QUESTION: DO YOU REALLY NEED A BOAT TO GO FISHING?
Well, the short answer is, “No, you definitely don’t need a boat to go fishing.” But geez, it helps a lot when you do have one!
The Gold Coast offers so much for anglers, with more than 500 kilometres of canal systems, most having public parks where you can usually wet a line, and hundreds of kilometres of foreshore, where you can definitely wet a line. But it’s in between that gives you that extra edge. See, there are deep holes just beyond casting distance from those parks, rock bars that are too far out from the foreshore, and then there are the offshore grounds that a boat is definitely required to get to.
I often get people asking me, “How good is the Gold Coast for fishing?” and my answer is always “Bloody brilliant!” This area is the gateway to paradise. You can work the local waters for a plethora of fish from freshwater to saltwater, estuary to reef, sport fishing to game fishing, and shallow flats to deep dropping the sea mounts. Then, if you head a few hours north, the red fish become more prolific with coral trout, nannygai and red emperor from the reefs, and barramundi, saratoga and sooty grunter from the west.
On the other hand, a few hours travel south takes you to a cooler climate where kingfish and snapper are prolific on the reefs and trout in from the west.
Quite regularly we’ll tow our 7-metre Surtees north to 1770 and spend a night or two out on Fitzroy Reef catching a variety of reef fish. Or perhaps we’ll go down to Moreton for a night so we can fish the reefs nice and early, or the channels at night for snapper and squid.
Fishing from a boat does open more possibilities, but it also comes at a cost, sometimes more than you’d expect – and quite often at the wrong time. And with today’s rising interest rates and cost of living, many people opt for either a smaller runabout, kayak or jet ski, while others will gladly spend their money on a charter boat, and that’s not a bad idea. Spending the equivalent of the average upkeep of boat to go charter fishing instead gives you the best of both worlds, at a cheaper and more affordable cost.
Why not head to Hervey Bay for the weekend and try fishing with Chozza from Hervey Bay Fly and Sportfishing, targeting little black marlin on fly gear off K’gari (Fraser Island), or maybe Rainbow Beach with Sharky at Rainbow Beach Fishing Charters, targeting big red emperor or bar cod from the shelf. Alternatively, there’s Clint Ansell on Gold Coast River Charters, hitting up the extra-large and notorious Nerang River mangrove jacks, Gav from Sea Probe Charters, fishing the wreck off Stradbroke Island for monster mulloway, and Coffs Harbour Fishing Charters or Wooli Fishing Charters, for arm busting and tackle testing kingfish and, of course, the upper reaches of the Clarence targeting monster Australian Bass.
The charter fishing option is ideal, since every few months you can venture to somewhere new, gaining knowledge and capturing amazing memories of a new fishing ground with a local expert. And the best part is . you walk away at the end of the day with no clean up, no rego payments and no storage problems, just a bag of fillets, and yes, all of these are done, wait for it – with a boat!
Even if you own a small tinnie, escapism and freedom is something we don’t get too often these days and just being on the water gives that breath of fresh air that seems to last forever. I recently did a Channel 7 television ’cross to their morning Sunrise programme from a new 13-million-dollar Horizon boat at Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show. Yes, it was luxurious and rather opulent, and they asked, “What about the normal Aussie that just wants to hit the waterways, is there an option for them at the boat show?”
My answer was, “It doesn’t matter the size or shape of the boat, it comes down to whatever gets you out there to give you that freedom. To me, sitting in a 4-metre tinny with a 25hp Suzi on the back will put a smile on the face of many families, and that’s something you can’t take away from them.”
Sitting in a creek or river in a boa there’s nothing like it. Who cares if you don’t catch a fish? I don’t and neither should you. You can’t make them bite, but you can give it a red hot go and sometimes, just sometimes, it works and other times they’ll feed whenever they want to, and if you’re lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, then you’ll be in for a bloody good session.
So, do you really need a boat to go fishing? The answer is no, but geez it helps!
Published in print July-September 2023
