21/06/2026
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My good mate Tony and I are both very busy individuals. We both work long hours at our respective jobs, so when the opportunity arose to go on another camping trip, we jumped at it. We only had 2–3 days available, and after tossing around a few options, we decided to head back to one of our favourite haunts — Jumpinpin. 🙂
Due to my work commitments, we were forced to make it just an overnighter. Still, we made the most of it, leaving Saturday morning and returning Sunday afternoon.
Saturday morning saw us pack the new boat to the brim with camping gear before launching from Cabbage Tree ramp. We got plenty of strange looks from other boaties. To be fair, our boat looked more like a refugee vessel than a fishing boat! 🤣
After setting up camp, we spent about an hour just relaxing. The weather was beautiful — not too hot and not too cold. We chose a well-known spot off Short Island that offered plenty of shelter. In fact, our campsite had some of the tallest trees on the island.
With rain forecast for Sunday, we took extra care setting up tarps over our swags. In doing so, Tony's tent ended up tucked away in the bush under four trees while mine scored the waterfront view. 🤣🤣
The campfire was soon lit, and Tony had already knocked back four beers before we even wet a line!
Our first afternoon fishing session was a little disappointing, but we still managed four legal bream and two legal flathead. That turned out to be a blessing because, in my rush to pack, I'd accidentally left most of our food supply sitting in the fridge at home. 🤣🤣🫣 After some discussion, we decided on cornflour-crumbed deep-fried fish fillets for dinner. It was my first attempt at cooking them that way, but honestly, I was pretty proud of the result. With full bellies and feeling a bit tired (and tipsy), we turned in early. 🙂
Sunday morning brought a bit of drama. In our tired and beer-fuelled state the night before, we'd left the boat high and dry on the beach. High tide was still a few hours away. Rather than fight it, we decided to relax and enjoy the morning. Breakfast consisted of bacon and eggs on the grill, accompanied by onion rings on sandwiches with either mayo or tomato sauce. Throughout the morning we made several unsuccessful attempts to push the boat back into the water. It wasn't until nearly 11am that we finally managed to get her afloat.
The fishing started quietly. Tony landed the first undersized flathead before adding a few bream to the tally. I followed up with another three flathead and around five bream of my own. There were plenty of baitfish around and lots of bird activity, but unfortunately no tailor showed up.
Around 3pm we packed up camp and headed home. We left the campsite exactly as we found it — clean and undisturbed. It had been an awesome trip and the site was more than ideal. A big thanks to those who camped there before us and took the time to keep it tidy. We were happy to return the favour and hopefully we'll be back there again in the near future. 🙂🤞
