The Aftermath of Cyclone Debbie

The Hervey Bay, Fraser Coast area was relatively lucky in comparison with the Whitsunday area that bore the full brunt of Debbie, and areas where flooding has and still is wreaking havoc. Apart from a few trees and branches down, heavy rain causing minor flooding, and a night without power, we came through unscathed.

My heart really does go out to the thousands of people who weren’t so lucky and copped the full force of Debbie’s wrath.

The high rainfall here has flushed all of our creeks and rivers, much needed after a summer with the lowest rainfall in recorded history, this flush has brought everything back to life with the promise of some excellent fishing in the Hervey Bay and Fraser Coast region over the next couple of months.

One notable event occurred during the height of the flooding here, a small drain broke through the sand dunes spilling coffee coloured water and debris onto the local beach. This drain is normally nothing more than a trickle at best, but here at low tide it was at least a hundred meters of shin deep freshwater making its way to the ocean, when normally it is high and dry.

Our Labrador Gus wandered over to something flapping in the shallows in the distance, surprisingly it was a 3 kg Mangove Jack. I picked it up and walked it down the beach, then released it into the ocean. I came across another 5 Jacks in the same area, on a mission to reach the saltwater.

Things are starting to settle down now in Hervey Bay, most of the rivers have already peaked, and we are already experiencing some exceptional fishing for run-off barra.

The next couple of months will be interesting; all of our predatory species will be feeding up on the smorgasbord produced by this massive cyclone – looking forward to the fishing ahead of us!