Marion Bay Caravan Park

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MARION BAY   Trip Report (1-8 April 2005)

The Pleasure Fishing Group! Sounded interesting so, as a couple of amateur beach fishers, we decided to give it a try. Phoned Bob to get some details and got a great reception – friendly and enthusiastic.

The next trip was scheduled for Marion Bay on 1^st April (an auspicious date!) so we called the caravan park and sent off the required deposit for a site.

Decided to head off a little early and so arrived at the park on 30^th March to a warm welcome from several members of the group who had already checked in. We were given the essential information on arrangements for morning tea get–togethers and the all important happy hours.

Most of the 47 people who attended arrived by 1^st April by which time the fishing activity was well under way with some reasonable catches recorded. The weather however, was not what was really wanted. Three very hot days, followed by a blustery change and lower temperatures, but with continuing adverse strong winds and low tides. All in all, less than ideal fishing conditions.

The more skilful, or luckier ones among the group, achieved fair results at the end of the week.

Roger D taking the honours among the men, for the most fish caught with a total of 26.

Myra L with a bag of 9, topped the ladies competition, and thus becomes the leading recipient for the Ladies Perpetual Trophy, crafted with thought and skill by Don T.

June B received the Ladies Longest Fish Award, whilst Colin B now wears the champions Yellow Shirt for the longest fish taken by the men.

It was a revelation to see such a range of styles, stances and strategies – some anglers sat in chairs, some wore rubber boots, others waded out in search of deeper water while several just relaxed in the seaweed. One individual even had his young nephew, (a novice at fishing it was claimed!) who somehow got more than his share including numerous double – headers.

Secret bait mixtures and recipes were jealously guarded: Kangaroo, special mince concoctions, squid, gents, cockles and pilchards with Doug W seen to be sprinkling some magic powder into his bait container. Expensive commercial burley mixes, home recipe bran and pollard brews, as well as stale bread and fish oil were all claimed to be the most effective.

Rae and Jim B captured a flying fish without any of the above, but with the assistance of a passing Pelican which delivered a good sized Mullet to their caravan.

If there had been an award for patience and persistence it would have been won by Murray F who spent many, mostly fishless, hours on the beach, irrespective of wind, tide and seaweed conditions, from early morning to sunset.

We had morning walking groups, mostly ladies, which went for bush and beach walks for around an hour each day, enjoying the scenery, the bush and bird life.

The venue for morning tea was either the excellent Camp Kitchen or, on most days, amongst the caravans with the circle of chairs gradually expanding as more people arrived with mugs, cakes, bikkies and slices in hand.

Happy hours at the end of each day were held in the Camp Kitchen and provided the opportunity to discuss the day’s results. They started out with several separate quiet conversations but gradually became noisier and noisier with much hilarity and laughter.

Tuesday evening was scones with jam and cream, supplied by the ladies, followed by Kath M providing piano accordion accompaniment for some quality community singing.

On the Wednesday evening the Park Managers, Craig and Linda, plus Malcolm and Jenny from the Point Turton Caravan Park joined us for a sausage sizzle with the ladies providing a selection of salads. Again a noisy (very!) enjoyable function.

We all but took over the Marion Bay Tavern for dinner on Thursday evening and although our orders for the “T-bone Special” were placed well in advance as requested there was some chaos when the meals were delivered. Maybe it was because the smoke alarm seemed out of order or perhaps it was due to the confusion caused by such a noisy group of more senior citizens. The lucky ones who missed out on their steak orders ended up with selections from the more expensive a la carte menu.

A great time was had by all thanks to the organization and effort put in by Bob and Margaret.

Compiled by: - Bob and Claire Jenssen.

For the record:

BBQ requirements were:-  130 sausages

                                         4 large butternut pumpkins

                                            5 loaves of bread

                                         4Kg onions

                                          1 large bottle tomato sauce

                                          Salads supplied by the ladies.

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June Tuesday 14-21

On Tuesday, June 14^th, 2005, 26 people arrived at the Riverbend Caravan Park for the winter Pleasure Fishing trip.

The caravan park proved to be a delightful spot  on the riverbank near the Paringa bridge.  The park itself being very clean and tidy with plenty of wildlife, pelicans, ducks, waterfowl, coots, possums and a resident water rat.

Wednesday – the weather was kind to us with the sun shining during the day enabling fishing rods to line the bank but without much success

Thursday – we drove down past Lock 5 to try our luck, the wind was cold and John Burgess was the only successful angler with a 36cm Callop. The same afternoon at “Happy Hour” we were able to enjoy the same Callop beautifully cooked in alfoil over the coals of our campfire. 

Friday – dawned clear so we were taken on a trip lead by Bob and Claire Jenssen. out to Chowilla Game Reserve.  On the way we stopped to look at the Bookmarks, a series of stone structures showing information on the fauna and flora etc for the region.  After negotiating some muddy tracks we ate our lunch on the bank of Monoman Creek.  It was lovely to see the green grass starting to show indicating rain in the area.  Also to see trees in some areas benefiting from water pumped in to try and keep them alive.   On arriving back at the caravan park we found Jim Brunner with a very large Carp (66cm) he had caught with help from Rae.  That evening we adjourned to the Paringa Hotel for our evening meal.

Saturday – a rather cold and dismal day, it was decided to stay in camp and fish when possible.  A planned BBQ and sing-a-long for that evening had to be postponed when rain set in mid-afternoon.

Sunday – dawned cloudless and it looked as if the rain had left us so our postponed BBQ was held at lunchtime.  A raffle was held and prizes were won by Joy Thorpe, Allan Matheson and Mary Jarrad.  Our “Happy Hour” that evening was again interrupted by rain.  Whilst the fishing may not have been successful, it was not through want of imagination where bait was concerned with dough made from flour, sugar, salt and even strawberry essence added.  The anglers also had to be very agile to keep their fish out the clutches of the ever present pelicans, as Merle discovered.

Monday – It was decided to visit the Old Customs House approximately 30 kms from Renmark towards the Victorian border.  The Customs House was in use from 1884 to 1902 but unfortunately there was no other information to be found at the site. It is now the base for Customs House Houseboats incorporating Alura Houseboats.  We were given a tour of 2 of the Houseboats which were very luxurious, one complete with Spa bath.  Again the wind was very cold and nobody felt like braving it to throw in a fishing line.  At our final “Happy Hour” Bob presented the yellow jacket for the largest fish to Jim Brunner (2^nd time, the guys are suggesting a handicap for him) and the prize for the most fish went to Roger Dyer who caught 6.

Despite being cold and sometimes windy, the weather was fairly kind to us and a good time of laughter and fellowship was had by all and once again our very grateful thanks to Bob and his injured mate. Marg, on behalf of everybody we wish you a speedy recovery from your broken wrist, and Bob keep up the good work on those dishes !!!!.     

Compiled by:-Kath Matheson.

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December Thursday 1-8