Urangan Pier ( abattoir )

[Poseidon]

We as a family called into Hervey Bay on the way back from Bundaberg about 12 months ago, I wanted to show the wife and kids this great location, a location that I remembered spending a whole school holiday on when I was 8 yrs old (30 yrs ago) and having a ball.
When we finally made it towards the end of the pier we were met with exacatly the same sights as those mentioned above. The bad language being used by some of these "Ferals" was the last straw. How any person could take a family out there would be beyond me.
Walking back nearly to shore we walked past a guy who had brought his infant child out in a pram, child was baking in the sun, dad was cutting pilchards up using the sun visor of the pram as the cutting board, blood and guts going all over the infant. Some people don't deserve children.........
Back in the car and back to Brisbane.

What a shame that this historic location is being over-run by feral activity.

Regards Cameron.

[TonyM]

hehe Kleiny, now that's what I call creative thinking!

[land-lubber]

hey guys, fished the pier again on tuesday, to reply to some of the queries/issues raised,

Lucky Phil, yes there is a big fish comp at the jetty bait and tackle, monthly comp, cash/goods prize. yes the kids kill all manner of big fish and kill em for the comp and they throw them straight back in the drink after thier finished at the weigh in >. I saw this happening last year and i got stuck into the fella that owns the place about it and he wouldnt give me a striaght answer, just saying he wasnt responciable for the actions of the kids. i have since suggested a monthly comp that targets just one species relevent to the time of year and a fish with some use. EXCLUDING GTs that get killed for no reason. that way, at least he will limit the carnage.

Heath. i have never seen dog crap on the jetty, though it wouldnt surprise me. it saved u seeing the mess at the end anyhow.

anyway, thats my thoughts/observations of the situation. the jetty is rapidly falling into disrepair also, so it may soon be condemed anyway, loose railings, holes in the planks being patched up with ply etc.

cheers

BTW, the fisheries officers finally went for a walk on the pier on tuesday, when there were only a scattering of people on the jetty. i told em to come back on a saturday/sunday morning if they wanted to make any money.

[gogecko]

Easy solution, do the same thing as Southport sand pumping jetty.

Put up a gate and toll booth. $1 for walkers, $3 for fishers, entry good for 24 hrs. Money recieved pays mans wages. He looks after booths and occaisional cleaning, hosing and bins.He makes sure no bikes/dogs get on. Low entry fee keeps riff raff out, end up with dedicated fishers/tourists only. Hours manned are 4am to 12 pm. Gate left open 24 hrs.

Excess money has been used to install fish cleaning benches with taps.

This works.
Happy?
Send this to the council, and send bourbon to me.

cheers
Andrew

[DALEPRICE]

that pier has so much history that it would be
a crime to have it shut down one day, and if
things keep going the way its going its only a
matter of time. good luck.
dale

[theoldlegend]

Apart from fishing, does the pier serve any other use? Reminds me of the jetty at Cleveland years ago when it was used by trawlers dropping their catches into the then Fish Board.

Once all that went by the way, the jetty was allowed to fall into disrepair and was eventually demolished as there were (supposedly) no funds to maintain/repair it.

I wonder if this is the long term plan in this case?

TOL

[Derek_Bullock]

Hi

Have fished this Pier on and off since the early 70's. Back then it still had a railway line up the middle with huge transfer pipes where small coastal ships off loaded petrol. It was also maybe half as long again as it is now with huge sheds at the end. Where the end is now was a fence and gate and the pier took off at an angle to the left and north. The gate was as far as you could go. Well as far as the signs allowed you to go.

We used to get past the fence and under the sheds locals had built platforms above the water where we used to fish. It was one of the best landbased platform in Qld and big parrot, sweetlip and snapper were regularly caught.

When the ships stopped bringing in the fuel the pier fell into bad disrepair and it was closed to fishing and threatened with demolition. The locals got their backs up and went into battle to save it. A lot of fundraising ( a few dollars from this old bloke as well) and a lot of hard work saw the current part of it completely resurfaced and most posts replaced.

Yes I to have seen the missuse of it. The signs mean nothing to some people and I have even seem motor bikes out on the end. While I am not in favour of having to pay to utilise public places I reckon this is the only answer for this one.

Itholds a lot of fond memories for me as I taught my son how to fish on that jetty and to day he still talks about the "good old days" on the Urangan Pier when we regularly brought home more than just a feed.

Cheers


Derek

[Jay_S]

How do we encourage the guy not to have the 50 bucks prize money???


Jay [smiley=bandana.gif] & Dad

[dasher]

How do we encourage the guy not to have the 50 bucks prize money???


Jay [smiley=bandana.gif] & Dad

I'm on it for ya now Jay (&dad)

[dasher]

OK as an interim measure maybe all you nice concerned people could relate your feelings at the tackle shop and advise him you will boycott the shop until the comp is cancelled. Of course you will be telling your friends to do the same. Part one commenced more to come. >

[jimbolikes_barra]

Good on ya phil i live in the bay and used to fish 'the pier' a fair bit but in the last five or so years it has i regret to say turned to shit. and it really anoyes me that the little turds trhat fish it regulaerly dont have any respect for fish or pick up their crap when they go home. > > >

i will be mailing all involved will the urangan pier and fisheries this afternoon and telling them how discrase full it is. and to be honest i think the government can sacrifice a fishing spot like the pier to stop the carnage that goes on there everyday. i have my fishing spots around the bay and i'd like to say god help the fish if some of the degenerates that make the pier like it is find out about them.

And again phil thank you for letting your voice be heard. and i think lots of people have bail money for you phil go get em tiger

[bazza_mundi]

Like jibo I also once fished the uranag pier but got sick of either: people taking undersized fish, more than the bag limit, ducking to miss the flying trebles from the whiting jaggers and the pier rats (local kids that fish the pier) trying to flog off ur gear. I'm also sick of the language that can be heard from kids ass young as 5 or 6 fishing with their older brothers.

Countless times I have seen undersized mackerel being used to catch these so called "Turrum" which are actually GT's. I believe that the pier should be shut down as it would be an excellent breeding ground for the fish as there is an abundance of bait to feast on.

Hopefully something will be done so that the slaughter doesn't continue.

Happy fishing
bazza_mundi

[land-lubber]

Its ok for u guys (Jimbo and Bazza) to say that about closing the pier down to all anglers, but there are some of us who are landbased and really appreciate the fishing platform it provides. i fish there regularly for Mackeral, Tuna etc and even whiting and Gar (legitimately of course). it is one of the only locations in the area that produces consistantly and has good quality pelagics etc. there are a few of us responciable anglers that fish here, and people come from all over just to fish the pier. Its the locals that tend to cause the problems, especially the younger fellas, even blokes my age are encouraging the activities. so before u say 'ah well, lets destroy it for everyone' think about us responciable anglers that respect our fishing location and the fish we catch and may not have another better option for fishing landbased for these species. Unfortunately, i fear that closure is the way its gunna go, but im going to enjoy fishing there while it lasts.
BTW, closing the pier will not protect the area or the fish, boat anglers will fish it and besides, there are not any resident fish left there. when was the last time u heard of an estuary cod caught there? or any other resident species of fish?? these fish have basically all been removed from the jetty, and it tends to only hold species that move through, like mackeral, tunas, whiting etc. hence the jetty, as a nursery, would take years to recover, even a decade, before the cross section of species returns in the numbers and quality that it used to have. by this time, it will have fallen into disrepair and probably would b demolished.
anyway, theres a few of my thoughts on it

Dasher, what did u do?
i hope the poor bugger can still walk
let me know next time u go down to give him sh!t, im there!!!
cheers

[Lucky_Phill]

I don't think closing down the Peir is the answer.

OK, have not recieved response from Council, Fisheries etc so far. But I will keep pestering them until I do.

I may have to organise a petition ?

Maybe I'll start putting the ' bail ' money aside now.

OH, to those of you that use the Peir and do the right thing, [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

Cheers Phill

[cabfisher]

Hi All
I havent been to H/B pier I have drove past it but as I have a walking problin it was to far for me to try the walk.
Anyway I have been to Bribie Island Wharf and the fisho have made a mess of the seating there ect and I gess its a problin at most fishing spots .
What I am tring to say is why dont we fisho clean up our act and clean up after ourself and if you see some one making amess tell them to clean it up .
before it is to late and these fishing spots are closed to all of us.
Thats my 2 cents worth .
Cheers Harry