Fortescue River Boat Ramp Condition for Montes Trip. (Report with Pics)

Hi All
On our way north I called into the Fortescue River mouth to have a look and see if it would be suitable to launch an 8 mtr boat..
Myself and a mate are looking at launching there in October for a trip across to the Montes and thought it best to check it out while going past..
There used to be a cement ramp there, but not any more.. See below pic

It is quite steep and loose stone, ok for launching but would suggest that retrieval would want to be carried out on or near high tide and or have a second tow Vehicle to get you up the bank.

The one thing I did learn very quickly was that the old Grey Nomads that camp there every year don't like it when the ramp gets chewed up... ;-) Bit of a sore point.. LOL

Hope this post helps anyone out that may be looking at a Montes trip and launching from this ramp..

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 I've spent half my life fishing.. The other half I have wasted.. 

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And there are usually

Tue, 2013-06-25 17:09

And there are usually millions of sandflies

outdoinit's picture

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These photos were taken about 10 days

Tue, 2013-06-25 19:30

ago, So after all the rain it is anyone's guess to the condition... LOL

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closest

Tue, 2013-06-25 21:29

its your closest launching point to for a rec boat to the montes just take it slow on the way out and try to do it on a medium to high tide once you are clear of the main land its full blast to the montes if you are spending a week at the montes make sure you have some one from K town take your tow vehicle and trailer back to K town lots of young shit heads get down there on the weekend , just saying I wouldn't leave my stuff there for a week unsecured

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thanks for chucking that up

Tue, 2013-06-25 23:13

thanks for chucking that up there, its a trip Ive been thinking about for a while.

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distance

Wed, 2013-06-26 12:49

Does anyone know what the difference in distance is to the Montes from Karratha, Onslow and the Fortescue river?

 

cheers

 

brett 

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i did a trip from Dampier the

Wed, 2013-06-26 13:36

i did a trip from Dampier the north end area of Hermite island at the montes (Called Champagne bay i think) it was 68 mile.

 

On google maps its saying about 48 mile from Fortesque river mouth, so say 20 mile different by the looks of it.

Mason85's picture

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So has anyone

Mon, 2014-05-05 14:03

So has anyone actually had any experience launching an 8m boat there??

Devo1965's picture

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Looks steep.

Mon, 2014-05-05 15:08

Looks like not much traction on the gravel and looks like even 2 4X4 would struggle at that angle, would it turn to slippery mud in the wet if you were unlucky on return. Looking at it Id have to have 2 4X4, maybe one with a winch and some recovery gear.
Got me interested though.

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Devo1965

outdoinit's picture

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We did end up Launching from this ramp

Mon, 2014-05-05 17:14

October last year, we had a 7.6 mtr ally Stagg and a 8 mtr Ally Stagg.
We launched at high tide without any issues.
10 days later we retrieved both boats at low tide and were quite surprised how easy it was to get them out..
Yes we did use a second 4x4 as a helper.
The hardest part was getting the boat back on the trailer with the incoming tide.
If I were ever to go again, I would definitely launch from Fortescue..
The only thing you need to be aware of is the river crossing before you get to the ramp.. Easy to get across (Nice hard Bottom) But is subject to tidal movement..(Especially Spring Tides)
Need to cross at near low tide..
Hear is a link to our Trip report..
http://fishwrecked.com/forum/back-montes-pic-heavy

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 I've spent half my life fishing.. The other half I have wasted.. 

Mason85's picture

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Cheers mate! Cant wait to get

Mon, 2014-05-05 17:22

Cheers mate! Cant wait to get over there, just hoping that the ramp will accomodate our 8m Sailfish.....

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You will be right mate..

Mon, 2014-05-05 17:25

Are you going with another boat??

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 I've spent half my life fishing.. The other half I have wasted.. 

Devo1965's picture

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Google Earth

Mon, 2014-05-05 18:05

Just looked on Google earth and if I have it right the ramp is about 1/2 mile from river mouth, shows another possible launch 1 mile from river mouth a few meters up the first river fork, on my view there is a boat estimate 5m on the plain leaving the river fork into the main river.
Edit:
Just had another look and it looks shallow and probably very tidal.

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Devo1965

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Hi Devo, Yeah possible launch spot up first fork,

Mon, 2014-05-05 18:10

But only for smaller boats, between first fork and main boat ramp is a lot shallower than main ramp to mouth..

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 I've spent half my life fishing.. The other half I have wasted.. 

Mason85's picture

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 Trying to find someone else

Tue, 2014-05-06 18:07

 Trying to find someone else with a boat to join but so far no

luck. 

Vinesh87's picture

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Ill be keen when the new boat

Tue, 2014-05-06 18:18

Ill be keen when the new boat comes !

outdoinit's picture

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When are you looking at going???

Tue, 2014-05-06 18:29

 When are you looking at going???

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Mason85's picture

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 At this stage prob around

Wed, 2014-05-07 09:22

 At this stage prob around late June....

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Are there any trees that

Wed, 2014-05-07 15:27

Are there any trees that could be used to connect the winch to (via a tree trunk protector)?

outdoinit's picture

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No mate, no trees

Wed, 2014-05-07 19:04

 But would be easy to retreive at high tide.

But could mean a night spent there until low tide to get back across the other river crossing.. All depends on timing.

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 I've spent half my life fishing.. The other half I have wasted.. 

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There is a concrete block

Thu, 2014-05-08 12:42

There is a concrete block buried into the ground 20 metres above the ramp.  This has a winch point in it.

outdoinit's picture

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Thanks Mate

Thu, 2014-05-08 13:15

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 I've spent half my life fishing.. The other half I have wasted.. 

Mason85's picture

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outdoinit, you guys keen to

Wed, 2014-05-07 21:20

outdoinit, you guys keen to go again??

outdoinit's picture

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If you firm up some dates and let me know

Wed, 2014-05-07 21:57

 will see what happens..

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 I've spent half my life fishing.. The other half I have wasted.. 

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At this stage were looking

Wed, 2014-05-07 22:23

At this stage were looking around the 9-14 july...