Fraser Island has a long held reputation for producing some epic fishing trips with the fishing itself coming as a mere bonus to the stunning scenery and adventure on offer, as Chris Raimondi recently discovered.

Over the course of a lifetime, every angler will go through a number of unforgettable fishing moments. They may be triggered by a new personal best, the first capture of a particular species, a red hot bite period or simply the rewarding satisfaction of when a plan comes together. It’s the pursuit of these memorable moments that encourages us to get up early, stay out late and spend hundreds of hours doing what we love.
For me personally, the magnificent Fraser Island on Queensland’s south east coast has been the location for many of my unforgettable fishing memories. From surf gutters filled with tailor to creeks full of flathead, and offshore reefs teaming with snapper and sweet lip, Fraser Island simply has it all.
Rather fortuitously for me, it’s a location that is a short three hour drive from home and over the years I’ve taken many a trip up the Bruce Highway, through Rainbow Beach and boarded the Manta Ray barge at Inskip Point with a ticket to paradise in tow. However no trip was quite like my most recent venture, a real fishing adventure filled with memories that will last a lifetime.

A chunky Fraser Island Snapper

NO EASY FEAT
The offshore fishing here would rank as among some of the finest in the world for sheer variety and angling options. Like any fishery, it can often be tough going and the weather conditions sometimes make it brutal, even dangerous, but when the stars align, it really is an awesome place to fish.
There are a few different options if you’re looking to fish Fraser’s eastern offshore waters; and none of them are easy. You can launch your vessel at Hervey Bay, head northeast and take on Breaksea Spit, a fairly notorious and sometimes treacherous bar crossing. Tin Can Bay and Rainbow Beach are other options for launching, but an even more challenging situation arises; the task of crossing the Wide Bay Bar.
You can beach launch in the lagoon at Double Island Point when conditions allow or you can take on the Noosa Bar and head north. Another popular but tricky option is the one we chose to take on recently; taking the boat across to Fraser on the barge, towing it up the eastern beach, through the crossing at Indian Head to Waddy Point via the often extremely soft sand of the inland track. That’s not where the challenge ends though. The beach launch and retrieve at Orchard Beach has seen some very experienced skippers in very nice boats come undone over the years. The stakes are high though with a successful tow and beach launch putting you at the doorstep of some of the best offshore fishing around. Make a small mistake though and your boat, trailer or vehicle can be severely damaged.
Having fished many times in boats launched off the beach at Fraser, I knew what to expect but I was also very aware of what could go wrong on the drive up or during a beach launch and retrieve. During the days prior to departure, there were nerves, doubts, excitement and a little anxiety about just how it would all go.
The lead up went to plan though with bait, lure and terminal tackle preparation relinquishing their usual status as top priority in place of trailer bearings, ratchet straps and tie downs. The weather forecast was good, with 5 to 10 knot north westerly winds forecast for a couple of days prior to a gentle southerly change. The day we were due to come home was expected to blow 20 to 25 knots; the perfect situation really. There had been a bit of rain about and the August days were cool, meaning the tracks on the island would likely be in fairly good condition for the drive up. During the summertime, the scorching hot temperatures dry the soft sand and cause it to become extremely fine, almost like powder. In that situation, towing a boat is nearly impossible. With no marks in the GPS, the 5.5m Gale force centre console was attached to the back of my ute and my alarm set for 3.30am. The maiden voyage was happening.

The Galeforce & Hilux combo successfully conquered the beach

HERE WE GO
The trip up the highway went smoothly and just after the sun came up, the tyres were being let down to about 18 PSI at Inskip Point. The first of the soft sand was conquered and with a big sigh of relief we made our way onto the Manta Ray barge. After a short trip across the Sandy Straights it was time for the long drive up the beach to Indian Head. Low tide is a must for this part of the journey with Hook Point often cut off at high tide. The eastern beach drive itself is relatively straight forward at low with the hard sand the place to be. The only obstacles are the numerous springs and wash outs flowing from the central part of the island through to the surf. The largest of these being Eli Creek; a popular tourist destination and fairly deep freshwater crossing. Shortly after Eli, is the famous Maheno shipwreck, or what’s left of it.
Tailor fishermen lined the beach as we worked our way up to Indian Head to be greeted by a few mates who had been staying at Orchard Beach. This part of the trip is where the majority of people come undone. Crossing inland behind Indian Head can be tricky with the soft sand and regular traffic making the track very conducive to being bogged. After heading through the track and back in a mate’s car, it was time for the true test. With the Hilux in low range, butterflies in the stomach and my right foot on the gas, off we went.
It was a case of first time lucky and despite a fairly inconsiderate driver flying at us from the other direction, forcing us to change our course, we were through and a step closer to that beach launch. At Middle Beach we were greeted by a pack of playful Humpbacks putting on a performance only a few hundred metres off the headland. It was almost as if they were there to greet us.
We left another popular tourist destination in Champagne Pools behind us and took on the inland track to the township at Orchard Beach without a hitch. Hitting that timber boarded road at Orchard around six hours after we’d left home was a pretty great feeling. The long journey up had gone without a hitch and yet we hadn’t even turned our attention to catching a fish yet.
With the weather perfect, it was time to get the boat in the drink. The plan for the afternoon was to sound around the close offshore grounds in search of structure that would likely hold snapper; a fairly safe bet considering the time of year. To my great relief, the gutter resembled a lake with very little swell and just the odd set of waves rolling through. Conditions couldn’t have been better for a beach launch. The trailer’s extended draw bar was swung into action and before long, I was turning the ignition and heading for the open ocean.
My nerves were peaking as I edged towards the sandbank, waiting for my wave. With a shaking hand, down went the throttle and we were up on the plane. I chose my line, and wave and seconds later we were out the back of the breakers, heading towards the horizon, some nine hours after the alarm went that morning. It was such a feeling of accomplishment, an adventure conquered successfully, and any fish that afternoon was simply a bonus.
DOWN TO BUSINESS
We got down to business, spending an hour sounding around for very little reward before a nice show of bait suddenly appeared on the sounder. The area in close vicinity came to life with some solid shows of fish up off the bottom, scattered bait and a relatively hard, gravel like bottom. Another half an hour was spent assessing the area and working out the conditions before we dropped anchor, killed the motor and decided to have a crack.
With the current ripping pretty hard to the south, float lining was the go-to technique. We rigged our first pilchards and deployed them out the back of the boat, feeding line out slowly to ensure the bait wafted naturally through the water column. After feeding a fair bit of line out gradually, the spool started to scream. In excitement I engaged the reel and struck, fish on! What a feeling that first run was. It wasn’t just sheer enjoyment but elation and a huge sense of accomplishment was felt as a nice five kilo snapper slid into the net.
What a day it had been, so many challenges were overcome, so many new experiences and at the end of it all I was holding up a lovely fish with Fraser Island in the background and not a cloud in the sky. In the next hour and a half we landed four lovely snapper all in the vicinity of 5 to 6kg and lost a few more.
Just as the bite was hotting up at around 4.30pm we decided to head in, giving ourselves plenty of daylight to navigate the surf gutter and put the boat back on the trailer. Much like the trip out of the gutter, the trip back in was uneventful and just like that, one of my most memorable days fishing had drawn to a close. My mates and I stood there on the beach at Waddy Point, with a XXXX Gold in hand and to be honest, it doesn’t get any better than that.
The next three days were full of more adventures and memorable moments. More nice snapper were caught but in general, the fishing was tough. The southerly change on Saturday brought about a change in the water colour and the fish started to bite more aggressively. We sounded up some nice shows of fish a little wider offshore and were rewarded with some lovely parrot, hussar, red throat & spangled emperors, gold spot wrasse and even a nice coronation trout.
That elusive red emperor wasn’t to be but on my last bait on Saturday afternoon I reckon I had my chance as I was nailed hard on the bottom by a good fish which quickly dusted me in the structure. I’ll be back for him though. After four days fishing, I’d sounded up a number of areas, which will no doubt pay dividends on future trips, and we’d also caught a number of nice fish along the way.
We hadn’t caught any PBs and none of the fishing sessions were red hot but despite all that, I’d put this trip right up there as the most rewarding I’d been a part of. We’d come a long way, faced a lot of challenges, started with no GPS marks and with a lot of luck on our side, we’d come out on top. Fraser Island… what a magic place for an unforgettable adventure.

Chris Raimondi lives in South East Queensland working at the BCF head. Chris is into everything angling; from bream and barra to snapper and red emperor. Chris’ role at BCF means he is privy to seeing many of the newest lures on the market before they hit the stores and is quick to give them a swim at any opportunity!