Kayaking
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Kayak fishing Wellington Point BRISBANE
Ray Hawes
Living just six minutes away from the Wellington Point boat ramp, you’d make the assumption that this is where I fish most of the time. However, I have to choose my time carefully, especially when fishing from a kayak. There are a number of factors to consider when fishing the bay, such as wind and swell. Before I
Point, or as us locals affectionally call it ‘Wello’, you have quite a few options. I would always recommend you have a sounder of some sort. It doesn’t have to be an expensive model, just one that at the very least, provides a good visual of the bay bed that you are passing over. You will be surprised how shallow the bay can be, especially at low tide. I nearly always launch
Micheal Sweeney with a 44cm snapper caught near the Huybers Beacon at Wellington Point.
A tasty juvenile snapper for the plate.
my kayak at the main boat ramp, although there is a choice of four different ramps to enter into the bay. All the ramps are on the western side of the peninsular. The bay immediately to the right-hand side of the channel markers from the main boat ramp,
holds plenty of bream and flathead, so some good sport can be had in this vast area. Again, your trusty sounder should put you on to some fish here. You don’t have to necessarily be looking for the arches to appear on your sounder,
Micheal Sweeney with an excellent by-catch of a tailor. It fell prey to a soft plastic near the Huybers Beacon.
A nice grassy sweetlip caught at Wellington Point on a soft plastic.
Launching from the main boat ramp at sunrise at Wellington Point. try my luck at this great fishery, I always check the weather and conditions and normally cross reference on a couple of sites. I never fish without a PFD and I always make sure my loved ones know where I am fishing, and roughly what time to expect me home. And I always carry my mobile phone. That said, and assuming the weather gods have given me the go ahead to have a go in the bay, I still keep a watchful eye on the conditions, as the bay can blow up pretty quickly. At quite short notice, it can quickly transform from one of our most calm and pristine fishing locations to a pretty risky place to be. When I fish Wellington 52
NOVEMBER 2022
but a good rule of thumb is ‘find the structure, and you will find the fish’. Of course, not all structure
The author with another decent snapper caught at the Wello.
The author netting a decent flathead at Wellington Point.
will hold fish all of the time, it is up to you to put in a few casts, then if no interest is taken in your presentation, simply move
off and try again structure. When I fish at like to follow the markers out and
at more Wello, I channel a little
