G'day all,

I've just spent 8 days at Nanga Resort in Shark Bay on the annual fishing trip with a few mates. Usually we head to Tamala Station, but given that's currently closed we thought we'd give Nanga a crack. 

Our trip started with a 4am departure and rendevous with the rest of the travelling party at Cataby at 6am where it was somewhere around minus 35 degrees. A coffee and a bacon sandwich did little to warm us, but undeterred we hit the road. The trip was uneventful as you always hope for apart from numerous stops to allow the non driving members to offload a few litres they were consuming along the way. 

We arrived at Nanga around 2.30pm and having read a few reports on here, and numerous less than glowing reviews on trip advisor, it's fair to say our expectations of the place were not high, but compared to beach camping we figured it would have to be a step up at least having power and a proper shower. 

So how was it? Well if you like a caravan park with maincured lawns, excellent camp kitchens resort style pool and marble bathrooms, let's just say it's probably not for you. But if a more rudimentary site with power, clean and tidy ammenities with very hot showers (bore water) is all you're after, then Nanga has all you need.  Yes it's pretty tired in parts (pool is empty, Motel clearly not used any more and run down and the cafe/restaurant is no longer operating) but for what we wanted it was perfectly fine. The ability to get fuel and ice there was really all we wanted outside of a plot to pitch a tent. There are a few units in the park ranging from limestone brick to clourbond dongas which also look to be in good nick if that's more your thing.

Speaking of tents, mine exploded (along with our gazebo) in the 35 knot winds that greeted us shortly after arrival and lasted the first 2 days, luckily a bit of bush mechanic MacGuyver action and we were set for the week in a camp made out of 75% gaffa tape and zip ties. It takes more than a bit of breeze and rain to dampen the spirits of 5 blokes who have escaped the wives and kids for a week as you might expect. 

From day 3 we had weather that ranged from fishable to spectacular with the second last day being an all day glass off. We fished a variety of ground with mixed results, but did well at and around Fork Flats landing some nice Blue Lined Emperor between 45 and 55cm. They give a good account of themselves in 4-9m of water. Picked up a few smaller pinks to around 60cm here also, along with a truckload of undersize bluebone but unfortunately no keepers.  

Fishing the channels through the middle of the bay proved the most productive on the bigger pinks and we managed a few each day in the 75 - 85cm bracket.  Dusk was definitely the best time to fish, and tide seemed to make little difference as we picked thm up at different times and different points of the tide over the week in this water. Structure also seemed surplus to requirement as the shale/shell bottom worked better than the few lumps we found and fished. this ground also produced some XL flatties which were a nice addition to the bag.

The reef down around garden point looked amazing, but for us produced nothing of size, just a never ending procession of undersized bluebone and emperor, although we did only head down there on a day where the morngin was a bit ugly in the bay so probably didn't give it the time it deserved to make a proper assessment.

At the end of the week we agreed that a place we decided to go as a stop gap measure, is now a place we would happily return to (and likely will next year). The same 5kg limit applies as the rest of the Freycinet inlet, but given we usually fish Tamala we are usued to and happy with that anyway. 

My top tips are: 1. If camping, the 3 beach sites (one powered 2 unpowered) offer the best view in the park (see photo) although it's a longer walk to the ammenities. 2. If you leave your car on the beach after launching, park up the dune a little as per the other cars as high tide floods the beach in front of the ramp (up to knee deep some days). 3. If you need mobile reception, next to the phone box, or just beach side of the camp kitchen are the places to stand.   

Cheers 

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