Mangrove jacks become 'reef jacks' when they exit our estuaries and head offshore. Now is a great time to target fish migrating.
Winds Rising Like Our Fuel Prices
Opportunities to head anywhere beyond sheltered waters have been rather limited of late. Winds below 15 knots did eventuate, but fair-weather sailors are suffering the usual wet season frustrations. This weekend won't improve their outlook much, whilst those avoiding work mid-week look like cheering briefly later next week.
Today's south-easter is expected to peak at around 15 knots, and sets the scene for the coming weekend. 15-20 knots from the south-east is the official call from BOM for both Saturday and Sunday, even though the winds should be lighter Saturday than thereafter. Scattered showers might make a nuisance of themselves throughout the weekend, tending more like rain Sunday, and are likely to persist into next week.
It could get quite windy early in the working week, then hopefully taper right off for the latter part. Potential good news for some frustrated local boaties at least. Milder conditions and comfortable temperatures are a bonus lately, and it won't be long and we will be feeling that first chill in the air that comes mid-autumn when the winds tend more southerly or offshore.
Last night's new moon saw our tide cycle refresh and tide heights peak. There will still be plenty of current flow and some fairly low lows to 0.6m, so expect our recently flooded creeks and rivers to start releasing more of the fresh held back by making tides up until this time. This could mean a little more debris and flotsam, so continue to keep a keen eye out whilst boating.
Bane is in the Cocos Islands with Dane and took great pride in showing his son how to catch permit.
Dane's is having a ball on his Cocos Islands birthday trip. Bones, GTs and red bass on the flats and a chance to bend the fly rods.
Dirty Water Changes the Pier Fishery
Urangan Pier fans will have to come to terms with fishing dirty water for a while to come. Pelagic activity will be pretty much non-existent as displaced estuarine species and various vermin take over the scene along the pier.
Talk of jewies being caught recently is notable, even if they are sub-legal and must be released unharmed. This means without gaffing them by the way, so kindly respect the jewfish and any other species destined for release by landing them without sinking a pier gaff into them.
Look for someone with a drop-net style landing apparatus if they are out there, or perhaps invest in one yourself if you have a trolley or a means of transporting it along the pier. We have appropriate 2-ringed drop nets at Fisho's. They are cheap and double-up nicely as crab catchers (for which they were originally designed). Soak yours duly weighted and baited and you just might score a stray mud crab displaced by recent flooding.
Other estuarine predators are a chance of visiting pier waters this week. The draining tides will see all sorts of fish travelling under cover of dirty water, so some surprise catches are on the cards. Fish like threadfin salmon, blue salmon and grunter join queenfish and others as possibles, whilst a flathead would be little surprise to anyone. A lack of baitfish will mean you will need to BYO bait or resort to lures. Prawn imitations and soft vibes are your best options at present.
Vermin such as sting rays, shovel-nosed sharks and various members of the toothier variety are all potential day-savers for pier fishos struggling to raise anything decent in the currently dirty waters. Fresh baits duly positioned on the bottom will soon attract their attention if wrangling a creature capable of pulling some string lights your fire. With any luck, pier waters will improve as Easter arrives so the visiting shore-based anglers have that option, but if not, then there are plenty of alternatives a landlubber can pursue.
Fisho's is now your Crab'n Gear stockist for the Hervey Bay region. Drop in and check out the traps for crabs and red claw
All the crabbing gear you will need for muddies, sandies, spanners and red claw all in the one place - at Fisho's.
Dirty Water Options for Landlubbers
Whilst some might be perturbed by the stained near-shore waters at present, a savvy land-based fisho should be excited by the prospects. You might not catch any coral trout from the rocks or spin up any mackerel or tuna anywhere, but even cooler fish could be swiping at your next topwater presentation of screaming off with your bait.
Barramundi are one such species; inclined to roam in late wet season conditions such as these. Impressive barra call the Fraser Coast home, and some serious bragging rights are going to be earned by those that put the effort in to work out where they are and how to catch them. Easy options include local pondages and select sites already well-flogged by the locals, whilst other more challenging locations also offer the chance to tangle with the good old Lates Calcarifer.
Local flats are one example. Prevailing winds can dictate success or failure, as will tides and water quality, yet those unfamiliar with barramundi feeding habits must remember that these critters can 'see' in water as muddy as muddy gets. Their intensely sensitive lateral line lets them 'feel' their surrounds and sense their prey (or your lure) in water too muddy to see an inch. Create some commotion on the surface, ala topwater lures, and you just enhanced their chances of finding your presentation multi-fold.
Threadfin and blue salmon will join the barra in select waters, even though all and sundry will wander independently. Areas that create a temporary haven for baitfish and prawn dislodged from local creeks and rivers can be massive drawcards for predators of all sorts, so be ever-vigilant and observant when wandering our flats and rocky fringes.
Flathead have been displaced from swollen creeks and are merrily hunting in new ambush zones in ultra-skinny water. Consider approaching likely areas in a stealthy manner as the flatties may well be parked in mere inches of water right near the edge. The cover offered by stained waters gives them the confidence that predators above cannot see them, whilst they hunt morsels seeking solace in the shallowest margins.
Whiting fishos might trip over a substantial feed of fish cruising a local flat or beach. As always, targeting them whilst there is maximum tidal variation will aid your cause, so perhaps try the Booral Flats, or the beachscape between the Burrum and Dundowran. Target areas where jelly prawn are amassed otherwise and you will out-fish your bait fishing buddies with tiny topwater lures for sure.
Drag a crab pot along for the ride if you are so inclined. Muddies are on the move since recent flooding washed them from their backwater homes. They can turn up along local beaches, near creek mouths, and most certainly down along the Booral Flats. Place your pots out at low tide and come back and check them next low tide. Mud crabbing has been great for boaties and now is you chance for a feed.
Charles got lucky with this enormous pond barra. Landlubbers have this option amongst many post-flooding.
There is actually TWO spots up for grabs on the upcoming Fisho's Big Cat Reality Swains Reef trip. Contact Fisho's if you are keen to join the fun.
Sweetlip Lead the Charge in Dirty Inshore Waters
As alluded to in last week's report, inshore reef fishos have lots to look forward to in coming weeks and months. If it wasn't for the persistent issues with shark depredation then we would all be enjoying the fruits of this latest flooding big-time. The inshore reef fishery will morph into various forms in coming months, but for now, it is a sweetlip-lovers paradise out there.
Grassy sweetlip revel in conditions such as these, as they fatten-up on displaced morsels sent their way by flood waters from the Mary and the straits. Estuary cod gorge themselves too and dominate their domain in waters no longer hosting the big GTs and spaniards of recent times and cleaner waters. The cod will scoff all manner of live baits, well-presented whole dead baits, jigged lures and trolled deep divers. Unfortunately, they will beat the trout to your offerings all too often in many locations, but they are tastier than they look and return a decent fillet, so are more welcome on board now than they have ever been.
Nannygai will be featuring regularly in catches from inshore waters in the near future. Displaced nannies, forced from their straits hideaways will join their brethren drawn in by the abundance of food that floodwaters bring. Bait fishos will catch their share no doubt, whilst those favouring lures have even more offerings to dance past the nannies than ever before. This will be the first season that the nannies have seen the new Nomad Live Ops Jerksquid softies and they are bound to be just as impressed as we were.
The flood plume from the Mary River has made its way well beyond 'the banks' and is leaving a subtle stain as far up the bay as Arch Cliffs. Given that making tides helped contain the plume ever-so-slightly since the flood until now, one might expect that plume to spread even wider as it disperses. Debris has been observed beyond that realm, yet the main current lines that eddy back and forth around the shipping channels and 'the banks' areas are where a fair degree of light-weight flotsam will be most obvious.
The water beneath the visible plume is very much salty and more than acceptable to the bottom-dwellers and other reef fish that call our bay home. You will find this out if ever the weather improves and you can get out there amongst it. Trollers will enjoy success on grounds that may not have been overly productive recently, just as those deploying live baits or jigging lures will. These conditions are ideal for fish that wish to relocate, so don't be surprised to catch mangrove jacks where cod and blackall once ruled the roost.
Once upon a time, yours truly used to rush to fish the Roy Rufus for snapper at this time of year, just to beat all the mates to the first fish of the season. I personally don't bother any more, since suffering immediate shark depredation on the first large snapper hooked each and every season-starter until I gave up a few years ago. You might get luckier (if snapper of that calibre even exist in bay waters post-summer like they used to) and it is post-flooding conditions like these that will make that task even easier. Some of you might be surprised to learn just how keen seemingly cold and clear water loving snapper are to feed beneath flood plumes like the one extending into the bay right now.
Target grunter next chance you get and you should do well if you understand their movements inshore. If you miss out this week, then be ready for another crack with the next full moon. It should be a 'grunter special' that sees fish displaced by floods join their bay compadres attracted close inshore by the lure of extra tucker. The next big grunter bite might be as close as Pt Vernon or the bay islands, or it might be out along the banks or off the Burrum somewhere. Something to look forward to in any case.
Fishing the dirty water in close saw Stuart catching small jewies and blue salmon this week.
Stuart also headed up the island and found plenty of schoolies on the chew.
Northern Bay Reefs Fishing Well Sharks Permitting
A day or two of lighter winds recently saw a number of crews steer northward up the bay to fish for reefies. The grounds at The Gutters produced a mixed catch of cod, coral trout and sweetlip, with a few stray cobia thrown in. Heading wider meant more of the same and vastly less sharks, but even isolated lumps and bumps were rarely shark-free. A quick hit and run was the go for those constantly pestered by noahs, and that strategy paid modest dividends for those with the energy.
Given the disgusting price of fuel right now, and no sign of any reprieve any time soon, more and more skippers and their crews must be rethinking their future reef fishing trips based on return for investment. It is one thing to waste fuel, time and energy trying to catch a feed on shark-riddled grounds at $1.65/litre a couple of weeks ago, so how does anyone justify the wastage at the current premium?! No doubt many will go less often and only on better tides etc in future. More likely to the GBR proper rather than speculative questionable trips to once-productive grounds now over-run with sharks locally.
Observations from certain folks that wandered up the island through Platypus Bay last week noted the masses of baitfish gathering close to the island beach on the coffee rock outcrops. Pike in particular, were abundant in places, no doubt pushed that way by dirtier waters closer inshore. Those aggregations of baitfish are their own distinct drawcards for future predatory activity, so consider that the next time you are driving past those outcrops.
Logan with a 'brown trout' from a rare sharkless patch of reef in the northern bay.
Estuary cod are biting with a vengeance post-flood. Catch them inshore or out wide like this D.I. Point Fishing Charter client did.
Tuna Highly Mobile as Spaniards Back on the Hit List
Reports of hordes of school longtails in Platypus Bay from the Arch Cliffs 6 Mile to Wathumba were doing the rounds last week. Those tuna were not large, at an average of just 5-10 kilos, but they were at least easy to find and there were plenty of them. Different story just yesterday for some crews however, as they struggled to find the tuna in the very same areas.
Winds bettering 15 knots will mean anyone keen for a tuna-chasing session this weekend will likely hug the island or at least head for Platypus again meaning any tuna feeding in the central bay go unseen and unmolested. Those highly mobile longtails will be out in the bay there somewhere and will continue to be an attractive feature of the bay fishery for weeks to come. The mac tuna will be alongside them too, and no doubt plenty of sharks shadowing the bigger schools as well.
One crew found a school of 'mackerel' thrashing the surface to foam amongst a feeding melee that included several large bull sharks. That crew witnessed what was likely a stray school of spotties, even though they failed to turn a reel with their offerings. Ensuring you have a good mix of metal slugs on board, as well as spin reels capable of sufficient speed, will mean you don't suffer the same rejections if you are lucky enough to trip over the same ultra-late season spotties.
Come this Sunday 22nd March, Spanish Mackerel will once again be catchable in our waters. The second 3-week closure concludes at midnight on Saturday night, so spaniard fans can all let out a little cheer. Then you will have to go find them of course. The central bay beyond the flood plume would seem a reasonable option, as would the waters off Rooneys Point. No doubt better weather and extra effort will reveal their whereabouts in coming weeks.
There have been school mackerel up the island, and a few just north of the banks. They will be harassing any pencil squid pushed out that way by floodwaters when they aren't gorging on the herring etc. Broadies have been found closer inshore, beneath the dirty water, as they are quite at home with a little stain in the drink. The broadies reported did come from deeper water admittedly, and only a few were landed, but hope remains for mackerel fans for a feed without burning too much fuel.
Smaller longtails are spread across the bay and highly mobile. Tri from Fraser Guided Fishing has been treating his clients to high-speed action aplenty.
Fraser Guided Fishing clients are catching pelagics like this goldie as well as reef fish and even a few flatties for fun.
Flood Plume Extends 15 Miles off Wide Bay Bar
Talking to Greg Pearce, the skipper and owner of Double Island Point Fishing Charters last night revealed that the offshore fishery east of the Wide Bay bar (south of Fraser Island) is looking great, regardless of the dirty waters. The flood plume has reached around 15 miles from the bar and is quite distinct, meaning clear water immediately beyond that line. The worst of the dirty water is holding between 4 and 12 miles from the bar at present.
Greg has only been able to work when weather conditions allow of late, and even then, some days it has been only he and fellow charter boat operator Ed Falconer out there on the briny. Greg's clients have returned home from recent trips with a very nice mixed bag of reef fish and Greg believes things are shaping up for a better-than-average season out wide as winter approaches.
The spanish mackerel have been absolutely thick in fairly close, even though the water surface has been filthy dirty. He hasn't been targeting them due to the closure, but hasn't been able to avoid them on standard bottom fishing rigs lately. A three-way hook-up off the bottom on reef rigs just recently being a prime example. Those same fish might not get the same release treatment after Sunday one might imagine.
Greg's clients have caught quite a few classy reef fish such as red emperor, gold band jobfish, tusk fish and reef jacks from out wide, as well as sweetlip, cod and other reefies in closer. The sharks have been pretty nasty in close beneath the dirty water, so Greg has been quick to up and move once they find him. Knowing every other inch of that country down there gives him oodles of options when the sharks are at their worst, hence the reason his clients are always so impressed and lining up for return trips.
Double Island Point Fishing Charter clients are always happy when hauling in ripper gold bands like this one.
Reds have feature in catches aboard Double Island Point Fishing Charters when the wind lets them get further offshore.
Burrum Heads Easter Classic
It is that time of year again folks, when keen competition fishos and family fishos alike descend on the beautiful little fishing mecca of Burrum Heads for the annual Easter Fishing Classic. Hosted and run by the community-minded members of the Burrum Heads Amateur Fishing Club, this is a very popular event, with many returnees, and is likely to see many welcome new faces this year.
The event will be run over the 3 days from Good Friday April 3rd to Easter Sunday April 5th. Entry is cheap as chips, where adults (16 and over) pay a mere $40 and kids (15 and under) can enter for only $10. Registrations can be taken onsite at the Lion's Park in Burrum Heads between 8am and 4pm Good Friday or 8am-12 noon Easter Saturday, or you can register online via: www.burrumheadsfishing.com.au
There are regular events and activities to keep the whole family entertained, particularly the kids. Not to mention weigh-in times when crowds gather to ooh and ahh at the fish being brought to the weighmaster. There are super draws for both adults and kids, giveaways galore, raffles and a sausage sizzle.
The list of species eligible for heaviest as well as runner-up prizes include many of our most popular local fish. These include whiting, bream, flathead (live-weight only), grunter, mangrove jack, grassy sweetlip, mackerel and trevally. Mud crabs are also eligible on a secret weight basis, and that category should be hotly contested this year.
For more details and weigh-in times etc, suss out the club's website and ready your family for a fantastic time at Easter. The Burrum River system might still be shedding excess water from recent flooding at this time, but it, and particularly the surrounding waters, should be very interesting come Easter time.
Good luck to all who enter, and look out for a few tips in next week's fishing report that might help you catch a prize winner. Fisho's Tackle World is a proud long-term sponsor of this event and we will happily help any entrant with advice and the best tackle should you wish to drop in for a chat pre-comp.
It's all about the kids and families having fun at the Burrum Heads Easter Fishing Competition. It's on again soon, so don't miss out.
The Burrum Heads Amateur Fishing Club members that make all the fun happen at the Easter Fishing Classic.
Good luck out there y'all …… Jase