Dirk Hartog Advice
Submitted by Browndog on Thu, 2018-04-26 09:14
Hi Guys, heading up to Dirk Hartog Island for a camping trip late June, was hoping for some general advice. Will be camping with two four wheel drives and will have the kids in tow, so probably won't be doing too much extreme cliffs action. Any advice on rigs & techniques welcome, have heard that the baldies are experts at bricking you in the reef.
Cheers,
Browndog.
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dano83
Posts: 790
Date Joined: 25/05/12
Hey browny where abouts are
Hey browny where abouts are you guys camping?
and how old are the kids ?
Put it this way....grown men sh!it themselves on those cliffs as it can be pretty hairy so wouldn't advise going on the cliffs between urchin point and mystery beach with young kids
In saying that if you do want to go for a cliff bash the block the aquarium and around urchin point are probably safest bet depending on wind and swell.
there is plenty of safe family friendly spots between urchin point and And whitnell point where you can catch decent fish whitnell point has some good size tailor when they are on the chew..there is a lot of beach and rocky points between that stretch just explore and you will find fish.
Rigs depends what you are chasing but basic is best and be prepared to loose a lot of gear very snagy country.
Browndog
Posts: 581
Date Joined: 10/04/12
Camping
Hi Dano, thanks for the info. We will be camping at Withnell Point, and the kids are all over 12. We will do some exploring and have at least one session off some cliffs, probably try to find some that aren't totally full on. (Have life jackets for everyone)
Have heard that you can lose a bit of gear up there, will do some bait fishing as well as the lures. Have plenty of 70gm gold twisty's, as well as smaller stickbaits, poppers and minnows, I don't have much of the bigger stuff yet for macks etc so will probably need to stock up on that stuff.
Cheers,
BD.
dano83
Posts: 790
Date Joined: 25/05/12
Yeah sweet, it’s a bit of a
Yeah sweet, it’s a bit of a hike from Whitnell to the cliffs so I’d say make a full day of it. bring some food and water along and work your way along a few Locations, Stay away from the black rocks and wear some work boots or something with a strong sole as some spots have sharp jagged rocks you will need a cliff gaf
The snapper like a light bait wafting down to the bottom so a snelled squid on a light ball sinker works well
baldies and other bottom fish I use a dropper type rig with 1 6-8 circle hook and a heavy ball sinker on the bottom I find they don’t snag up as much and I only use 1 hook because you will loose less gear my biggest tip here is if you do get a snag or ran into the rocks try to work it out of the snag or let it sit for a minute it’s crazy how often you can get your rigs back with a bit or determination.
top water I’ve used twisties 70-120grams deep divers and richter plugs they all work well
and there is fish along that whole coast so just explore and most importantly watch the swells/conditions
Browndog
Posts: 581
Date Joined: 10/04/12
Advice
Cheers Dano, sounds like good advice and pretty much how I thought I would approach things. Thanks for taking the time to post, the holdiay can't come soon enough for me.
Cheers,
BD.
peter1954
Posts: 7
Date Joined: 24/09/18
Cape Lievillian
And good spot for shore fishing, if you were camped at Witnell point, would be up the coast to Cape Lievillian, the shore fishing there is good, I have caught Bluebone and big tailor, when I used to moor my launch at Sammys camp, when it was too rough to go out, a walk up the beach was always productive.