Cervantes Fishing
Beachside at Cervantes
We found a great spot to launch the 12-foot dinghy off a beach south of Cervantes. North of Grey. We have been back a few times, camped on the beach and both beach-fished and taken the boat out. Cervantes is about a three-hour drive north of Perth, and you follow the Indian Ocean Drive north.
The town of Cervantes is relatively new, only established in 1962 for the cray fishing industry. The town gained its name from an American whaling ship wrecked along the coast in 1844. Those who survived the wreck set out on a 160km walk south to Fremantle.
1844 Written Report
The captain of the wrecked Cervantes was Sylvanus Gibson, and the local paper, The Inquirer & Commercial News, wrote a report of the saga on July 10th 1844:
Rigging up for night fishing
‘On Saturday evening between eight and nine o’clock, three seamen belonging to the American whale ship Cervantes of New Bedford arrived at Fremantle in an exhausted state and reported the wreck of that vessel upon an island in Jurien Bay, about 100 miles northward of this.
Yesterday, the master, Captain Gibson, and some more of the crew arrived and stated that the vessel was wrecked on the 29th of June and that one man had been left about 30 miles beyond the Moore River unable to proceed further, and that six others, after walking some distance with them, had returned to the wreck, to make their way here in a boat.
The vessel was but a short time from America and had only about 10 barrels of oil. The master reports that the vessel is but very little damaged and likely to remain in a perfect state for a long time. He has applied to the government to send the Champion in search of the missing men and to bring the effects of himself and his crew – an application which will certainly be filled out. The poor fellows, who are impoverished, have been provided for by R.M.B Brown Esq., the Resident Magistrate.‘
Jesse Ewings with Snapper
4WD Access Only
We found a spot south of Cervantes where we could access the beach from a 4WD track. After three trips, we have only had one that resulted in any fish. On one of those trips, it blew a 40-knot gale for three days; quite unpleasant to be on the beach. We just kept hoping it would disappear and let us fish. It did finally clear… on the morning we had to leave, always the way.
The days need to be pretty calm for Cervantes fishing as we have to negotiate through the inner reef a few metres from the shore, but we have found that if we can get out beyond this reef, there is still some structure, and we pulled in a couple of snapper and tailor. On one trip, we put in our ‘pensioner’ cray pots with Orange Roughy heads as bait, but no luck. We have yet to use our pots again. Pulling them back onboard is a tough haul with such a little dinghy. I thought we would lose them at one stage as the next day was rough. We only just managed to get back out to collect them.