Best place in Qld Land Based

[aus2045]

I have two weeks off over christmas and am keen to catch a fish. I go fishing often around my home area of Rockhampton, Gladstone & Yeppoon but have not actually caught a fish for a few years. Now I have promissed my daughter I'd take here somewhere that she can atually catch something for a change.

I just need to know where to go? I know that the fishing gets beter the further south you go, but I dont what to past Brisbane as I dont trust my old car.

Hervey Bay? Bundaberg? Tin Can Bay? Any suggestions? I dont have a boat so land based is the only option.

Id be keen to find a WHitting, Bream, Flathead etc?

[Noelm]

I dont think you have to go too far to catch those species, and, there should be plenty of fish around your local area to be had from the shore too, to be successful in fishing, and especially land based, you need to know your target species, and fish specificaly for them, Flathead are a simple fish to catch, on either lures or bait, but you need to understand how a Flathead hunts, and fish to suit, if you are a tue "tourist" fisherman, by that I mean fish at midday with a packet of bad pranws with 50lb line and a kilo of lead, your chances of getting a feed is slim at best. There is a dozen threads on here about the species you are after, do a bit of searching and see what you can find.

[aus2045]

I dont think I am tourist fisherman. When I take the daughter out here to the local estuary (Coorooman Creek)mostly earlier in the mornings before it gets too hot and busy with boats, I usually take the yabbie pump, and aim for a dropping tide , so I can get out on the sandflats and target the deeper draining gutters and dropoffs with the live yabbies, light line and sometimes no lead at all, but also walk the edges casting soft plactics and sometimes hardbodies when the mood stikes me. But the fish just are not there these days, all fished out would be my guess. Thats why I am looking for somewhere that there might still be a few fish left.

[Lucky_Phill]

I have two weeks off over christmas and am keen to catch a fish. I go fishing often around my home area of Rockhampton, Gladstone & Yeppoon but have not actually caught a fish for a few years. Now I have promissed my daughter I'd take here somewhere that she can atually catch something for a change.

I just need to know where to go? I know that the fishing gets beter the further south you go, but I dont what to past Brisbane as I dont trust my old car.

Hervey Bay? Bundaberg? Tin Can Bay? Any suggestions? I dont have a boat so land based is the only option.

Id be keen to find a WHitting, Bream, Flathead etc?
\
There are really lots of options.

You mentioned H/bay etc. That is a good starting place.

A very good option with a good chance of success would be the Urangan Pier in Hervey Bay. From the beginging to just past halfway are many channels and whiting can be caught there during most tide periods. Certainly fun for the kids is " Jigging " herring at the pylons. You can drop a livie on the big gear and wait, then some worms on the light gear for whiting. Take a hat, esky for cool drinks and some lunch, a great way to spend a few hours. Safe for kids and always a chance to see macks etc smashing up some baitfish etc.

The beaches and rocky areas of north Hervey Bay ( Gatakers Bay ) has produced good species like Flathead, Moses Perch, Bream and Whiting, with the ocassional Salmon and Jack. Great place to visit if the wind is pumping from the SE.

Down at the Marina at Hervey bay, you can walk along it find your own little spot. Nice in a moderate SE wind. Many species can be caught here. light gear works well with worms, prawns or SP's. Trevally haunt this area and offer a good fight on the light gear, if they jump on the hook. ( take a small poppa and sight cast to them ).

Driving further to Toogoom and Burrum Heads is ideal for beach fishing for Whiting, Flathead and good bream sessions near the boat ramp at Burrum Heads. The Salty Squid Cafe at Toogoom ( which is right on the water ) also serves up some good tucker and ice creams. :) Toogoom and Burrum offer the opportunity to walk the flats at low tide and " sightsee ".

Tin Can Bay can work well, but has limited lamdbased options, although there are some nice areas, parks etc that are right on the water and offer a good whiting experience and you can also pop down to see the Dolphin Feeding at the ramp.

Bundaberg..... and surrounds. Places like Woodgate have a nice estuary system and beach, as does Bagara. Woodgate has nice takeaway shops with fresh good seafood meals. Burnett Heads offers beach & rock fishing for surf type species and also Moses perch. Bundaberg, itself has landbased river fishing options and best to call into the local tackle shop to get the " latest ".

The places you fish at home are places you will find in the holiday destinations, so fish the same structure and method you would in Rocky, Glady and Yippie...

BTW, there have been some really good catches of Whiting off the beaches at Farnbourgh, of late.

have a good holiday.

cheers Phill

[kingcray]

Ive got a camping trip coming up at Burrum Heads, so thats really helpful Phill as im pretty unfamiliar with the whole area.

Dean

[Lucky_Phill]

Dean,

I will add, that if you walk out the flats along side the river towards ocean on the last of the out tide, you can ( on ocassions ) cast slugs for spotties. about the third green beacon along, or as far out as you can get. Just look for the working birds... :)


cheers

[Noelm]

I dont think I am tourist fisherman..
Sorry for the way that reads, I was not trying to infer that you were, just trying to make a point that options are available for the "thinking" fisherman were ever he/she may live.

[aus2045]

Sorry for the way that reads, I was not trying to infer that you were, just trying to make a point that options are available for the "thinking" fisherman were ever he/she may live.


Except up here because all the fish are gone. haha.

Im also thinking Birbie Island/Toorbul area every time I go there I am amazed at the fishing. Far bigger and way more fish available than what we could get in central Qld parts.

[phantomphisher]

The beach on the northern side of the river mouth has a few flatties... at this time of year you're a chance of a mackerel casting into the channel on that beach as well.
Hope this helps,
Cheers, PP

[CATchin'Em]

plenty of little fish at the causeway and very child friendly with kids you want to catch fish lots of them even if they are little. use little tiny hooks. have caught many good whiting at kinka off land. even harbour warf has lots of small bream. 5 rocks - if you have a decent 4wd. these are all local. also stanage bay is good land based very very very big tides though.

[Bros]

I go fishing often around my home area of Rockhampton, Gladstone & Yeppoon but have not actually caught a fish for a few years.

You aren't fishing in the right place or the right way. The best thing to catch land based fish is to join one of the light gear fishing clubs as they certainly know how and where to fish and they are all land based.

[randell]

the further south you go , the less fish..... just learn a few new tricks.
talk to locals, gather some tips and ideas.
a bit of luck helps

randell

[tunaticer]

If you have a 4wd I would opt to go to Rules Beach and head north to the mouth of Deepwater Creek.
All your bread and butter fish reside there and consistently at a good size with fewer undersized fish.

[Horse]

As a few of the others have said and from what I have experienced, the fishing seems to get better the further north you go. You could take a lot of good boat fishermen and drop them on land and they would struggle big time. Local knowledge is the secret. Drop into your local tackle store when its quiet and have a chat for a while. Its in their interest to put you onto a few fish

[aus2045]

the further south you go , the less fish..... just learn a few new tricks.
talk to locals, gather some tips and ideas.
a bit of luck helps

randell

I only say that 'the further south the more fish", as that has been my experience in the past. When I head down to Brisbane/Bribie I start catching good fish, then Gold Coast the fish get more numerous and bigger, Ballina WOW, and then Yamba/Iluka OMG. Fishing Nirvana down there. Some of the best fish i've caught have come from there. That's the only reason I say this, the further south I go I catch more and bigger fish.

[Noelm]

So then, where I live (south of Sydney) the fishing must be sensational!!! couldn't be further from the truth! there is no better north or south, it is a matter of technique and learning the local area so you know what is available and how to catch them.

[Blindfreddy]

Do yourself a favour and drive down the road to Barrajacks or call in and see Adrian at The Secret Spot on the road to Yeppoon. I would say you'd use less $$$ and fish the local areas with the advice gained from your local tackle stores.

If you say the further south one goes to catch fish, then what's the attraction at the 1770/AGNES M&G?

[Symetre]

In my experience the further north the better. Haven't fished Rocky/Yeppoon landbased though. Used to live in Townsville and found it difficult landbased there although I was very inexperienced.
Could you hire a boat? Would surely be cheaper than fuel/accomodation and save travel time.

The biggest problem with going further south is that you get closer to NSW. And NSW has daylight savings, so that would confuse the fish as they wouldn't know what time to feed And water temp would be too high because there is 1 hour extra sun And you would get burnt too quickly because of the extra sun. Your car would overheat. So many problems with NSW. :P (haha sorry jut having a rant)

But seriously, hire a boat and fish Yeppoon:) If you are using live yabbies on a dropping tide over a bank at dawn/dusk with light gear I find it incredible that you haven't caught a fish for years.

[aus2045]

In my experience the further north the better. Haven't fished Rocky/Yeppoon landbased though. Used to live in Townsville and found it difficult landbased there although I was very inexperienced.
Could you hire a boat? Would surely be cheaper than fuel/accomodation and save travel time.

The biggest problem with going further south is that you get closer to NSW. And NSW has daylight savings, so that would confuse the fish as they wouldn't know what time to feed And water temp would be too high because there is 1 hour extra sun And you would get burnt too quickly because of the extra sun. Your car would overheat. So many problems with NSW. :P (haha sorry jut having a rant)

But seriously, hire a boat and fish Yeppoon:) If you are using live yabbies on a dropping tide over a bank at dawn/dusk with light gear I find it incredible that you haven't caught a fish for years.


Haha, classic NSW dig there.

Take a look at the fish on my profile pics all (except the Barra) from North NSW. Hence my suggestion about south being better.

As for my efforts locally, perhaps just had a whole bunch of bad luck. Im sure it's due to turn arround sometime soon though.