Rainbow beach, Baffle creek, or 1770? Which is the best spot?

[snagking]

Hi guys,
In one of these coming weekends, my dad and I have decided that while my mum and little sister is visiting the grandparents in Melbourne, we'd go for a 4 day camping and fishing trip.
We have decided on going to either 1770, Baffle creek, or Rainbow Beach, but we don't know which one . We are currently fishing out of a canoe, so we would be fishing in an estuary, or we will be land-based (ie, Beach).
Does anyone have any suggestions on which one would be the better option for fishing because we go fishing every weekend,and would like to get into some really good fish .

We have a cast net and a yabby pump for bait gathering purposes, along with more plastics/ hard bodies than we really need.

Thanks in advance,
Snagking

[spearking]

Hi Snag king,

I've been to rainbow and 1770 on away trips, both top spots although I found 1770 to be a little more enjoyable,

Its a quiet town with good fishing, I speared a monster flathead just off the 1770 point right out side the pub,
we camped a bit out of town in the national park, magic spot, It had an estuary running past it that produced some good bream.

never been to Baffle creek but have heard some good reports about it,...... I'm heading to fraser on sat for a 7 day blast, been waiting all year .... hope its going to crank..... good luck with your trip

[tunaticer]

Best location I can suggest is Eurimbula National park camping at Eurimbula Beach. Excellent campsites with a good safe beach and an estuary that has some outstanding fishing to be had. Eurimbula National park is directly over the creek at 1770 so its a 25 min drive thru the park and down the road into Agnes or 1770 for top ups of anything required.

Hint for fishing Eurimbula: head upstream past the she-oaks / casuarina trees and start working the area from the she-oaks upstream. Below that does have some good fish but much better results can be had in the next mile or two upstream. Try and work your tides with as the sandbars are very numerous and very shallow from half tide down you could be dragging the canoe a fair bit i have in the past.

Jack.

[Damned67]

Well, it looks like we're going to head to the 1770 area.
There's a campground in 1770 on the waterfront, and from looking at Google Earth, it would appear that we can paddle up to Eurimbula Creek from there in the right conditions.
Probably go check out the camp grounds in Eurimbula National Park on the second day, primarily to make sure the car can get in there, and then move over there.

Really, we're looking for a few days of relaxing, with some fishing thrown in. OK, a lot of fishing. I think this should work.

Cheers!

[scrubba01]

1770 is a great spot you will love it makes me want to go now just thinking about it.

[snagking]

What would be the best way to target the fish up there? Would you suggest plastics, hard bodies, dead baits or live bait?
Also, are there any good bars that are good for pumping, or places that would hold live bait?

Cheers,
snagking

[tunaticer]

All of the above SK, The mouth of Eurimbula Creek has diverse sandbars, lagoons, channels and a patch of reef (ballast from a ship i think). Heaps of big whiting and flathead to be had in the system near the mouth so take a castnet and a yabby pump along. Upstream i use hard bods and livies predominantly but softs will brain the jacks as well. A few good sized barra also lurk around there and usually with a threadfin salmon not too far away.

Live prawns can be found at the mouth of the little feeder bays that dump into the channel although they are not an all yr proposition.

Downside of Eurimbula Creek is that it is a totally protected crab sanctuary and you will litterally see hundreds of them towards low tide and some of the biggest ones you can imagine almost wink at you when you go by drooling.

Jack.

[Damned67]

Thanks Jack, and to all the others!

I can't wait, and by the sounds of it, we won't be able to wait to get back there again!

I'm not going to take much food with us, we're hoping to catch all our meals. With any luck, we'll be sick of eating fresh fish by the time we're done!

Jack, do you by chance happen to remember what the access to Eurimbula is like? More to the point, will we be able to get to the camp in a small 2wd?
The Parks website is a little vague. It says that it's accessible by 'conventional' vehicles, but it also depends on the vehicles height?

Cheers!

[andoland]

Damned67 you will struggle to get into Eurimbula in a small 2wd vehicle. A Forrester or X-trail type vehicle would do it no worries but there are some deep ruts and potholes and if it has rained recently som large puddles on the track. There is also some soft sand as you enter the campground. You might get there in a 2wd ute with some careful driving.

[Damned67]

Thanks for that Andoland. That's what I was worried about.
Still, as in the attached image, we'll likely camp at the camp ground in 1770, and conditions permitting, can still paddle over to Eurimbula Creek. It's about 4kms according to Google Earth, and based on the image, if nothing else we can paddle across to the park, and drag the canoe along the beach to Eurimbula creek.

The bonus of staying in 1770, aside from the extra amenities (downside being more people around), is we can do some land-based fishing off the rocks around the point.

Would have been nicer to camp in the park itself, but 'you can't win 'em all'.

Cheers all!

[For Steve]

I'm with those above - 1770/Eurimbula would be my preference.

The road to Eurimbula can be hit and miss depending on recent rainfall etc. There can be decent ruts and it is prone to boggy conditions. Generally, no problem for a 4WD or AWD but a small 2WD would make me a little nervous. It's not that far from 1770/Agnes Waters so take a reco trip in the car and see what it's like.

There is quite a lot of tidal movement in the estuaries up that way so use the tide to your advantage if you paddle to and from Eurimbula.

Regarding tackle - take everything and see what's the go each day.

Have a great time.

Cheers
Brad

[Damned67]

I think we'll still make a recon run into Eurimbula on the second day we're there, but if everyone's a little concerned about a 2wd making it, then my little Nova (Toyota Corolla), laden with camping gear and a 16ft canoe might be a real problem.
Cheers!

[andoland]

Yep, I would give Eurimbula a miss with the Nova.

With regards to paddling, no it is not that far but it can be a little rough, particularly at the mouth of Eurimbula Ck. There is a sand bar about 50-100m out from the beach in front of Eurimbula campground and this gets rough when the tide is out.

[Damned67]

What about a Commodore Wagon?
I hadn't thought of taking the 'dore, due to the fuel, but the cost savings of camping in the park as opposed to the 'commercial' site will make up for the for the extra fuel.
Then again, I'm not even sure my roof racks fit on the commodore.

Cheers!

[andoland]

Still probably a bit tough in the commodore. You could try but I'd be sceptical that you'd make it through, at least without any damage anyway.

In any case, there will be a squillion sandflies there at this time of year. We were there about a month ago and they were bordering on unbearable then.