North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

Towing a 5m GS on a voyager trailer up to Coburg21-22 Sep for a 4 day trip. Tides look good for Cahill's crossing, will be replacing bearings etc on trailer and taking spares. Got spare rubber for cruiser and trailer. air compressor, high lift, tools,etc. Will have ample water and fuel (and the amber ), and got our permit in the mail today. Any major "must haves" or tips from experienced fishos will be greatly appreciated, as this will be our 1st time up there. Not taking a genny, have Engels, solar panel and numerous batteries. I Know the caretaker at 7 spirit bay and he told us more than welcome to drop in and say g'day so we wont be totally isolated, but you lot are a world of info. As the saying goes better to be looking at than for it. Cant wait to post up a great trip on here. Cheers in advance John McC

Heard its cr.p to three ways and good after that.

Sent you PM mate just some general stuff

Unreal triple f. PM back at ya. Ta. Heard the same ghound. Mate went past there to the coast and said fark towing a boat over there. We will give it a go. What could possibly go wrong? Cheers fellas

I haven't been up there since April so god knows what the roads like but slow down and you will be fine. Don't overload the boat, keep all the heavy things, fuel, ice etc on the car. Been up there a few times now and have seen many broken trailers/springs and they were all either travelling too fast, or the boat was loaded with gear. Saw one bloke who was working on the theory that if he went flat out he'd skim over the corrugations - he broke all four springs on the way up, dropped the trailer off, drove back to darwin for more springs then broke two of those on the way out.

I'm currently Working over at Oenpelli at the moment. Heap of heavy transport moving up that road and daily travelling to Jabiru is pretty bad. Spare bearings, hubs, tyres and axel/s would be a good safety idea. Sat phone or SPOT tracker a must. You can hire a sat phone from Telstra business centre in Winnellie for a good rate.


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Every time I've been out that way its the road between Cahills and the Coburg Turnoff thats been the worst.

I'd take one of those plug puncture repair kits if you dont have one in your spares kit, and a compressor if you have room. Do you have a bow mount electric? Maybe put that inside the car for the trip in/out to save it bouncing on the bow all that way. As the stingray man above said, sat phone for safety. I did manage to pick up some 3G reception about 50 or 60km after the coburg turnoff, but that was it. Just enough to get some email and texts pop in, the radio silence the rest of the time was bliss.

Went that way a few years ago and found the road pretty cr.p between Cahills and the three way turn off. Let our tyres down to about 24psi on both the hilux and the trailer and it was heaps better than having them full. We would stop every 50km or so just to check. Springs definately get a work out so make sure they are tip top before you go. Ill be heading that way about a week after you so looking forward to your report when you get back. Good luck and watch out for the Banteng!

Cheers fellas. Yeah Jabsy , got a compressor . didnt think of a Sat phone LP. Might be worth chasing one up. Minn kota is already packed in the cruiser and my ole mate who owns the cruiser used to drive Miss Daisy around ,im sure of it, so we definitely wont be breaking any speed records. Only 12 more sleeps!

was ok last week. im heading up monday for a few days will let you know what the road is like. where abouts are you heading

road through from Cahils is a bit corrugated but not to bad and the road from 3 ways to Sandy creek turnoff his like a highway

road through from Cahils is a bit corrugated but not to bad and the road from 3 ways to Sandy creek turnoff his like a highway

Heading up to black point camp ground, Tracker. Ole mate caretaker at 7 spirit is freezing us some ice blocks as we speak. Wheel bearings done. Spare spring and u/bolts on board. Only a wee bit excited about now. Look forward to posting up a ripper report. Just on a side note, what's the best method for catching feral cats? Neighbour A 86 and I have lost 5 chooks to murderous basstards in the last week and im not seeing dog tracks or scratch marks around access point. Just a footy sized hole pushed under a weak spot .Got to be I big arse cat i,m tipping. No dog prints and chooks plucked and eaten in situ. Snares and traps would mean locking(useless)dogs up for nights on end. . Any way, we're going fishing. Cheers heaps for the advice. All taken on board.

Well, you cant beat the weather gods. Trip had to be postponed due to the water levels at the crossing. Bugger. Better than getting over there and not being able to get back!. Had a fish upstream in the stunning East A river for a couple of tiny barra, then decided to make our way out before Megeela locked us in. Plan B was head to Dundee and try our luck. Got a couple of small barra and a salmon trolling the rock bar up the finness, the headed offshore for some reefies. Managed to score a couple of mackies while trolling, but the goldies and reds left us alone. Headed out again Sunday wide but the lumpy conditions saw us pull the pin early. 5th attempt I got the boat on the trailer with the following swell deciding my boat should be sideways up near the tractor not on the silly trailer. All still kicking stones about not making it to black point but there's always next time.