Fraser Advice April 09

[Out-Station]

G'day all. I'm heading to fraser (waddy) in a week or so, 5 blokes 2 boats. We've all been up there but never taken the boats and fished of waddy. I'm not worried about getting up there, boats in the water etc etc but am worried about not being able to find any decent fish when i'm finally out there. Absoluteley ANY advice on the where's and hows would be welcome but also have a couple of specifics..

1. We're going for 7 days but are all flexible with our timings, as soon as we see a decent patch of weather coming we go. Any advice on what sort of wind is workable (5-6m boats) up that way would be good.

2. Livies - from what i read you get em out the back of the beach. Any marks or further pointers would be great.

3. I havn't ever really fished for reds, jobbies etc seriously. Should we be looking on the hard ground or the fringe/gravel/rubble country. Western vs eastern edges of the high ground?

4. Any advice on where to start looking for Mackies and Whoo's would be good.

Anway, wind pending i'm sure we'lll have a good time. I'll take the computer so hopefully generate a few reports while i'm up there.

Cheer's, Scott

[whitingkiller]

mate,
you might want to ring the ranger on fraser to get an update on the conditions, as a mate of mine came back yesterday from fraser and it took him 8 hours to get from waddy to hook point!..and he wasn't towing a boat!!i have seen photos of all the exposed coffee rock on the beaches..also the inland track is terrible as well....thought u should know

[rusco]

Hi Scott
Check out post re Toyota fishing comp/going fishing-m&G last post page 5...Some marks in posts...Also you can try Browns rocks on way to cape for macks
Rusco

[whynott]

mate,
you might want to ring the ranger on fraser to get an update on the conditions, as a mate of mine came back yesterday from fraser and it took him 8 hours to get from waddy to hook point!..and he wasn't towing a boat!!i have seen photos of all the exposed coffee rock on the beaches..also the inland track is terrible as well....thought u should know

As whittingkiller has said, things are said to be bad up there at the moment.

Here is the latest beach report from Fraser:

Exposed Rocks on Eastern Beaches
This alert is valid from : 09-04-2009 to: 20-04-2009 (inclusive)
Page generated on : Thu Apr 16 11:47:24 2009

Visitors and tour operators are advised to expect poor beach conditions on the Eastern Beach of Fraser Island due to exposed rocks, including the areas listed below. All drivers are strongly advised to exercise extreme caution when traversing these areas. Drivers should drive to tide and beach conditions at all times and be aware of changing conditions due to weather and swells.

Road closed: Ngkala Rocks bypass impassable

Ngkala Rocks bypass has steep drop-offs due to recent high tides, making the road impassable. Do not use the Ngkala Rocks bypass.

North of Happy Valley - McLaughlan & Chard Rocks

McLaughlan Rocks and Chard rocks are exposed and may be difficult to traverse.

South of Happy Valley – Yidney Rocks are exposed

Rocks between the northern Yidney bypass track and Happy Valley are exposed and may be difficult to traverse. The alternative route from the Yidney Rocks bypass direct to Happy Valley can be used.

Poyungan Rocks Beach

Poyungan Rocks and the associated bypass are open. However, due to exposed rocks, traverse with extreme caution.


Glad the Nissan has heavy duty side steps and heaps of clearance.

Graham.

[Out-Station]

Thanks for the marks advice, i hadn't seen them when i read it before!.

Been talking to the ranger, he reckons ordinary but doable with boats. Ranger was saying that this current set of tides has layed down a good foot of sand back on the beach just this week so hopefully things will be better by the end of next. Pon'yn rocks the worst he said, basically limited to the bypass which has some decent rock in it as well when you drop back down onto the beach.

Anyway, nothing ventured nothing gained, if we can't get through we'll hang out in rainbow for the week and fish DI instead.

[copie]

Hi Scott from my little experience macs, wahoo etc north of waddy up near the top of the island. We had good results out in front of indian head area in about 40m of water. There appears to be patches of rock and reef off the eastern side of the island particually in the 40-70m depth. You should be able to get some starting mark's for the southern and northern gardners off this site or on the net, if you don't have any luck just send me a pm and i have them in my boat. Hope i have been of some assistance and good luck on the trip.
Mark.

[mr_stinker]

Ring Me On Mobil 0419 775456 This Is My Back Yard

[Out-Station]

Mark, thanks fro your tips. I had earmarked some ground of the chart in the area you are talking about out the fron't of indian, bloody heaps of it out there though so ust a matter of working it over i spose till we turn something up.

Cris, thanks for the chat today. From the sounds we are on the right track, with a bit of fine tuning and some weather to let it happen we might just get one or two! I'll give you a shout a couple of days before we head up.

Anyway, fish or no fish I'll let you know how we go.

Scott