Late last year while at the Agnes Water / 1770 M & G, AF member murf asked if I’d like to hit Fraser Island with boats in tow ? I had missed out on Fraser in 2009, so was keen to get back to the fruitful fishing grounds, long beaches and stress free environment.
Friday 16th July rolled around in no time and I was on my way to Rainbow Beach to meet up with the rest of the gang. They basically consisted of all current or ex NSW er’s and with Queensland Maroons taking out the State of Origin series AND doing it 3 ZIP…. It was on. I had two S.O.O jerseys and they did not come off my back for the whole time there….
The night was spent at Inskip Point sheltered in the boats and with murf and I making a pre dawn dash to Rainbow Bakery for Pies and bread supplies, the time had come to board Manta Ray.
The other boats were mainly 16footers and with ReBait being a tad larger, I was sure I would have trouble in certain sand sections. The first one was getting to the barge, but with murf’s ( fish’n’chips ) Patrol handy, I was on the barge without delay. We drove off the steel and onto sand at Hook Point. The decisions was made that I lead the way.
A great trip up to Indian Head and with local knowledge, a snatch strap was utilized on get me through, albeit I was in 2WD… DOH !. Same scenario getting off Middle Beach and in no time we were winding our way to Orchid Beach. The trip actually took 4 hours as we were in no hurry and didn’t want damage. Les’s SWB patrol had an overheating issue, but made it to the house OK.
What a great house, fairly new, sleeps 20. gas fridges, freezers everywhere, 3 bathrooms, bore water, 10KVA gene keeping the lights going and well and truly stocked with all necessary equipment. Flat ground made the going easy, despite not having a view of the water, but hey.
The weather forecast was not the best but these guys had traveled many a mile and were not going to be denied a chance to drown some baits offshore. The gutter at Waddy Point was non-existent which made the launch and retrieve stressful for me, but the others were used to beach launching minus gutters down the north coast of NSW. First thing in the arvo we managed to spin up a couple of Tailor of the rocks, just to say we did.
Sundays effort was good. ReBait was drifting at 3kph INTO, yes, I said INTO a 15knot SW wind. Bloody current was roaring. My crew being murf and Rob Tranter stayed tuned in and a good assortment of species hit the esky including the biggest Wire-netting Cod I have ever seen. The others boated all sorts and there were a few good Coronation Trout about. Once back on the beach we drove to our “ cleaning “ spot, did the deed and headed back to house for a quick drop off of boats and back to the pub at Orchid.
Much the same thing happened on the next day with 15 – 20 knot winds and 1.7mtr seas, but we still went out. Those buggers are crazy. Day 3 saw ReBait take a rest, so I took Rob to Wathumba Creek for a flick and pic.
Day 4 and we are on the water again with similar winds. This time I headed more north which proved rewarding in large Parrot, Red Throat, Moses and Hussar while the other boat with Mick and Richard aboard got similar as well as a horse AJ. We had Andy and son Ben join us this day as they arrived the night before. Young Ben put in the hard yards and was well rewarded with large Red Throat and Coro. A couple of boats copped waves over the front , side and rear quarters in conditions best described by me as only suitable for “ Mad dogs and Englishmen “.
There were 5 boats from the start and then Andy joined us making ( 6 ) and 13 people in total.
Each crew was to supply a meal for all and as it turned out, Masterchefs were in OUR house that week. J Spagetti bog, spit roast lamb, lasagna and the list goes on. We also had a fish fry up, with every one donating some fillets to be deep fried.
A lay day was called on Thursday and Friday so we did the tours. Took the fellas back down the beach to Happy Valley, Eurong and across to Kingfisher Bay for lunch. Best part………NOT……. Driving back from Eurong to Orchid, in the dark at HIGH TIDE…. !!!!! Eli creek was a challenge as was the next one. But with fish’n’chips leading the way, we arrived back in one piece. I think my navigator ( Rob ) had a few heart palpitations while attempting creek crossings in the dark and lotsa water about.
Another group went to Wathumba and were rewarded with an 88cm Flattie and some XOS Bream. Flattie was returned unharmed after pics.
Friday was our Break Sea Spit day and a good run up to the Lighthouse was enjoyed by all. Ngala Rocks etc proved OK despite looking dodgey.
Special event Friday night was going to the pub early and convincing the owner to have the footy on and stay open. Done. There were about 20 fishoes in the place and all were going for Titans and only the publican was a St George fan…… well, we all know who won that game.
A special thanks to murf for organizing the trip, house, food…. Well, all logistics really.
The boys were a great bunch and let’s see if I remember them all:-
Jason ( Big Red ), Peter ( Sarge ) , John ( nice ugg boots ), Craig ( Jon English ), Les (happy pants ), Fred ( where’s my tally-ho’s ), Paul ( moonshine ) , Rob ( it all tastes like shite ) , Phill ( 2wd ), Andy ( how good is this ) , Ben ( table tennis champ ), Mick ( cracka-hull ) and Richard ( silence ).
FYI, mullet fillet proved the best bait. PETackle flys got smashed, Waddy Gutter..gone !, we fished Sth Gardeners, Indian Head etc were good due to recent rain, fuel was $1.89/ltr, schooners XXXX $4.20… lollie water….$7.50. pippis a plenty south of Indian and great worm banks nth of Ngala Rocks, a few dingoes around, although I believe one disappeared while we were there ???, only 2 legal Reds were caught and a stand out 5kg plus Coro Trout by murf, yes, sharks were about. PM murf for details of house.
Cheers Phill
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Originally Posted by Reefmaster
does it ever end? but once out 10km or so it gets a lot smoother and the fishing makes up for a wet ride out
VHF CHANNEL 21
my gear is not big enough to handle that 
