Lathams News: FISHING OUT ON THE MAROOCHY RIVER...

We bought the boat down to the Sunny Coast, so that we could take a few days off and enjoy getting out on the water...

The first week we were here, we managed to take the grandchildren out on the river for a fish down in the Pumicestone Passage near Caloundra... We really didn't get a chance to have a real fish, it was more about an outing for our grandchildren and to help them have a bit of a fish...

Then zippo... the boat has stayed in the shed the rest of our time down here until Thursday when we decided to hang it all and head out and spend the afternoon on the river....

Initially Steve was keen to head back to the Pumicestone Passage but as we hadn't had an success there, I suggested that we should try the Maroochydore River instead. The other added advantage was that it was a lot closer to home and a whole lot easier to get too. Steve was convinced there would be no fish there....

My theory is that until you explore a place several times and find the spots you are unlikely to find fish anywhere down here...

In the end we headed up to towards Maroochydore to launch the boat..

Launching the boat...

It was lovely out on the water. We launched at the boat ramp just pasted the big bridge over the river...

It was just after 1.30pm when Steve put the boat into the water.. He went back up to park the car and then we were off to look for the closest yabby bank. It was pretty much low tide when we arrived so we didn't have too long to pump our yabbies before the tide came back in...

And we are off

Whilst Steve pumped the yabbies, I decided to cast out and test my luck. I really didn't expect to get anything so was quite surprised when the fish started biting...

The very first fish I reeled in was a legal size whiting... One of our favourite fish. I think it made Steve pump just that little bit faster as he was pretty keen to get his line in also....

The next thing I hooked was a small made crab. Unfortunately not only was it not legal size it was also a ginny so it had to get thrown straight back into the ocean..

Of course I also snared my fair share of undersized fish too.

I caught more crabs, in fact in the end I snagged four of them during that afternoon. None of them could be kept... Just goes to show though that there as still plenty of fish and crabs in this ocean around here...

We half filled the yabby basket with bait and then Steve cast out and got bites also. It wasn't long before he reeled in his first fish too. This is way better than it was when we took the kids up to the Pumicestone Passage. Mind you it might also have something to do with the fact that it is a full moon time of the month and the fish always seem to bite better at that time of month..

Whilst we were certainly catching plenty of fish here, most were not legal size so most we ended up throwing back into the water....

After an hour or so, Steve decided that we should head further downstream and try out luck...

We sent off down towards the mouth of the river..

As we headed down the river we watched a ski plane come in to land... We were pretty close to it and got a good view of it so I also managed to get a good photo of it...

Some of the boat sheds along the river

Even saw this rather stunning yacht for sale....

The Yacht was parked just off Chambers Island... this is another place on my bucket list to visit...

Chambers Island is in the middle of the Maroochy River and can be accessed by boat or by walking across a study steel and concrete footbridge. The island is fringed by white sand beaches and there were quite a few people enjoying themselves on the island... It seemed to be pretty popular.

In the middle of Maroochy River, is Chambers Island, which can be accessed by boat or by walking across a study steel and concrete footbridge. Bring a towel and your swimmers as you'll find the island fringed by white beaches and the perfect place to relax, swim and enjoy a range of water sports around the island. We saw folk on jet ski's and kayaks and quite a few people swimming around the island...

The bird life on the river was quite prolific also and we enjoyed seeing the pelicans roosting on the poles along the river...

Steve found another sandbank closer to the mouth of the river and decided to pump a few more yabbies here. I threw out my line but there was very little activitiy. We just weren't even getting the nibbles. In the end I think I was the only one to catch a fish in this area. We were there for probably 40 minutes or so when we decided to head back to the spot where we were easily getting bites on our line...

They mightn't of been a legal size but once again we were hooking the fish and bringing them in.. We spent another good hour or more pretty much back where we first put the boat in the water. The sun was starting to set and it was going on for 6pm so we figured it was time to pack up and head for home...

Beautiful clouds scattered across the sky....

It really has been such a glorious day to be out on the water, and it has obviously been what we both have needed. So nice just to soak in the natural environment around you and give thanks for all that you have and have been given. That's what a day like today does to you...

As we were heading back into shore we came across a group of rowers out training on the water. They seem to be pretty young kids but they were all working beautifully together as a team.

I couldn't help but take a few more photos of the lovely sunset that graced the sky as we pulled into shore and whilst I waited for Steve to go up get the car.