G'day guys,
Here is my Laker yesterday, set up for creek fishing for pan fish.
Beelbi Creek is a small tidal job only about 7 miles long and consists of extensive sand and mud flats at low tide with small shallow channels running through. Laker is ideal in this environment, small, light and maneuverable and VERY fishable.
No fish of note were caught but still another great day on the water in a fine boat.
I have never seen a crock this far south. The old timers round here reckon they were in this area once and maybe a couple might be left over. but I have my doubts. There is a photograph in a hotel about 40 miles from here of a 26 footer that was taken in the Mary River about a hundred years ago.
About the furtherst south where they are recognised as still being is about in the Gladstone area which is about 15- miles north from where I am. I have seen them there to about 14 or 15 feet but have been told they grow much bigger.
Re the movie, don't believe the hype mate. Even a 14 footer is a very big animal and you wouldn't catch me in a kayak anywhere near one. A 14 footer is big enough to catch and kill a horse or cow or even a water buffalo for that matter.
All due respect to the late Steve Irwin, but he really did do some very stupid things with recognized man killers (and ultimately paid the price for it)While these are true dynasours, they are way smarter than most people think. They often stalk prey for days before making the kill. They observe their prey (usually creatures of habit) drinking at the same spot, at the same time day after day and will gradually work their way closer untill they are eventually within striking range.
A kayak passing through an area once is unlikely to become prey but I prefer not to give them the opportunity.
Back to your words mate. Thank you! but not big cajones at all. No crocks here, and I like to keep believing that.
There has been a 10 ft croc sighted quite a few times in the Boyne river lately [ about 30 minutes north of me ] and I spotted a 6 ft croc in the Boyne about a month ago between the road bridge and the train bridge , spotted it from the bridge and went back for a look ,
The Boyne is supposedly the southern most habit for them , crocs are spotted regularly in the Coliseum inlet area and down into the Rodds bay area , all south of the Boyne , not many to be sure but enough to make you wary , a few guys I know who fish the Middle creek area regularly reckon they spot a croc there some times when drifting back with the tide , seems they scarper when they hear a motor ,
There are definitely a few crocs in the fresh water section and feeder creeks of Baffle creek but none ever seem to be spotted in the salt water section , these areas are north of Mick but a mate reckons he spots a 10 ft croc in the Sandy Straights in the everglade section every now and then and that area is south of Mick ,
Fishermen spot a croc in the Hays inlet area every now and then and that is on the front door of Brisbane , one of the ones to spot it was a old mate of mine who was a Northern territory Policeman for many years and knows a croc when he sees one , he's seen it several times and seems to think there is only one or maybe two in the area at most , but he's also spotted one in the Bribe Passage , and in that maze of creeks it would still be possible for a croc to remain relatively undisturbed even today ,
I spent a lot of time up the Bribe passage many years ago and while I never saw a croc I saw the odd slide now and then but only in one area , going by the size of the claw marks around the slide the croc would be about 10 ft , of course it's probably gone by now as there used to be a fair bit of illegal netting in that area and if some one caught a croc in a net they would be just as likely to just kill it and dispose of the carcass , there is a old saying that where you get Barramundi you get crocs , the Mary river down by Mick is supposedly the southern most area for Barramundi but I've caught them in the Sandy straights south of Mick and I was witness to a mate who caught one in the top section of the Bribe Passage [ must of been lost ] , also seen them caught in the Noosa river and there is the odd sighting of crocs in the noosa everglades every so often ,
But crocs scare the hell out of me , they are just too sudden , if I was sure that a croc of 10 ft or bigger was in area there is no bloody way I'd be paddling there ,
Like Mick said a 14 ft is a bloody big beastie , a 16 ft looks like a bloody Russian submarine , they are about 2 ft across the head and over 4 ft across the gut ,
