About me

TOWNSVILLE NORTH QUEENSLAND

     

“Spanish Mackerel, Rainbow Trout, and Barramundi Cod, Quite a variation”

Personal facts I live in Townsville North Queensland and have done for the last 40 plus years. I have found the people very friendly and easy to get along with. Townsville is now getting a bit large for my liking. The population is near to 250,000 now that Townsville now includes  Thuringowa. The fishing is declining in numbers and this is confirmed by the various local fishing club records of captures. Surprisingly the barramundi is on the increase however all other species are suffering badly. The destruction of the local seagrass by recreational and commercial anglers is probably the cause. The run of doggie mackerel that used to be in the thousands and lasted for months is now extremely patchy in numbers and lasts for a very short time only. The breeding grounds in the sea grass is gone and consequently so are the numbers. Commercial catches of 80 tonnes a day per boat also didn’t help the local fishery. The islands to the north of Townsville still have good fishing though somewhat limited in time frames compared to some years ago. The Queenfish is considered the poor mans marlin and even its numbers have declined. Queenfish around the outer islands were prolific and it was common to have up to three boats with six anglers hooked up at the same time catching and releasing these brilliant pelagic jumpers. The occasional Spanish mackerel was also caught in these areas however they were rarely put back in the water. Fishing is superior in the Northern Territory, hence the occasional trip into this abundant fish area. The outer reefs are also extremely good fishing when one can get there. Personal Interests Fishing. 
I have been an avid angler for many years fishing from Tasmania to the very tip of Cape York. Most of my fishing has been on the Great Barrier Reef. This has resulted in finally becoming a Master Grade five skipper and I still enjoy going to the reef as often as I can. I fished with the late Malcolm Florence in many of his excellent fishing movie productions centered on the very northern areas of the Great Barrier Reef. Most areas we fished had rarely if ever been fished with sportfishing gear, and may I say it was a bugger of a job but someone had to do it.

 

outsider at ramp

This is the first Cruise Craft Outsider out of the mold,  I had to test for Nicholls Brothers for just over a year.

 

outsider eddie

Fishing Guide Eddie Riddle with out first small marlin from the Cruise Craft.

 

Pooleparl

I have even tried fishing in the ponds in front of Parliament house. Not much luck, I feel they must have all died from the extreme amount of hot air and B/S that issues from the front door. 4WD tours.  A love of fishing naturally leads to driving to remote spots for what one considers the best spots. Getting away from it all is one of my highest priorities. Even if it is just for a day into the bush areas around Townsville.

Camping out. 

4 wheel driving and camping are somewhat under the same roof as one is almost non existent without the other. My fishing mates and I travel great distances over this great country and we have sure found some mind blowing camping spots.

Skippering game boats
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Again the fishing has enabled me to attain my Master grade five license and nothing gave me more pleasure than assisting friends and visiting anglers to see our awesome barrier reef. I never cease to wonder at the reef and every time I go it gets better. My ticket has since lapsed after some 15 years due to insufficient sea time so this pleasure has declined somewhat.
One wonders how one can lose a license by this method however that’s the ruling, so be it. A.N.S.A. I Have been a member of the Australian National Sportfishing Association for nearly 50 years I am currently both a club life member and a National life member. I have been active on both the Queensland executive and now the National executive board for some 28 years and currently held the position of National Chairman until I retired in 2018.

Computing.
Since retiring from 40 years in PMG/Telecom/Telstra I have kept up my electronic knowledge by working at home with my home computer. I find about two days a week is sufficient to keep my mind active and give my wife a break from my never ending complaints and requests. My knowledge of computers and the computer industry has increased and I still wonder at the vast improvements that continue to come from the major manufacturers. One day in the not too distant future computers will talk our language instead of us having to talk theirs.
 My original system had an INTEL Motherboard, INTEL Quad 3.0 processor with a few 500 gig hard drives and 16 gig of DDR ram. I have produced a few DVD’s from my old home movies, very time consuming. I exited the dark side and now run an apple iMac 27 inch with a 5K retina screen for all my computer needs. Does the same job with less problems and rarely if ever crashes. I started a small company to assist those who have difficulty with their computers and as a retiree I find many similar people wanting to get on the computer bandwagon but are unable to pay for expensive training.  Sadly I had to curtail this little activity in order to comply with Centrelink requirements for an old age pension. Current Projects Looking after grandkids, great job, I can give them back when they play up.