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

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Great story Piston Broke, we fell in love with the place last year because of the serenity, we stayed at Lake Wonboyn the year before and it's the same too, very peaceful and relaxing but the Bemm is a lot closer for us so for now it's our yearly destination.

Thanks for the info to loamer, it seems the area has a lot more to offer in the way of prospecting & fossicking than I first thought.
 
SHREEVE said:
Great story piston broke reminds me of the old days when my old man used to take us fishing.

We all no doubt have plenty of those.
The lake at the Bemm can be very treacherous though in bad weather, its quite shalliw in some parts.
Back then (30 years back) there was no alcohol limits on boats, nor where flares or life jackets even bothered carried in them days.
We were flooring it back to the household jetty in the early hours of the morning once in a big storm, came down off a wave, struck bottom & turned it 90 degrees. We all (6) onboard the half cab went flying every which way, flung like rag dolls. Boat seemed like it was at least a fifth fiilled before we regained control & limped home bailing like mad.

We were very lucky that night, but didn't appreciate how much at the time. We'd all had too much to drink afterall.
 
Hey PB, we spent most of the week last year drifting and casting, we'd head over to whichever side the wind was coming from then drift across the lake picking up Bream on lures and plastics, it amazed me how shallow most parts of this estuary are, we saw the water chop up very quickly once when the wind changed on one occasion as well.
Thankfully I don't take alcohol on the boat, prefer to wait until we get back in then make up for lost time but yeah, it's amazing how quick things can go wrong, especially with the judgment clouded with a few cans under the belt.
 
ProspectorPete said:
Hey PB, we spent most of the week last year drifting and casting, we'd head over to whichever side the wind was coming from then drift across the lake picking up Bream on lures and plastics, it amazed me how shallow most parts of this estuary are, we saw the water chop up very quickly once when the wind changed on one occasion as well.
Thankfully I don't take alcohol on the boat, prefer to wait until we get back in then make up for lost time but yeah, it's amazing how quick things can go wrong, especially with the judgment clouded with a few cans under the belt.

PP,
I'm with you on that now. There has been a no booze policy on our boat fer a couple of decades now. Yep, save the beer for around the bbq bragging (or BS'ing) about what got caught & what got lost at the end of the day.
But 3 or 4 decades ago was a very different time.
I look back now to when I was a young kid, how strict my father was on things like our fortnightly shooting trips.
His CONSTANT whispered commands as dawn broke to me,
"No lingerering, keep up, you got to keep the line straight"
"No firing left or right across the line or I'll give ya a foot in the arse so hard ya nose will bleed"
"Sh#t, if I see you cross another fence like that again I'll rip ya arm off & belt ya over the head with the wet end. Its safety on, weapon passed through the fence, muzzle forward, then through you go mate. Not that stunt you just pulled there....Jesus, Joseph & Mary. How many times do I have to tell you son?"
He & my uncles were all pedantic regarding no booze & extreme safety when hunting.
But ?!?!?!.....yet ?!?!?!
The very next weekend we'd all be out fishing, no life jackets, they'd be cracking Foster's cans at 6am.
& we would all fish (they would all drink) until we called it a day.
They had absolutely no regard for maritime safety, either for themselves or I.
Its strange to look back on now. But maybe a mixture of some regulation & a changing of what is & now isn't acceptable in the community has improved things to what they are today?
4 decades ago was very much a case of double standards (at least in my household).
The same father who was incredibly strict with me when out shooting, was incredibly slack at home regarding weapon security.
My Wife was shocked to see an old photo of my bedroom as a child. "You slept with 8 shotguns on the wall above your bed?"
Of course not I said, they were all just rifles.

.......I never had the heart to tell her the shotties in those days were stacked upright in the LHS of my cupboard......& the ammo for all was just a hands reach above back then.

In some ways this post doesn't exactly paint my father as the perfect Dad...he wasn't.....just as in many ways I ain't either.
But those days were a different time, a different way of thinking too. Most of my friends have similar stories of their own double standards at home regarding safety & their own parents.
So it was what it was.
My Dad is an awesome grandfather though. Its funny (yet reassuring ) how safety conscious he is with the grandkids when he takes them out for a fishing trip. Or when he throws them aboard the yacht for a day on the bay.

Grandkids have given him a second chance.....as I'm sure they have many.
Upon reflection of many of my own lifes choices, they just maybe my saviour one day too.
Cheers.
 
Hi TD, that's awesome mate and thank's for sharing.
We're heading off this Saturday so I'll be sure to have a good read before we go, I definitely want to put in a few hours detecting at the beach, we've planned to take the boat to Marlo on 2 of the days as it's only about 50mins drive from Bemm River, my prospecting outings will just depend on the weather for how many trip I do and what locations.
I'll make sure I get a few photo's of the trip and follow up with a write up about it.
A big thank's to all that have contributed with suggestions and ideas for this trip, I really appreciate it.
Maybe I need another 2 weeks to fit it all in.
 
Hi Pete, If the Bemm isnt firing for you head up the road to the kiah inlet just beford Eden, magic flatties there across from whaling station.Youll be able to enter the river from Eden ramp through entrance on majority of the tides if you take the boat.The flatties in thrre can be sight casted from a tinny and are massive. The Nethercote falls are approx 15 mins out from Eden heading west and are a sight to behold especially after the recent rains ill post some photos shortly. These falls are great for sampling as the wash at bottom of falls is full of quartz and the river runs thru there from the Pambula goldfields which are really close by.
I know its a drive but on a nice day it will be well worth it, be sure to pick up some local oysters from the great people at the Kiah store.
Pm me and I can give you details on how to access some private property on the Kiah river where the big flatties lurk.

Cheers Bs545
 
Thanks for that Bs545, sounds like magnificent place and will definitely be on the radar if Bemm isn't firing. 2 years ago we spent 10 days at Lake Wonboyn and loved it, I recall stopping there on the Wonboyn trip, we spent a day driving up to Merimbula and stopped at every likely looking place on the way to look for prospective future camping/fishing areas.
Hoping to get back there at some stage so if we don't make it to Kiah inlet this time we'll get there next time for sure.
 
just came across this little bit of useless info
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/art...ing miners homebush gold struck&searchLimits=
The foreman of the Bairnsiiale party reported that they had prospected the Cobunga River and its tributaries. The}-sunk several shafts without finding payable gold, and on the 7th instant shifted their camp to the High Plains, at the head of the tributaries of the Bundarral Rivet'. They sunk three paddocks there, but did not find the color of gold. The fore man of the North Gippsland prospecting party reported that they prospected along the Yoloug River and its tributaries. They obtained no gold in payable quantities, but found the color of gold in loose gravel drift near the banks of the stream in one place. It gave, however, only about half a grain to the dish. They afterwards prospected in
Fix this text
the direction of the Brodribb River, having to cut their way through dense scrub and fallen timber. They reached the Brodribb River on the 7th in stant. The country appeared to be auriferous, and the foreman expected to obtain gold in payable quantities there
 
We arrived home last night and have spent an exhausting day today unpacking.
The 2 weeks was long enough and we're glad to be back to reality again but look forward to next year so we can do the things we didn't get time to do this trip.

The fishing as hard and we only managed to get out 6 times due to the winds and we were made to earn every fish caught from Dusky Flathead, Black Bream, Silver Trevally and Tailor all caught on soft plastics, hard bodied lures and surface poppers and unfortunately the elusive Estuary Perch eluded us once again.
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The wildlife was great and we encountered plenty of snakes, I even had to kill one unfortunately after giving the redbellied black plenty of opportunity to leave out camp site before making the hard decision, we also encountered possums scrounging through our food tubs in the middle of the night, lyrebirds, eagles, scorpions, goannas, countless bird life as well as some big spiders to keep mrs PP on edge especially the male funnel web that hitched a ride home and decided to surprise Trace last night when she was sorting the washing.

The prospecting left more questions than answers, I came across a small creek which had good bedrock running across it and decided to put a couple of hours crevicing in for no return, decided to give the MXT Pro a swing before leaving as the ground looked inviting, I was getting a strange signal from 1 piece of rock so I took the rock back to camp and made a little video to show what it was doing (post and video to come).
I also went to an ocean beach with Trace to give the puppy a good run and came across a heap of quartz reef that blew me away, I'm assuming it's barren but I made 2 videos and took a sample home (again, post and videos to follow).

I also managed to make it to the Genoa River on the last day before heading home, all I can say is it's bloody beautiful and I'm itching to get back there next year if not some time earlier.
I made a video of the trip and it explains it all and saves me writing the whole story.
 
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 ,
Hey. Just moved to the Club. Been thinking of doing a bit of fossicing, any tips please?
 

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