10 tips for Àshing success
$
450
Big barra in QLD dams
Includes GST
February 2019
Print Post Approved PP100001534 Volume 30, Number 2
Moreton Bay pelagics Gold Coast estuaries alive
South Passage Bar update Solar-powered canoeing
How to catch more mud crabs
Guides for targeting mangrove jack
Camping on magical Moreton Island
Bumper bass action in rivers and impoundments Proudly produced and printed in Australia
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Estuary • Offshore • Freshwater • 4WD • Camping • Kayaking
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 1
BAYSIDE Capalaba Boat Centre Shed 8 100 Beveridge Rd, Thornlands 0411 728 379
BRISBANE NORTH Redcliffe Marine 199A Elizabeth Ave, Clontarf redcliffemarine.com.au 07 3284 8039
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WARWICK Shanes Bikes, Boats & Performance 63A Fitzroy St, Warwick 07 4661 1365
For more details contact your local Tohatsu dealer or visit Page 2 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
www.bnbfishing.com. au
Inside this month Tackle tactics
Prawning
P7
P15
Jacks
Barra
P51
constant northerly wind and overcast conditions with low barometric pressure. Adjusting your approach to get the bites and enjoying them when they come is the positive to take out of getting success in those tough times.
OUR COVER
Five-year-old JOHN PAYNE boated this big 96cm barramundi (his first!) while fishing with his parents in Peter Faust Dam. Check out LEEANN PAYNE’S article on Page 61 for the full run-down on their family barra fishing adventure.
EDITOR: SUBEDITOR: ADVERTISING: PRODUCTION:
Ben Collins Daniel Tomlinson Ben Collins, Gabi McCaig Jo Hendley
Phone (07) 3286 1833 Fax (07) 3821 2637 Email: ben@bnbfishing.com.au Internet: www.bnbfishing.com.au PO Box 387, Cleveland, Qld 4163 Unit 2, 39 Enterprise Street, Cleveland, Qld 4163 AFTA PRINTER: Rural Press DISTRIBUTION BY: Fairfax Max. recommended retail price $4.50 (includes GST). CORRESPONDENTS: Editorial contributions are welcome, as is news from clubs, associations, or individuals; and new product news from manufacturers. Entire contents copyright. Nothing may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. It is the responsibility of advertisers to ensure the correctness of their claims and statements. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher. G IN
FISH ING ’S
E TUR FU
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Bush ‘n Beach Fishing magazine is published monthly by Collins Media Pty Ltd ABN 43 159 051 500 ACN 159 051 500 trading as Collins Media.
AUST
MARCH edition will be on sale in newsagents from March 1. See subscription form on Page 68. The first 50 subscribers in February will each receive The Great Outdoors 2019 Tide Guide valued at $8.
Having said that, some great fish can still be caught when it’s busy, and if you’re a fishing addict like me, you’ll be out there trying to connect to one. Moreton Bay I haven’t done as much travelling around Moreton Bay as I would normally at this time of year, but reports reveal very little surface feeding action so far this pelagic season. This can turn around quickly and hopefully it does and we can all have fun casting lures at mackerel and tuna as they smash baitfish on the surface. Reports of school mackerel have been fairly good at times from anglers spinning the beacons and trolling spoons on paravanes. Some big schools of jewfish have gathered in a number of places but it has been tougher than usual to get them to bite. Though this can be frustrating, it can help an angler improve by adjusting the angle or mixing up their retrieves and lures. I have had success on slightly smaller presentations like Molix 3.5” RT Shads and Jackall Mask Vibe 60s drifted onto the fish with the lure hopped fairly erratically. As usual at this time of year, sharks can be a problem because they love to stalk schools of jew in the warmer months and have a bad habit of eating the fish an angler has worked hard to hook. This is very frustrating and at times unavoidable, so if the sharks are big and in large numbers it is best to just give it a miss and look elsewhere.
ATI ON
by PETER HERBST
CI
The pressure from all this traffic can make fishing over the new year period tough and this year was no exception. A few factors probably played in to the slow fishing apart from pressure, including lack of rain,
Luring Moreton Bay
O
OW the silly season is over, the boat ramps and on-water traffic should be less crazy, at least for a while anyway.
Luring Moreton Bay....................by Peter Herbst....................................P3 10 tips for fishing success ........by Justin Willmer ...............................P7 Knowledge is king......................by Sean Conlon .................................P10 South Passage Bar update.......by Bill Corten .....................................P12 Good month in Moreton Bay....by Warren Schmidt ..........................P14 Be prepared for prawning ........by Syl Cron .........................................P15 Hooked on the moon ..................by Peter Layton..................................P16 Bitten by the jack bug................by Keith Stratford..............................P18 How to catch mud crabs...........by Sean ‘Skip’ Thompson ...............P20 Kids on the water........................by Mark Templeton ..........................P22 Moreton Bay pelagics ...............by Brian Webb...................................P23 Game Fishing ...............................by Barry Alty ......................................P25 Gold Coast.....................................by Heath Zygnerski ..........................P27 Fish the Deep ...............................by Scott Van Burck...........................P27 Beating boat traffic to find fish ..by Wayne ‘Youngy’ Young ..............P28 Tricks for targeting jacks..........by Darren Rama ................................P29 Fishing is like chess ..................by Brad Smith ....................................P30 Sensational surface action ......... by Brett Hyde ...........................................P31 Memories of magic fishing ......by Gary ‘Squidgie’ Palmer..............P32 Fishing throughout NSW...........by Caine ‘Caino’ Goward ................P33 Bass action going bananas......by Nathan ‘Nath’ Palmer ................P34 Sunshine Coast............................by Grant Budd ....................................P35 Classic Characters .....................by Paul ‘Chief’ Graveson ................P36 Hervey Bay....................................by Tri Ton .............................................P37 Launching in Bundaberg...........by Brad Young ...................................P38 Vacation to Vanuatu ...................by Gavin Dobson ...............................P39 Boating & Marine .......................................................................................P40 Stealth fishing success .............by Ben Collins ...................................P41 Insights into insurance..............by Nautilus Marine ..........................P43 Solar-powered canoeing..........by Dan Owbridge..............................P44 Kayak fishing ...............................by Joel Johnson................................P45 Charter Directory ................................................................................. P46,47 Readers Forum.............................................................................................P48 Wilson Puzzle page....................................................................................P48 Capricorn Coast...........................by John Boon .....................................P49 Crabbing over Christmas ..........by Mick Clutterbuck ........................P50 Luring for jacks............................by Jeff Wilton ....................................P51 Stanage Bay .................................by Pee Wee ........................................P52 Tales from the tip ........................by Dave Donald .................................P53 Taking time out for a fish ..........by ‘Billabong’ Bazz Lyon .................P54 Fishing trip off Cape York .........by Matt Potter ....................................P55 Queensland dinosaur trail ........by Todd Eveleigh ..............................P57 Bunya pine nuts.......................... by Melissa Frohloff..........................P58 Recipe ........................................... by Melissa Frohloff..........................P58 Magical Moreton Island .......... by Lachie Baker ...............................P59 Making the metre club ............. by Leeann Payne ..............................P61 Guide to Monduran.................... by Jamie Bein ...................................P62 Freshwater Impoundments ......by Matthew Langford ......................P63 Competition Report.....................by Russell Nowland.........................P64 Cracker Borumba bass..............by Callum Munro ..............................P65 Competition Report.....................by Russell Nowland.........................P65 Glenlyon Dam...............................by Brian Dare.....................................P66 Trading Post.................................................................................................P67 Subscription form ......................................................................................P68
N
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AS
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Making the most of Moreton Bay and the Brisbane River N
P61
PRO TE CT
Damien Hingst with a very good jew that took a Zerek Fish Trap in BC colour.
W
ITH school holidays over, our waterways should return to normal as most people get back into the weekly grind.
HIN G T R A D E
It was great to see plenty of people out there over the break enjoying fun fishing and boating action. It was also good to see a big increase in our website traffic during the holiday period. We are continuing to build the number of articles on our website so you have a top resource to check out before hitting the water. Something else we are working on and have just introduced with this edition is a ‘writer’s tackle box’ for selected articles. Basically, this is a summary of the gear the writer has used to catch a particular fish and is listed in a tackle box at the end of their article. Hopefully this makes it easier for you to ask at tackle shops or search online for the exact or similar gear to what the writers are successfully using. It’s crazy how trends and fads change in terms of lures, rods, reels and basically everything fishing related, so this will be a good way to keep your finger on the pulse as to what to use when targeting specific fish. It won’t just be for lure fishos, with hooks, bait and rigs also included in the tackle boxes because bait fishing is still the most popular form of fishing. On the fishing front, hot weather has seen mangrove jack catches dominate the past couple of weeks. There is still time to target one of these red beasts and several articles in this edition will point you in the right direction for gear to use and where to target them. If you haven’t yet tried to target jacks, it’s well worth giving it a go. But be prepared to lose a bit of gear and a few fish because their explosive hit and run can see you stitched up in a matter of seconds, which is something a couple of mates and I unfortunately experienced recently. I’m still a little baffled as to how I got a 56cm jack on 3lb gear many years ago using an Ecogear SX40, but Anthony Wishey tells the story much better, so I may ask him to do a ‘blast from the past’ recap on that capture in an upcoming edition of BNB. In other fishing news, the Queensland Government has released the ‘Direction Paper of fisheries reform’ to ensure everyone is aware of the direction the government will be taking to manage priority fisheries. There is still opportunity for fishos to have their say when the proposed regulatory amendments are released in coming months, so stay tuned as we will let you know when and where things will be happening. If you want to have a read of the Direction Paper, and I strongly suggest you do, it is available on bnbfishing. com.au In addition, the Great Sandy Marine Park Zoning Plan is currently being reviewed and you can have your say at getinvolved.qld.gov.au/gi/consulta tion/5457/view.html Submissions for this review close on February 25, so have a read and get writing. Ben Collins
December prizewinners Congratulations to George Foster, West Ballina; and Barry Delacour Caboolture who have each won a Barz Optics floating sunglasses pack valued at $180!
☛ continued P4
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 3
Making the most of Moreton Bay and the Brisbane River ☛ from P3
This 113cm king threadfin salmon took a Jackall Mask Vibe worked along the bottom.
An average jewfish for this time of year.
Different areas have different-sized sharks and once they get over 2.5m or so they become a big problem as they easily catch and eat any size jew once hooked. Sweetlip, along with a few snapper, have been pretty consistent in the shallows around the bay lately. Early starts are a must because that first light bite period is by far the best time to target the reef shallows of the bay. Long casts with lightly weighted soft plastics and light leader can be deadly
Lure choice for the deeper water snapper is a balancing act of subtle natural presentation, which snapper like, yet the lure has to get down to where the fish are. on the mid-class fish up to 60cm or so. Larger snapper will be on the cards too in the deeper water around islands like Peel and Mud as well as the manmade reefs such as Harry Atkinson and Curtin. Lure choice for the deeper water snapper is a balancing act of subtle natural presentation, which snapper like, yet the lure has to get down to where the fish are. Depending on the mood of the snapper, this may require slower-sinking lure styles like plastics but some days a snapper will smash a fast-moving lure like a jig. Brisbane River The Brisbane River king threadfin salmon have been about but not in the numbers normally encountered at this time of year. Most fish have been found in deeper water of 10-15m, which can be hard to target, especially when good numbers of fish are not available. The majority of anglers will rely on their sound-
ers to locate threadies in the river. Finding and targeting individual fish can be very difficult, so looking around until you find a number grouped together is a much better idea.
Threadies holding tight to the bottom are better to target than fish sitting well off the bottom because they are often less active and it is a lot harder to keep the lure in front of them. Soft and hard vibes have been the most successful lures of late, with the preference being to fish the run-out tide, but anglers should go whenever they can because threadies can be caught on any tide. Hopefully the fishing improves this month, with perhaps some rain to flush the creeks and a good late pelagic season to unfold.
Smaller soft plastics can be a good option if the jewfish are a bit fussy. This fish took a Molix RT 3.5” fished on a TT Head Hunter Extreme 3/0.
THE MONTHLY MAGAZINE WITH A DAILY HIT OF NEWS.
Page 4 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
www.bnbfishing.com. au
Boat recall ordered for importer U RGENT efforts are under way to contact more than 40 new boat owners to warn them they may be in danger if they take the vessels out on the water this summer.
Maritime Safety Queensland acting general manager Glenn Hale said MSQ officers had discovered the boats, sold by Queensland company Scariff Boats, had the wrong, or were missing information on the Australian Builders Plate about the number of passengers they could safely carry. “Thankfully marine of-
ficers raised the alarm while carrying out a random inspection of the new imported boats at a major boat show during 2018,” Captain Hale said. “They found the Australian Builders Plates, which are required by law to be attached to vessels, in some cases allowed for more than twice the normal maximum loading weight for boats of that size. “This could easily give owners the wrong impression they were able to carry considerably more people on board than was
safely allowed with potentially disastrous consequences. “MSQ has entered into a formal undertaking with Scariff Boats requiring them to make every effort to contact the boat owners and let them know their builder’s plates are incorrect and must be changed. “This is an extremely serious oversight and MSQ has made it clear to the company failure to correct this issue could lead to legal action.” MSQ will also require Scariff Boats to implement a quality assurance
system to ensure all current and future imported boats offered for sale comply with the ABP requirements. “Anyone owning a Scariff boat should get in touch with the company to arrange a review of their boat and its ABP,” Captain Hale said. “MSQ is also undertaking a wider review of vessel manufacturers and sellers to ensure no similar breaches are occurring in the industry. “This is also a timely reminder to all boaties to know your loading lim-
its, how many people and how much equipment, Eskies and tackle boxes your boat can carry. “If you modify your boat, you may inadvertently have changed it enough to require your ABP to be reviewed. “Electric outboards and additional batteries are common practice that will affect a boat’s loading limits and stability.” Anyone with concerns about a Scariff boat should contact the company at mike@scariff.com. au or call 0410 651 000 or 07 3556 3480.
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MORETON BAY BOAT TRIMMERS
Queensland Government releases Directions Paper of fisheries reforms
D
EAR fisheries stakeholder: The Queensland Government has released the ‘Directions Paper of fisheries reforms’ to ensure all fishers and the broader community are aware of the Government’s direction on how best to manage the priority fisheries and the next steps. The proposed changes will apply to both commercial and recreational fishers. The reforms are expected to be implemented by September 2019. There is still an opportunity for people to
provide input into the details of the reforms when proposed regulatory amendments are released for consultation over coming months. There will be further opportunities to have your say on: • Allocation approaches for species moving to quota management and allocation of existing trawl effort units to the proposed management regions for affected commercial fishers; and • Draft regulatory changes for all stakeholders in 2019. The need for fisheries reform in Queensland has been an ongoing dis-
cussion over a number of years, starting with the MRAG review in 2014, followed by the Green Paper in 2016, which received more than 11,000 submissions. The overwhelming message was that all stakeholders want the management of fisheries to be reformed. We want our fisheries to be sustainable for the future, to be profitable for our commercial fishers, enjoyable for our recreational fishers and to maintain access for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to our fisheries for traditional fishing and commercial
able online at fisheries. qld.gov.au I look forward to working with you as we continue to implement these important reforms. If you require any further information, please contact Fisheries Queensland director Ms Kimberly Foster on 07 3087 8770 or email kimberly.foster@daf.qld. gov.au Yours sincerely, Bernadette Ditchfield Deputy Director General Fisheries and Forestry Department of Agriculture and Fisheries
fishing development. The Queensland Government has sought input from all sectors about reforms needed to our major fisheries. Independent advice has also been provided over the past 12 months through the Sustainable Fisheries Expert Panel. The Directions Paper intends to provide certainty to fishers about the reforms that will be implemented, through amendments to the Fisheries Regulation 2008, later in 2019. More information about the reforms and what it means for different stakeholders is avail-
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Boat buyers beware – too good to be true?
B
UYING a new or second-hand boat and realising the dream of getting out on the water can be an exciting time.
However, Maritime Safety Queensland is concerned the dream may not match the reality. MSQ acting general manager Glenn Hale said owning a boat was a significant investment and buyers needed to ensure they made the right decision. “Recent discussions with the Boating Industry Association have raised concerns over how well informed buyers really are at sales,” Captain Hale said. “We are worried new boaties and even some experienced ones aren’t getting all the information they need before they hit the buy button or raise
their paddle to make that big decision. “Getting along to see the boat beforehand is a must, but do you really know what pitfalls you’re looking for? “Buying a boat sight unseen at an online site gives an even greater risk of surprises that can leave you with that sinking feeling very quickly. “Be aware, even buying a new boat not from a dealer may leave you without any warranties or statutory guarantees and with no one to call if you have any questions or have any problems with the boat. “There is also no requirement for a coolingoff period with some of these types of sales. “As with many purchases, the old rule still applies – if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
Maritime Safety Queensland advises before buying a boat you should always: • Take someone with you who knows about boats and what to look
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 5
Page 6 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
www.bnbfishing.com. au
CONTACT YOUR NEAREST DEALER BOWEN
BRISBANE (NORTH)
Reefside Marine 34 Don Street Bowen, QLD T: 4778 6294
Brisbane Yamaha Bruce Highway Burpengary, QLD T: 3888 1727
reefsidemarine.com.au
brisbaneyamaha.com.au
BRISBANE (BAYSIDE)
BRISBANE
Wynnum Marine 31 Fox Street Wynnum, QLD T: 3396 9777
Northside Marine 2294 Sandgate Road Boondall, QLD T: 3265 8000
wynnummarine.com.au
northsidemarine.com.au
BRISBANE (SOUTH)
BUNDABERG
Stones Corner Marine 117 Old Cleveland Road Stones Corner, QLD T: 3397 9766
Bundaberg Marineland 95 Targo Street Bundaberg, QLD T: 4130 0500
stonescornermarine.com.au
bundabergmarineland.com.au
GOLD COAST
GOLD COAST (SOUTH)
Whitewater Marine 10 Hinde Street Ashmore, QLD T: 5532 4402
Gold Coast Boating Centre 64 Kortum Drive Burleigh Heads, QLD T: 5576 7388
whitewatermarine.com.au
goldcoastboatingcentre.com.au
GYMPIE
HERVEY BAY
Watson’s Marine Centre 52 Wickham Street Gympie, QLD T: 5482 2135
Buccaneers 19 Islander Road Pialba, Hervey Bay, QLD T: 4124 6988
watsonsmarine.com.au onsmarine.com.au
buccaneers.com.au
TWEED COAST
WHITSUNDAYS
North Coast Yamaha 4 Lucky Lane Billinudgel, NSW T: 02 6680 3322
Whitsunday Marine 4/11 Shute Harbour Road Cannonvale, QLD T: 4948 3298
northcoastyamaha.com.au
whitsundaymarine.com.au
www.bnbfishing.com. au
This tailor was a product of closely aligning lure and bait sizes.
10 tips for fishing success
F
ISHING is a sport where we are forever learning and over the past few decades I have learnt from magazines, television, the internet and other anglers, developing my knowledge and skills based around different species, techniques, environments, weather and water conditions, lure selection, knots and more.
As we learn more and discover more pieces to the puzzle, we begin to crack patterns, read the water better, make more informed decisions and catch more fish. Here are 10 tips I have picked up along the way that will hopefully help get you hooked up. Structure is king Whenever I’m fishing new areas, the first thing I do is look for available structure. Find the structure and you often find the fish. Structure offers shelter, food and an ambush point, while also creating a break in the water flow that the fish can use to save energy while waiting for food to be brought to them. Structure comes in many forms, including natural structure such as mangroves, lilies, timber, weed beds, drop-offs, rock bars and sandbanks, along with manmade structure such as bridges, rock walls, pontoons, jetties and boat ramps. Some structure is obvious, while other structure will require a sounder or quality pair of polarised sunglasses to assist in locating it. Take note of the structure in the area you are fishing and try to target this structure, as there is usually more life in the oasis than the desert. Find the bait, find the fish This is a saying I remember from when I was a kid and it has always stuck with me. It’s also amazing how often it has rung true. Many times I have fished an area without bait that just feels lifeless, then moved to an area where bait is more actively flicking and creating ‘nervous water’ on the surface and it’s fish on. When fishing the beach, I have stayed with a bait school or followed the school along the beach while casting lures and it generally doesn’t take long for a predatory species like tailor, queenfish or mackerel to find the bait. At the end of the day, we all need to eat. No run, no fun Another old saying and one
Tackle Tactics by JUSTIN WILLMER
that has again rung true on many occasions. Water movement brings structure into play even further, creating eddies and breaks in the current that focus the bait and in turn force the fish into more defined areas. Water movement can also mean less time for fish to make a decision on whether or not to eat something, which is an advantage when fishing with lures. I have fished with anglers who will follow the tidal push up larger rivers, using the outboard to race up the river ahead of the push and make the most of this increase in water flow as it reaches different sections
of the river and switches on the bite. There are times when you will prefer less tidal flow and want to fish the neap tides and tide changes. This is ideal for targeting structure and schooled fish in deeper water and in areas where the tidal flow is often too strong. Match the hatch A saying you have probably heard before and another that is worth considering whenever you’re casting lures. If prawns are in the river, a prawn imitation may be the go, likewise a baitfish imitation if you can see baitfish flicking on ☛ continued P8
Keep it simple. Structure plus bait equals fish.
Matching the hatch can produce results.
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 7
10 tips for fishing success ☛ from P7
Changing things up produced a new species for Ronny.
This solid flatty was hooked on the little Z-Man 2.5” Slim SwimZ.
the water’s surface. The key is to try to mimic what the fish are eating as closely as possible. It can even come down to colour, and I have had great success fishing plastics that are green and clear after noticing garfish in the area being fished. On the flipside, if this isn’t working, it may be worth casting something completely different, such as a different profile or a fluoro colour to try to attract the fish’s attention. Look and listen It’s amazing how actively looking and listening to what’s going on around you can produce more fish. So often I have seen a prawn of baitfish flick, quickly cast to where the action was and boom, instantly hooked up. The culprit is often a bream, trevally, snapper or flathead feeding actively, so when your lure lands it’s game on. Likewise I have been working a bank, heard a splashing sound behind me, turned around, cast and fish on! When a fish is hooked, keep an eye on it as it gets closer to the bank or your vessel because often other fish will follow it up, sometimes even trying to steal the lure from its mouth. If another fish is with it, you may opt to get someone to make a cast behind the fish for the chance of a double hook-up. We have scored double
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hook-ups on bream, trevally, flathead and more by getting a cast to following fish. Downsize I have heard Nick Whyte from Tech Fishing say, “Big lures catch big fish; small lures catch all fish,” and this has been proven to me many times over the years. When chasing flathead recently I have caught loads on a small 2.5” paddle tail plastic, but surprisingly this little paddle tail has also landed half a dozen larger fish, including a few in the 60s, a couple of 70s and an 80cm fish. Though I have also cast larger plastics during these sessions, it’s been the smaller plastic that has produced the bulk of the flathead while also enticing bream, grunter, whiting and other species that would unlikely have been landed on the larger plastics. If your session is quiet, try downsizing for more species and action. It’s the old jellybean theory. Even if you’ve had a big dinner, you still have room for a jellybean. Colour It’s amazing how often a colour change can produce a fish and there’s a theory that has worked for me when it comes to choosing a colour. If you go through my soft plastics kit, you will find at least three different colours in each of my favourite models of plastics. There will be a natural or clear colour for when the water is clear and the day is bright, a darker, silhouette colour for when the day is darker or the water dirtier or stained, and in case these aren’t working there will also be a fluoro colour to change things up. Another consideration when selecting colours is UV-reactive colours. Many anglers will ensure they are carrying both UV-reactive and non-reactive colours because fish will sometimes prefer one over the other depending on the conditions.
An example of this is the bream tournament favourite, the Z-Man 2.5” GrubZ, with one bream tournament being won on Motor Oil colour (UV), then the next on Bloodworm colour (non-UV). Shining a UV torch on the lures will allow you to see how they react. Scent up Time and again scent has proven effective when
fishing with lures. Whether it’s encouraging fish to bite at all, to bite more aggressively or hold onto the lure longer, scents attract fish and trigger strikes, while also masking foreign scents such as fuel and sunscreen. When the bite is tough, try scenting up your lure. I use gel-based scents because they are much ☛ continued P9
The destroyer recently has been the little Z-Man 2.5” Slim SwimZ.
This trevally had a mate following. Getting another lure in resulted in a double hook-up.
V T F B BN
Check out in-depth video coverage of the latest boat and product reviews plus fishing action and handy tips. A colour change saw the author snag a solid grunter.
Page 8 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
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W Weedless-rigged plastics open up a whole lot more areas to fish while minimising snagging.
Ronny selected a new model and colour Z-Man and landed trevally, bream and flathead.
10 tips for fishing success ☛ from P8
stickier and stay on longer. Apply scent every 3050 casts or after catching a fish. Add a small amount of scent to each side of the plastic near the jig head and slide your fingers down each side of the plastic to the tail to spread the scent across
the entire plastic. Some plastics feature a belly slot and this is a great place to apply additional scent. Step outside the square We are creatures of habit and will often fish the same spots, cast the same lure or lure colour and use the same retrieve trip after trip. By mixing things up and
A lure downsize resulted in a mangrove jack that was feeding on small baitfish and prawns.
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trying different colours, lure profiles, retrieves and locations, you will learn more, crack more patterns, land more species and may even learn more about fishing your favourite lures, locations and species. Fishing is an awesome sport, with so many variables and we never stop learning. Magazines, television, the internet and other anglers are just a few sources of information that can help us to fish more effectively and catch more. Sometimes it’s just that one piece in the puzzle that stands between a slow session and a bent rod. Do the miles, get the smiles Many moons ago I was on a bass fishing and camping adventure with a mate and a friend of his who said something that has stuck with me
and pushed me harder than ever when it comes to fishing: “Do the miles, get the smiles.” I have always fished pretty hard, however I dig deep and pull this saying out when things get tough and it drives me to paddle to one more pool, walk to one more surf gutter, throw 10 more casts or try something different. It’s amazing how many times this has turned a trip around or produced a new species, new PB or cracker fish to finish the session on a high. Go the extra mile and the rewards will come, whether it’s prepping gear, getting on the water early or pushing on when the bite is tough, you will be rewarded with knowledge, fish and the satisfaction of working for the success. See you on the water…
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weight for long casts while maintaining a slow sink and realistic swimming action. Other realistic features include 3D eyes, side feathers and a buoyant tail-up action, where many jigs sink flat to the bottom, reducing strikes and hook sets while increasing snagging. Egilicious instead comes alive in the water. Initially available in 3.0 and 3.5 sizes and 12 colours with a SRP of $11.95. w w w.t ack let act ics. com.au
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 9
Zac with his personal-best 80cm lizard hooked on a Zerek Bulldog Crank.
Even the author gets to have a cast once in a while.
Knowledge is king for cracking PBs
I
T’S been great getting in a few charters and tuition sessions this month.
Simon with a lizard caught on a recent charter.
Tim with a nice flathead landed on a recent charter.
Samantha and one of a few lizards captured on her tuition day.
Jessy boated a 75cm lizard in southern Moreton Bay.
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seanconlonsfishing@hotmaiil.com Page 10 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
WITH SEAN CONLON
A number of regulars and new customers have come out on charters and caught some nice fish, and a fair few guys and girls have come out on the fishing tuition courses, learning new techniques, improving their overall fishing knowledge and catching personal-best fish. I find it so rewarding helping people learn how to make their time on the water more productive by gaining more knowledge about the right areas to fish with the right techniques at the right time of year. Tony and his wife Samantha completed an offwater tuition course and then decided to come and do a tuition day on my boat. The plan was to target flathead on hard-bodies and plastics with all the techniques, gear, right locations and tide sizes that we learnt in the classroom. So we planned to be at the boat ramp at 4.30am to catch an early low tide at 6:30am. Tony’s main request was to catch a flathead on both a soft plastic and a hardbody. We set off from the boat ramp and headed to an exposed mudbank within sight of the marina. We briefly went over what we had learnt in the classroom, checking the colour of the water and determining the depth we would be fishing in. The Zerek Bulldog Crank was our lure of choice. We started to troll a couple of hard-bodies and I don’t think we had gone more than 20m before Tony hooked a nice flathead. After a little fight around the boat on 6lb line a fish around the 60cm mark was netted and in the boat. With a couple of quick photos it was released. We checked our leaders, put the lures back in the water and within the next few runs over roughly a 100m section of bank Tony and Samantha caught and released three more fish of roughly the same length. They then decided they wanted to try to catch one
Southern Moreton Bay by SEAN CONLON
on a soft plastic, so we deployed the electric and moved to our casting area. We discussed the type of retrieve we would attempt, the colour of soft plastic and the weight of the jig heads for the depth of water we were fishing, so tied on a couple of Zerek Live Flash Minnow Wrigglys and started casting towards the bank. They made half a dozen casts before Samantha got that solid knock on the end of the line and she was onto a good flatty. Because Samantha hooked it in quite shallow water, the fish played up a little and took drag but she quickly had the fish under control. Before we knew it, we had a nice 60cm-plus flatty in the net and safely on board. This was Samantha’s first fish on a soft plastic, so that was pretty cool. After a quick pic the fish was released to fight another day. They made a few more casts at the bank but the tide had bottomed out and started running in, which saw the fishing shut down, so it was time to head to a new location. You have to remember, they had boated five quality fish on lures in less than an hour of learning a new technique. We moved to another area and Tony was lucky enough to hook up to another nice fish in the high60cm range but as the tide started to rise the fishing got harder to the point where it shut right down. We were getting to the end of our short session, so headed home. The main thing to take from this is how important it is to be there at the right part of the tide and using the correct techniques. If you came out maybe an hour later than us you could be the person who goes home without catching anything. If you’re not getting results, these little things can make all the difference. A couple of young blokes Zac and his brother Jessy
also decided to come out and learn in the bay. They decided against the off-water course as they just wanted to get out on the water and learn how to catch flatties on lures. So I chose a day when we had the correct tides to chase a few fish. I picked the guys up from the jetty bright and early and headed out. We didn’t go too far and in fact we could still see the marina. I pulled in to the area we were going to fish and had a little discussion as to why we were there and what we were going to do. The next step was working out what lures we were going to use. So we thought about the depth and colour of the water and the species we were targeting. We decided to tie on a couple of Bulldog Cranks and began trolling the edge of the bank. The guys and I discussed what speed we should be going, what depth we should be staying in and how we needed our lures to swim to catch fish. We were there a tad early, so still had a little too much movement in the tide but used the time to get the boys’ techniques sorted. We probably spent half an hour making a few runs up and down
the bank with no success before the current slowed and everything started to look good. On the next pass, Jessy hooked a little 47cm flathead and over the next couple of runs the boys got a few nice fish in the high-50cm and low-60cm range. We were getting to that perfect stage of the tide and as we made our next run Jessy got that formidable big knock on the end of the line and he was into a solid flathead. This fish played up a bit, heading right up in the shallows and nearly beaching itself, but Jessy soon had the fish under control and beside the boat. We slipped the fish into the net but unfortunately we had a bit of a net malfunction and the fish went back in the water. I quickly told Jessy to open the bail arm because the fish had gone straight through the net, now we had the braided line going through the net and still connected to the fish. Everything was a bit tense but we regained our composure and I told Jessy to back off the drag and we would just fight the fish through the net and as it reached the surface I would net it again. Once Jessy was ready, I told him to flick the bail arm back over and get ready to fight the fish. He did so and after a few tense moments and a couple of good runs it sur☛ continued P11
Rebecca captured a 68cm flathead on a recent charter.
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Knowledge is king for cracking PBs ☛ from P10
faced beside the boat and I scooped it up in the net and pulled it into the boat with excitement and relief. When all was said and done, the fish was measured at 75cm. After a few quick pics the big girl was released to fight another day. The first thing to do after catching that fish was to repair the net. Nothing a few good zip ties couldn’t fix. Now you have to remember these guys are brothers and there’s always a bit of rivalry. Young Zac piped up and said his brother came up for a holiday and had caught the biggest fish of the day. I told him plenty of time was left, so we would just see what unfolded. So we checked the leader, lure, trebles and everything on Jessie’s rod and then deployed our lures for the next run down the bank. We went no more than 20m when suddenly Zac got a rather large clunk on the end of his line and the fish started swimming with us. This is always a good sign of a big flathead, so I quickly asked Jessy to get his line in and Zac started to fight his fish. This fish ran up into the shallows, just like the pre-
vious fish, and then played up all around the boat. It took plenty of big runs and pulled 6lb line before Zac got the fish under control and beside the boat. I scooped it straight up in the freshly repaired net and Zac was pumped because this fish was definitely bigger than his brother’s. We quickly got it on the brag mat and the big girl measured a solid 80cm. I was lucky enough to have the privilege of seeing Zac catch his personal-best flathead and also his biggest fish ever. Well done mate. We kept fishing for the next couple of hours, catching a couple more flatties around the high-50cm to low-60cm range as well as numerous trevally. The guys had a cracker morning and learnt plenty. Not all fishing trips end like this. Good planning and techniques will help you achieve these goals, but sometimes persistence is the key. Jackson and his dad were another couple who came out on the water to learn. We followed much the same plan as I’d had with Jessy and Zac, heading out early on the right tides to see if we could get Jackson the dusky flathead he so desired.
We headed to an area where I had been catching a few fish, discussed the water clarity and depth and how we needed the lures to respond before tying on the correct lures and starting trolling. We went to three different spots and trolled for at least two hours with no result. At this stage a lot of anglers would probably give up, but not young Jackson, he was as keen as mustard to keep going. I told him the low tide hadn’t given us the results we wanted, so now we would have to move into deep water and try a different technique. We tied on a couple of Flash Wrigglys and 1/4oz Mustad jig heads and moved to deeper water.
On about the second drift young Jackson was on. After a good fight around the boat a 61cm dusky flathead was netted. I must admit he was a pretty happy young lad. He had just boated his biggest fish ever and a cracker flatty for his firstever dusky but he definitely put in the time and yards to catch it. Well done mate. We stuck with this technique for another hour with no success but by this stage the tide had come in, so we decided to put hardbodies back on and troll the mangrove line. With a little more persistence, Jackson got another nice 50cm-plus lizard. Sometimes you may
have everything right but the fish just shut down and persistence is key. As we all know with our busy jobs and lives, we are very time poor, so if you can learn more you can optimise your time on the water. Knowledge is king. If you’re interested in any of our off-water or on-water tuition classes or just want to do a charter, don’t be afraid to give me a call on 0432 386 307 or send me an email at seanconlonsfishing@hot mail.com You can also check out the Sean Conlon’s Fishing Charters and Tuition Facebook page. Until next month, stay safe on the water.
Tony scored a flathead on a trolled Bulldog Crank.
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WWW.WILSONFISHING.COM Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 11
Important update on South Passage Bar
T
HE Christmas/ New Year period ended up being very busy for me, getting on top of the workload that built up while away travelling through the Outback.
Immediately after the deadline for the last edition of BNB we had the first consistent swells for some time pushing strongly onto South Passage Bar. They ranged from 1.52m from the east/northeast, a swell direction we don’t see much of at that
Two aerial photos of South Passage Bar taken from a Seair Pacific plane that flies daily from the Gold Coast to Lady Elliot Island.
Threading the needle through the bar in light rain.
The author’s Cruise Craft Explorer 685 is a well set-up boat for training on coastal bars as well as fishing offshore.
size for most of the year. In fact, one day out there the swells were about 1.8m and coming in from about 50 degrees according to the Point Lookout wave measuring buoy, which is a very acute angle for a good juicy swell around these parts. These swells had significant impacts in terms of reshaping some areas of South Passage Bar by wiping out good channel options and recreating others in their place. One week I came home from a day’s fishing through the middle channel on my old marks and they were spot on. A week later in a solid east/northeast swell, the middle channel I had been using through all of 2018 had totally disappeared and a new channel formed just north of the sand island in the middle of the bar. When the swells settled down and totally dropped off it was into plenty of fishing in the lead-up to Christmas, and then after Boxing Day the swells started rolling through again and at the time of writing they just haven’t stopped. Yes, I’ve been busy out around the bar and am well positioned to bring readers up to speed with what’s happening. Prior to Christmas in 2017 a nice channel had been at the far northern extremity of the bar, heading north past Short Point, but when it closed over no defined channel was worth using up that way until the last two weeks of December 2018. Since then the northern end has opened up even more nicely and I tested it in up to 1.7m of swell on a big run-out tide on Thursday, January 3 and it passed the test with flying colours. It was raining at the time but the radar confirmed what you could just make out through the light rain – a clear run across the channel when the sets rolled through. We did a trip out and came back in quite easily that day, but had to keep moving at a good speed on the way in to stay safe because a lot of water was running out, causing the residual swell to constantly lift and drop away. On a smaller swell day it will be a lot more fun. This is good news for anyone wanting to travel
Bar Crossing by BILL CORTEN
Going past Short Point, you can’t help but notice the incredible amount of change and erosion to the shoreline through there in the past 12 months. north along Moreton Island and at the moment it also provides a pretty good option for the bigger boats with shafts that need more underkeel clearance than typical trailer boats. Going past Short Point, you can’t help but notice the incredible amount of change and erosion to the shoreline through there in the past 12 months. For the trailer boats, the new northern channel is a good option, but it is a bugger banging your way up there across the shingles inside the bar on a flood tide. An alternative option is a nice channel just north of the big sand island in the middle of the bar. That area is my present middle channel and provides a good clean run out into deep water heading roughly northeast in up to 2m of swell on both a flood and ebb tide. The only real snag is the shallow depth on the inside as you pass west and north west of the big sand island. Not a big problem for a trailer boat getting through there at low tide, but it is a big problem for larger cruisers that draw a lot more water. Having said that, I am aware of a 50-footer that snuck through there on the Saturday before Christmas Day, which was a very small swell day. He was probably very lucky to not hit bottom and run up a big repair bill to shafts and props. Heading out to the south of the big sand island is a channel with what is initially good deep water, but that quickly disappears and feeds into an area of broad shallow sandbanks
and loads of rolling white water when the surf is up. I generally refer to this as the false middle channel for good reason because more often than not it is a poor option, except on a day of small swell. A big sandbank is right out the front and the swells break heavily over the whole of that shallow outer bank, so out the front is not a smart option if a swell is running. Also, the presence of the big outer bank slows the tide in periods of moderate swell and big tidal flows, making the resultant pressure waves on the inside of that channel on a run-out tide quite severe. Alternatively, you’ll find an exit to the south of the sand island if you run out a short distance then turn and head generally south after passing the initial run of sandbanks on the starboard side while still in deep water. Yes, it does shallow out, but not as bad as going straight out across the front. It is a challenging run when the surf is up and the tide is running out hard. It quickly becomes a game of Russian roulette outrunning the swells or ducking over one and running hard along its back to outpace the next wave coming. That’s what I call ‘walking the bar’ if that is your thing, but it is not for the faint hearted. The false middle channel is the area the two local trawlers use and as displacement hull vessels I fully understand and support the reasons they choose that channel in preference to others.
Mind you I’ve noticed them timing their run around the top of the tide for safety reasons when a largish swell is around. For trailer boats, the channel to the north of the big sand island provides a safer and shorter run to deep water. The southern end of the bar still has a channel right next to the beach and it is probably the most popular, as it gives the closest access to the trolling hot spots around Point Lookout. It definitely isn’t the safest channel on the bar. The onshore trade winds and the prolonged east/ northeast swell have dumped even more sand on the outermost banks and navigating the channel in that area is a big challenge for novices at high tide if a swell is running, and a far bigger challenge near low tide if heading out. When the swell has a bit of size from an easterly quadrant, the southern channel picks it all up and needs to be navigated with caution. I’ve done plenty of work around there with training crews lately and trust me, the difference between crossing at high tide and low tide is massive. As a form of disclaimer, the advice given in this article is indicative and meant to help with understanding the options when crossing South Passage Bar. Over the coming months we get the most frequent and largest swells of the year, so please stay safe. The benefit of doing your homework beforehand and taking into account the effects of wind, swell size and direction as well as tide height and direction will help immeasurably in making choices that keep you safe. If anyone would like to join me on a coastal bar crossing and offshore boat handling course in the comfort and safety of a Cruise Craft Explorer 685, you will get expert guidance in reading the channels and swells and understanding how to cross bars safely in boats. The experience gained and techniques acquired on the day may well save a life. Give me a call on 0447 233 247.
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 13
Roman with a southern Moreton Bay squire.
Lee caught a cod on a 110mm Zerek Tango Shad.
Good month in Moreton Bay
W
ITH the weather behaving itself this past month, we’ve been lucky enough to hit the water and get a few charters in.
Maxi with a nice little flatty caught over the school holidays.
The main species around at the moment is still flathead, which has been fantastic. They are in good size and numbers. Squire/snapper are about too and for some fun on light gear trevally have been poking their heads up all over the place around the southern Moreton Bay islands. Most of our charters have been with a few regulars and a couple of new people and quality fish have been coming over the side. A bit of time off over the Christmas period allowed for a family fishing trip to Stradbroke Island, which was a lot of fun and pro-
Moreton Bay Charters by WARREN SCHMIDT
duced quality tailor and whiting. The first charter back for the new year resulted in grass sweetlip being caught in the shallows around the bay islands as well as quality flathead holding in the shallow water and falling victim to Zerek Bulldog Cranks and Tango Shads. The grassies have taken lightly weighted prawns over shallow reef around the southern bay islands. They are great fun on light gear and very tasty table fish. Prawns should start showing up over the next few months and hopefully good fish will be following the prawns, so my ad-
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vice is always keep a rod in the boat, even when you go prawning because you may come across good patches of fish. A few of those extraspecial fish always come over the side during charters. This month it happened for 12-year-old Lily Anne. It was high tide, so the decision was made to troll a few hard-bodies in the shallows. Lily Anne was trolling along the mangrove line holding onto the rod when she said she thought she had some weed on the lure. But as she started to reel the line in towards the boat, we quickly realised it had loaded up and the fish swam straight at and under the boat, then it turned around and came out from underneath the boat to the surface and we saw it was a rather large flathead. Once Lily saw the big flatty, she wanted someone else to take the rod but everybody on board told her to keep going because this was her fish. After quickly showing itself, the flathead decided to take off and make a pretty good account of itself, taking plenty of good runs and heading back and forth between the boat and the mangrove line. Young Lily did an exceptional job playing the fish and before too long she had it beside the boat and in the net. Now to say little Lily was stoked would be an understatement, but once the fish was measured we realised it was oversize and had to go back. This was Lily’s first big fish, so she wanted to take it home and show everybody. When she was told flathead over 75cm have to go back in the water, she was a bit upset, but once we explained these fish are the big breeders and putting them back will make plenty of little flathead for the future, she was quite happy to send the big girl home.
So the fish was promptly put back in the water and we drove the boat at idle while Lily held onto the lip grippers with the fish in the water. Once the big girl was ready to go Lily released the fish and let her swim away. I think she got just as much of a kick out of letting it go as catching it.
Great job Lily Anne. With a flathead of 83cm I think you’ve gone straight to the top of the class. What a top effort and I’m sure she’ll be back again to try to better her PB flatty, or do I mean crocodile? If you would like to book a charter, give me a call on 0433 732 310.
A Zerek Bulldog Crank enticed Lily Anne’s 83cm lizard.
Noah with a tailor from Stradbroke Island.
Lily Anne’s 83cm crocodile.
www.bnbfishing.com. au
Be prepared for prawning season W ELCOME to 2019 everyone!
I hope you had a wonderful start to the year and kicked it off by catching fish. We’ve seen amazing photos of everyone’s adventures over the festive season and I am so excited to share a few of them with you. But first, I’m happy to say Fish n Chicks has a brand-new logo. We have decided to jazz it up a bit and add the iconic barramundi to the graphic. Barramundi are fantastic fish to eat and catch. You will be seeing our
SEQ Round-up by SYL CRON
new logo around the place very soon, with lots of Fish n Chicks merchandise on the way. Recently I was lucky enough to spend some
Gordon Triplett and the author caught a feed.
time at Blakesleys, North Stradbroke Island. Jason and I packed my little 3.9m tinnie and headed off on an adventure. The boat was so full
that I had to carry extra gear and catch the ferry to Russell Island and get our mate to come and pick me up in his boat. Camping is free at Blakesleys and there is plenty of space for the kids and dogs to run around. You can only access Blakesleys by boat and if you go there, you will not want to leave. I love the place! The fishing was hard work, with plenty of small stuff around nibbling our baits but no big fish landed. It’s almost my favourite time of the year: prawn season!
I’m so excited to get out on the water and feel that flick in my rope as my top pocket fills with prawns. If you have never been prawning, you really need to give it a go. At the season’s peak, it’s a mosh pit of boats on the water. I have literally had to push boats away with my hands because it gets so busy out there. The adrenalin rush is incredible. If you are looking to buy a cast net, make sure you look around and find what best suits you. If you’re at the tackle shop, take it out of the bucket and have a feel. Is it too heavy for you? Is it the right size for you? Ask the staff questions and I’m sure they will be able to help you out. Fish n Chicks is proudly sponsored by Pro Throw Cast Nets, owned by Drew Argus. Pro Throw has nets stocked in many tackle shops from north Queensland to NSW. I love my 12’ top pocket with chain bottom as it’s not too heavy for me to throw. But it all comes down to what is in your budget and what is most comfortable for you. Fish n Chicks and Pro Throw will be giving our
The author scored a few prawns on this cast.
Marichelle Mader used a drone to send a bait out the back of the breakers to this big tailor.
☛ continued P16
Belle captured a fantastic bonefish.
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Hooked on the moon I
T’S been a while since we had one of these little chats, Fred.
The first time was almost 30 years ago when we discussed beach driving techniques in the Tide Guide. Last time was last year when we looked at some of the peculiarities of tides. This time I thought we might check out some of the moon’s effects on fishing. But before we do, let me make very clear that I am not a gun fisher. I never have been. I have met plenty of fishers who say they are. You’ve probably met them too, Fred. A mate of mine has a nickname for such blokes: Motor Mouth. Their mouths never close as they tell you how good they are. In all my years (I’ve accumulated a few), most people who I have found to be experts would never claim to be. I should clarify now that those who write magazine articles offering fishing tips they have learnt over the years, especially for their particular region and in their area of expertise, are not self-proclaimed experts. They’ve been asked to write because of their recognised talent and are happy to pass on their knowledge. You would be hard pressed to find one who boasts. Experts can often be recognised as those who return from a trip with the biggest catch (most times) and then modestly tell you how lucky they were, not how good they were. Any chance to fish with them is a privilege and an
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Lunacy
by PETER LAYTON
educational experience. When you fish with them, they would never tell you the way you were fishing might be wrong. They would kindly say you have a fishing style different to theirs. When you are sitting out there with them and they have been bringing in lots of fish and you haven’t would be when to ask them why. My first encounter with an expert that I clearly remember was in the January school holidays after my first year at school. I was about five years old and sitting on a ramshackle jetty poking out over the sand flats into a king tide in the Mooloolah River, about where Sea Life Sunshine Coast (Underwater World) is today. I was trying for sand whiting by hand lining green string wrapped around a stick with a small hook and piece of worm. Sadly, I wasn’t having any luck. The water was as clear as the air and I could see the fish hunting around the jetty piles and nuzzling the sand below me. I was getting bites but no fish. A small Aboriginal girl from my class at school was watching my failures from the shore. After about 15 minutes, she came up beside me and shyly asked if she could try. I gave her the line. Within a minute, she had brought up an elbowslapper. She took the hook out of the whiting’s mouth and
politely handed the fish to me. “Here you go,” she said. I was a clumsy kid. The fish went straight through my fingers, straight through the slats of the jetty and straight into the briny. She gave me the line. “You can catch it this time,” she said. Her confidence in me wasn’t justified. After another 10 minutes of nothing, I gave her back the line and asked her to show me how she did it. Again, within a minute, she had brought up another elbow-slapper. Even though I was watching and expecting it, and she was telling me what she was doing, I never did understand how she managed it. But this time I told her that as she had caught the fish, she should keep it. I wasn’t being a gentleman. I couldn’t risk further embarrassment of dropping it again. I’ve met quite a few quiet experts over the years, Fred. About 25 years ago, when delivering Tide Guides well down the coast a long, long way south of Brisbane, I met an old bloke who was probably then a decade or two younger than I am now. He suggested I consider publishing a book that told anglers the best times to go fishing, based on where the moon was in its lunar month (which is roughly 29.5 days) adjusted to suit our yearly calendar, and where it was in
the sky on any given day. He went on to explain that the old fishos in his district always fished by the moon and told me the basic rule. I was a bit rude – I laughed at him. I had tried the American John Alden Knight’s Solunar Tables on numerous occasions, always without success. So I told him I thought the lunar theory was for lunatics and I would keep fishing the tides, thank you. He clammed up. I should have remembered my motor mouth before I opened it in front of him. I should also have remembered that the moon is what gives us our tides every day. A couple of days later on the same delivery trip, I struck another, older fisher with a similar story. Fred, I had finally learnt my lesson. This time I shut up and listened politely but I still didn’t take him seriously. I’m not saying I’m a bit thick, Fred, but it wasn’t until the third encounter that I finally started wondering if there might be some truth hidden in those claims. The third encounter was with a fifth-generation professional fisher whose family had kept detailed records of their catches from the early days of Australia’s settlement. He showed me just enough to spark serious interest. My background is newspaper journalism, Fred. Researching and checking facts was and still is part of the job. The long drive home from that delivery trip kept me occupied thinking about where best to
find reliable, qualified information that might substantiate or disprove the lunar/solar claims of the older fishers. In those days, though Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak had not long started on their way to becoming billionaires through their fledgling personal computer company Apple, though Microsoft was still a year or so away from releasing Windows for IBM PCs and clones, a very basic form of internet was available to those who could hook a business computer up to a copper landline telephone, type in several lines of complex code and try to link into the databases of those universities and libraries around the world that had begun to invest in online access for external users. One mistyped character in those strings of commands would result in failure. Research by internet 30 years ago was a tedious, error-prone process, Fred. My long nights of searching (some overseas libraries were open only in their local business hours) did bring up the titles of potential research material. From there, it was a matter of accessing the printed material. That meant daily visits to libraries, asking for various titles to be obtained for me to skim through, rejecting most but occasionally striking documents with potential. The more I read, the more intrigued I became. Every night I would bring back to base a thick bundle of photocopied pages, to be read and filed in specific categories. Next day I would go ☛ continued P17
Be prepared for prawning season ☛ from P15
members the chance to win their very own Pro Throw net, so stay tuned to our socials to find out how to win and keep an eye on the mag for the winner to be announced soon. A very good friend of mine Marichelle Mader has recently jumped into drone fishing with her husband and kids and they have started with a huge bang. Marichelle recently landed the cracker 70cm tailor pictured off Bribie Island in Queensland. It’s one for the girls on this occasion, with Marichelle outdoing her husband. Well done. This beast of a tailor was caught on half a mullet and a Splash Drone. It sure gave Marichelle a challenge. Go the girls! Jayden Conlon and his little sister Belle (10
years old) recently went fishing at Great Keppel Island. Belle landed her firstever fish and it wasn’t just any fish, but a bonefish! Bonefish are known for being one of the most challenging fish in the world to catch. Some people pay a lot of money to be able to have a crack at catching one. Can you believe bonefish are able to live for up to 20 years? Belle hooked this cracker just off Putney Beach on great Keppel using fresh squid as bait. Way to go Belle. Well known fisho Ewan ‘Tiger’ Johns recently ventured out to catch his first threadfin salmon. Thready expert Joe Pisano took Tiger out to catch a golden beauty in the Brisbane River. While catching bait we all met up and talked
about hooking a big fish and we could not wait to get our lines in the water. Tiger was very eager and before anyone knew it he was on! Tiger landed not only his first thready, but his
second as well! What a way to make an entrance to the threadfin club. Way to go Tiger. It was a pleasure meeting you. Until next time, stay safe and tight lines.
The author’s ProThrow Cast Net with some prawns.
www.bnbfishing.com. au
The humour of cartoonist Mac Vines was captured in the original Tide Guides. Sadly, Mac passed away several years ago.
Thatched huts over the water in a coral lagoon have been the homes for South Sea Islanders since they colonised the Pacific. Without a written language, their knowledge of the seas had to be memorised and passed on to the next generation who might add extra knowledge, then passed on again.
The author’s publications. Make sure you grab a copy!
Getting hooked on the moon ☛ from P16
back for more. That was how the Angler’s Almanac was born. It doesn’t have all the answers. It deliberately withholds some information. But it does explain to its readers how they can work out part of the predictions themselves. All they need is a working knowledge of celestial and coastal navigation: celestial for aspects of astronomy; coastal for aspects of tidal influences. A few copycats have since published their own predictions as a result. Within a year of the Almanac’s release, calls were coming in from throughout Australia and overseas. Most were positive, in-
cluding one caller from America who didn’t want to identify himself but did want me to tell him why the Angler’s Almanac worked in Australia and the American Solunar Tables did not. Naturally, Fred, I didn’t tell them. I’m sure they would have worked out for themselves long ago why the Almanac will work anywhere in the world with the correct adjustments for the differing ‘local times’. I’m sure they have adjusted their own predictions to do the same. Theirs was a simple mistake, easy to make. Then again, Fred, perhaps they haven’t. I just looked them up on the internet a few minutes ago and they show only a map of North America
and its time zone adjustments. We produced a similar map for our Angler’s Almanac app a few years ago when we released it internationally, along with the rest of the Americas, Africa, the UK, Europe and Asia. Don’t ask why we discontinued the app. The answer would be long and boring. Believe me, the book is better value for everyone. Fred, I don’t have the space here to give you a full rundown on the Angler’s Almanac in one article. If you want more, ring the editor and ask him to hound me for more. Meantime, here’s a little ditty that might give you a clue why the Almanac works: “When the moon is
high; In the eastern sky; Tho’ all the world might sleep; Now is the time to wet a line; And reap the bounty of the deep. But remember, Fred, just because the Almanac’s predictions say the fishing should be great on a particular day at a particular time doesn’t mean you’ll catch lots of fish if you go fishing then, so don’t be disappointed when you don’t. Don’t blame the book. Far more factors are involved than just having a baited line in the water at the predicted time. We’ll discuss them later. Meantime, have a think about the bloke who rang to complain that the Almanac’s predicted best times always coincided with low tide at his fav-
ourite fishing spot, which was a comfortable rock surrounded by water only at high tide. He never caught many fish there but it was his favourite fishing place. I politely suggested that about half an hour before the book said he should be fishing, he should take a camping chair out over the sand flats to a channel that always had water in it when the tide was out, plonk his bum on his chair and try his luck there. Strewth, Fred. He actually rang me back a fortnight later to thank me. Next issue we’ll talk about empty tummies on a full moon. Peter Layton is the publisher of the Tide Guide and Angler’s Almanac.
Fishers from the South Seas approached a trading vessel in their dugout outrigger canoe, photographed almost a century ago. Fishing lore had been handed down through their generations for thousands of years but was almost lost in the past 50 years as new technologies overtook the old ways.
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 17
Trees going into the water like this are great jack snags.
You need to be on your game when oversized jacks like this eat your lure.
Being bitten by the jack bug F
EBRUARY is traditionally a very hot month in southeast Queensland.
Big jacks like eating a well-placed hard-body. This one couldn’t turn down a Lucky Craft Pointer swimming past its snag.
So far, summer has thrown up interesting weather. We’ve had a few hot days but plenty of cooler changes and rainy days coming through to keep it bearable. The rivers and creeks in southeast Queensland are very clean at the time of writing, which makes it harder to locate good
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Local Luring by KEITH STRATFORD
numbers of fish. A lot of fish push well up the systems during these times, giving them plenty of areas to feed in. We need a good flush to push the baitfish and predatory fish back downstream towards the mouths. This makes it easier to find the bait and the fish feeding on it. February is a good month to get hooked up to a mangrove jack. I say ‘hooked up’ because that’s as close as a lot of anglers get to landing their first jack. They’re often referred to as the ‘thugs of the estuary’ and this reputation is well earned. I could nearly write a book on bust-offs from mangrove jack. Some of the fish I have hooked over the years have left me shaking for minutes after the encounter. The fish that won their freedom are the ones that stay in the back of your mind, more so than the fish landed. Once the ‘jack bug’ bites, it’s a hard addiction to get past. The deeper you get involved, the worse it gets. You’ve been warned! Techniques Plenty of techniques will get you hooked up to a mangrove jack. Casting lures is the most popular, whether it be soft plastics, diving hard-bodies, surface lures or vibes. Casting at structure is an enjoyable way to chase them and once you get the hang of accurate casting, it’s good fun landing the casts where you want them. Getting the bite off a perfect cast is very satisfying, but the cast isn’t always what gets the bite. I catch many more jacks out wide of any bankside structure and a lot of the fish I catch are hooked on or very close to the bottom. This rules out a lot of lures that don’t make it into the strike zone I’m targeting.
I spent all my early days chasing jacks off natural structure such as fallen timber and rock bars, with most of these areas in depths of 3-9m. The jack scene has changed plenty since then, with pontoons, jetties and other manmade structures now the most popular areas to find them. These areas are more suited to casting hardbodied diving lures, surface lures and weighted plastics. This style of fishing requires loads of casts worked quite quickly through the strike zone. If a jack is going to eat the lure, it normally happens on the first couple of casts. The Gold Coast has heaps of canal estates
perfect for this technique, with pontoons, bridges and jetties all in close proximity. The mangrove jack population is very healthy in these busy waters and the region is home to some of the biggest jacks in the country. Even with the heavy angling pressure on jacks on the Gold Coast, the area still produces great numbers and a lot of
quality fish for anglers. Natural structure As I mentioned earlier, I spend much more time targeting natural structure, and this is normally around Brisbane’s northside and on the Sunshine Coast. The Tweed River on the border of Queensland and NSW is another system with a wide variety of natural structure and it ☛ continued P19
This tree might look inviting, but there isn’t a lot under the surface. The best snags have water over them during the entire tide cycle.
Estuary cod live in the same snags as mangrove jack. They can put on a good show when they reach this size. A Tilsan Barra enticed this blackspotted cod out of its snag.
This little jack had a few goes at the author’s Chug Bug popper before finding the hook.
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Being bitten by the jack bug ☛ from P18
has some of the best jack fishing in the area. Natural structure is anything that isn’t man made. Fallen trees, natural rock bars, mangrove roots, collapsed banks, drop-offs and creek mouths are all likely to hold a mangrove jack. All the rivers and creeks from Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast have a selection of these types of structure and they all have a population of jacks. Some systems fish a lot better than others and this can be because of the average water depth and access into and out of the creek. Baitfish concentration also plays a big part in how many jacks like to call the place home. The muddiest creeks seem to hold a better population of baitfish and I find these to have larger numbers of jacks. Most of the rivers around Brisbane and the creeks that run off Pumicestone Passage are quite muddy when you venture into the upper reaches. This is where most of the fallen trees are found. Jacks love living among sunken timber. It’s one of the most reliable types of structure to find the red devils hanging. Anglers new to chas-
ing jacks can find it hard to distinguish between a productive jack snag and snags that might only hold fish during a certain stage of the tide. The best jack snags will have some timber under water during all stages of the tide. I find trees laying on the bottom to be far more productive than standing timber. The root system offers the perfect ambush point for jacks to hide in on a ‘lay-down’ tree. The current tends to form a washout under trees laying across the bottom and this gives the jacks somewhere to sit out of the current. My favourite snags are the ones found on the sounder that aren’t visible by eye at any stage of the tide. These snags receive far less pressure from fishos and are more difficult to present a lure to effectively. Finding these snags is much easier with the use of a sounder with side imaging. I used to spend countless hours motoring up and down rivers looking for these snags before modern sounders were available. It taught me a lot about how to read a river. Learning how to find the structure by looking at the shape of the river
and bankside formations can come in very handy, especially when exploring new ground. Once you know what you’re looking for, it’s possible to find potential spots on Google Earth before making the trip. This makes it easy to pick out the better creeks when travelling north chasing jacks. Sunken timber can be found anywhere in a river or creek, but not all of it will hold good populations of jacks. Sunken timber on a bend in the river or in a deep hole will give you the best chance of finding a fish. I found a log jammed on a rock bar in the Caboolture River years ago. The rock bar was already fishing pretty well, but this log made it even better. The rock bar ran for about 50m before dropping off sharply. The top of the rock bar was in about 3.5m of water. I got the first jack on a Prawnstar jigged tight to the log. This technique worked well on the first two trips but things went quiet after that, so I decided to give it a troll with my favourite Bomber. Bombers are great trolling lures that jacks can’t get enough of.
I got crunched on the first troll run and ripped out a nice jack in the mid40cm range. This went on for a few weeks, with a few 50cmplus fish getting towed out of the log and a number of Bombers lost to angry fish. Unfortunately, the river went into flood not long after and the log was washed away. That rock bar is now mostly covered in mud. A number of techniques work when targeting jacks amongst timber. Casting hard-bodies is a good way to get a jack’s attention, especially if the tree is in reasonably shallow water under 3m in depth. For trees in deep water, it’s worth trying a number of lures from surface to sinking and even trolling if possible. Many larger trees have smaller twigs and branches in the water that are a bit harder to target. These large fallen trees with lots of branches can be really difficult to get a lure into. They have branches going everywhere under the surface, which makes it nearly impossible to get a fish out once hooked. Though a lot of jacks call these trees home, I prefer to concentrate on the smaller timber with fewer branches.
That’s it for this month. Next month I’ll run through how to identify other jack-holding structure and also how to target these areas and hopefully get a few more jacks in your boat.
This golden trevally was a welcome by-catch while trolling a Bomber for mangrove jack.
This tree is sitting on a drop-off and has plenty of bait hanging around it. This is prime jack real estate.
Trees like this one found on a sounder are perfect structure for targeting jacks.
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www.frogleysoffshore.com.au Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 19
Some nice mud crabs caught after recent rain on a new moon night.
The author with one of his new Jarvis Walker Deluxe 4 Entry Crab Pots.
How to catch more mud crabs
The author’s son Josh held a big summer muddy.
Sometimes you score bonuses like big estuary cod if using bigger pots.
F
EBRUARY is a fantastic time to chase mud crabs along many parts of Queensland’s coastline (and northern NSW).
Apart from the warm water and regular summer storms to get the crabs moving, February sees fewer pots on the water compared to the school holidays. So, let’s take a look at the when, where, how and with what to maximise your chances of catching more mud crabs. When is the best time? A few key influencers dictate the best time to mud crab. Bigger tides, normally associated with the new and full moon periods, are best. This is because the water pushes further up the drains and mangroves and
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Crabbing Tips by SEAN THOMPSON
gives the crabs access to more feeding grounds and holes. It is worth setting your pots right up these deeper drains and into the mangroves (as long as the pots remain covered with water at low tide) if you can. The crabs will also use the stronger current to move in the direction of the tidal flow. Pay attention to your tide chart and if you can, look for the first of the bigger tides in the cycle, particularly if the weather has been dry and the crabs have been ‘holed up’ for a while during the smaller tides. Rain will also bring on the crabs but where you set your pots depends on how much rain has occurred. After a few showers or a storm, it is worth setting the pots at the entrances of drains and small creeks because the rain will flush the crabs out of their holes to feed. If, however, a lot of rain has fallen over a day or more, the crabs will move with the current towards the entrance of the estuary. In this situation, shift the pots to deeper water because the denser salt water will sit below the muddier fresh water, and/ or move the crabs closer to the entrance where the water will be saltier. Pots left overnight will usually give the best results. Mud crabs are more active during the warmer
months and especially after moulting in early spring. However, it is a myth that you cannot catch crabs in months without an ‘R’ in them. While fewer crabs are around, winter crabs are usually very full. Where to crab? In general, the best crabbing is in estuaries and creeks in areas with mangrove-lined banks. However, mud crabs can also be found in some open bays, such as Moreton Bay, around the edges of mangrove banks and in rocky holes on mud flats interspersed with rocks. Entrances to creek drains lined with mangroves and drains just wide enough for you to get a small boat into are perfect locations for mud crabbing. Try to get your pots as far up the drain as you can but if you can’t, place them at the entrance. If you find any signs of broken branches at the entrance to the small creek or drain and the leaves on the broken branches are still green, it suggests someone has crabbed there recently, so it would be wise to try elsewhere. If the broken branches are dead, however, this could mean sufficient time has passed for new bucks to take up prime positions in these spots. Steep muddy banks, particularly those under overhanging trees or mangroves, are also top spots. If you look closely at some steep muddy banks
you may even see some of the mud crab holes at low tide. Submerged trees around muddy banks are also great locations. It’s also worth crabbing the sharp bends in creeks where the tidal flow is strongest and therefore chisels out a deeper hole. The current will also carry the crabs through here after rain. Finally, after I throw my pot in I mark the spot on my GPS to make it easier to find later. Upon picking up the pot, I change the name of the waypoint to indicate how many crabs were caught and at what time of year. This acts a bit like an electronic fishing diary. So, my mark might read ‘Muddies2 Feb19’. How? Once you have decided on location, placement of the pot and rope is very important to maximise success and ensure you don’t lose your pot. If you have a two-entry rectangular crab pot, point the entry towards the structure (such as the entry of the drain), or if in deeper water, in the direction of the tidal flow. Underwater footage reveals this makes it easier for crabs to enter the pot. One common mistake crabbers need to be aware of, particularly around trees and rocky structure, is accidentally placing a pot on a branch or other obstacle or having it land and sit sideways or even upside down (with the bait on top of the pot). This provides a free meal to crabs from outside the pot. To avoid this, make sure your pot is flat on the bot-
tom by feeling the rope as you let it down. Once on the bottom, it should feel like it is sitting flat and not unbalanced when you pull firmly on the rope without lifting the pot. Another mistake crabbers can make is to leave their rope or line floating, thus making it susceptible to propeller strikes. I always add a couple of clip-on sinkers (which you can buy from tackle shops) or metal nuts to the rope just below the float (or name tag) to ensure the rope sinks and is less likely to be hit by props. With what – types of pots When choosing a crab pot you’ll need to consider price, quality, size and weight. If you intend to crab in areas with a reasonable current flow and want to have your pots for a long time, go for heavy-duty, higher-quality pots. The price difference of the stronger pots will be repaid by the lack of repairs and even loss of lighter pots in the current. If you intend to use your pots less regularly and in backwater locations, you can probably get away with the lighter-weight models, but be aware a big crab can make light work of the lighter ply material. In my mind, the best crab pot is the heavy-duty circular four-entry pot (retailing for around $40$45 each). The heavy-duty pots have a much more solid frame and sturdier netting than the lighter, cheaper varieties. They also come with an inbuilt bait pouch, which ☛ continued P21
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How to catch more mud crabs ☛ from P20
is very handy. After some crab thieves destroyed a couple of my pots by cutting a hole in the top of the nets, I recently acquired a couple of the Jarvis Walker Deluxe Heavy Duty 4 Entry Crab Pots. These have very quickly become my new favourite pots and I will replace all future pot losses with these in future. These pots are a huge 90cm in diameter (compared to the more common 80cm) and have very solid 12mm galvanised rings on the base and 10mm on top. Their mesh is also very strong and they have a huge inbuilt bait bag. They come with four support legs attached to one of the rings, which saves you ferreting around
for them inside the pot or worse still losing them in storage or transport. Finally, the entrances to these pots are very wide, allowing big crabs to fit in, but they are shaped in such a way that they are hard to escape from. Basically, they are big and tough but very well priced. On the other hand, rectangular two-entry pots have the advantage of being smaller and easier to transport, even on foot on the mud flats. They are also less expensive, retailing for $1620. However, they only have two entrances and off the shelf their entries are quite flimsy. If you go with these options you should zip tie the edges of the netting on the entrances so it is firm or the crabs will escape.
The Jarvis Walker Crabbing Kit is great for crabbing beginners.
You will also need to buy a mesh bait pouch to go with them. I did try gutter guard (similar to plastic off-theshelf pouches) but found it quickly gets ripped by big male muddy claws. Further, don’t simply tie or attach the bait with quick-release steel bait clips because the crabs (and fish) will soon tear your bait apart and nothing will be left to attract more crabs. Again, I recommend going for strength and durability and once again Jarvis Walker makes a deluxe bait bag with heavyduty mesh and galvanised clips that attach to each side of your pot, allowing you to position the bait in the centre. I also know of some anglers who go for DIY or specially made steel crab pots. While obviously sturdy and strong, the big tradeoff is most don’t collapse, so don’t leave much room in the boat. Finally, I have recently seen some ‘compact’ crab pots with a diameter of 50cm on the market. Presumably these are targeted at kayakers and maybe kids to use from the shore. A quick look determined that a decent crab could quite easily reach the bait from the opening without entering. They are also very light-
weight (7mm galvanised rings) and have thin mesh. Floats and rope Floats are a personal preference, provided they meet state regulations. That is, they must be light coloured (for visibility to boaties) and no less than 15cm in any dimension. You need to mark them with your surname. In Queensland, your pot also needs to have a tag attached bearing your surname and address. Bright floats stand out, so if you are nearby it should be very clear where your pot is and can help reduce the amount of ‘accidental’ pickups by others because most crabbers will have white floats. Bright floats can also be a good option in open bays where you don’t have a GPS, as white floats can be hard to spot in any swell or among white caps. Otherwise, white round polystyrene floats will do the job for night crabbing. Better still, if your pot is close enough to nearby trees or tree roots, you can either hide the float in there or attach the rope directly to the tree and use a tag with your name rather than a float. Some good crabbing kits are on the market and include floats, ropes, tags, marker pens and more. But if crab theft is a problem in your area and
you are setting your pots overnight, choose darker ropes and tie off to nearby structure. I recently acquired some 6m camouflage army rope, which along with the lead weights helps hide your rope from thieves. Best baits Fresh bait is best for crabbing, meaning you should always replace your bait once or twice a day if you leave your pots in the water. Top crabbing baits include chicken carcasses, chicken pieces, pilchards, mullet and other oily fish. Try butchers for cheap chicken carcasses (usually 50c to $1 each) or fresh seafood shops for cheap oily fish carcasses (rather than less-oily reef fish). Bullock hearts or a few pilchards are always good to add to whatever bait you are using for lots of oil. If you use whole fish such as mullet, make sure you defrost it if frozen and also make some cuts to help the release of smells and oils. Hopefully these mud crabbing tips and tricks will help you catch a few extra crabs this summer and beyond! For more tips, reports and giveaways, check out my Ontour Fishing Australia Facebook page. Until next time – bag your mates, not your limit!
Change your waypoint names to act like a crabbing diary.
Undercut banks under mangroves are top crabbing spots.
Rectangular pots will catch crabs but need several modifications to work well.
Hiding your nametag among the trees can help avoid crab and/or pot theft.
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 21
This mangrove jack was pulled from heavy structure.
Jono picked up a solid threadfin salmon.
Jet with his spanish mackerel.
Kids on the water and catching plenty
W
HAT a cracker Christmas break we had!
Ryan was happy with this bream.
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Fish were being popped like bonbons at Christmas dinner! We have seen so many species caught by anglers young and old up the rivers and creeks, throughout Moreton Bay and on the beaches. We did not get a lot of great weather windows over the break but when we did, not many wasted the opportunity to get their lines wet. I think the land-based fishos scored best with the weather on offer, as they were able to find those sheltered areas and had the advantage of a quick
Northern Moreton Bay by MARK TEMPLETON
pack-up when things got too wild. It was awesome to see so many families coming in to stock up on bait and tackle for a day’s outing. The kids were pumped and the parents were still a little groggy at 6am but keen to get out with the kids. One of the better experiences I had over the break was getting out and talking to a lot of families new to the Moreton Bay region. Some needed a little guidance to hook their first fish and I was stoked
to see total strangers step in and give a hand without hesitation. I find it hard to remember seeing a more helpful bunch of people than our fishing community, particularly the more experienced hands. Much knowledge to share is on offer, so if you are out and about and see someone who is obviously new to fishing and might just need a couple of pointers, don’t be afraid to introduce yourself and give them five minutes of your time.
Young Ryan did very well to land cracking bream while fishing with his dad and then went on to capture absolute stonker bream and flathead in Pumicestone Passage with his pop. Now we are back at work and school, the Tackle Land crew hopes you can all look back and crack a smile remembering those fish you landed, those you lost and those that left you sitting there thinking ‘What went wrong?’. Before you pack your gear away and focus on paying the Christmas bills, think about getting your gear serviced and those rods repaired before the minor service becomes a major service.
Out on the bay, young Jet scored a very nice spanish mackerel on a stickbait, which gave him a run for his money but was boated in the end. Luke took the opportunity of a few days off to continue his relentless pursuit for his PB jack and I believe he came close with the cracker pictured. Luke also picked up some quality snapper. Jono, unlike Dave, managed to miss the sandbanks in his travels to come home with a feed of threadfin salmon from the Brisbane River. Jono believed having a good deckie in the form of Joe made the task of boating it much easier.
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Luke landed a cracker snapper.
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I
T’S on again, the annual Logan & Albert Fish Management Association’s Wyaralong Dam Carp & Tilapia Eradication Competition. On Saturday, March 23 this one-day, family orientated, fun fishing event aims to catch and remove these noxious fish from the dam while helping LAFMA raise funds to supplement the Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme. Heaps of prizes and giveaways are on offer and one lucky entrant will go home with a kayak. You don’t even have to catch a fish to be in the running for this beauty. Fishing can be from the bank, kayak or canoe, or even your boat as long as you don’t start the motor as this is an electric-only impoundment. Normal outboard motors can be left fitted but
must not be started. We are now 20 years down the track from when it all started. The ‘carp out, natives in’ concept was started by a small group of concerned anglers in the Rathdowney/Beaudesert area to get introduced noxious carp out of the Logan and Albert River systems and replaced with native fish. LAFMA, formerly known as ‘Carpbusters’, ran seven successful Easter carp eradication competitions from 1998 to 2004, removing more than 10 tonnes of carp from the rivers and raising about $65,000 to buy fingerlings for the native fish stocking program. Wyaralong Dam, 14km northwest of Beaudesert, was completed in 2011 and filled almost on completion. LAFMA decided to take on Wyaralong Dam as a project for its fish
stocking program in 2012. Because the Logan and Albert systems were already infested with carp and tilapia, we knew it would not be long before these pests took over the dam. In 2013 LAFMA decided to reinvent the carp competitions of old but this time concentrate on Wyaralong Dam and invest any net profit from the comps into Australian bass and Mary River cod fingerlings. But this time the group decided to make Wyaralong a Mary River cod fishery, stocking mainly the cod with a backup of Australian bass. Previous carp/tilapia eradication competitions have yielded the following results: • 2013: 180 carp (largest 4kg); zero tilapia; 134 competitors. • 2014: 273 carp (largest 4.8kg); 75 tilapia; 140
competitors. • 2015: 109 carp (largest 6.28kg); 803 tilapia (largest 2.06kg); 255 competitors. • 2016: 62 carp (largest 6.89kg); 1189 tilapia (largest 1.8kg); 251 competitors. • 2017: 28 carp (largest 6.9kg); 1611 tilapia (largest 2.53kg); 160 competitors. • 2018: 81 carp (largest 2.48kg); 2109 tilapia (largest 2.26kg); 228 competitors.
As you can see from these statistics, the tilapia population has exploded in Wyaralong Dam. Let’s hope stocking the dam with an apex predator such as Mary River cod will once again restore the balance. For more information and entry forms, visit lafma.org Please remember adults require a Stocked Impoundment Permit to fish Wyaralong Dam.
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A beacon-caught doggy mackerel.
Mixing it with Moreton Bay pelagics
M
ORETON Bay has four main species of pelagics that turn up at different times of the year. They need warm, clear water and baitfish to provide them with ideal conditions to enter the bay. By the time this magazine goes to print they should be in full swing and hopefully have made their way into the southern bay for the small boat brigade. The bay is a fisher’s dream, with doggy (school) and spotted mackerel, mack and longtail tuna available from October to May. Another pelagic that enters the bay but is seldom caught on lines is the Watsons leaping bonito. It is possible to have all four main species test you out in one day if you put in the miles. While it’s easy to say they will be in certain locations at different parts of the tide, pelagics being pelagics and the bay being such a large expanse of water, they can be hard to find. It is best to target one or two species and hopefully the others will pop up around you while you’re at it. If you find them, getting close enough and getting the fish to take your lure or bait is another story. Doggies and mack tuna are the most regularly caught, while to catch the other two you will need to put in the ex-
Moreton Bay by BRIAN WEBB
tra effort to first find them and then get them to take a bait. You can target them in a variety of ways including spinning chrome lures (slugs) and trolling the many drop-offs the bay has to offer. A good sounder to help locate bait around the beacons and an electric motor to keep you over the bait while moving around the beacon will save anchoring and allows you to work a beacon thoroughly, moving from beacon to beacon to locate bait and fish. When working beacons, I rarely drop a lure if no bait is showing on the sounder. If the water is not clear in the middle of the bay, I usually move closer to Moreton Island and work the shipping channel beacons that run all the way up to Caloundra. The idea is to pull up next to a beacon and drop your slug to the base, then while you drift away from the beacon you start winding like hell back to the surface. Often the lure is hit on the first couple of winds, but I’ve also had fish hit the slug a metre or two from the surface. The gear I use for all my pelagic fishing includes a Shimano TSS4 (getting on in
A good haul of the somewhat rare (in Moreton Bay) bonito.
Spotty mackerel from the Sandhills.
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years) and a light to medium rod around the 7’ mark. Any of the 3000-4000 size reels can also be used for most species in the bay. I tend to fish on the lighter side with 15lb braid and 1520kg leader, though I sometimes use a piece of 30lb mono main line as leader and it has worked plenty of times. You can find a wide variety of spinning lures on the market, but as long as they are 2.5” long and shiny they all work. I even make some of my own with old lead sinkers. I mould them into shape and paint them white with silver sparkle stuck to the surface. Quite often I use chrome spoons for trolling for spotties and longtails and they work well too. Most of my slugs have a single 4/0 or 5/0 hook attached, which allows for easier release. This is especially important at the start of the season in the northern bay when a lot of undersize mackerel turn up. Spotties are the most soughtafter species and they usually make their way down the coast, arriving off the Sunshine Coast in November, and if a southerly is blowing and conditions are right, they commonly arrive in the bay not long after. Spotties are different to doggies because they roam throughout the bay hunting baitfish rather than hanging around landmarks such as beacons. The old saying of, “Find the birds to find the fish” is paramount when chasing spotties. Scattered numbers of birds flying in one direction are more than likely heading towards a school of mackerel or tuna, so you’re obliged to follow. Once you find the school, you’ll quickly work out what you’ve found because the mackerels’ slim profile will slice through the water, while tuna will breach the surface or porpoise through the water when chasing bait. Spotties appear in scattered schools in early summer, but as summer rolls on their numbers increase and they can be caught as far south as Coochiemudlo Island on a good day. I remember a few years ago they turned up in big numbers between Peel Island and Coochie and everyone had a ball. It didn’t take long to bag out.
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☛ continued P24
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 23
Match the bait size to enjoy more success.
A nice longtail from Mud Island.
Mixing it with Moreton Bay pelagics ☛ from P23
When approaching a school of either spotties or mack tuna, it’s imperative not to drive through the surface-feeding school because you will surely scatter them. Approach to about 100m and determine which way they are travelling. Then slowly motor to about 20m away and cast ahead of the school before winding like hell. Pelagics sometimes herd bait up against the banks to make it easier to feed, especially on an outgoing tide. Longtails are for people who are looking for mindblowing and blistering runs and the thrill of hearing the drag screaming. They are not bad fish to eat either as sashimi or lightly cooked steaks on the barbecue. Longtails are the largest and sometimes most frustrating of all pelagics
to catch in the bay. These speedsters can reach 15-20kg in the bay but are more common around the 8-10kg mark. Having more than 80m of line tear off your reel once hooked is all part of longtail fishing. A population of longtails resides in the bay and this fish can be caught all year round, but summer is definitely the better time. They regularly appear around the islands and sandbanks when an outgoing tide washes baitfish into the deeper water. The Rainbow, Rous and Pearl channels are renowned for it. When targeting longtails in the bay I still use my mackerel spinning gear, it just takes a little longer to get them near the boat. I find trolling spoons and pillies is the most effective way of fishing the edges of the drop-offs, especially if you have a
downrigger on board. Soft plastics such as Atomic 4”-5” jerk shads and paddle tails also work well. Combine them with a 3/8oz jig head and 5/0 hook. You are going to be frustrated on many occasions when chasing birds because most of the time it turns out to be mack tuna underneath. Mack tuna usually feed on smaller baitfish than
their bigger cousins, so using 2”-3” baitfish-profile soft plastics can work. The only time I find pelagics don’t feed is when a northerly is blowing, but once it dies off and the bay settles, get your spinning gear out and go for a cruise around the bay. I find Whyte Island the best ramp for targeting the middle of the bay because it is only a short drive out of the Brisbane River and you are in the paddock.
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Marlin physiology and fighting characteristics
I
T is important to understand the physiology and fighting characteristics of different marlin species. For many years we didn’t have a clue as to what marlin could see. Many self-proclaimed experts promoted the view that they were colour blind. I considered this quite unlikely, because after all they are highly proficient sight feeders. Now we know. Karen Fritches at the University of Queensland studied the cones and receptors in blue marlin eyes and determined they see a full range of colour but are stronger at the blue/green end of the colour spectrum than the orange/red end. This shouldn’t surprise because their environment is mostly blue/green. The process of evolution leads animals to develop strengths in the senses they need to survive, particularly with feeding. Thus, hunting animals on land have a heightened hearing ability. Dogs, for example, hear high-pitched sounds we can’t. Mosquitos see infrared, which is why they home in on the heat emanating from your ends/extremities such as hands, feet and ears. Some seabirds see ultraviolet and thus can spot baitfish deep in the water. The next and obvious question is what are marlin seeing when they strike a lure? Don’t forget – the eyes look while the brain sees by interpreting the messages it gets from the eyes via the optical nerves. Think about this. Marlin have very large eyes that have heater muscles behind them to prevent dilation with temperature changes. Karen Fritches believes their eyes are good enough to see a 10c piece from 50m away! People will say: “Ah, but they only have a tiny brain.� So what. The brain in any creature is big enough and good enough thanks to evolution to cope with whatever it has to in life. Pack or group animals such as humans, dogs, wolves and apes have a large brain to cope with social interaction and working in groups. A marlin’s brain doesn’t have a lot to cope with. Breeding once a year, defending itself (which shouldn’t be hard because it is at the apex) and feeding, which it has to do all the time to survive. It is inconceivable to me that a marlin’s brain couldn’t accurately interpret what the eye sees. So why do they strike a lure when it looks nothing like a baitfish? Why do they sometimes strike a lure several times? Surely after one strike they would have worked out it’s not a fish. www.bnbfishing.com. au
Game Fishing by BARRY ALTY
To give you examples of extremes, I have seen a marlin on Bougainville Island bashing a floating coconut with its bill. It surely wasn’t trying to eat it. I have also seen a marlin ‘playing’ with a 2sq m sheet of heavy plastic floating on the surface. We trolled three perfectly good baits right alongside it and it came over and had a cursory look at all three baits and then went back to playing with the plastic! Back in about 1986, Gil Kramer fishing on Freddie Rice’s boat Uhi Nui in the Hawaiin International Billfish Tournament caught a 1050lb blue on a 9� Door Knob lure trolled at 12 knots. What was it thinking? That’s negative energy feeding (where the food value of the prey is less than the energy expended in catching it). Predators don’t last long if they indulge in too much negative energy feeding. I don’t know what marlin are thinking when they do things like this. Maybe it’s amusement, maybe it’s aggression. I don’t care. I just don’t allow the belief that they think a lure is a fish they can eat to influence our choice of lure colours. Here’s a few quirky things to think about: Dogs chase all sorts of things, cats play with balls of string, kids learn by touching, smelling and putting things in their mouth. Marlin don’t have hands or paws. Now for the physiology of marlin. I like to use analogies: Sailfish are like greyhounds – lightly built and very fast but without much stamina. Striped marlin are like trotters or pacers – quite delicate in their movements. Blue marlin are like thoroughbreds or gallopers – fairly fast and fairly strong. Black marlin are like draught horses – very heavily built and very, very strong. Blue Marlin reputedly have two sets of muscles called white and red muscles, though they are actually all white. The white muscles are ‘fast-twitch’ muscles. They are sprint muscles and are what Olympic sprinters have in abundance. Red muscles are slowtwitch or endurance muscles that give marathon runners, swimmers, and cyclists their extraordinary capacity to cope with prolonged high-level activity. When a blue marlin strikes a lure, it typically does a long run crashing
across the surface in a cloud of spray with some jumps. It is using the sprint or fast-twitch muscles. These muscles expend all their energy capacity in a short period. They ‘burn out’ because of a rapid build-up of lactic acid and other toxins. The blue is now in a bit of a comatose state so it inevitably goes down into deeper water to reduce its body temperature and reoxygenate. When recovered, it will use its endurance muscles, the red or slow-twitch muscles to swim at two to three knots usually 10-
30m below the surface. It is obviously hard to tag them when they are well below the surface. Thus a fight can become a bit of a slow slog. We generally tag blues, regardless of size, in about 10 minutes, with obvious exceptions. We do so by clearing our other rods and teasers quickly, getting straight into reverse and trying to get to the fish before it recovers from the burning out of its fast-twitch muscles, as we don’t want it to recover and prolong the fight. To this end, we will back through the rigger lures if necessary (having 37’ riggers helps) and I have no problem whatsoever winding slack line as long as the fish is some disMarlin of all varieties are no strangers to getting airborne.
☛ continued P26
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Marlin physiology and fighting characteristics ☛ from P25
Captain Brett Alty of Mistress is a marlin veteran with the runs on the board.
tance from the boat and moving quickly. The drag pressure caused by the fish towing a lure (usually with skirts inverted) and the line creates sufficient drag at the fish’s end to keep the hook in. Once the fish is close and you are pumping and winding towards the boat, you will want to keep the line tight. If the fish goes down, try to avoid a stalemate. This is a bad situation. Try changing the angle of pull on the fish by
Blue marlin are beautiful creatures and smarter than many think.
manoeuvring the boat to one side of the fish or the other. Or try to get in front so if you can lift its head you are using its pectoral fins to ‘paravane’ it up. Often you can psyche them out by changing angles. When this occurs, they sometimes suddenly give up and come in easily. If you get into a really bad situation with a fish dead or nearly dead, or down really deep and not making any sudden movements, get ahead of the fish, increase the drag and move the boat ahead at a speed in which line is only just coming off the reel. The angle of the line towards the fish will become shallower. Then charge backwards, winding as fast as you can, and keep repeating the process. On 80lb or 130lb reels we use 18lb of strike drag for blues, with 28lb and 44lb respectively at the button. I rarely need to go past 28lb on either line class. Striped marlin fight in much the same fashion as blues, so use the same techniques. Big blacks are a different story. If caught on a lure they will behave like blues but are much stronger. However, when caught on a live or dead bait it is an unusual game.
These days most people use circle hooks on live and dead baits, so the reel will be in ‘free-running drag’, which is just a bit more than free spool to avoid overruns. There is a significant dropback from the rigger release clip, and thus the marlin doesn’t feel anything until the angler slowly moves the reel’s drag lever to about 18lb. It seems giant blacks hooked in this manner don’t really know what’s happened because nine times out of 10 they will hit the air and do all sorts of jumps, with some quite crazy and uncontrolled close to the boat. This makes them easy to get to and tag very quickly. I have tagged 10 estimated at well over 1000lb. The shortest time was three minutes and 42 seconds, the second shortest three minutes and 54 seconds and the longest 18 minutes and it was tail wrapped. Gaffing them like this when they are green as all hell leads to absolute mayhem and the fish might be on the gaffs for 20 minutes. Tagging easy; gaffing hard. If you don’t get the big black quickly, it seems to get itself sorted out. It goes down and heads east and you just can’t stop them. Every fight I have had
that has gone over 18 minutes has resulted in a lost fish with broken line or leader. Example; one day we had a good look at a black when it struck a skip bait. It got sorted out straight away, which was unusual, and it headed straight east and only lurched out of the water once about 80m from the boat. I had 90lb of drag on it but it took us straight east for 13km. Then it turned around and came back in 8km. At that point I was getting sudden short changes of direction, which along with head shakes are usually a sign you are close to getting them. I reported this to captain Brett, who was driving. His response was: “I’m sorry to disappoint you Bazz but it’s trying to feed in a tuna school.” He could see the tuna on the sonar and I felt insulted. I got that fish to the boat five times but my 110kg deckhand who is strong as an ox couldn’t pinch enough leader to get a wrap. In the end I broke the Momoi 550lb Hi-Catch Extra Hard leader on the rod tip. It was a pretty clean break with no scarring. They’re tough these giant blacks. When fishing for giant blacks we run 18lb drag at
our circle hook mark and 44lb at the button. I generally leave the drag at 18lb until the fish does something I don’t want it to, such as go down or head away from the boat. Then it’s straight to ‘sunset’. This seems to discourage them from bad behaviour quite quickly, so when they start behaving again I bring the drag back to where I started. Sails I basically treat the same as blues and try to get them before they recover from their initial burst of energy. Sailfish can be very difficult on light tackle if they get down into a current and get their huge dorsals up. You are then fighting the fish and the current. Little blacks can be really funny. Usually if caught on a circle hook and you wind or pump and wind gently so as not to stir them up you can back over to them inside a few minutes and get a tag shot. Miss that tag shot and the fish will go down and you might be up for a fight as long as 20 minutes. We use a third of the line class at strike, which is at the button on little blacks and sails. When trolling lures, the reel is at strike. With live or dead baits it is at free-running drag with the strike alarm on.
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Page 26 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
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Mitch landed a solid blue (spaniard) that hammered a bait on the drop.
A good size spanish mackerel caught by the author to start 2019.
Mackerel catches patchy on Gold Coast
H
Tom Campbell landed this great 74cm saratoga at Lake Borumba.
ERE we are, power i ng t h roug h 2019.
Hopefully everyone had a safe and enjoyable Christmas. The fishing along the Gold Coast has been fantastic, with plenty of fish on offer. On some days we’ve seen the water temperature push 26C with that clear, cobalt blue colour to bring a run of pelagics to
Tallebudgera Creek Bar is almost impassable at all tides. Photo: Peter Gash
Gold Coast by HEATH ZYGNERSKI
keep anglers entertained. The only thing keeping us off the water has been that pesky northerly wind. While not too strong, they have been blowing enough to make the water unsettled. Couple that with the low-pressure systems way off the coast pushing a bit of swell our way and you’ve had to pick your days, especially if running the local bars on low tide. The spotted mackerel decided to turn up over Christmas but you had to work for them. Some days they will chew their heads off while the next you won’t even turn a reel. Bait fishers have taken most of the fish, with very few caught on lures. Mixed in with the spotties have been spaniards and the odd marlin and sailfish. You just don’t know what might jump on your line, so make sure all your terminal gear is up to scratch, including your knots. A bit wider has seen a great run of spanish mackerel, with these good
size fish biting very freely. We hit the water early one balmy morning and had four in the boat to be home by 9am. It’s great when a plan comes together and the fish co-operate. It still amazes me how fishos shark each other when someone gets a fish. I just don’t get it how they will troll around you if anchored or want to drop right next to you when drifting. I’ve had enough of it over the years to now only try to hit the water midweek when a lot less boat traffic is around. Fishing is supposed to be a stress reliever, not a stress-inducing activity. In the rivers and creeks, mangrove jack are chewing their heads off. Those anglers fishing structure have encountered some great sessions. Occasionally they’ll come away winners but a lot of the time they instead donate another $15 lure to the crafty fish. Fishing warm water just as a storm is brewing or passing is the prime time
for jack fishing. Try any of the local bridges and rock walls for a good chance to nail a red dog. Giant herring are still chewing too. They frequent most of the skinny water creeks and lakes only a metre or so deep. They run and fight hard, putting on a great aerobatic display for the lucky angler who hooks them. They don’t fare well if handled too much and are terrible eating, so are best quickly returned to the water. Flathead are also being captured in good numbers along the weed beds and drop-offs on the run-out tide. Great saratoga are being taken in the fresh-
water dams in southeast Queensland and these fish put in a fight well above their weight. The local bars are in ordinary shape. Tweed River Bar is shallow from about halfway between the walls, with that back bank still only 3-4m deep in some spots. Currumbin Creek Bar is shocking, with anglers lucky to get in or out at certain stages of the tide. A lot of anglers wishing to fish Palm Beach Reef are running up from the Tweed River. Tallebudgera Creek Bar is very narrow and you have nowhere to go in any swell. The Seaway can be angry on a run-out and easterly swell. ‘Til next month, bent rods to you all.
Joe popped his cherry on this great blue.
Turning fishing dreams into reality
A
S we pack away the last of the Christmas decorations and realise the New Year’s resolutions won’t be fulfilled, our thoughts turn to look at what 2019 might hold for one and all. The fishing charter industry on the Gold Coast crosses its fingers and toes as the sun has been shining for the start of the new year. Though the water has mainly been green and not the sought-after blue,
Fish the Deep by SCOTT VAN BURCK
the fishing has been positive and the stream of visitors wanting to put dinner on the table has been steady. With green water, the best fishing remains on the bottom for snapper, teraglin and flathead. December fishing was more positive with larger species coming aboard
including the odd kingfish, mulloway and an early run of mahi mahi. Unfortunately, their visit to the Gold Coast was brief. There is plenty of food for the fish, just the wrong water temperature. Good-quality pearl perch have been the order of the day, meaning many
Luke and Brent with two good-sized mahi mahi.
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visitors and locals have enjoyed a tasty meal. We enjoyed a run of mackerel, but fishers had to be at Mermaid and Palm Beach reefs before dawn to score a decent catch. At the time of writing, mackerel had decided the Gold Coast was not the place to feed. The current is raging along the eastern coastline, so even the inshore fishing is taking a hit. The reefs are copping three to five knots of current, which means a lot of backing up or throwing out the anchor. Holiday crowds have been plentiful so far this year, with charters booked out, which is such an improvement on 2018 when so many charters were lost to bad weather. Optimism is the order of the day for the weather to remain positive. Quality samson fish and good plate size snap-
per have been about, as has the odd cod. When filleted, there’s been plenty for all on board to take home and freeze or eat while still fresh. Bait being used includes pilchards, squid and live bait. Marlin are beginning to grace the Gold Coast waters, so the dream catch for many is being turned into reality. Marlin are being caught and tagged by live baiting, switch baiting and trolling lures. Having the ability to chase and tag marlin is an important addition to our regular bottom bashing charters. Seasonal changes determine the future of fishing as we move into the last part of summer. Hopefully when the next article is written I will be able to share positive results on the summer fish of mackerel, mahi mahi and marlin.
Marshall and Mariusz Hall captured a mahi mahi.
Jake Peirano boated a flowery cod.
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 27
Brett scored quality night-time Nerang River whiting.
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Ben caught his PB jew on a recent trip using pillies for berley and bait.
The author held a couple of good eating offshore fish hooked on the 40m reefs.
Beating the boat traffic to find fish
H
I everyone, it seems the older I get, the less I like the long holiday period.
All the boat traffic certainly doesn’t make the fishing easy or enjoyable. Combined with an offshore swell that was not big but big enough to keep smaller boats like mine inshore more than I wanted, things haven’t been ideal. When I did manage to sneak outside, good fish were there, but my outside trips were few. It’s times like these I’m glad I love my whiting fishing, but the lack of rain and increased boat traffic has made them tougher to find as well. I believe a couple of things help me catch whiting in this kind of situation and on those busy weekends at the Council Chambers in the Nerang River as well. The first is to fish deeper water than normal. Rather than fishing the drop-offs where the water may go from 1m to 3m, we find the best fish in deeper water around 4m. The other thing is the fish seem to be very scattered by all the boat traffic and lack of rain. In the Coomera River we were fishing up around Sanctuary Cove. In the Nerang River, even though the best fishing has been from Isle of Capri down to Chevron Island, good whiting are still being caught at Sorrento. This month should see things getting back to normal and we will get great catches between 7pm and midnight. As soon as the sun goes down, the whiting start feeding. The small amount of rain we had around Christmas stirred up a few mud crabs but if we get our normal rainfall this month they should get much better. The stretch of river around Sanctuary Cove in the Coomera River, around Diamond Head in the Pim-
Broadwater Region by WAYNE ‘YOUNGY’ YOUNG
pama River and the Aldershots area will be best, with whiting frames and mullet the best baits. Sand crabs are available from the mouth of the Coomera River all the way south to the mouth of the Nerang River. Deeper water near weed beds is best and you can use the same baits as for the muddies. In the Seaway, big summertime morning tides can make it tough. It’s best to fish smaller tides between the moons or tide changes to give you easier fishing. A tide change early in the morning or late afternoon/early evening will also give you the best chance of catching fish. Live pike and yakkas are best for the larger fish such as jew and kingfish. Small flesh baits and even large yabbies are ideal for bream, flathead and other small reef fish that call the Seaway home. Drifting close to the rock walls is a good place to start. At night the odd tailor and a few trevally have been around marinas and bridges. I like trolling the edge of the main channel from Marina Mirage down to Sundale Bridge. I run shallow-diving Rapalas on the deeper channel side of the boat and deep-diving Rapalas on the marina and bridge pylon side. Plenty of mangrove jack have been caught over the holiday period and they will continue to be around in good numbers this month. You have a few ways to target these fish. You can troll deepdiving hard-bodied lures very close to structure such as bridge pylons, jetties and rock walls, with Paradise Point and Sovereign Island a great
area to start looking. Anchoring and using live and flesh baits is by far the easiest way to catch them. The same areas will work and using plenty of berley will help get them fired up. The third way is by far the most popular nowadays, especially with the younger fishos, but it is also the most labour-intensive and certainly not favoured by old fellas like me. That is casting mediumsize soft plastics of 4” and 5” and retrieving them along the many jetties and rock walls that line the rivers and canals. Quarter-ounce jig heads and white soft plastics are the most popular, however jacks aren’t fussy and any soft plastic placed within striking distance will get hit with vigour. Twenty-pound braid and 40lb leader is the minimum recommended to land these aggressive fish. As stated earlier, plenty of fish are available offshore, it’s just conditions have not been the best for getting out there. Things seem to be on the improve though, so here’s hoping this month is better. We’ve seen no big catches of spotted mackerel yet, but they should fire up this month. Pillies or pieces of pillies are best for both bait and berley. Just remember you may need a small length of 27lb wire above the hook to prevent bite-offs. Some bigger spanish mackerel will also be worth chasing in February. Slow trolling live yakkas and slimies is by far the most productive way of capturing them. While trolling lures can be effective, your fuel bill will be lower when slow
trolling livies and your kill tank used more often. Black marlin and dollies have been the best catches out wide on the 50s. Again, live bait has been more successful than lures but more fish should be around this month, making lure fishing worthwhile. Bottom fishing has been good, with catches of snapper, pearl perch and great jewfish. Both jewies and snapper seem to be available all year round now. Pillies, flesh baits and squid have been the best baits. At this time of year the current can be a bit stronger than in winter,
which means you need to fish a bit smarter. Using lighter main line and thinner leaders will get the bait down without the current taking it too far from the back of the boat. Certainly use no more than 20lb main line and even dropping down to 14 or 10lb can be effective, though I would use no less than 20lb leader. This may seem very light but our reefs are not as rugged as those up north and the odd lost fish can be tolerated when your Esky has great eating fish in it. Until next month, fish for the future and let’s all hope for good weather.
Tackle box Mangrove jack: • 4”-5” soft plastics • 1/4oz jig heads • 20lb braid; 40lb leader
Graeme with a couple of mackerel from the close reefs.
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Tricks for targeting jacks G
’DAY, I hope the jump back into the reality of work after a great holiday break wasn’t too harsh seeing as the fishing on the Gold Coast has been quite good.
Offshore, estuary and freshwater fishing trips have all produced nice fish. Reports of juvenile black marlin and dolphinfish offshore are becoming more common, and this month the mackerel should really fire up. For marlin, having a good mix of skirted lures and hard-bodies has been the most productive technique. The fish have been found wherever there is a water temperature rise rather than sitting in a specific depth of water. Looking for 25C-plus water is ideal, which can even mean catching marlin in close in about 30m of water. Spotted mackerel have so far been very hit and miss, only switching on for short periods and making it hard for people to crack a pattern, but as the temps average out they should pop up more frequently, as should spanish mackerel. Trolling hard-bodies has been an effective way to catch the occasional
Nerang Rooster Report by DARREN RAMA
spanish, as has slow trolling livies with a downrigger. In the canals, one fish that seems to get a bit of hype and rightfully so is mangrove jack. People are targeting jacks more and more frequently due to their fighting ability and elusiveness. They are not easy to persuade at the best of times and when you do get one to bite it’s only half the battle because the fight is a whole different story. The reason they are such effective lure thieves is the way they eat. From observations in fish tanks, mangrove jack like to turn on their prey and hit it side on with enough force to either inhale the whole fish in one go or leave it stunned and easy enough to get the second time around. Jacks live in very rough terrain, and when they take your lure or bait they will have already turned and started heading back into structure, giving you only a short window to turn their head and pull them clear. And if that’s not enough,
if you get a chance to look at the business end of the fish you’ll soon realise thicker line will help reduce the number of clean bite-offs. For jacks, 15-30lb line seems a common choice. They don’t shy away from larger food sources either, so presentations from 3�-6� will be inhaled, whether that be a surface lure, deep diver or plastic. One thing that can help when trying to find these fish in a new area is scoping out the location at low tide to see
what structure will be submerged at higher levels of the tide. If there’s not significant structure under the water, they won’t be there. We have found while fishing hard-bodies the key is twitching and pausing. Lately the pause has been the real standout, with most bites coming while the lure is stationary. Another fish showing up more frequently is baby bull sharks. They are in plague proportions, as you probably would have seen on the news. They call our canal systems home and can be quite fun to catch. The best baits are defi-
nitely live, and freshwater eel is perfect. Because most of the baby sharks are between 1m and 1.5m in length, they can be dealt with safely aboard a boat, staying away from the pointy end of course. Recently I have been reducing the size of my gear when targeting sharks and am still having no dramas landing them. The only crucial part of the gear is a steel trace because normal line is no match for their teeth. I have been landing them on 2500-size reels and 10lb main line with no problem. So with the last month of summer already here, make the most of it!
Kobi hesitantly held her first shark.
Rodney scored a jack he provoked from a snag after a few casts.
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A giant herring hooked while fishing surface over some bait.
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Andy with a 52cm jack.
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 29
Keeping a keen eye out for any birds or surface activity will help you achieve success, as Warrick did with this tea-leaf trevally.
When the fishing gets tough, try trolling and covering as much water as possible. Flathead like this can’t resist a well-trolled minnow.
Fishing is like a game of chess G
’DAY everyone, I hope you had a safe festive season and some enjoyable days fishing on one of our many waterways. In this month’s article I will discuss some tips that might help you succeed with consistent results on
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both good and tough days on the water. Fishing is not a perfect science, mainly because we are dealing with Mother Nature. To gain some form of result every time I hit the water, I look at the fishing trip like a game of chess and take my time choosing my moves. To begin, let’s get rid of the word ‘luck’. Even though we all need luck, when it comes to fishing I believe good luck comes from thought, creativity and adaptability. I’m not opposed to bait fishing but prefer lures because a selection of lures allows you the freedom to adapt in both technique and movement through the waterways. A good little collection of lures would include small metal and soft vibes, some soft plastics with a mixture of jig heads to suit as well as some surface lures and a couple of small hardbodied minnows that dive to different depths. These lures are now your pawns on the chessboard. Now the chessboard is loaded, you have to plan
Gold Coast Guide by BRAD SMITH
Over many years I have found that when the fishing is tough it’s usually due to one of Mother Nature’s tantrums such as a barometer crash. your moves for success. I will run through a series of different scenarios that might help. What do you do if the rivers have received a lot of rain, the upper catchments have become dirty and salinity levels have dropped? The answer is to plan your trip in the lower reaches of the river on the run-in tide and look for where the cleaner, saltier water from the ocean meets the dirty water. On the flip side, what could you do if we’d had little to no rain, like on the Gold Coast at the time of
Fish hard all day with no worries
writing this article? You would plan your trips from the mid to far upper reaches of the rivers because the bait and fish will want to push far upstream with the high salinity levels. Now, what sort of move would you make if the water temperature became either very hot or cold? Temperature is very important and has a lot to do with fish feeding patterns. If the water became hot you could put your blades, vibes and soft plastics to good use in the deepest holes in the rivers because the water is usually a bit cooler at the bottom of the holes. Or you could cast into shaded areas under bridg-
es and overhangs. If the water is cold, fish over the shallow areas with your surface lures and small minnows because shallow water warms up more quickly in the sun. So, what would be your next move on the chessboard if none of the above scenarios worked? Choose an area and bunk down, keeping your composure, and start trolling minnow lures. Make some runs with the shallow divers and some with the deeper divers, always running with the tide for the best results. Why should you bunk down in an area and troll? I firmly believe when times are tough you shouldn’t go travelling over fish to find fish. I constantly see boats roaring up and down the river burning through fuel and wasting time thinking the grass is greener in another place. Over many years I have found that when the fishing is tough it’s usually due to one of Mother Nature’s tantrums such as a barometer crash. Sticking to a likely area and increasing your time in motion by trolling is the way to go.
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This flathead was a fantastic catch because it took a Splash Prawn surface lure in very shallow water. Photo courtesy of Australian Master Marine
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Sensational surface action ■ Flathead ■ Jacks ■ Crabs
H
ELLO and welcome to this month’s edition of BNB.
It’s amazing how quickly the year gets off to a start and begins flying by, with the February edition out already. I really like this time of year though, as I have a soft spot for hot cross buns and I love to fish with surface lures for all sorts of species from whiting to bream, bass to jacks. It is a special time of year and there is nothing quite like the visual excitement of seeing a fish smash a lure on top of the water. Even if you don’t get the hook-up, you will be hooked on this fantastic fishing technique, so do yourself a favour and get along to your local tackle shop and put some surface lures in your tackle box ready for your next fishing trip. Whiting have been fairly consistent over the past month for most lure throwers, but the bait fishers have struggled from time to time. The usual lures such as the Bassday Sugapen, Atomic Pop 50, Daiwa Silver Wolf, Megabass Pop X and Ecogear PX55 have all had success over the past month. Many different colours have worked, so it will be well worth having a few colour variations in your tackle box. Try to have a mix including something fairly bright but also have a bit of contrast with a more natural or subtle option, especially if the water is fairly clear. As usual, the larger runin tides have been the pick for bait fishers using live yabbies and beach worms. Pimlico Island is generally one of the hot spots to try your luck, but this year it has not been as productive as usual and better numbers of fish have come from the sand flats between the mouth of the Richmond River up to the Burns Point Ferry. It would be a brave soul who would totally write off Pimlico this early in the season, and I am expecting better numbers of fish to show up as the season goes along. The water has been a little warmer and has a little more colour on the runout tide, so if you want to flick a few lures around for whiting, I would be heading upriver and trying slightly brighter colours. Flathead were in good numbers over the Christmas/New Year period and if I was a betting man I would put a fair wager on them staying around the lower reaches for the next couple of months. As is often the case at this time of year, some of www.bnbfishing.com. au
Ballina Bait & Tackle by BRETT HYDE
the ‘big girls’ are coming out to play and showing plenty of interest in live herring and poddy mullet, along with extra-large soft plastics. Early morning has seen better numbers of fish on the sand flats, but most days are heating up very quickly and the flathead have been moving into the deeper holes and channels in an attempt to keep cool. It will be worth trying the Porpoise Wall, Bream Hole and the deeper stretches from behind the CBD all the way to the ferry. Prawns and white or blue pilchards have been good bait options for the smaller fish, along with some 3” soft plastics and metal vibes. With the weather heating up, we have seen an increase in the number of mud crabs and mangrove jack on offer. Most of the rock walls from the mouth of the river up to Wardell Bridge have produced a few fish. Live baits such as poddy mullet, herring and garfish have proven a little more productive at night, but hard-body lures including Jackall Squirrels, Lucky Craft Pointers and Atomic Shads have produced fish during the day. The jacks have been much more active on a run-out tide in the afternoon after they have warmed up. Much like the jacks, the crabs have been enjoying the warmer weather, but have been a little on the slow side when the tides have dropped off in size. Try to focus on the full and new moon periods when the tides will be larger and more run is in the water. The action offshore has been fairly inconsistent of late. The current has kicked into high gear most of the time and the water temperature has climbed well over the 23C mark on the 32-fathom line. Mahi mahi around the FAD have been a day to day proposition, with fish showing up on one day and then seemingly gone without a trace the next. Some of the better-quality fish have showed up out wider around the 42 to 52-fathom line. A number of these fish have been stumbled across by anglers trolling for black marlin, so it won’t hurt to troll an extra-large lure in the spread on heavier gear the next time you head out to chase mahi mahi. You never know, you could end up with a small black marlin running off
with your favourite skirted lure. This heavy current has made fishing the bottom with either bait or any style of lure a very difficult proposition. Snapper, flathead and tuskfish have all been taken on bait and lures, but some heavy leads have been required to get to the bottom. The northerly wind continues to haunt us at present, so some boats have opted to fish the northern grounds during this pe-
riod to make the run home later in the day a little easier. If you get lucky and strike a day when the wind and current drop off a little, it may even be worth a troll or bottom bash out wide because on a couple of days we have seen one or two boats on the continental shelf catching bar cod, nannygai and blueeye trevalla. This is unusual for this time of year, but as one very famous quote goes: “You never know what ya gonna get!” Well that’s all from me for this edition. ‘Til next time, tight lines!
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 31
A popper was this whiting’s undoing.
A hungry bream that hunted down a popper.
Memories of magic fishing fun ■ Richmond River ■ Bridges ■ Beaches
A Alwyn Michell landed a big shovelnose ray.
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S I sit here writing this article it is bloody hot.
I’ve just returned from Newcastle where it was 44C and just too damn hot for me. However, it doesn’t seem to put the holiday-makers off because they are fishing, swimming, paddling canoes and kayaks and sun baking. I must be getting old because I just want to sit under the air-conditioner and chill out. I’ll get back to the extreme sports like fishing when the sun goes down and all the holiday-makers are off to bed. During my little holiday to Newcastle I had a chance to wander down to some of the areas I used to fish 30-odd years ago. In the Hexham area near the McDonald’s was one place where we used to catch heaps of school jewfish. Back in those days we had no size or bag limits, so I’d get on my bike with my then partner and we would fish for our dinner and lunch. My partner was still in university and I had just returned from Darwin after cyclone Tracy with barely a cent to my name. I’m a Wollongong and Newcastle boy. I grew up in both towns and fished both places as a kid. My uncles taught me a lot including how to dive for fish.
Evans Head by GARY ‘SQUIDGIE’ PALMER
I cut my teeth on bream and flathead, fishing most of my early days in Lake Illawarra on the south coast. I learnt from the best, as my uncle Ron would just lie on the bottom of a deep hole and stalk the fish. He would hold his breath for so long waiting for a fish to poke its head out and bang he had it. He amazed me, and he was also a great fisher with handlines. Leaving from Port Kembla on the NSW south coast, he would always come in with a great feed. I really miss those days. My extended family had extensive fishing wisdom. I cut my teeth on bream and flathead, fishing most of my early days in Lake Illawarra on the south coast. This was my learning ground and using bait was the norm because not many lures were around. Some were available though and to me the Wonder Wobbler was just a bit of steel tied on to
string, yet it caught fish. And it did not matter how big the fish were because all fish are big for a young buck. I used to jump about every time a fish was landed. I just loved it, and you know what? I still do 60 years on. Moving back to the present, I’m still waiting to hear back on what the powers that be are going to do about the Richmond River, but like always it’s just chest beating and no bloody action. Honestly, I’d like to douse most politicians in a big bucket of water and wake them up. The majority are just in it to big-note themselves or pick up the money and perks, not to help us. They prance around before every election telling us what they are going to do and how they will fix
this or that but rarely go ahead and do it. I just get sick of their bullshit. We need someone who is fair dinkum and not full of themselves. OK, I’ll get off my rocking horse now. So what is happening on the fishing front around my area? Offshore, I have seen great pics of jewfish, snapper, trag and spotted mackerel (but not a lot of spotties). It’s been bass aplenty in the rivers, though bream and flathead are around in the salt too. As I write, the water is as clean as anything and all fish are pushing to the upper reaches of the Evans River. If you own a boat I would head up past Iron Gates to the Black Hole and beyond. I have caught so many quality fish near the golf course. The holes leading up there are deep and hold loads of nice fish. My better half’s best flathead came from a deep hole near the golf course on a Black Gold Squidgy 70mm Fish and 1/8oz jig head. Most of our readers should know how much I love fishing the Evans Bridge. The pylons can give up very big flathead and bream at night, and during the day you can target blackfish on a run-up tide. The walkway there is a
great place to teach your children how to fish bridges and different tides. I can think of no better place to teach kids. About 20 years ago I taught kids to fish there, and they are still fishing to this day, so I must have done something right. I think the way you teach is important in keeping up the enthusiasm for fishing. If you yell or lose it the kids will lose interest. Relax and enjoy the moment. Teaching them about tangled lines and lost gear is all part of the process. We are having fourwheel-drive troubles at the moment, with idiots doing doughnuts and speeding on the beaches up from the 4x4 track. This has got to stop or we will lose 4x4 access to the beach. At this rate someone will get killed. There are kids and animals all over these areas and you have to be vigilant. If you are driving a car, remember it can be a lethal weapon. I know it’s fun but it is also illegal and I would hate to be the one who kills a kid or anyone for that matter. Just think before you get behind the wheel and turn into a six-year-old. I’ve said my piece for this month. ‘Til next month remember: limit your kill, don’t kill your limit. Tight lines and smelly fingers.
BALLINA BAIT & TACKLE
BALLINA WEST SHOPPING CENTRE
Pacific Hwy, Ballina NSW Ph/Fax 02 6686 2527 • brettrhyde@optusnet.com.au Page 32 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
This 2.25m bronze whaler was hooked with eel bait on a 24kg rod and Penn Slammer reel rigged with 60lb main line, 10m of 400lb wind-on leader, 2m of 400lb wire trace and an 18/0 circle hook. The shark was released after this pic.
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New year of fishing throughout NSW
W
ELCOME to a new year of fishing.
I am extremely excited because the new year gives us a chance to take last year’s experiences and use that knowledge to provide a better understanding and hopefully land a lot of new PBs. One of the main things I learnt from a young age is to keep a fishing diary. It helps so much, especially when trying to figure out fish patterns and timing, especially if you’re anything like me. One day I could be fishing for bream and the next day mulloway and
2 Mates Fishin – Newcastle by CAINE ‘CAINO’ GOWARD
then Murray cod. Without a diary it can be impossible to remember it all. Plus, I can transfer that knowledge year after year to adapt and update the
diary with new techniques that worked or didn’t. I will write down the successful (or not) lures, baits, colours, times, tides, moon phase and more because the more we know, the greater our chances to be able to land a new PB or species we have been hunting for. So if you haven’t got a fishing diary, I really recommend giving it a go. This year has started as a cracker. I pulled the diary out and focused on targeting mulloway (jewies). They are tricky fish for
most to crack the code on, especially when it comes to successful lures, live bait and locations. Once you land a jewfish it gets much easier to repeat the process, hence a diary really helps. Our local waterways are firing on all cylinders and producing awesome jewie catches that will continue for a while yet. My mate Scotty and I are focusing on using live bait in our local waterway in Newcastle NSW, mainly because the jewies here are a bit more susceptible to livies over lures. I’m not saying you can’t catch them on a lure but I’ve found over the years of fishing here that larger jewies are more likely to take livies. Scotty has been racking up an average of three jewies a trip, with most landed on a run-in tide. Jewfish and bass will be our main focus for the next two or so months, with both on absolute fire. The surface and subsur-
A solid silver ghost for the author.
The author with a cracker daytime mulloway.
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A quality bass hooked using a finesse Hell Yeah Chatterbait.
face bite is on for bass, especially when the sun goes down. It makes for an unforgettable night. And the brute size and pulling power of jewies is just unreal. You can’t ask for a better way to start a fishing season in my opinion. One of the best products I got my hands on in late-2018 was Hell Yeah Chatterbaits. I’m so impressed I’m declaring them my all-time favourite chatterbaits. They come in three sizes to suit chasing everything from Murray cod right down to finesse fishing for bass. These chatterbaits come in a range of colours rigged with either Keitech plastics, Hammer plastics or Entice Bungee Baits. Best of all, they run weedless Owner hooks, allowing the lure to be fished in heavy coverage and structure. When fishing with these lures, your confidence level skyrockets because not worrying that you’re going to get snagged every cast allows you to focus more on hooking fish. These chatterbaits are already gaining a huge following and scoring amazing catches. They are a hit and the new year is looking so good for Hell Yeah Chatterbaits. You can follow them on Facebook or Instagram to * continued P34
Scott McIntyre landed a cracker fish.
Steve Hamilton scored a big river cod using Hell Yeah Chatterbaits.
Damian Day with his first-ever mulloway.
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 33
Tide Times Sponsored by
Bass action going bananas H
AUSTRALIA EAST COAST - BRISBANE BAR
WADDY POINT - FRASER ISLAND
I and welcome to 2019.
I hope your Christmas and New Year was as great as mine. It was bloody hot down our way over the festive season, with temps reaching well into the 40s. The cicadas came out in massive numbers, which whipped the bass into a frenzy. On Boxing Day a few of us headed out to Lake St Clair in the Hunter Valley for a bit of family time. It’s a top place to cool down and throw a few lures around. The lake is very low at the moment and the places we normally like to fish were all but bone dry. I hadn’t seen it that low in ages but we did find a few spots that held fish. Casting out some surface lures and TN60 Jackalls was heaps of fun and we scored a number of fish but only one over 40cm. The rest were in the high-30cm range. It was great to see my wife enjoy the odd cast as well. It was her birthday on January 4 and to my surprise she asked to go to BCF so I could get her first fishing hat and shirt, which absolutely blew me away because she’s not that keen on fishing and only fishes now and then on holidays. This new interest could be a good thing because I’m crap at buying gifts for her but outstanding at buying fishing gear. Let’s get into what’s been happening in the salt side of things. To start, if chasing whiting up past Stockton Bridge and working either soft plastics or hardbodies you’re in for a feed. The sand bars up this way are so clean at the moment, which is why the whiting and flathead are around in big numbers. My go-to plastics here are anything small such as Berkley Gulp 2” Grubs in Pumpkinseed and even bright colours like hot pink and yellow. If you want to try poppers, my go-to is the Gomoku Popper by Storm. It’s just a 40mm lure with hot pink on top and clear underneath and the
3WAYSFISHIN – Newcastle by NATHAN ‘NATH’ PALMER
whiting love it. Find a patch of whiting working the high tide sand flats and get into them to score a healthy treat of whiting. You can find great flathead holes off the edges of sand bars, with great deep areas to throw a few plastics about. I recommend the Berkley Gulp Shrimp in Banana Prawn as well as the PowerBait T-Tail Minnow in Pink Glitter. However, my tackle bag has 50-plus packets of plastics in all colours and sizes including the Squidgies Bio Tough range. Wow they catch some flathead and I find it really hard to pick a favourite because they all work so well. Again, match the hatch to have some fun. Jewfish are in Newcastle Harbour in big numbers. I went out the other night and had two big runs on live yakkas, but I think due to my quick hands and not letting them run before setting the hook I lost both, which was a kick in the guts. I’ll be heading out in the next few nights and will have a better plan next time. Places to try your luck include the little Stockton breakwall and if you can get the live baits at your feet you know the jew will be turning up in no time. This place really produces of a night time, especially the two hours before high tide and two hours after. However, I caught a 129cm fish just 30 minutes before dead low, so now I turn up at any part of the tide, high or low and get a bait in the water. I know towards high tide you will find live baits everywhere, just remember to fish the last 20m
towards the end of the wall and only cast 5-10m in front of you because that’s where the big hole is and where we have landed countless jew and big flathead. Good luck and I hope you score a few. I’m planning a trip outside to the Mud Hole to chase snapper shortly, so I hope I can tell you how good it was and provide top pics. Stay tuned. Lake Macquarie has seen so much boat traffic over the past few weeks but it’s still fishing well. Places including Toronto barge and Belmont barge have held good size jew, flathead and even plate size snapper. The best time to fish these spots is early morning or late at night because so many people are around. Green Point is another great spot to fish and I only use soft vibes here because I’ve caught so many flathead and keep coming back for more. A lot of people just drive past here because the water is over 6m deep with flat ground. But if you head straight out in line with the Green Point Jetty. When you hit the 6m mark, watch your sounder because you will see a few reefs pop up and that’s where they like to hang out. I fish here because I’ve got a few marks in the area and catch so many treats. Heading into the channel from the lake towards the pilot station just past the green and red markers you will find squid and leatherjacket in big numbers throughout the day and even better at night. A few mates have been scoring a few squid and then ditching the boats
to head to Blacksmiths Breakwall targeting jew. I like fishing for leathers and my wife loves eating them as much as I do, but I know several people who don’t like them but I’m not sure why. We like to cook them on the barbecue in aluminium foil with loads of butter and a slice of orange and garlic and they turn out delicious. I use a paternoster rig with a 6 ball sinker and a size 8 long-shank hook with worms, peeled prawns or fresh squid. I also berley up with any old scraps I have kept in the freezer and a small dash of tuna oil. You can find a few weed patches mixed with small
rocky areas. The leathers always seem to be here. Whiting are around in big numbers and again in front of the pilot station is the best place to target them. Last time I was here I intended to bring home a feed so was using beach worms and small pieces of peeled prawns. I got my bag limit in no time and caught a few plate size flathead too. Things are starting to get back to normal on the lake as everyone goes back to work. Get out there and try your luck. I hope you score a few. ‘Til next time, stay safe on the water.
The author saw a bright meteor and it took him by surprise.
Will Henderson with a 35cm bass.
The average size of fish from Lake St Clair.
New year of fishing throughout NSW ☛ from P33
see what all the fuss is about @Hell Yeah Chatterbaits and #HellYeahChatterbaits. I have also been trying out a Murasame Bream X 7’7”, 2-6lb Ultra-Light Spin twopiece rod. I have been working very closely with fellow Viva Fishing pro staff fisho Jason Taylor. There is so much potential for this rod and product testing has showed it to be fantastic
on the boat and flats. It’s a casting demon too, with plenty of finesse as well as power. This rod is being developed with input from our New Zealand mate Malcolm Bell to adapt and suit his trout fishing exploits where he needs to cast ultralight baits great distances while handling heavier plastics and hard-bodies. We are so excited and can’t wait to announce the launch date but a little bit more testing is
needed, so I will keep you updated. This year is shaping up to be so exciting and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year brings our way. I hope you all had a fantastic festive season and I’ll speak to you again next month, hopefully with more great fish to show you. You can follow our adventures on Facebook @2 Mates Fishin or Instagram #Caino2MF. Until next time, tight lines.
A double hook-up for the author.
Page 34 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
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COMPETITION DATES Jarvis Hendricks captured this big mangrove jack. Photos: fishingnoosa.com.au
Fabulous February on Sunshine Coast
F
EBRUARY is a great month for fishing on the Sunshine Coast. The prolonged onshore winds have dropped, giving us a chance to get offshore and into the action. The school holidays are over and boat ramps are a lot quieter. In the estuaries, the constant drone of all manner of watercraft has gone, allowing the fish to come out for a feed during the daytime. The pelagics have been in stronger numbers and you don’t need a big boat to get stuck into the action because often they are not too far out. Areas off Noosa including Halls Reef, out to-
Sunshine Coast by GRANT BUDD
wards North Reef, Sunshine Reef and south towards Coolum and Old Woman Island have seen these speedsters in good numbers. Keep an eye out for bird activity because you only need a few to indicate the fish are there. Also be on the lookout for bait balls breaking the surface as this is a classic sign of tuna and mackerel pushing the fish up. Be sure to take a look at the bait ball before casting as often huge bronze sharks are just below the surface and the last thing
Dan McDougall found a fantastic flathead in the shallows.
Ben Forgan landed a cracker spanish mackerel.
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you want to do is catch one. When you do spot the fish, the trick is to approach the school with stealth. If tuna are in the mix and feeding at speed, head upwind and if your boat has a noisy two-stroke motor switch it off. Tuna will feed into the wind and if they are flighty you will struggle to get close with an outboard running. Target the fish by throwing slugs of 20-40g in weight. If you can get a visual on the size of the bait, ensure you choose a slug of the same size to match the hatch. If you need extra weight, take a look at the TT Hard Core jigs. These are shorter and fatter than most other slugs, so often fit the baitfish profile perfectly. Use a graphite spin rod rated to 10-20lb and 7’ in length with 20lb braid and leader on a quality 40005000 size reel. North Reef has produced pearl perch, maori cod, mahi mahi, snapper, cobia, jewfish, tuna, mackerel and sweetlip. Sunshine Reef has given up quality coral trout, snapper, sweetlip, various tuna and mackerel. A good tip for these areas is to troll the outer edges of the reefs for a spanish or two if the reef fishing is quiet. The new Nomad DTX and Rapala X-Rap hardbodies have many great colours sure to tempt a passing fish. Don’t forget to set a few spanner crab dillies if headed to North Reef. Make sure you are in 30m-plus of water and on a flat sandy/rubble bottom. Come and grab a few pre-rigged dillies on your next visit. If heading out from Mooloolaba, the Outer Gneerings, Murphys Reef and wide Currimundi have seen good catches of snapper, grass sweetlip and moses perch. These fish have been taken mainly on floating
pilchard baits. Placing a small sinker above the hook during stronger currents is vital to ensure correct presentation. Coolum Reef has seen good numbers of spanish mackerel and snapper. The key to catching the bigger snapper and spanish is to be on the water before the sun comes up because these fish love to hunt in low light and before other boats get on the water and make noise. Most are being taken on floating pilchards and lightly weighted live baits. The Maroochy River has seen mangrove jack in great numbers, with most fish being caught in the deeper holes upriver and in and around the mouths of Petrie and Coolum creeks. The best baits besides live baits are mullet and bonito chunks on heavier 30lb-plus leader with 3/0 octopus hooks. If looking to chase quality jacks further downriver, try throwing Lucky Craft Pointers, Zerek Tango Shads and Chasebaits Rip Snorter soft vibes at the pontoons in the Maroochy Waters canals. Flathead have been hooked around the motorway bridge and the stretch past the Bli Bli Islands, with Chasebaits 4” Paddle Baits the winner in Apple Juice and Pearl Prawn colours. Everyone’s summertime favourite whiting have been taken at the Black Banks, Chambers Island and Goat Island. For the bait anglers, worms and peeled prawns are producing the bigger fish. Surface stickbaits have also claimed solid fish on 6lb line. Have a look at the smaller Bassday Sugapen, Atomic K9 Puppy Dog and Lucky Craft Gunfish. Mud crabs have been on the move, with reports of good crabs taken mostly upriver and sand crabs mainly in the lower reaches closer to the mouth. The Noosa River has seen large catches of whiting and flathead taken from the Frying Pan, dog beach, Munna Point and the river mouth. Live worms and yab-
COMPETITION
DATE
LOCATION
2019 B.A.S.S. Australia Nation Round 1 Boondooma Yellowbelly Fishing Competiton ABBT* X-Factor Teams R1 Back 2 Tanga 11
Feb 1-3 Feb 9-10
Glenbawn, NSW bassaustralia.com.au Boondooma Dam – Terry Allwood 0400 860 122
Feb 23-24 Boondooma Dam – Russell Nowland 07 4165 4286 or 07 4167 8183 Mar 2-3 Moreton Bay Game Fishing Club mbgfc.com.au B.A.S.S. Australia Mar 8-10 Somerset Dam Nation Round 2 bassaustralia.com.au ABBT* Bass Mar 23-24 Borumba Dam – Russell Nowland Round 1 07 4165 4286 or 07 4167 8183 Wyaralong Dam Carp/ Mar 23 Wyaralong Dam – Lloyd Tilapia Competition Willmann 0429 614 892 lafma.org B.A.S.S. Australia Apr 5-7 Lake St Clair, NSW Nation Round 3 bassaustralia.com.au ABBT* Bass Apr 13-14 Cania Dam – Russell Nowland Round 2 07 4165 4286 or 07 4167 8183 Moura Muddy Apr 20-21 Dawson River, Moura – Water Classic Zelma Lewis 07 4997 1932 E: m.a.f.s.g@bigpond.com Boyne Tannum May 3- 5 Gladstone – 0428 743 474 Hook Up boynetannumhookup.com.au ABBT* X-Factor May 4-5 Wuruma Dam – Russell Nowland Teams R2 07 4165 4286 or 07 4167 8183 B.A.S.S. Australia May 10-12 Boondooma Dam Nation Round 4 bassaustralia.com.au ABBT* Bass May 18-19 Boondooma Dam – Russell Nowland Round 3 07 4165 4286 or 07 4167 8183 B.A.S.S. Australia Jun 7-9 Cania Dam Nation Round 5 bassaustralia.com.au Pottsville Beach Jun 8-9 Pottsville Beach – Stephen Sports Greenback Duffield 0421 052 135 Fishing Comp lionsgreenback.com VMR Bundaberg Family Jun 28-30 Burnett Heads Fishing Classic vmrbundabergfishingclassic.com.au ABBT* X-Factor Jun 29-30 Cania Dam – Russell Nowland Teams R3 07 4165 4286 or 07 4167 8183 B.A.S.S. Australia Jul 19-21 Glenbawn, NSW Nation Round 6 bassaustralia.com.au ABBT* X-Factor Jul 27-28 Somerset Dam – Russell Nowland Teams R4 07 4165 4286 or 07 4167 8183 B.A.S.S. Australia Aug 30TBA Nation Championship Sep 1 bassaustralia.com.au *Australian Basstasstic Bass Tournament To have your competition listed in the calendar please phone (07) 3286 1833, email design@bnbfishing.com.au or fax (07) 3821 2637
☛ continued P36
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 35
Jezza – a living legend
H
I all, over the past year I’ve met so many unique characters who fit right into the Bush ‘n Beach format of fishers, hunters, campers and everything outdoors.
Not a bad-looking GT.
Jezz with a snapper the author would donate a lung for.
Some do extraordinary things for the community and some just lead extraordinary lives, but I believe all will inspire you. I revealed in the January issue I wanted to share some of their stories and I had a bit of trouble writing this first one because it is a little close to home and the bloke in question is a bloody good mate. Going back a few years, you may remember my articles specialising on fishing the Brisbane River, and many of the pictures in those stories contained my son Garrett and another young bloke who was a consistent deckie on my trips. He was in so many articles he had people recognising him as a regular in Bush ‘n Beach. Now if you asked the crew to describe Jeremy Elliott, they would probably put together a description such as “Foulmouthed, loud, bogan surfer who pushes everything to the max; fishing,
Jeremy with his best catch so far alongside wife Mary-Anne.
Classic Characters by PAUL ‘CHIEF’ GRAVESON
dirt bike riding, pig hunting, shit-stirring larrikin with a heart bigger than Phar Lap.” When it comes to the water, he’s in it, on it and under it with boats, jet skis, kayaks and surfboards, which makes him a true waterman in every sense. You might be thinking, ‘Hang on, I know someone like that’, but what makes Jezza different is he battles cystic fibrosis every day of his life. It wasn’t too long ago that cystic fibrosis sufferers rarely made it beyond 10 years of age, but medical advances have greatly increased the life expectancy of individuals. Unfortunately, there is still no cure. I’ve been camping with Jeremy and experienced his persistent cough as he tries to keep his airways open just to breathe and I’ve visited him in hospital when the congestion got to the point he needed medical intervention, and even then he was planning our next fishing trip to coincide with his release date. Jeremy has been blessed with wonderful parents Garry and Linda and he is one of six children. Sometimes life deals the worst hands and Jeremy and younger sister Stephanie both inherited the cystic fibrosis gene. Sadly, Stephanie’s life ended at 20 but I have a fond memory of her lure fishing with us in the Brisbane River. She also graced the pages of Bush ‘n Beach and brought a bit of beauty to one of my old river articles. Jeremy’s love of the ocean and surfing has been an important factor in maintaining his quality of life because exercise helps to open his lungs.
I can quote him saying, “Chief, surfing keeps me alive.” His fishing exploits are as diverse as the man himself and I’ve seen him as happy lure casting for many of our estuarine species as he is chasing bluewater marlin. He has taken his fishing and surfing to overseas locations such as Indonesia and stretched his arms on many different species. I spoke to his dad Garry at a barbecue once and he just couldn’t believe how much this young man has done with his life, and I can add he does it all extremely well. The saying “Go hard or go home” has never been so fitting for a person. On many occasions Jeremy and I have taken novices out to give them the confidence to use lures and succeed in targeting fish. Often I’d watch him hand over his rod, reel and lures, trying to give the fisho the best chance of success. He thrives on watching others light up as they’re smashed by good fish. His enthusiasm for life is infectious and his thirst for knowledge of the outdoors is beyond compare. I believe good-hearted people deserve greatness in their lives and I was lucky enough to travel to Yeppoon to watch Jeremy marry his beautiful wife Mary-Anne. It takes a special girl to
keep up with this rooster, but I can tell you I’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with this little lady in the pouring rain in a howling 30-knot wind where just trying to stand up in the boat was a task, let alone fish. And believe me, when we decided to pull the pin, she wasn’t ready to throw in the towel. These two now have two youngsters Chad and Zoe and Dad regularly has them fishing, in the boat, surfing and riding motorbikes and generally living life to the fullest. If only you could see three-year-old Chad riding down the concrete on a skateboard as his father holds a garden hose delivering an arc of water over his head yelling: “Mate, you’re in the barrel!” I spoke to Jezz the other night and said I wanted to write an article on him and would it be OK if I shared what makes him such a character. He replied: “Chief I’m not ashamed of having cystic fibrosis but let’s see if we can create a bit of awareness for the disease.”
One thing we both agreed on was the importance of having ‘organ donor’ ticked on everyone’s driver’s licence. However, I wish to bring to your attention the fact that a lot of people tend to tick this and don’t let their closest family know their intentions. When preforming a transplant, time is of the essence and if time is lost over family indecision, a chance for another to live may be jeopardised. Let all your family know your wishes, and who knows you may just help another family like the Elliotts. Jezza is just one of the unknown heroes who quietly goes about life overcoming major setbacks and taking every day in their stride, never whining but sometimes offering tactful advice such as: “Harden up princess” or “You better go home and iron your party dress.” He is your essential Australian outdoors larrikin and all our fishing mates and I love him. Keep on fighting, champ. Cheers, Chief.
Always smiling when on the water.
Jezza’s passion, which just so happens to keep him alive.
Fabulous February on Sunshine Coast ☛ from P35
Dad showed Zoe and Chad the secrets of fishing.
Page 36 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
bies have been the choice baits for the whiting, with the flatties loving fresh mullet and bigger prawns. For lure anglers, try throwing the Zip Baits Skinny Pop Junior, which replicates a skipping prawn when twitched back with a constant retrieve. The Woods Bays have been holding a mix of trevally, bream and bigger flathead towards the intersection of the main river channel. If you like to chase the larger river species, hit the stretch of water from Noosa Marina to the mouth of Lake Cootharaba because this is where the mangrove
jack and jewfish have been taken. Make sure you’re very quiet and limit your bow wake. This is where using an electric motor for casting lures and live baits toward the snags is a must. Lake Weyba has produced good catches of bream, whiting and flathead. If headed upriver, be sure to throw in a few crab pots along the mangrove edges and drains because great crabs are being caught there. On the beaches, the strip between Peregian and Pincushion Island has held good size whiting and dart, mainly on the run-in tide. Top baits have been worms and pipis, with
the dart, bream and trevally also taking small soft plastics cast into the surf. Yaroomba and Noosa National Park headlands have produced quality squire and sweetlip on mullet and squid cocktail. Teewah Beach has been fishing well for whiting, bream and dart on pipis and beach worms, with the odd snub-nosed dart and jew popping up. The start of the year has seen good flathead caught in the surf on whole fish baits rigged with two 3/0 octopus hooks. Make sure you place red tube between the hooks to reduce breakoffs.
The occasional big jewfish has turned up at night on the last of the run-in tide. These fish have been taking well-presented flesh baits of mullet and tailor. If you are keen to try slide baiting, pop in and check out the rigs required to get out beyond the breakers. Don’t forget to visit fishingnoosa.com.au for all the latest up-to-date info on fishing and bar crossings. The knowledgeable teams at Davo’s Tackle World Noosa and Davo’s Northshore Bait & Tackle at Marcoola can provide you with the right equipment, bait and advice to ensure success! www.bnbfishing.com. au
A fisho’s dream
Fraser Island Fishing Units IN DIAN HEAD For bookings or inquiries contact:
Cliff Andreassen 07 5449 9346 or 0428 712 283 bearfish@bigpond.com www.fraserislandfishingunits.com.au
Christina and hubby Max held a solid longtail tuna.
Danni with a cracking golden trevally hooked on a rare flat December day.
Playing with Hervey Bay pelagics A ND the breeze continues!
At least its direction is steady and I have been able to hide from the easterly behind Fraser Island. The surface feeding fishing action is steady, but it can be tough work given the windy conditions. Spotties and mack tuna have been bashing the bait consistently. However, they have been holding out wider, which can make things a bit tricky considering the wind strengths we have to contend with day in and day out. I would have expected the bait to push into the wind and closer to the western banks of Fraser Island. Spotties and tuna have been taken on Z-Man plastics and small metal lures. Tuna are generally fussier than mackerel. Make sure you employ speedy retrieves and have enough grunt in the tackle to succeed in landing the tuna. Also, remember mackerel are fragile animals. If you nearly have your
Fraser Guided Fishing by TRI TON
bag limit, make sure you switch to single-hook lures. One hook means you reduce damage to mackerel gills and jawbones, and you make it easier to upend the fish with a dehooking tool for a waterline release. This means no frantic mackerel in the boat, bashing themselves into oblivion. I go as far as keeping only the fish I deem unfit for release. On the topic of release, spearing fish back into the water is something I wish to touch on. This is particularly important for tuna and mackerel. I believe it’s not the power of the spearing that’s important, rather the action of the water rushing through the fish’s gills. Remember, fish breathe the dissolved oxygen in the water, not the air bubbles created by the turbulence of a powerful water entry. A smooth entry is ideal.
Thomas visited from Denmark for Christmas and was rewarded with a thumping trevor.
Often in an attempt to power the fish into the depths anglers can turn the tail and therefore send the fish flailing along the surface. I find holding the fish head down and perpendicular to the waterline and simply letting go is sufficient to produce a smooth headfirst entry. If sharks are present it’s a bit more difficult, but a gentle torpedo angled slightly away from the boat will get the fish swimming away from the big boys under the boat. Of course, this is pointless if you haven’t been responsible by not quickly landing the fish on appropriate tackle. Any time the fish is easily released without excess handling is highly encouraged, which is another reason for one-hook lures and a dehooking tool. Dehookers are basically a metal rod with a U-bend at the action end. They are cheap tools and extremely effective for a waterline release. I prefer them to pliers. One thing a number of us have noticed of late is the presence of flying fish. We haven’t had them in such numbers for a few seasons. Usually arriving in the warmer months, it’s great to see shoals of them gliding about. Their airborne fleeing often indicates the presence of predators, but you may not find many flying fish expelled by mackerel and tuna. Other baitfish are more
likely to be eaten because less effort is involved in chasing them down. Often the presence of flying fish will mean skipping surface lures can be very effective. I remember many years ago I found a school of longtail tuna launching metres into the air and eating flying fish, both subsurface and mid-air. On that day we didn’t have surface lures available and the fish didn’t eat the plastics. What we did have were broad and flat metal lures that stayed on the surface when spun fast. Fortunately they also matched the bait profile. The surface strikes were incredible as the tuna crunched the skipping presentations on the smooth surface. Even if the fish had gone down deep, a cast over the general area often got a fish to rise in the hope of an easy meal. One thing to keep in mind when surface fishing is the rod must be heavy enough to cast the lures and also help set the hook. Sometimes the fish will keep swimming towards you after the strike, with the bulky lure lodged in the mouth but not necessarily hooked in. Maintaining tension (by winding the reel) is of extreme importance if you want the hooks to find a solid place to set. That’s where people often go wrong, as a take
> Hervey Bay > Fraser Island > Sandy Strait
does not equal a hook-up. You must hook the fish, especially if the lure is bulky or has multiple hook points. Most pelagics have hard mouths without the membrane as encountered with the likes of barra and flathead. A smooth and powerful technique will get you connected.
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Linda went a bit overboard with the zinc but that didn’t stop her getting her first giant herring.
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www.fraserguidedfishing.com.au > 0427 230 261 Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 37
Two new ramps at Sandy Hook (fresh water).
Brodie caught this 46cm barred grunter at the mouth of Baffle Creek using fresh yabbies for bait.
Scott with an epic 102cm flathead. A nice fish landed after a great fight.
Launching in Bundaberg W
ITH the Christmas/New Year celebrations now behind us, it is time to start planning your Easter escape.
My awareness to plan for Easter was aroused after seeing hot cross buns for sale in my local supermarket and then calculating the actual number of weekends until the Easter long weekend. It is time to start planning because the weeks will evaporate quickly! Over the next couple of editions I will outline some information I believe will be useful for those anglers planning a trip to the Bundaberg region over the Easter long weekend. For many anglers bringing their families away for an Easter getaway, part of the ensemble that comes along includes the family boat, be it a smaller tinnie, a centre/side console, half cabin or offshore boat. Bundaberg has a great selection of boat ramps. I have included photos of each because a pic-
Burnett Heads boat ramp.
Fairymead boat ramp.
Bundaberg City (town reach) boat ramp.
Page 38 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
Sandy Hook boat ramp (fresh water).
Bundaberg Region by BRAD YOUNG
ture is worth a thousand words. You have six launching options in the Burnett River providing access to the freshwater section (above the Burnett River Barrage), the upper tidal reaches, mid-river and mouth/open water. Sandy Hook (via Branyan Drive) Sandy Hook is a popular ski area as well as a base for anglers wanting to try their hand at catching freshwater species. Three ramps service Sandy Hook, each consisting of two lanes. You can find large areas of trailer parking available and a public toilet block. The two newer ramps are very gradual in slope and the original ramp is a little steeper. Large grassed areas adjacent to the ramps make popular places for family barbecues while enjoying skiing, kayaking and fishing. Town reach The ramp in the town reach is multi-lane and provides access to the upper reaches of the Burnett River. It is located underneath the old traffic bridge and has a large trailer parking area. Public toilets are nearby. This ramp is suitable for all vessels, though the lack of a small area of sand or pontoon makes it a challenge for larger vessels. The area can be impacted by the tidal stream across the ramp, especially around the periods of the full and new moons when the tidal range is at its greatest. This ramp is ideally suited to anglers wishing to fish/prawn the river upstream of the ramp as well as areas downstream to the mouth. It is not ideal for vessels more than 5m in length. Kalkie (Mcgills Rd) This is a relatively new ramp. The Kalkie ramp provides access to the midsections of the Burnett River and is most often used by anglers wishing to fish/crab the river between the rum distillery and the Strathdees reach of the river. This ramp has two lanes and is lit at night but has no public toilets.
It is also relatively steep (with a 1:12 gradient) and no pontoon or sandy section of beach to land upon. Trailer parking is relatively limited. The tidal stream can affect this ramp, especially on an incoming tide around the full/new moons when tidal range is at its greatest. It is best suited to tinnies and is not ideal for vessels over 5m. Fairymead (Fairymead Rd) The provision of the Kalkie and Fairymead launching ramps significantly opened up access to the mid-sections of the Burnett River, with the Fairymead Ramp a longawaited improvement for anglers living on the northside of the river. Previously their only launching point was the main town reach boat ramp. This ramp is fairly steep (1:12 gradient once again) and is located on a deep bend in the river. A bitumen trailer parking area and lighting are provided, though no public toilets are available. The flow of the tidal stream has a significant impact upon this ramp. There is no significant sand area or pontoon to land upon and it is best suited to tinnies. Yet again, not ideal for vessels over 5m.
Strathdees (Strathdees Rd) This ramp is located in a popular area of the river called Strathdees. The popularity of Strathdees is due to this area usually offering quite a bit of shelter from most breezes. It is also a popular area for crabbing. The Strathdees stretch provides access to a range of fishing opportunities including Rubyanna Creek and yabby banks. The ramp consists of two lanes and a dirt/grassed trailer parking area but no public toilets and the area is not lit. There is no sand or pontoon to land upon. Best suited to tinnies and not ideal for vessels longer than 5m. Burnett River mouth (off Harbour Esp) This boat ramp is situated in the small harbour just inside the mouth of the Burnett River. The ramp consists of four lanes and is not as steep as the Kalkie and Fairymead ramps. A small sand area is accessible from around half tide and a pontoon is located next to the ramp. A large bitumen trailer park area and lighting are provided, as is a public toilet block. This ramp is suitable for all vessels and provides a sheltered launching point free from the effects of tidal stream. Launching here provides access to the lower reach-
es of the Burnett River and deep water access to the open ocean. This ramp provides the best launching point for larger vessels. I hope this information is useful for both local anglers who may not have tried one of the newer launching ramps and those anglers who may be planning a trip to the Bundaberg area. Local fishing Unfortunately the wind has continued to restrict opportunities for anglers to head offshore. Hopefully we will see a break in the weather before next month. Some nice spanish mackerel should be waiting! The Burnett River has been fishing well, with catches of bream, whiting and flathead. Best baits include prawns and yabbies as well as mullet flesh baits. A few crabs have been around but not in large numbers. Baffle Creek has been fishing OK, with some nice grunter being taken. Muddies are coming from the Elliott River but not in big numbers. The Kolan River has produced nice mangrove jack around the rock bars on flesh baits. As always, I can be contacted via the Bush ‘n Beach website, by email at fishnboat@bigpond.com or post a PO Box 5812 Bundaberg West Queensland 4670. Until next month…
Kalkie boat ramp.
Strathdees boat ramp.
www.bnbfishing.com. au
Family vacation to Vanuatu
L
ATE last year we took a short holiday to Vanuatu.
This was not a fishing holiday and while Vanuatu is renowned worldwide as a tropical sportfishing destination, I didn’t pack one piece of fishing equipment. This was a family holiday to a resort and even though Tina brought up the idea of including some fishing, I said I was more than happy doing the family thing. Upon arrival at the resort, we discovered a daily activities board of different sports and craft options the resort offered free of charge. It didn’t skip my notice that Tuesday afternoon had some fishing scheduled and the meeting place was the jetty. I told Tina if we were around I would wander down and see what they were up to, and come Tuesday afternoon I did just that. I wasn’t expecting much and just as well because the local lads employed by
Overseas Escape by GAVIN DOBSON
the resort were surprised when a couple of people actually turned up for the activity. They emerged from the bungalow with two very small handlines and two hooks and took us out to the end of the jetty with a couple of dry slices of bread. Pretty soon they had a big school of baitfish berleyed up and we all had a go at hooking a few. The fish turned out to be some sort of hardyhead that the locals called sardines or big heads. Putting the same small hook through the back of the hardyhead, they flicked it out into the current and told us to wait for maybe a trevally or long-tom. I could see by the local boys’ body language they didn’t expect a fish to come along and were a bit surprised when a longtom eventually took a bait,
Even garfish proved to be a lot of fun off the jetty.
The bait, the long-toms and the you-beaut handcasting, bait-holding reel.
Travelling light for a canoe trip proved easy, with everything needed to catch fish in and on a drink bottle.
www.bnbfishing.com. au
jumped around for a bit and spat the bait. That was the only bite for the afternoon and the other couple of tourists who had come down wandered away, knowing they were wasting their time. Enjoying the balmy afternoon and beautiful view, I stuck around and chatted to the local lads. We talked about a lot of different things including the fact I had lived in Vanuatu for a short time when I was 11 years old on the island of Epi. While there I fished off the beach every day using hermit crabs for bait and caught small reef fish on my handline. One day one of the locals speared a hardyhead and I put it on the handline and caught a long-tom. Upon hearing this, the boys from the resort asked if I wanted to catch another long-tom and I said yes. Come back early in the morning they said, as long-toms bite best in the morning. I didn’t get up too early and at about 7am I wandered down the jetty telling Tina I would meet her at the restaurant for brekky at about eight. The boys were there and said I was too late because the wind had picked up and long-toms don’t bite in the wind. With an hour to kill, I was just happy being in the tropics and enjoying the view but I still borrowed their handline and lobbed out a freshly caught hardyhead. Immediately a long-tom grabbed it and I gave it plenty of slack line so it could swallow the bait, but after jumping around for a bit it spat the hook. More determined now, I fished harder and had the long-toms mouthing the baits but they wouldn’t commit. It wasn’t until I saw Tina walking towards the restaurant that I actually stuck the hooks in one and got it on the jetty. You’d swear I had just set a world record or something because I was chuffed. Doing the family thing for the rest of the day, I said to Tina I might get up early the next morning and have another go. She didn’t mind at all, so I got up at 5am and hooked a long-tom immediately before the wind came in quite strongly. It took me until our 8am breakfast to get another one and in doing so I lost the hooks off both handlines to moray eels, and just like that the resort had no more hooks. Wandering around Port Vila that day, I ducked into the tackle shop and for the handsome price of about seven Aussie dollars I bought 20m of 10lb line and 20 hooks. At the grocery store I bought a drink in a bottle
I chose for its shape more than flavour. That night while Tina was watching Home and Away in the resort room, I spooled up my new reel (aka drink bottle) and tied a hook on ready for battle the next morning. The local lads and I were becoming pretty good mates by now and they joined me on the end of the jetty. We caught a handful of long-toms and had a heap of laughs while telling stories, and let me tell you, I was as happy as Larry. As the week progressed, we met every morning and I spruiked about how good my drink bottle fishing reel was because not only did it cast quite well, it also doubled as a bait carrier, and if you filled it with water it didn’t blow off the jetty in the wind. On the last morning, even more resort staff turned up to laugh at the white fella on the end of the jetty, catch some fish with me, teach me a few tricks and tell a few more yarns. We had a blast that last morning. A school of garfish turned up in what was a very decent berley trail due to the fact I left the restaurant the evening before with all my pockets stuffed with slices of bread. We caught a bunch of gar along with some longtom and happy moments and a very pretty triggerfish. The boys actually took home a very good feed of fish. Not before some sad goodbyes, I might add, as we had become good friends.
I had started to remember some of their Bislama (local pidgin-type language) from when I was a kid, so their jokes at my expense weren’t working so well, which somehow only made things funnier. Tina even had fun joining in with them and making fun of my hand lining ability, or lack thereof. What wasn’t going to be a fishing holiday turned into an every morning event but we were finished by breakfast each morning and it didn’t cut into our family activities. Vanuatu is a fun destination and Melanesian people are a fantastic bunch. Have a look at my photos and you’ll see there’s no monster wahoo, dogtooth tuna, mahi mahi, GTs or marlin. I honestly don’t know if I could have had more fun on a game boat than I did on that jetty with those blokes, just as I did as an 11-year-old catching the same sort of fish with my little mate Phil on the island of Epi.
A magnificently coloured triggerfish.
An 11-year-old author and Phil with a piece each of a long-tom in Vanuatu.
The author and locals called them long-tom but a more correct ID may be needlefish, and with teeth like these you can see why.
Lucrative start to 2019 after Darwin fisho reels in $10,000 barramundi
A
DARWIN fisho is celebrating a bit of late festive cheer after reeling in a tagged $10,000 barra from the barrage at Shady Camp.
Travis Stevens caught the highly sought-after barra while fishing with a mate during his week off from work. “This is an awesome start to the year,” Travis said. “It will definitely help cover any leftover Christmas bills. “I’m a born and bred Territorian and have entered the comp every year since it started. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw the tag.” Travis said things went from very calm to a bit frantic and nervewracking when he realised it might have been the Million Dollar Fish. “I work on a remote NT mine with a heap of guys from Queensland who are always talking about wanting to catch a tagged fish,” he said.
“A number of guys have actually come up to the Top End solely to go fishing to try to get the big one. “I can’t wait to tell them! “I’m going to share the money with my mate and I’ll probably spend most of the rest on fixing up the boat, beers and more fishing.” Department of Tourism and Culture Executive General Manager Marketing Tony Quarmby encouraged fishos to get out fishing for season four of the Million Dollar Fish. “After a dry start to the wet season, a small amount of rain has the fish biting again, so get out there and try your luck,” Mr Quarmby said. “With three months remaining, five $1 million fish, 97 of the $10,000 fish and 19 of the purple-tagged $5000 charity fish still out there, there’s never been a better time to get out and
wet your lines.” BetEasy Strategic Partnership Manager Brad Fanning said there were more chances than ever to reel in a winner. “We have released tagged barra right across the Top End, with the charity fish all in really accessible locations,” Mr Fanning said. “We want you to catch them! “Congratulations to Mr Stevens for his catch. “He’s had a great start to the New Year. “With so many tagged fish still remaining, now is the perfect time to
book a trip to the Top End.” For information on Territory fishing regulations and best practice catch and release methods, download the free Northern Territory Fishing Mate app on your smartphone. Season four of the Million Dollar Fish competition commenced on October 1, 2018. Those looking to come to the Territory and catch a Million Dollar Fish can register for free at milliondollarfish.com.au and book a holiday to the Territory today.
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 39
BOATING & marine Mercury Marine to celebrate its 80th anniversary in 2019
M
E RC U RY Marine will celebrate its 80th anniversary throughout 2019 with events around the world, reflecting on its strong heritage of innovation and leadership in the marine industry. On January 22, 1939, E. Carl Kiekhaefer bought a bankrupt engine manufacturing plant in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. Now, 80 years later, the business that emerged from those modest beginnings – Mercury Marine – is a company with 7000 employees across the globe and heralded as the world’s leading
manufacturer of marine propulsion systems, as well as marine parts and accessories. Mercury Marine president John Pfeifer said, “Eighty years ago, Carl Kiekhaefer had a vision for Mercury and that was based around product innovation and technology – and it’s that vision that built the foundation for us to continue to innovate today.” “Mercury has come a long way over the past eight decades because of the hard work and dedication of everyone who has been a part of our journey. “While the past 80 years have been fantastic, we are looking forward to continued growth over the next 80 years and celebrating throughout 2019 with everyone that has made our success possible.” Mercury, a division of Brunswick Corporation, has invested more
Page 40 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
than $A1.4 billion globally since 2008 into the expansion of research, development and manufacturing capabilities. In 2018, Mercury successfully launched its largest engine platform in its 80-year history with 19 new FourStroke outboard engines covering the 175-300hp range in both V6 and V8 configurations. Mercury will celebrate its 80th anniversary throughout the year and showcase some of its strong heritage during the 2019 boat show season. “We have a lot to be thankful for and a lot to celebrate,” Mr Pfeifer said. “I’m looking forward to sharing those celebrations around the world, as 2019 will be yet another exciting year with more innovations to introduce.” www.mercurymarine. com.au
Stacer 529 Assault Pro Tournament
A
TRUE fishing machine, the 529 Assault Pro Tournament is equipped to not just enter fishing competitions, but to win.
It’s packed with features that just make sense for fishing. Summer is in full swing, dealers are exploding with stock and it is Australia’s favourite time of year to get out on the water. The front and rear carpeted casting areas have enough space for multiple mates to fish from all angles. They are extremely versatile. Fishos can land lures
exactly where they want with the 529 Assault Pro Tournament. Rigged standard with useful accessories, the 529 Assault Pro Tournament comes fitted with a thruster plate bow mount ready to be fitted with the latest electric trolling engine. Fishers with a large quiver will be able to easily store and organise their rods in the centre underfloor storage compartment. Equipped with the Revolution Hull, Stacer’s latest technology is an innovative design that other boat builders drool over.
The pressed hull increases strength by 50 percent and the stretchformed shape creates an extremely smooth ride that only Stacer customers get to experience. This in combination with a raised chine keeps you and your fellow navigators safe in rough conditions and following seas. All Stacer boats are Ready 2 Go to the water and are the simplest turnkey packages. Keeping you on the water is Stacer’s five-year warranty, a guarantee that you will be safely boating for years to come.
Stacer Boats National Sales Manager Cameron Wood said, “When you are out with the mates and the bite is on, the 529 Assault Pro Tournament is the best, most versatile choice to get to the best fishing spot.” “Armed with a 150hp outboard, the 529 Assault Pro Tournament will the front runner of every fishing situation.” For more information on the 529 Assault Pro or the entire Stacer range, visit your local Stacer dealer or stacer.com.au Stacer, it’s a revolutionary ride.
www.bnbfishing.com. au
BOATING & marine
Stealth fishing success W
HEN it comes to lure fishing, I believe topwater luring is the most exciting method. Belting out a lure as far as you can over a shallow bank or the edge of a spotted mackerel school in Moreton Bay and then working it back to the boat as you wait for that explosion of water… it gets the heart pumping and adrenalin racing just thinking about it! It doesn’t seem to matter
Boating Banter by BEN COLLINS
what fish you target, with everything from tuna to bream getting the heart rate up. I guess it is that visual aspect of watching your lure or sight casting to individual fish that mixes an angler’s experience with a fish’s animal instinct for an explosive result. Successful topwater lure
fishing depends on factors such as the right rod, reel, line and lure but another important consideration, especially in shallow water, is stealth. Sound travels very well over and through water, and if you are chasing big lizards or bream on the flats you want to be able to sneak up on your
Even in sloppy conditions the Polycraft is very quiet.
targets without spooking them. When stealth fishing you’ll want to consider limiting the noise emitted by your motor and your boat. An electric motor is a vital piece of equipment if you are planning on this type of fishing, and it is great to see an increasing number of boats fitted with them these days. Being able to manoeuvre around in relative silence provides a big advantage and will allow you to get more casts at fish, which will ultimately result in more hook-ups and captures. The latest electric motors allow you to spot lock or even plot a line of travel and some even self-deploy and anchor the boat. You can use a hand controller but I much prefer a foot pedal because it frees up both hands for casting and fighting fish. A boat that is quiet on the water is another advantage when topwater lure fishing, and this is where a Polycraft is the
perfect choice. I’m sure you are aware Polycrafts are made of plastic, but what you may not know is they are very quiet vessels and don’t have the traditional tinnie slap of aluminium boats. I’m not 100 percent sure why they are so quiet but it is probably due to the fact they have a thick outer skin as well as an air chamber and an inner skin, all of which absorbs and dissipates sound and ☛ continued P42
George Mole sight cast this flathead in shallow water.
The ‘dual skins’ of a Polycraft hull provide a stealthy advantage.
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 41
BOATING & marine
Leading boat builder farewells co-founder
T
ELWATER cofounder Bruce Shepherd passed away at 75 years old in December 2018.
Bruce spent 30 years as the co-owner of Telwater, manufacturer of Australia’s leading aluminum boat brands Quintrex, Stacer and Savage boats. Bruce will be deeply missed by Telwater’s staff, dealers and associates who have always valued his hard work, leadership and friendship. The iconic Quintrex
Bruce Shepherd and Paul Phelan.
brand was purchased in 1987 by Bruce and his business partner Paul Phelan. Growth was quick with its first major expansion in the ‘90s followed by the acquisition of Stacer in 1999, which sparked the creation of Telwater Holding Company. Telwater’s production expanded year over year to keep up with high demand for its premium boats, especially after the 2008 acquisition of Australia’s oldest boat brand,
Savage Boats. With an eye for opportunity, Bruce and Paul solidified their strategic partnership with BRP Inc. when Telwater was appointed the official distributor of Evinrude outboards across Australia in 2016. Open communication with staff and the entire dealer network was extremely important to Bruce – he believed in empowering people to share knowledge and take pride in their opin-
ions, which greatly contributed to the success of the organisation. Current owner and managing director Paul Phelan said over the past 30 years Bruce was more than a business partner to him – he was a mentor and most importantly, a great friend. “It is with great sadness
we say goodbye, but he will not be forgotten,” Paul said. Bruce was the dearly beloved husband of Sue, a much-loved father, grandfather, brother and uncle. With his family going through a difficult time, the Telwater team sends their thoughts and prayers.
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While we only managed a couple of fish using this technique during the 2018 Gold Coast Flathead Classic, doing so added a few extra points to the tally, which is always a bonus during a competition. And as I mentioned earlier, it is an exhilarating form of fishing. It doesn’t get much better than spotting a large lizard on a shallow bank, slowly and quietly getting into position to launch the perfect cast and then seeing an explosion as the fish smashes the lure. I recommend everyone give it a go.
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provides some flex when travelling over the water. While my Polycraft is not fully foam filled, some foam is fitted in the bow section of the hull, which also acts as a noise dampener under my main casting platform. Either way, having a quiet and manoeuvrable fishing platform definitely lets you find more fish in the shallows when stealth fishing. This is perfect for the current trend of throwing large plastics or lures right up in the shallows in search of big flathead.
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Page 42 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
Big 80cm-plus flathead are intelligent fish and employing stealthy tactics will aid your chances of catching one.
www.bnbfishing.com. au
BOATING & marine Insights into boat insurance
B
USH ‘n Beach has brought Nautilus Marine Insurance on board to expand the fine print and provide readers with clear, easyto-understand and helpful tips on protecting their boating assets. The scenario Years ago you could take out a cover note when buying a new boat – it was a service you could organise over the telephone and it gave you insurance cover for about a week. Long enough to let you get the boat home, organise the paperwork and secure coverage for the remainder of the year. But things have changed. With the advent and convenience of mobile phones, the web and online applications, pay by the month or annually, the cover note is now an historical artefact of financial transactions. What does this mean to the boat buyer? Irrespective of whether you buy a new or pre-
owned boat and irrespective of whether you bought it from a private seller, an auction house or a licensed boat dealer, you become responsible for that boat the minute you become the owner. It therefore is essential you arrange insurance cover for it immediately and your first place to start is with a specialist marine insurer like Nautilus Marine. The reason? If you have an existing boat policy, but no longer own that boat, Nautilus Marine will give you 21 days to update them about the details of your new boat and will provide coverage in the interim. If you did not own a boat before or if the policy has expired, you can arrange new cover immediately online 24 hours a day, or by phone from 7.30am to 7pm. Nautilus advises that some people get caught out thinking an insurance policy covering the boat taken out by the pre-
vious owner will cover that vessel now that it is with you, the new owner, until you change details over. Not correct. Any cover held by the person who sold you the boat will terminate at the point you become the new owner. With the capacity to take out insurance 24 hours a day (provided you have internet access), there’s no reason whatsoever to drive off with your new boat behind your car without it being covered by insurance. And also remember, your car insurance will not cover the replacement of your boat if you become involved in an accident on the way home from the seller’s place. Nautilus Marine advises it is a good strategy to telephone before finalising arrangements to buy the boat. That way you can confirm the boat is one the insurer will cover under its policies and there is
nothing precluding you from becoming an insured party. It’s also a good idea to check the Personal Property Securities Register to see whether there are any outstanding debts or encumbrances on the boat you are considering buying. The register is run by the Australian Government’s Australian Financial Security Authority. Its database will show if there is debt registered on the PPSR for the vessel. Why is that important? Well if the seller is leasing or buying the boat under some financial arrangement when you purchase it, there is a very real chance a finance company listed on the PPSR can take the boat away from you if the seller fails to complete his or her contractual obligations. You currently can undertake a PPSR search online for $2 or have a service centre conduct
the search for you at a cost of $7. You will need to provide the hull identification number. Two key points to note: the PPSR will not show whether the outboard motor is under a finance arrangement – you need to undertake a search by ‘individual grantor’. Nor will the PPSR confirm whether or not the vessel has been stolen. The process for checking the register is ex-
Win a Nautilus Prize Package Nautilus will also be answering your boat insurance questions of a general nature and will be offering a great bimonthly prize to the best questions received. The prize is a Nautilus Marine merchandising pack comprising a collapsible chiller bag, a handy marine sports bag and a cap. Just email your questions to qld@nautilusin surance.com.au
plained online – just search for PPSR. Special conditions and excesses should always be explained clearly in your insurance policy’s product disclosure document. Always check your PDD and if you have a query, ask for clarification. If you need further information, you can contact Nautilus Marine Insurance on 1300 780 533 for any boat insurance requirements.
Any advice contained in this article is of a general nature only and may not apply or be right for you as it does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any advice provided in this article, you should consider the appropriateness of the advice having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs.
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 43
K AYAKING & canoeing
Solar-powered canoeing H OW often in life can you say you get something for nothing?
A 14’ canoe motoring on Wivenhoe Dam.
A 15’ canoe under power without an outrigger.
An 11’ canoe set up with outrigger and motor.
CLASSIC AUSTRALIAN-MADE CANOES
Canoes | Repairs | Hires 0424 001 646 | onetreecanoe.com Page 44 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
There aren’t many places you can go or many things you can do that won’t cost you something. In fact, I used to think the only way I could move my canoe from A to B without any cost except the sweat off my brow was with a paddle. Turns out I was wrong, thanks to free power from the sun and a trusty electric outboard! While electric drives on canoes and kayaks have been around for quite a long time, they have traditionally suffered from short battery life, requiring large-capacity and very heavy batteries to cover any reasonable distance. Typically, a 100Ah battery (weighing 30kg-plus) when paired with a 40lbthrust motor may have pushed your canoe for 1015km if you were careful. While this was OK, it did somewhat limit your day on the water. Similarly, solar power is no new thing. However, recent innovations in the engineering of solar cell performance and control of the power they generate has meant modern panels are lighter, more efficient and more robust than ever before. The power output from a moderately sized (1sq m) panel is enough to recharge an average-sized (50-80Ah) battery in a day. Meaning that in theory the same canoe and motor configuration we discussed above, if fitted with a solar panel and allowed to charge for a short period in the middle of the day, could do almost twice the distance with a much smaller battery. That’s a lot less sweat off your brow and certainly worth some investigation! Just how much sweat will my brow be losing though? Being the dedicated man of science I am, I decided we needed more facts regarding the performance of electric and solarpowered canoes and so set about rigorous testing over the recent Christmas break. We came up with some very interesting results. Before I go into detail, I’ll start with a brief overview of what we hoped to achieve and how we set about doing it. We felt that to make an electric outboard a viable proposition on a canoe it needed to achieve two criteria.
Canoeing
by DAN OWBRIDGE
It needed to have a run time that would provide a reasonable day on the water and it needed to be light and compact enough to not interfere with the day’s activities. It also had to be cost effective, otherwise why not just get a tinnie!? The setup we envisioned to make this work was a canoe and outrigger fitted with a 40lb thrust electric motor, 1sq m flexi solar panel and 55Ah gel battery. Our thinking was this combination would be light weight, easy to attach to a variety of different craft and provide a good compromise between run time and overall system cost. As the power output for solar cells was already known and well documented, we focused our attention on determining what battery power would be drawn for different canoe sizes and configurations. We tested a range of canoes from 11’ to 16’, with and without outriggers and at a range of motoring speeds. To ensure we achieved maximum possible speed from the canoes being tested, we used a 60lbthrust motor and 100Ah battery. Our theory being, once we worked out power draw for a canoe configuration, we could then work backwards to determine what size motor would best suit. Testing was then a simple matter of motoring a canoe over a set route through the range of speed settings on the motor. At the end of each run a reading would be recorded for average speed, battery voltage and current drawn.
From this we were able to plot power versus speed, determine battery life and the theoretical distance that configuration could travel. The testing was done at Logan day use area on Wivenhoe Dam on a very still, and very hot, Boxing Day (after all, the Aussies were getting annihilated in the cricket) in an area unaffected by wind or current. Here’s some of the interesting things we discovered along the way. Size of canoe had very little effect on speed achieved and power drawn. The longer canoes went a little faster and drew a little more power, but not that much. Using an outrigger made very little change to speed or power. Extra weight in the boat made little change to speed or power. Again, as expected, more weight meant more power drawn, but not that much. The thing that had the greatest effect on speed was depth and trim of the outboard. We found that setting the motor height as close to the surface as practical gave the best speed results. The outboard shaft is the biggest drag on the system and spending a bit of time optimising the height will have a dramatic effect on travel distance for your canoe. I also suspect modifying the shaft to be more streamlined would have a significant effect as well. So, our results in a nutshell. Average top speed for a canoe between 11’ and 16’ is about 7.5km/h. At this speed you could
expect to travel about 13km on a 100Ah battery (using 60 percent battery power). If you want maximum distance, reduce the speed to 4km/h and you’ll get closer to 20km. Slow and steady definitely wins the race. The slower you go, the further you are able to travel, which is great news for trolling fishers and people without small children who don’t need to travel quickly to reach the next toilet break. The max power drawn in most cases was less than 430W (36A), which means a 40lb motor would be a suitable choice for all but a very heavily laden canoe. Please note: we based all our distance calculations on only using 60 percent of battery power (60 percent depth of discharge). It is possible to go to 80 percent, however a corresponding reduction in battery cycles (number of recharges) could be expected. If you’re not concerned about battery life (you don’t use the battery that often, for instance), then dropping to 80 percent DOD sometimes would be OK. More expensive lithiumion batteries are able to drop to 90 percent DOD and would be worth considering for regular longdistance motoring. So back to our original idea of solar-powered canoeing, what could a day on the water look like with a solar/battery combination? Here’s an example case study using a 14’ canoe fitted with an outrigger, 40lb-thrust motor and 55Ah gel battery with 250W solar panel. Our party leaves at 9.30am and motors out on the lake to their favourite swimming spot. If we have a 100Ah bat☛ continued P45
Battery power use over time for the author’s case study.
www.bnbfishing.com. au
K AYAKING & canoeing
A surprising capture that shows how versatile surface fishing can be.
Leeah Bahr with a solid popper-caught yellowfin bream.
Increasing your odds in summer T HE new year has once again kicked off at a pace many of us cannot keep up with, but among the frantic rush of the ‘silly season’ a fisher must get his or her fix, regardless of the crowds.
How might you do this in a time of mayhem when enough boats are on the water to require a traffic controller in the boating channels? It’s always great to see so many people getting out and about and enjoying the beautiful waterways on offer, but I always try to travel far and wide to escape the crowds. Busy boat ramps are always painful but from a fishing point of view, lots of people means
Kayak Fishing
by JOEL JOHNSON
lots of lines in the water as well as wash and noise generated by boat traffic. For most, these factors are of little concern, but for those striving for some rod-bending action, some things need to be considered when heading out in the holiday period. Boat traffic is often the reason for poor fishing. Sounds behave very differently under water, and the sound of an outboard engine to a fish may be the equivalent of a plane or helicopter flying low over your house.
A good-sized mangrove jack caught on a Savage Gear Top Prey surface walker.
These noises quickly spook most fish and cause them to shut down, seek shelter and not think about feeding for the period following. These reactions may be vastly different between fish species, but in general, artificial noise doesn’t help fishing. Fishing from our tandem kayak, my girlfriend Leeah and I spend nearly every weekend exploring new spots in search of that hidden gem. This ensures we take a stealthy approach to fishing and keep clear of crowds. We generally try to head to the most remote spots over the holidays to give us the best chance of a successful fishing trip. When this isn’t possible but a day on the water is, heading out bright and early is always the best bet, as is fishing away from the main boating passages. Not long after the new year began, we travelled just under an hour from the holiday craziness to a destination that has produced some great captures. The small creek system ticks all the boxes, with plenty of structure and an abundance of bait, so it’s no wonder fish are present! This system, like many,
doesn’t truly come alive until dusk, when the roar of cicadas in the surrounding trees comes alive and the baitfish frantically flee from predators left, right and centre. If only we had the power to freeze time at dusk. Often we have fished all day with little to show until the sun drops below the treeline and it is as though a dinner bell has rung, causing a feeding frenzy. Surface lures are ideal during this time, and both poppers and surface walkers do the job. How you retrieve the lure is species specific. Mangrove jack and other aggressive predatory fish generally favour a fast or constant retrieve, while fish including bream tend to bite on long pauses and often have a number of small hits at the lure before finally going in for the kill. To figure out the best technique on the day, mix it up each cast until something works. Fishing during prime bite times such as dawn and dusk is definitely key to achieving hits on the surface, but finding destinations that have minimal impact from noise is a necessity, especially during peak times. Most of all, get out there and enjoy the time you have on the water. Summer is the season to do it. The water is warm, the sun is out and the fish are firing! Put in the effort and you will be rewarded.
Leeah landed a cracking 50cm mangrove jack.
A healthy yellowfin bream hooked while slowly retrieving a surface walker at dusk.
Solar-powered canoeing ☛ from P44
tery on board, that can only be 6.5km away, otherwise we are paddling home. With a 55Ah battery and 250W solar panel, it can be 11km away. Our battery will be down to 60 percent DOD, but we have the sun to recharge it. We are assuming it’s Easter in southeast Queensland and the solar efficiency is about 77 percent. We are also allowing for the panel to be mounted flat in between the outrigger poles with no tilting towards the sun. After two hours of swimwww.bnbfishing.com. au
ming and eating lunch we have a recharged battery and are ready to head home. With a fully recharged battery and the afternoon’s sunshine we have enough battery power to motor 11km back again to our launch site without ever having to put a paddle in the water. Paddle manufacturers of the world are right now calling for my immediate whipping! The outcome is 22km travelled over the course of a sixhour day and not one drop of sweat on your brow, not even from having to lift the battery out of the canoe!
The added bonus to this system is cost. Our proposed combination of 40lb-thrust motor, 55Ah gel battery and 250W flexi solar cell could all be purchased for less than $750. When you consider you never have to buy fuel, that’s pretty good economics. It turns out some things in life can come for free! To find out more about testing of canoes with electric drives, feel free to give me a call at One Tree Canoe Company on 0424 001 646 or visit onetreecanoe.com Happy paddling/motoring.
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 45
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 47
I got this fella in the canals the other night on a mullet strip while chasing mangrove jack. It went 77cm and was released. Max Morris
One of two jacks I captured recently. Michael Pitkin
I caught this 75cm barracuda on a surface popper up the Coomera River. Ruan Brits
Here are some good bass caught on ‘Somerset Fishing’ Tailspinners in Somerset Dam recently. Grant Platts
This 40cm whiting was landed on a live yabby and 8lb mono whiting setup around Jacobs Well. Aaron Blacksell
To have a photo of your catch featured in Readers Forum, simply email ben@bnbfishing.com.au with a good-quality picture, your name and details or hop onto our Facebook page and send us a message.
I boated this old fishing rod in the Logan River on live bait. Thomas Dangerfield
■ Readers Forum ■ Readers Forum ■ Readers Forum
PUZZLE PAGE w i l s o n f i s h i n g .c o m
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Get set to fish Words can run vertically, horizontally, diagonally and back to front.
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WIN a Wilson Fishing prize pack worth over $50! For your chance to win, simply solve the puzzles, take a picture and message the Bush ‘n Beach Facebook page or email design@bnbfishing.com.au before Thursday, February 21, 2019. GOOD LUCK! Congratulations to Ben Hicks on being the winner of the January puzzle competition. T&Cs: One winner per month. One entry per person. www.bnbfishing.com. au
Kathy and Geoff Peet with a top Fitzroy River thready. Live prawns are the go-to when the bite is tough.
Paul Ryan displayed a big grunter caught at Connors Rocks, Port Alma.
Chrome is back on the hit list W
ELL it’s been a long three months but the wait is finally over. That was by far the longest closed saltwater barra season ever. It’s been a hard slog to keep my attention diverted from the majestic chrome-plated silver bullets but the hard work has been done and now it’s time to dust off the barra gear and get keen. Every February, some close mates and I dedicate ourselves to the hunt. We will pick the first set of neap tides during February and chase barra hard. It has become an annual tradition. If we are working, we will take the time off – that’s how keen we are. There’s just something about barramundi. I never did grasp the concept until about two years ago and now barra fever has hit me hard. The bite, the fight and the magnificent photo at the end leave me mesmerised. I have dedicated a lot of time to figuring them out. Consistency is one of the main drivers. You need consistency to catch them on different tides, times and weather events. No longer will I leave the boat in the shed when it’s blow-
Capricorn Coast by JOHN BOON
ing hard at 25 knots. Adjust the game plan and have a go. You will either catch barra or you will learn. Some of the best advice I’ve taken on board has come from the pros – the fishos who target barra a lot more than the average angler. Craig Griffiths is one of those people. He was once asked about the key ingredients involved in making a great barra fisher. His reply was simple and very accurate. First, master your electronics. You need to be able to quickly comprehend what your sounder screen is showing you. Second, allocate time for searching. It’s boring but necessary. Try to find areas away from common ground. Third, once you’ve found the barra, work hard on finding out bite times and what the fish are biting on. There’s no point showing up on high tide if they bite on low tide. I’ve taken this advice and watched as many interviews andtechnique videos as I can. You need to build your own
Russel Herse nailed this top 85cm fingermark while trolling Rapala X-Raps through mackerel schools. Not a bad by-catch!
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database and then get out on the water to put it into practice. You will find what works and what doesn’t by trial and error. Don’t forget to document your findings. The first set of neaps occurs around February 13, which is a Wednesday, so this is when we have planned our trip. We will be fishing multiple days and locations throughout the Fitzroy River net-free zone. It’s hard to describe how excited I am. Hopefully I’ll have a tale to tell and a fantastic report. What’s been happening To put it politely, the weather has been absolutely terrible. I can’t remember when we had a day with wind under 20 knots. With weather like this, the creeks have been the pick. Crab pots have been everywhere and with good reason, as the muddies have been on the move. The best times have been the lead-up to either the full or new moon. Talking with some of the gun crabbers from the area, they prefer the lead-up to the full but we all know that if you get an opportunity, you should go regardless. We soaked a few pots in Coorooman Creek recently and were rewarded with four nice muddies for the afternoon. We caught ours in the main channel in front of the gutters. Moving the pots up into the gutters as the tide came in didn’t give us any legal crabs, which was a surprise. It goes to show you need to vary where you place your pots to find what is working at the time. The Fitzroy has also been crabbing well, all the way up into the town reaches. Most people I chatted to in town said a feed of muddies hasn’t been hard to come by. We were able to pull in a legal muddy on a yorkie while bait fishing for threadies, so that’s got to be good news for those soaking pots. Corio Bay and Port Alma are also crabbing very well. Some of the Port Alma regulars have been turning over 2kg-plus muddies each trip. Grunter and fingermark have
still been running well in places like Coorooman and Port Alma. Connors Rocks out at Port Alma is one of the most reliable locations. The key to getting a good run of fingermark is to hunt around and find the bommies holding bait. If you can see quality fish on them, that’s a bonus, but if not they usually aren’t too far away. The bigger grunter and fingermark have been coming from the wrecks and headlands north of Yeppoon. These areas have been hard ☛ continued P50
Central Queensland jack specialist Weylin Zonruiter with a quality night-time specimen. Weylin is also the owner of Reef Action Fishing Charters.
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Crabbing over the Christmas break O VER the past few years I’ve had the opportunity to head to Gladstone for several days prior to Christmas in the hope of getting a feed of crabs to add to the Christmas table back in Brisbane.
Crabs from a Curtis Island pre-Christmas session.
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Yeah, I know, we have muddies in Brisbane but this is also a good chance/ excuse to catch up with some mates from Gladstone. We’ve had excellent trips over the years but the past couple have been a bit on the lean side, so this time around I was hopeful things might be on the up. The trip was planned several weeks ahead with the usual suspects of Darin Barnham, Col McDonald and Nick Hinds. I normally drive up but this time I was driving down from the mines as a slight detour on the way home. The boys had headed to one of the creeks on Curtis Island with the ‘mother ship’ and tender just after lunch, with Nick given the job of returning to pick me up when I arrived late in the arvo. We made good time getting back and had enough light to get my pots set and check all pots a couple of times before we ran out of light. Having the big boat to go back to at the end of the day is magic, especially with the hot shower to wash away all the day’s grime, mud, sunscreen and repellent. Unfortunately, the breeze was light but not the mozzies and sandflies. Burning coils kept them at bay to a point, but with
Gladstone Crabbing
by MICK CLUTTERBUCK
that many around, some are bound to get through. We ran the pots through the tide the next day and while we got a few it was not what we were after. The keepers were a good size but the majority were extremely soft in the shell department, having obviously recently moulted. Strangely, they still carried plenty of meat in the body and legs but the claws were only half-full at best. We encountered the usual number of jennies and several very solid rusty bucks about 1-3mm undersize, so hopefully they grow quickly for someone else. With the crabbing not getting any better, we decided to pull the pin and head for home and clean all the gear. I wasn’t flying back to Brisbane until Monday, so Darin and I decided to hit the Calliope River for a few hours on Sunday to see if we could pick up any extras. We chose a 500m section of river that looked to have a few decent drains and set the pots. We weren’t particularly confident with our choice, so did a run to look for a plan B section and quickly found what we were looking for. Moving back to the pots, we started checking and came up trumps with a good keeper in the second pot. We continued to work through the remainder
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the Christmas table but certainly didn’t hear any complaints that night. Next year’s trip is locked in again. We just need to get some rain and tell the crabs. Next meetings The first club meeting for the year will kick off on Monday, February 4 followed in March on the 4th again at The Club Manly (bowls club) located at 26 Faine St, Manly. Come along and check out the new digs and meet the members. Until next month, safe boating.
A six-crab session from the Calliope River.
Chrome is back on the hit list ☛ from P49
to fish with the persistent strong southeasterly wind. Once we get a break in the weather, this area will definitely be worth a go. Mangrove jack are still being caught in good numbers by most anglers in the know. The Causeway has been the number-one spot. It’s a hard place to fish because it’s so shallow. Most of the area is only around a metre deep, with a few places getting down to 1.5-2m. A number of the jacks have fallen to live baits fished around the front during the runthroughs. Run-throughs will occur at the Causeway when the tide exceeds 3.6m. Usually this will draw most predators to the front as they chase an easy meal. For the fishos who have braved the conditions and headed out to
the islands, a number of GTs and queenies are cruising the pressure points. Queenies have also been turning up on the flats, which is good news for fly fishers. I recently did another trip into the town reaches of the Fitzroy chasing threadies with my mum and stepdad Geoff. You can follow a few simple steps to get yourself into the action, just as we did. The first step is owning a decent side-imaging sounder. I love my Humminbird Helix because it takes all the guesswork out of the equation. But as long as your device shows you fish are present, that’s all that matters. Get a cast net and practice throwing it in the backyard. Practice makes perfect because you want all those casts to work while on the water. If you can get a dozen or so live prawns, it’s time to locate some
schools of threadies. The easiest place to find numbers is among the moored boats during the neap tides. If you’re feeling adventurous, try to find less-pressured schools. Then it’s a matter of positioning the boat the way you want to fish. I like to keep the boat at a 90-degree angle to the fish to continually monitor if the fish are still there with the side imaging. You can then cast out and gently work the live prawns through the schools with the tide. It doesn’t take long to get a bite. We had a pretty tough day last trip but still managed five with an average length around 90cm and the biggest going to my mum at 96cm. Well that’s all from me this month. I really hope we can score a few flat days to get out the front. My poor old Cruise Craft is covered in dust and cobwebs.
V T F B N B
Check out in-depth video coverage of the latest boat and product reviews plus fishing action and handy tips. Page 50 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
but something didn’t look right when we came upon pot number seven. The rope looked to be hanging differently to how we left it and when it was pulled we found the top open and two big jennies inside. To us it was obvious it had been lifted by someone and most likely had a crab taken. We were probably only gone from the area for 20 minutes, but obviously that’s all it takes. The poachers seem to be getting worse throughout the whole state and don’t seem to care if it’s in broad daylight. Hopefully the authorities get them sooner rather than later. If you encounter illegal activities, report them to the authorities on the Fishwatch hotline (1800 017 116) and never take things into your own hands. For the next few hours we just kept rolling through the pots, moving
them further up with the tide and then out again as it started to drop. All up we were there for about four hours and picked up six good crabs, though they all had soft shells again, something I have never seen before in these numbers. We cooked the crabs, did the divvy up and then Darin and I set about extracting all the meat over a few beers in preparation for feeding his extended family quality crab sangas that night. We didn’t end up with enough crabs to put on
Kathy Peet with her first-ever Fitzroy thready at 96cm.
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Red dogs on FrogZ The perfect example of a Hinchinbrook jack.
Y
OU find that perfect snag deep at the back of some overhanging mangrove roots.
You position the boat and prepare to make a cast. As the rod tip goes back, a shower of baitfish erupts and a red flash slices through them with an unmistakable snap. Your grip on the rod instinctively tightens and the heart beats a little faster. You bring the rod tip forward and the plastic shoots away – skip, skip, skip deep under the overhang. Engaging the reel, the adrenalin pumps as you watch your offering paddle across the surface. A boil is all you see before a ferocious attack. Your rod is nearly ripped from your hands due to a heavy drag setting. You haven’t got a wind on the reel but keep control of the fish with quick reflexes and rod work. The fish lunges towards its home and you feel the line brush structure. A quick pump and wind wins you 30cm and the fish comes into the open. The battle is won. The entire fight probably only took about one
Luring for Jacks by JEFF WILTON
minute but the shaking hands tell the story. Most of you will already know the fish I am talking about. The undisputed king of the snags – an aggressive powerhouse, sucker puncher and brawler. The mighty mangrove jack. Jacks can be found all across the tropics and the odd capture is even recorded as far south as Coffs Harbour in NSW. Though not always the case, it can be said that north has the numbers and south has the size. So where it’s possible to have double-figure sessions in the tropics, it is rare to get fish over 50cm. But in southeast Queensland a 50cm fish is common and classed as a puppy, as jacks well into the 60-70cm bracket are captured regularly, though a two or three-fish session is an epic day. I must add that jacks will move out onto offshore reefs when they mature, and fish pushing 80-90cm can be encountered. These are beasts and a sight to behold.
I am lucky enough to call Lucinda in north Queensland home, with the magnificent Hinchinbrook Island and its endless mangrove-lined creeks as my backyard. On a good day it’s common to get double figures with a couple of people fishing. Plenty of anglers chase them with live or dead baits and do very well, but for some (myself included) the only way is on lures and soft plastics. Now this is a big call but if I could only chase one fish for the rest of my life using one technique, it would be jacks on frogimitation lures. So if casting heavy structure deep inside tropical creeks for angry fish sounds good and your casting arm twitches a little, read on. Plenty of soft plastic frogs are on the market and I have used a few different makes and models over the years but for me the standout is the 2.75” Z-Man Finesse FrogZ. These plastics are buoyant and their reputation of being 10X tough is handy
Light spin gear and Finesse FrogZ – the perfect match.
when you deal with toothy fish and harsh structure. I rig them with 1/12oz TT SWS ChinlockZ jig heads, which lock the plastic in place. The light weight offers many advantages. First, it means better casting distance and aids in skipping the frog when you need to get under overhangs. The weight will act as a keel and keep the frog paddling straight, especially if the water is a little choppy from wind or current. And last but not least, you can slowly sink the frog into structure if fish are sitting deep. This rig is also weedless/snagproof (you can still get snagged but a lot less commonly than with traditional hooks), which is really handy because you will be attempting casts into gnarly country. Getting snagged is part of the game. As with most lures and plastics, a loop knot is necessary to allow maximum action and because these lures have a small
Experienced local guide
profile, it is best to keep leader size down to around 30-40lb. Jacks are one of the more aggressive fish you will come across but at times they will still shut down and not be interested in eating, no matter what you throw at them, just like other fish. Timing is critical and can be the difference between a few fish and lots of fish hitting the deck. In my area, the first three hours of the run-in ☛ continued P52
The business end. Eyes that miss nothing and teeth to match.
A land-based puppy.
Full-day inshore or offshore charters Come on a Hinchinbrook wilderness fishing holiday and tick some of those trophy fish off your bucket list – barra, mangrove jack, coral trout, GTs, sooty grunter, spanish mackerel, black marlin, queenies, nannygai and more!
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CHECK OUT OUR NEW WEBSITE >>> CRACKFISH.COM Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 51
Muddies, mozzies and muddies
M
UD crabs and mozzies are a defining part of Queensland and doing us proud is none other than Stanage Bay.
The mud crabs are out and about in big numbers and some of their sizes will blow your mind. Holiday-makers are spoilt for choice, whether they place pots off the banks or go further afield by boat. A feed of crab is generally guaranteed at this time of year. Some beautiful salmon are being caught using live bait at Porters Creek and prawns are attracting great-sized bream. The weather has been a bit chaotic, making it hard for anglers to get outside the bay, but in saying this at least our reefs are getting a good spell. The bigger tides have made sitting at the Jew Hole quite the challenge but as they get smaller we will start to see excellent catches. Parrotfish are also being caught in areas around the Jew Hole. Whiting and flathead are being hooked off Flat Rock and the odd oyster can still be found there. Around the edges of Quail Island are grunter but they have been a little on the small side. Alas, they’re still enter-
Deb with a good size jewfish.
Stanage Bay by PEE WEE
taining to catch. Turtles have been spotted each night making their way up the beach at Alligator Bay for nesting. It’s definitely worth taking the kids for a wander. Despite the recent rain, the road in to Stanage is
holding up really well, with just the odd rough patch here and there to look out for. If you plan on camping at Stanage Bay, I recommend bringing along a few mosquito repellent options because the
mozzies are definitely showing their love. Stanage Bay Marine & Accommodation has your back-up supplies if you run out or forget. Better still, why not skip the camping and mozzies and inquire about our accommodation options? That just about sums up our month of fishing. Until next time, let’s pray for calm seas! Stay safe!
A solid salmon caught at Porters Creek.
The young Wells boys with a great feed of mud crab.
Stanage Bay Marine
Red dogs on Z-Man Finesse FrogZ
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tide are best and I would guess this would be the same for most places. Moving water is crucial and jacks rely on their prey getting pushed along with the tide. They will sit facing into the current but in their chosen structure. So when fishing, it always helps to be pushing against the tide in the boat and casting forward of the snags. Make sure casts land a few metres in front and up-current of the snag and prepare to get smashed as the frog nears the structure. The above situation is why it can be very tricky extracting fish and why so many are lost back into their homes. To assist you getting the fish away from their homes, strike hard in the opposite direction to the structure, which can mean you win a little ground straight up and just need to survive the power run. Jacks normally eat their prey on the way back to their home, which means they have momentum on their side. Now this next part is a little difficult to do, but try very hard to not strike right as your frog gets hit. If jacks miss the hook, normally they will have another go but if you strike it means the frog
will fly over your head and away from an angry and hungry fish. The ferocity of the hit and a firm drag setting will mean the hook sets no worries because TT ChinlockZ are super sharp. Choose a rod with a fast taper to put pressure on them quicker and your reel should have the drag close to locked up. Jacks can strike with such power that if you completely lock your drag they may just pop your leader or snap the braided line, so do it up tight but be prepared to use your thumb if using a baitcaster. To make things a little more interesting, using the small Z-Man Finesse FrogZ will normally mean you need to use just light to medium spin gear to cast them. You must be on the ball or you will get stitched up a lot. Learn to use your fingers on the spool of spinning reels to add more drag quickly! I use 15-20lb braid and 40lb leader and find this more than enough to win most battles if I anticipate bites and turn the fight in my favour. This is also where I should warn you that an angry rampaging jack over 40cm can destroy you in an instant, no matter the gear you are using, thanks to the
heavy and unforgiving structure they reside in. But that is the most addictive part of the game. For anyone new to chasing jacks or struggling to catch them, concentrate on your casting, as close enough is not good enough. You need to consistently land that frog right in tight to your chosen spot. If this means setting up a bucket as a practice target in the backyard, it is well worth the time. Being able to throw a variety of casts will pay off because normally an
obstruction will impede the traditional casting technique. Practice low-trajectory casts because they will come in handy. I take no responsibility for the addiction you are about to fall into. Like me, soon you will probably have tackle trays of hard-bodied lures stacked in the corner collecting dust as you won’t want to use anything but frogs. Just remember: jacks hate frogs and you will come to understand that very quickly. Hang on.
Tackle box • 20lb braid; 40lb leader • Z-Man 2.75” Finesse FrogZ • TT 1/12oz SWS ChinlockZ jig head
Jacks snapping FrogZ is addictive.
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Fabulous spots to visit are plentiful on a Cape trip. This is Indian Head Falls, part of the Jardine River National Park.
Every dinkum Aussie wants to stand on the hallowed rocks at the tip. It’s part of our psyche!
Cape York – the good oil! M
OST Aussies would have a trip to Cape York near the top of their bucket list.
As a bloke who has had the privilege of living there since the late 1980s, I have plenty of first-hand knowledge of what the attractions are and understand exactly why the Cape is such an icon in our national psyche. Even in these modern times, the place is still looked on as the ‘wild frontier’, but to us ‘locals’ our backyard has changed substantially over the past couple of decades. To get some idea of how much land we’re talking about, Cape York Peninsula extends from Cooktown north to Bamaga and west to Karumba, an area that is larger than the whole of Victoria. Locals don’t talk in kilometres (or hundreds of kays), they express distance in driving times – durations that can change considerably depending on the state of the roads to be travelled. In optimum dry season conditions, Cairns to Weipa takes 11 to 12 hours, Cairns to Bamaga 18 to 20. At the height of the wet season, from January to March, the main highway, the Peninsula Development Road, is more often than not impassable. Many travellers who choose to drive the Cape totally underestimate the distances and times involved. I remember taking a phone call when I lived at Punsand Bay Safari Lodge at about 9.30am one day. “We’re just leaving Cairns, can you book us in for the next two nights?” “Umm, well, it’s an 18-hour drive – maybe you should start from tomorrow night!” “Oh, we’ve only allowed three days up and back – we’ll have to reorganise our itinerary.” They didn’t show! That said, the road situation is changing rapidly, with bitumen extending all the way to Laura these www.bnbfishing.com. au
Tales from the Tip by DAVE DONALD
days and less than 80km of dirt remaining in the next stretch up to Musgrave. From the roadhouse north, regular stretches of tar are interspersed with gravel stretches to allow faster vehicles passing opportunities. Fitting a quality CB radio is recommended because it allows drivers to communicate with trucks and vehicles towing trailers so that passing opportunities on the dirt stretches can be completed safely. Driving with lights on, particularly on the gravel, is essential. Most of the Cape’s visitors drive themselves up in the months from June until September and that traffic quickly generates plenty of corrugations on the gravel stretches. It’s also the time when the trade winds can blow for weeks on end, making any fishing excursions on the east coast very unproductive. However, get a break in the wind and things can improve very quickly, but such events are rare and unpredictable. Weipa locals wait for the light wind period known as the doldrums that usually precedes the wet season to sample the fantastic offshore fishing in that area. All the ‘tourists’ have gone by that time! Camper trailers have become increasingly popular with visitors over the past decade, but as the road improves, the number of caravans making the trip is also on the rise. The new-generation of off-road or semi off-road models have given visitors a more reliable van to tackle the inevitable corrugations and numerous ‘dips’, but care must always be taken to drive according to the road conditions. Navigating gravel roads requires constant attention.
Hit one bad washout or bulldust hole with too much speed and your trip could turn pear-shaped very quickly. Those who choose to tow a boat should take extra care. Make sure the wheels, tyres, axles and springs are in first-class condition and all wheel bearings repacked before the trip. Get the motor serviced, cover the powerhead in heavy-duty cling wrap, put the cowl back on and fit an engine sock. Protect the hull from dust and stone chips with a boat cover or screens. Most importantly, take your time! I’ve towed several fibreglass boats up to 6m long to Weipa and that trip has taken up to 14 hours from Cairns. Several popular fishing destinations are on the Cape, some much easier to reach than others. Cooktown, Karumba and Weipa are probably the most popular, while places like Kowanyama, Lockhart River and Bamaga are also well worth a visit. From Cairns, the tar now extends all the way to Cooktown and Karumba and this makes them much more appealing, but also more crowded. Weipa is expected to have bitumen all the way by 2022! If you are travelling and camping on a Cape trip, make sure you check out the alcohol restrictions that apply to most indigenous communities because heavy fines can occur if limits are exceeded. Quite a few of the camping areas are within national parks and these must be booked electronically before you leave. Rangers cannot issue camping permits on the spot. Check out the Tourism Cape York website or Facebook page for more information.
Seasonal rains and runoff are another limiting factor and can close the road any time between December and April. Given that the optimum fishing times are in April, May, September and October, the logistics of planning a fishing trip to areas like Weipa and Bamaga can depend very much on the time of year. Strong southeasterly trade winds are very common during the dry season from June to September, so heading to the west coast at this time is advisable because the breezes blow offshore. With wet season road closures sometimes extending into late April and beyond, those fishers who want to visit at peak season and beat the ‘crowds’ to places like Weipa and Bamaga have another interesting option. Shipping company Sea Swift operates a weekly service to Thursday Island, Bamaga and Weipa, so you could ship your boat and vehicle from Cairns while you take the local QantasLink flight. To make this a value for money proposition, most parties opt to stay and fish for at least a couple of weeks before driving back out when the road is passable. Tent and cabin accommodation is readily available at these locations. Those who are time poor or want to give themselves a treat have other fishing choices to consider. These range from leaving your own boat at home and hiring a suitable craft at your destination right through to going all out and hiring a guide. A number of wellmaintained hire boats are available in Weipa and Bamaga. Cape York Ice and Tackle at New Mapoon and the Weipa Camping Ground are just two that have good-quality hire craft but make sure to book well ahead because they can be hard to come by at peak times. Parties of six to 10 fishers wanting to do their ☛ continued P54
Driving the Old Telegraph Track, the adventures come thick and fast. Beats city driving hands down!
Big-scale red, golden snapper or fingermark. These beauties abound in the waters on either side of the Cape and will rise to a bait, lure or fly.
Coral trout of many types can be found in the waters off Lockhart River but the trade winds make getting out to the reef difficult in the dry season. Weipa locals usually wait until November for the doldrums to start.
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 53
Taking time out for a fish I HOPE everyone had a great festive season and is getting into the new year in a positive way.
Josh with a cracker green jobfish taken on a popper.
The author picked up a nice cooktown coral trout.
On Cape York, nature went against official predictions of a late start to the wet season with a swag of widespread storms in December, followed by the widely travelled tropical cyclone systems of Owen and Penny. At home just out of Cooktown, we recorded over 900mm of rain for December, and the wild weather closed roads across the Cape in a big way. The Archer River
Cape York
by ‘BILLABONG’ BAZZ LYON
reached a whopping 13m, the Wenlock 14m and the Normanby 12m over the Battlecamp Crossing. Plenty of water for a cuppa! The weather also put a stop to any offshore fishing for a while. January and February around the Cape can be relatively quiet for reef fishing, however not so this year, with great catches, especially in the waters off Cooktown. Our families from Weipa came down at the end of last year to visit for a week or two. They had no trouble on the main Cape road but were held up for a few hours at the ‘Little Annan’ not far out of Cooktown, waiting for the river to drop. Our son Josh, a longtime fishing guide based in Weipa, brought down one of his boats, a highly seaworthy Hooker 5m dory, to take people out to the reef – hopefully! Finally the weather settled enough to allow a couple of family trips snorkelling and fishing in this fantastic part of the world. Then Josh and I headed
Stunning Hope Island near Cooktown is surrounded by great fishing and snorkelling country.
out to explore new ground and fish places we hadn’t for some years. The forecast was for a southerly at 10 to 15 knots, picking up to 15 to 20 knots late morning. However as we headed out it was blowing a light westerly. We tried a few ‘wonky holes’ (places where fresh water bubbles out of the seabed) with not a lot of action and the only fish of any note being a biggish goldspotted cod that was released after having its air bladder tended to by Josh. We then headed to the point of a reef about five nautical miles away where the current was moving past, dropped baits of pilchard and bludger trevally and it was on. First a couple of undersized trout, the odd stripey and then some bigger trout. I got smoked by an absolute stonker and we each landed a cracker trout. When things quietened, we moved to the next reef point with similar results. The wind was picking up, though still from the west, so we pulled the pick and idled along the reef edge casting lures. Josh hooked and lost a seriously huge giant trevally, then landed a solid red bass. They pull just like their mangrove jack relatives! We had a few hits and misses before Josh scored a beautiful green jobfish and I hooked another decent coral trout. Fishing coral reefs with lures, and especially surface lures, must be one of the most exciting ways to fish. By the time we reached the end of that particular flank of the reef, the wind had swung to the north and was picking up. Interesting that it was blowing in the exact opposite direction from the forecast.
The reason was a line of storms building to the south, which were no doubt sucking in the northerly. Anyway, all that action signalled it was time to head home. The return trip was fairly uneventful, apart from the sea building fairly quickly. Back home, we got the fish almost all filleted on the backyard filleting table by the time the storm arrived, with impressive lightning, thunder and a tropical downpour. A classic way to end a classic Cooktown reef fishing trip! Otherwise, with the barramundi season opening at the start of February, anglers will be targeting this mighty fish in any accessible run-off locations. Given the mostly dicey road conditions, a boat can often be the best way to reach gutters draining the soggy catchments. Any that are draining swamps or billabongs can be absolute gold because they will carry small fish and freshwater prawns and concentrating predatory fish. Though they can of course work well at any time of year, soft plastics are particularly effective in run-off conditions, with artificial prawns often a standout. On one occasion some years back we came across a super hot spot at the base of a small waterfall, with the barramundi just out of control hungry. They soon shredded our small supply of soft plastics. Not to be deterred, we attached strips cut off my shirt (they’re still making them) to the hooks and kept on catching (and tagging) barra until a massive approaching storm forced us to head home or risk being stranded. This is a great time of year – you just need to be watchful of the weather and not tackle any dodgy roads or tracks. Until next month!
Cape York – the good oil! ☛ from P53
own thing should look no further than Weipa Houseboats. Steve Rehn provides on-ground service from the airport as well as hiring fishing dinghy tenders. Those wanting to hire a professional guide at Weipa have one of the largest, best-equipped fleets in the state to choose from, but you definitely need to book any trips well in advance. As a charter operator for over 20 years, I’m a bit biased, but would suggest that hiring a reputable guide can be
a very good investment indeed. Four to six-day trips are the norm, with single-day excursions only available at short notice. At the deluxe end of the scale, mother ships are definitely the way to go! Eclipse Charters, for instance, has just formed a co-operative arrangement with some of the Gulf’s best guides from Weipa Sports Fishing. Having experienced their hospitality firsthand, I would rate them at the very top of fishing experiences in Australia – and at a cost below similar operations in other states.
Page 54 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
But again, I can’t stress enough the need to book early! While mountains of info about the Cape is on Facebook and the internet in general, there’s no substitute for experiencing the place in real time. Every traveller, be they local or visitor, has their Cape story. People like myself have enough to write a book! Take the time – no, bloody make the time – to see the pointy end of Oz. It’s something every true-blue Aussie must do as a rite of passage! See you around the rivers one day soon!
The west coast Cape York beaches can sometimes produce lovely salty barra like this, particularly at the end of the wet season.
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Paradise – the rough journey was well and truly worth it.
Kale captured a quality fingermark.
Extended fishing trip wide of Cape York
T
HE problem with planning an extended fishing trip several months in advance is the excitement and expectations continue to grow with the drawn-out lead-up. For this trip, a couple of mates would be flying to Horn Island to join me for a week of fishing the remote reef systems off the east coast of Cape York. With the currents down, I was fairly confident of putting the boys onto nice fish… as long as the weather was kind. Prior to Luke and Kale arriving, we had been getting stuck into great fish as we had several weekends of excellent weather that had allowed us to venture wide. I wasn’t doing myself any favours by sending the boys photos of some of the fish we had been getting. To add to the pressure, Luke was flying from Singapore just for this trip. The boys also had a number of species they wanted to tick off their bucket list including a solid spanish mackerel, red emperor, big coral trout and black jewfish. Again… no pressure fellas. As to be expected, the glassy weather prior to the
Cape York & Torres Strait by MATT POTTER
boys arriving didn’t hold. In fact, it couldn’t have been much worse for our week of fishing as cyclone Owen decided to do a Uturn out in the Gulf of Carpentaria and come back across the Cape. While we wouldn’t be in its direct path on Thursday Island, we would still receive nearly a week of wild and windy weather and our so called ‘epic boys’ trip’ was now looking like mission impossible. With that news, all our excitement turned to disappointment. I tried to convince the guys to rebook flights for another time but with work and other commitments they were locked in, so we would have to make do and see what our now-limited options were. With a small weather window on the afternoon the boys flew into Horn Island, I decided not to waste any opportunity to catch a fish, so dropped the boat in and picked them up from Horn Island wharf instead of them catching the ferry over to Thursday Island.
Luke picked up a quality GT.
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I greeted the boys with a beer as they boarded the boat and threw their suitcases in the cabin. We got straight into it by bottom bashing a nearby shoal with squid on 80lb paternoster rigs. We managed quality large-mouth nannygai, which was a nice surprise because I hadn’t caught any at this spot before. After a few drifts the sharks moved in and claimed any decent fish, so we moved on. We trolled a couple of Rapala X-Raps around a nearby beacon and the sounder lit up. I told the boys to get ready and within seconds it was a double hook-up. The fish put up a dogged fight and turned out to be brassy trevally between 8kg and 12kg. The large school would follow any hooked fished to the boat, so it was just a matter of dropping our lures over the side and we were on again within seconds. We spent an hour or so getting multiple hook-ups on these brutes and I was relieved the boys got a
good arm stretching. As the sun set, we cruised back home to TI in glassy conditions, which was bittersweet because we knew it was the calm before the storm. The next morning we felt the effects of Cyclone Owen as torrential rain and strong gusts buckled over trees and shut down any fishing plans. The next few days were a write-off, with 35-40 knot wind and electrical storms making the pub look like an excellent option. As luck would have it, it looked like the weather would improve again the day the boys flew out. I was still hopeful that once the cyclone crossed the Cape it would take the wild weather with it. All we needed was one good day to head wide and get into a few fish. I was checking weather updates on the Bureau of Meteorology almost hourly and they were starting to improve as Owen travelled across the Cape, just as I had hoped. It looked like we would get a day or even two to venture wide after all. It wasn’t the week that we had planned for but at this stage we would take whatever we could get. Hope was beginning to be restored. I woke the boys early the following morning to let them know the weather looked better again and I was moving the trip forward a day and leaving after lunch. This would give us an extra day to explore the ground around and between a couple of remote reef systems. Even if the weather wasn’t initially great, we could flick lures around the shelter of the reefs and sand cays until it improved. I let the other crew know we would be leaving earlier than originally intended and the race was on to pack the boat and sort ice, fuel, food, bedding, bait and fishing gear. We loaded up my 7m Fisher and launched in a strong breeze. I knew it would be a bumpy ride but I had full
confidence in the boat and we had protection in the way of shallow reefs along the way. The initial plan would be to go straight to a small island and set up a little base camp and get ready for an early start the next morning when hopefully the wind dropped out. The ride out wasn’t too bad in the following sea and we maintained 18-23 knots. As we got closer to our destination and away from the mainland the clarity of the water improved significantly and we soon saw birds diving and fish ☛ continued P56
Luke ticked a nice red off the bucket list.
Fingermark and nannygai double. Two of the tastiest fish in the sea.
Kale ticked a solid trout off the list.
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 55
Extended fishing trip wide of Cape York ☛ from P55
The author boated a bar-cheek trout.
Kale with a nice spanish mackerel.
busting the surface. I initially ignored them in the messy conditions because I just wanted to get to our destination but after some pressure from the crew I slowed so Kale could cast a 55g Halco Gold Twisty. A few quick winds of his Penn Spinfisher and he was on. It was a solid mack tuna that put up a good fight. As they aren’t much of a table fish and conditions were rough, I left the school and motored on. With the presence of lots of bait and the water looking clear, I was confident we would get onto a couple of spanish mackerel once the weather improved. After nearly three hours of motoring we had finally reached our destination. With a few birds working off the island, I decided to have a quick troll to see if we could manage a mackerel before heading into shelter. It didn’t take long to bag a small spanish mackerel just under a metre long, which I threw in the Esky to use as bait the following day. Most visitors are shocked to see me use such quality eating fish as bait but when they see the
The crew was ecstatic to land this sailfish on a paternoster rig while bottom bashing.
Luke held a spanish back at the anchorage.
Page 56 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
A sailfish had been on my bucket list for many years, so it was panic stations as I scrambled to find something to throw at it. mackerel slabs turned into fingermark, reds and nannygai, they don’t hesitate to throw it on their hook. It’s certainly a gun bait in the tropics. We continued to troll the Rapala X-Rap Magnum 30 hard-bodies around rigged on 140lb singlestrand wire. Kale’s line went screaming and we knew it was a better fish. It was hard work in the sloppy conditions but a solid mackerel of about 1.2m was gaffed boatside to cheers from the boys. With mackerel ticked off the list, we headed in to the island, lit a small fire and cracked a cold beverage. We had finally made it to our destination, several days later than planned and in average conditions… but we had made it. The following morning a storm front hit the island and the weather was wild, wet and windy. So our early start turned into a lazy morning cooking up a feed of bacon and eggs and flicking an assortment of metals around for fun size GTs and plentiful goldspotted trevally. The guys tossed a few poppers around for something bigger but the local blacktip reef shark population took a liking to the poppers. Around 9.30am we decided to jump in the boat and push out in the sloppy conditions. I sounded around a nearby ‘high spot’ that rose from 35m to 18m. It looked promising,
with plenty of life on the sounder. The guys dropped a mix of knife jigs and baits and managed solid GTs, mackerel, sweetlip and a nannygai, but the sharks were thick and we were losing a lot of fish and tackle, so I decided to keep searching for new ground. Conditions were slowly improving, so I pushed on a little further to another high spot. This one had a large 4m-high rock that showed some solid fish holding around it. We dropped down squid and slabs of mackerel on our 80lb paternoster rigs. It wasn’t long until we felt solid bites. The current was running hard and it didn’t take long to drift off the spot, so we rebaited and tried again. This time I hooked up and I was relieved to swing a nice large-mouth nannygai aboard. Next was Kale with a solid fingermark. Things were certainly looking up, and better still conditions were further improving. Next Luke hooked something solid that fought all the way to the boat. A great red of about 9kg broke the surface and it was high fives all round as another species was ticked off the list. We went back and pulled more nannygai, sweetlip and another red from the spot before moving on to explore further. I decided to venture wider to check out a few different areas of interest. We plugged away sounding around and picking up a few fish here and there but for several hours the fishing was slow. At times it was also frustrating because mackerel would bite off our shinny snapper leads before we could get to the bottom. I eventually ran over some ground at 22 knots and spun around to check it out. My boat has a throughhull transducer mounted on an external plate at the base of the V. It has been a game changer this past year because I can read bottom clearly at over 30 knots and I’ve found so much more ground at speed on the Furuno 587. Conditions were now glassy and upon closer inspection this spot appeared to be a wreck, of which there are many throughout the waters of Cape York and the Torres Strait.
Typical species caught off wrecks soon started coming aboard and the action fired up once more, with big fingermark, sweetlip, large-mouth nannygai and golden trevally smashing our squid and mackerel baits. The boys in the other boat radioed in to say they had also found good ground and were getting stuck into big coral trout. With the sun now setting, we headed back to our island base and anchored up, lit a small fire and cooked up some fresh red emperor and coral trout washed down with a cold beverage. It doesn’t get much better. The first drop back on the wreck the following morning will be a catch I won’t forget any time soon. I pulled up ahead of the mark and told the boys to drop. Luke had just sent his bait down when a freejumping sailfish appeared metres from the boat, jumping erratically in tight circles. I originally thought it must have had a shark chasing it. A sailfish had been on my bucket list for many years, so it was panic stations as I scrambled to find something to throw at it. I grabbed a rod rigged with a stickbait from the rocket launcher and fired it out in the hope the fish would take it. It didn’t and soon disappeared. I told the boys to wind in because we would put out some pushers and have a quick troll. As Luke started winding in, his line suddenly came tight and he realised he was hooked up to the fish, hence why it had been carrying on once it felt the weight of the snapper lead. Again it was panic stations and the fish went deep and ran us around as we tried to stay connected. It was a team effort, with Kale on the wheel trying to keep the fish out from under the boat while I told him which way it was running. It continually ran under the boat and there were some close calls passing the rod around the motor. To make matters more challenging, an isolated storm front hit us and whipped up a nasty chop. The storm passed 10 minutes later and after 45 minutes the fish finally popped up boatside. I threw on some gloves, grabbed it by the bill and swung it aboard. You could have mistaken us for winning the lotto or any World Cup with the carrying on and celebrations. Luke had managed to catch a sailfish on a paternoster rig with a strip of squid as bait. Upon closer inspection, the fish didn’t even have the hook in it. The snapper lead had
wrapped around its bill and managed a series of half hitches, which was all that was holding the fish. I was stoked we landed it and after some mandatory photos we swam the fish for about five minutes before it started to kick and bite down on Luke’s hand. It was awesome to see it swim off after such an epic battle. We went back to bottom bashing and picked up a few more nice nannygai and fingermark before checking out another high spot that came up to 8m from 50m. We dropped the X-Raps out and I trolled the pressure point, doing figure eights at about seven knots. This spot showed dozens of arches sitting above a bait ball, which is exactly what every mackerel fisher wants to see on the sounder. It wasn’t long before we were hooked up to a solid spanish that was gaffed, bled and thrown into the ice slurry. We repeated the process, sifting through the much less-desirable shark mackerel, which have a strong ammonia odour, to pick up the spanish mackerel that are first-class table fish. After 30 minutes of fun we had our bag, so I pointed the nose of the boat for home because we had a big clean-up before the guys flew out the next day. The only fish left to knock off Kale’s bucket list was a black jewfish. I had one spot on the way home that could be a winner because we had caught jewies there before. Kale was keen to drop and I allowed him limited drops to produce a jewie while I sat back on the wheel and gave a running commentary. Within seconds he was on and within a few more seconds he was busted off. Round one to the fish. It had definitely been a trip of re-rigging, so Luke gave him another rod already rigged and he hooked another solid fish and a large-mouth nanny was lifted over the side. Keen to get his jewfish, he dropped again. Another solid hook-up and this time a big fingermark broke the surface. Normally there would be cheers for landing such a trophy fish but it wasn’t the target species. Unfortunately the sharks soon moved in and with a long run home and an even longer clean-up ahead it was time to pull the pin on what had been an epic couple of days. It was very satisfying that we had finally been able to venture wide and the guys eventually got a taste of what is on offer around Cape York. We cruised home in glassy conditions, feeling buggered but very satisfied. You can check out our remote adventures on my Fishing Missions- Northern Australia Facebook page. www.bnbfishing.com. au
4WDING & off - road
Free camp at Dinosaur Creek outside Winton.
Doing the Queensland dinosaur trail
W
E are really settling into holiday mode
Hinchinbrook News by TODD EVELEIGH
now.
It has taken us a couple of weeks but we are starting to get the gist of this relaxing thing. It has been enjoyable spending quality time with the family, especially the kids, as being a fishing guide I tend to work seven days a week and miss a lot of weekend sport, dance concerts and little milestones the kids go through while growing up. So having a break and doing some cool things with the kids has been fantastic. Initially, we were chased out of Lucinda by tropical cyclone Owen.
We wanted an extra couple of days to prepare but knew if we waited any longer we may have been flooded in and unable to leave for another week. So we decided to get on the road and overcome any obstacles along the way. Just as well, as Halifax just down the road from Lucinda now holds a rainfall record, with 681mm of rain falling in just 24 hours. Now that’s raining! Our first destination was Porcupine Gorge, just
Porcupine Gorge.
Porcupine Gorge from below.
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north of Hughenden. Wow, wasn’t Porcupine Gorge amazing? The gorge stretches over 100km long, with fantastic scenery and lookouts along the way as well as challenging walks including one to the bottom. It was billy goat country but the swim at the bottom was well worth it. That feeling of being so small in a huge canyon with incredible rocky outcrops was really breathtaking. I think Porcupine Gorge would give the Grand Canyon a run for its money, but hey, I haven’t seen the Grand Canyon! It was pretty spectacular. We stayed in the Porcupine Gorge National Park, which was very pleasant, with plenty of kangaroos hopping around the campsite. We had long-drop toilets but no showers or water. From there we headed into Hughenden to start the Dinosaur Trail and the kids were super excited. Dustin is 11 and Bridie is nine, so they are at a great age for this type of experience because they are able to do the big walks on their own and will remember it later in life. Hughenden has a great information centre and display in its museum and the kids found it very enjoyable. They loved the life-size skeletal replica of a 7m Muttaburrasaurus dinosaur ‘Hughie’ on display. You can buy a pass for the four sites, which costs about $215 for a family of four. From Hughenden we headed over to Winton to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs. The Age of Dinosaurs is set up on a big parcel of land on a jump-up about 20km southeast of Winton. This place was truly incredible, with absolutely amazing displays and a huge number of dinosaur
bones that had been recovered in the black soil country around Winton along with incredible information on the digs. And of course there was the hands-on experience. Over coming years this place will become even more spectacular as those involved are continually expanding the museum with more displays and more dinosaur-related things to see and do. The tour was fantastic and the people running the show were wonderful. All the kids, not just ours, were in awe. Lots of dinosaurs were mentioned but hey I’m just a fishing guide, so I can’t remember half of it, but I still really enjoyed myself. However, the kids remember all the dinosaur names and what they saw. It’s funny, as you get older it gets harder to remember things. From Winton we headed across to Richmond and Kronosaurus Korner, which had another fantastic display of dinosaur fossils, the most remarkable being Penny the Polycotylid which is the most complete vertebrate fossil in the world. The self-guided audio tour detailed the history and origin of each display, which was very informative. Due to the kilometres we have been driving to
different displays on this trip, we have found the WikiCamps Australia app to be awesome. It searches for free camps on our driving path. However, if you want to free camp it is important to be prepared for the trip and be completely selfcontained. This probably isn’t the best time of year to conquer the Dinosaur Trail, with extreme heat waves of 40C-plus and nighttime temperatures in the 30s. It was great to be able to have a generator and airconditioning running at night to get a good night’s sleep. Make sure you have lots of water on hand because we were drinking close to 20 litres of water. June/July would definitely be a great time to do to it but this would be the peak time and you’ll encounter loads of other people. At least by doing the trip in summer we didn’t see too many other people and really got a great experience. I hope this gives you inspiration to go out and hit the Dinosaur Trail. Not only did the kids have a great time but us parents enjoyed it too! It’s off to the next location for us. Until next month…
‘Hughie’ at Flinders Discovery Centre, Hughenden.
The Age of Dinosaurs outside display.
‘Penny’ the polycotylid at Kronosaurus Korner, Richmond.
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 57
C AMPING & outdoors
All about bunya nuts
F
EBRUARY is a great month of the year if you love bush tucker.
Boiled bunya nuts removed from the shell and ready to eat.
Why? Because bunya nuts are falling from bunya pine trees. If you haven’t been bunya nutting or even tried eating these nuts, you are missing out on delightful bush tucker. Follow the simple recipe on this page to learn how to cook them. My favourite method is boiling the nuts in salty water. An old favourite is to cook a piece of corned meat and use the flavours of the corned meat water to then boil the bunya nuts. However, some prefer the nuts raw or roasted. Try them out to see which you prefer! Majestic bunya pine trees are easily identified from a distance by their tall dome profile and unusually deep green foliage. Their branches grow sideways and longer with age. They drop their pods containing the nuts in February.
Appetite 4 The Wild by MELISSA FROHLOFF
Some years these trees will produce an exceptional crop when the season is just right, and mature trees will bear nuts each year, while young trees will not. Their needle-like leaves are sharp and you will need good footwear if you are going to retrieve nuts from a tree. Use a pair of gloves when picking up the pods because they are spiky and sticky. Some pods break open when they hit the ground, otherwise you can open them with an axe. Once inside the pod, you’ll see the nuts are capsulated in a wooden shell. Twist the shell from the centre of the pod to extract the nut from each individual compartment. Each pod contains about 50 nuts. To open the nuts, you will need to use a knife and cut the nuts in half by following the centre line to remove the nut to eat. The bunya nut is a tradi-
tional food of the Australian Aboriginal people. Nuts are traditionally eaten raw, roasted or pounded to make flour. Bunya pines are found in limited areas of rainforest, predominantly in southeastern Queensland, and especially in part of the Great Dividing Range now known as the Bunya Mountains National Park. Bunya pine trees grow almost anywhere along the Great Divide but fall times may differ depending upon climate. Retrieve the nuts early in
the season, otherwise you could miss out, as possums and sulphur-crested cockatoos also follow this food chain. If you are having trouble dealing with the elements or cannot locate a tree don’t worry, as locals in the above areas sell the bunya pods at roadside stalls at this time of year. Bunya nuts have exceptional eating quality similar to pine nuts in taste but much larger. They can be enjoyed many different ways and go much further than most nuts because of their size. Try them as mentioned above or boiled and later used in a salad or to create a beautiful pesto.
To open the pod, chop it in half with an axe.
A nut removed from the pod.
A bunya pine.
Australia’s number-one outdoor adventurer says G’day USA
J by MELISSA FROHLOFF
Boiled bunya nuts Ingredients • Bunya nuts • 1/4 cup salt per litre of water Method 1. Add nuts to a large empty pot. 2. Cover nuts with water and add salt. 3. Bring nuts to the boil and sim-
mer for three hours, keeping the nuts covered with water. 4. Cook until nuts are soft, then serve hot or cold. Tip An old favourite is to cook a piece of corned meat and then flavour the bunya nuts by cooking them in the corned meat water.
Prep time: 30 min | Cook time: 3 hrs | Serves 6-8 Page 58 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
ASE Andrews, host of Australia’s number-one four-wheel-drive and adventure show All 4 Adventure is set to attend the prestigious G’day USA program in Los Angeles on January 26.
Representing Australia’s wild side, Jase has been recognised for his outstanding contribution to the Australian media landscape. Now entering its 16th year, G’Day USA is Australia’s renowned public and economic diplomacy program promoting the best of Australian ideas, invention and talent to audiences across the US – and who better than Aussie outback guru Jase Andrews? For the first time ever,
Jase will be swapping croc-infested rivers, bush tucker cooking and wild 4WDing for the glamorous red carpet at the 2019 G’day USA Black Tie Gala Dinner, joining the likes of Margot Robbie, Chris Hemsworth and Hugh Jackman. “It’s an amazing opportunity to be a part of such a renowned event where Australia and Australians are celebrated on an international stage,” Jase said. “I fell head over heels for this land in my 20s and this love story has led me to host the number-one outdoor show on Aussie TV. “I pinch myself every day and for me to represent Australia’s wild side in the US is a dream come true.
“Rubbing shoulders with a few stars on the red carpet won’t be too bad either!” In 2018, Jase’s successful TV show All 4 Adventure hit 10 years on the air, which is a testament to the raw and unhinged nature of the show that keeps audiences wanting more. Season 10, ‘A Decade Of Dirt’ marked the
best and most challenging season ever for Jase, with near-death experiences, unforgiving terrains and, of course, mad 4WDing. For season 11, Jase promises his fans “more action, exciting discoveries and nail-biting encounters”. For more information on All 4 Adventure, visit all4adventure.com
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C AMPING & outdoors
The fishing wasn’t red hot but with a view like that, who’s complaining?
The view from the campsite was like no other.
Magical Moreton Island holiday F
IRST, can someone please tell me how time is going so fast? Christmas holidays are over and it’s back to work and school for everyone, with 2019 in full swing. Bad weather over the majority of the holiday period meant my offshore fishing was limited to one trip where smokings and bite-offs plagued us all day. In the end we managed to put a couple of nice squire in the box but really it was quite tough. Moreton Bay, however, has been fishing well for grass sweetlip, squire and cod. Offerings such as squid and pillies as well as small micro jigs have worked well. Mackerel haven’t really turned up in force yet, but after witnessing first-hand the amount of bait in the northern area of the bay, my guess is they aren’t too far away. In a lot of my articles I talk about how fortunate we are to have access to great fishing right on our Brisbane doorstep, but I have also discovered the amazing camping and offroad options that present themselves too. I recently spent a week camping on Moreton Island with close family friends, and this place proved exceptional for all three of the above options. The trip began by packing our Ford Ranger to the absolute rafters. There was literally no room for an extra chip packet. We had swags, gazebos,
Moreton Island by LACHIE BAKER
tents, mattresses, tables, barbecues, eskies and fishing gear. Usually, whenever my family goes on a trip the majority of stuff is packed in the boat, but as it was my first time properly driving on the beach, the Bulldog stayed in the shed at home. It was a tight squeeze but we just managed to get everything in. The following morning was a Wednesday and we were booked on the 6am barge, so we got up at 3.30am, placed the last of the cold food in the Esky and set off around 4am. We arrived at the Port of Brisbane service station, met with our convoy and headed to the barge. We boarded Micat just after 5am and headed upstairs after letting our tyres down to about 18psi. We crossed a glassycalm Moreton Bay and arrived at the Tangalooma landing right on schedule. Apart from excitement, there isn’t a word to describe the feeling you get as the ramp drops to reveal giant sand dunes and crystal-clear water. We left about five minutes after our convoy due to the positioning of the cars on the barge, but everyone driving off was being stopped by police for a quick breathalyser test and beach driving permit check. We didn’t get far before we ran into our mate Ja-
son and his family, as they were bogged deep from the weight of the caravan on the back of his LandCruiser ute. Once we had the recovery sorted, we found the perfect spot to camp. We set up right at Cowan Point beside my good mate Tony Dummer, who had already spent two weeks on the island. After camp was set up, we ripped the Sea Jay 3.5 Nomad tinnie off the roof of the truck, rigged our rods and launched off the beach straight out the front of camp. We headed for the closest shipping channel beacons to see if we could spin up a few mackerel.
We found heaps of bait and good fish showing on the sounder, so I was quietly confident we might catch one or two. It didn’t take long for my mate Liam to hook up to what looked like a solid fish. After about 10 seconds of fighting, he pulled the hook and had an epic dummy spit, much to my amusement. We kept fishing and mucking around but the sea breeze came in and the conditions worsened, so we ran back in to the beach empty handed. I didn’t want to get caught out in bad weather in an 11’ boat. We took it pretty easy the following day, chilling around camp for most of the day and going for a quick run up to the Bulwer shops to pick up a few things.
It was good for me to have my first crack at driving a few tracks, as this year my old man couldn’t make it over due to work commitments, so I was designated driver for my mum and sister. I found the tracks a lot easier than expected, so had a lot of fun following the other boys all over the island. Once we got back to camp, we got dinner going. Soon we decided to soak a bait out the front of camp to see if we could tempt one of the resident shovelnose rays for a bit of fun on light gear. Sure enough, young Liam hooked up and began the fight in front of a large audience of about eight families from our group. A few videos were taken and some of the drunken ☛ continued P60
The author scored a micro jig-eating golden trevally.
Liam with a 41cm squire taken on a plastic.
Three words, and they all spell excitement!
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 59
C AMPING & outdoors Magical Moreton Island holiday ☛ from P59
This chunky estuary cod was pretty lucky it didn’t end up on the hot coals that night!
Jack captured his first fish in the form of a coral cod.
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Page 60 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
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But once I had it off the bottom and it kept fighting hard, I quietly thought it felt like a big golden trevally. Sure enough, a bright yellow tail and golden fins appeared about 5m under the boat, and it wasn’t alone. Another golden of 8090cm had followed it up from the bottom, but we didn’t try to get a double, simply focusing on landing the one we had already hooked. This proved to be quite a challenge without a net because the fish was still green and wanted no part of coming into the boat. Eventually, Liam got a hold of its tail and swung it into the boat and we were bloody stoked! The brag mat showed it to be 70cm on the dot, and after a few quick pics the fish was back in the drink kicking off. We went around for another drift and I hooked up again, this time to a chunky goldspotted cod of 45cm, which was very lucky it didn’t come back to camp for the hot coals that night. We were almost at the end of our drift when Liam said he was snagged, except it turned out he wasn’t snagged and was instead connected to a monster. It felt the hooks and smoked off along the bottom, nearly spooling Liam on its first run. I started the outboard and chased it down until it started coming up the water column and a massive cobia surfaced about 100m away. It was so big I thought it may have been a shark until I saw its white underbelly and distinctive tail. We both got a good look at it before it smoked off again, straight down to the bottom and into the reef. Ping went the line and “f***!” went Liam and I. By this stage it was getting late in the afternoon, so we decided it was time for a feed and home we went. I had a classic stacker out of the boat when retrieving it up the beach, which sent everyone into hysterics – I’ll even admit it was good laughing at my own expense. We were treated to another cracking sunset over the bay and we all agreed the day had been awesome. We finished off the night keeping well hydrated while listening to classic
Liam provided the evening’s entertainment by tackling this shovelnose ray on light line.
The Champagne Pools at North Point were not a bad spot to cool off.
The Sandhills south of Tangalooma. You could almost spot the diver whiting!
commentary that was recorded was hilarious. We eventually dragged the ray up the beach, shook the hook out, took a quick photo and sent it on its way. All the kids at the campsite soon returned with their own fishing rods in the hope of catching the huge ‘great white’ they had just seen. We didn’t hang around for much longer because it was getting quite late, so made plans to take the tinnie out in the morning. These plans were cancelled once we awoke to rain and wind the next morning, but the showers cleared quick enough for us to take a trip up to the Champagne Pools and North Point with the rest of our extended group. The track in was rough and soft but a lot of fun until I began to hear an awful noise coming from the front driver’s side wheel. Once we got to the beach we jacked the car up and rattle gunned the wheel off because I was worried I might have damaged something but it turned out it was just a small rock jammed between the disk and backing plate – easy fix. Problem solved, we went for a flick off the rocks. The incredible scenery at this end of the island never ceases to amaze me. It almost makes the bad feeling of catching no fish go away. We hung around for a bit longer, and once everyone felt like lunch we all made our way back to camp. After lunch, we set the tinnie up, threw the rods in and took off once again. Instead of going out to the beacons, I decided to try something else. We hugged the beach and ran up to Curtin Artificial Reef. I had never fished there before, so began sounding around for something to drop on. It didn’t take long to find a massive bait ball with big fish hanging around it. I dropped a 30g micro jig and hooked up almost instantly. I was running 20lb braid on a 4000-size reel and struggled to budge this fish off the bottom. Straight away I called it for either a jewfish or big snapper because I could feel what I thought were big headshakes and powerful runs behind a fair bit of weight.
tunes from decades gone by. There may or may not have been some boot scootin’ and yee-hawin’ to a bit of Lee Kernaghan, but I don’t think we should discuss that in this article. The following few days were a blur of four-wheeldriving, fishing, beer drinking and fun in the sun. My old man brought over his bigger Sea Jay on a day off work and spent the day in camp. I took the opportunity to take a young fella from camp out to try to catch him his first fish, and we succeeded in the form of a 30cm coral cod, which he was stoked about. There’s something about helping someone catch their first fish that makes me feel a sense of achievement, knowing it could be the start of an obsession similar to mine. We mucked around for a bit longer, and apart from seeing a kingy bash some bait up but not eat a plastic there wasn’t much action. We headed back to camp, where all the kids were keen on going for a ride in the big Sea Jay. After burning around for a bit, it was time to say goodbye to my old man and my younger sister who was a bit over the whole camping situation. It was hard going back to the tinnie after fishing out of the big boat with a Minn Kota iPilot and side-imaging sounder but we had to make do with what we had. A few more fishing trips accounted for a couple of squire and another coral cod, but all things considered it was very quiet. One of the other boys at our camp hooked another
big shovelnose off the beach but couldn’t manage to get it up the bank. We did another day trip, this time heading down to Kooringal and back around the Sandhills. We visited the iconic Gutter Bar and had a good feed of seafood and chips, then climbed the Sandhills before spending the arvo at Tangalooma. Unfortunately it was our last afternoon on the island because we had to go back to work and reality the following day. The next morning dawned and I was filled with sadness. How on earth can a week pass so quickly? I began pulling down my swag as well as the gazebo and all the tables. I had no idea that packup was such a depressing time. We went for one last drive up to the Bulwer shop before coming back, saying goodbye to everyone and parking at Tangalooma to wait for the 3.30pm barge. Just like that, our trip had come to an end. I have travelled to locations such as Hinchinbrook Island, Rockhampton and Turkey Beach in the pursuit of fish and the enjoyment they bring to me, but it was so relaxing just visiting a location right on our doorstep. I am already counting down the days until I go back. Hopefully the coming months see the return of our Moreton Bay pelagics, as I’m itching to get into a bit of surface action on speedsters such as longtail tuna and spotted mackerel. Until next time, tight lines and sore arms.
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John made it into the metre barra club after landing his second barramundi in trying conditions.
In the windy conditions John found using spinning gear to be easiest.
Making the metre club
Playing a metre-long barramundi to the boat.
S
CHOOL holidays are possibly not the best time to be out fishing, with increased traffic at boat ramps and on the waterways, however we made the best of this busy period by heading north to Lake Proserpine (Peter Faust Dam).
A happy lad and happy dad. Rob and John showed off John’s first-ever barramundi.
The journey was timed beautifully on New Year’s Eve when we left our home on the southside of Brisbane at 3am and had the best run ever up the Bruce Highway, with no traffic or hold-ups, to arrive at our accommodation at 7pm.
Fishing Australia by LEEANN PAYNE
Yes, it took a little longer with kids but you have to factor in those countless pitstops when the kids are hungry or ‘busting’. After taking in the fireworks that night at Airlie Beach for New Year’s celebrations, a late start was made the next morning, unloading the vehicle and packing the fishing gear into the boat we borrowed from Rob’s uncle. Rob also had to adjust
the transducer pole/bracket that he made to fit a variety of boats because we wanted to use our Lowrance HDS Live unit and not the electronics already in the boat. The wind was puffing at our accommodation and on arrival at the dam the wind was pretty much howling. After launching we decided not to travel too far afield and fished a short
distance from the ramp in a bay that was somewhat protected from the onslaught of wind. We anchored adjacent to a weed bed that Rob had fished during the Zerek Barra Tour and cast our lures towards it. Fishing away from the timber in reasonably clear territory also meant it would be easier for the kids to get a barramundi to the boat without the chance of a fish busting us off on structure. The gusts of wind made the fishing difficult, with a constant belly in the lines, however it was still
possible to keep in touch with the 95mm Zerek Fish Traps. Our aim for the trip was to get the young fellow onto a barramundi because for over a year he has wanted to catch a barramundi and a marlin, as he has been fascinated by these two species. Casts were made for a couple of hours and hats off to John for persisting with the task and continuing to cast, even though the fishing was quite tough. Finally, Rob hooked a barramundi and a quick swap was made so John ☛ continued P62
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 61
Monduran fishing fantastic H
I all, Lake Monduran has been fishing well, with loads of good barra put on the deck.
Small barra like this bode well for the future of the Monduran fishery. This fish wouldn’t have been stocked too long ago, as they grow rapidly in healthy dams.
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g, Dennis Harold with hiss world record 44.62kg, from ht caug 134cm long, 107cm girth barra his kayak at Lake Monduran in 2010.
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Many of my clients have caught plenty of barra on their charters. I’m still using B52s, Happy Rock Softies, Maria and Saruna lures. Each lure needs to be worked in its own way as not all lures swim the same. The wind and barometer are the two things I use to determine where and how to fish. Water temp doesn’t mean that much to me as we catch barra in winter as well as summer. However, the lower the barometer, the harder it gets to catch them. The other thing is the longer the weather stays consistent, the easier it is for you to catch these fish. In a southeasterly wind, look in places including Insane Bay, Heart Bay, the point going into Heart Bay, the Two Mile, the top of Bird Bay and Jacks. If it’s blowing a northerly, try Cow Bay, the bottom of the South Arm in the little creek on the left, Barra Ally and Turtle Point. I look for wind direction to tell me which part of the bay I need to fish and the barometer tells me what type of lure to use (running depth) and colour. Then you need to work out what retrieve the barra want. I’m finding a very slow retrieve with stops and starts works well. I believe the lake will keep fishing very well. The only thing that may change is the weather and how much rain we do or don’t get. I’m looking forward to the cooler months because as well as being more comfortable on
Guide to Monduran by JAMIE BEIN
the water, I really think we’ve seen some of the lake’s best fishing during this period. One question I get asked often is whether barra stop feeding in the colder months. The answer is no. They must eat or they will die. They don’t change how or where they feed, it’s just like looking for them in the hotter months. Wind is your best mate on the water, so use it to your advantage. It’s easy to drive around until you see people catching barra and go back there when they are gone but that is not learning how to catch barra. I believe you should always try to work out how to catch them. It costs nothing to ask me what is working and I will tell people the areas where I have been catching barra but not the exact spot, so you will have to try to figure that out. My phone number is 0407 434 446 or drop me an email at jamiebein@ bigpond.com Barra can be very hard to work out. Your best bet is to go to where the wind is blowing into a bay or point. Sit in about 3m of water and just sit and watch your sounder. I like to look for as long as an hour, just counting the barra coming through and watching for bait moving around, working out at what depth they are moving through and how far apart they are. Then I get up and have a few casts to try to work out what they want. I have four rods all with different lures on them. One with a Happy Rock
Softie and the others with varying depths of hardbodies. I like my lures to be slow rising or horizontally suspending. I never fish with my drag tight because this can pull hooks and a tight drag will find the weakest link in your gear. I have a few spots that fish well on the same wind. It is important to do so because the barra may feed at one spot but not another. This takes time to work out, however, I find it’s more rewarding to find barra on the sounder and then work out what they want. I don’t go racing into any bay with my petrol motor, rather I use the MotorGuide electric. The electric gives the ability to quietly go in and tie up to a snag or tree. I have been here for many years as a guide and have made a lot of
friends who keep coming back to fish with me. I have owned Lake Monduran Barra Charters for a long time and have seen many changes since I began fishing here. Time on the water is something that helps you work out where the fish will be in different winds. I have made Lake Monduran Barra Charters and Lake Monduran Barramundi Charters Australia my own. I can take four people on my boat and I am the only boat on the lake that can do so. I would like to thank
everyone who has fished with me over the years and I look forward to seeing you all again soon. Finally, I hope you had a great Christmas and New Year and may we all catch more barra together. Please be safe and tight lines. You should begin planning for your Easter vacation at Lake Monduran now. For any more information, give Donna at Barra Havoc a call on 0427 880 826 or find the store between Tyrepower and the fire station in Gin Gin.
This young customer caught a cracker.
Solid barra have been holding among the trees.
Making the metre club ☛ from P61
was in charge of the rod. The drag was backed off so any sudden lunges wouldn’t see the rod go into the drink but John put in a great effort throughout the fight. Because John can’t reach as far as an adult, Rob assisted when the fish went around the motor and under the anchor rope, but otherwise our five year old managed to do the rest by himself. The smile on his dial was one that this proud parent will never forget. And neither will we forget his excitement and fist pumping the air. He had achieved his first barramundi and at 96cm, it was a very healthy and heavy Faust barra. And what a way to start 2019! The fishing was slow, so after lunch we headed
back to Rob’s uncle’s place. The following morning we arose early to try to beat the wind, but it was still blowing at 5am. Motoring over to the same spot, we once again anchored and peppered the edge of the weed bed with casts. Looking at the HDS Live sounder, fish could be seen swimming under the boat, however the second fish for our trip was hooked on the face of the weed bed on the Blackjack coloured Fish Trap. Again the rod was immediately given to John, and with Rob forgetting to back off the drag this time, John found the going a bit more difficult. Nevertheless, he gritted his teeth as the huge fish jumped and lunged boatside. At the end, the young fellow just couldn’t hang
onto the rod any further, and with the fish as buggered as John, Rob netted the fish. The fish was quickly measured at a metre and John was stoked to have caught another fish that moved him into the metre club, especially as such a fish has also eluded so many adults. Though the forecast was for 10 knots, each day the wind was much stronger, so for the rest of the trip we decided to do other activities instead. We mostly used spinning rods to cast the lighter lures in the breezy conditions and with John not yet mastering a baitcaster, he stuck to a spin rod for its ease of use. Camp Kanga, run by the local Lions Club, is the closest accommodation to the dam, otherwise accommodation options are available in nearby Proserpine.
A Zerek Fish Trap in Blackjack colouration was the undoing of this Peter Faust Dam barra.
A big barramundi on the deck is the dream for all those heading to the barra lakes.
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Fantastic freshwater fishing for anglers of any ability S
UMMER is a great time of year to be outdoors with family and friends and it’s also the best time of year to be on the water because the temperatures are hot and the fishing is accessible to every angler of any ability.
If you haven’t been out yet, make sure you start planning your next trip because this time of year presents the best chance to get onto trophy size bass and yellowbelly from Lake Barambah and Boondooma Dam. Boondooma Over the past couple of months the fish have moved into the thermocline and are a real target for avid trollers and casters. The 4.5-7.5m zone is where you will find them when you’re in search of some fish. The most productive areas in the dam are the deeper sections around the rocky walls and the buoy line near the dam wall. Your best bite time is from lunchtime through to dusk. The key to finding a good school is using your electronics to slowly sound over likely areas. If you don’t have a sounder, tie on a couple of deep divers or a 5/8oz spinnerbait and start trolling. If you get a bite or fish, troll around the area where you had the action. Remember to be patient when looking for fish, as it may take a while to locate them if you’re not familiar with the dam. Lately I’ve been catching my best-quality fish suspended in deep water. They have been sitting in the thermocline at 4.5-6m. I target these fish using a variety of baits, initially starting with a soft bait in the form of a 1/2oz-rigged soft plastic. I cast this out and begin counting to seven to let the lure sink into the strike zone. When the plastic is down to
Freshwater Impoundments by MATTHEW LANGFORD
the desired depth, I start a slow roll and add a few twitches every now and then to change the swimming pattern as the plastic glides through the water. I continue this until I get bites, but keep rolling the plastic until I get a solid hook-up. If this method doesn’t work, don’t be afraid to change your lure until you are happy. The bass can be fussy when they are suspended in the column. I like to try plastics first and then move to a reaction bait. My preferred reaction baits for summer suspended fish are 12-20g spoons such as the Nories Wasabi, Halco Twisty and Palms Slow Blatt. With these lures, make a long cast and let the lure sink for five to 10 seconds. Once the lure is down in the zone, start a fairly rapid retrieve with a few twitches every now and then. Doing so will force the fish to either ignore the lure or react out of instinct and bite as the bait zooms past. It’s a very effective method, with bass well over the 50cm mark regularly hitting the deck. Trollers are catching really nice fish using deepdiving hard-bodies and 5/8oz Bassman spinnerbaits around the same areas mentioned earlier. The key is to be patient. Bait fishers are catching good numbers of bass and yellowbelly using live shrimp caught from the dam. Try to anchor over prominent points in 4.5-6m and also try the timbered sections of the dam. Red claw have been a little slow but you will do well by dropping your pots around the
rocky banks of the dam and just wide of the weed beds. Lake Barambah Lake Barambah (BjelkePetersen Dam) has been very consistent over the past two months, producing good numbers of fish of varying species and sizes. The fish are in great quantity, but it takes a bit of moving around to put yourself onto quality. Areas to target are the deeper water out the front of the dam wall, wide of Bass Point and any main dam points that hold deeper water of about 4.5m. The fish have been sitting in 4.5-6m and on the bottom in the same zone. I’ve been catching most fish using a 1/2oz-rigged plastic with the same method as explained for Boondooma. Heavier spinnerbaits and chatterbaits have worked well on the bigger fish when focusing on the reaction bite. Big yellowbelly are being caught but they have been a bit quiet. The key to catching goldens when it’s quiet is to focus on fishing the bottom or the many weed banks that encompass the dam. In this case, tie on a blade and hop it gently off the bottom or out of the weed. Yellowbelly are real suckers for a hopped blade and it won’t take long to catch a few fish using this technique. Smaller bass also don’t mind this technique and it won’t be long before you’re in contact with nice fat golden perch. Trollers are getting good bags of fish trolling 5/8oz Bassman Spinnerbaits and deep-diving hard-bodies. Areas to target are the deep
water in front of the dam wall, Bass Point, Lightning Ridge and any prominent points. Bait fishers are catching plenty of fish just wide of the steeper rocky banks. Don’t try to head up the back of the dam because the water levels are low and you will get stuck in the mud. Red claw are about and coming from the steeper banks with scattered timber. Fishing charters As mentioned, the fishing of late has been fantastic, with most sessions producing good numbers of fish and great quality. BP Dam is fishing well for anyone wanting to learn how to fish suspended fish with soft plastics while Boondooma has produced a great mixed bag, so if you’d like to learn more about targeting a particular species, all you have to do is ask and make a booking. Don’t forget you can book a fishing charter with me on BP and Boondooma dams and many others in Queensland. If you’d like a great day out and all the info and knowledge to catch bass, yellowbelly and saratoga in our awesome dams, make sure you give me a call on 0408 658 592 and I’ll be happy to take you out for a great day’s fishing. You can also check out aus tralianfreshwaterfishing.com Until next month, tight lines and bend rods.
Ryan, Aaron and Carissa pulled big bass from Boondooma.
Carissa with a good size bass hooked on a spoon.
Rob with a couple of cracking bass caught by casting near the wall at Boondooma.
A nice bass enticed by slow rolling a green 1/2oz plastic.
y Guided b g f o rd n a L t t a M
Australian Freshwater Fishing Charters Bjelke-Petersen Dam is a great spot to take the family and get into solid bass.
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The ramp at Coolmunda is useable even at quite low water levels and is rarely too busy.
Launching at dusk for a nocturnal cod session. Always take a coat, even in midsummer because the nights can be shockingly cold.
Escaping the crowds at Coolmunda
W
A T E R WAY S (along with roads) tend to become rather crowded during the summer school holiday period, especially when the weatherman refuses to let it rain.
Golden perch in spawning colouration are eye-catching.
A decent cod taken after dark on a dark-coloured Malibu. Be prepared to put in the hours for fish like this at Coolmunda.
The current summer has seen perfect weather for holiday makers (awful weather for farmers), meaning those fishing locations closest to major population centres have become very, very busy. Some may find it hard to believe, but I’ve always been a little uncomfortable in crowds, so I get rather anxious about visiting local waters at this time of year. Communing with nature is one of the main rewards I seek during my excursions, and jet skis, wake boats and rowdy throngs of humans make that all but impossible. Hence, in summer I travel to less popular and/or more difficult to access locations for an angling fix. Leaning towards fresh water in recent years, I have had to shy away from the renowned hot spots I enjoy during the offseason. I avoid regular stomping grounds like Wivenhoe,
Fishing for Sport by NEIL SCHULTZ
Somerset, Leslie and even Glenlyon and instead visit sleeper lakes like Coolmunda. This location tends to fly under the radar and not regularly appear in print or anti-social media, possibly due to the hot and cold nature of its fishery. Coolmunda is basically a large shallow bowl, with a couple of creek channels weaving through it. Of course, just how shallow depends on the current water level (29 percent in early January). Those channels run north and southeast from the spillway and can be easily located with a sounder. Like most stocked lakes west of the range, species stocked include golden and silver perch along with Murray cod. Also in residence is an endemic population of eel-tailed catfish (jewfish to us old bushies). Carp were not present in the lake until recently, but have been introduced by idiots illegally using them as live bait. Most anglers visiting
Coolmunda tend to target golden perch because they are the most numerous angling species in the lake and a far more likely capture than a cod or silver. Specialist silver perch anglers are a rare breed, and possibly no longer exist, but this lake has the right features to produce large specimens for those willing to put in the effort. Many visitors target goldens using baits of live shrimp or frozen prawns but lures are as effective here as other lakes. Medium divers in the 60-80mm length range trolled along the dropoffs on the edges of those creek channels often produce goldens for us. I like brightly coloured lures for the golden perch in Coolmunda, with yellow and fluoro green common on the end of my lines. Most of my trips to Coolmunda are specifically aimed at Murray cod, even in the knowledge that those fish can be very few and far between. Pre-dawn starts are the
norm for us, allowing shallow-running or surface lures to be fished around shallow areas where the cod hunt at night. Likewise, late sessions during and after sunset allow the same techniques to be used while keeping us off the water when the highest amount of boat traffic is around. The same lures we find effective elsewhere for this style of fishing work in Coolmunda, with a couple producing better than average results. For a shallow subsurface lure, I find it hard to go past the Oar-Gee Malibu, a lure that just keeps on producing fish for us in rivers and lakes. When fishing on the surface, I have developed a soft spot for the large Predatek Jabberwok, an active paddler that presses the cod’s buttons. As I write this, the fishing has been OK in the lake, but it has a wellearned reputation for switching on and off quickly and dramatically, so may be deathly quiet by the time this goes to print. However, if you enjoy exploring new water or, like me, just wish to escape the rat race, consider a visit to Coolmunda.
Steve and Lyndell Otto win at Somerset Basstasstic Australian Bass Fishing Teams Championship
C
ONGRATULATIONS are in order for Team Barra Jacks made up of Steve and Lyndell Otto of the Sunshine Coast. These two had a blinder of a weekend recently at Somerset Dam during the Australian Bass Fishing Teams Championship run by Basstasstic Tournaments. They fished through 2018 under the new format for the event. All the anglers who competed over the year agreed it’s a winning formula. It’s simple: the best two bass caught on day one over two sessions are totalled and carried with you into day two. And on day two you can
Competition Report by RUSSELL NOWLAND
add to this score with two more bass. So it’s the total of your best four bass over two days, with the highest score winning. In the championship round, Team Barra Jacks beat off 23 other teams and put together a really good score on day one (967 points) and then followed it up with 935 points on Sunday for a total score of 1902. This saw them take home $2200 cash, the winners’ trophies along with two Trevor’s Leath-
er keyrings and special winners’ shirts. In second place was Team Sponsored by Centrelink, comprising Darren and Wayne Greenstreet of Brisbane. They had a good score of 867 points on Saturday and added to it on Sunday with a cracking 955 for a total of 1822. They picked up $1500 cash and two trophies. In third place was Team Davcon made up of Darren Conduit and Bruno Davi of Victoria. They had a great week-
end with a day one score of 935 points and 820 on day two for a total score of 1755. They won $1000 cash and the bronze trophies. Team Legend consisting of Wayne and Casey Blundell of the Gold Coast put together 952 points on day one and 771 on day two for 1723 overall and fourth place to score $800 cash. Team Renduit made up of Patrick Conduit of Brisbane and Brett Renz of Bundaberg scored 937 points on day one and 750 on Sunday for 1687, fifth place and $500 cash. For more results, check out the table. www.barrabasstasstic. com
Steve and Lyndell Otto were the champions for 2018.
Darren and Wayne Greenstreet brought home second place.
Team Davcon comprising Darren Conduit and Bruno Davi placed third.
Wayne and Casey Blundell snagged fourth place.
Gary McCabe and Gavin Sticklen won a couple of sounders.
Mick and Lane Thompson with their Redarc prize.
BASSTASSTIC TEAMS GRAND FINAL 1
Team Barra Jacks
Steve and Lyndell Otto
1902
2
Team Sponsored by Centrelink
Darren and Wayne Greenstreet
1822
3
Team Davcon
Darren Conduit and Bruno Davi
1755
4
Team Legend
Wayne Blundell and Casey Blundell
1723
5
Team Renduit
Patrick Conduit and Brett Renz
1687
Page 64 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
www.bnbfishing.com. au
Cracker bass in Borumba I
HOPE you had a great Christmas and are having a good start to the new year.
Over the past month I’ve had some insane Untapped Fishing Expeditions on Lake Borumba. I was lucky enough to receive an email from Noosa Fish Headz owner Grant asking about a trip with us to Lake Borumba. Grant runs his apparel company as well as small fishing tournaments. In the lead-up to his trip, Grant decided to run a lucky draw prize where we drew a winner out of a hat to join us on an Untapped Fishing Expedition. The lucky angler was
Freshwater Luring by CALLUM MUNRO
a Noosa fishing guru, young Flynn Sinclair. Flynn is a mad-keen angler who’s out fishing many days of the week chasing mangrove jack and other estuary species, so I was keen to get him onto some good Borumba fish. I picked the boys up early on a Friday morning at about 4.15am. The idea was to get in some surface fishing chasing saratoga early and then move out into deeper water to chase bass.
Grant from Noosa Fish Headz with a cracker.
Once we hit the water, I headed straight up to one of my favourite bays in the main basin to throw around surface lures. However, we didn’t even get a strike, which was pretty weird because it’s always been one of my goto surface fishing areas. After about 20 minutes I pulled the plug and headed up to another of my favourite areas: the Yabba arm. This arm is picturesque and can produce great fishing action. As we pulled up, we immediately noticed the amount of surface action including bait and saratoga stirring up the water, and it wasn’t long before Flynn got smashed. Using the old-faithful Cultiva Zip ‘n Ziggy, Flynn sight cast to a big toga but unfortunately missed the target. We fished this bank for the next two hours for three more good hits. Grant once had his lure caught in a tree and a toga came up and smashed it twice. Heaps of toga were around but we all know you miss a lot more than you actually land and that’s what happened – missing four toga in total. After this, we pulled the pin and went back to targeting schooling bass. We pulled up and were
sounding around the Junction area and it wasn’t long before we located a big school of bass. I’ve been designing new Ultra-Metal lures that will be hitting the market very shortly, and I had them tied on for the boys to try out. They’re essentially a spoon with an erratic action that attracts fish from a mile away. We had the boat holding in about 7.5m of water, with bass all over the screen. Casting the new UltraMetal jigs, the boys let the lures hit the bottom and slowly hopped them back to the boat. Grant hooked up straight away, only to get smoked into the trees and busted off. Unlike in winter, during the heat the bass are very aggressive. These summer bass can smoke you on the first hit, which is exactly what Grant found out. The biggest thing for the guys to know was always to keep the rod tip up as they let the lure fall back to the bottom to ensure they kept tension on the line. This is a must when hopping lures back. If you drop your rod tip too fast, the lure falls quicker and you lose line tension. By keeping the rod tip high and staying in contact with the lure, you’ll feel bites much more easily and also keep the lure in the fish’s face a lot longer. For the next hour the boys had a ball, landing about eight decent bass and getting smoked into the trees quite a few times. Lake Borumba is an amazing dam to fish, with loads of big saratoga and bass on offer. If you’re in the area and wanting to fish the lake, jump over to untapped fishing.com.au or call 0412 887 651. I’d be happy to take you out. Until next month, tight lines!
Three happy winners.
Basstasstic Bass Fishing Grand Final a great success
Y
OU can only hope when you put on a grand final that it all goes to plan.
With good money and prizes totally about $28,500 up for grabs at the end of 2018, we knew all the anglers would be out to win. In this case, the weather, wind and fish were all in favour of the 40 top senior anglers and four juniors who fished at Cania Dam for the 2018 Bass Fishing Grand Final. No doubt all anglers
Competition Report by RUSSELL NOWLAND
were after the $6000 and Nifty inflatable boat for first place. Every year a Calcutta auction is run, auctioning off the senior anglers. Yes, you get to buy who you think will win and the payout of the Calcutta runs to three places. You can buy as many anglers as your wallet allows.
BASSTASSTIC GRAND FINAL SENIOR WINNERS 1
Dylan Fryer
2527
2
Steve Otto
2484
3
Braden Schuch
2419
4
Ben Jensen
2388
5
Terry Allwood
2314
6
Brett Renz
2307
7
Barry Reynolds
2292
8
Kimberly
2267
9
Tanya Harch
2252
10
Mitchell Renz
2188
JUNIOR WINNERS 1
Layla Allwood
2178
2
Emma Wojtasik
1945
3
Trey Crumblin
1908
4
David Nowland BIGGEST BASS
Dylan Fryer
458mm
A huge pool was put together, with punters laying down $3500. With Cania looking so good in the morning on day one it was easy to get lost in the beauty of the place. This is the perfect finals dam. Session one saw a determined group of anglers fill the top 10 places. Ben Jensen, a local from Monto, hit pole position for the start of session two after scoring 867 points in the morning. Not far behind was Jordan Renz of Bundaberg with 840. Anything could happen from here and the second session would determine who was going to be very nervous overnight. In the end it was Dylan Fryer of Hervey bay who hit the lead at the conclusion of day one with a cracking 1619 points. Steve Otto of the Sunshine Coast was hot on his heels with 1615 points and Ben Jensen was hanging in there with 1589. Braden Schuch of the Sunshine Coast had ☛ continued P66
LAKE BORUMBA A MUST-DO EXPEDITION!
The author and Flynn boated some big Borumba bass. LLUM MUNRO
GUIDED BY CA
info@untappedfishing.com.au
Grant and Flynn held two of the biggest bass.
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0412 887 651 Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019 – Page 65
Who will get your preference votes?
H Chris Coulthard was ecstatic with his 106cm cod.
Nicholas and dad Vickta Lecei weighed in a monster cod.
ERE we go.
The Queensland Government has stated it will not even look at an allwaters fishing permit. So our government has said no to receiving 10c a day per angler 18 years and over (equating to $35 a year) or about $30 million annually from anglers across the state. You’ve got to be joking. So what’s going to happen is we’ll have to put up with the same conditions we’ve been dealing with since the current government came into power. The previous government did release a report on results from the MRAG Asia Pacific survey, which found that after 16 meetings across the state, all anglers were in favour of an all-waters licence. I seem to remember someone’s dad who lives in Inala being elected into a position within the Beattie Government as Minister for Agriculture and even back then the all-waters fishing permit fell on deaf ears. So out there in the electorates are one million angler votes just waiting for a group who is smart enough to come along and pick up the ball and run with it. You, the recreational angler,
Glenlyon Dam by BRIAN DARE
need to sit down and think about what won’t happen now the idea of the permit has been canned. We now won’t see $18 million spent on saltwater projects annually, $5 million towards Great Barrier Reef recovery funding and $3.75 million on freshwater fish restocking and projects. Oh yes, and of course $3.75 million set aside for state government administration costs. All the above for just 10c a day from each of the state’s recreational anglers. As I said, you’ve got to be joking to turn that down.
Glenlyon Dam In other news, out at Glenlyon Dam we ran some raffles over the Christmas and New Year break and our kind visiting anglers raised $8500 for fish restocking. Thank you to all those who contributed. Sadly we are forced to run these kind of events to raise funds due to inaction by government and an increased number of freshwater locations requiring stock. With this in mind, I, along with Debbie and our eight stocking group members, would like to say a very big thanks to all an-
glers and visitors who come to Glenlyon Dam and give us the support required. This includes the watersports people, jet ski riders, powerboats and sailboats. During the break we had our campers release 70,000 golden perch (yellowbelly) on New Year’s Eve to kick off our restocking period for 2019. With rainfall lacking out west, we see Glenlyon Dam heading down to a possible 30 percent capacity by the start of February. In conclusion, as I said earlier, think about who you vote for and ask your local member how he/she will use your vote. Keep in mind we only see these faceless few when elections come up. They might even come door knocking if you’re lucky.
GLENLYON DAM TOURIST PARK A great place to fish! s 0OWERED AND 5NPOWERED 3ITES s .O $OMESTIC 0ETS OR 'ENERATORS s +IOSK s )CE s 'AS s 0ETROL s !MENITIES "LOCKS AND ,AUNDRY s ""1S s (IRE "OATS s %&40/3 s &ISHING 0ERMITS
14 CABINS bookings necessary
GLENLYON DAM TOURIST PARK via STANTHORPE 4380 Contact Debbie or Brian Dare for more information or for bookings
Ph: 02 6737 5266 E: glenlyondamtouristp@bigpond.com
DAM LEVELS CURRENT AS OF 14/1/2019
DAMS
PERCENTAGE
AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN 5 Atkinson 5 5 5 5 5 93 Awoonga 92 90 88 87 85 Bjelke-Petersen * 19 17 17 17 16 15 Boondooma * 36 34 37 40 39 41 Borumba * 99 96 100 100 98 99 Burdekin Falls * 88 82 73 72 66 83 Callide * 69 67 64 64 62 84 Cania * 92 90 89 87 86 60 Coolmunda * 39 36 29 28 24 28 Dyer/Bill Gunn * 4 4 3 3 3 6 Eungella * 97 96 93 88 85 86 Fairbairn * 22 21 19 19 16 15 Glenlyon * 48 46 44 42 37 43 Hinze 94 92 96 97 96 97 Julius 89 85 83 80 78 75 Kinchant * 79 72 65 59 49 70 Leslie * 10 10 9 9 9 8 Macdonald 99 98 109 101 99 100 Maroon * 95 93 92 93 91 89 Monduran/Fred Haigh * 96 94 94 93 91 90 Moogerah * 82 79 77 76 72 78 North Pine/Samsonvale * 83 80 80 80 77 76 Peter Faust/Proserpine * 68 65 63 61 59 60 Somerset * 78 77 77 77 76 77 Teemburra * 96 92 89 85 79 83 Tinaroo* 88 82 76 71 67 82 Toonumbar 93 90 101 99 96 90 Wivenhoe * 73 70 70 69 67 67 Wuruma * 95 94 99 98 98 97 Wyaralong 96 95 95 94 93 93 For updates on dams, visit sunwater.com.au or seqwater.com.au *This symbol indicates that a Stocked Impoundment Permit is required to fish these dams.
Page 66 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
Tony Galacic landed an 83cm Murray cod during a morning’s fishing at Glenlyon Dam.
Kids like Tristan Lecei had plenty of fun over the holidays.
Basstasstic Bass Fishing Grand Final ☛ from P65
moved up the leader board too, posting 1581 points to be sitting in fourth. Ten anglers were in reach of the winner’s trophy. Talking to these anglers on Saturday night about what day two could bring was short but sweet as they all knew how easily things can change in a final. Drop a fish and your chances are gone. The morning of day two broke for the final session and it looked no different to day one. The beauty of Cania was there and the fear factor among anglers was high. At the end of the session, it was all about Dylan Fryer. He came to fish this final in a dinghy and fished on his own. He didn’t have anyone else to blame if something went wrong. Dylan had to make his own choices but envisioned the win and made it happen. He won the final with a score of 2527 points after
catching even bigger fish on day two with 458mm and 450mm to the fork bass. Dylan told me it was a dream to win and he was very humble but so excited that he was able to do it. During pre-fishing he found a couple of areas producing where he had caught fish in the past. He said Cania is a special place for all anglers who get to fish there. Dylan took home $6000 cash plus a Nifty inflatable boat kindly donated by Compact Fishing Australia. He also won a wallet hand made by Trevor’s Leathers with all his winning details on it and of course the golden winner’s trophy. Dylan even cleaned up the biggest bass cash pool with his 458mm to the fork bass. And to top it off, his dad bought him in the Calcutta for $135 and won $1750 cash. Second place went to Steve Otto who gave it a good run, bringing in two more good fish to total 2484 and win the silver number two trophy
Dylan Fryer fished exceptionally to win the grand final.
and $3000 cash after a big weekend. Gavin Sticklen bought him in the Calcutta for $165 and took home $1050. In third place was Braden Schuch who scored 2419 points and won $2000 cash and the bronze third place trophy. In the junior division, Layla Allwood of Wondai scored 2178 points and won $250 cash as well as a lure package and trophy with a total value of $800 and donated by Bill and Cindy Schloss. Emma Wojtasik of Nambour came in second place after scoring 1945 and won a Shimano Zodias spin rod and Shimano Sedona 1000 reel valued at $440 and donated by Shimano Fishing Australia. The third placed prize of a $100 BCF voucher donated by BCF was won by Trey Crumblin of Bundaberg with a score of 1908 points. A big thankyou must go to all the sponsors and helpers. You know who you are. Look out 2019!
Second place went to seasoned bass fisho Steve Otto.
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2019 Boondooma Dam Yellowbelly Family Fishing Competition
Subscription offer for February*
B
OONDOOMA Dam Yellowbelly Fishing Competition spokesman Terry Allwood says with Boondooma fishing extremely well, the 2019 event should set new records in both the long-standing gilled and gutted section as well as the catch and release component.
The first 50 subscribers this month will each receive The Great Outdoors 2019 Tide Guide!
Cash and other prizes will be presented at the end of each of the three sessions as well as overall competition winners at the conclusion of the event. Profits from the event are used to supplement fishing permit funds from the Queensland Government and to date about 4.5 million fingerlings have been stocked into Lake Boondooma. The catch and release category targeting Australian bass, yellowbelly, silver perch, jew and spangled perch is open to all
Valued at
$
8
RRP each
anglers who nominate. This category will now be catch, photograph and release to improve fish sustainability. The annual competition will be held on February 9 and 10, 2019. Entry costs will be $20 for adults and $5 for juniors aged 16 and under. Random lucky draw prizes will again be a huge drawcard to the many entrants that nominate at the event, with one lucky person walking away with a brand-new boat, motor and trailer package, and you don’t even need to fish to win. The ongoing support of the many generous sponsors will ensure a wide range of prizes and lucky draws are available for all competitors. Lucky draws are held at the end of each fishing session and at the Friday night briefing. All presentations and
lucky draws are conducted from event headquarters at the stocking association clubhouse. Food and drink stalls will be provided by local community groups over the weekend and the great camping facilities provided by the South Burnett Regional Council will be available for campers staying at the lake. The cost of camping fees and details of accommodation options at the lake can be found at southburnett.qld.gov. au or by calling the Lake Boondooma kiosk on 07 4168 9694. Additional information on the local area and past fishing competitions can be found on the Proston Online website proston online.info Please join in the fun at Lake Boondooma for a family weekend of fishing and camping. For additional information, please contact Terry Allwood on 0400 860 122.
* Valid until February 28, 2019. Picture for illustration purposes only.
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Page 68 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, February 2019
David Voorden is 2018 Mercury Technician of the Year
I
N a nail-biting final, David Voorden has beaten the best from Australia and New Zealand to earn the title of Mercury Marine’s 2018 Technician of the Year.
David, from Leisure Coast Marine in Fairy Meadow, outside Wollongong, battled his way past technicians from across Australia and New Zealand to collect the first prize of a brand-new Mercury 60hp EFI FourStroke outboard. In the final, held at Mercury Marine HQ in Melbourne’s Dandenong South, David and five other regional finalists had just 45 minutes each to diagnose and repair ‘faults’ in three different EFI engines – 40hp, 115hp and 135hp. They had to verify the fault, isolate the failed system and component, repair/replace the faulty component and then test the repair. Competitors were awarded points for their process and speed. When it was all over, only eight points separated the top three: 1. David Voorden (Leisure Coast Marine, NSW) with 153 points. 2. Joshua KammannSmith (Rifen Marine, Queensland) with 147 points. 3. Garry Watson (Midway Marine, Western Australia) with 145 points. “When they announced the third and second place-getters, I thought ‘bugger, I’ve missed out’,” David said. “Then they announced I’d won and it was a real surprise – a shock! “The calibre of the technicians was outstanding.
I was blown away to win just because of the experience and talent of the other guys in the room. “I would like to thank everyone who’s helped with my training, and I’d like to thank Mercury for giving us this opportunity to show our skills and get recognised for what we do.” The competition, in its second year, started with qualified technicians competing at a regional level in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and New Zealand before moving through to the final. The other regional winners were: • Cam Williams (Stihl Shop, New Zealand); • Craig Bell (Hodge Marine, SA); and • Andrew Chopping (Sealand Marine, Victoria). Additional highachievement awards were given to: • Ben Castle (Gulfland Marine, NZ); • Troy Walsh (SportsCraft Marine, NZ); and • Nigel Johnson (Wanaka Marine, NZ). Given the success of the first two years, the Technician of the Year competition is now firmly part
of the annual Mercury Marine calendar. Mercury senior director of Engine Products, Aftersales & Marketing Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific Nicholas Webb said, “All credit to the technicians who put up their hands to put their skills to the test.” “Once again the competition has showcased the knowledge and technical skills of the top Mercury technicians and the knowledge and skills required to provide the very best of support and service to Mercury customers. “David is a worthy winner of a super-competitive event, so congratulations to everyone who took part. “You guys are a crucial part of what Mercury’s all about.” Back at work already, the new champion hasn’t quite decided what to do with his new engine because while David loves spending time on the water, he doesn’t own a boat. “I go out a lot in my father-in-law’s boat and my brother-in-law has a boat as well, so maybe one of them will get a nice little present!” www.mercurymarine. com.au
www.bnbfishing.com. au
The game has changed… The ALL NEW Mercury 15-20hp FourStroke battery-free EFI range changes the way you will think about portable outboards. Lighter, more powerful, more efficient, more durable, more intuitive… unlike any other portable fourstroke.
See your authorised Mercury Marine Dealer today. BUNDABERG Adrians Marine Centre 28 Ritchie St, Bundaberg Q 4670 P: 07 4153 1819 E: adriansmarinecentre@bigpond.com W: adriansmarinecentre.com.au
INNISFAIL Coastal Marine & Outdoors 178 Edith St, Innisfail Q 4870 P: 07 4061 8272 E: joel@coastalmarine.net.au W: coastalmarine.net.au
17 William Murray Dr, Cannonvale Q 4802 P: 07 4946 7286 E: woc@whitsundayoutboardcentre.com.au W: whitsundayoutboardcentre.com.au
BRISBANE EAST Manly Harbour Marine 570 Royal Esplanade, Manly Q 4179 P: 07 3893 2199 E: info@manlyharbourmarine.com.au W: manlyharbourmarine.com.au
CAIRNS Aussie Marine 5 Hannam St, Bungalow Q 4870 P: 07 4033 8800 E: sales@aussiemarine.com.au W: aussiemarine.com.au
IPSWICH Ipswich Marine Centre 45 Huxham St, Raceview Q 4305 P: 07 3294 3944 E: enquiries@ipswichmarine.com.au W: ipswichmarine.com.au
BRISBANE Coorparoo Marine 57 Cavendish Rd, Coorparoo Q 4151 P: 07 3397 4141 E: info@coorparoomarine.com.au W: coorparoomarine.com.au
BRISBANE NORTH Brisbane Marine 306 Duffi field Rd, Clontarf Q 4019 P: 07 3889 3033 E: info@brismarine.com.au W: brismarine.com.au
CAPALABA Mike’s Marine 9 Smith Street, Capalaba, Q 4157 P: 07 3390 3418 E: admin@mikesmarine.com.au W: mikesmarine.com.au
TOOWOOMBA Water Skiers Warehouse 91-93 Neil St, Toowoomba Q 4350 P: 0400 379 514 E: info@waterskierswarehouse.com.au W: waterskierswarehouse.com.au
BRISBANE Karee Marine 1776 Ipswich Motorway, Rocklea Q 4106 P: 07 3875 1600 E: sales@kareemarine.com.au W: kareemarine.com.au
BRISBANE NORTH Cunningham Marine Centre 23-25 Snook St, Redcliffe Q 4019 P: 07 3284 8805 E: ian@cunninghammarinecentre.com.au W: cunninghammarinecentre.com.au
GOLD COAST Onshore Marine Horizon Shores Marina, Woongoolba Q 4207 P: 07 5546 2480 E: onshoremarine@ozemail.com.au W: onshoremarine.com.au
DEALERSHIP TODAY!
AIRLIE BEACH
SEE US FOR SUPER SUMMER SPECIALS McLay 611 Crossover HT
FREE! colour sounder
$86,000 SPECIAL!
Mercury 150hp 4-stroke
Tournament 1900 Centre Console
SPECIAL!
Tournament 1900 Bluewater
FREE! colour sounder
• Bait board • Kill tank • Deck wash • Dual batteries • Dunbier dual-axle trailer • Safety gear and more!
$68,000
McLay 591 Sportsman HT
$67,000 SPECIAL!
SPECIAL!
• Bait board • Kill tank • Deck wash • Dual batteries • Dunbier trailer • Safety gear and loads more!
Mercury 150hp 4-stroke
• Stainless targa • Live bait tank • Electric winch • Redco alloy trailer • Smooth water safety gear
Tournament 1750
NEW!
Mercury 150hp Pro XS 4-stroke
$74,500
Mercury 135hp 4-stroke
Gulf Runner 550
NEW!
$53,000 SPECIAL!
$48,000
Mercury 100hp CT 4-stroke
SPECIAL!
Mercury 135hp 4-stroke
• 185-litre fuel tank • Plumbed live bait tank • Padded side coamings • Huge front cast deck • Three hatches
• Stainless steel rocket launcher • Live bait tank • Redco trailer • Smooth water safety gear
• Bait board • Live bait tank • Redco dual-axle trailer • Front cast deck • QLD regos plus more
Gulf Runner 490
Breezaway 440
Renegade 440 Side Console
SPECIAL!
Mercury 90hp 4-stroke
• Full pod transom • Reverse chine • Live well • Bait tank • Electric motor mount • QLD regos plus more
$24,500 SPECIAL!
SPECIAL!
Mercury 60hp 4-stroke
• Live bait tank • Live well • Painted sides • Dunbier braked trailer • QLD regos
• Bait board • Bimini • QLD regos • Safety gear
UNBEATABLE UNBEATABLE
115HP CRUISE SPEED 115HP FUEL CRUISE EFFICIENCY SPEED FUEL EFFICIENCY MERCURY’S NEW 115HP VS. CURRENT FOURSTROKE AND OPTIM VS. CURRENT FOURSTROKE AND OPTIMAX FOURSTROKE g/kWh
MERCURY MERCURY 75-115HP 75-115HP FOURSTROKE RANGE FOURSTROKE RANGE
$24,500
Mercury 50hp 4-stroke
340
340
330
330
320
320
310
310
300
g/kWh
$34,000
DELIVERS UP TO 14% BETTER CRUISE SPEED ECONOMY
300
290
290
280
280
270
270
260
260
PREVIOUS MERCURY FOURSTROKE 1.7L
BSFC dyno testing; data is an average of 60%-80% rated PREVIOUS MERCURY NEW MERCURY engine speed based NEW MERCURY MERCURY OPTIMAX OPTIMAX on standardMERCU ICOMIA emissions test. FOURSTROKE 115hp 1.7L 2.1L 11 2.1L 115hp 115hp Photos for illustration purposes only.
Can’t make the yard? Shop online! For quality new and used boats! www.kareemarine.com.au
1776 Ipswich Motorway, Rocklea | Call 07 3875 1600