North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

I read in the fish finder magazine about the Howard River bank launch. Does anyone have any info on it? Tides and accessibility? Thanks

I was down there the other week would not bother to try. Unless your fishin out of a canoe. Just go for a drive and have a look.

Can you drive to the old ramp? I used to catch plenty of crabs of the bank years ago

Is the ramp out from King creek a private use only? That ramp would make shoal bay a lot more accessible.

FishMick wrote:Can you drive to the old ramp? I used to catch plenty of crabs of the bank years ago

Way back in the day when the 'standard' rig was 12ft tinny cartopped (rarely saw a boat trailer !!) the top 'ramp' was a very handy resource.
As I remember it, we stopped using it somewhere around the late 80's early 90's when the whole mud flat system seemed to 'sink' (ie we used to
be able to access the launch area over the flats up to a tide of just under 7m. On large 7+ springs, the entire mud flat inundated, making it unpassable
to get to the river). Mysteriously, the flats over the space of a few years would inundate at a tide just over 6m, meaning access on only neap'ish tides.

barnzy wrote:Is the ramp out from King creek a private use only? That ramp would make shoal bay a lot more accessible.

Yes it is. Key required to access gate. And your right, SB & the Howard River system would be much more accessable which is why I hope it remains 'private' - wouldn't
want my backyard turning into another Shady or Dundee .....

Yer fair call slug. Would you get a 12foot tinny in the top ramp with a good off-road trailer?

Yeah I'd reckon (unless you're launching at the top of the tide you'd be 'manhandling' it off the trailer tho). And, getting across the mud flats to the river is an issue on bigger tide cycles. As Tracker suggested, best to go for a drive on a say 6.5m tide & see how inundated the flats are??