Arno Bay Fishing Trip

Thought I had better get onto this before I forget it all.

Monday December 28th, 2009.

We finally left home (Theebine) at 0900 and headed west throught Kinaroy to Dalby and on to Goondiwindi to arrive at the height of a thunderstorm. Pulled into the Caltex to get fuel and they had no power, but BP had a generator so got some there.

Still no power when we booked into the Gundy CP but it came on about half an hour later so we settled back and listened to the rain for hours.

Next day, off to the south and made it to Warren, nice town but then it would be wouldn't it?

Next night was spent about 70k East of Broken Hill at Little Topar, a free camp beside the small servo, which had Diesel for 128.9cents. Great, after we paid 136.9 at the BP Willcania. Funny really, the people we are travelling with, John and Jan, pulled into the SHELL at Willcania behind us and as he was hanging out the back onto the road I pulled out to let him fill first. We went around the block while we waited and saw the BP depot so got fuel there. Ours was 136.9 and his 150.9 so he was thrilled about that.

Next day, December 30th, we went through Broken Hill where I should have go fuel but decided to get it down the road a bit. Later saw a sign "No fuel for 236k" or something like that so I was a bit worried as our tank is only 75 litre and if we get a head wind with the van we only get 380ish kilometres from a tank. However that sign must be an old one as Yunta has a few modern Servo's so we filled there with only about 10 litres left. No problem.

The best fuel efficiency we have got so far was when we turned West at Nevertire, and had a tailwind, got over 7k/litre on that stretch. The wind does not have to be exactly behind, even on an angle, like a sailing boat, it helps heaps but of course it seems to be mostly in the other direction. (Murphy's Law)

We got to Port Augusta and booked into the Big 4 CP. It was 42° so we just had to have power for the Aircon. That afternoon, late, it blew something chronic, dust, sand etc, but not a sign of rain. It must be frustrating to get the storms but no rain when it is so dry there.

Jan rang ahead to Arno Bay CP and they said they could squeeze us in a bit earlier, we were booked from January 4th and J&J from the 2nd. We spent the night in a sort of parking lot out the front but J&J got their site and the people next door left early next morning so we are on that site.

We unloaded John's car topper and trailer and got it set up ready to go, but the wind would blow a dog off a chain so did a bitof beach fishing with very little success. Kathy and I went out on the Jetty and she caught a Squid, which people here are very keen on, so we kept it and on Monday, when John and I finally got to use the boat, I caught another two so we had Calamari that night.




We decided if we wanted some of the Snapper they boast about here, we would have to go on a charter. To cut the story short, we went with Arno Bay Fishing Adventures, Ash Smith, who put us over some great Snapper. Kathy proved that she is responsible for the genes which make Brett provide the Berley whenever he heads out on the ocean blue. We headed home about midday and dropped Kathy and Jan, (she'd had enough) and pick up another bloke for the afternoon shift. When they came on the bite it was some of the best fishing anyone could ask. We filled our esky with nearly all Snapper with a few Trevally for variety. I had a great day, caught more than half the fish, so I am convinced it is my son's and not me, who are the jinx's when we go after Barra. My biggest was 27lb and 2 X 22lb, next about 70cm but didn't bother weighing the "little" ones.

For the morning session I got four over 60cm, and the boat limit is six, so that afternoon when we caught another two over 60cm, we were trying for smaller fish so we could keep them. You are allowed ten each between 38 and 60cm. One of mine was about 59.9cm :-), so we kept it.

Ash, the boat driver, came back to the CP and helped us fillet them. About enough to fill our 40lt Waeco Freezer, but I guess we will eat a bit before we get home. John is keen to do another trip before we leave but at $180 each it cuts into the allowance a bit.








Friday January 8,2010.
I took Kathy out in John's boat this morning but although we tried various spots over a few hours, we still got nothing to speak about.   We saw a Snapper under the boat at one stage but that was as close as we got.


Saturday January 9
John and I took the boat out for much the same result, although we got about a dozen Snook, which are shaped like a Barracuda, and are not all that good to eat from all reports.  Also got a couple of Squid again, they are not easy to catch in a landing net when the water is so clear, they seem to know just when to let go and often hit the rim of the net without going into it.

In the afternoon, John, Kathy and I went beach fishing at Red Banks, about five kilometres north of here, only got three whiting between us.  I thought they were pretty fair fish until I went to clean them and a bloke had some about 14" long.

Sunday January 10, 2010.
John and went out for one last fish this morning, before Kathy and I leave tomorrow.
Same result, got nothing. About 10:00 it started to blow from onshore, very hot breeze and the chop came up immediately, so we came home. I had caught three sharks and one probable Stingray which I could not convince to move off the bottom, and my leader wore through after a quarter hour or so. We caught a heap of Slimy Mackeral and Tommy Ruffs for bait, but when we came back in, Ash from the Fishing Charter was there so we gave them to him. We are both very pleased we went on the charter as we would have a very low opinion of Arno Bay fishing if not for that day. I would thoroughly recommend Arno Bay Fishing Adventures if you ever stop here for a break. Google Arno Bay Fishing Adventures or phone 0427 282 000. He takes a max of seven but at least four per trip, and never failed to get on top of the big ones while we were here. Probably should have gone again, but might try another one further down the Gulf.