North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

G'day everyone,

I've got myself a 445 hornet trophy with a 50hp Honda on the back and am looking to move to the NT next year. Just wondering if it's worth while having it up there or should I look at unloading it over here in Queensland and getting something more suitable for up there.....

Just asking as I'm at the point of upgrading the electronics to suit what I want or selling it and buying something bigger. It's doesn't go bad in the creeks but once it's in the chop it's not to flash due to being a punt.

Cheers for any feedback

will do the job up here mate can fish all the major rivers a mate has one the exact same and fishes anson and chambers quite alot and the jew reefs out at shady perfect size i have a 4.2 dory and it does what i want it to

Gday mate , they are a great little boat but as you already know they don't like heavy chop.
Then it comes down to what you want to do , If you just gonna fish and launch in the rivers
it's fine . But doing runs across the harbour or out to Shoal bay on a poor weather day not a
lot of fun.

For my money I'd be looking at 5 to 6mt range 100hp(min) , this will get you out on the blue as well
with enough HP to deal with the nasty stuff if you need it.

Mate I'm not bagging smaller boats and I fish out of plenty , you just have to weigh up want you want
to do . If your taking kids out you'll have plenty of stability with the bigger boat plus more free board
sitting a bit higher of the water (crocs )

Seajay & Quinetrex have some fantastic boats in that size range , and will handle what the NT weather will
throw up . Nasty arvo winds in the Dry & slam dunk storms in the wet . Love it .

Cheers

jeffish wrote:Gday mate , they are a great little boat but as you already know they don't like heavy chop.
Then it comes down to what you want to do , If you just gonna fish and launch in the rivers
it's fine . But doing runs across the harbour or out to Shoal bay on a poor weather day not a
lot of fun.

For my money I'd be looking at 5 to 6mt range 100hp(min) , this will get you out on the blue as well
with enough HP to deal with the nasty stuff if you need it.

Mate I'm not bagging smaller boats and I fish out of plenty , you just have to weigh up want you want
to do . If your taking kids out you'll have plenty of stability with the bigger boat plus more free board
sitting a bit higher of the water (crocs )

Seajay & Quinetrex have some fantastic boats in that size range , and will handle what the NT weather will
throw up . Nasty arvo winds in the Dry & slam dunk storms in the wet . Love it .

Cheers

Cheers for the feedback guys.

I already have the hornet so if I can stick with it for a bit longer then I can get a better. Yeah we got the snapping handbags here to which sometimes get a little friendly.
Ill be down at katherine so mainly rivers for me, really only ever been to the vic river and roper bar for a drive and look see as I never had a boat last time I was up there.

Dont have any kids so not much of an issue there and with it being a wide gunnel punt its pretty stable. Guess I wont be standing on the maxi transom up there tho haha

What sort of distances are you generally looking at in the rivers up there for a fishing day/weekend just so I can get an idea of how much fuel I may need to carry. Only got a 60L underfloor tank.

Cheers,
Josh

Bottom Bashing Bloke wrote: What sort of distances are you generally looking at in the rivers up there for a fishing day/weekend just so I can get an idea of how much fuel I may need to carry. Only got a 60L underfloor tank.

Cheers,
Josh

Really depends a lot on how much you want to move around. Most places have good fishing well within a 5km radius of the ramp. Most of the big rivers you would be accessing the prime areas within 50 km. For example the barrage to the mouth of Sampan is only 35km. A similar distance from the Adelaide river ramp to Goat Island. I think a lot of the Daly river trolling grounds and creeks are within that range of the Wooliana ramp. Not sure for the Roper. Best bet would be to use Google Earth and make a path to get an idea of the travel distances involved. If in doubt take a jerry.

BTW prices of boats in Darwin are generally significantly higher than elsewhere, even in the new boat market. If you sell in QLD it will probably be better value to buy there too.

Dan

The main rivers Katherine locals (i was formerly one) fish are the Roper and the Victoria, that being said the Daly, South Alligator and Adelaide are all about the same distance away. Katherine is central to lots of great fishing locations but not close to any of them - your looking at 3 hours in any direction. That being said there are closer options such as the freshwater reaches of the victoria and roper rivers. Most of the locals do fairly long runs downstream on the Vic and roper but there is good fishing closer to the ramps. Your best bet would be to grab a copy of the Fishfinder mag and start sussing some spots out. The crew at Rod and Rifle in Katherine are very forthcoming with fishing info and well worth a visit.

dannett wrote:

Bottom Bashing Bloke wrote: What sort of distances are you generally looking at in the rivers up there for a fishing day/weekend just so I can get an idea of how much fuel I may need to carry. Only got a 60L underfloor tank.

Cheers,
Josh

Really depends a lot on how much you want to move around. Most places have good fishing well within a 5km radius of the ramp. Most of the big rivers you would be accessing the prime areas within 50 km. For example the barrage to the mouth of Sampan is only 35km. A similar distance from the Adelaide river ramp to Goat Island. I think a lot of the Daly river trolling grounds and creeks are within that range of the Wooliana ramp. Not sure for the Roper. Best bet would be to use Google Earth and make a path to get an idea of the travel distances involved. If in doubt take a jerry.

BTW prices of boats in Darwin are generally significantly higher than elsewhere, even in the new boat market. If you sell in QLD it will probably be better value to buy there too.

Dan

Ok cheers for that Dan, will have to get out the computer and have a look and see what sort of distances there are cross referencing FFF mag.

Boats are definitely cheaper down south compared to NQ/NT. bl..dy want $10,000 or more for the same boat as down in Brisbane!!!

NT Wombat wrote:The main rivers Katherine locals (i was formerly one) fish are the Roper and the Victoria, that being said the Daly, South Alligator and Adelaide are all about the same distance away. Katherine is central to lots of great fishing locations but not close to any of them - your looking at 3 hours in any direction. That being said there are closer options such as the freshwater reaches of the victoria and roper rivers. Most of the locals do fairly long runs downstream on the Vic and roper but there is good fishing closer to the ramps. Your best bet would be to grab a copy of the Fishfinder mag and start sussing some spots out. The crew at Rod and Rifle in Katherine are very forthcoming with fishing info and well worth a visit.

Yeah a long drive in any direction but will definitely be on the prowl for a FFF Mag to get some spots. Cheers mate