Leo Arnold has already caught some impressive reef fish at the ripe old age of 6. A true young gun in the making.
Substantially Cooler This Week
Following a memorably warm kickstart to spring last week, yesterday's rather cool change felt downright chilly. A subtle spike in local water temperatures was recorded prior to this change but those numbers are unlikely to rise this week.
The south-easter peaked at 25 knots in the bay late yesterday, and maybe 30 knots offshore. Strong wind warning status was only declared briefly and is now cancelled. Today's 20 knotter will ease slightly for the weekend. Scattered showers riding 15-20 knot winds Saturday and 15 knots Sunday pretty much sums up the weekend ahead. A brief window of calm seas Tuesday prior to the arrival of another blustery change mid-week offers your best chance of heading for open waters.
It's a new moon today, so strong tidal flow is a given for a couple more days to come before the tidal variation plunges. Mid-afternoon low tides and extra-dark nights appeal to many marine creatures this time of year. Spawning activity will peak for some if it hasn't already. A great bite could be anticipated from reef fish, pelagics and our flats-favouring estuarine species. The weather isn't ideal, yet great fishing is in the offing for those willing to take on the breeze.
Jack was one of many fishos to get amongst the salties last weekend.
Ryan enjoyed success on our local salties when temperatures spiked last week.
Urangan Pier Fishing About to Get Better
Masses of greenback herring have been seeking refuge beneath Urangan Pier for the past week or two. They are large herring, making appealing fodder for passing pelagic predators. One such critter that is highly sought after by pier-goers is the longtail tuna. Favourable tides should see a few caught if they are foolish enough to come within casting range of the pier this weekend.
School mackerel are entertaining plenty of folks out at the deep end at the moment too. Small fish generally, with some undersized and some making the grade. As always, it is a choice between spinning with spoons and live baiting with gang-rigged herring for most pier mackerel fans.
Another technique used decades ago when even your scribe frequented the planks, was to fashion a belly strip bait from a herring and pin it at the tip of one end on a single o'shaughnessy hook. The belly strip being cut from throat latch to bum hole, creating what could be described as a little 'canoe'.
Wogged against the tide mid-water column 70cm behind an appropriate-sized sinker resting on a swivel, this neat flashy silver little belly strip has been the undoing of many schoolies and broadies when they seem resistant to other offerings. A handy alternative in GT season when catching schoolies for live baits actually warranted some effort by those of us otherwise uninterested in the toothy critters.
Schoolies are bound to be a major drawcard for holidaying school kids come the September holidays. The pier is quite often at its very best during this particular school break, when mackerel and other pelagics join whiting, flathead and a few other randoms creating entertainment overload for the kids.
Flathead captures have been mentioned this past week, with the recent neaps being notably productive, as they should be. Bream numbers have tapered off, but you could still catch a few remnant fish over the new moon. Better to shift your focus to whiting to be honest though, and be ready for when they front-up at the pier.
Riley McLeod's photogenic big diamond trevally prior to release.
Brett got amongst the barra at Monduran like many others during the recent warm spell.
6th Annual Junior Whiting Fishing Comp Just Two Weeks Away
A spell of northerly winds over last week's neap tides was a timely occurrence, as that breeze triggered migratory movements from our local sand whiting. No word of serious numbers along our town beaches as yet, but they won't be far away. There are stacks over Moon Point way and plenty elsewhere locally. Coming weeks will see crowds gather as the whiting move in along the Torquay-Urangan beachscape and beneath the pier.
The local whiting run should be just hitting its straps when the Junior Whiting Fishing Competition is hosted by the good folks from the Hervey Bay Amateur Fishing Club later this month. The event is exceptionally well-timed and well-positioned, being held the day before the full moon, at Lower Dayman Park in Urangan.
Kicking off at 7.30am Saturday 26th September, this very popular event will see oodles of kids roll up for lots of fun and frivolities. Swags of prizes are on offer, donated to the club by Fisho's Tackle World. Competing in 3 age groups; under 8's, under 12's and under 16's; the kids are bound to have a ball and stand a very even chance of sharing in the prizes and the glory.
All kids must be accompanied by an adult at all times, and should arrive at the comp donning sunscreen and a hat. Bring them armed with their own fishing rod and reel, some terminal tackle, a bucket and their bait. Yabbies will be second only to live blood worms for bait for those that can access same, whilst cured beach worms from Fisho's will serve nicely as a convenient alternative for those keeping it simple.
Onsite cast net demonstrations are bound to educate the youngsters, where their participation will be encouraged if they are inclined to have a go. A free sausage sizzle at 11am will see an end to the fishing, followed by the prize presentations. Call 0493 065 729 to register your children and watch the hype build as the day nears. Fun times for all involved come the 26th no doubt.
Fraser Guided Fishing clients get to enjoy the pleasures of flathead fishing as well as chasing pelagics and reefies this time of year.
Aedan Arnold and crew headed for 1770 last weekend and brought home some quality reef fish.
Mackerel Arrive Inshore
Word is that commercial netters have commenced catching school mackerel in the south-western bay. The usual grounds off the Burrum and off Toogoom have been where the effort has been focussed to date. Wave after wave of mackerel are expected to pass through those and other local waters as the inshore biomass builds in coming weeks.
The size class of the mackerel will improve with time too. Right now, there are plenty of pesky little undersized models in the mix, so it can pay to bounce from school to school to find the better-quality fish. Fans of trolling tactics can cover ground quickly if not forever stopping to retrieve the mackerel. As always, there will be those that like to spin for them with spoons, those that favour live baits and those that deploy the simple gang-rigged pilly. All will catch mackerel at some time.
Hot on the tails of these lesser mackerel will be a wave or two of spaniards. Bigger spanish mackerel tend to predate on the schoolies and will follow select schools. GTs will scoff mackerel with vigour too when they arrive later in spring. Having said that, there has already been a couple of unseasonal large GT captures close inshore, so who knows, there might be an earlier run this year.
Schoolies have also been a feature of the River Heads fishery of late, where both boaties and land-based fishos can spin them up on spoons of simply target them with baits. Given the prevalence of herring in the river mouth and surrounds, it should be obvious what bait is appropriate. Broad-barred mackerel are also possible from the River Heads area, as well as further down the straits.
Tarj Costigan's 1st Mondy barra went 102cm. A PB that probably won't last long this season.
Rhys Costigan scored a new PB barra at Lake Monduran measuring a mighty 117cm on the mat.
Tales Of Snapper, Weed, Whales and False Killers
Algal blooms and an annoying presence of snot weed was mentioned in last week's report. Without going into nearly so much detail, word is that the snotty stuff is still impacting open waters of the bay. Its negative impact is mostly due to its tendency to gather on your line and/or lure, but the waters remain fishable. Suffice to say, we all wish this weed an immediate bon voyage and hope it doesn't spread further inshore.
Whale watchers have been revelling in the ever-growing numbers of humpbacks dropping in to rest in our waters during their return journey south. Adding to the whale watching highlights have been the presence of around 40 false killer whales in Platypus Bay waters recently, along with at least one Bryde's Whale.
This is all fantastic for we nature lovers, and we all certainly love our whales, yet boaties seem more nervous than ever at the same time. As you can imagine, more and more skippers are even deferring repeats of past traditional trips to Platypus Bay for night-time sojourns on the snapper and the like, and northern bay fishos are keener to overnight it up north than to drive home in the dark of night.
Opportunities missed perhaps, as these tides over the dark of this new moon, are traditionally highly productive ones for Hervey Bay snapper fishing. The many grounds off Rooneys, Station Hill, Wathumba and further south in Platypus Bay would normally host numbers of snapper gathered to feast on the baitfish abundance post-spawn prior to their return journey offshore some time soon.
Ample opportunity exists to tangle with knobbies on soft plastics and jigs during daylight hours (as well as after dark). Whilst bait fishos gather their livies and recently deceased versions of the same yakkas etc during daylight in readiness for dusk-into-evening sessions on anchor over favoured grounds. Subtle yet consistent berley trails assured an anchored snapper fisho of success once upon a time, but it would seem somewhat foolhardy today with so many sharks about.
If your vessel and crew can handle the prevailing south-easter up the island, where its inherent protective nature dampens the breeze dramatically, then snapper success might be an option this weekend. Larger vessels sporting keen enough crew could even take on the more open waters of the bay comfortably in 15 knots or less. Out there you will find snapper just as eager to bite, and probably even easier to find.
Sean found some of the yellowtail kingfish cruising our waters. They will disappear once things warm up further.
Terry Allwood with one of two big Hervey Bay cobia caught on Fly Jigs he uses to catch barra at Mondy.
Your Should've Been There Last Week
If you didn't make the effort to go barra fishing, or at least chase some other estuarine predators last week while the warm north wind blew, then you missed out – big time! Conditions and tides were highly favourable, and some very fine barramundi and threadfin salmon were caught. There is plenty of fish in our rivers right now, so don't miss the next opportunity like that one should it arise.
Big new moon tides and a chill in the wind combine to make this weekend vastly less appealing to regular barra fishos, yet some will have a crack regardless. Such is the extra appeal that livescope and the like have made for those sporting such high tech. The Great Sandy Straits will be a better default option for those keen to try their hand this weekend all the same.
The flats fishery down the straits can be very appealing, particularly given the sight-fishing opportunities in what will be the clearest water we will see for some time. You could keep it simple and kick back catching another bag limit of whiting, or a swag of flathead if you like. You could go chase queenfish for fun, and very likely enjoy bycatch such as trevally and maybe some blue salmon.
Hit the creeks of the straits and look for schools of barra, roaming threadies, or packs of jacks parked up in the snags. Hop some smaller soft plastic prawns through the creek channels or the feeder channels beyond and see if the grunter have returned as yet. Opt for a session chasing jewfish along Fraser's western ledges if that appeals, or go trolling along the same ledge frontages to see how many cod you can catch in a session. Spoilt for choice you are. Go you should, young Jedi.
Jacko's latest jewfish capture, aided by his Lowrance Active Target set-up.
Even a flathead fisho can catch threadfin salmon this time of year, eh Jacko.
Gutters Galore on Fraser's Surf Beaches
Word from locals on Fraser's surf-side suggests the fishing has been a little challenging on the tailor and whiting fronts, but other species have been making up for them. There was a good tailor bite a week ago when the low tides coincided with sunset. Select gutters in the central sector of the island fished well as soon as the sun dipped below the cliffs or dunes behind the beach and it was easy to score a feed of modest choppers. Since then, it has been tougher, and this south-easter isn't helping those over there right now.
Very good quality dart have been caught regularly in the same central sector of the island, south of the headlands. Taking pilly baits and sometimes even lures, the dart are better targeted with pippies if you are keen to score them in numbers. Dart fight harder than most other beach dwellers by the way, and taste better than tailor fresh for many palates.
Flathead have been lurking on the fringes of some gutters and at the corners where melon holes escape to sea. Rarely fussy, the flatties will scoff a pippy or a pilly just as keenly, and could be a fun option for those tossing appropriately-weighted softies about in the surf zone. Whiting numbers have not been great in the middle of the island apparently, yet there are still sufficient fish there to warrant some effort over the new moon tides.
Jewfish hunters will probably be cursing this wind arriving when it did. The peaking dark of the moon tides having jewfish-catching history on the island. Pippies have been easy enough to find lately. Wormers are doing it a bit tough though. Shifting sands caused by unseasonal onshore blows over winter didn't help on that front. The island's headlands remain closed to all forms of fishing and gathering, so don't be tempted to fish within 400m of Waddy or Indian in any direction.
The opening of that closure can't come fast enough for some fishos keen to go spinning from the rocks. In the meantime, some pretty impressive spanish mackerel are being caught from deeper tailor-filled gutters north and south of the headlands. Drone fishos are catching 20 kilo+ spaniards apparently, so one would assume a few slide baiters would be keen to get in on that action too.
A notably increased number of shark fishos are on the island at the moment. Some of those droning out live baits aren't necessarily targeting spaniards it seems. Given Fraser's abundant shark population you would assume those guys don't have to wait long for a bite. Their crews watching on might have a while to wait though, as some of the noahs cruising Fraser's surf gutters are sizeable. Hence the reason no-one surfs or swims beyond the shallows on Fraser.
Travel wise, the island is quite appealing, even though the sand is drying and softening for high tide travel. The rocks are exposed at Yidney and Poyungan, but both sets are passable at low tide. High tide passage is denied, so It's over and around for all who time it wrong. Resorts in the central sector have mentioned the prevalence of late arrivals lately (often after dark), as folks timed their run up the beach all wrong.
Eli Creek itself is a major issue for beach travellers, as a high bank with a metre drop on the north side limits passage beyond to 3 hours either side of low tide. The beach is very busy again, so crowds are to be expected at this and many other popular tourist attractions. Happy Valley residents and visitors will be glad to learn that the ramp access that is currently only one lane with stop/go lights will be reopened to two lanes for the upcoming school holidays.
Be a part of the fun-loving crowd at this year's Woodgate Beach Fishing Classic.
Your kids will have an absolute ball at the Woodgate Beach Fishing Classic, particularly during the big Kids Day Out event on Saturday.
Woodgate Beach Fishing Classic is On Next Weekend
It's back for year number 10, and promising to be bigger and better than ever. The Woodgate Beach Fishing Classic is on again and it's a must-attend event on the local fishing competition calendar and an incredible social event in its own right. If you haven't already done so, book your family and/or friends in for a fat time starting next Friday 18th September for 3 days solid of fishing and fun galore.
As if the fishing itself, plus the whopping $200,000+ in prizes and giveaways wasn't enough, this year's event is sporting some very impressive activities to keep you and the fam entertained to the max. The Shimano Fishing Simulator will be onsite, displayed on a massive TV screen for all to view. The Best Dressed Team comp itself promises to be a hoot, and you can even book a ride in a helicopter for a mere $65.
Dane from Fisho's will be in attendance to help with fishing clinics for the kids and will be there to hand out the $21,000+ in fishing category prizes supplied and/or donated by Fisho's. The kids will be spoilt rotten during Saturday's Kids Day Out, with activities galore that include cart races, casting clinics and cast net throwing, followed by a cast-off casting competition. They will all sleep well that night!
Garmin's impressive onsite displays will have plenty of folks eyeing off their latest tech, whilst folks are doing the rounds selling raffle tickets that could see you add to your weekend's prize haul. There is a $75,000 ford Ranger up for grabs, just for registering in the comp. Anyone can win this beast, and the odds are great. Stacks of other lucky draw prizes for both kids and adults add to your chances of winning, and all this without even weighing in a fish.
There are limited tickets available for this one folks, so don't dilly dally or you could miss out! Jump online and google Woodgate Beach Fishing Classic to suss out the event program, expansive list of eligible species, the prizes on offer, and of course, to register for tickets. Ask anyone who has attended recent Woodgate Beach Classics and they will tell you; the Woodgate Beach Hotel is THE place to be 18th – 20th September 2026.
Good luck out there y'all …… Jase
Woodgate Classic