# Fishing Magnetic Island



## Marty75 (Oct 23, 2007)

Hi guys,

I'm off for a week's holiday in May to Magnetic Island with the missus and our little bloke. While there I do plan on doing a bit of fishing here and there and I've just purchased a 3-piece Daiwa Advantage spin rod (rated 8-14lb) which I'll take along with a 2500 size reel , 10lb braid and a small selection of SPs and HBs.

Has anyone fished there before or know of any decent spots for land based spinning? If there is a kayak hire place I may even take one out for a spin for a couple of hours.

Thanks in advance

Marty


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## mal.com (Feb 10, 2007)

Hi Marty 
I haven't been there for a few years. We camped at Horseshoe Bay and you could hire kayaks there also. Maggie Island was one of the best places we went in our big trip around the block.

There was good mack trolling to the NE of Horseshoe Bay, I got some good fish spearing on the western side of Horseshoe Bay. Check for closures & green zones.

cheers

Mal


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

Yes, ditto on the no fishing zones. I haven't looked at a map but even before the green zones came in there were some land based places you were supposed to fish. Just check before you throw a line in.


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## FishinDan (Jul 3, 2006)

Howdy.

There are some good landbased spots over on Maggie, but as previously mentioned, check the zoning maps. They're available on the GBRMPA website http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au.

Make sure you bring an assortment of slugs 15g - 60g with you along with the plastics & HB's. In terms of plastics, the white colours work pretty well up here.

The jetty at Picnic Point is popular for fishing, and for good reason. There are some very good fish to be had off it. There is also shallow reef all around the area of the jetty too, and we've caught a few trout there. From the jetty you should be able to get some trevally, queenies, mackeral, etc, as well as the normal little critters.

Up off West Point there is some real good fishing. It drops off reasonably quickly down to about 6m with some humps & bumps and things fairly close to shore. If you can get a kayak rented, you should do pretty well trolling in this area too. Around the cliffs on the northern end we get some thumping big grunter, nannygai, mackeral & fingermark. There's also Barra closer to the rocks & big trevally/mackies around the bommies out a little.

There's many other spots as well, but sometimes it's better to go exploring, take a snorkel & mask, and jump over the side to have a look around. Make sure you cover for the sun & depending on time of year, stingers.

But most of all, have a blast & catch some good fish!


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## Marty75 (Oct 23, 2007)

Cheers, thanks guys. I'll be packing as much tackle into my luggage as I can possibly squeeze in.

Not sure what my 2500 sized reel and light graphite rod will be like hooked up to a fish off a jetty but I'll be giving it a go.

What's the shark/croc situation up there like?

Also stingers, we're going first week of May, is there potential to encounter any of these deadly suckers? I've heard the irikandji ones are particularly nasty as they're hard to spot.

Marty


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

You're coming at the better time of the year so far as stingers go. As for the sharks and crocs, I personally wouldn't be too worried although during no-news days they give the remote control croc a swim along the strand for a bit of excitement. :lol:


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## FishinDan (Jul 3, 2006)

Crocs around Maggie are usually fine. Nothing to worry about. Sharks are there, and I've bee told that Australia's largest tiger shark breeding ground is off the north western point of Maggie....

I've had some big bities swim up chasing fish I've been catching, but usually when out a fair bit from the island. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

You can get stinger suits which are very fashionable. They're very very spiffy in a "I'm wearing a screen door" kind of way... However, they do stop you being unfashionably dead!

(I've also heard wearing your wifes stockings work.... Or maybe that's just my excuse :lol: )


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

FishinDan said:


> (I've also heard wearing your wifes stockings work.... Or maybe that's just my excuse )


I'm hoping you're not sticking to a fishing theme with those i.e. fish-nets :shock:


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## FishinDan (Jul 3, 2006)

Don't want to spoil the suprise too much Barrabundy :lol:


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## gonetroppo (Jan 29, 2011)

Didnt the inspiration for "The Reef" come from 4 guys that were eaten by tigers of Magnetic Island? :shock: Dont worry Marty, im sure it was some other magnetic island


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## Marty75 (Oct 23, 2007)

Don't worry, if I can fit it in, my shark shield will be coming along for the trip... ;-)


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## redman (Jun 5, 2008)

Jetty at Picnic Bay is unfortunately still closed due to it being almost demolished by the Cyclone. Could still try and head out onto it as wouldn't have been properly fished for a while!

Echo all comments above - particularly Horseshoe bay which has some great fishing. Northern end (as I think of it - just head left) has a lagoon up the end which has Jack and Barra when full of water and if open into the sea offers a little stream to try at top of the tide.

Also a creek at the southern end (turn right) where good flathead can be caught when they are around. ALso offers Queenfish and Treavally from the shore as well.


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## Marty75 (Oct 23, 2007)

Sorry guys a couple more questions re Maggie. Found out we are staying at Nelly Bay (South East corner of island) and sound like most of the action is up around Horseshoe Bay. For those in the know:
1. Approx how far from Nelly Bay is Horseshoe and also is there any public transport there to get around on? I reckon my most likely chances to wet a line will be (very) early in the morning so wondering what my options are to get around at that time. We don't plan to hire a car.
2. Does Nelly Bay fish well at all?

Cheers

Marty


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

Marty75 said:


> Sorry guys a couple more questions re Maggie. Found out we are staying at Nelly Bay (South East corner of island) and sound like most of the action is up around Horseshoe Bay. For those in the know:
> 1. Approx how far from Nelly Bay is Horseshoe and also is there any public transport there to get around on? I reckon my most likely chances to wet a line will be (very) early in the morning so wondering what my options are to get around at that time. We don't plan to hire a car.
> 2. Does Nelly Bay fish well at all?
> 
> ...


Just a quick answer until someone else replies with more. Last time I went to maggie, and it was years ago, there was a bus service. Not sure it's going to do you any good (very) early in the morning. :lol:

Can't add much more even though it's just up the road from here.


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## Dan85 (Oct 27, 2009)

Hey mate the bus service runs fairly regularly although you will need to get used to the "island time" concept. horsehoe bay is probably not even 10 minutes drive from nelly bay. I wouldnt worry about the sharks and crocs to much they prefer germans and asians if the warning signs are anything to go by and theres plenty of zee germans on the island however there ussually rather pretty so you could have yourself a different kind of fishing experience just dont tell them german backpackers you only brought your light weight rod with you for the holiday :lol:


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## FishinDan (Jul 3, 2006)

Out the front of Nelly Bay there are coral bommies all around. Around the Picnic Bay Jetty there are LOADS! We've caught Coral Trout there before in about 3m of water only about 400m off the land. You have to work through a lot of Moses Perch & Spanish Flag, but they're there. Drift around looking for the bigger bommies.

You could also cast slugs to the shipping channel beacons not too far out from Nelly Bay. I did that on Monday, and we came home with a good feed of School Mackeral. Nothing huge, but the water was still a little dirty. It should be cleaning up soon. There's some BIG Grey Mackeral getting around those pylons at times! We hooked a meter plus Queenie, but spat the hook in mid air. Awesome to watch. There's plenty of them as well as Golden Trevally and GT's kicking around too.

If you fish plastics around the beacons, there's also Fingermark.

Troll lures up around Orchid Rocks could see you hooked up to a Spaniard too...


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