Chris loves to Fish!! However, he has one major obstacle when fishing - the fish don't like him!! He tries and tries and tries, but just doesn't seem to have any luck when it comes to fishing.
However, hopefully all that will change on this trip around Australia. His inability to catch fish is not from lack of trying - he has been out on many charter boats - with the experts - and still manages to come home empty handed. It is now a running joke between us - when he heads out fishing he says "don't bother getting any meat out for dinner - fish tonight!" - "that would be great" I say as I am heading straight to the kitchen to pull out meat for dinner.
Through the last couple of years, Chris has even managed to pass on his enthusiasm to the boys, Jack and Logan - who love to go out in the boat and fish. So we are really hoping that throughout this trip he will be able to show the boys what it is actually like to catch fish, scale it, fillet it, cook it and eat it.
I will endeavour to keep you all up to date with Chris's latest fishing adventure - whether it be good or bad. If you are a keen fishermen and have some tips or places to fish, please email them to Chris at chris@travellingoakeys.com as I am sure he will appreciate any ideas that might help to increase his changes of catching lots of fish.
- Chris's Fishing Setup
- Karumba, Qld
- Cooktown, Qld
- Lake Tinnaroo, Qld
- Lake Fred Tritton, Richmond, Qld
- Thompson River, Longreach, Qld
Chris updated his boat while we were in Townsvile, as he found he just didn't have enough room for himself, the two boys, fishing rods, crab pots, tackle boxes, buckets etc. After extensive research he bought a Sea Jay Angler 3.75 - which has everything he needed, deep sides, fits on the roof of the truck, plenty of room. He also upgraded to a Yamaha 15hp 4 stroke motor.
He had also decided to get a floor put into this boat as it makes it much easier for the boys when in the boat, however this then added extra weight to the boat. With the previous boat, Chris and I used to lift it up and push it onto the roof rack together, but now this new boat was too heavy to do that, so he had to come up with a way to get the boat on the roof. In the end he mounted a winch on the back of the roof rack and bought 2 lengths of scaffold to use as ramps for the boat to be loaded onto the roof. He also found that the new motor was also too heavy to lift up into the box on the back of the truck, so again a winch was mounted on the roof of the box and a cage built to mount the motor on then the winch would lift the whole thing into the box.
Chris had been itching to get Karumba since leaving home - he had heard from many people that the fishing was great at Karumba. Unfortunately we arrived at the end of the season, so I think it had been pretty well fished out before we got there. However Chris and the boys still had a go. Some of the other fisherman were catching Salmon and the morning we were leaving, the guy beside us went out for an early morning fish and caught 2, 90cm Barra's! "Noooooooooo - why not me?", I could hear Chris asking.
The Barramundi Discovery Centre is well worth a visit while in Karumba. Learn about the many barramundi species, re-stocking of the waterways and have a go at hand feeding the barra's.
Chris hadn't planned on going on a charter fishing trip - it was more of an on-the-spot decision while looking around in the "Lure Shop" on the main street at Cooktown. But, boy he is glad he did now! He said it was the best fishing charter he had ever been on.
Chris was very lucky because he was the only one booked on the charter which therefore meant he got more fishing time in and got to grill the guide. The guide, Allistair, was excellent. He knew the area really well and had been in the area for most of his life. He was a similar age, so they fished and chatted like to old friends.
He came home from the trip, full of excitement, fish and knolwedge - so it was well worth it!
This was Chris's first real outing with the new boat. He and the boys took it out in Townsville, but it was really windy weather so they had a quick run, with Logan nearly falling overbaord, before returning home. Chris and the boys fished for a while, 
before he dropped the boys back on the bank and took of on his own for some alone time - and to get to know his boat. No fish caught, and I have to say there did seem to be more ski boats, and jet ski's there than fishing boats.
before he dropped the boys back on the bank and took of on his own for some alone time - and to get to know his boat. No fish caught, and I have to say there did seem to be more ski boats, and jet ski's there than fishing boats.
It was a lovely relaxing spot, with lots of barbecues, and play areas for the kids.
Lake Fred Tritto
n was constructed in 2003 to created a recreational area using water pumped from the Flinders Rivers. The Lake has a maximum depth of 8 meters and a 1.2km curcumference - and seems far too small to be launching a boat in. It is said to be stocked with Barramundi and Sooty Grunter and also has cod, archerfish and of course the old catfish. We headed down to the lake on sunset to see if we could catch anything - but no luck.
n was constructed in 2003 to created a recreational area using water pumped from the Flinders Rivers. The Lake has a maximum depth of 8 meters and a 1.2km curcumference - and seems far too small to be launching a boat in. It is said to be stocked with Barramundi and Sooty Grunter and also has cod, archerfish and of course the old catfish. We headed down to the lake on sunset to see if we could catch anything - but no luck.
THOMPSON RIVER, LONGREACH, QLD
If you stay at the free camp spot, approx 4km out of Longreach, you will actually camp on the side of the river. While we were there, the boys convinced Chris to throw the pots in to see if they could catch some redclaw. They only managed to catch a couple of little ones - however they did manage to catch a legal size yellow belly in the crab pot - which amazed us all! They then tried their luck fishing off the old bridge with the redclaw as bait - but same old story - no fish!
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THE TRAVELLING OAKEY'S
Chris, Nicole,
Jack, Logan and Lexie