[Brandon Khoo]

Busty, I've only ever gone to that location with Nomad Sportsfishng and they get the info for access before planning their trips. I have seen yachts there with people camped on the shore.

I know a few of the guys here do fish that area quite regularly. Hopefully, they can advise you on what the rules are. i have not been able to find it on any internet search.

[Graham Scott]

Nathan,
You can camp on any beach but not above high water mark. Tha Shoalwater Bay Training Area starts at High water spring, and is permanently closed to the public and they will not give any permits for recreational use. I have been in many times, but always work related.
There are also periodic water closures for exercises. To check on these ring Range Control, ph 07 49355000. Its generally open and probably only closed 3 weeks per year, normally in October ,unless the USA are here.

So it would be a bit sus trying to camp out of the boat, especially on spring tides. You might sneak in a nice spot right at the top of the beach, but frankly I wouldn't do it. There are also crocodiles in those creeks!!

Definitely don't launch your boat at Five Rocks, its 4wd in and then a beach launch at the bottom of the dunes. Throw in an extra gerry can and leave from Rosslyn Bay. 5 rocks only saves 23 miles.
We operate 2 11m power cats and do charters into Shoalwater Bay,weather permitting.

Nathan, you should get organised with a couple of other guys on this forum, Travis etc and see if you can get a suitable time, take your small boats up and stay on one of our boats to camp,eat etc. The cost wouldn't be too bad if there were 6 or 8 starters.
Also if you're chasing popper style fishing you could start a lot closer to home than Island Head Creek. Basically all the headlands, including 5 Rocks are worth a shot. We have been catching queenies around 10kg at nearly any likley looking spot. Gt's are a bit more elusive...and I'll let you find them yourself, but you will find them.

hope this helps,
cheers,
graham

[Graham Scott]

Hey Busty,
I see you live in Mornasbah. To catch Gt's turn left and head in to Stanage Bay, although the road is pretty rough, it puts you only a few miles from heaps of good GT water. Anywhere from the Marbles across to Hexham, down to Collins and some of the isolated rocks to the north will work.

You could also try leaving from Clairview, provided you work the tides and head out towards Curlew and some of those Islands.

[Warwick Joyce]

Busty, mate the coast guard has all the information for closures in the shoalwater area.
Also as Graham said there are a few of us willing to tee up a trip with one of his boats for accom and take other boats for fishing. Later in the year would be good when the weather warms a little.
Also there have been good days popping around the kepples lately, Travis and I headed out in the fog and picked up this sucka today. Had to work hard with the tide hardly running but they were around thats for sure.

[Graham Scott]

Nice fish Warwick

[Warwick Joyce]

Thanks Graham, The big fella decided to smash my skipjack side on 5m from the boat stealing the glory from his mate that was following the lure after a missed hit

Busty, email me if you are interested in lining up a trip later in the year

[Mick Cunningham]

hi every one .. i have fished with nomad in that area this year .. 

and i have heard about the 2 x 11m cat and i really want to head back out there again ..

hey nathan maybe we can tow your boat beyond the cat boat would be a great idea ..

so please let me know if your going out there i would love to join you boy,s ..

thank,s for shareing some info to us i,m really interested on those info,s thank,s again .

[Nathan Busteed]

Thanks for the information guy's, The trip has gotten a bit larger with about 4 other boats now coming.
Graham, I will keep your power kats in mind but at the moment the boys would like to keep it to our selves. If all turns fubar I will just have to settle for a trip Square or Hook reef off the Whitsundays.

Cheers,
Busty.

[Travis Heaps]

4 boats!  You'd almost be mad to not hire a mothership/base of some sort.  Be pretty cheap between everyone - and having somewhere to cook a hot feed, have a shower and sleep out of the wind is worth the dollars each it would cost.

[Nathan Busteed]

Graham, How much $$$ per day??? A few of my best mates are losing intrest due the ever incressing cost this trip is shaping up to be.

So the general consensus's is not to camp in Island head creek??? Bit of a downer since all the boys were keen on the camping on the beach to keep the cost down.
We have a hut at stanage but the dirt road destroys the flash paint work on our boats so that trip is out (until i have full covers made for my boat).

[Simon Thomas]

Graham,

I have been thinking about trying to organise a trip into that part of the world with a few mates sometime next year.  Can you give me some indications of costs, ability to take your own boats (tinnies), species encountered etc, etc

Thanks,
Simon

[Graham Scott]

Simon, Nathan, Travis,
Sorry for the late reply guys,

I have had computer trouble. Our rough costs are about $2250 per day per boat (bloody diesel at $1.90/l). We would supply food, ice, bait(not poppers!), soft drinks, linen..etc. Crew is skipper and deckie, I might try and come as Deckie so you can show me how its done.  Bring your fishing gear and beer. They are 11m Voyager powercats travelling at 16-18knts. Accom is set up more for family bareboating, so we have 4 doubles basically, but there's plenty of room for a few swags. If you are bringing your own boats we could look after 8 guests per boat ok. It gets pretty crowded fishing more than 6. But we could do a combo of some in tinnies and some from the boat (or all from tinnies). We only have a small tender with a 4hp motor. I have been towed backwards in this by a small trout!, so won't bring it. There's a guy on the Coast with a Haines 680 in survey that we will be doing some work with, so that could be another option if necessary. I think he's about $800 per day and would fish 4 OK.

The boats are brand new and have plenty of water, refrig, etc and could easily carry spare fuel for the tinnies.Theres plenty of photos of the boats on the Keppelbayescapes website.

We are still weather dependent, unlike the Nomad guys, we would probably pull the pin at over 15knts. My suggestion would be to target the best weather of the Year, which I reckon is early/mid September. We already have 2 trips booked in for late August and early Sept,up to Island Head and Townsend Island, though neither are GT popping freaks (except me).
The Singapore exercise normally starts late October so mid-late Sept is OK. Fishing is normally a bit slower this time of Year, but slow in Shoalwater Bay is still basically red hot anywhere else.
What we have been doing successfully is collecting likley starters for trips and then picking the perfecr weather 2 or 3 days prior and doing a ring around to see if we can get staters. Works OK if you're locals.

Hope this helps,

cheers,
graham

[Mick Cunningham]

well done said graham ...

it,s is getting more interesting   

i can,t wait .. keep us posted