# h



## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

hj


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Beautiful place Con, well captured in those shots. One of my favourites (suggest Armit, Grassy and Double Cone as well).

We found the stripeys to be good eating - what did you think?

trev


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## Zed (Sep 18, 2006)

Niiiice clam.

What's the thick brown fish at the yak w/ the hp in its mouth?


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## Bigdyl (Feb 13, 2012)

Looks awesome, I went up there for a holiday with the boss and all I wanted to do was paddle island to island fishing. One of the best places in the world and still largely untouched. I'm so jealous at the moment


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## Marty75 (Oct 23, 2007)

Nice report Barra. Scary shark moment :shock:

The 2nd last pic looks like a venomous cone shell? The little buggers shoot poisonous darts (what else would a shell do....)

Marty


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## paulsod (Dec 28, 2008)

Good report and photos Con. Really shows the place off.
Curious as what shark that was. 
I be more worried about crocs anywhere in the north. I haven't got a croc-shield. :lol: 
Cheers
Paul


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## Bummer (Feb 5, 2007)

That fish is one of those mega large puffer fish with teeth that could bite your finger off. Caught it whilst trolling which is an unsual catch. Ugly fish. 
Wanted to note that all fish were caught via lures(plastics and hard bodies). Had the oldies using bait out of the tinnie with no luck. We gradually convinced them to switch to lures (oldies with old habits) where they started to catch fish. The 70 yr olds are now converts.
On another note I have a Hobbie Adveture at home and hired a paddle Mission catch for the trip. ^*%*(ing hard work paddling and even harder with no steering, but over all did 35K's in two days and found it a pretty good little kayak. Not good in chop as you get very wet. But for the price is overall a great little kayak.(no affiliations with this kayak).
Looking forward to next years trip which will include some camping and again no expectations of catching fish.


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

Looks like a beautiful part of the country.
The octopus looks like everything else in Australia, very pretty and will probably kill you if you get too close.


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## Zed (Sep 18, 2006)

^And with arms that long too close is relative.

Thanks Bummer. That's the biggest puffer I've ever seen.
I've caught porcupinefish trolling hb's. I can't figure out how they motivate that much to try and eat it.

Excellent trip and report guys!


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## dru (Dec 13, 2008)

Just a fantastic part of the world. I have heard of crocs this far south, but only between mainland and the inner islands. Does that make sense?

Fantastic part of the world, thanks for sharing.


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

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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## SamT (Feb 27, 2011)

Well done Con,
I reckon you've found the venue for a Mackay/Whitsundays/Burdekin regional get-together.
A mate of mine was around the corner at Hideaway Bay on the weekend and also did well with soft plastics.


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## ringo (Oct 3, 2008)

Hey Con. Great report and photos. Sorry I couldn't join you. I went to send you a PM on Thursday to say that I had to work all weekend but then I realised that you were probably already there. Were you still there on Sunday? The weather was magic. I spent a bit of time at the 'Whitfunday' for work but I didn't see you there. Gloucester Island is a nice spot to camp and I've always had more luck with fishing in the passage between Gloucester Island and Montes Resort.

I had a mate that saw a huge shark while kayaking not far from the boat ramp. I saw a big one(bigger than the Espri) near Gloucester Island and had a similar experience of crapping myself. It's a shame the Mackerel and Tuna didn't make an appearance for you guys but at least Bummer got a Coral Trout.


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

h


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## ringo (Oct 3, 2008)

> @Ringo, the oldies saw a kayaker fishing somewhere near the southern end of hideaway in a paddle kayak and spoke to another guy who had just come in with a PA with a feed of sweet lip....either of them your friend by any chance?


Nah, my friend is selling his Pro-Fish on that GumTree site.



> What's the go with the current in the passage, navigable with a kayak or do you need to really time it? A few people in tinnys told us they had troubles in that area and we'd have no chance in kayaks, we took their advice and stayed right away.


I've never paddled to the passage from Dingo or Hydeaway so I don't know if it's any different from that end. The water is pretty shallow around Hydeaway Bay. I've always launched from near the Eco Resort at Cape Gloucester and I've never noticed any strong currents. It is the only place in that area where I've hooked up on Mackerel(only spotties and doggies) and tuna on a couple of occasions. Whenever I fish off Dingo or Nelly Bay I usually get Trevally, stripeys and small trout on lures and Oyster Cracker, sharks, rays and remora fish on bait.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Barrabundy said:


> What's the go with the current in the passage, navigable with a kayak or do you need to really time it? A few people in tinnys told us they had troubles in that area and we'd have no chance in kayaks, we took their advice and stayed right away.


CURRENT?
As Ringo says, there is little current to worry about around Gloucester Is, though there is a bit of tidal exchange through Gloucester Passage itself, but manageable in a SOT, but further East....

The further east you go, say out of Airlie Beach north/n. west to Gumbrell, Armit, Double Cone Islands, the faster the current gets. Further out, around Hook and Whitsunday, it is a bit stronger again. The restrictions of Fitzalan and Solway Passage produce currents to 5 knots, and wind against tide conditions in these areas can produce steep seas, whirlpools (I have seen a 5.4 m sea kayak spun like a top in such a whirlpool on an eddy line in Fitzalan) and large pressure waves. If you are ever that far east, negotiate these areas only just before the top or bottom of the tide.

TIDES
Tides in the Whitsundays rise and fall more than those experienced by most paddlers, and they are the single most important consideration. The direction of tidal flood (rising tide) is southwards through the Whisundays, and the ebb (falling tide) sets northwards. Broad Sound near Shoalwater Bay has the highest tidal range of anywhere on the East coast of Australia, being up to 10 metres in some estuaries. This is due to the continental shelf being about 200 kms off Mackay, therefore causing large pressure diffentials between the tide way out to sea and the levels closer to shore.
The magnitude of the tidal range decreases as you go north, being 7 m at Mackay, 5.1 m in the Lindeman Group, and 3.5 m at the northern end of Hook Is. (Quote: 100 Magic Miles - by David Colfelt)

My general advice regarding exploring the Whitsundays in a SOT is.....stick to the Northern and Western areas. Further E & S the currents are too strong, and windage on SOT hulls could see you going to places you didn't want to go to . Even in sea kayaks, point to point crossings are often large arcs well over twice the straight line distance. Sea kayaks are the go for lower windage and massively increased storage.

trev


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## carnster (May 27, 2008)

Would love to have seen a put of the shark GW? The stripeys are good on the chew same as a jack.


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## Junglefisher (Jun 2, 2008)

carnster said:


> Would love to have seen a put of the shark GW? The stripeys are good on the chew same as a jack.


And only a 25cm size limit (bag limit 5).
Always good for an almost guarranteed feed.


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## Wrassemagnet (Oct 17, 2007)

Awesome scenery! Thanks for the photos and great read.


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

g


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## suehobieadventure (Feb 17, 2009)

Well done on a geat trip Con,

Been back at work now for 3 weeks and still dwelling on Qld trip. Would love to do an island hopping trip with my sea kayak. So if you all get a Qld get together organised give me about 3 months notice


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

g


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