Andrew joined Dane for a mid-week assault on the snapper that turned into a memorable and somewhat exhausting session on XOS pelagics.
Westerly Winds to Dominate the Week Ahead
We've experienced all sorts of weather this past week. Strong winds, light winds, the first half-decent fog of the season and a little unseasonal rainfall. The big rain event that was supposed to bring potential flash flooding to our district was a fizzer and left a mere 15mm in gauges here in town.
That rain band cleared the coast yesterday afternoon; blown away by westerly winds behind the trough line. That westerly wind, or versions of it, will dominate our weather for the coming week. Expect clear skies and cooler temperatures whilst the westerlies trigger a bite from some of our piscatorial friends and send others into shutdown-mode.
Winds-wise, todays straight westerly should peak at 20 knots, before tending more south-westerly for the weekend. We could see that breeze reach 20 knots according to the BOM, but it should be lighter close inshore at least. Spikes of both north-westerly and south-westerlies are appearing on online weather sites for mid-week, but given their general unreliability, I am not going to regurgitate their suggestions here. Better you monitor forecasts daily and put your faith in the latest.
It is a crying shame that these westerlies had to arrive just as the moon is waxing towards Sunday's full. Great tides are going begging as access beyond sheltered inshore waters is denied for all but the larger vessels crewed by hardy souls. All is not lost of course, as our region offers ample alternative options for keen fishos that can be enjoyed safely and productively over the coming full moon tides.
80cm of prime Platypus Bay coral trout, caught by a client aboard a Saltwater Play Ground charter.
Andrew snuck in another evening session at Lake Monduran during the week and scored more barra like this one.
Time to Get Serious About Pier Bream
Westerly winds spell better times for bream fans, and those keen to wander out towards the deep end of Urangan Pier this week should find themselves amongst the action. Bream numbers to date have been fairly modest at best, yet good-quality fish were caught over the recent neaps. Bring on the glow of the full moon and the extra oomph in the tide and the bream bite should improve dramatically.
Bait fishos must be prepared to catch herring and use them as butterflied, slab or fillet baits to improve their chances. Herring are the dominant food source at the pier after all, so you can see why that effort is suggested. Catch them fresh and present them soon thereafter where possible, rather than recycling old baits from the freezer or yesterday's efforts. Refer to a recent Fisho's Weekly Fishing Report for the author's tips on bait presentation for pier bream if you need a few in-depth tips.
Crisp nights under a large rising moon will appeal to many a local pier bream fisho. Better-quality fish can be anticipated after dark, yet you can still catch the same fish during bankers' hours. Time of tide will dictate favourable positions along the pier, yet you will only be shuffling a few pylons left or right if you start in the right zone. Somewhere along the slope off the sandbank into deeper water is a great starting point.
Small squire are a very real bream bycatch possibility for pier fishos – now or maybe later this winter. Not so much on presentations fished facing the tide 'upside down' beneath the pier, but on baits drifted well away from the pier with the tide. Picture scavenging squire drawn to the almost constant berley trail of discarded herring and other baits tossed into the tide and you can see how you might catch one. Minimal weight and an unhindered natural drift with the tide will trick the warier legal-sized fish, whilst tiddlers fall for the same old crap presentations all tiddlers fall for.
Flathead have been reasonably consistent beneath the pier in recent weeks, and this latest round of neaps saw a few more caught. It is often the same folks catching them from day to day, so we can only hope that they aren't being greedy and keeping them all. They can't keep the bigger fish over 75cm and there has been a couple of those candidates for release caught recently.
Pike remain the choice live bait for Urangan Pier flathead, with herring a decent secondary option. If you want to try lures, then consider small soft vibes or over-weighted paddle-tailed softies, as these options enable you to present from so high above the water. To be honest, if lure-fishing for flatties is your thing, then forget the pier and wander the local foreshores or creek banks and you will score vastly more.
Going armed with a squid jig or two in your kit will ensure you are prepared should some big tigers materialise in the water beneath the pier. A very small number of pencillies turned up one night earlier this week apparently, but this is tiger squid time, so it's bigger 2.5 and 3.0 jigs for future visits. The big heavy tiger squid will just fall off most tiny jigs used for pencil squid when you try to lift them aloft, even though they will happily snatch them.
Stuart slipped out during recent inclement weather and found the inshore nannies on the chew.
The Winch boys with proof that mangrove jacks can still be caught on bait during these cooler times of year.
Big barracuda are just one of the XOS pelagics terrorising Hervey Bay's baitfish at present. This one was caught on a Hot Reels charter.
Hot Reels charter clients with a solid spanish mackerel caught out in the bay.
Westerlies Conducive for Winter Whiting
Whispers of local winter whiting fans returning with bag limits of these tasty little morsels have become more common as our waters cool. These westerly winds and clear night skies will see further reductions in water temp, all the while offering those in the smallest of vessels safe options to secure a feed close to sheltered shores in the southern bay.
Locations to fire for winteries this week have included the grounds off O'Regans Creek, the channel near the beacons out from the Burrum River mouth, Gatakers Bay and Woodgate. Perhaps other areas gave up a feed too, but those mentioned are the ones we heard about. We've heard no mention of the dreaded green toads, yet you should always be wary of them and willing to move on should they move in on your drift lines.
A little sideline of bream fishing over the fringing reefs at Gatakers Bay is on the cards if you like. Anchoring in 4m of water and deploying a steady berley trail will draw the bream to your position and hold them behind your boat. Presenting strip baits of herring, pike, tailor or mullet back in your berley trail with less weight than is required to get that bait to the bottom will soon see success. Aka float-lining for snapper, just on a miniature scale. A full moon and westerly winds are spot-on for such activities, and you can do so right through the day.
Whiting and bream fishos should always be prepared for a stoush with a few mackerel when fishing the abovementioned waters. The macks might rock up and trash your string of winteries or they might fall victim to that floating pillie or whiting you have tethered out the back. Dedicate a quick trolling session to their detriment if you like, as mackerel are quite abundant and a feed should be pretty easy to procure.
Bob was happy to welcome this fine-eating estuary cod to dinner at his place.
Brett was one of many fishos to get amongst the queenies close inshore. They will be a fine option for the full moon westerly.
Squid Add Fun and Flavour to Inshore Reef Fishing Missions
Westerly winds are synonymous with better squidding in these parts, so no doubt they will get a touch-up this week. Tiger squid have been a regular feature of the standard-issue inshore shallow reef scene ever since our waters cleared-up enough, and those waters are about to go ultra-clear this week.
Dedicate time to catching squid with the kids and you can share the wondrous experience as they ooh and ahh at the pretty sights and amazing creatures of our shallowest waters. Then laugh along with them as they get inked time and time again and totally ruin the (hopefully) old fishing clobber you cleverly had them wear for the session. Grab them a pair of polarised sunglasses (perhaps from the range of Spotters for Kids at Fishos) and that way they can see the underwater wonders every bit as well as you.
Set the kids up with rods in hand and try a slow troll through the shallows dragging a 2.5-sized squid jig 30 metres behind the boat if you don't know where to start looking. The squid will find you this way, and rods will load up whilst explosions of blackened ink-filled water appear behind the boat. Set their drags very light so the squid can lunge of without pulling hooks and encourage them to keep their rods bent at all times during the battle.
Learn to secure squid and how to lift them into a bucket without triggering an expulsion of ink and happier times ahead for you no doubt (even though the odd bugger will still get you from time to time). There is no bag limit listed for tiger (calamari) squid for Qld waters, so the default limit of 20 in possession applies. Do not be greedy; our waters and squid populations simply cannot support the increased effort these days.
Consider a proven Squid Cleaning Bag to reduce the mess and simplify the process of cleaning your calamari catch. These bags come with a rope and float attached and are designed to be tumbled along in your boat's wake on the cusp of a wave (somewhat akin to a scaler bag for whiting).
Firstly, remove the heads and cut off a little piece of the tube at the tail end of the squid. Place maybe 5-10 in the bag, depending on how big they are. Their bodies will tumble about in the bag and be skinned and gutted by the turbulence as you chortle along at maybe 12 knots on the plane. Drag them for a mile or so and inspect. If sparkling white and skinless, then job done. Go too far and too fast and it'll be shredded remnants of what was once your feed of squid (speaking from past experience there).
Tiger squid will be popular targets whilst the westerly winds improve our inshore water clarity.
XXX 'Scaler Bags' will minimise the mess and see you taking home clean squid tubes ready for the pan.
Masses of Baitfish Attract Predators to Bay Waters
How good any season in Hervey Bay waters unfolds has a lot to do with past seasonal rains etc and the resultant abundance of baitfish thereafter. Following on from decent rains last wet season, our waters are now very much alive with an ever-growing biomass of various baitfish, and this phenomenon has not gone unnoticed by a host of major predatory species.
Just this week, there has been reports of acres of yakkas shimmering across open bay waters, herring galore over numerous reef sites, pike in their usual prolific numbers inshore and a few considerable surprises for this time of year. One such surprise has been the arrival of slimy mackerel and pilchards over reef sites in our local shipping channels in waters still sporting temperatures of 22°C.
Slimies were a regular bay visitor what seems like eons ago, but only when bay waters plummeted to a chilly 17°C. That seemingly stopped altogether some 15 years ago, hence their recent appearance being so notable and very welcome. Pilchards have come and gone with unknown consistency over the years. None at all for years it seems, then massive schools stacked bottom to surface in the deepest channels for brief periods randomly. Sadly, those that discovered the slimies and pillies this week also discovered that the sharks were intent on eating every single one deployed to the reefs below.
Elsewhere, there has been a surge in both yakka and herring numbers as well as Watson's Leaping Bonito, drawing in some of the biggest pelagic predators that grace the bay in winter. A few crews found numbers of large cobia, spanish mackerel, really large longtail tuna and stacks of big golden trevally hot on the tails of the baitfish in the southern bay.
Failed snapper-seeking sessions soon turned into pelagic pandemonium as one beast after another scoffed softies otherwise rigged for knobbies, and drag systems went into virtual meltdown. Now, some of us older hands would have just driven away from such melees, and maintained the search for snapper, whilst eager young fishos keen for bent rods and screaming drags enjoyed the thrill and substantial workout the big pelagics laid on.
Those scenes unfolded in somewhat open waters within 10 miles or so of local boat ramps, yet even closer inshore, a mixture of smaller, yet just as fun, pelagic species went nuts over all manner of soft plastics and stickbaits. The bay islands were central to much of the action, that saw queenfish join a number of different trevally species in a bite considered a major bonus during neap tides. Imagine the bite over the full moon in a westerly if you might – hooyar!
Having the right tackle onboard ensures you are prepared when your snapper mission turns into pelagic pandemonium.
Double hook-ups on cobia this size demand good teamwork and patience. Fight them gently and they will come to you quicker.
Snapper Elusive Whilst Mackerel Everywhere
This full moon would've been earmarked on many a keen fisho's calendar as a prime time to go hunting snapper. Rightly so too no doubt, but it seems the snapper and the weather gods have other thoughts on that matter. Snapper catches to date have been minimal at best. Shark attrition both now and over past seasons can be blamed if you want something to blame, but so too can the increased effort that is feeding that attrition.
There is a long list of well-known inshore snapper hotspots that most of you would be well-versed with that I hesitate to mention right now. The only word back from those grounds in general is sharks, sharks and more sharks. It is time to spread your wings fishos and start seeking snapper beyond the hammered inshore grounds. Tracking back over well-trodden paths, most likely some miles or minutes behind someone else that just did the same thing, is not improving your fishing or our inshore fisheries' sustainability.
Snapper being so slow-growing, makes them ultra-susceptible to over-fishing and shark depredation, well beyond that of faster-growing reef fish such as coral trout and tuskfish. Having said this, there is no denying the desire many must satiate when it comes to snapper fishing, and the general appeal of the fishery. To that end, most definitely get out there and go your hardest to get amongst them, but perhaps consider alternatives to flogging that same old (shark-weary) horse.
Learning to understand snapper will soon see you venturing out into the paddock away from shark-infested reef sites looking for snapper schools milling about in seemingly featureless open waters. Examining the gut contents of snapper caught inshore will soon reveal remnants of fodder therein that will open your eyes to just how much tucker a cunning snapper can glean from the paddock.
Trollers are a classic example of folks that secure a feed of snapper by wandering off away from reef sites where the largest fish can be caught with vastly less fear of shark depredation. Join the clan and start trolling the likes of Classic Dr Evils like so many before you, and you might enjoy similar results. Maybe not as appealing as flicking softies for them, I know, but worthy of a try, if not just for the learning experience.
History and time on the water long ago revealed that westerly winds tend to put snapper off the bite close inshore in the protected waters of the bay. Those grounds out of the wind that appeal to we boaties don't appeal to the snapper drawn to more exposed and turbulent waters some distance away. Yes, you might catch a fish or two at dawn or sunset, but don't expect a great sheltered-water day bite in a westerly.
Mackerel are a much easier target species for those happy to supplement their seafood diet with something a little stronger-flavoured. There are hordes of school mackerel well-spread across the western, southern and eastern bay, and they are also annoying reef fishos in the northern bay. Broadies are also abundant through the most southern bay waters and the northern sector of the straits. They are hyperactive too, and turning up anywhere from the shallowest flats and fringing reefs to the deeper channels and Fraser's western ledges.
Dane with one of the thumping big longtail tuna caught on a Rapala Crush City 'The Jerk' plastic he had rigged for snapper.
Goldie after goldie crunched Dane's Nomad Live Ops 5in Jerksquid. A lure bound to tempt the snapper when they decide to turn it on.
Straits Fishery a Saviour in a Westerly
Strongest winds aside, the protected waters of the Great Sandy Straits offer a plethora of opportunities for keen fishos this week. The larger (yet not too large) full moon tides will play into your hands too, as vast flats drain and force fodder out of cover triggering a response from their predators. Not to mention the chance of prawns and the almost guarantee of mud crabs if you soak some pots.
You can do the rounds down there and try favourite creeks for grunter, threadfin salmon, blue salmon and barra. You can find flathead in the same creeks as well as along the verges of the flats beyond. Try the ledges fronting Fraser's western fringe for jewfish, cod and more grunter, or scope the feeder channels and the shipping channels for salmon, grunter, trevally and mackerel.
The deeper reefs can be home to more cod than you might like, but also the odd coral trout, some surprisingly plump nannies, sweetlip and even a few legal squire. Green toads can be a nuisance in numerous areas, being particularly annoying in larger creek systems and their feeder channels at present. Also; carry squid jigs with you and you won't be swearing at yourself when you trip over a school of tigers milling about in the clearing waters down there.
Chris got amongst the river threadfin salmon population. A fish you can target right into the depths of winter.
Mindy joined Luke for a trolling mission off Kingfisher Bay and caught this fat broadie on a Samaki Redic.
Dirty River Waters Upstream; Fish Downstream
Our rivers are clearing nicely too as salinity levels improve week by week. The Mary is still dirty for much of its length beyond a few miles from the mouth, so your efforts closer to the heads will be rewarded. You can still tempt barra with a little effort, and will find threadfin salmon both working the channels and the drains depending upon your timing.
Blue salmon are prolific in some areas, frustrating those of us with the barra or thready blinkers on. They can be real pests, yet truly are powerful sports fish in their own right. So, view them how you please, as you are bound to encounter at least some if you spend time on the river. Shore-based fishos should even be able to catch them if the bust-ups and lunging heavy-shouldered blues witnessed terrorising herring within casting range of River Heads last weekend are any indication.
Jewfish are a chance in that area over the full moon tides, for both landlubbers and boaties alike. Those walking the rocks should focus on low tide at "stupid o'clock" in the morning, whilst boaties can work both high and low tide turns in the vicinity of there or South Head. Shallow divers and big paddle-tails for the rock fishos; prawn imitations, soft vibes or trolled deep divers for the boaties.
Burrum fishos can enjoy the reinvigorated threadfin salmon fishery now that netting has stopped up there. The sambos seem easier to catch than the barra at present, but that depends on the fisho telling the yarn. A great feed of bream is on offer under a bright full moon, and whiting and grunter could also feature for those working rising tides over the Buxton area sandflats. Add swags of flathead and the slight chance of a Burrum jewfish and that system's waters offer another great option in a westerly wind.
If that isn't enough, then just go prawning. Woodgate went nuts again last week when the winds turned offshore again, and will perhaps do the same again this week. The only thing in the way is the full moon for the more mature prawn that may go to ground, but by the look of the mixed sizes coming in from up there, continued success seems likely. Go get 'em folks, westerlies ain't all bad!
Interesting gut contents from an XOS longtail tuna. Looks like leeder prawn, happy moment, cuttlefish and toadfish. Match THAT hatch!
Matt almost caught himself a beaut Hervey Bay longtail.
Quinton and family enjoyed a fantastic feast of red claw from a recent trip up to Emerald.
What a stonker! You can imagine Quinton was stoked to find this giant red claw in his new pot from Fisho's.
Good luck out there y'all …… Jase