Fantastic Fishing at Rainbow Beach
Wayne Kampe

RAINBOW Beach offers boat fishing for everything from whiting through to tuna and quality reef fish, and beach fishing for the likes of tailor, dart, whiting, and bream. It's also a great spot for four-wheel-drive owners, with heaps of four-wheel-driving available. You can fish from a camp site on the beach, and have the pleasure of seeing the sun rise across the waves as a bonus.

While noted as a jump-off point for Fraser Island to the north, the Rainbow Beach area is a brilliant holiday destination in its own right. This neat little town is situated around an hour's drive east of the town of Gympie, located on the Bruce Highway 173km north of Brisbane. Several turn offs are well sign posted both north and south of Gympie's outskirts, indicating that Rainbow Beach (and Fraser Island) are just a short drive away. Rainbow Beach is virtually at the end of the road heading east from Gympie, and you do is follow the signs. This is an easy destination to locate, and just as easy to enjoy.

VISITING RAINBOW BEACH

Once at Rainbow Beach several options await the traveller.

Accommodation

At Rainbow Beach there is a wide range of accommodation, from holiday homes to units, and there are two caravan parks in town. On the left, upon entering town, Carlo Road leads to Rainbow Waters Caravan Park where waterfront camp sites, on-site vans and self-contained cabins are available. Pets are conditional. I noticed plenty of level, grassed, well-shaded sites here which will endear itself to travellers wanting to get away to a quiet little possie to enjoy some R and R. Boat hire, a nearby boat ramp to the nearby estuary area, and a kiosk make life easy. Yabbies can be pumped on the nearby low tide flats and some beaut whiting and flathead are taken off the flats on the rising tide.

In the town itself, butting onto the main beach, is Rainbow Village Caravan Park which offers self-contained vans and cabins, and plenty of camp sites with great sea breezes. It is very close to the town's attractions, including the Sports, Recreation and Memorial Club which has a bowling green, restaurant, full bar facilities, and the ubiquitous pokies. All of the town's facilities are within a few minute's walk from this camping ground.

Once set up you can walk straight down to the beach, rod and bait in hand, and knock over a feed of whiting or dart for dinner. Too easy.

Around Town

The town of Rainbow Beach has a lot to offer the traveller. A central point is the Shell service station with its associated food outlets and RACQ centre. There are several bakers, newsagencies, a laundry, hardware, and disposals stores to name a few. Tackle is available from the Shell servo and from the Rainbow Beach tackle store on the left as you enter town.

The entire town has a clean, tidy appearance and I found the folk there to be very friendly and approachable. A visitor information centre and real estate offices are there to help visitors as well.

Beach travellers with four-wheel-drives often visit the Shell servo and, after loading up with fuel and bait, reduce the air in their tyres and head off to Fraser Island via the barge at Inskip Point. You can also travel (low tide only) around the rocks at Rainbow Beach and mosey down to Double Island Point or the delightful Teewah Beach associated with the Great Sandy National Park south of Double Island Point. Both beach camping and camping grounds are available in the Teewah Beach area where self-registration takes place. Camping fees are currently $3.85 per person per night, or $15.40 per family per night.

There is excellent camping available on the Inskip Peninsula (commencing just west of the town of Rainbow Beach), and Clarkson Drive will lead you to a shaded beachside camping location at one of the four designated camping areas. Note that some of these camp sites are four-wheel-drive access only, and that no water or showers are available. Got a Glind Aussie Shower fitted? You'll find it handy, as all you need is your own water to have a hot shower!

Permits to camp on Inskip Point or across on Fraser Island are available at the QPWS, Rainbow Beach (ph. (07) 5486 3160 between 7am and 4pm). Note that as well as camp permits, a permit is required to enter Fraser Island.

THE FISHING

Fishing in the Rainbow Beach area is exceptional. Few areas offer so much, so easily.

During spring there are terrific whiting to be had on all of the surf beaches, as well as in the estuary to the west of town, and mackerel and tuna are regularly taken by both boat and shore-based anglers on slugs. Flathead abound in the estuary, and the whole atmosphere, given any sort of reasonable weather conditions, is that of fish a-plenty.

A boat is handy but not essential to secure a feed of fish in this area. Beach launching for smaller craft is available on the inside of Inskip Point at half to high tide, and the ramp adjacent the Rainbow Waters Caravan Park off Carlo Road makes launching a larger boat an easy matter.

Beach campers will enjoy a run of good tailor in the holes and gutters, plenty of dart, pipis, and no shortage of worms to pull for whiting, dart, and bream. Early spring northerly winds will bring the whiting into the shallow, ruffled shore break areas, and the evening and night angler should find the larger tailor in behind the whitewater - the sort of tailor we all dream of but so often fail to locate.

Rainbow Beach Reef Fishing Charters - (07) 5486 8666.
Nev Holt Real Estate - (07) 5486 3244
Rainbow Beach Real Estate - (07) 54863133
Rainbow Village Caravan Park - (07) 5486 3222
Rainbow Waters Caravan Park - (07) 5486 3200
QPWS, Rainbow Beach - (07) 5486 3160