Fisho’s Weekly Fishing Report – 30th January, 2026

Carl found the coral trout on the chew; a fish that will continue to bite well inshore and out wide on the reef.

Wind Easing as Chance of Showers Increases

The past week offered boaties a brief crack at open waters in sweltering heat, prior to the arrival of a stiff south-easter that cooled us off nicely. That wind has denied us access to anywhere beyond sheltered waters for the last couple of days, and looks set to prevail until just before the arrival of the full moon.

A strong wind warning remains in place today for Hervey Bay waters, where south-easterly winds to 25 knots could reach 30 knots in the northern bay. The same warning is mirrored for Fraser Island offshore waters, where a sustained 20-30 knot south-easter is whipping up seas to beyond 2 metres.

The weekend starts out windy, but should hopefully improve dramatically for Sunday. Expect the south-easter to ease to 20 knots Saturday, then drop right out Sunday as the low out in the Pacific drifts further south and loses strength. Gear-up for an early start Sunday, when light winds to barely 10 knots from the south-east will prevail until late in the day when a north-east sea breeze kicks in.

Monday looks nearly as good, with maybe a residual northerly swell to put some lift under your bows in otherwise light winds. An early start will be the go once again, as we are likely to see the return of moderate onshore trade winds from Monday afternoon onwards. The working week could see showers daily, with the odd random storm in the mix if the heat builds sufficiently.

It is a full moon this Monday, so expect plenty of run in the tide prior and immediately thereafter. High tides will peak at 4.17m from lows of 0.54m on Monday, so with nearly 12 old-fashioned feet of vertical water movement, you can imagine the substantial current flow in coming days. This will exaggerate wave heights in wind-against-tide scenarios, so extra care should be exercised and timing considered if planning any boating escapades before the winds ease.

Queenfish Galore Around Urangan Pier

Urangan Pier regulars have been having a ball this week, as absolute hordes of queenfish have invaded its waters. Large queenies have been almost hard to avoid with live baits as they rampage up and down making raids on the abundant baitfish. Exciting times for those of you restricted to shore-based fishing, as one of our most acrobatic pelagic species turns it on like rarely before.

Baitfish are thick, and hugging the pylons as they huddle together trying to avoid the ravenous queenfish. Those hapless herring have the queenies’ bigger and badder distant relative, the mighty giant trevally to contend with as well, so it has been pandemonium out there on a regular basis this week.

Those chasing pencil squid are likely to find their task a little more challenging with the fullness of the moon. The wind hasn’t helped much either over recent nights. Massive tidal flow and the glowing moon might see further action from large sharks, but it might also see a few grunter pass beneath the pier at select times.

Our local council announced the commencement of “Cathodic Protection Works” at the pier this week. Essentially, specialist contractors will be inspecting and repairing the cathodic protection system that limits the effects of rusting on the pier’s relatively new metal pylons.

The contractors will not be closing the pier at any time apparently, which is good news for regulars and future visitors. They will, however, be undertaking tasks from their vessels beneath the pier, so all and sundry fishing from above must respect these workers and not hinder them or their activities in any way. Costing very nearly $1M, these works now will lessen future repairs and issues, and maintain the pier in a good state of repair so that you can continue to fish from it for many years to come.

Full Moon Tides Mean Happier Days for Beach Fishos

Those favouring the sand between their toes can look forward to potentially better fishing over the full moon period. Whiting fans might find a few along our town beaches, but they are more likely to do better west of town. Time will tell if Dundowran Beach and the Eli Creek flats continue to give up a feed of whiting, as this will be as good a place to start your search as anywhere at present.

Slightly larger hooks and more appropriate leader material would be a good idea for anyone preferring to hunt grunter from our town beaches. The bigger full moon tides will drain the beachscape dramatically, enabling a keen grunter hunter to wade out and cast to fish mooching in with the early flood tide. Choose to do so where-ever you like, but there are stretches of beach that are more likely to produce bigger grunter. Those stretches are typically not far from structure, be that the rocky foreshores of Pialba, the rubbly reef of Torquay or the vicinity of the Urangan Harbour.

The big tides will be roaring in and out of our little local creek systems, encouraging baitfish and prawns sheltering in the backwaters to make a move. This will trigger a response from predators, so you can take advantage of this scene. Fish for flathead where the draining tidal flow forces fodder past prime ambush points, or take on the cooler critters such as salmon and jacks that are drawn to the renewed abundance of tucker. Queenies are highly likely to get in on the act too, be that within the creek mouths or beyond on the flats.

Sharks Annihilating Our Inshore Reef Fish

Great weather last weekend saw the bay come alive with boats, both inshore and out wide. Many were out to enjoy a day of reef fishing, yet way too many of those folks had a hard time with the sharks. Even neap tides weren’t enough to slow the sheer aggression and determination of the masses of hungry noahs, so diminished catches and sheer wastage were reported from a proliferation of spots in close.

A lucky few managed to catch fish for periods without suffering depredation, but they were out-numbered by others losing fish, tackle, their patience, and potentially, their desire for future efforts where the same results seem to be a given. One such lucky fellow mentioned how he never lost a fish (and caught a variety of species) whilst others nearby were constantly sharked.

The reef fish bit really well last weekend inshore, with coral trout, estuary cod, grassy sweetlip, grunter and the rest of the clan all keen for a feed. It is depressing to consider just how many prime reef fish were wasted in just that one weekend alone, let alone what our fisheries suffer on an extended basis.

We shoot dingoes within a World Heritage Listed environment here in Queensland these days for even a suspicion of doing wrong, yet multiple human lives are lost annually to remarkably increased incidences of shark attacks and we do virtually nothing. Our governors are more likely to put up signs or create or support an app or webpage than real action on the water. 

The constant excuses for shark attacks, where we are supposedly undertaking activities in their domain at our own risk don’t seem to have the same application for our poor old dingoes. Sharks such as the over-abundant and larger-than-ever bulls (and some of their cousins) are cold-blooded killers with a bloodlust embedded in their genetic make-up. Dingoes, by (poor) comparison, are warm-blooded animals capable of learning and, in some fashion, able to be influenced into different behaviour and managed accordingly. Rampant sharks are not! Anyway, that is my rant for the week – feel free to share yours if you wish.

Pelagic Activity Increased in Heatwave Conditions

No doubt the heat and humidity created some degree of additional aggression from the sharks last weekend, but it also amped-up our pelagic species. From various pockets of the bay to our close inshore waters, many pelagics were caught and fun times enjoyed by sports fishos and family fishos alike.

There were spanish mackerel captures reported from almost all corners of the bay. The central and northern sectors being most productive, whilst the odd XOS fish was caught close inshore once again. Trolling was productive, whether that was diving lures capable of speed, dead baits rigged on Reaper Rigs, slow-trolled livies or wogged presentations. The bigger tides will stir them into further action this week, so spaniards remain a great target species for any crews that can handle the weather Saturday.

Come Sunday, we enter the first round of two 3-week closures for spanish mackerel. We are not permitted to target or keep spaniards during the period 1st February to 21st February 2026. This closure is for our southern sector, which encompasses all waters south of latitude 22°S (near Stanage Bay). Another 3-week closure kicks in 1st March to 21st March, so keep that one in mind for the future too.

Spotties remain elusive for many folks, yet one crew shared pics and their yarn of a blitz on sizeable spotties up the island somewhere that saw their boat bag out in a mere 15 minutes. We are approaching that time of year where we expect the spotties to move on and be replaced by hordes of longtail tuna. Those days will come, yet they will come sooner if stronger trade winds (typical of late summer / early autumn) or a passing east coast low pound our offshore waters and send the tuna scurrying for the calmer waters of the bay.

The heat has the big GTs inshore brimming with line-busting enthusiasm. They continue to punish folks with inadequate tackle as they steal hard-won reef fish or scoff live baits fished near various shipwrecks and other prominent inshore structures. The big full moon tides will see some of them transition to shallower locales nearby where they can be intercepted by keen fishos tossing big blooping poppers and dancing oversized stickbaits. This wind has just added extra vigour to that scene, which is bound to excite a few folks this weekend.

Flats fishos might try their luck when the wind eases Sunday. Golden trevally are possible, as are queenfish and even GTs. Goldies remain a constant on some deeper reef sites as well, where lures such as soft vibes, jigs and countless soft plastics will all have their appeal. School mackerel barely rate a mention lately, but surely, there are fish out there somewhere the baitfish and/or pencil squid are gathered.

Big Reds Bit Well and Got Bit Out Wide

Crews in larger vessels scattered far and wide last weekend in decent conditions. Some headed for the Gutters and suffered the attention of sharks up that way (surprise, surprise). Decent trout and other reefies were caught, but many more were lost overall, so that just means less fish there for next time and still the same, if not bigger, numbers of sharks.

Those that headed for the wide-open plains beyond the northern bay or towards Lady Elliot found reds from both the emperor and nannygai clans. Again, some very solid fish were caught, but even up there away from recent traffic, the sharks still took a terrible toll. Such long distance runs almost demand a return for effort, and no doubt some skippers came hope frustrated and lacking in fish numbers they otherwise expected.

Over the Breaksea Spit it was potentially better, depending on who was at the helm and where the effort was concentrated. The EAC offshore was quite manageable, with drifts around a knot or so over the shoal country and barely 1.5 knots out wider on the deep-dropping grounds. The sharks weren’t all that bad either side of 50m, where a mix of reef fish were catchable, even if they weren’t prolific everywhere.

No word from the 100m line, but one might assume it remains sharky if recent history has any relevance. Deep droppers that headed wider and deeper found pearlies and various jobfish on the chew, like usual. We haven’t had any feedback from anyone who might have dropped in on the recently replaced FADs, so we will have to wait for another round of better weather to see if the dollies have moved in.

Barra Season Opens This Sunday

Undoubtedly the biggest and best news this week is that the Qld East Coast Barramundi Fishery opens as of this Sunday the 1st of February. Every season opener is different, as timing of tides and prevailing weather have their impact on immediate success. This year, the big spring tides of the full moon will hamper several aspects of the barra fishery, whilst locations more suited to high tidal flow have more appeal.

You are certainly spoilt for choice this barra season, as our local river systems are looking particularly healthy and the numbers of big barra that were harassed so much during the closed season are there for you to play with. Hopefully, common decency prevails in such abundance and mass slaughter of this most precious resource doesn’t occur. It is naïve to live in such hope, I know, as there is bound to be folks hitting the water next week that think they should kill masses of large barra, just because the law says they can.

Catch and release ethics abound these days, and yet you still retain (as you should) the right to keep a feed of fish. With any luck, our barra got the urge to spawn this summer, even though we didn’t receive any decent rains. The wet season still has the potential to unleash on our world, so perhaps there is still a chance of a late spawn. Please care for big barra (and small ones) destined for release, as they will be the ones adding to the population of fish we hope will expand substantially in the near future. Gill netting activity has been restrained by law, so now it is up to us to ensure the success of this potentially highly viable fishery.

Awesome Estuary Fisheries on Offer

It isn’t just barra that will be hotly pursued this week. Threadfin salmon have been more consistent in our rivers of late and continue to bite well in select locations down the straits. The Burrum system is giving up more than it does in an average year already, and the Mary continues to improve. The big tides will mean a change of tactics from the successful methods we use during the neaps, but for the most part, it is more of a location change than a technique change. In essence, move your efforts further downstream.

The Burrum’s mighty mangrove jacks continue to impress this season, as do the jacks being caught from within Fraser’s western creeks and certain mainland creeks down the straits. The biggest of their clans are waiting for the wet season rains to ride out of the streams and head reef-bound where they will see out their days. Seek them out in the mid-lower reaches of the Burrum system or the upper reaches of the much shorter aforementioned creeks.

The straits offers ample variety, and the big tides favour the fishery down there. You can be catching quality grunter, blue salmon, threadies and - come Sunday - barra, then turn your focus to the flats and be catching queenfish, golden trevally or GTs all in a single day session. Flatties are always a chance, and the reef fish lurking along the ledges or around sunken reef will also be on the chew.

No doubt the busiest estuarine waterway this weekend will be the Burrum system. All four rivers up there are fishing well, and abundant barra will be a major drawcard. Great catches of grunter were mentioned earlier this week, so expect even better action from them with the bigger full moon tides.

The abundance of small prawns in the Burrum are drawing their own little crowds, adding a succulent bonus to the end of day for those that carry an appropriate cast net and know how to find them. That task is hardly challenging of late, as the prawns have been prolific and highly visible as they shower away from threats such as your boat. The full moon can see larger prawn go to ground briefly as they change their shells, so there may be a lull in activity from the best quality, but the sheer numbers of smaller prawns suggest a feed is just a matter of making the effort.

Crabbers will be out in force chasing a feed of muddies this week no doubt. You all have to contend with the extra commercial activity in our area of late sadly, as crabbers from outside the district have moved in to plunder the perceived abundance. They, along with Xmas effort etc, have already had an impact apparently, so you will need to be cunning to score well on the muddies. 

Word of crabbers selling “C grade” crabs for $20 a crab is certainly distressing, as the local pros wouldn’t consider that caper. “B grade” crabs are less than full offering little actual meat, whilst the above are full blown ‘rattlers’ or empty crab; so, pity the poor folks that might buy such a wasted product. “A grade” (full) crabs are the money crab, yet someone willing to plunder a limited resource for minimal return at the risk of depleting the resource is out there doing it. A crying shame that!

Good luck out there y’all …… Jase