queensland My big trip

[Jordan]

Hi guys,

unfortunatley this isnt a report, but i would appreciate it if anyone could help.

those of you who know me, know that i am totally mad about getting a tuna one day in the kayak, or at least some sort of decent pelagic. i was aiming to book a trip to amity point this long weekend for the whole weekend to see if i could score some tuna in the rainbow channel, but after reading fellow AFO members 'jords' report, it sounds like hervey bay is really firing.

im going to take the yak to either of the destinations, but probably the most deciding factor would be the wether.

does anyone know where i can get some sort of long range prediction for these two areas? or do any of you guys know which place is most likeley going to be the calmest? and where in hervey bay would be my best shot at getting some good fish?

which place would you choose?

Thanks alot in advance.

Jordan

[Terry H]

Seriously mate, why not just wait for the weather to settle down and then go out off bribie?

Edit: You can get good tuna out of the yak there, will save you a lot less in travel expenses, and doesn't need planning.

[Leighton]

try seabreeze for wind predictions

[Jordan]

haha ive been going to bribie for like a year and that time with you is like the only time ive even seen tuna there, plus i want to take advantage of this long weekend coming up. it would be good to take a full weekend plus an extra day off work for a change. just desperate to get some good fish!

[Jordan]

you can only go one week ahead with seabreeze though cant you?

[Leighton]

Jordan wrote:

you can only go one week ahead with seabreeze though cant you?

Yeah, thats about all you would risk. Weather man struggles with the next days prediction

[MichaelJ]

at hervey bay u could have a back up plan if the tuna arent showing or bad weather

u could go into the rivers for bara

[Jordan]

o far out thats awesome, i diddnt realise there were barra there...

where is my best chance up there for pelagics if the wether does hold up?

[Jords]

talking to the guy in the tackle store at ehervey

he said they were expecting big winds up ther

but even if it is too windy to yak

u can jsut go off the pier as a last resort

cause regardless of wind u can still fish

just uncomfortable

[Angus]

Jordan wrote:

o far out thats awesome, i diddnt realise there were barra there...

where is my best chance up there for pelagics if the wether does hold up?

Hahahaha.

Jords, if you make it that farm the river have a far better population of jacks, barra, threadfin, fingermark, queenies and other such good pelagics than anywhere down here.

Angus

[pinkey]

id say the brissy river matches most northern rivers with threadfin, well in sheer size atleast.

[uglyfish]

sorry but i disagree pinkey..

[Jordan]

so the river up there is my best chance of getting some pelagics? i dont know if im going to risk driving all that way for it to be bogus weather...

[Jordan]

By the way what is the river there called? and when im looking for the weather from seabreeze, does the weather from the sunshine coast relate to hervey bay?

[Shrimpo]

dont think so mate Sunshine Coast is probly mooloolaba/maroochydoore area and hervey bays an extra 1.5-2hrs drive.

And i think the river is Mary River?

Also check out http://www.eldersweather.com.au/marine.jsp?lt=marin&lc=mq09

[Shrimpo]

pinkey wrote:

id say the brissy river matches most northern rivers with threadfin, well in sheer size atleast.

dont think so, their'd be alot more in the northern rivers.

[Jordan]

thats awesome, whats it like up there for safety? like am i gonna get robbed or something at a camp site? lol!

[Shrimpo]

No worse then here it dont think.

[benno573]

depends where you go mate, not usually too bad.

i think you'd be just as good going off noosa or mooloolaba if you just want pelagics, it's a pretty decent (even worse than last weekend) paddle to get amongst the tuna schools at hervey bay. you often see them just off the headlands at pt cartwright, pt arkwright and noosa.

bray rock off caloundra would also be worth a look, a guy caught a 28kg spanno there on a surf ski about 2 weeks ago. it's really close in and there is pretty good bottom fishing as well so you could drop a plastic or two. you are right on the edge of the shipping channel as well and there are heaps of schools of big boys moving through all the time.

as for weather... based on one long range model anzac day will be pretty damn good, if you look at another model it will be utter shite. so basically, wait until about 2 days before then make your decision. i might be taking the boat out on sunday if you are around in bris, we can go on a tuna catching mission!!!!

[Jordan]

far out bray rock sounds awesome, so theres good reef and a deep shipping channel within kayaking distance? is hervey bay not any good?

[benno573]

yeah it is good, just a bloody long paddle!

bray rock is less than an hour's drive, easy launch spot and maybe 10-20 min paddle to the area, bray rock is pretty much right on the edge of the channel and there is pretty good bottom structure too. depending how keen you are, the fairway buoy isn't too far out either and there is always schools hanging around there, big freight ships too!!! :laugh:

you could be fishing quicker and longer and not have to worry about staying somewhere! hell, i'll even take my surf ski for a paddle out there! :laugh: you can't see it on google maps though...:dry:

[Angus]

Ill come!

Angus

[Jordan]

hmmm thats really tempting... i think im going to give hervey bay a go though because i could go to bray any weekend but i hardly get many chances to go that extra bit further. where did you get your long range forecasts?

[benno573]

Angus wrote:

Ill come!

Angus

you got a real yak i could borrow for the day mate? surf ski's are fun, just no storage! i'm keen as to try yakking out and land some decent fish at the same time. free on sunday 27th???

jordan - i have some software which generates a projected model of weather based on the past weeks charts. is it accurate? well, usually one of the programs is. but you can never tell which one! :laugh:

[Jordan]

so many options... i guesse everything depends on the weather

[jeff f]

jordan even if the wind is up you can get out in hervey bay the tuna come right in along the shore and go down into the sandy straits i've caught heaps of longtails and macs when i lived up there.

roonies point (too far for a yak)

all through platypus bay

moon point ledge

pelican bank

yellow X(between harbour and pier)

urangan pier (land based)

scarness jetty(land based)

round island

point vernon rocks(land based)

roy rufus artificial

round island hole

boags hole

picnic island

duck island

tyroom roads

king fisher bay jetty(land based)

river heads(land based)

dundowran beach(land based)

so you can find somewhere to fish in anything but the worst howling north easter

[Nossman]

mate the mouth of the mary river is great for barra...or even river heads...believe me i reckon hervey bay is the windiest place in australia....i have been there heaps and it's always blowing...you may even get a tuna or mackerel at river heads...

[faulked]

ive never seen hervey bay under 20knots

another place you can try is rainbow beach and inskip point there is a 2wd camp ground there that puts you within avery short paddle of tuna at the mouth of the sandie straight

[MichaelJ]

on one of "the fishing dvd's" the first segment is on the mary river catching big barra 90cm+ and also a big threadie

[jeff f]

i lived up there for 5 years and its not allways windy

spent haeps of time out on a totally glassed out bay

but then i got blown most of the way from roonies point to bargarra once too

[Malcolm]

This kind of relates but does anyone know what Woodgate is like for fishing?

[Jordan]

thanks heaps for all that jeff, where abouts would you try your luck if you were in my positiom? it sounds like the urangan pier is going to be my best shot if i just troll within 200 metres of that with some big hb's or livies. also, i had a look on google maps and about 1k off the mainland from hervey bay is a small island, is that just a mud flat? or is there reef all around it? btw malcolm the only thing ive heard come out of woodgate is big sharks caught by landbased guys. i think theres some good reefs further out though...

thanks alot for all your help so far guys!

[jeff f]

troll rapala cds or halco laser pros from anywhere near the harbour out past the yellow x

if its calm keep going to moon point

that small island is round island its all shallow reef on a sandy bottom with a few deeper holes on the south east corner

great area for some stealth fishing for grassys and small coral trout huge goldentrevs, the tuna and mackrel schools cone throught there on high tides

on the outside of the harbour walls especially near the entrance there are plenty of big jacks but it's real brutal fishing getting them out of the rocks

inside the harbour has some of the biggest bream i've ever seen especially around the scallop warfs a good option if its blowing

keep your eyes open for the scallop shell barge when it goes outside the harbour to dump the the shell and guts it's like a huge berly bomb

you'll get mackeral, tuna and big golden trevally off the beach at woodgate, spin for the macs and tuna big whiting as livebait for the goldies

[benno573]

jeff, you're giving away my golden trev spots!!! i have had a hard on for them since landing my first one in about 3 ft of water off western side of fraser when i was 7!!! live whiting is by far the best bait, they do respond to lures as well.

jordan - i'd love to watch you hook one from your yak mate. i think a cry of "wholly sh*t" may be in order...:laugh:

[jeff f]

benno573 have you ever seen them schooled up and feeding on the shallow yaby banks with thier tails out of the water

it's an amazing sight and a great time to run a lure or fly through them

wait till you get a 5kg snubnose dart(permit) when you're targeting them

then you'll be yelling oh**** too ha ha

[benno573]

i have seen tailing trevally once before mate and had the best day's fishing i have ever had. it was somewhere up there... didn't matter what lure you threw at them, as soon as it hit the water it got smashed. they are very underrated as a sports fish and particularly as a food fish, that day we kept one about 11kg and let go about 30 more of similar size. not bad for land based fishing. :woohoo: i have only ever caught one permit, while fishing for swallowtail dart off DIP. nearly spooled me on 10lb! was only a "small" one at about 4kg though. i let it go, are they good eating? never tried.

[Jordan]

thanks heaps for that info jeff and benno, im going to print that info and take it up with me. so far it sounds like im going to be trolling around the urangan pier and out to round island with some livies and hb's. if the wether blows up head to the mouth of the river? what do you guys think. is the urangan pier near round island? i couldnt find it on google maps.

[jeff f]

round island is only a couple of k from the pier

[benno573]

sweet as jordan. i'll listen for the "wholly sh*t" from here... :laugh: land based at the pier is worth a look too, go with live bait and hang on!

[Jordan]

i heard the jetty is incredibly packed, resembling something like shorncliff or something so i thought id be better off taking my livebait out in the kayak a few hundred metres? am i likeley to see a shark? jeff the way you described woodgate beach it sounds like thats better than the pier?