Margate Reef

[charlie09]

What a farce.... Got to Woody point boat ramp at 315 pm today and had to wait till 5 pm before I could get the boat in the water. Why? I hear you say. Well apart from the excavator working near the ramp dredging the channel it was a really low tide. When I got there, there was a boat about 20 metres out from the end of the ramp....stuck.

So I sat and waited till enough water covered the ramp and off I went. Of course by this time the wind had started to pick up. The forecast was 5 - 10 knots from NNE. Yea right! There were waves coming from NE at about .5 to 1 metre with a nice supply of white caps on top. The most comfortable speed that I could mange was 7.5 knots. I reckon that it was blowing from 10 - 15 knots with the occasional 20 knot gust. Anyway got to Margate reef and sounded around for a good show on the bottom. Tried a drift but a number two snapper lead wouldn't hit the bottom.

So threw the anchor out n had a fish. Got a few nice enquiries but didn't hook up. Thirty minutes later the mobile rings and I have to go and rescue my daughter who's car wouldn't start Ah well family comes first. Boat washed down and in the garage by 715 pm.

Cheers

[robersl]

Hi Charlie we were out there last night we had a wave come over the bow when we were going slow lol .7m
P.s anything lower than a ,.5m low do not use clontarf ramp right on low as you found out there is no water there an escavator will only dig a hole at the end of the ramp not clear silt 20 m out from the ramp the council needs hanging

shane

[Seahorse]

As normal. Soon as they start doing something at that ramp, they always stuff it up. Why don't they pull down that useless ramp.
I have used that ramp heaps times lately before the dig and always ok.
There certainly some wankers in the council, definitely not boaties and would love to know the gooses name who gave approval for the pontoon.
I am going to give margate a go on sat arvo.
I have decided to go plastics only. Leave the bait at home.
So if anyone has got some help with selection of plastics and jig heads it would be appreciated.

Cheers
Greg

[charlie09]

Hey Seahorse that's one of the place they were dredging....under the pontoon. They removed the pontoon and anchored further up towards the Hornybrook Esp and are digging where it was. WTF?? How is that gonna help with the boaties accessing the ramp?

[fisho8]

Launched my 17.5 ft boat at that ramp once and never will again too much silt and mud for my liking. There is a ramp at margate there that would be the better option but you just need to be careful heading out as there are rocks to the right of the red marker. I have always used one of the 2 ramps up at scarbrough. As for plastic's take your pick just buy one of each haha and go for it. I use Gulp Nuclear Chicken.Pink Shine,Camo's,etc I have always done well on the good old squid aswell. Good luck mate.

[Obi _ Wan]

Sorry you had such a crook trip mate, the last i had out of there all i could catch was bloody snot weed. Then i had to drag my boat through 20 meters of mud.

At last someone else has mentioned the discrace that is called a boat ramp at Pelican Park.

It is, i believe a true indication of how us boatie/fishermen are thought of and then treated.

When that ramp was first built years ago it was a real pleasure to launch your boat there,

a couple of years ago when it was dredged (by a real dredge) the EPA would only permit them to dredge 600mm below the low water level, at the time the dredge operator said it was a waste of time, how true that was now they are dredging it with excavators. I'm not sure how that is going to turn out.

But wait a while, why are they dredging it instead of making us suffer some more, That's it they are going to close the ramp, car park and the oval for two weeks, why? The World Water Ski Races, for anyone wanting to fish Redcliffe in September be ready to be shown where you can go as there a whole lot of crap going down, ski races, boat races, landing reactments, plus more, two fu&*** weeks of it

Now someone mentioned that useless bloody million dollar walkway and pontoon, how bloody hopeless is that? it's a piece of sh** and should be sold for scrap and what real help is to anyone launching or retrieving a boat? the only use it can serve is a ferry passenger drop off and pick up pontoon, oh and yeah somewhere for the kids to jump into the water when there is some water there because at low tide the bloody pontoon sits on the mud. Why didn't they go and have a look at the Cabbage Tree Creek ramp at Shorncliffe or Deep Water Bend, now those floating walkway/pontoons are a real help to somebody launching and retrieving a boat, at least they are not all idiots.

For c*** sake people start writting emails to council and your state member, we pay so much for rego and insurance and get nothing in return, or anything that's worthwhile.

Sorry folks, the crap over there (at Pelican Park) stirs me up, i believe the only reason they are dredging is to look good in the eyes of the public who don't usually go there and then they are trying to do it on the cheap. Why don't they dredge it out to the depth it was originally??

Cheers,
John.

[Seahorse]

John.
Beautifully said. It pisses me of as well with regard to closing ramp for some bloody ski event.
I have brought it up on here before but got shot down.(obviously not locals) so be prepared.
A boat ramp is A BOAT RAMP for all boats at all times.
I saw the pontoon floating out there.
The bloke who signed of this walkway should be named and shamed.

Greg

[SWANO1]

john
you answered your own question mate , the only reason they are dredging is for the water skiers. mate the farce is the 20million they have wasted trying to "tart up" the main shopping precinct, they have crippled local businesses , lots have walked away from their struggling shops and for the size of the area they are trying to "beautify" i mean come on! you could throw 200mill at it and still not tick all the boxes.
But the best bit is they are having the redcliffe festival in sept and to celebrate what?? i for one am ashamed of the shithole that they have created for the second time trying to "spruce up" the main street, oh but if you shop in the village you may win a tiny car(written in sarcastica).
i have been nagging the council for ages to get a few signs put on the various cleaning stations reminding people to clean after use because the reality is that it only takes the walking/cycling public to whinge a few times about the stench and rubbish and we will loose these facilities forever.
cheers swano

[legsy11]

hey swano,its only going to get better when we get the rail...
how long are thoe contracters taking to reinvent this street?
has to be a tax right off for them and the council.
no wonder sullivan lost the last election,people at reddy have had enough.

by the way,queens is a hell of a ramp under .7 to leave from and even the ramp at the back of the marina at scarby could use a dredge because i left there a few weeks ago on a small low and one side of the ramp was dry and the other wasnt exactly getting clean water through my outboard....
the one near the coast gaurd is great but had some trailers and gear stolen from there and wont go back?

bribies marina is the best and all should be done the same.

[Seahorse]

Ramps in the area are in critical need of attention.
Legsy, u r right about the scab ramp.
I really like to know if there is anyone on the council, a boatie.

We live on the water, a major fishing area, and this is what we got.
Anything over 10 knt and forget about queens or margate.

Wait till ramp at clontarff closes in sept for those dick head skiers, and try and get out of Scarborough with the other 100 boats, and that figure is correct. I did a quick count last time this happened.

[charlie09]

Wait till ramp at clontarff closes in sept for those dick head skiers, and try and get out of Scarborough with the other 100 boats, and that figure is correct. I did a quick count last time this happened.[/QUOTE]

Spot on Seahorse!! You would know yourself that on nice days the car park at clontarff/woody point ramp is chokers. All of these boats/cars have to go somewhere.... So my guess would be the surrounding ramps like scarbie, deep water and dohles rocks. Guess we should be praying for really sh#t conditions during the skiing

Cheers

[ShaneC]

Look, I am as anti jetski and ######## skiiers as anyone, but I really think we are blowing this out of proportion. I put this to you.... you decide to go for a quiet fish off Woody Point on a nice Saturday morning, you arrive at the ramp to be confronted by a heap of wetsuit clad men with go fast, super loud boats launching to go and tear shit up in the general area. Why would you want to stay there??? You would probably pack up your bongos and head elsewhere anyway. You've only got to go a couple of k's to any number of other ramps, let them have the tide restricted silted up one, their complaints or threats to move if it ain't fixed might just do some good.

Its only a couple of weekends a year, they do make a contribution to the local economy and there are plenty of other places you can launch. Nobody whinges about the access restrictions when the offshore racers are in Reddy every September, in fact most people turn out to watch them and recognise what they bring to the place for a weekend a year, have a beer and watch them burn fuel at 200 mph.

If the other ramps are busy, thats no different to any other nice weekend!!

Let them have their weekend, the fish wont be biting there anyway..... as I said I am not a skiier or racer, I just dont see what the fuss is about, and how its really any different to a mob of dickheads roaring about in skeeters claiming to chase bream which nobody seems to care about....

Shane

[Seahorse]

It's not the actual sport. Everyone is entitled to do what they want to do, but it's the closing of the ramp for a special group.
Shane aim sorry u put jet skies in ur group.
Mate I have a jet ski and use it out front but I can tell u one thing that as a boatie I do all theright things, but they do close the ramp for just jet ski riders to have a day.
I don't think so.
Anyway nothing we say will change things.

[ShaneC]

Jet skiiers as a whole mate..... I got no dramas with those doing the right thing.

The water skiiers may well have paid a substantial amount of money to the council for the exclusive use of the ramp, they just could be the guys to complain if its not up to standard and get something done. I dont know if this is the case at all, but knowing this council, something like this probably cost a bomb

[pimp my boat]

Hi guys you are amazing, don’t you realise that the pontoon there is a result of the floods earlier this year. No knowledgeable government would put a boat ramp with a pontoon in a place that silts up each year.