A lifetime of fishing memorabilia surrounds Jason Mitchell, the “pirate” of Stanage Bay.
The town was famous for its annual crab-tying competition, where entrants raced to tie two crabs as fast as possible while trying not to lose a finger in the process.
Mr Mitchell held the mantle four times, grabbing the crabs and putting them under his feet, using his toes to grip the crustacean and tie it.
“I was a title holder, yes,” he said.
“I could tie two crabs in under a minute … it was always worthy of a drink or a round.”
The crab-tying champion first began visiting the remote fishing paradise, about 200 kilometres north-east of Rockhampton, when he was a teenager staying in beachside squatters huts with his parents.
A well-known practice among crabbers, crab tying involves wrapping string around the pincers preventing it from nipping and escaping.
“I took up the trade that’s been in the family for generations, and that’s crabbing, chasing barramundi and chasing reef fish,” he said.
“It was until I became a pirate.”
Losing a crab-tying toe
Mr Mitchell was working in Thailand in 2019 when a horror motorbike accident left him with one leg.
It was then he became known as the pirate of Stanage Bay, where he has since returned to run his family’s holiday fishing lodge with his partner Petra Davey.
“We ventured off to Thailand and came back after Jay’s accident,” Ms Davey said.
While adjusting to life with one leg and the loss of his champion crab-tying toe, Mr Mitchell said returning to the seaside town had been critical to his recovery.
He said it was the slower pace of life in Stanage that kept him coming back.
“The freedom to fish when the weather is fine,” Mr Mitchell said.
” … A lot of people are busy working with their lives, and we have the ability to go fishing when the weather is fine and the tides are right.”
He said he struggled with anxiety and depression but was using the experience to help other men open up about their mental health.
“Now, every day is different,” Mr Mitchell said.
“Some days are good. Some days are hard, but we just take every day as it comes. So yeah, that’s where we’re at in life.”
Mr Mitchell is just one long-term resident who began as a visitor to Stanage Bay and now calls it home.
About 80 people live in Stanage Bay, according to the most recent census data.
The honeymooners who never left
Maree and Bevan Haynes said they, too, fell in love with the town the first time they visited.
“It’s breathtaking,” Ms Haynes said.
“It’s hard to explain. It’s definitely unique … it’s got like some sort of special power.”
Growing up, Ms Haynes spent every school holiday in the remote fishing town.
Stanage Bay is about 90 kilometres off the Bruce Highway.
A large portion of the road is now bitumen, but it used to be a bumpy trip on a dirt road to access the town.
“Those days, it used to probably take about five hours to get from the turn-off to here,” Ms Haynes said.
“We all used to jump in the back of the ute and head to Stanage for our annual school holidays.”
Mr Haynes had visited Stanage once before meeting Maree and when they got married they chose the fishing paradise as their honeymoon destination.
“We ended up having a honeymoon here and never left,” Mr Haynes said.
“[It was] 1994, we came here, so it’s [been] 29 years.”
Their passion for the town has seen them open a shop that has now become an anchor for the community.
It’s the local pub, post office, grocery store and fuel station.
“It’s a one-stop shop,” Mr Haynes said.
Ms Haynes said while the business did not come with a lot of down time, she loved her job and helping the community.
“We built it from nothing. It was only just a little shop, and we built it into what it is now,” Ms Haynes said.
“It’s been a challenge … whatever was sort of needed or requested, well, we tried to sell it.”
Ms Haynes said they were the first point of call for everything.
“… If someone gets hurt, we’re the first point of call,” she said.
“There’s a helipad across the road … it’s been used heaps of times for helicopter rescue.”
The couple said it was the laid-back lifestyle and the chance to meet new people that kept them at Stanage.
Ms Haynes said she loved seeing visitors return.
“You know that they’re hooked when they come for a weekend, and then they come for a week, then they come for a month,” she said.
“It’s just the lifestyle.”
Loading