Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
IT has been a while since we posted an article, this having been such a tumultuous year after the pandemic broke out. Stanage Bay closed the doors completely to both our Stanage Bay Marine and Accommodation guests. Thanksfully, we are back open.
Bevan and Maree also closed the Crab Pot Bar during that time, so Stanage was very quiet for quite a while, with no guests and businesses trading to much less than full capacity – and for us not at all. Though a lot of maintenance and future planning was achieved, by us at least. Stanage bay open
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our guests and friends who have stuck by us, rebooked and kept coming back to this wonderful place that we call paradise and the last fishing frontier. It has been extremely busy since the reopening of our businesses, with all the cancellations that were able to re-book with us over the past few months.
There have been several wonderful catches of good quality fish for first timers to Stanage Bay. On the crabbing side of things, it has certainly been quieter this year and right now crabs are virtually non-existent. If one is caught though it will be a good full buck… hopefully. The professional crabbers of the area have said there are good signs for the future and maybe, if we can get a little rain, the crabbing will be back to normal next year. Stanage bay open
There were good signs of barramundi here in September and October, with a few getting caught both on lures and bait fishing. The water getting warmer should help with fishing in the creeks until the closure starts on November 1. Guest Shane snavelled a barramundi using a shallow dive lure earlier in the season. Stanage bay open
It was a great Father’s Day for him, having spent the weekend with his boys catching fish, and crabs as a bonus. Plenty of good-sized bream have been caught and grunter have really turned it on in the sound over the past couple of months, with the largest I heard of being 72cm long.
Most people have been using prawns – we sell good quality prawns, purchased and supplied directly off the trawler for this very purpose. Quality bait equals quality fish. The fishing outside the bay, when weather permitted, has been very good and several quality red emperor and nannygai were caught, as well as a great mixed bag of different species. Stanage bay open
A few of our guests have used plastics, though most have been using fresh squid and pilchard bait, which work well in this area. It is very dry here at the moment and a lot of fishers in the creeks are struggling to get good catches. Yet, as I’ve said, grunter, barra and bream are available, as well as our quality catfish and shark. Stanage bay open
The road into Stanage Bay is in what I would classify as fair to good condition and is currently being graded – which was seriously required. Whatever happens, enjoy life for what it is and if you haven’t had the pleasure of visiting Stanage Bay, put it on your list. While there are plenty of beaches to explore and to do a bit of fishing off, it is certainly advisable to bring a boat to give a much broader scope of fishing activities.
A good seaworthy boat of 4.5m or more with decent horsepower should cope, even for our creek system here – with a big tide and a bit of breeze it can get untidy on the water, as it can anywhere. Stay safe, travel safe and we look forward to seeing you in Stanage Bay one day soon. Stanage bay open
