Myall River Camp

This is another place that I love and have been camping at for many years. 

Right on the edge of the river, this private campground has its own beach and boat ramp, well looked after pit toilets and caretakers who look after the park.

There is some good fishing to be had in the river, its clean and the fish are healthy and pretty. Dolphins run up the river most mornings and afternoons, there are goannas, possums and other critters to watch and its still close enough to an urban centre to be an easy weekend away.

 

There was four of us this trip, our set up was pretty simple. Two tents, a fireplace in the middle and a gazebo off to one side with the icebox and food underneath to protect it. I took an old tarp just in case it rained and when it did I pulled it over the fireplace to keep our wood dry. 

We also had a single burner gas canister stove, one of the best things to take on a camping trip. They are cheap and the canisters are too, and can cook in most conditions when an open fire isn't feasible.

I caught two stingrays while we were there, one was about 70cm across and the other was the little guy below. Though fun, they were too much hassle to clean and were released.

There was an abundance of smaller fish around, with many mullet, bream, whiting, tailor and a few flathead being caught. I caught a few poddy mullet and threw them out on my large line, this took the large ray but nothing else this trip.
This whiting below became dinner, as it was Kyle's first ever eating sized fish.

 

There's not much else like a campfire cooked fish. To prepare the fire, let it burn pretty hard for an hour or so, try to use larger pieces of wood as you want to create a good coal layer at the bottom. When you can see this, rake them to one spot and leave flat. They should stay hot but bring the fire back in around the fish to keep it cooking evenly. This was the whiting coated in lemon pepper, wrapped a few layers of foil and left in the coals for about 20 minutes. Once it was unwrapped the bones pulled away with the tail, leaving a perfectly cooked piece of fish ready to be eaten.

 

This is another place I recommend visiting if you have the time. I've never had any trouble up there and there are so many fishing opportunities in the surrounding area. Whether its open water, beach, estuary or pier there is fishing for everyone!

Lostock Dam Caravan Park

So I've talked about this place a lot but it is genuinely one of my favourite places in the world. Please get out there and support a great place run by great people. Dave and Janet make sure the place is well looked after and obviously take pride in what they do.

 

Check them out on facebook, they have regular music "shindigs", a full cafe stocked with anything you could need in an emergency, full amenities and some of the greatest people I have met. https://www.facebook.com/TheLostockDamCaravanPark

 We got up there in October 2013, and although the wind picked up, it was a great trip and plenty of good fishing was had.

 I set out for an early morning fish, hit the river as the sun rose and it was an absolutely great morning. Below is the view I had as the sun rose. Above is the biggest bass I caught that morning. I picked out a nice deep hole being fed by the running river and I had a good view of the stretch above it. Three large bass came down the river with the current and as I saw them I threw a cricket in front of them and almost immediately hooked this one. It was a great fish, healthy and strong and it was worth the early morning.

The caravan park is a great place, far enough away to miss most of the city folk and in the one morning I saw two echidnas, a platypus, a mob of kangaroos and many other native creatures, such as the kookaburra below.

 There was just two of us on this trip so we kept the set up simple.
One icebox, one tent, one fireplace, two puppies and a good weekend.

 I pegged the tarp out to protect against most of the wind and sun, and having the icebox behind it kept it cool. Everything else was easily put away at night and by using the existing table I didn't need to open my usual gazebo.
 Our two puppies were set up on a runner, tied to the table and looped around a nearby tree. By pulling this tight they could each have one side and could not cross over, it seemed to work well.

So if you want a good weekend away, get to Lostock Dam Caravan Park, I've been going there for years and will be there again soon :)

Has it really been 8 months?

Sorry internet, I honestly didn't realize it had been 8 months since I posted!
I will make more of a conscious effort to update this blog, as I enjoy it and people still ask about it :)
I've been out fishing a few times since my last post and will make a proper post for it after this one.
I've also been camping twice, which is something I set out to talk about from the start but haven't had much of a chance to.
I've been to two of my favourite getaways in this time, Lostock Dam and Myall River Camp at Hawks Nest. My next posts will be dedicated to each.
I've fished Maitland and Aberglasslyn recently, and have found that this stretch of river is producing very healthy fish.

This is a promising sign since the floods in early 2013 killed off many fish and effectively suffocated a long stretch of breeding ground. Hopefully this means that the system is returning to normal!

So for everyone out there keen on fishing locally or interstate, get a line in and have a go!

Here is a photo of me as a little fella, with a large mullet I caught on a worm! I was so proud, I cleaned it and it stayed in the freezer for several years before it got used as berley haha!