Bemm River - Vic, what to look out for??

[ProspectorPete]

I'm heading to Bemm River for the first 2 weeks of March, we stayed there last year for 1 week for the first time and loved the relaxed atmosphere of the area so we decided to make it an annual 2 week holiday.
The main purpose is for fishing and relaxation but I also want to spend a couple of days fossicking around, with either detector on the ocean beach at Pearl Point and/or looking for fossils around the rocks there.
Pearl Point is pretty remote apart from the odd surfers and fisherman who camp there on occasions so I imagine there won't be too much to find with the detector on the beach, then again I can't imagine it's had too many detectors on it either.

My question is has anybody here been to that general area or know of others that have and what could I hope to find or what should I be looking out for in the way of fossils etc?
Google doesn't seem to have much on the Bemm apart from it (the river) being on the exempt list for prospecting and the McKenzie River Rain Forrest walk which I doubt my dog will be able to join us on.
I'd be happy to just fish and relax but if I can get a day or two of fossicking in as well then it turns into a great adventure.

 

[G0lddigg@]

Hey mate i go to marlo fishing each year fishing with the oldman and brothers ive had a poke around but the creeks and rivers there are extremely deep and the overburden can be up to 20 feet.

Ive spoken to a few blokes out that way who know a thing or two if you head to the marlo pub and ask to speak with the owner. His names lost me at the moment hes studying geology and is a bit gold mad like us. Im sure hed be happy to spill the beans.

He told me most of the gold in that area is real deep. Ive seen some photos and it looks like eldorado gold but finer

 

[ProspectorPete]

Thanks mate, that might be a great excuse to duck around to the Marlo Pub on Parma night and have a few quiet ones.
We stayed at Marlo for 8 days last year after the Bemm and it's a great place, the Parma's are worth it alone, the fishing's not bad either
Would be good to find out some areas there for future prospecting/fishing trips.

 

[Jaros]

We stayed at Marlo in 2007 fro 3 nights. Great place. I used to play pool at night and was also drinking heavily. For some strange reason i couldn't lose!
No matter what i'd have a lot of my balls on the table and the other player male or female would make the mistake and i would win.
I remember 1 bloke had a trailer he lived in with his dog and a beautiful Harley bike-sitting in its own place on a carpet and polished to perfection.
He loved it. BUT it wasn't for sale.
They also had a large cockatoo enclosure near the pool and by geez he used to swear.
memories,,,,Jaros

 

[Hiluxlou]

G'day Pete
It's a beautiful part of the country up there , I have spent a lot of time up that way surfing and fishing . As far as prospecting goes I'd be looking at the rivers around Club Terrace , the Combienbar , Goolengook , Errinundra rivers would be worth a look and if you have no luck there are some cracking brown trout in those rivers . Further north to Cann river you could check out the Thurra ,Cann ,Wingan and Genoa rivers , I'd try up in the hilly parts of these rivers as Goldigg has said nearer the estuaries they are very deep.
In my opinion you can't go wrong in that country mate if you don't get onto the yellow the scenery , fishing and overall beauty and isolation of that area is a win.
Cheers
Luke

 

[G0lddigg@]

Haha yeh that cocky has been around for a while... learning from all the foul language... ive been fishing at marlo since 1993 the one consistancy is the pub on a Saturday night. My favorite is the flat heads tails.... just awesome. .. the pool table is well known to swollow a black ball for a foul win... happens all the time.... lol

Theres a bridge on the way into marlo too Pete that is in a gully and theres a pull over to the left its the only one ouside of town that i can remember. A mate of mine told me theres good gold in this if you walk upstream a bit but when i was there the water was way too high.

Have a great holiday anyway mate and if you get bored check out the firewood collection area outisde of orbost the pencil pines are amazing out that way.

 

[ProspectorPete]

Thanks Luke, I'll get researching on those rivers and creeks to decide what gear to bring on the trip.
I was happy not prospecting and just fossicking for fossils but by the sounds of it chasing some colour might be the go.

Jaros, great story. Last year the girl behind the bar was telling us about the resident seal that follows the pub owner around every time he goes fishing in his boat, he go so sick of this seal popping up he raced up the Snowy River as far as he could get (quite a few kms) and sure enough 20mins later the seal turns up to ruin his day again. The word is the seal has a big crush on the owner and the town rib him about it :lol:

 

[kawman]

.

 

[Tathradj]

I have a few friends down at Club Terrace that have been bugging me to come down.
Problem is I would end up sinking too many beers to keep up with what I went down for.
I like my beers but too much is too much. :/

 

[Grunta69]

Hey Pete Marlo is only an hour and ten min minutes away from me try down cape conran with your detector plenty of people go to beaches there.

 

[Tricky Dick]

Hi prospector Pete,
I've been drooling over Googlemaps for a long time over the rock bars on the Genoa River after finding some good internet material about the gold rush days at Genoa, although it's a bit further on.
I've not been there yet, but am extremely envious!
Best of luck
TD

 

[ProspectorPete]

Thanks for the suggestions guys and a couple of them are really appealing, keep them coming.
Looks like I'll need to take another 2 weeks off to get to them all :lol:

 

[stalker]

I have a few friends down at Club Terrace that have been bugging me to come down.
Problem is I would end up sinking too many beers to keep up with what I went down for.
I like my beers but too much is too much. :/

Club terrace ay ,,, I went to school there,, in fact my family and relo's worked and owned a mill there many years ago ,, my pop built his house there on the left just past the store about 200 yards on the bend ,

take a pan thats all you'll need to find gold there ,

 

[Tathradj]

Wolf Reid is very well known to me.

 

[stalker]

Wolf Reid is very well known to me.

Morcomb , burg , de ross , duggan , armstead , rees ,, just a few relo's last name ,

my mums mother was a burg then remarried a morcomb , so my mums last name changed twice before she was married , now rees ,

 

[ProspectorPete]

Hi prospector Pete,
I've been drooling over Googlemaps for a long time over the rock bars on the Genoa River after finding some good internet material about the gold rush days at Genoa, although it's a bit further on.
I've not been there yet, but am extremely envious!
Best of luck
TD

Hey TD, just been researching some suggested areas for prospecting looking at google maps, you're right mate the Genoa River seems to have endless rock bars to explore, thinking I'm definitely going to put a day aside to go there. If the river stays low then there should be some good crevicing to be had as well as fossils in the area so there's plenty to keep me busy for the day.

 

[loamer]

the following newspaper articles: Age 14th Sept 1895 - no title Bairnsdale advertiser 14th Sept 1895 - Discovery of a reef near Orbost Age 30th Sept 1895 - no title Bairnsdale Courier 2/10/95 - The Bemm Gold Reefs Government Inspector visits the find. Bairnsdale Courier 7th Oct 1895 - Sample of stone from the Bemm Age 8th Oct 1895 - The Discovery of a reef near Orbost Age 11th Oct 1895 - The Bemm River reefs, Orbost Age 16th Oct 1895 - The Bemm River find, Orbost Snowy River Mail 19th Oct 1895 - The Bemm Gold Field, Public Meeting at Orbost Omeo Telegraph 10/95 - The Bemm Goldfield, Snowy River Mail. Age 15th Feb 1896 - no title Age 21th Feb 1896 - Another discovery near the Bemm, Croajingolong. Age 7th Apr 1896 - The Bemm River Mines Age 17th Apr 1896 - The Bemm River Mines. Progress made by the Prospectors. Snowy River Mail 30/5/96 - no title Bairnsdale Advertiser 9th June 1896 - no title

 

[loamer]

Further:

The Boulder mine is situated on Boulder Creek, a tributary of the Errinundra River, which forms the western head of the Bemm. It is near the south-west corner of the Parish of Bungywarr about 1.5 miles west of the Errinundra post office at an elevation of about 1,300 feet above the Errinundra River. The strata exposed in the mine are mostly phyllites which dip in a westerly direction. The mine was first opened about 1898 by Jack Farquhar who carted his ore to Club Terrace. Surface stone is reputed to have yielded up to 6 oz. of gold per ton. Subsequently 3 adits were driven in a northerly direction to develop the formation at a depth.

 

[Piston_Broke]

My memories of the Bemm are distant but fond.
My elderly Father still tows his tinny there at least once a year though. He showed me photos of his last trip (2 months ago). I honestly didn't recognise anything other than the family friends house we have always stayed in. But thats not surprising, I havent been there for 30 odd years or so afterall.
Back then there was SFA there.
We'd jump in the boat early, pump 'one armed bandits' for bait in the flats. Then fish the lake all day for Bream, return home for mince or stew filled jaffles then zip the boat back across the lake & beach it where the 'old entrance' used ta be. Climb up across the sand dunes then fish the surf at night for Salmon & the occasional shark.
Back then before the Pub fire was a different time. If there where people still drinking after closing hours then (IIRC his name was John) would leave small change in the till. Pour them & pay for them he'd say, everybody did too. Last ones out would turn off the lights, lock the front door & leave the key in his letterbox.
My favourite photo in that old Pub was of a Flathead catch up near where the river joined the lake when the entrance hadn't been blown but was due too. It was nailed against a 44 gallon drum, the tip of its mouth at the top of it.....its tail curled slightly on the ground below, it was very dark in colour fer a Flatey. I cannot remember who caught it?....was it Ivan?....too long ago!

Enjoy your Bemm trip mate, best to you.
Cheers.

 

[SHREEVE]

My memories of the Bemm are distant but fond.
My elderly Father still tows his tinny there at least once a year though. He showed me photos of his last trip (2 months ago). I honestly didn't recognise anything other than the family friends house we have always stayed in. But thats not surprising, I havent been there for 30 odd years or so afterall.
Back then there was SFA there.
We'd jump in the boat early, pump 'one armed bandits' for bait in the flats. Then fish the lake all day for Bream, return home for mince or stew filled jaffles then zip the boat back across the lake & beach it where the 'old entrance' used ta be. Climb up across the sand dunes then fish the surf at night for Salmon & the occasional shark.
Back then before the Pub fire was a different time. If there where people still drinking after closing hours then (IIRC his name was John) would leave small change in the till. Pour them & pay for them he'd say, everybody did too. Last ones out would turn off the lights, lock the front door & leave the key in his letterbox.
My favourite photo in that old Pub was of a Flathead catch up near where the river joined the lake when the entrance hadn't been blown but was due too. It was nailed against a 44 gallon drum, the tip of its mouth at the top of it.....its tail curled slightly on the ground below, it was very dark in colour fer a Flatey. I cannot remember who caught it?....was it Ivan?....too long ago!

Enjoy your Bemm trip mate, best to you.
Cheers.

Great story piston broke reminds me of the old days when my old man used to take us fishing. By the way good to see a few members from the other forum on here. Cheers, James