Articles

Agnes Waters Agony

• 
• 

Category: 1770

Published on Friday, 15 July 2011 08:19

Written by Jay 'Yakfisher' Penfold

Hits: 663

 

Nine months of anticipation and preparation finally came together for the family road trip to Agnes Waters/1770 last week. 10 and a half hours of stop start driving, (gotta love travelling with children) we arrive to a gorgeous breezy afternoon, unpacked the car and set the yak up ready for it's first launch. There were only a few hours of daylight left but I didn't want to miss a little opportunity for a sail and a troll. Surf launch was easy, very small swell, breaking occasionally. I trolled the headland back and forth for a while, realising the water depth was very shallow and the bottom structure was non existent. As the sun slowly set over the horizon, I ventured toward the shore, not a fish to be seen near a lure or on the sounder.        

Day two: Slept in. That's holidays for you. Made a plan to sail the 6km's or so to the headland of 1770. Trolled a 120mm hard body and a Rapala Shadrap SR05 all the way there and back. The bay itself is featureless and very shallow, the maximum depth I recorded was 11.7m. With only the odd show of bait fish on the sounder, I was surprised to see sporadic tuna boils on the surface as I neared the headland and the wind swung from Southerly to Northerly. Several times fish came close enough to the kayak to cast at, but no takers. I saw a couple of Sushi bullets pass fast underneath the kayak in the direction of my trolled offerings hoping to hear a reel scream but no joy.

I turned and headed for home,making a pass close to the beach and once around the headland again in search of the trevalley that had the night before scared a ton of 2” whitebait out onto the sand. I had covered almost 17km for no fish. The sailing was, however, excellent. I managed an average speed of 5.2 kmph, reaching both ways.

Day three: launched early into a chilly Southerly. Covered about 5kms enjoying the pacy sailing, a nice reach south and a few tacks to get back. Was enjoying the sailing so much I seriously forgot about the fishing. The Hobie sail kit really can get the Revo up and moving under the right conditions. Spent the rest of the day flicking plastics off the stones and bodyboarding.

 

Day Four: We had planned an assault on Lady Musgrave Island, a 90 minute steam from the marina at 1770. But I had come down with the illness that had claimed my wife and daughter over the days before. I managed to move from bed to couch.

 

Day Five: Still so very sick. Managed a trip from the couch to the bed and back.

 

Day Six: So sick still. Struggled to lay on a towel in the sun out of the wind for a while. Spent most of the day packing up and reloading the yak on the car whilst enduring a nasty headache and a persistent hacking cough.

 

Day Seven: We abandon plans to cook dinner for and stay with Dunebuggy and Kate at Caloundra, not wanting to give this noxious virus to even our worst enemies. We headed straight home.

 

The town of Agnes Waters/1770 is still a sleepy little slice of North Queensland. It is laid back and small. There is everything you need there (don't expect to be able to buy coriander however), a tackle shop just out of town, a servo, heaps of accommodation of varying shapes and sizes. We stayed at First Point Caravan Park in a big safari tent with en suite up on stilts overlooking the beach and only 100m from it. The staff there were all warm, helpful and courteous. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend staying there, especially if you plan to chase tuna and mackerel off the beach. This webcam is actually located on their most beachfront tent.

 

Dining out options are limited. The local Thai is very average and expensive. The steak at the 1770 Beach hotel (The Tree bar) is excellent, the view is great and they have Coopers on tap. Excellent pizza at Kahunas at Agnes Waters. It's a little “Surf Bar” with awesome light fittings and pics of the local breaks adorning the walls. It also has an excellent foosball table and would crank on a busy Saturday night when the backpackers are in town.

As far as the fishing goes, no-one was catching fish in the Southerly. The one day we had a Northerly blow, some tuna were taken by people with fast enough boats to chase them (An AI would be an asset here). A few of the old timers told me there needs to be North in the wind, and some white caps for the bait to hide in. Even the charter boat operators heading wide reoprted small catches. I don't doubt that good fish could be had in numbers, the right conditions just need to be in place to have them all over the place. I missed out on getting to the 1770 side and fishing the mangrove lined skinny water unfortunately, but I can see plenty of potential to get lost for weeks exploring the system that goes back 24 miles. I would love to go back and have another look some time, it's beautiful country.