# Stanage Bay fishing trip



## spottymac (Aug 29, 2005)

Stanage Bay looks a great spot for a fishing trip has anyone been there,
Its north of Rockhampton, up from Shoalwater Bay,
I know the fishing is awesome off shore around the islands but whats it like around the bays of Stanage, it look good on Googles, I am thinking of heading up there in the next few weeks.
Any info would be very helpful


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## spottymac (Aug 29, 2005)

Are there any crocodiles that far south, :shock: :shock:

http://reports.fishingmonthly.com.au/vi ... 6a41427c0b


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## Guest (Sep 5, 2008)

I missed the turn off to Stanage Bay and wasn't really keen to drive back 200km to find it, but I had planned to get there when I travelled last year. Then I thought about getting there on the way back, but was in a bit of a rush. By all accounts fishing is great there, so I'll get there one day. And Spotty, thats a yay on the croc front. Rockhampton upwards they start to reasonably prolific. But its really just the rivers to be concerned with I think (even though I did see a salty on the strand at townsville once).


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## yakfly (Jun 8, 2006)

there can be some fierce tides and currents up that part of the world,take a crab pot with you as well mate.2-4kg used to be the average
size of a muddy caught there a couple of years ago when I was up in Yeppoon.


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## pescado (May 17, 2007)

Hey Stu

Fishy around those bays mate, there is some nice inshore reef structure, flanked by deepish water. only fished it for one arvo briefly but came across all sorts of species cod, gts, grassie sweetlip on placcies....some good creeks too which we spent a lot of time in, big muddies, salmon, jacks, more gt's. Very heavy pressure from pros tho so suggest some solid recon.

Very big tides up that way, that channel between the mainland and the island is a huge whirling mass of water, quite intimidating. Ramp is high and dry on low tide.

Road in is bumpy and a bit sketchy but doable if you take your time, call the tackle shop up there and getting the low down would be your best bet. Also that big thick mag in newagencies called NQ Fishfinder would point you in the right direction.

Either way a beautiful part of the world up there mate, heres a couple of snaps of those bays


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## JuzzyDee (Aug 27, 2008)

Hey mate, I wouldn't mind doing such a trip assuming I have my yak in time. I'm a local, living in Yeppoon, but, I am a relatively fresh local, having only moved here a few weeks back. It's pretty fishy even without trekking up to shoal,water and beyond. I've done a bit of estuary and beach work so far, using live pink nippers (I think getting out and pumping them is half the fun of the trip). I can't get the line in for more than a minute straight before it's being hit, mostly by bream. I've had a chat to the lovely folks at the local tackle store here, and they've said there's plenty of bream, whiting, flatties and the odd barra to be had up this way.

Also if you come through yeppoon, seagulls fish and chips here do a mad battered red throat emperor. It's absolutely magnificent!!! Apparently there's plenty of them to be caught out in the reefs as the water drops off and gets a bit deeper as well!


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## GregL (Jul 27, 2008)

Nomad Sportfishing do a trip into Shoalwater Bay (near where your talking about), mainly targeting giant GT's with poppers. Your looking at a tad under $10,000 for the week :shock: , but I guess there's the fish there to warrant it.....and I expect to keep 'guessing' until I win the lotto.
I'd imagine if the fishing is excellent close by, then it must be worth checking out...


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## beefs (Jan 30, 2006)

Have been to Stanage and fished out of the yak there. Very hard work! Huge tides - I went out the front headland (looking for a tinny that dragged two anchors overnight...whole different story) in the kayak and found it easy going - turned around to come home and at a steady, solid paddle was moving exactly nowhere! The tide was running that fast. I personally don't recommend it for yaks in the channel area, the quiter bays as pictured above would be ok, keep in mind though that that picture is a high tide shot - the tide runs out a long way and at the camping area it leaves a long walk of rocky, sharp terrain to get back from the water. Also from the point of view of crocs its not ideal. A stinkboat though and you have it made.

I also know someone that recently did the trip (6 weeks ago maybe?) and he said the 100kms in was terrible at the moment. It is graded infrequently though and a deep, dank part of memory says that october is often the month for military training at shoalwater - if so they may have had the road graded prior? If you'd like to know in advance though give the plumtree store a call (07 49373169) http://plumtreestore.tripod.com/index.htm

Gregl - the nomad trips to shoalwater are a fair bit less than $10k. Looking at around $5500 I think. With flights and the new increased price for 09 even the ultimate adventures out bugatti/marion etc are $1k less at $9000 for the week. There's certainly fish in the shoalwater area though - we've never had a whole lot of luck with GTs up there (island head/strongtide/clara etc) but the general sportfishing as a whole has never let us down.


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## kaiyak (Jul 7, 2007)

only just came back from there on sunday. I spent ten days there with local fishing club. the road just got graded before we went in.

Tide is very strong. upto 10m difference.

I got some bream, threadfin salmon, and a nice grunter.


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## GregL (Jul 27, 2008)

Yep sorry about the mis information there Beef - I'd read the price for the bugatti reef. Mind you, from watching the promo dvd and seeing how often they were getting smoked amongst those shoalwater bay bommies, I reckon you'd go through a couple of grands worth of stickbaits/poppers in a week! :shock: 
Still, would love to do it one day. 
No GT's down here....  
Cheers,
Greg


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## spottymac (Aug 29, 2005)

Thank for all the info on Stanage,
It dose look like one of the last frontiers for fishing, but as you say the big tides and currents would make it a bit of a nightmare for kayak fishing. 
You could probably do it in a days travel from the Gold Coast, it still maybe worth a look if the road in has been graded.


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## bundyboy (Sep 6, 2009)

Soo it's been a while since Stanage has been mentioned, just wondering if anybody has been there lately??? If the weather is friendly I plan to head down there next weekend for a night or two. Probably take the yak and go for a bit of a paddle out off one of the beaches and around some of the headlands. I know it's more a boating destination but I have been talking about going there for years to haven't quite got there yet...hopefully this will change soon!


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## mangajack (Jul 23, 2007)

Prime time opf the year for a XOS spanish from the yak in that vicinity. 
There are lots of access trackes to the waterfront between the end of the military zone and Stanage itself.
If I was not snowed under with work at the moment, Stanage is where my phone would be ringing....or not coverage is crap there.


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## mangajack (Jul 23, 2007)

Prime time of the year for a XOS spanish from the yak in that vicinity. 
There are lots of access trackes to the waterfront between the end of the military zone and Stanage itself.
If I was not snowed under with work at the moment, Stanage is where my phone would be ringing....or not coverage is crap there.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Check the tidal range:

23rd September 2011

McEwen Island Tide Times and Heights: (in Stanage Bay area)

Low - 1:59am 1.5 m

High - 7:53am 4.7 m

Low - 1:58pm 1.3 m

High - 8:11pm 5.8 m

Sat Sep 24 2011

Low - 2:44am 1.1 m

High - 8:38am 5.2 m

Low - 2:47pm 0.9 m

High - 8:54pm 6.2 m

At full moon and new moon the range can exceed 6 metres. Sea kayakers who have passed through this area have reported currents in excess of 12 knots (about 21 km/hr), large whirlpools on eddylines and rough water in the abscence of wind.

Careful.


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## bundyboy (Sep 6, 2009)

Yeah I was having a bit of trouble finding actual tides for Stanage but was aware that tide changes are a bit bigger (in excess of 6m) down that way then up here. Not planning on a massive session km's out to sea just want to take the yak and go for a quick paddle out off one of the beaches if conditions permit. Thanks for the info though keep it coming.


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## Davebeat (Aug 17, 2007)

http://reports.fishingmonthly.com.au/ph ... m.php?f=16


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## mangajack (Jul 23, 2007)

The big tides up there are good though, time your trip with the change of tide and work your way up or down with the current and cover the 20 or so km then fish it back with the next change.
Seriously though, the tidal areas up there that are really bad are pretty isolated, all be it very very active and dangerous for people that try to fight it. You can bypass lots of the worst areas quite easily by avoiding the channel at the rip areas. The water really does stand up in two places in particular with quite large pressure waves.
Between those main points of chaos there is lots of rocky ground with good supplies of fish that will have you either retying or cursing or crying, and if you are lucky you will land a few.
Heading down the coast towards Shoalwater bay tho is lots better for currents, even though it is fully exposed to any winds from the south around to the north. Plenty of reefy points and rocky rubble bottoms to keep you amused with the gangs of teeth that reside there. I picked up 9 coral trout in one morning there that were over the 50cm mark and three were nudging 80cm.
I don't think I will bother with the boat next time and yak it, taking camp with me each day for a week or so. Plenty of nice sandy beaches with good trees to camp under south of Stanage.

The very last thing I would do there is try and fight the tide, plan your trip around the tides as best you can.

Oh yeah, if you think you have enough tackle for a week, rethink, chances are you can't carry enough for a weeks fishing on your kayak.

There is a reef patch about 6km south and about 3km offshore I found was alive with spanish macks last visit there, but lost the marks for it when that GPS died. The bottom comes up in a ridge from about 16m up to 5 metres from memory, ridge runs north south, 15 metres wide and 150 metres long.
Anyone got the mark for that patch by any chance? PM me if you want please.


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