Greetings all,

Well I suppose that you’ve already heard the news about a croc attack in Weipa – the detail of which was both dramatic and horrific.

In summary around 4pm 28 year old Todd Barstow was casting lures from the banks of the Trunding Creek and was set upon by a reported 4 meter crocodile. The creature tore off one of his fingers and came back for seconds after Barstow slipped and fell. The beast tried to pull him back into the creek by the legs and Barstow fought for his life grabbing hold of a mangrove branch. After a 15 minute struggle he was rescued by a mate who heard his screams for help from the veranda of a nearby hotel. His friend hit the croc over the head with a tree branch causing the beast to let go and swim off.

Although not sustaining life threatening injuries Barstow was left with severe lacerations, dislocations and broken bones and was airlifted to Cairns Base Hospital for continued treatment. Croc bites are tricky to treat and are prone to infection.

Ok so what precautions must you take to avoid ending up as croc bait?

In my eBook “The Ultimate Guide to Fishing Weipa” I outline some simple steps to minimise the risk of croc attacks. You may think that common sense plays a large part (and it does) but I’ve seen a lot of complacency in croc infested areas in general.

Anyway the first step is to acknowledge that there are likely to be crocs in the vicinity and as such it pays to keep an eye out for them. If you do see a crocodile don’t do anything silly like try to feed or harass them. If you need to set up camp, keep it a good distance (at least 50m) from the high tide mark and don’t clean your fish or cook near the edge of the creek. Don’t throw your scraps or clean your equipment in the water either. If you must fish from the water’s edge stand a few meters back – I know this is hard to do when you’re catching fish and you’re keen to cast those lures but you only get one chance against a 4 meter plus crocodile. I recommend a no-swimming policy (even in shallow fast moving streams and even if there is a group of you). The final point is don’t take risks and keep your arms and legs safely in the confines of your fishing vessel. Dangling feet and arms are a tempting croc lure!

Interestingly in 2004, the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) trapped nine crocodiles between 3 and 4.4m in length in the Weipa area and planted satellite-tracking devices before releasing them into the wild. Five of these crocs were captured close to the Weipa town – one in the Embley, two from the Hey and one each from Andoom and Wooldrum Creek. The “Crocs in Space” experiment provided valuable information about the movement of crocodiles in areas where they were likely to encounter “negative interactions” with local residents and fisherman.

You can learn more about fishing Weipa in Skipper Meggs “The Ultimate Guide to Fishing Weipa”

Sea you later,
Skipper Meggs

Greetings all,

Well it’s almost that time of the year again and what better way to reward your partner, father, brother, mate or fellow adventurer than with Skipper Meggs “Ultimate Guide to Fishing Weipa”.

I know what you’re thinking… this is probably just a 20 page eBook with very few worthwhile details contained within. Wrong! This eBook was due to be published just before the GFC hit the print business pretty hard. With only a small print run of 2000 books planned the publisher decided to pull the pin on the project so I was left was 42000 words totally dedicated to the topic of fishing Weipa.

I could’ve just shelved the contents and not worry about getting the word out there but I just couldn’t bring myself to let down all the travelling fisherman amongst us. Let’s face it – Weipa is too far away for most of us not to be prepared before we go.

So anyway if you’re struggling with Xmas gift ideas or what to buy for Kris Kringle take a look at www.skippermeggs.com/book/ and get your copy today for under A$20.

Sea you later,
Skipper Meggs

Greetings all,

Ok, this week’s song is all about that special feeling that every fishermen gets when they put out to sea on a boat. Well kind of… but not really.

I know that when we headed off into the Whitsundays on a 35 foot bare boat cruiser we were pretty happy and proud sailors but we didn’t go so far as to wear our dinner suits on board. But then again, we weren’t The Lonely Island crew – a band that has been responsible in the past for bizarre underground hits like Jizz in my Pants.

For the squeamish amongst you there are no scenes of violence in the following music clip but I must say they have let the foot off the brake when it comes to swearing – it’s certainly not a G-Rated video from that perspective. Warning… if you are mortally offended by profanities I wouldn’t press the play button.

You won’t find a fish anywhere in the clip but keep an eye out for a stray mermaid.

By the way, I understand that no dolphin was injured in the making of this video clip – so get your swim trunks and flippy floppies and sit back and enjoy the tune….

Sea you later,
Skipper Meggs

Greetings all,

Some readers of “The Ultimate Guide to Fishing Weipa” have enquired about the type of music that the Fishing & Reef Tour Specialists listen to whilst at sea. It seems that fishermen all over the world enjoy a combination of the sea, good company, great fishing and sensational music.

Now Skipper Meggs would be the first to say that our crew’s selection of music is a bit eclectic. A bit of punk rock, some bawdy ballads, a little bit of hip hop, a touch of pop and even the odd classic hit every now and then but for the purpose of this column I thought I would restrict some of the music to songs that have a nautical and fishing theme.

This week’s song is a fantastic acoustic rendition of “Shark Fin Blues” – a song recorded by “The Drones”. Just as a bit of trivia Skipper Meggs and his son Tuss actually shook hands with the members of The Drones at the Gold Coast Big Day Out in 2009.

Anyway, for anyone who has ever fished offshore and had that sinking feeling this one’s for you. And remember if you’re off to sunny Weipa you’ll probably see them coming fin by fin by fin by fin….

I hope you enjoy the song.

Sea you later,
Skipper Meggs

Get your copy today!

Greetings all,

Ok, Skipper Meggs has not gone crazy – it’s just that one his close friends has just published and released a hard copy book entitled “Local Marketing Secrets Cracked!” Now I know this book has nothing to do with fishing but I also realise that a lot of people that read this column run some very substantial businesses out there. So in the spirit of helping out a mate if you would like to avail yourself of this 234 page Local Marketing epic you can click here.


The book helps you demystify local marketing and gives you a set of awesome marketing tactics that you can deploy immediately to generate quality sales opportunities in your local area.

Local marketing guru Greg Mullane has helped numerous businesses attract new clients through his street-wise, local marketing strategies.

“I’ve watched businesses thrashing the same outdated local marketing tactics that continually fail to produce massive outcomes. I’m passionate about the enormous potential of local businesses to deploy high impact, laser focused local marketing strategies to drive an avalanche of new leads and sales and this was my inspiration to write “Local Marketing Secrets Cracked!” Mullane said.

The book reveals everything a small business owner, franchisor, franchisee or a regional manager of a major corporation needs to know about developing marketing campaigns that will generate leads and sales in the confines of their local territory.

It divulges how to align your strategy with the local area by unlocking its DNA, the importance of identifying peaks and troughs in demand and the tricks behind spending your local marketing budget wisely. Recognising not all businesses have wads of cash to throw at local marketing, the book also discusses the powerful exploitation of other people’s people and other people’s money for mutual gain.

“I’m a firm believer in the old adages “the universe rewards activity” and that “the skill to do
comes of doing”. It’s not enough to just read “Local Marketing Secrets Cracked!” Your business
needs to take action to get results. If you follow the principles in my book and take action, you have
enormous potential to produce a king-tide torrent of fresh local leads and clients direct to your
door.”

“Local Marketing Secrets Cracked!” is available for order at any Angus & Robertson store, Australia wide or online at www.tinyurl.com/2949v6l

I hope you enjoy it!

Sea you later,
Skipper Meggs

Wild Weipa - with more drains than Sydney Water! Note the croc slide right of picture

In recognition of the coming of Spring, Skipper Meggs has decided to celebrate the moment and slash the price of his eBook “The Ultimate Guide to Fishing Weipa” from $27.97 to an all time low price of $14.95 – but only until 30th September 2010. The eBook is now available for download at;

www.skippermeggs.com/book/

More than just an eBook, it’s over 40,000 words of information jam packed into one easy to read PDF file!

The reason I put this book together was because the Fishing & Reef Tour Specialists fished this magnificent paradise a few years back and when we were preparing to go we just couldn’t find any information about the place. Being a remote fishing destination we wanted to be prepared as much as possible. If only I had this eBook BEFORE we left!


I wanted to make sure that no one else would have to do as much research as we did so that when they got to Weipa they knew exactly what to do and where to go to get straight into the fishing action.

Yes, the book does give you directions to fishing hot spots, what to take including which lures (and for that matter it also gives you the low-down on when, where and how to catch mud crabs in Weipa) but it also provides insightful information about responsible fishing.

Anyway, more detailed information is available at;

www.skippermeggs.com/book/

I hope you enjoy it!

Sea you later,
Skipper Meggs

Greetings all,

A few of you have enquired whether or not Skipper Meggs and his team are heading up to Weipa for the Weipa Fishing Classic this upcoming long weekend. Well the truth is that we’d all be shot if we did because we’re heading off down the south coast of NSW shortly to fish for Makos, Blue Eye and Yellowfin!

The Weipa Fishing Classic is held solely to benefit the local community and local sporting groups and attracts a whole heap of fisherman from all around the country as well as a bunch of 4 wheel drive enthusiasts. The local fish will no doubt give the 1300 odd competitors a thorough workout over the long weekend and I wish we could be a part of the action.

To coincide with the competition I will hold the price of “The Ultimate Guide to Fishing Weipa” eBook at $19.95 and extend the date of the price rise to the 14th June which will allow people to purchase it prior to and during the event.

Anyway, good luck to everyone competing at the Classic and may the weather be kind to you all!

Sea you later,
Skipper Meggs

For information about Premium TV for PC Click Here!

Greetings all,

I’ve been overwhelmed by the huge response I’ve had to “The Ultimate Guide to Fishing Weipa” eBook and I am humbled by the many thank you emails I’ve had from people who have bought the eBook prior to making their way to Cape York.

For information about Premium TV for PC Click Here!

When I listed the eBook for sale I did have a targeted number of copies that I wanted to sell prior to reviewing the price and to be perfectly honest that number was surpassed some time back. Regardless, for those of you that have already visited “The Ultimate Guide to Fishing Weipa” sales page you would know that I had intended to raise the price at the end of April.

I regret to inform everyone that I will be increasing the price from $19.95 to $27.97 as at 1st June, 2010. At this rate it still represents huge value. I always say it only takes one good fish (or mudcrab!) to justify the investment and when you fish in remote places it pays to be informed before you get there so that you can make the most of your fishing time. Besides I know if I was heading off to Weipa for a fishing trip the eBook is an absolute must have. So much so, that I only wish we had a copy before our lst adventure there!!!

Anyway, there is still a fortnight left to purchase a copy at the old price. Follow this link to buy your copy today; www.skippermeggs.com/book/.

Sea you later,
Skipper Meggs

Greetings all,

When we were kids in school (some 40 years ago now) they taught us the fact that the dutchman William Dampier landed on the west coast of Australia in 1688 well before Captain Cook made his way to Australia. What they didn’t tell us was that there were other Dutch vessels making the long voyage to the Southlands even before Dampier.

For those of you that missed Channel 7’s Sunday Night show it makes the claim that the Dutch colonisation of Australia pre-dates the British albeit perhaps unintentional and by way of shipwreck. They are in the process now of carbon dating a wasp’s nest that was painted over by aborigines in a figure that looks like a Dutch officer (somewhere in northern Queensland) and they are also conducting DNA testing on some local aboriginess in the vicinity of Monkey Mia in WA to determine whether they are of Dutch decendancy.

See: Channel 7’s Sunday Night program

For information about Premium TV for PC Click Here!

You can also take a look at Ross Coulthart’s blog that discusses the show.

I’ve decided to release the opening page of “The Ultimate Guide to Fishing Weipa” eBook (unedited and word for word) to share with you some (obviously) little known Australian history about the early Dutch explorers and their influence on the tiny fishing and bauxite mining town of Weipa.

You can click here to find out more about “The Ultimate Guide to Fishing Weipa” eBook.

I hope you enjoy it.

You could probably win some money on this little piece of trivia down at your local watering hole…

Who was the first European to “encounter” the Australian mainland?

Answer: Willem Janszoon in 1606.

For some reason no one refers to this encounter as a “discovery” and I suspect this is due to our British heritage. Now if that doesn’t win you a round of drinks nothing will. As a contemporary Australian male I would’ve thought that even in the 1600’s the English ruled the high seas. But this was not the case.

At that time a new Dutch nation known as the United Provinces seemed to have the ocean trade sewn up with a huge fleet of sea going vessels. In the early 1600’s the British were lucky to have 10% of the number of ships that the Dutch owned. Not only was the United Provinces home to the largest fleet of ships but also the biggest business in the world – The Dutch East Indies Company (VOC). This firm was held in such high esteem it was even granted the power to wage wars and to put in place treaties with foreign leaders across the globe.

I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t extend the same privileges to BHP today.

VOC also had a monopoly on the super lucrative spice industry. Wow, a few centuries later and the Spice Girls are worth millions but it’s hard to turn a dollar pedaling nutmeg, pepper, cinnamon, ginger, clove and mace. Spices were all the rage in the 1600’s and much raping, pillaging and violence ensued to capture the supply of these valuable resources. It’s hard to fathom what all the fuss was about but to put things into some perspective nutmeg for example was thought to be a cure for the plague!

One of the boats owned by the VOC was called the Duyfken – in English this name translates to “Little Dove”. This 20m, 8 cannon, sailing ship was granted a monopoly on the spice trade from the Spice Islands by the Dutch government. In 1606 the Duyfken was charged with the responsibility to seek out “east and south lands” and it was this journey that led it to charting Australia’s Cape York Peninsula and also a subsequent landing on the shores of Weipa (well 40km to the north of the town at least).

The Duyfken’s captain Willem Janszoon and Jan Roosengijn were acclaimed as the first white people ever to set foot on land in Weipa and after this feat (pardon the pun!) for the very first time all inhabited continents were finally known to European geographers.

The Duyfken continued its colorful history after its departure from Weipa and, in the ensuing years, battled Spanish Galleys and captured a fortress on Indonesia’s Makian Island in 1608.

A month later the Dufyken was taken to another Indonesian island called Ternate to repair some damage to the ship’s hull. Disaster soon struck when a decision was taken to lie the ship on its side to make repairs – a move that led to the destruction of the ship.

Today Duyfken Point marks the northern point of Weipa’s Albatross Bay.

Sea you later,
Skipper Meggs

Greetings all!

I’m happy to say that since the launch of “The Ultimate Guide to Fishing Weipa” eBook I’ve been able to help a lot of traveling fishermen prepare for their journey north.

The “Ultimate Guide to Fishing Weipa” ebook is jam packed full of must-have-before-you-go Weipa information including;

* Where the Weipa fish are and when to catch them
* Four Weipa land based hot spots – leave your boat behind and have some of the best fishing action from the shore.
* Two secret black jewfish holes and how to make the most of them
* Seventeen features to watch out for that are serious fish attracting magnets – they are more common in Weipa than you realise!
* How it’s possible to catch some sensational fish by being in the know about their individual habits
* A definitive list of lures you shouldn’t go to Weipa without. When and how to use them and the targeted fish they will help you catch
* How to get in the zone in the Weipa river systems, Albatross Bay and beyond


But that’s not even the half of it! There’s some great content that you simply must read BEFORE you make the trip to Weipa.

Take a look at www.skippermeggs.com/book/ and see how much more information is packed into this 42,000 word eBook!

Sea you later,
Skipper Meggs