GPS Mark - West Point Sailboat (Magnetic Island)

The West Point area of Magnetic Island is an excellent fishing destination that is nice and close to Townsville. It is a heavily hit area that still produces quality fish at times. Being on the Western side of Magnetic Island it also offers reasonable protection from the SE winds that commonly hamper the Townsville region. At around 8nm from Townsville Harbour, the run is quite easy in most conditions, with the entire trip across the bay inside the island. And Middle Reef makes a nice place to stop half way and collect some live bait! But a run across from the Bohle river is even easier.

There are literally dozens on small isolated marks in the West Point region, most of which appear to be submerged timber that washes out of the Bohle during floods. But there are also known Plane and Boat Wrecks.

On big tides the current races around the corner of the island as the water ebbs and flows into the bay, creating a haven for gathering bait and predators. Fish in this regions range from the ever popular Mackerel species to bottom dwelling Nannygai and Grunter. But West Point is probably most popular for its annual run of big Fingermark.

Smaller Nannygai are ever present on the wrecks and structure, but finding fish over the magic 40cm mark is difficult. Grunter on the other hand are frequently big solid fish, and the Fingermark will most definitely approach and break the 10kg mark at times. School Mackerel are most common during the cooler months of June to October, and Grey Mackerel will follow through in November. Big Queenfish, GT and Cobia can also be found haunting the area at various times of the year.

The 'Sailboat' mark has already been make public elsewhere, and  is now a well known spot. But it still holds massive shoals of bait and predators at times, and is a good starting point to discovering other isolated patches in the area. Big Fingermark can still be caught at this location, and transitory fish like Mackerel will always follow the bait schools, and will rarely be out-fished from even the most well known of locations.

The remainder of the West Point structure seems to be located slightly closer in to the island and South of this particular GPS location. So have a sound around and see what's out there! And as always, a Side Image sounder like the Humminbird range will help to locate the small pieces of structure on the bottom. The depth averages around 10m, and Side Imaging is in its element at this depth. So look around and see if you can locate your own isolated patch, its well worth the time spent looking.

GPS Location (WSG-84): S19°06.726' E146°46.803'