# QLD Fraser Island 2011 - Not much Yakking



## BIGKEV (Aug 18, 2007)

Well our family holiday at Fraser Island has come and gone for yet another year. We were lucky enough to have picture perfect weather for nearly all of our two week stay. In this time I took the kayak out a couple of times into Marloo bay in front of Orchid Beach for a couple of forays but my success was very limited in comparison to last year.

On my first trip out on the yak I took a mate in the kids little nemo, the launch was easy but on arrival at the wreck that I fish it seemed to be completely lifeless which was in stark contrast to just 12 months earlier. I couldn't even jig a live bait and apart from one small bust up of mac tuna the fishing was ridiculously slow. A couple of spearfishermen made the 400m swim from shore to fish here also and they too commented on the lack of fish around this prominent structure. It was a beautiful day for a paddle and we saw all sorts of other marine life including turtles, dolphins and whales in the distance but no fish. We ended up paddling all the way down to Waddy to meet up with the wives and kids which gave Marc a good workout for his first time in a kayak.

Despite the perfect conditions, having two families to entertain meant that I could not put as much time into kayaking as I would have liked and I only had one other attempt in my time to fish offshore, although I could have easily launched on 10 of my 14 days on the Island. My second trip was a little more productive with a couple of average snapper taken and quite a few lost to sharks which would appear every time I hooked a fish. The sharks weren't restricted to offshore either as I lost plenty of good tailor to these beasts when fishing the gutters also.

This year we stayed at a house called 'Footsteps on Fraser' which has been by far the best place we have stayed in 10 years of visiting this paradise. The house itself was simple and comfortable sleeping 10 but can cater for up to 17 and importantly it was on a flat block. But what really made this place special was the shed or the 'Man Cave' as it came to be known. Inside the 'Man Cave' we had a pool table, dart board, fire place, BBQ, large bar complete with sink, 415 L fridge, HUGE freezer and just outside was a large, well lit fish cleaning table with sink and tap, complete with a cheeky butcher bird that showed up looking to be hand fed scraps every time I cleaned a fish. All it needed was a toilet and we would never have needed to go to the main house where the girls hung out. If any body is considering a trip like this for either a family or a group of mates on a fishing escape then I can highly recommend this house.

The beach fishing was nothing short of spectacular for most of our stay with a few little lapses where the fish just stopped biting for whatever reason. Most of the tailor I caught were on slugs in the boat launching gutter at Waddy Point and I picked up some pointers on how to target them in here on poppers also so will be putting that to good use in the future. The size of the fish was pretty good with an average fish being around 50cm, any thing under this was simply deemed unsuitable to bother keeping. We ate fresh tailor regularly and my mum loves it frozen for some reason, (she even freezes the fresh tailor I give her) so I kept plenty for her.

I was desperately trying to crack a fish over 70cm this year and fell agonisingly short with my best fish going 67cm. We finished with fish from 60-67cm numbering well into the double figures. Unfortunately both myself and my son Ethan lost a couple of absolute horses right at our feet in the shore break that would have easily surpassed the 70cm benchmark, maybe next year we'll crack one.

I fished every morning from about 4.30am till 7.30am and every dusk session and plenty of night sessions till about 10ish also. I caught and released countless tailor during this time in my quest for the beast over 70cm. The whole catch and release thing still gets frowned upon on the island with many only making the trip to fill freezers, I did my fair share of this but also threw plenty of quality fish back. To fill the time between dawn and dusk sessions we travelled the island to entertain kids at sand dunes, creeks, lakes and any gutter that looked like it might produce fish.

We also took a day trip to Wathumba where my mate Marc landed a nice 68cm lizard on a dirty old pillie. We made a two hour trip down across the island via the Woralie Rd to fish the western side and were rewarded with a great bag of whiting that averaged around 30cm each. A couple of trips to the cape provided some excitement through Ngkala rocks bypass track but we got through fine without any real dramas.

Fraser is a great place to find your inner hunter gatherer and anybody thinking of heading up that would like some more info please don't hesitate to contact me and I will give you as much info as I can. I know of a couple of members heading up for boys fishing trips with kayaks and I can't think of a better place to do something like this. I had a couple of very interesting conversations with some locals in regards to fishing up here and I will pass this info on to the guys I know who are going so that you can make the most of your time up there.

Here's a couple of photos to round the report out:


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## BIGKEV (Aug 18, 2007)

A few more photos from my time at Fraser:


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## damo83 (Apr 27, 2011)

Good to hear you got lucky with the weather, its a magical place when everything aligns! Bad luck on not hitting the 70cm mark, you still managed to get some quality catches though! I'm heading over in 3 weeks and am hoping some of those tailor are still around. What size slugs were you using in the surf and were they going off the bite by 7.30 or did you just stop then to spend some time with the family?

Cheers
Damo


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Great read and green with jealousy.

Super shot of Ethan. You have given him an experience to treasure, and that smile says it all. A fisherman for life.

Thanks BigKev
Trevor


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## BIGKEV (Aug 18, 2007)

Hey Damo,

I was throwing 65g raiders for most of the time. I rig them with a swivel on the frint ring and them run 40pd trace to another swivel. I take the rear treble off and replace it with a single. The fish were mostly gone by 7.30am but that may have been because of the tides also but yes I did need to show my face at the house and take the family out. My best fishing was pre dawn and the size and quantity decreased as the sun came up.

Kev

Thanks Trevor, Ethan comes for a paddle with me at Redcliffe sometimes, we missed most of this season due to footy committments but will most likely go chasing some summer bream in the shallows or maybe even a snapper if the weather permits. He is as keen as they come and loves his fishing, very different to his two older brothers who can simply take it or leave it.


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## madkeenfisher (Jul 24, 2008)

YOU SUCK!!!
Fillets went down nicely lastnight, cut into nice thick fish fingers, crumbed then cooked in th oven. My guests loved them. Really nice white flesh. (Very surprised for Tailor)
Tell the mrs don't worry about USA trip next year, we'll meet you up there on 13th Oct 2012 for a week.

Cheers


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## Hagar (Aug 4, 2006)

Gday,great to hear you got amonst some fish, I looked for the car with sticker the couple of times we drove through OB,we were there for a week 17th to 23rd and your right the weather was magic. Cheers Gary


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## damo83 (Apr 27, 2011)

BIGKEV said:


> Hey Damo,
> 
> I was throwing 65g raiders for most of the time. I rig them with a swivel on the frint ring and them run 40pd trace to another swivel. I take the rear treble off and replace it with a single. The fish were mostly gone by 7.30am but that may have been because of the tides also but yes I did need to show my face at the house and take the family out. My best fishing was pre dawn and the size and quantity decreased as the sun came up.
> 
> ...


Thanks Kev! I've started stocking up on various size slugs so I'll make sure I've got plenty of 65g models. I've also got some 5" soft plastics I got cheap on Grays that I'll try out, don't think they'll last too many hits though. I was thinking of swapping the trebles to a single to make unhooking a little easier, what size hook do you use? Looks like I'll be having a few early mornings then.

Thanks again for the info.

Cheers,
Damo


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## Couta101 (May 22, 2009)

Hey Kev

Great trip report, nice to know the fish are around. Beach looks like it has changed heaps since last year, especially there near the basin.

Wathamba is also my new fav spot to chase the flatties. I'm hoping the spanish make an appearance this year as we are going a week later than last, and as you know I dropped a monster off the rocks at waddy in 2010. Can you PM me the secrets, I'll keep it secret I promise ;-)

Damo when are you heading up? I'm there with a few blokes from the 23rd. Hope you bring the yak with. If you are there the same time as me look out for a silver Hilux with a stealth on the roof.

See you in the gutters!


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## paulsod (Dec 28, 2008)

kayakone said:


> Great read and green with jealousy.


 X2
Quality and quantity fish there Kev.
Nice one.
cheers
Paul


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

Excellent report! Did the kids want to take the dingo pup home?


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## swabio (Aug 16, 2010)

Hey Kev,

looks like you had a great time there!


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## BIGKEV (Aug 18, 2007)

No worries Douglas, I will send you some notes before you leave.

Kev


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## BIGKEV (Aug 18, 2007)

The kids weren't fussed on the dingo pup, they were too worried that mum might be close by, now my wife on the other hand needed to be restrained so as not to commit a federal offence and steal one of these beautiful little dogs. 

Kev


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## BIGKEV (Aug 18, 2007)

Hey Guys, thanks for all the kind commments except for you Keith, you can just give me a mud crab or two, I reckon that's a fair trade for fresh tailor ;-) .

I really like it up there and get a kick out of sharing the experience on here, it's good to see that people enjoy these posts.

Hey Brad,

The in possession limits just aren't policed, we all know that they are there, and I for one do the right thing but there are plenty who will flaunt the rules because the simple fact of the matter is that it is not a crime until you're caught. The other thing that people were doing was fishing inside the no go zone during the closure, many openly admitted to it as they knew there were no fisheries officers on the island. I watched in disbelief one day as a guy drove straight past me when I was fishing right beside the sign that said no fishing beyond this point and started casting into the gutter a couple of hundred metres away. This bonehead did this right in front of the DPI research crew who unfortunately do not have the power to issue infringement notices, he simply claimed he did not know, they took his rego details and passed it on to the enforcement officers who I hope dealt with him. I did hear of at least one person being caught with fish inside the zone and was fined $400 per fish for his troubles, apparently he had 20 fish so a decent fine fit for the crime.

Kev


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## BIGKEV (Aug 18, 2007)

damo83 said:


> BIGKEV said:
> 
> 
> > Hey Damo,
> ...


Hey Damo,

I use a 4/0 straight/inline hook with a decent gauge to it. Something like the Owner 5370 Aki hooks will do the job.

Kev


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## paulo (Nov 1, 2007)

Some beautiful fish there Kev. 60cm tailor are not to be sneezed at.
Also looks like you had the pick of the weather. Last year we went 1st week Nov and the summer NE winds and swells had already kicked in. We only managed to get out three of the seven days.
Sounds as though it will be crowded in Marloo Bay from the 23rd on Douglas. Six of us with yaks are at Waddy Lodge for the week. See you boys out there.


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## BIGKEV (Aug 18, 2007)

Unfortunately it was not the bogans that were the main perps in regards to the large hauls of tailor, the bogans commodores and falcons can't get them up there. Sadly it is a broad cross section of society from primary producers in akubra hats and 100 series utes to tradies in Mazda bravos and doctors and lawyers in hummers, they all get tailor fever and can't control themselves. :?

Kev


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## Couta101 (May 22, 2009)

Hey PaulO

Will be good to catch up at waddy. We could have ourselves a little comp with the number of yaks that are going to be there!!

Exciting times......Roll on the 23rd!!


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## Bandy (Jul 27, 2011)

Loved the report Kev. Keep telling myself every year I will go to fraser but never do. Maybe I could con the missus net year.


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## actionsurf (Jul 8, 2010)

Nice report Kev. Good to see the weather was good to you and you got amongst some good fish. Coupla snapper from the wreck can't be sneezed at. Cheers Hally


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## Imax (Dec 24, 2010)

I've really enjoyed reading your past Fraser reports and this one was just as good.

I will be heading up at the end of November for our annual start of uni holidays trip. This year I am looking at taking the kayak up as well to fish the area around Waddy and Orchid beach. Any more info on the wreck you could give me would be much appreciated.

Dan


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