Your Gateway to Fishing North QLD Lucinda If the weather is great and you don’t want to get up at sparrow’s to secure a park at the Townsville ramp, you can drive north and launch at the Dungeness ramp at Lucinda. The ramp has 4 long lanes with a central pontoon. There’s a large parking area with wash-down bays, along with public toilets, a playground and BBQ area, and a general store with bait and ice. Although it’s a fair hike from Townsville – around 1.5 hours or so – you will have a shorter run to some productive reefs and shoals. Morrisseys Creek If you’re happy to work around the tides you can launch at the Morrrisseys Creek ramp. It’s a concrete ramp with 2 fairly narrow lanes, and a pontoon. Be wary of the drop-off at the end. There are septic toilets available and covered table areas. This is a good place for smaller boats to launch to access the famous Cape Bowling Green billfish grounds. LOCATIONS Before you set out, be sure to check the GBRMPA website for the location of green zones, as hefty fines apply if you stray into the wrong area. You have been warned! There are plenty of
productive reefs and shoals to choose from. In close there’s Middle Reef near Magnetic Island, Paluma Shoals and Salamander Reef, but unless you’re restricted to a tinny you’ll want to go further afield. Good outer reefs include Lodestone, Keeper, Rib, Bramble, Trunk, Big and Little Broadhurst reefs and the Slashers. Just be prepared to travel a long way; the nearest outer reefs are roughly 70km from the Townsville ramp. From Lucinda it’s not as far; you can almost halve the distance to the nearest reef. FIND OUT MORE I would have loved to give you tons of in-depth info in this article, but there just wasn’t room – so it’s up to you to do some extra homework before you commit to a trip. I recommend you check out the regular Townsville fishing reports at reports. fishingmonthly.com.au, and you can also look up past magazine articles at www. fishingmonthly.com.au. To pick locals’ brains you can suss out online forums, and local tackle store staff are very helpful as well. Best of all, if you have the spare cash, do your first trip with a guide/charter to learn the ropes before you fish from your own boat. Just be careful though, or you might find yourself moving up here like I did!
Townsville Pith Reef
Britomart Reef
Hinchinbrook Island
Bramble Reef
Trunk Reef Roxburgh Reef Rib Reef
Lucinda Taylors Beach
Orpheus Island
Lady Elliot Reef
SLASHERS GROUP Fore and Aft Reef John Brewer Reef
Curacoa Island Great Palm Island
Fantome Island
Backnumbers Reef French Reef Brags Reef Hopkinson Reef
Hall Reef
Lodestone Reef Keeper Reef
Havannah Island
Saunders Beach
Herald Island Magnetic Island
Middle Reef
Morinda Shoal
Cleveland Bay Scan and download the green zone information
Scale 25 KM
Big Broadhurst Reef
Little Broadhurst Reef
Halifax Bay Paluma Shoals
Chicken Reef
Centipede Reef Davies Reef
Rattlesnake Island Rollingstone
Cup Reef
Grub Reef
Townsville
Morrisseys Creek Ramp (near Giru)
Salamander Reef
Bowling Green Bay
Ayr
townsville marine centre 943 ingham rd. Bohile 4818
WORLD’S BEST 4 STROKE IS BACK IN TOWN! PHONE: 07 4774 3777 TOWNSVILLEMARINE.COM.AU
NOVEMBER 2014
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