Dungeness Dreaming

[Lukeyboy83]

“Dungeness”…?? Some readers are probably thinking - Where in the world is Dungeness? What if I said “Lucinda”? Does that ring a bell? I’m sure it does for many. OK, how about the “Hinchinbrook Channel”? So by now, anyone who knows anything about fishing should be watering at the mouth over the exhilarating fishing action that can be encapsulated in this part of the world. It’s an absolute fishing paradise with abundant numbers of Barramundi, Mangrove Jack, Fingermark (Choppers as the locals call them) Salmon and Grunter inhabiting any of the mangrove-lined creeks, it’s a prawning and crabbing Mecca and the reef fishing is simply magic.

When my good mate “Guazzo” called me a fortnight or so before the Easter / Anzac Day long weekend and said “Hey Woggy – Do you and the Mrs want to come stay at the beach house and fish the channel over the long weekend?”, well lets just say, he barely got to finish his sentence before I replied with “hell yeah mate, that sounds awesome”. Although, memories did stream back from when we last fished the channel together some 7 years ago and I had managed to lodge the rear treble of a Mann’s Stretch 20 into the webbing on my right hand. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the injury was caused by a thrashing barra or jack, but to say you imbedded yourself whilst simply washing down your lures with freshwater after the days fishing, is just downright embarrassing! Anyways, that’s another story all together.

Guazzo resides in Townsville but his family are from Ingham and own a beach house at Lucinda. What can I say, I wish I lived here! It’s such a peaceful and relaxing little seaside fishing community (well maybe not Easter / Anzac Day weekend) and as mentioned earlier, in my opinion, it is the gateway to some of the best fishing in Queensland. Further to this, Hinchinbrook Island is World Heritage listed and with its many waterfalls, walking tracks and secluded bays – attracts people from all over the world.

Due to other commitments, the earliest we could get up to Lucinda was 11am on the Sunday and lets just say that Guazzo turned it on and impressed right from the Get-go. Within 15 minutes of arriving, we were sitting on the front porch of the beach house, eating mud crab, drinking beers (only one or two offcourse) and watching the numerous boats drive past. At this point, I found myself with a song stuck in my head, one I hadn’t heard for at least 10 years, particularly the line:

“Although we see the world through different eyes, we share the same idea of paradise”

Yes, I’ll admit it, sadly this is a song by the “Petshop Boys” which I may have liked 10 years ago (OK, still do) but the fact of the matter is, nothing can be more truthful. We are all different but share a common love for places like this, which was evident by the amount of boats present this weekend. You would think that with the large contingency of boats around this weekend that the boat ramp at Dungeness would have been verging on chaotic but nothing could have been further from the truth. Yes, there were a lot of boats around, there is no denying that, but the facilities at the Dungeness boat ramp would be one of the best, if not “the” best I have ever seen. The ramp itself has 5 lanes, there is an area to wash down the boat after use and there is such a massive parking area for cars and trailers, it would rival the parking areas of most large shopping centres.

Ok, enough of the “Getaway” spiel. Time to do some fishing!

Given the time we had on offer, we decided we would have 3 serious sessions and see if we could pull a barra or two. Ideally, I love to chase my barra on lures, predominately weedless soft plastics, but Guazzo is a mad keen live-baiter and due to the fact we had both our partners in the boat, this was the best option.

Gathering live-bait was a breeze. Mud banks within a few hundred metres of the boat ramp were all holding large quantities of mullet, herring and even bony bream. This could largely be contributed to the substantial rainfall which fell a couple of weeks earlier. I always notice far more baitfish around, and after time of rain as they are feeding on the nutrients and detrital matter, carried down with the flow. Also, it’s not uncommon to see large quantities of bony bream in the saltwater reaches after rain even though they are predominately a freshwater fish. Obviously rainfall and all this bait are good for something else too – Barra! After a few casts of the net, we had more than enough bait to last the afternoons tide, and hopefully catch a few.

I could see straight through Guazzo. I knew exactly the first spot he was going to take us, his favourite spot in the river, the same spot a little croc scared the absolute bejesus out of us when we fished there quite a few years before (yes, the same trip as the treble accident!). I was a bit hesitant at the start because we had the girls onboard but hey, it’s his favourite spot for a reason (and maybe that little crocs too) and that’s because it keeps on producing.

We anchored up perpendicular to the bank using a 2 anchor setup which enabled us to maximise fishing points from within the boat. Guazzo and his fiancé K.L were at the back of the boat, closest to the mangrove bank and myself and Caroline were out the front and had to cast into the middle of the channel. At first, this didn’t seem ideal as I was casting to a place devoid of structure but lets just say that by the end of the day, everyone wanted to cast to the middle!

We cast out 4 live mullet and after all of 5 minutes…tap…tap…Bang! Guazzo was on. His drag was screwed up tight as he was in heavy structure and after a few cranks of the handle a nice jack was boat side. The colours of the jack were lit up like a crimson Christmas tree, the jack was obviously excited. But I tell ya what, he had nothing on me! I could have left at that very point and been happy and it wasn’t even me who caught the fish. The first fish of the trip ended up measuring 39cm and left us with high hopes for the afternoon.

We didn’t have to wait another 15 minutes before it was my turn. I could feel the distinct pressure exerted by a barra sucking on your bait. I gave him about a foot of line before the line became tight again and I set the hook. This fish was going bazerk, jumping all over the place and was heading for the structure of the bank. I actually hooked him on my heavier outfit, my abu 7000 and 6-10kg ugly stik and boy was he giving me some curry. He was hard to hold and was fighting like a fish twice the size. He only measured 59cm, but he was hooked fair in the back, ironically, the exact same spot I hooked my livie and the reason why he fought so hard.

Next it was my wife Caroline’s turn. Caroline is not a fisher-woman to say the least. She finds it quite boring actually. She cant stand the smell off fish, will not touch fish (or bait for that matter) and gets up me even if I have fish fillets in the same freezer as her chicken or steak, even if its way over the other side of the freezer or on a different shelf. So, with all this in mind, I was pretty proud of her for being out in the boat with us and giving it a go. I was even more proud when her drag starting screaming and line was peeling off the reel at a great rate of knots. She was onto a darn good fish. After 10 or 15 seconds of playing the fish and admittedly freaking out in the process, she opted to give it to me to wind in for her. It was a bit of a mission to win this fight as this fish had already swam under the front anchor rope, then back over the top of it, then back under it again. It took a bit of jousting with the rod and anchor rope to get it clear again but somehow this fish managed to stay on. I loaded up on it and it had some serious weight. It stayed high in the water column but didn’t jump, so immediately had me second guessing that it may have been a good barra. The dorsal and caudal fins were now visible and it ended up being a really nice blue salmon that measured 72cm. Well, I guess I can’t call it was my best salmon if the Mrs hooked it can I? Even if I baited it, cast it and reeled it in? No, I will let Caroline have that one.

ZZzz,zzz and I was on again. Another fish from mid-channel. They were giving our livies a reel good hammering. It turned out to be another barra, a little fella of 55cm this time. This spot was going great guns. Guazzo actually assured me that it hadn’t been this productive for a little while, so I was pretty stoked he managed to turn it on for our trip up.

There was a barra boofing and giving bait a hiding, hard up against the bank just behind where Guazzo and K.L were sitting. Guazzo aimed a cast right for the commotion. His cast could not have been any more accurate as the sinker actually landed on a log then plopped into the water, right in the spot where the barra was boofing. He must have landed that mullet right on that barra’s head as it wouldn’t have been 3 seconds and he was on. A nice silvery barra, 66cm long.

Before the day was out, I caught another barra around the 65cm mark which capped off an awesome arvo’s fishing. 5 nice fish in the ice box and another undersize barra released. Heck, I even think that Caroline enjoyed herself too.

The next day, after snaring a few livies, we hit the same spot once again. This time we were minus the girls due to the fact Caroline had came down with one hell of a bug the night before. This resulted in a 2am trip to the Ingham Hospital. This was the second time I have been to that hospital now in as many occasions. No offence to the lovely nurses up there, but if I never see that hospital again, it will be too soon.
This 2 hour session saw another 2 barra landed and were once again both from the mid-channel. They were 70cm and 66cm respectively and I caught both of them which I was pretty stoked with. So just naturally I had to give the guide a bit of cheek as I was showing him up on his own turf.

Things changed in the afternoon session though. On arrival back to the spot, there was another feisty barra terrorising bait against the bank. With the high tide, Guazzo opted to tie on a float and suspend half a metre of line so it would sit above the dense structure. Within a minute, the livie was boofed up and Guazzo was on again with another little barra. The bite really slowed after this. Throughout the entire afternoon session, I didn’t get a touch. Guazzo’s dad and cousin joined us as well and they didn’t get a bite either but then Guazzo ended up boating another one. It seems he finally found his mojo after all.

Gotta love the Hinchinbrook region. We had an absolute ball and I cant wait to head up there again real soon. Even though Guazzo may have been slightly outfished this time, he still asked me to be his best man at his wedding next year. What a way to top off a great weekends fishing. Cheers mate.

[Pete62]

Great read, sure looks like a top spot.

Pete

[Lukeyboy83]

Yeh we had a ball mate, was great fun. Werent huge barraf but a few around which was good

[Jimmy10]

Hey man, awesome read!

[Didley]

Great read thanks Luke, Ahhhh winter Jacks, I might have to move up there I think

[DEANO68]

awsome report lukey, some top fish there...

[Bazil Brush]

Great story Luke sounds like a top weekend...Has really got me going now, we are heading up that way slowly & should be there end of next month, hope they are still having a go then...

[Genesis]

That is a top read mate!! Love the action shots.

[Young Gun]

Great read mate, sounds like ya had an awesome time and to top it off great fishing!!!!

[Lukeyboy83]

That is a top read mate!! Love the action shots.

Cheers mate, that action shot is where the salmon wrapped my wifes line around the anchor rope, and I was getting it out. Suprised the fish stayed on!