Clarke Gayford: By Dingo, it's fish heaven

Moonrise over a surfcasting beach along Fraser Island's coastline. Photo / Mike Bhana

Fraser Island's location is a winner.

"A Nugget, a Wazza and a Clarke get confronted by a dingo on the beach" . . . sounds like the start to a questionable Aussie joke. But we weren't laughing as the growling dingo leapt into the back of the ute and started to rip secure lids off food containers in the dark. Australia: where you've got to watch the bloody dogs, mate.

To be fair we were on the beach half way down Fraser Island in one of the last places in the world to have packs of wild dingos roaming free. The island is a real Aussie treasure.

As the world's largest sand isle, it's easily accessible by short ferry rides or why not just land your plane on the beach? It's also great fun to drive around in a 4WD. A real 4WD that is, a school-run version won't cut it here. The photo board at our accommodation suggested many a not-quite-good-enough vehicle had been claimed first by the soft sand and then by the tide. Australia: where everything is out to get you, even the sand.

As popular as it is for tourists, it's also a great surfcasting destination for fishers, with a famous local tournament dedicated to a fish they call a tailor. Looking like a bulky, fat-headed kahawai, the mid-sized specimens are called choppers and big Tailors are called green backs. My fishing companions, Wazza and Nugget, were so legendary at catching them that Nugget had been banned from all local competitions. At least that's what he told me as we cast lines from the shore into the night, sipping from his hip flask.

Australia: where it's illegal to ruin a good yarn with the truth.

At 120km long and just 24km wide, the island acts like a long barrier to nearby Hervey Bay, which is home to some of the best fishing and wildlife in the country thanks to its location. Situated halfway between the warm tropical waters of the north and the cooler currents from the south, it collects all manner of life as a true marine convergence zone.

As if to prove my point, while pulling in a cool-water bludger trevally on light tackle, my rod doubled over and the braid began cracking off like touching power lines. Something was determined to remove all of my line after walloping and swallowing the fish I was winding in.

Having just a 20lb leader and using very light gear, I gave myself zero per cent chance of landing this mystery. But an hour and a half later and more line-outs than a test match, we managed to bring alongside a cobia. They are a highly sought-after warm-water sport fish renowned for their fighting and eating qualities. They have an amazing broad body and flipper-like pectorals, which gives them an unusual, almost shark-like look that creates huge resistance in the water. It took two of us to hold the fish up for a quick pic before placing it back into the water to watch it swim off strongly.

Hervey Bay is also a holiday destination for humpbacks returning from feeding in Antarctica. They gather in huge numbers and on a single trip out we counted close to 50.

At one fishing location two whales were so insistent on playing with our stationary boat that I could smell their breath and we had to eventually move just to get away from them.
Australia; where the dogs are angry but the whales make up for it.

● Clarke Gayford hosts Fish of the Day, Wednesdays, 8pm on Prime

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