BROUGHTON Island regular Mick Dall returned with this thumper 6kg snapper which couldn’t resist a fillet of fresh yellowtail floating down a rich berley trail.

With a couple of smaller snapper in the bag he moved off the reef onto the sand in 50 metres of water and landed a fine catch of flathead.

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Well worth the 8 nautical mile trip to Broughton.

I have been asked on numerous occasions ‘what is the best month for snapper?’.

Over the years I have come to the conclusion that snapper are a year round fish that can be caught in all conditions.

The main determining factor is water temperature.

You are less likely to catch a snapper if the temperature drops below 18 degrees.

Soldiers Point champions Steve Tye and Barry Peters have been having a ball lately fishing off the rocks off Rocky Point for early season luderick and a few solid snapper.

With National Parks limiting recreational fishing access to Stockton Beach there is no report from beach fishers.

There must be a better way to administer access to the beach as currently the ones who suffer are elderly recreational fishers who hold a beach permit.

How about a key to the gate for locals?

Big sea washes away historical link to the past

THE huge sea that we experienced a fortnight ago claimed one of our few historical structures.

Visitors to Rocky Point will notice that the A frame and remains of an old flying fox, that connected the mainland to Big Rocky, have been washed away.

Built by Anna Bay resident John Buckingham, some 60 years ago, the flying fox was constructed using motor bike wheels and an endless cable on which a 10-gallon tin was suspended.

John waded or swam across the channel to Big Rocky where he would shovel shell grit into the tin for his wife Chris to pull back across.

The shell grit, which toughened eggshells, was bagged and sent to chicken farmers in the district.

It may surprise some to learn that as far back as the 1930s a small community survived at Rocky Point to mine shell grit and to trap lobsters.

Some names as recalled by One Mile Beach resident David Gamble were Ron ‘Clanka’ McLean and family, Jim de Monte, Arthur Murdoch and the first to be granted a mining lease Arthur Priestly from Patterson.

By John ‘Stinker’ CLARKE