Dirk Hartog Island Trip Report (Video & Pics)
I don’t normally post many reports as I only really fish on holidays.. but I was lucky enough to get up to Dirk Hartog Island for the first time with a group of mates back in November. Wow! What a place. Had 8 nights up at Urchin Point and didn’t see another person until the last day, how good is that! We had good weather overall which was lucky for the time of year. Not lots of pelagic action but it was the best land based bottom fishing I’ve ever had. Certainly wasn’t a fish a cast but we put in the hours and we’re rewarded with lots of species and awesome feeds. Didn’t lose many to sharks either which was handy, think we lost 3 fish to them all trip.
Personal highlights included seeing everyone get fish, the epic views at Turtle Bay, the amazing coastline all over the island, personal PBs for Baldy, Pinky & Coral Trout (wow they are good on the chew).
Filmed the trip and chucked it on our YouTube channel if you wanna have a watch: https://youtu.be/hvADyaJwIjE
Its a mix of fishing but also some fun stuff and a heap of footage showcasing the epic island landscape. We don’t do a lot of fishing videos though it’s something I’d love to do more (so I can do more trips!). Will drop some photos below too.
A big thanks to Kieran and the DHI crew for what they do on the island, for the barge over and enabling us to have such an amazing experience. The fishing opportunities are endless and I reckon we barely scratched the surface. A 2nd trip back would be so good but really I’m just really grateful I got to go once. If you’re thinking about heading up there then make sure you give it a crack!
Cheers!
Dale
Posts: 7930
Date Joined: 13/09/05
Some good fish off the stones, well done
"Just because you are a Character, Doesn't mean you have Character."
Mr Wolf
quest
Posts: 248
Date Joined: 03/08/15
Wow!! How good is that!!
Wow!! How good is that!! Awesome trip by the looks of it.
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18029
Date Joined: 11/03/08
looks like an awesome trip.
looks like an awesome trip. plenty of nice fish landed. well done.
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
Anytime Brad
Posts: 237
Date Joined: 20/07/09
DHI
Just got back myself from an epic 5 days on the island, some of the best fishing I have ever experienced. will have to post up some photos when I get them sorted.
4 fishing sessions and some of the biggest baldies I have ever seen. They are hard to stop of the rocks.
I would rather be fishing
avatinni
Posts: 141
Date Joined: 06/06/10
Great vid guys looks like an
Great vid guys looks like an awesome trip
Rob H
Posts: 5801
Date Joined: 18/01/12
Great pics and great vid
Great pics and great vid mate-sparking my wish to get the boat up there!
Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...
The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.
Everyone's just winging it.
EL SYD
Posts: 599
Date Joined: 16/08/10
Great pics,how high above
Great pics,
how high above the water line are you, and do fish release easily and successfully from there ..
I have been meaning to plan a trip there for the last few years
shorething
Posts: 244
Date Joined: 05/10/11
Mostly at least 4-5m above
Mostly at least 4-5m above and some a lot higher. You need a cliff gaff almost all the time for any reasonable sized fish so catch and release wouldn’t be your friend on the cliffs. We released small fish that we could lift up as much as possible though. Turtle Bay would be your best bet for catch and release and some of the shallow reef sections that you can fish low platforms but we didn’t fish these as much
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Crackin trip ! One day!
Crackin trip !
One day!
dano83
Posts: 790
Date Joined: 25/05/12
Looks to be a Good trip
Looks to be a Good trip mate, good to see you get on to some fish. great pics from the drone. Where is that last drone shot looks like whitnell point or along the east side of the island
shorething
Posts: 244
Date Joined: 05/10/11
Yep correct along the east
Yep correct along the east side somewhere near Whitnell. Couldn’t tell you exactly, we just pulled over to film on our way to and from Urchin
Meeuwissen
Posts: 755
Date Joined: 29/03/13
It's a very special place
And I know the feeling about scratching the surface we felt the same way. Great photos with some quality fish. I almost don't won't to go back Because I have such fond memories and don't want to dampen them.
Down the Line
Catch the Experience
whipasswaverunner
Posts: 181
Date Joined: 25/09/09
Great pics and aerial footage
Great pics and aerial footage. Looks like dream holiday.
Out of interest how do you find the Mavic?
Cheers
shorething
Posts: 244
Date Joined: 05/10/11
We actually used the Spark
We actually used the Spark which is the smallest/base model. Performed incredibly well given the wind but not as good as the Mavic/Phantom/Inspire. Another con would be that it’s only 1080p video. We got sent the drone to test it out otherwise we’d normally use bigger ones. The Mavic is really good especially for its size and ease of operating. The best semi-beginner/amateur drone for sure I would say
whipasswaverunner
Posts: 181
Date Joined: 25/09/09
you're right, haha.
Sorry, I didn't get to watch right to the end where you plugged the Spark. Wow that is still good footage from that drone, I have heard pretty good reports about it too but Mavic like you say is just a little bigger and heavier, so more stable with a bit of wind. Cheers.
Colt_Striker
Posts: 624
Date Joined: 26/07/09
Some great fish & awesome
Some great fish & awesome pics
Notorious
Posts: 914
Date Joined: 23/02/12
Red fish with blue dots is a
Red fish with blue dots is a tomato cod? looks a little different to a trout
https://www.facebook.com/groups/174055815943047/?fref=nf
XF347
Posts: 101
Date Joined: 02/06/17
Coral cod
Coral cod
Boyce
Posts: 230
Date Joined: 04/02/17
Some great fish there
Some great fish there mate
Awesome job
Jadeo
Posts: 269
Date Joined: 08/06/15
Looks like a ripper trip.
Looks like a ripper trip. That's on the bucket list.
Snags
Posts: 558
Date Joined: 07/05/09
Thanks for taking the time
Thanks for taking the time to report and post pics!
Looks like an awesome trip!
Fisheagle
Posts: 349
Date Joined: 04/02/12
Great fishing
Great fishing and magic video
Fisheagle Ed
https://www.youtube.com/user/fisheagleed/videos
hellmansam
Posts: 25
Date Joined: 29/01/15
Looks an awesome spot I
Looks an awesome spot
I could handle a couple of weeks there
take the road less travelled, for there are fewer dickheads on it...