BNB Fishing mag | Apr 2019 by bnbfishing

Are shark numbers increasing?

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April 2019 Print Post Approved PP100001534 Volume 30, Number 4

Moreton Bay sweetlip

Flathead on lures 80 Series Toyota LandCruiser build

Tips for jewfish

Offshore window opens for anglers

Gold Coast mackerel

Boat review

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 1

2-Stroke 2019 Runout!

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Inside this month Moreton Bay sweetlip

Luring jewfish

P18

Tin Can Bay offshore

Bass in dams

P32

those days on an outgoing tide, and am happy to pass on my observations for readers. For your information bank, check out the aerial photo of the bar taken by a Seair Pacific pilot on the daily route from the Gold Coast to Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort. It was taken just after low tide on Tuesday, March 5 with a solid 2m

OUR COVER

TAYLER CUMES boated this beautiful sweetlip offshore from Coolum using the finest pillies and gangs from Allround Angler at Caboolture. To find out more about targeting sweetlip, check out BRIAN WEBB’S article, Page 7.

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

* continued P4

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swell running and you can see the areas of the bar I am referring to as you read on. The first day of settled swell and seas at the end of February had me excited because I was just itching to see what changes had occurred since the cyclone. First up, when rounding the corner at Amity Point and heading out to the southern entrance I was impressed by how efficiently the cyclone had cleaned the sand off those inside banks. Yep, a little spur of sand is out off the beach as per normal, but once past it you’ll find plenty of good water until reaching the corner where the beach from Amity turns south at Flinders Beach. From this corner looking ahead there is still about a kilometre to travel until reaching safe water once past the outer banks and this is where the fun begins. In a roaring run-out tide from the corner of the beach all I could see out the back was heavy white water from the swells breaking all over those outer banks and a massive churning sea-full of pressure waves generating random waves breaking everywhere in between. Among this it was obvious from the outer bank wave action that a slightly deeper section of channel was right on the line of my pre-cyclone marks, but in these conditions on the run out tide it was certainly off-limits as far as heading outbound was concerned. Last run before heading home most days I went down the outside of the bar to the Amity channel and crossed it inbound once the tide had turned and was flooding. It was good for my crews

ATI ON

by BILL CORTEN

It certainly put paid to some of my fishing plans during that period and it has moved a lot of sand around South Passage Bar, making for some interesting changes. Since Oma and up to the time of meeting this deadline, I have spent four days working around the bar in swells ranging from a solid 1.6m to an interesting 2.4m, the bulk of

Offshore

T’S been a wild ride over the past month, with plenty of sea action and gale-force winds churned up by cyclone Oma.

FIS

South Passage Bar sees big changes

South Passage Bar......................by Bill Corten........................................P3 Moreton Bay sweetlip................by Brian Webb......................................P7 Finding flathead on lures...........by Sean Conlon..................................P10 Winter whiting in autumn.........by Sean ‘Skip’ Thompson................P12 Moreton Bay fishing options....by Lachie Baker.................................P14 Action in April...............................by Keith Stratford...............................P15 Northern Moreton Bay...............by Mark Templeton...........................P16 Marvellous Moreton Bay...........by Peter Herbst...................................P18 Plenty to chase on Gold Coast....by Wayne ‘Youngy’ Young...............P20 Game fishing tackle....................by Barry Alty.......................................P21 Trevally around Gold Coast.......by Brad Smith.....................................P22 Mackerel mayhem......................by Gavin Dobson................................P24 Ballina Region.................................. by Brett Hyde............................................P25 Bream and blackfish...................by Gary ‘Squidgie’ Palmer..............P26 Land-based game fishing..........by Tye Porter.......................................P27 Magic mulloway..........................by Caine Goward...............................P28 Pelagic fun continues.................by Grant Budd.....................................P29 Offshore action.............................by Jack O’Brien.................................P30 Noosa to Fraser Coast................by Craig Tomkinson..........................P31 Tin Can Bay....................................by Rick Waugh...................................P32 Fraser fish firing...........................by Tri Ton..............................................P33 Bundaberg Estuaries..................by Joel Johnson.................................P34 Bundaberg Region.......................by Brad Young....................................P35 Lunacy.............................................by Peter Layton...................................P36 Mount Isa barra............................by Helen Abdy....................................P37 Trip to Tassie.................................by Leeann Payne...............................P38 National 4x4 Outdoors Show, Fishing & Boating Expo...............P39-41 Boating & Marine..................................................................................P42-45 Boat Review..................................by Daniel Tomlinson.........................P42 Bass Kayak Open.........................by Lex Irwin........................................P46 Readers Forum..............................................................................................P47 Wilson Puzzle page.....................................................................................P47 Charter Directory.................................................................................. P48,49 Fish on offer in Gladstone.........by Gary Churchward.........................P50 Awoonga Dam barra...................by Lachie Baker.................................P50 Land-based barra.........................by Jason Kidd.....................................P51 Capricorn Coast............................by John Boon......................................P52 Stanage Bay..................................by Pee Wee.........................................P53 Jungle trekking for fish..............by Jeff Wilton.....................................P54 Shark numbers.............................by Dave Donald..................................P55 Cape York.......................................by ‘Billabong’ Bazz Lyon..................P56 Hunting wild pigs........................by Neil Schultz...................................P57 Camping..........................................................................................................P58 Recipe.............................................by Melissa Frohloff...........................P58 Caravanning trip...........................by Todd Eveleigh...............................P59 LandCruiser build.........................by Greg Bell........................................P60 Monduran Dam.............................by Donna Gane...................................P62 Borumba bass...............................by Callum Munro...............................P63 Bedford Weir.................................by Glenn Hobson...............................P64 Freshwater Impoundments.......by Matthew Langford.......................P65 Glenlyon Dam................................by Brian Dare......................................P66 Trading Post..................................................................................................P67 Subscription form.......................................................................................P68

PRO TE CT

South Passage Bar has undergone further changes since cyclone Oma. Photo: Seaair Pacific

P65

HIN G T R A D E

NE factor that dramatically impacts fishing and boating, and one we have absolutely no control over, is the weather.

Last month those throughout southeast Queensland were preparing for tropical cyclone Oma, which turned into a bit of a non-event, except for the massive swell it produced on the east coast. More recently we have had solid rainfall, which we have been in desperate need of. I believe the old saying: “A drought on land means a drought at sea” holds some truth, so the current rain events dumping plenty of water around the place should bode well for a good fishing year ahead. The rain seems to have sparked the prawns into action at least, with good hauls coming from a variety of locations. One thing that is very noticeable regarding the prawns is the quality. I’ve done a couple of short trips and while I haven’t ‘smashed’ them, the prawns caught have been top shelf with a big average size. This might be due to the prawning season starting a little later than normal, so the prawns have had a better chance to do their business and fatten up. Either way it is a win for the fishos when quality prawns are filling the nets. Make sure you remember your bag limit of a 10-litre bucket per person and be patient out there because sometimes over 100 boats can be working one area chasing these tasty morsels. On that point, don’t be fooled into thinking the prawns are only where all the boats are because sometimes it can be much more productive to search elsewhere. If you do find a school, get several casts in quickly because it doesn’t take long for a stampede of boats to start heading your way. As mentioned, the rain should improve the fishing over the coming months, however, there appears to have been devastating impacts in the Caboolture River in the form of a significant fish kill. At the time of writing I was unsure what caused the tragic kill, but stay tuned to the BNB Facebook page and we will keep you updated as more information comes to hand. You can also find pictures and video of the fish kill on our Facebook page. Reports have indicated bream, flathead, mangrove jack, threadies, jewfish and even barramundi have been found dead in the area. Ben Collins

February prizewinners

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 3

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South Passage Bar sees big changes

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to see how much the bar had cleaned up on the incoming tide. It also reinforced the skill sets they had learnt earlier in the day further north, by having one of the crew bring in the boat for the last run, safely surfing the backs of some nice waves over the shallow banks until we reached

the comfort of clean water again. Since the cyclone, an incredible amount of sand has been deposited on the outer banks of the southern channel. It is now much shallower and when a generous swell is running from the east it really is a no-go zone for the average person unless you are crossing near the top of the tide.

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On a small swell day, dependent on the tide, it will be safer, but beware of waves standing up unexpectedly on the outer bank. I regularly see a lot of fishos heading out through this southern channel as the nearest exit point to quickly reach the mackerel grounds off Point Lookout, but it really isn’t worth it on a dodgy day when a much safer option is up around the middle channel. Speaking of which, the big sand island in the middle of the bar is still there, but the sand has been scoured off and it no longer protrudes out of the water at any stage of the tide. Taking the entrance south of the sand island, deep water is still on the inside and it quickly fans out into a big series of random sandbanks. When the swell is up, you can’t safely go out across the shallow sandbank out the front and if you head towards the southeast, be prepared for a game of dodgems working around the incoming swells. Not for the faint hearted and a poor choice of channel when you consider the safer option of heading out immediately north of the sand island. The cyclone has flushed the sand out of the inside of the sand island on its western side, making that area much more passable now in larger, non-trailerable craft, and the bonus is a deeper and wider channel to slip into immediately north of the sand island. It is the quickest entry point into deep water across the whole bar and has been very workable on an ebbing tide. Up at the top end of the bar, the channel to the

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to turn things around, we will have to go hard too, and for example when WA introduced certain closures it was for all sectors, regardless. Meaning if you were in a sector where the closure would affect your business, tough luck, the closures applied to everyone and the purpose was to rebuild the fishery and not be concerned about any selfish individual’s bank balance. I support that type of concept here to rebuild stocks, providing Fisheries maintains good monitoring and data sources to measure impacts. Funny isn’t it, the only snapper closure in Queensland in the past was at the wrong time of year and only affected recreational fishers. If only something better was done back then and maintained to halt the decline in the fishery, but at least now the working group has agreed to recommend urgent action for snapper and pearl perch for all sectors. Interestingly for snapper, the Rocky Reef working group agreed on a onemonth winter closure in the spawning period, reduction of the commercial catch by 30 percent and a boat limit of two to three times the in-possession limit for recreational and not much effort reduction for the charter sector. With pearl perch they suggested a size increase and a reduction in the bag limit from five to four. It must have been a lively meeting, with one member recorded as dissenting on the pearl perch proposal. Anyway, they are only suggestions from the working group and it is up to Fisheries staff members to develop their position and decide what they consider the best way forward prior to going to consultation, but at last they seem determined to put consistent measures in place across all sectors to turn these important Queensland fisheries around. I definitely suggest BNB readers access the DAF and fish.gov.au websites and have a good read of both documents to acquaint themselves with the developments. This is bound to get more interesting.

Photo courtesy of Vindicator Boats.

For product information and to find your nearest authorised dealer contact Graham HyDrive Engineering Pty Ltd – Queensland Unit 12, 73-75 Shore Street, Cleveland 4163 T: 07 3821 6580 E: qld@hydrive.com.au W: hydrive.com.au Page 4 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

north of Short Point is still there and is suitable to access on small to midrange swells. Near low tide I encountered a few close-out swells that were about 2m right across the whole northern channel entrance and had to take evasive action. It is still a good channel though. While many fishos don’t head out at low tide in a 2m swell, if you do, be vigilant as you approach the outermost section. Apart from all the sand dumped on the outside banks of the southern channel, the cyclone has actually improved access to all other channels on the bar. Remember, if you get to the bar and it doesn’t look safe, don’t go until it does. Rocky Reef Working Group update We’ve seen some interesting action off the water, with the second Rocky Reef Working Group advisory committee communique available online at daf.qld.gov.au (search for ‘rocky reef’). Also online and a very interesting read too is the just-released Status of Australian Fish Stocks report (fish.gov.au/Juris diction/Queensland). Of particular interest to Queenslanders is that two of the three overfished (depleted) fish stocks in Queensland are in the Rocky Reef fishery. You guessed it, snapper and pearl perch. The other is scallops. The fisheries monitoring people produced interesting data that shows snapper and pearl perch stocks are under plenty of pressure, with zero signs of rebuilding and all sectors have a strong reliance on the younger fish supporting the fishery. Not good, and for those still in denial about our snapper problem, the game is up. Interesting that NSW and Western Australia fisheries people attended the meeting too, giving some hope of cross-border consistency for the underthreat species. I know WA fisheries folk went in hard a few years ago when I was over there and thank goodness they did because their snapper fishery is now showing signs of improving. If Queensland is going

The author with a recent offshore snapper on a rare day of no wind and no current.

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No seatbelt exemption at boat ramps and boat ramp car parks

HE following is a letter written by Queensland Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey in response to groundwork done by Edward Bones advocating a change to the rules governing the wearing of vehicle seatbelts when using boat ramp facilities (August edition of Bush ‘n Beach Fishing magazine).

The response was addressed to Member for Greenslopes Joe Kelly who wrote to the Transport Minister on Mr Bones’s behalf. “Dear Mr Kelly, thank you for your letter received on November 5, 2018 on behalf of Mr Edward Bones, about the

road rule requirements for seatbelts when driving on a boat ramp. Please thank Mr Bones for taking the time and effort to bring forward his suggestion regarding an exemption from the requirement to wear a seatbelt when using a boat ramp. The Department of Transport and Main Roads takes road safety very seriously and notes Mr Bones’s concerns, that it is unsafe for the driver of a vehicle to wear a seatbelt when driving on a boat ramp. The Queensland Road Rules provide that if the driver’s seat in a motor vehicle is fitted with an approved seatbelt, the driver must wear the seat-

belt properly adjusted and fastened when the vehicle is moving, or is stationary but not parked, unless the driver is exempt from wearing a seatbelt. There are limited exceptions such as: • If the driver is reversing the vehicle; and • If the driver has a medical certificate stating they cannot wear a seatbelt for medical reasons. There is no specific exemption from the requirement to wear a seatbelt for driving on a boat ramp. However, the seatbelt exemption for drivers who are reversing is considered sufficient to cover boat users who are required to reverse to attach a trailer and position the car to launch their boat or

pull it from the water. Drivers need to make sure their seatbelt is securely fitted and fastened prior to driving forward. A specific exemption for seatbelt use on boat ramps would be difficult to implement given that determining the point at which a boat ramp ends and becomes the car park or road is ambiguous. All legislative exemptions need clear evidence or rationale to be considered and any ambiguity would result in enforcement challenges for the Queensland Police Service. The current seatbelt rules in Queensland are consistent with those in other Australian jurisdictions and are in place to help reduce serious injury

and death on the roads. Failing to wear a seatbelt remains a significant contributor to the Queensland road toll each year and is one of the ‘Fatal Five’ driver behaviours, along with speeding, drink and drug driving, fatigue and distraction. Even at low speeds, not wearing a seatbelt can increase the risk of serious injury or fatality. While I appreciate Mr Bones’s suggestion, I do not currently consider there to be a need to amend the existing requirements for wearing a seatbelt. I trust this information helps with your response to Mr Bones. Yours sincerely, Mark Bailey MP.”

‘Fishal recognition’ technology helps monitor commercial catches

U T T I NG - edge technology including fish image recognition is being used to automatically collect information on commercial fishing in ground-breaking research funded by the Queensland Government.

Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said the feasibility stage of the Advance Queensland Small Business Innovation Research program had produced promising results. “The two successful

applicants Anchor Lab and Fish-e have been working closely with Fisheries Queensland to develop high-tech systems to monitor commercial fishing location, effort and catch,” Mr Furner said. “Electronic monitoring technology, including cameras, sensors and image recognition software, has been installed on a range of commercial fishing vessels over the past six months. “Electronic monitoring is used in commercial fishing fleets across the world, but fisheries agen-

cies often have to review video footage manually. “This project aims to automate that process and eventually provide a ‘digital observer program’ and even replace logbooks that commercial fishers currently fill in.” The two companies were awarded Queensland Government funding of $278,300 for the feasibility stage of the SBIR challenge. Following the successful feasibility stage, they will both share in $614,200 for the project’s proof of concept phase

over a 12-month period to test and refine the technology. Innovation Minister Kate Jones said the SBIR program was a win-win for innovative companies and the government, allowing them to work together on a product or service that was needed but not previously available. “This program is about working with Queensland’s best and brightest to solve some of the biggest challenges facing the government,” Minister Jones said. “We’re supporting in-

novative businesses to bring their cutting-edge products into the public service and ultimately help us deliver better outcomes for Queenslanders. “This high-tech fish monitoring system will be a valuable tool for Queensland’s growing fisheries industry and could appeal to a global market.” Advance Queensland is the State Government’s $650 million whole-ofgovernment initiative, supporting jobs across a range of industry sectors.

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New fisheries laws mean stronger compliance on the Sunshine Coast

EW fisheries laws passed by the Queensland Government mean Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol officers will have increased powers to crack down on black market fishers.

Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said making sure fishers followed the rules was critical to maintaining fish stocks. “Our reforms are a crucial step in building a legacy of a sustainable fishery for our children and grandchildren and protecting jobs in our commercial and recreational fishing industries,” Mr Furner said. “We have more compliance officers on the beat and we’ve made sure they have the powers they need to come down hard on black marketers.” Mr Furner said black market operators damaged the fishing lifestyle for the vast majority who did the right thing and followed the rules. “There is no excuse for black market fishing and we won’t stand for it,” Mr Furner said. “The opposition wanted to give black market operators a five-day get-outof-jail-free card but we stood firm to give QBFP officers the powers they need to get tough.” www.bnbfishing.com. au

Mr Furner said the Sunshine Coast was not immune to black marketers attempting to plunder the public fishing resource for their own illegal gain. “Just a couple of years ago two recreational fishers copped an $8000 fine after being caught on Teewah Beach at Noosa with more than 3500 pipis,” Mr Furner said. “The possession limit for pipis in Queensland is 50 per person, so the two fishers had in their possession 3491 more pipis than is legally permissible.” Mr Furner said, however, the QBFP was reporting increased compliance by fishers following operations in the Noosa district targeting pipi possession limits. “To date in the current financial year, QBFP Noosa officers have undertaken eight patrols to the Teewah Beach area either as part of scheduled patrol operations or in response to complaints,” Mr Furner said. “During these patrols, officers inspected 74 people and found all complied with possession limits for molluscs. “QBFP will continue patrols in the area in response to increasing calls from the community to protect fisheries resources and support for our compliance monitoring activities through the

Fishwatch reporting service. “Possession limits exist to conserve and enhance the community’s fisheries resources and fish habitats to promote ecological sustainability. “Taking large amounts

of fisheries resources such as pipis is often an indication of black market supply, which threatens the sustainability of the community’s fisheries resources.” For more information on Queensland fishing rules,

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This quality spangled emperor put up a great fight.

Moreton Bay sweetlip F ISHING around the shallow reefs of Moreton Bay will probably see two types of sweetlip turn up.

The grass sweetlip (minimum size 30cm, max possession of 10) and spangled emperor (minimum 45cm, max possession five) are some of the tastiest fish getting around. They are also some of the best fighting fish you’ll encounter for the size. Grassies inhabit the same sort of areas as juvenile snapper and bream, while spangles are in deeper waters and only in certain areas of the bay with good drop-offs. I like to target grassies on a rising tide in 3-8m of water, while for spangles I like water of 10m-plus. I use a variety of baits to target both species, with small plastics ideal for the grassies and small live bait for spangles. Both can be targeted with either plastics or bait. If bait is your choice and you are up in the shallows then berley is a must. You’ll draw in other species such as squire and bream and on most trips you’re likely to attract a goldspotted cod. Small whole squid and squid strips would be my first choice,

Moreton Bay

by BRIAN WEBB

then small green prawns, and they’re both attracted to strips of mullet or a side of slimy mackerel. I use a two-hook snelled rig for both. In very shallow water I don’t use a sinker, which allows the bait to drift slowly down through the water column. For plastics, bait profiles and paddle tail designs in the 2”-3” size range in watermelon or grey/white colours are effective.

If the current is not allowing your bait to get down, just use a small sinker and a 1/8 oz jig head with the plastic. When deeper and chasing spangles, 2”-3” jerks shads and 3” Berkley Gulp Crazy Legs have worked on occasion. When a sweetlip comes onto your bait or plastic, the bite is very subtle. They will rarely belt your bait. * continued P8

A good size spangled emperor from Bulwer.

A grassy from the Rainbow Channel.

Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 7

Moreton Bay sweetlip * from P7

This healthy spangle came from Myora.

A good haul of grassies.

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Use a slow retrieve with your plastics. Both rods I use for grassies have 10-12lb braid with 20lb leader. Not going too heavy will allow your smaller plastics a better action. When targeting spangles I have a rod equipped with 30lb braid and 20kg leader. As you’re targeting the drop-offs, that’s the first place they will head to. The waters in Moreton Bay are mostly fairly shallow and what we’re looking for is rubble patches, bommies and other goodlooking structure. The best bite times for both fish are dusk and dawn. When the sun rises higher it pays to move a little deeper and cast back into the shallows with a slow jerking retrieve. The productive shallow areas in the bay include Mud Island, Green Island and the shallows around the northern end of Peel Island. I have also on occasion caught grassies on the eastern side of Coochiemudlo Island. One of the better places is the Wellington Point drop-off running from the leads out of Manly down towards Raby Bay. During the peak bite times of dawn and dusk most hits come on the drop, so plastics won’t even make it to the bottom. When retrieving plastics from the shallows I use a jerking motion to imitate an injured fish. For spangles, you can catch the odd one on the eastern side of Mud, along the Wellington Point drop-off and around Peel and Harry Atkinson Artificial Reef, but the two best places are the drop-offs from Myora up the inside of the Rainbow Channel and the drops-offs from Curtin Artificial Reef up to Bulwer. Moreton Bay is filled with gravel patches, reefy structure and the odd bommie and all will hold fish and bait during different parts of the day and tide. I have tried a few blades but haven’t had much suc-

cess with them as yet. By-catch when targeting sweetlip includes squire, cod and tuskies. Soft plastics are great shallow reef lures. During the peak bite times of dawn and dusk, most hits come on the drop, so the plastic won’t even make its way to the bottom. This is especially true with snapper, which love eating the lure on the drop. Sweetlip however prefer the lure on the bottom, so

once the plastic touches down, hop it a few times before retrieving it. When retrieving the plastic from the bottom we use a jerk, jerk and pause action, then wind a few metres. Pause and free spool the line back a couple of metres. Keep repeating this back to the boat. Sweetlip will often follow the lure up off the bottom and then hit it as it comes back to them. When fishing the shal-

lows it’s important to minimise noise such as banging on the hull and excess anchor noise. We will usually drift across structure because anchoring is a sure way to turn fish off. Slow drifts are best and we have definitely done better on sweetlip when there is less run. So grab your spin gear and head out to the shallows, especially during the dawn and dusk periods, and have some fun chasing a few sweeties.

A squire and a grassy from the shallows.

A typical small grass sweetlip from the Wellington Point shallows.

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WITH SEAN CONLON

Simon’s 58cm lizard smashed a hard-body Bulldog Crank.

Finding flathead on lures W ELL the weather really hasn’t played the game over the past month.

We did a couple of offwater tuition sessions, which have been great, but unfortunately I only got one on-water practice course out. It still went well, with the client learning plenty of new areas to fish and all the techniques for chasing snapper and flathead on

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Southern Moreton Bay by SEAN CONLON

plastics and hard-bodies. We went over the types of areas in which to chase flathead and fished for them on the high and low tides to show the ground that is created by those tides. We also went through some sounder work to help him with his snapper fishing. This customer had a Lowrance Carbon 9” sounder but unfortunately it wasn’t set up very well, to the point where using the side and down scan and trying to see targets on the sonar was pretty much impossible. Whoever had owned the unit before him had pressed that many buttons it was in an absolute state of disarray, so we spent a bit of time setting everything up so we could see fish on his sonar and also spot structure and wrecks on the side scan and down scan. He was pretty pleased about this because as we all know, when targeting snapper and reef fish, if you can find wrecks and structure and mark them on the GPS you’ll have much more luck. I also like to fish a lot of rubble ground, so now I was able to show him what rubble grounds look like on the sounder. Then we used the structure overlay on our GPS to help him map areas more efficiently. This is a massive help when looking at new ground or going over ground you thought you’d previously scanned thoroughly. By using this method you can do pretty much a whole area without miss-

ing anything. It is quite a good little technique. We went through a few techniques for different fish and then it was time to get him a feed before we went home, so had a quick troll for a flathead on the top of the tide and were lucky enough to get a quick feed. Other than that session, we squeezed out one other charter with some of my regulars and chased a few flathead, which I’m quite happy to say are still around in reasonable numbers for this time of year. We chased flatties early in the morning on the low tide, casting around a few plastics and within about 20 minutes Simon got a nice 61cm flathead cast-

ing a Zerek Live Flash Wriggly. We cast for about another half an hour but the tide had pushed in a bit too far, so we changed techniques to trolling and it didn’t take long for Simon to pick up a 58cm flathead on a Zerek Bulldog Crank. The tide wasn’t quite up to the mangrove line yet and we only had 30-40cm of water on the bank, so I decided to do something a little different and troll really shallow water using the electric. We made a few passes and Simon hooked up again on a good fish but unfortunately about halfway through the fight the hooks pulled and Simon had one of those stories of the big one that got away. It went pretty quiet then, so we made a change to another spot. A bit more water was on * continued P11

A nice 74cm flathead caught trolling a Zerek Tango Shad.

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Finding flathead on lures * from P10

the bank, so we went back to conventional trolling with the outboard rather than the electric. It didn’t take too long before Rebecca hooked up on a solid flathead and soon a 57cm lizard was in the net. After a lovely lunch and a bit more fishing it was time to head home with a nice feed in the Esky. Usually this would be the end of the article but Simon losing that fish kept playing on my mind, so I organised for a mate and I to head out the next morning. We missed the early morning bite period by trying a few different things but as the water started to move up on the banks I knew exactly where I wanted to be. We got to the spot and we tied on a couple of hard-bodies. Adam had the Bulldog Crank and I had a Zerek Tango Shad. I made our first pass and nothing, so we swung around and made our second pass over the area where Simon had lost his fish and whack, Adam was on. Before we knew it a nice 62cm flathead was in the net. After a few quick pics we swam the fish and released it to fight another day. We got the lures back

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in the water and made another run when Adam’s rod loaded up with a solid fish but unfortunately he couldn’t keep the hooks in the big girl and she got away. I spun the boat around and we made another pass and I got a solid whack on the line and was hooked up. The fish took plenty of my 6lb line off the spool because we were only in half a metre of water, so Adam backed the boat down on the fish a bit to get some line back. After a great fight the big girl surfaced on the top and Adam scooped her in the net. While not as big as I thought, a 74cm lizard on a Tango Shad is nothing to sneeze at. I was pretty chuffed to pick up that fish for a couple of reasons. One, so I can tell Simon how big the fish was that

got away, and two, I went out that morning to see if we could target that exact fish. We got a couple of good pics and then put her back in the water and gave her a big swim and she swam off strongly. We didn’t annoy those fish any more having achieved our goal, so headed home. If you’d like to learn how to catch big flathead or any other fish in Moreton Bay, remember, knowledge is the key. Anyone who is interested in our on or offwater tuition classes or just wants to do a charter, don’t be afraid to give me a call on 0432 386 307, send me an email at sean conlonsfishing@hotmail. com or check out the Sean Conlons Charters and Tuition Facebook page. Until next month, stay safe on the water!

Rebecca scored a 57cm flatty on a Tango Shad.

Simon’s 61cm flathead ate a Zerek Live Flash Minnow Wriggly.

A happy client used a Tango Shad to catch this 60cm lizard.

Adam with a 62cm flathead hooked on a trolled Zerek Bulldog Crank.

Tackle box Flathead trolling: • 2-4kg rod • 2000-2500 size reel • 6-8lb braid • 10-14lb leader • Zerek Tango Shad/Bulldog Crank

Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 11

Winter whiting in autumn

ESPITE the name, winter whiting are around all year, but often in more and larger schools in winter than the other seasons.

The smile on Callum’s face says it all. Note the Gulp soft plastic on the bottom hook.

The boys with a nice feed of winteries in mid-March.

Despite this, we started our winter whiting season with a bang in the second week of March, with my youngest son, his mate and I scoring a fantastic feed in a morning session. Hopefully this trip was a sign of the season ahead because the fish were in great numbers, resulting in triple hook-ups and double-doubles – two fish each for two anglers. Depth These early season fish were found in pretty much the same water I chase them in all year round. On the first couple of hours after low they were in about 2.3m and stayed in this general area as the tide rose, with us getting the fish in 2.5-3.5m as the tide rose towards a midday high. Generally, I like to start shallower and work my way deeper, no matter what time of year. By this I am talking about fishing the transition zone between deeper channels onto shallower banks in Moreton Bay (or Hervey Bay). I am looking for water, using my polaroids on a sunny day or my sounder, which is a mix of sand and short ribbon weed. Often you can spot a few fish with a good pair of glasses and sounder, otherwise you can just start drifting in an area and work all around it. What I like to do if I have caught fish in a spot before (and GPS marked it) is work left and right of my shallowest marks, then work my way out deeper. If no fish are found, I will work areas nearby or move to another bank completely. What I do, as I’ve mentioned before, is try to mark as many fish as possible and then name the midpoint of my marks with the species and time of year. So the recent trip was WINTERIES MAR19. On my next trip, if it was shortly after the last successful trip (a month or so), I will start in this

Fishing Tips by SEAN THOMPSON

same location, otherwise I will choose the same month from a previous year because the fish tend to follow a similar movement pattern each year. Technique While I note some people like to anchor when they catch a few winteries, I find it more productive to drift. If we anchor we need to slowly retrieve the baits to give them some action in the relatively shallow water. In deeper water (4mplus) anchoring gives me better results and is certainly more relaxing, but for me, best results still come from the drift. The other thing I tend to do and teach newcomers and kids is to let the whiting take your bait and not strike as soon as you feel a bite. This makes a big difference to hook-up rates. This requires a light drag and when you feel a bite, you need to let the fish run with your bait and feel the weight pulling away for a couple of seconds before you gently lift the rod and wind the handle to sink the hook. Hard strikes or striking at the first hint of a bite can tear the hook from the whiting’s soft mouth or pull the bait out of its mouth when it is trying to crush it. Another tip if you have the patience is once you hook up and it only feels light enough to be one fish, leave the fish there for a few seconds with a tight line in the hope its movement will attract another fish to the second bait. While I am drifting, I also like to drag a weighted plastic berley bucket along with us. In it I will drop a concoction of prawn heads and chicken pellets mixed with tuna oil. I place this in a laundry washing bag (preferably not your wife’s or partner’s!). I put this inside the berley bucket so it releases at a slow rate. Be sure to add some lead weights or big sinkers to

the bucket as well, so the berley is dispersing on the bottom and not mid-water, thus taking the fish away in the current. I give a few pulls on the rope every now and then to ensure a nice trail along my drift line. Depending on the wind direction, when I have drifted into deeper or shallower water and the action slows, I deploy my Watersnake electric motor and very quietly sneak back to the top of the drift. This can make a big difference to the fishing, especially on calm, bright days when the fish are spooky in shallow water. We noticed others nearby following us on the recent trip. When we changed depth, they did too, but using their outboard directly over their drift next to us. They seemed to be catching very little as a result and eventually moved off from a lack of fish, while ours were still biting thick and fast. If you don’t have an electric, you could consider a Watersnake, which is less than half the price of its competitors, or simply motor around in a wide arc to the top of your drift and not straight over it.

Rigs My rigs are pretty standard winter whiting rigs but generally fairly light. Having a paternoster rig with the sinker on the bottom helps to stop your hooks snagging in the weed and also gets the baits up above the weed, making it easier for the fish to see. My motto is always to fish as light as necessary and possible. I find 6lb is a good main line and leader for whiting. I don’t go to 4lb anymore because the trace and line

can break as you swing two bigger flapping fish into the boat. On the other hand, I experimented with the heavier 15lb ‘off the shelf’ premade whiting rigs on the latest trip but the fish were much warier of them and my results slowed right down, so I soon changed back and got into them again. I’ve been using Rovex line in 6lb mono and fluorocarbon for a while now and am impressed with * continued P13

The author and a double hook-up. Note the longer rod and long double trace.

Josh and Callum showed the results of their double-double.

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Winter whiting in autumn * from P12

its thin diameter and supple feel. It’s basically a great line at a lower price. For my rigs, I tie traces of about a metre in length, with roughly 30cm from the swivel to the first dropper and another 30cm from the bottom dropper to the sinker. I then leave a slightly longer 40cm space between the two droppers to avoid them getting tangled. My droppers are tied with a twisted dropper loop of about 15cm in length and red tubing and beads threaded on just above the small lightgauge whiting hook. Size 4 and 6 short worm and long-shank hooks are all that is needed because we don’t need much more or a long hook to fit our favourite Berkeley Gulp soft plastic 2” worms on. On the bottom, I usually run a small 2 ball sinker and tie it on with an improved blood knot. Baits My baits of choice for winteries are simple and easy. Yabbies are a great bait and free, but if you don’t have time, frozen reddyed bloodworms work brilliantly. Fortunately, winter whiting aren’t as fussy as their summer cousins and don’t require live baits. That said, I will seek out the red-dyed worms rather than quick-frozen standard beach worms because

they are not only firmer but seem to appeal to the fish more as well. The other ‘bait’ we use is the Berkley Gulp 2” Sandworm in Bloodworm colour. You thread these worms straight along the hook and over the eye, just like we do our dyed worms, and they look very similar. No, we don’t rig these plastics on jig heads, rather, on usual whiting hooks. Sadly though, these particular Gulps are not very tough and the whiting crush them, so you can go through a few, but they still work out cheaper than a tub of frozen worms. Tackle You don’t need to spend a fortune on rods and reels to catch winter whiting. For years now my boys have been using Jarvis Walker Zenith rods in 6’ and these light whippy rods are the perfect length for kids and have a lovely soft action for the whiting to take the baits and not

feel too much resistance. I think this range has been discontinued but the Black Queen or Meridan spinning rods are fantastic beginners’ or kids’ rods at a great price. I prefer to use slightly longer rods at 8’-9’, but they must be light and whippy and rated from 2-4kg. Matching light reels in the 1000-2000 size are perfect. I recommend upgrading your reel on any of the kids’ combo reels if you can afford it. Something priced at $40-50 will last much longer and prevent drag problems for the kids or beginners. I hope these tips help you catch a nice feed or two of winteries this autumn and winter. For more tips, especially on fishing estuaries, bays and beaches, jump on and like my Ontour Fishing Australia Facebook page and follow us on Instagram.

Light yet inexpensive Jarvis Walker rods are great for winter whiting.

Tackle box Whiting: • Light and whippy 2-4kg, 6’9’ rods • 6lb main line and leader • Size 4-6 light-gauge worm hooks Filleting the fish is made easier by scaling the firmed-up fish in a scaling bag as you head for home.

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www.frogleysoffshore.com.au Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 13

Fishing options while seasons transition

I all, sorry for my absence in last month’s edition of Bush ‘n Beach.

A 60cm Moreton Bay squire tagged and ready for release.

Year 12 is proving quite busy and my assignments are time consuming. While my fishing opportunities have been limited, I have had success in a range of different places with different species.

A 70cm squire from the 35-fathom reef.

A 40cm grass sweetlip from the bay.

Moreton Bay Young Gun by LACHIE BAKER

I have been everywhere from Lake Awoonga (article Page 50) to the 35-fathom reefs off South Passage Bar. In my opinion, this time of year either goes one way or the other. Meaning the fishing is either really good or tough going. If it’s really good, summer species will continue to chew while winter species will begin to bite a bit earlier than usual. When this is the case in southeast Queensland, estuary, bay and offshore fishing options are limitless. Unfortunately, fishing in the local area has been hit and miss for me lately. I have tried several different options, including chasing pelagics such as longtail tuna and spotty mackerel, an offshore trip, a session in the Brisbane River and a few Moreton Bay bottom fishing sessions. The longtails are here but not in great numbers. They have been proving quite difficult to get within casting range, even on the stealthiest approach. This time of year can be quite productive for longtails, however, so more persistence is needed. A break in the nasty weather wouldn’t go astray, either! Since my last trip I’ve heard very few reports of spotties in the bay.

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A few schoolies are getting around but not in great numbers. We may miss out this season. Things have been different on the bottom fishing scene. Solid snapper have been reported on Harry Atkinson Artificial Reef, with Zerek Fish Traps the undoing of some of the bigger fish. I have been focusing my efforts around areas such as Peel and Goat islands and have enjoyed good results on grass sweetlip, maori cod, goldspotted cod, squirey snapper and a few smokings from unstoppable opponents. I have been using half IQF pillies, bottle squid and vibe and micro jig lures. This time of year is usually when the action on these little reefies slows, so I wouldn’t expect it to continue for much longer, but you never know if you never go. This is my favourite time to be fishing the Brisbane River. April and May usually hold good numbers of all species, but I mainly target threadies, jewfish and snapper. Small tides are my favourite because they allow me to work different areas of the Port of Brisbane with vibes and plastics. The 95mm Zerek Fish Trap is a proven fish catcher for me. Having a quality sideimaging sounder also helps identify key elements in piecing together what you are dropping onto. I run a Humminbird Helix 12 because I find the side imaging second to none. It is seriously worth its weight in gold when it comes to locating schools of fish and bait. I hope to get down the river another few times in coming weeks because my last session was very brief but still promising. I nailed a 55cm squire

first cast and then sat on a school of threadies that wouldn’t bite for the rest of the arvo. We had a few uninterested bumps and nudges but nothing too exciting. I would’ve preferred to be there on the small high tide in the morning because I have had success in similar conditions but you have to play the cards you’re dealt. I’m getting excited for

the coming months because I have a trip booked to Rockhampton chasing barra and threadies, as well as the offshore snapper season to look forward to with the cooler weather not too far away. Stay tuned for next month’s edition where hopefully I will have a write-up on a successful trip. Until then, smoking drags and sore arms.

This Brisbane River squire was taken on a Zerek Fish Trap vibe.

Maori cod aren’t shy of attacking vibes.

Dan Miles with a cracking Moreton Bay snapper hooked on a Zerek Fish Trap.

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Glen Baker with a stud goldspotted cod from the bay.

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Exciting action in April A

PRIL is the start of a couple of transition months leading into winter.

Most of the summer species will continue to bite throughout April, but as the month progresses and the water temperature drops they will slow. Mangrove jack can be really aggressive this month. They like to bulk up before slowing for the cooler months, so the action can be excellent. A lot of large fish are caught in April, and with the added bulk they can cause even more havoc than normal. Flathead numbers will increase this month. Flathead fishing is always better in the cooler times around Brisbane and it will be well worth chasing a few, especially around the prawn schools. The prawns have been copping a flogging this season. Social media has made it very difficult to keep a spot to yourself.

Local Luring by KEITH STRATFORD

Plenty have been around though and this month is one of the best. At the time of writing we have just received a decent downpour of rain, which the waterways desperately needed. Hopefully more is to come and the rivers and creeks get some colour through them, which will help the fishing a lot. The fish have been very spread out, with a lot of the bait pushing right up to the top of each system. This gives them a large area in which to feed and can make it difficult to find good numbers. However, rain pushes the bait back downstream and forces the predatory species to concentrate in the areas the bait is holding. Mud crabs will also be worth chasing this month, especially if we receive

some more rain. The old saying “you only catch crabs in months with R in them” is far from the truth. The crabs definitely slow in winter and you do catch less, but the quality is generally excellent. There aren’t as many undersize crabs and jennies to deal with either, which means you won’t need as much bait. Jewies April can be a really good month for jewfish around Brisbane. The local rivers such as the Pine and Caboolture

rivers as well as Pumicestone Passage can produce good numbers of fish from 80-90cm. These are a lot of fun to catch on lures and light gear. Once again, finding the concentrations of bait will give you the best chance of getting into the fish. A good sounder can be very helpful when looking for jewfish. It takes a lot of the guesswork out of it and allows you to spend more time in the areas holding fish. The bends in the rivers and rock ledges are good places to start. Most bends have a deep hole and in some cases will have rocks or fallen * continued P16

Jacks will be active this month. This one ate a Berkley Gulp Crazy Legs.

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Myriad options around Moreton Bay

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Go fishing of course! The Moreton Bay area has so many places to spend a day or even a few hours of quality time with the family and kids. Wynnum has some of the best rock walls to fish from and it is not difficult to land a fish because these walls produce so much food and so many safe places for the fish to hide, promoting excellent fish life. At this time of year you should even start to see a few squid turning up during the evenings, so throw in a jig and you might just come home with a fisherman’s basket! Pumicestone Passage, Red Beach, Skirmish

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Northern Moreton Bay by MARK TEMPLETON

Point and even the surf side of Bribie Island should be on the to-do list over the holidays. You do not need a fourwheel-drive to have a great time on the island. Get the kids to chase pipis (watch the possession limit of 50) because they can have a lot of fun catching them and you get instant fresh bait. Whiting, bream and dart are all great fun when using light gear and the beach is just an untapped resource when it comes to enjoyment for the kids. Red Beach on the southern end of Bribie is possibly my favourite haunt. It has easy access, is a great area to watch the kids and the views of the mainland and Moreton Island will have you wondering why you don’t do this more often. Redcliffe Jetty and Woody Point Jetty are two great places to visit as well, with plenty of baitfish on tap to use for bream, cod and moses perch, just to name a few of the species available around these fishy structures. One jetty proving to be a bit of a Pandora’s box is the Shorncliffe Pier.

You just don’t know what it is going to produce next! Christopher D’Moore certainly found this out when he put out a live yellowtail pike and landed the cracker 103cm cobia pictured. We see a lot of the bread and butter species being

caught by kids on this pier, including bream, whiting, flathead, cod, butterfish, toadies and my favourite… garfish. Gar would have to be one of the easiest fish for the kids to chase. Light gear, a small pencil or bobby float, size 12 Mustad long-shank hook, a tiny bit of beach or bloodworm or prawn and you are set. Use very small bits of bread as berley and the

gar will follow it in to your fishing area. Once hooked, these fish will perform acrobatics that would put them into contention for gold at any Olympics! The bigger gar you can cook up for a great meal and the smaller ones make an awesome cut bait for bream, flathead, snapper and even the old mangrove jack. For hours of low-cost * continued P17

Christopher D’Moore with a land-based metre-plus cobia.

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trees in the area too. Jewies love hanging in these holes out of the main current flow. It gives them the perfect area to ambush mullet, prawns and herring schools. Mullet and prawnimitation soft plastics will both work well this month. Use quality jig heads and make sure you choose a weight that gets down to where the fish are feeding, which is generally on the bottom. Brisbane River The Brisbane River should fish well for jew-

ies, snapper and a few threadfin this month. Jew will be the standout species and plenty of good-quality fish are getting around the wharves and rock bars. Once again, a good sounder makes finding the fish a lot easier. Soft vibes are a good option for the Brisbane River. They’re easy to fish in deep water and don’t require a lot of rod work to entice a bite. The hook up rate is also very good. I find I get more bites fishing jig head-rigged plastics, but they require more effort and you

need to be ready to sink the hook hard when a fish eats it. A lot of the water where these fish feed is between 12m and 15m deep, so a slight belly is always going to be in the line. Striking hard helps get rid of any slack and sets the hook. It’s also important to keep pressure on the fish throughout the fight. These big fish can take a few minutes to get to the boat and in this time they can wear a hole where the hook has penetrated. This is very common when fighting threadfin salmon.

They can change direction a number of times, so if you don’t keep the pressure on, the hook can easily fall out. Threadfin might be a bit quieter this month. Many of these fish tend to move upstream as winter approaches. A few fish should still be around the mouth to make it worthwhile chasing them though. April can be a really productive month in southeast Queensland. Jewies and big jacks are hard to go past, so get out there and get among them. I hope to see you on the water. www.bnbfishing.com. au

Adam Richmond captured cracker photos of a small bull shark having some fun in the mouth of Cabbage Tree Creek. Great photos, thank you Adam.

Myriad options around Moreton Bay entertainment, which is ideal for a family activity, grab some basic gar gear and get out there. If you are not sure how to set up a rig for gar, come on in to Tackle Land Sandgate and we will either show you how to set one up or offer you a pre-rigged setup. You will not be sorry for giving this a go. But a word of warning: it is very addictive! If piers are not your thing and you want a spot that is a little quieter, try our local creeks and rivers. These areas are often

less shaded but with a broad-brimmed hat and sunscreen, you can still have a great day out. Cabbage Tree Creek, the Pine River and the Caboolture River have a few really great family friendly spots easily accessible by car. Deep Water Bend has family friendly facilities in the form of a barbecue, playgrounds and plenty of shade. I have found the best way to fish this area is with light tackle comprising a size 4 or 6 longshank hook and 1 or 2 ball sinker to hopefully prevent a lot of snags. Dohles Rocks, Brighton

foreshore, Margate Beach and Queens Beach are more awesome places to unwind for the day or a few hours, generally with plenty of whiting, bream and flathead in range for the kids. Even at low tide the kids have so many things to

see while fishing. Just remember to always wear good enclosed shoes when walking around rock pools or on reef areas because lots of sharp things are just waiting for small feet to come around! If you need more ideas

on taking the kids fishing, jump onto our website and read the articles written by our customers, which could save you bit of a headache: tackleland. com.au/posts Enjoy the time spent together and maintain the passion!

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 17

Double hook-ups on good size jew are a lot of fun!

The author with a lovely 1m Moreton Bay jewfish that took a small 3.5” Molix RT Shad plastic on a TT 1/2oz jig head.

Marvellous Moreton Bay turns it on

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Dropping water temperatures and the influx of fresh water should fire up the prawns and fish over the coming month and make for great fishing. Tuna Longtail tuna have improved in numbers and regularity, feeding off the surface throughout Moreton Bay since cyclone Oma. Unfortunately, sharks have been a problem, so try increasing the size of gear you are using to beat them. Fishing heavier lures such as stickbaits allows the use of heavier tackle. PE4-5 rods and lines may not seem sporting but they can be effective and I’d rather land the fish than lose it to a bloody shark. If a tuna randomly picks up speed during the fight, this usually means it is being chased by a shark, so ‘free-spooling’ the tuna to allow it to get away from the shark can help save the fish from being eaten. April can certainly be a good month for catching tuna in the bay and I’m hopeful this could be a good year for them. Snapper Reports of big snapper have come from the middle parts of the bay at the time of writing. Fishing deeper water of 10m-plus has seen cracker snapper over 80cm landed. Soft vibes and soft plastics have been getting the results of late. Targeting the up-current section of a large structure can be successful for these big bay snapper because they like to hold in the down-current area created by the current hitting the structure and rolling back down, sucking bait down with it for the snapper to feed on. The edges of the islands throughout the bay will be worth a look this month for some early morning

Luring Moreton Bay by PETER HERBST

If a tuna randomly picks up speed during the fight, this usually means it is being chased by a shark, so ‘freespooling’ the tuna to allow it to get away from the shark can help save the fish from being eaten. snapper action too. Prawn imitations can be a viable option at this time of year because the snapper can focus on them while they are about. Jewfish I had a good session on solid bay jewfish recently, with fish ranging in size from mid-80cm to 1m. The fish were scattered across a section of bottom, which is a little unusual because they tend to stick in tight schools, though I have experienced this a couple of times before. This makes it a lot easier to position the boat over the fish than if they are in a tight school. When jew are scattered over a large area, anglers can set up long drifts and

fish can be hooked randomly during the drift. This scenario requires a lot less skill than when they are tightly schooled, which necessitates precise drifts and casts to where the fish are holding in a small area with deep water and strong current. Sharks have still been an issue from time to time but hopefully they back off as the water temp drops. Mangrove jack Jacks have been about in good numbers of late and most anglers will take advantage of targeting them over the next month or two before they start to slow as we move towards winter. Rolling soft plastics

along pontoons has been a very popular way to target jacks over the past few months, especially in the Gold Coast systems that have an abundance of jacks, such as the Coomera and Nerang rivers. The Live Target Mullet and Herring have been very popular options for pontoon work this season. They are very realistic and swim just like the real thing, and with the addition of some weight to the nose can be swum at speed, which seems to turn on the nasty red fish. Banging hard-bodied lures over the rocks and through the timber has accounted for plenty of mangrove jack as well. Topwater lures will be a popular choice over the next two months because the prawns are moving about, and the recent rain will help this cause no doubt. The Lucky Craft GSplash 80 has probably been the most popular jack surface lure over the past few years and is well worth having in the kit for targeting jacks off the top. April is a great month for a huge range of species in southeast Queensland and it’s well worth getting out and having a go.

This longtail tuna took a Maria Rerise, which is a great casting sinking stickbait weighing 70g and measuring 130mm long.

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Reaping rewards of mackerel run

OU could be forgiven for forgetting we are in autumn with the summerlike temperatures we’ve endured lately.

But this has also seen the water remain very warm at about 26C, which means the pelagic fish will hang around for a little longer. Over the past month since that big low that was cyclone Oma, the fishing has come back on in a big way. With the water still very clean, mackerel have been on the chew regularly on the local reefs. Off Southport, the spaniards have been chewing their heads off. While not overly huge fish, with most around 10kg, anglers have been bagging out in an hour or two and it doesn’t seem to matter what you are targeting them with. Deep-diving lures, slow-

Gold Coast by HEATH ZYGNERSKI

trolled live and dead baits or a livie soaking out the back have delivered the goods. Further south, the fish are reaching snodger size, with 15kg fish the average and 25kg-plus fish regularly caught. Once they start to get to that size ciguatera poisoning comes into the equation. The toxin accumulates in some spanish mackerel to high enough levels that it will affect those who consume the fish. There have been several documented cases on the coast over the years, with a number of my mates and their family and friends affected. There is no way you can test the fish or know if a

Missed it by this much.

fish has it, but you’ll sure know when you you’ve got it with symptoms of vomiting, diarrhoea, numbness, itching and reverse temperature sensation. So just be mindful of the risks involved in taking those big fish. The mahi mahi seem to have moved on after a great season and the spotties have thinned right out too. We should get a few more good runs of them though as they make their way back north, usually around the end of April. We normally get a decent run of wahoo towards the end of the warm period and as they have yet to make an appearance, it seems the great mackerel fishing will continue. Funnily enough, though similar in physical appearance and hunting habits to spaniards, wahoo, no matter how big, don’t suffer from ciguatera poisoning, so are safe to eat at any size. Out wider, plenty of black and blue marlin are being caught, with most boats tagging several fish a session. In the creeks and estuaries, mangrove jack have kept anglers entertained. Just about any snag you happen to fish is a likely

haunt for a good red dog. Be prepared to lose lures though because they are unforgiving and will stop at nothing to bust you off. Good whiting are being caught on the sandbanks by anglers using worms and yabbies. I expect the fantastic offshore fishing to continue until we get a weather event that traditionally signals the change of seasons. I’ve long been a believer that in Queensland we only get two seasons as far as the fishing is concerned, being summer and winter. Summer being from November to May and winter from June to October. The local bars got a makeover with that big swell from cyclone Oma. Tweed River Bar still has a bank out the back and the swell seems to have flattened the bank out somewhat, making it wider. Currumbin Creek Bar has a bit of a channel cut through but is still hard to navigate for larger craft on low water. Tallebudgera Creek Bar is very messy. I’d give that a miss completely except for the flattest of days. The Seaway is OK but will catch the swell out from the sandbank that has built up in front. ‘Til next month, smoking drags to you all.

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Plenty to chase on Gold Coast H

I everyone, well I’m sick of writing it and I am sure you’re sick of reading it, but the weather is still not doing any favours to us fishos.

Rob and part of a quality feed of whiting he and the author caught in the Nerang River.

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At the time of writing, strong wind and big swells with little rain is forecast, so fishing conditions can only improve and I am sure they will. This month sees plenty of species to chase, with the first of our cool weather species turning up and a few of the summer fish still around as well. In the Broadwater this month, good numbers of garfish will be on the weed beds around Crab Island. An early morning run-in tide before the wind gets up is best. A long soft rod, 6lb line and a pencil float with a size 8 hook is the gear needed, with the best bait small pieces of green prawns and stale bread for berley. Garfish are fun to catch, sweet eating and great as both flesh baits for big bream and whole baits for mackerel and tailor. These garfish will also attract predators to the same area. Tailor will hang in the channels beside the weed beds, cruising up onto the weed beds for a quick feed of gar. In this windy weather the Seaway has fished well, as the rough weather offshore brings baitfish into the Seaway for protection. Once again the predators will follow, with snapper, morwong, trevally and jewfish all in the area. This month will also see plenty of mangrove jack there. These will be good size 50cm-plus jacks because they are breeding fish heading offshore to spawn. Fishing the pipeline, the end of the north wall and where the rocks meet the sand along the rock walls is best. This month presents your last chance to consistently catch whiting at night in the lower part of the Nerang River because the main spawning period will soon end.

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Broadwater Region by WAYNE ‘YOUNGY’ YOUNG

Good catches are being made as soon as the sun goes down, with solid bags taken by 10pm on both run-in and run-out tides using bloodworms for bait. I know I say this a lot but the biggest mistake people make when fishing the Nerang for whiting is fishing with too light a sinker. Most nights a minimum of a 4 ball sinker is needed. The river is fast flowing and reasonably deep, with whiting very rarely leaving the bottom, so a big sinker to keep your bait on the bottom is essential. Every situation has a good side, and the lack of rain has meant plenty of sand crabs around in the Broadwater. Good catches have been taken from the Aldershots down to the Nerang River. It is even worth putting a few pots in as far upriver as Surfers Paradise. Mud crabs have been a little scarcer, but a few are around, with the northern Broadwater and the rivers that flow into it performing best. Several early season bream will be around this month, with the Seaway and Sovereign Island prime spots. Yabbies and flesh baits or small wriggler-style soft plastics are best for the lure fishos. Drifting the main channel at the mouth of Biggera Creek in front of the marina using yabbies for bait would be worth trying as well. This month will also see good bream of an early morning and late afternoon over at the Spit at Main Beach. Philip Park carpark gives good access to the beach. I prefer to use yabbies for bait because they can catch a good variety of fish in this area. Dart, whiting and flathead can be caught here as well. Flathead fishing has been quiet in the Broadwater and fishing the Pimpama River between the boat ramp and Calypso Bay would be a better option. The canals in the Sorrento and Carrara areas of the Nerang River will hold good flathead this month. Trolling small diving lures or using yabbies for bait would be best. Offshore fishing has been frustrating to say the least. The good news is things seem to be improving slowly. A great variety of fish is on offer when conditions have allowed us to get out there, but some days have been very bumpy to say the least. On the closer reefs out

to 40m, trag, snapper, spangled emperor, moses snapper and jewfish are still being caught with pillies, squid and flesh baits all worth trying. Always remember this area is heavily fished, so fish as light as possible in the conditions you face and use good-quality bait. This month will see spanish mackerel being caught in the area around Diamond Reef. Slow trolling livies on a downrigger can be best this month as the surface water is starting to cool. Just be aware the area right outside the mouth of the Seaway is getting very shallow and with a bit of swell and a run-out tide it can get very choppy. One Gold Coast fishing option that doesn’t see as much fishing pressure is our freshwater dam fishing, only a short drive west of the coast. Hinze Dam is stocked with bass and saratoga as well as freshwater jew (tandanus). For lure fishers, small surface lures work well among the dead trees that line the dam banks in the

early mornings and late afternoons. Trolling small deep diving lures along the edge of these trees during the later mornings does quite well also. Not as sporting but certainly an almost guaranteed way of catching fish is to use live shrimp on a 1/0 hook with a pea size sinker as a weight. Eight or 10lb monofilament is a good size main line, with no leader necessary. Simply find a school

of fish on your sounder, which can normally be located in 5-7m of water beside a tree. Hook the live shrimp through the tail and lower it to the bottom. Most times you will hook up before the bait gets there. Just remember, permits are required to fish most Queensland dams (www. qld.gov.au/recreation/ac tivities/boating-fishing/ rec-fishing/dams). ‘Til next month, have fun and fish for the future.

Well-known freshwater angler Ray Kennedy with a freshwater jew (tandanus) from Hinze Dam.

Rebecca landed a tough-fighting spangled emperor on a close-in reef off the Seaway.

Ben held a quality mud crab caught using whiting frames for bait.

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Rods, reels and outriggers

LOT of game fishing rods are on the market and I certainly can’t say I have used all of them.

However, I have my personal rods and have used plenty of different rods on charter boats around the world over the years, so have formed some views that may be useful to readers. Light tackle rods Most of my rods for 4kg, 6kg and 8kg tackle are custom built on composite blanks with Fuji guides. I have a set of four that are Shimano Backbone Elite rods I won in tournaments. These are excellent rods available at a very reasonable price (about $150). I do not like roller guides on light tackle rods and have sold every one I have ever won in a tournaments. I have a number of reasons for this. Roller guides on light tackle rods have very small ‘pins’ on which the roller rotates. These pins are hard to service, and it is thus hard to keep the roller rotating freely. It is easy to let the line run down the side of the tip roller if the angler does not keep it directly in line with the fish. I doubt there is enough drag on 4kg, 6kg and probably even 8kg to rotate the rollers evenly as the line moves over them. We have all heard of

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Game Fishing by BARRY ALTY

or seen demonstrations where someone puts a loop of light tackle mono over a Fuji guide and rapidly drags it backwards and forwards until the line breaks. I do not regard this as any sort of realistic test because the line is dry, not wet, as it is in a real-life situation. Additionally, the pressure applied in doing this is far greater than anything applied when fighting fish with appropriate drag settings and the same few inches of line does not go backwards and forwards over the guide when fighting a fish. It is often hard to see a crack or nick in a guide. If you see ‘furring’ on your mono, or have unexplained break-offs, run a cotton tip around your guides and the flaw will be easily found. Heavy tackle rods All my heavy tackle rods are custom built. I once made the mistake of keeping and using one of the many manufacturer brand 60kg rods I had won in tournaments. After perhaps 50 blue marlin with no more that 28lb of drag, and say half a dozen Cairns blacks with up to 65lb of drag, all the guides on this rod were loose.

The rod was also pretty ‘soft’ and didn’t have much lifting power. So we took the guides off that blank and had our custom rod builder Brad Job put them onto a new blank. My oldest rods were built in 1989. They have Fin-Nor guides, which are the best ever built. Unfortunately, FinNor now builds rods, so doesn’t sell the guides alone any more. The best alternative is AFTCO Big Foot guides. They are now available with roller bearings as well as straight pins. The roller guides are expensive and probably not necessary for the average amateur angler. My original 60kg rods were built on Pacific Composite Cairns Heavy blanks. These are real stump pullers. You can put a bend into them from 15-40kg of drag and just sit back and watch them straighten. However, they are a bit stiff for fighting blues, so I have a second set of 60kg rods built on Seeker blanks. I got onto the latter after using them on Bryan Toney’s Melee and Chip Van Mol’s Luna

in Kona, Hawaii. I thought they possessed an excellent balance of power and flexibility. All my rods have Hypalon foregrips. I do not like leather because it looks great for a while but becomes tatty quite quickly. Reels I have a mixture of Shimano and Penn reels. On light tackle rods I like the Shimano TLD range. They are light, have a good retrieve ratio, are easily serviced, have a solid drag and are inexpensive at around $200. The light tackle Shimano reels are excellent but for my liking have too much drag for live and dead bait fishing with the reel in free spool and strike alarm on. They are also very expensive compared to the TLD range. In heavy tackle reels I have a wide mix. My 24kg reels are Shimanos while my 37kg reels are all Penn. My 60kg reels consist of two Penn International two-speed reels, one Penn International II two-speed reel and two Shimano Tiagras. I have no doubt the Tiagras are a more technically sophisticated reel. They have some worthwhile advantages: • A gear change system that is very easy to use; • A much more comfortable handle; and

• Less starting inertia when you start to wind after pumping. The only disadvantage compared to the Penns is their complexity makes them difficult for an amateur, or even a professional skipper/deckhand, to service. It is best done by a tackle shop that offers service/ repair facilities. Penn reels, on the other hand, despite not meeting the technical attributes listed above, are absolutely bulletproof. They embody the KISS principle. They are robust, simple and easy for anyone to maintain. Overnight, anyone can fix a Penn reel. My two oldest Penns are the Penn International two-speed 60kg models, which were bought in 1990. These reels were originally designed as single speed but then converted by Penn to two speed. These are the best reels I have. The only repairs they have required after at least 600 fish between them are the drag plates, one main shaft, several strike alarm parts and bearing replacements. In terms of bearing replacements, you don’t need to pay the earth at a tackle shop. Just take them to your nearest bearing services store and you will pay * continued P22

Some of the setups aboard Mistress.

Photo: Kelly Dalling

GOLD COAST | FRASER

Call Capt Brett Alty 0417 766 734 E: captainbrettalty@bigpond.com

www.fishingmistress.com

Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 21

Trevally around the Gold Coast and Tweed

’DAY everyone, in this month’s article I will give you a few tips on how to catch trevally in the Gold Coast and Tweed waterways.

Diamond Trevally are amazing-looking fish with their long filaments extending from the dorsal and anal fins.

We have an array of trevally species in our local rivers and creeks including golden, diamond, bluefin, tea-leaf and by far the most common, bigeye and giant. The bluefin trevally is an amazingly pretty fish with its brilliant blue fins and seems to only prefer the extreme lower reaches

Catching your first trevally on a MMD Splash Prawn surface lure is bound to put a smile on your face.

Gold Coast Guide by BRAD SMITH

of the rivers around the structural boulder walls and natural reefs at the entrances of rivers. I have caught bluefins by trolling small deep-diving minnows along the edges of the rock walls, as well as surface poppers, but the best method by far is locating schools of bait and vertically jigging small soft plastics, and even better small metal blades through the bait concentrations. The diamond trevally is not so common but is once again a magnificent-looking fish with its chrome mirror body and long trailing filaments from the dorsal and anal fins that can be twice the length of the fish. Most of the diamond trevally I have caught have been in the same area and by using the same technique as the bluefins. Golden trevally are by far the least common in our area and to be honest the ones I have caught have been by-catch while targeting other species. The Noosa River system is as far south as I would

target these fish. In their common range they are caught by trolling and casting soft plastics or sight casting a fly over shallow flats where they forage for crabs, yabbies and other crustaceans. Tea-leaf trevally have been very prevalent on the Gold Coast this season. In fact, since Christmas and up to the time of writing I have never caught so many. Like all trevally, tealleaf trevors are on a constant mission, patrolling the rivers in pursuit of baitfish. The thing I like most about this species is they are more than happy to

leave the deeper channels and go terrorising baitfish over very shallow flats. My favourite way to target them is on the big tides that lead up to the new and full moons on the last few hours of the run-in and run-out on the edges of shallow flats. The flats that I fish for them have an abundance of seagrass beds and channels running between the grass with a deep channel along the edge of the flats. The trevally patrol the deep channels and wait for baitfish to move from the deep water up onto the flats with the run-in tide. They then employ explosive ambush raids on the bait on top of the flats and then rush back to the deep channel. This feeding pattern oc-

* continued P23

This small giant trevally smashed a hard-bodied minnow on the troll.

Game fishing rods, reels and outriggers * from P21

One of the author’s preferred heavy reels.

Bradh's Smited Guiding Fishs Tour

GOLD ST COA

about $5 for the exact same bearing that would cost you $28 at some tackle shops. These two reels with the drag lever set to the bottom with free-running drag at that position are capable of 90lb of drag at sunset. My other Penn 60kg is an International II, which was specifically designed by Penn as a two-speed. Robust, but not as good as the former because the maximum drag is just under 80lb at sunset. The Shimanos top out at 65lb, which is OK for the average angler because in my experience charter clients who can get to that level are pretty rare indeed. We generally service our reels once a year and obviously do repairs as necessary. An important thing to remember is when you put reels on rods, place something under the reel clamp so dissimilar metals are not in contact. Failure to do so will lead to corrosion.

We generally use a strip of vinyl with some marine grease applied, but bike tyre tubing and even Band-Aids work just as well. Outriggers When Americans see Australian fibreglass outriggers, they say: “Wow, no maintenance.” And when Australians see American strutted outriggers, they say: “Wow, how beautiful.” I prefer strutted outriggers because they are very stiff and this results in a very crisp and immediate release from tag lines or clips when you get a strike. This crispness helps improve the hook-up rate. The only negative with strutted outriggers is obviously the maintenance. Wires break and have to be replaced. The outriggers also need to be removed from the boat, cleaned and polished at least once a year and of course they cost a lot more than fibreglass riggers. In my view, all that is

worth it because of the better hook-up rates. Fibreglass is obviously cheaper and requires next to no maintenance. The negative is they flex when you get a strike before the rubber band breaks or the release clip opens. You can eliminate this spring or flex by running a strainer line in Venetian blind cord back from the tow point of your release clip or tag line back to the bow rails. On light tackle we do not use tag lines, which are sometimes called stingers. We don’t think they are necessary, and light tackle baits and lures are so light with so little drag they can’t pull tag line returns to the top of the halyard. For light tackle we use a number 16 rubber band attached to a Blacks Clip. Failsafe. Either the clip opens or the band breaks. On heavy tackle we use tag lines with number 32 rubber bands as our release.

An alternative used widely overseas is Blacks Clips or AFTCO Roller Trollers as the release clip. This is advantageous if you are constantly adjusting lure distances, which is the case in Kona where the water is so calm that every time the boat changes direction you need to adjust lure distances. In other parts of the world such as the Bahamas, plagues of sargassum weed fouls the lures. This can be shaken off by cranking the reel rapidly, and that is easier to do through a clip than having to undo a rubber band. When using rubber bands, always wrap them tightly around the line to avoid slippage, which can damage the line. Also use either RuppLocks, or Halocks on your rigger running or halyard line to prevent ‘creep’ when you get a strike. Next issue we’ll talk more in-depth about fishing methods and accessories.

CKLE D A T L L A DE PROVI

30 years’ local experience Lure fishing specialist Bookings and inquiries: Personalised service Targeting all estuary species 0419 028 704

www.bradsmithfishingcharters.com.au Page 22 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

Shimano Backbone Elite rods represent great value.

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Warrick with a nice tea-leaf trevally caught on a Bassday Sugapen surface lure.

Trevally around the Gold Coast and Tweed * from P22

curs through to the first couple of hours of the run-out tide, when in reverse they smash the bait coming off the flats with the receding tide. Casting and retrieving small metal spinners into the marauding fish works well, but I prefer to cast surface lures such as Bassday Sugapens and MMD Splash Prawns because surface strikes from these fish are amazing. We can discuss the big-eye and giant trevally combined because

these fish share the same feeding areas and respond to the same lure techniques. Unlike the trevally we mentioned above, which prefer the lower reaches of the rivers, these trevally will follow bait schools right up to the far upper reaches of the rivers to the point of near brackish water. When we have periods of little rain, as we have this summer, the salinity levels are very high right through the rivers and the far upper reaches are the most consist-

Steve with a very pretty juvenile golden trevally hooked while trolling a small hard-bodied minnow.

ent place to find these fish. If we do eventually get good seasonal rainfall, they will move further downstream, with a good tip being to locate the area where the clean ocean water blends with the dirty flood water on the run-in tides. Other favourite haunts for these fish are around bridges, rock walls, rock bars, the mouths of feeder creeks and the junctions of manmade canal systems. The other way to find them is to keep a constant lookout for any bird or surface activity during your normal fishing trips. The great thing about trevally is they will respond to trolling, soft plastics and vibes, as well as surface lures such as stickbaits and poppers, and for the real adventurous among us, fly. The key with these fish is to find bait in order to find the fish. Be prepared by having the right lure at the right time because sometimes the trevally will bust up for a very short time and then it is all over. Thanks for reading and I will talk to you all next month.

2019 Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show tickets now on sale

ICKETS are now on sale for the 2019 Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show, with a number of ticket and transport options available including free park ‘n’ ride from Warner Bros. Movie World.

The southern hemisphere’s premier marine event will be held from May 23-26 and will feature more than 300 exhibitors showcasing the industry’s latest vessels and innovations. Tickets can be pre-purchased online at a discounted rate, with a one-day pass selling for $20 compared to $25 at the gate. Children under 15 years will be admitted free. A partnership with RACQ, Queensland’s largest automotive club, means more than 7.8 million auto club members across the country can also buy two-for-one tickets (based on $25 gate price) online through the RACQ website prior to the event kicking off. SCIBS general manager

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Johan Hasser said his team was committed to making it as simple as possible for water-loving individuals and families to experience the event. “Be it keeping entry prices to a minimum or offering convenient ways for people to visit SCIBS, we go to great lengths to ensure everyone can attend this worldclass event,” he said. “Our free park ‘n’ ride service from Warner Bros. Movie World offers easy parking and air-conditioned shuttle buses, making it a popular, stress-free mode of transport. “With children under 15 years receiving free entry, families who pre-purchase their tickets online can enjoy a full day at SCIBS – including free park ‘n’ ride – for only $25 if they are RACQ members or $40 if not.” Other transport options for SCIBS include: • On-site parking, which is available to pre-purchase online; • Boat owners dropping an-

chor in the Coomera River and grabbing a ride with Volunteer Marine Rescue for a gold coin donation; and • Helicopter transfers from Marina Mirage with Gold Coast Helitours ($100 oneway; $180 return). With more than 45,000 people expected to attend the event, SCIBS 2019 will offer visitors the chance to indulge in their boating dreams at a spectacular waterfront location across four days. It will also offer something for everyone, with live music, delicious food, cool bars and street entertainers combining with a non-stop program of family entertainment. The interactive Kids’ Zone is always a hit with the littlies, while there will be plenty of hands-on activities such as fishing master classes, educational boating workshops and cooking demonstrations to keep parents entertained. Plan your trip now at sanc tuarycoveboatshow.com.au

Stacer’s Research and Development team have spent extensive time not only designing and creating the perfect formula for a softer, stable and superior riding hull, but testing and trialling it in a multitude of conditions. The final product, the Revolution Hull, combines a concave bottom sheet design with Stacer’s EVO advance pressing and a raised chine creating a high performing hull that glides over the water. The high performing Revolution Hull offers a complete enjoyable experience, delivering a balanced ride with superior stability underway and at rest. Visit www.stacer.com.au or your nearest dealer for details.

For more information contact your local Stacer dealer:

Boondall | Northside Marine 2294 Sandgate Rd, Boondall Q 4034 Phone: 07 3265 8000 info@nsmarine.com.au northsidemarine.com.au Bundaberg | Adrians Marine Centre 28 Ritchie St, Bundaberg Q 4670 Phone: 07 4153 1819 adriansmarinecentre@bigpond.com adriansmarinecentre.com.au Gladstone | Curtis Coast Marine 40 Chapple St, Gladstone Q 4680 Phone: 07 4972 0135 sales@curtiscoastmarinecom.au curtiscoastmarine.com.au Gold Coast | White Water Marine 10 Hinde St, Ashmore Q 4214 Phone: 07 5532 4402 sales@whitewatermarine.com.au whitewatermarine.com.au Noosa | Laguna Boating Centre 16 Project Ave, Noosaville Q 4566 Phone: 07 5442 4872 info@lagunaboating.com.au lagunaboating.com.au Wynnum | Wynnum Marine 31 Fox St, Wynnum Q 4178 Phone: 07 3396 9777 info@wynnummarine.com.au wynnummarine.com.au Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 23

Lewan with a 10kg barree (spanish mackerel) that couldn’t resist a trolled bonito.

When the fish are biting, the rough days don’t seem so bad.

Mackerel mayhem offshore M

ACKEREL season was in full swing, with good spotted and spanish mackerel catches coming in most days.

A well-rigged large mackerel bait is a deadly technique.

Bait was plentiful, with a huge school of slimy mackerel taking up residence on the local reef here at Brunswick Heads. The sharks had thinned out a little and things were looking good and then we got the forecast that cyclone Oma was on the way. Before her arrival, the swell had picked up but the Brunswick River Bar was fairly deep and still manageable. Amazingly, the closer Oma got, the more the swell dropped off. You would wonder how this could be the case, but most swell models had this forecast and it came true. Boats were taking ad-

Juvenile spinner sharks have moved onto the local reefs and are pretty good eating but make a pest of themselves by stealing mackerel baits.

Tweed to Byron Bay by GAVIN DOBSON

vantage of the calm before the storm and bagging good mackerel and the odd jewfish. And then right to the minute of the forecast, the swell turned up. In the space of three hours, the Tweed and Ballina wave recorders climbed 3m. Fortunately, cyclone Oma turned away from the coast and we didn’t score a direct hit but winds of over 90km/h were pretty consistent. The swell whipped up to a solid 5-7m and on several occasions both wave recorders measured swells maxing at over 10m. From memory, Ballina’s biggest was 11.2m and Tweed’s 11.8m. It could have been worse for sure, but it was definitely a game changer on the offshore fishing front and has enforced a few lessons in my mind. The first and foremost was the need to be able to rig and tow a dead bait for mackerel. Catching live bait is usually pretty easy around here and trolling them alive is very, very effective. After the storm, it was a full two weeks before the swell abated enough for boats to get out and we knew live bait would be difficult to catch as they always leave the reef in big swell. The first day out we couldn’t even catch a sin-

gle yellowtail or bullseye. I had taken out plenty of dead baits but my concern was the lack of live bait meant nothing was out there to keep the mackerel hanging around. Fortunately, I found a few and they were hungry for a well-rigged bonito. On the next trip even more mackerel had returned but the live bait still hadn’t. As I sit here and write now a few weeks after the storm, the live bait is only just starting to return and while not thick, enough is around to keep you fishing for the day. I’m just glad I did a good old-fashioned bait rigging apprenticeship all those years ago. It’s definitely a skill that takes a bit of learning as opposed to just chucking on a livie and bumping the boat in gear. I don’t mind admitting I was a bit rusty with the first few baits but while it is a technique that has died out somewhat over the past 20 years, it will always have its place. The other thing the storm changed was the nature of the reef itself, as most of the kelp seemed to have been removed from the shallow reefs. The Brunswick local reef was getting thick with kelp and this was offering extra refuge to the baitfish and also the jewfish stalking them.

I haven’t heard of a jewfish being caught recently, which might just be because the bait was gone, but I’m wondering if the kelp provided a bit more daytime stalking opportunity for the jewies. This season will have to go down as one of the biggest I have seen for little yellowfin tuna out at Windarra Banks. It’s hard to imagine how thick they were because most boats reported they couldn’t get the reels in gear before the lure was eaten. I’ve only ventured out the once recently and this was certainly how I found it. They have been coming in thick for months now and you wouldn’t know if wahoo were among them because the tuna jump on the lures too quickly. April is a prime wahoo month, and I suggest if the tuna are still thick take the most massive lures you can get your hands on. In the river here at Brunz, it’s all about the bumper mangrove jack season. It is an absolute bonanza, with fish coming in large numbers and good sizes from the mouth to Mullumbimby. I know the Tweed region is having a good year too, so if you have the urge to catch one for the first time, I suggest you get into it this month. All you need is a bit of mullet fillet or strip of bonito and a good rock wall or snag pile to soak it near. The good run of trevally

we had earlier in the year has ended, with only the odd fish in the rivers. Oddly enough, not many herring are in the river and no school prawns either due to the lack of rain. This is keeping the flathead a little quiet, though enough are still around to make fishing for them worthwhile. Flathead aren’t superreliant on herring and prawns and will eat whatever they can get in their mouth. Bream, whiting, blackfish, glassy perchlets, poddys and silver biddies are all on the menu for a flatty. Mud crab numbers are improving on a weekly basis, so definitely try for a feed of them. A few whiting are being caught and you could do worse than to drown a few worms this month. If you can’t catch your own, get in to our local tackle shop here at Brunswick heads (Bruns Beach, Bait & Tackle, opposite the bakery). The shop stocks a great range of stuff for the family such as beach towels, hats, sunnies and heaps more plus, and more importantly, a good supply of bait and tackle and friendly advice. The BP in Brunswick Heads also stocks a bit of tackle and North Coast Yamaha at Billinudgel has a great range of lures and fishing gear. So if you come to visit these holidays, Brunswick Heads has got you covered.

Mercury Racing expands MAX5 prop range

E RC U RY Racing has expanded the MAX5 propeller family – now offering a larger 15.25”-diameter version as well as the all-new MAX5 ST. The MAX5 lab-finished propeller is a proven performer, delivering tremendous results in both single and multiple-engine applications, including Mercury Racing’s 400R outboard and 600 SCi sterndrive, with

a reduction in propeller slip of up to 12 percent. In fact, the MAX5 prop is so efficient it can be run higher on the transom to take full advantage of engines fitted with the race-proven Sport Master gearcase. Bigger is even better Building on this excellent base, the new 15.25”-diameter models offer an additional 3-4 percent reduction in slip (compared to the 15” models) on selected outboard

Page 24 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

and sterndrive applications that benefit from elevated transom heights. Half-inch pitch offerings enable engines to be dialled-in to their maximum rpm operating range for enhanced throttle response, optimised cruise fuel efficiency and ideal top speed. MAX5 ST The new Mercury Racing MAX5 ST propeller is designed for the 4.6-litre V8 300R FourStroke outboard with

Sport Master gearcase. The shortened exhaust barrel enhances the performance of singleengine and twin-engine boats by keeping the stern planted for a confidenceinspiring ride, while the large 15.25”-diameter prop stays hooked up at extreme engine heights. In testing, a Mercury Racing 300R FourStroke spinning a 31” pitch MAX5 ST prop powered a tournament-loaded Bullet 21 XRS bass boat to

157km/h with a mere 7 percent slip! PVS All MAX5 propellers feature the Mercury-patented Performance Vent System, which enables the user to fine-tune the amount of venting needed for quick planing. Visit www.mercuryrac ing.com/boat-propellers to view The Artisans – a video on the hand craftsmanship that goes into every Mercury Racing propeller.

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Cyclone smashes Ballina beaches n Quality flathead in river n Offshore fishing comes alive

ELLO and welcome to this month’s edition of BNB.

I hope you all managed to get through the weeks of extreme weather that started the year without too many dramas. Luckily we did not see the catastrophic rain event that was predicted, but I think we could have done with a bit more rain out of cyclone Oma than what eventuated. The extra rain would have been beneficial for most of the Northern Rivers, but I’m sure many people were thankful for the small amount we received. Some follow-up rain in coming weeks would certainly help on the fishing front as well, but for now all we can do is keep our fingers and toes crossed for a wet Easter. It wouldn’t be Easter without some rain, would it? As far as the fishing goes, the aftermath of cyclone Oma has been worst felt on our local beaches. Seas to 5m and punishing winds nudging over 100km/h scoured our beaches and most have next to no formations left. The formations will return in time, but the fishing has been fairly quiet

Ballina Bait & Tackle by BRETT HYDE

apart from a few scattered flathead and bream. White pilchards, mullet fillets and blue pilchards have been the pick of the baits if you are still keen to get down to the beach and would like to try your luck. Angels, Boulders and Seven Mile beaches have been the pick of the spots to try, especially during the early mornings. Over the next month we should start to see an improvement in beach activity, and as we head into winter and the mullet make their way onto the beaches, a few more tailor and mulloway should start to show up. The Richmond River has not been affected to anywhere near the same extent as the beaches. The small amount of rain we received has had little effect, but we have still been catching quality flathead, with the bulk coming from an area between the Burns Point Ferry and the sugar mill at Broadwater. Some of the larger models are showing up in the deeper holes closer to the

mouth of the river, but the better numbers are definitely further upriver. Three and 4” plastics in darker colours have been working quite well, along with prawns, pilchards and mullet. The run-out tide has been a bit more productive, but the tides have been a little on the small side and should be better by the time you read this. Bream and whiting are in better numbers during the run-in tide, and while whiting have not been up to their usual standard as far as numbers of fish are concerned, a few quality fish are around to be caught, from the mouth of the river all the way to Pimlico Island. The bream have hugged most of the rock walls in the same area and are happy to hit just about any bait at the moment, but seem to be a little more active early of a morning and late of an afternoon. For the lure throwers in the group, the bream have been a little more active on diving hard-bodies and lightly weighted soft

plastics in natural colours than any other lure type. Bass have been fairly active, with plenty of fish from Woodburn to Coraki and beyond. Early morning has been rather productive, with surface lures in many forms proving effective up to midmorning on some days. After the surface bite has slowed the bass have showed more interest in spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and skirted jigs in darker colours. Offshore fishing has been a lot more fruitful since the cyclone, with more settled weather allowing us to get out and enjoy line-burning action. The spanish mackerel finally showed up on the close reefs. Lennox Point and Black Head have been the hot spots, but I expect over the next few weeks we will see numbers of spanish and spotted mackerel show up at Riordans Reef. As is usually the case, live baits slowly trolled have been the best method of chasing the mackerel but it will also be worth trolling dead baits and high-speed lures around as an alternative. With the increased number of boats out chas-

ing mackerel at this time of year, it may also be wise to try to put your baits on a downrigger to run them a little deeper. They can become a little spooky with the extra boat traffic around. Mahi mahi have been around the FAD and wave-rider buoy in reasonable numbers. Live baits have been very effective on the larger models, but some of the smaller fish have been interested in small skirted lures and lightly weighted pilchards. While all this pelagic action has been going on, snapper and flathead have been out on the 32-fathom line. The wider grounds have also produced goodquality fish, with kingfish, amberjack and pearl perch coming from the 48-fathom line. Live baits and slow-pitch jigs have been the most effective techniques. Even with the current hovering around 1.5 to two knots, a number of boats have headed out to the continental shelf to have a go and have managed to find kingfish, bar cod and gemfish. Well that’s all from me this month. ‘Til next time, tight lines!

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 25

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A couple of nice pearl perch caught off Evans Head.

Preparing for bream and blackfish

n Headlands n Evans River n Fresh water

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We need the rain but the wind is drying it out the minute it hits the ground. Mother Nature is just doing her thing. At this time of year I like to get my bream and blackfish gear ready for the upcoming season. Some bream and blackfish turn up early and they are normally big fish, so upgrade your leaders to 12lb at the start of the season to save a lot of bust-ups. This is a great time to head over to the headlands and fish for big bream and blackfish. They will be playing in the wash around Piano and 40 Foot, though Red Hill has some very good holes too. I would take a couple of rods out there: a blackfish rod and one that will handle big bream. Tailor, school jew and school sharks are there too, so make sure you’re prepared. On many a trip back in the day I went out to fish taking only one rod and totally kicked myself for not taking more gear.

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This quality jewfish was taken offshore from Evans.

Evans Head by GARY ‘SQUIDGIE’ PALMER

The water was so green and the bream and blackfish were playing under the bridge and just teasing the hell out of us. You could not get them to take a bait no matter what you tossed at them. The headlands are a great spot. Whether fishing or just taking a stroll, there is always something to see but snakes are about so be wary of them. I have had a few scares and run-ins, including coming across a mating pair. Gee, that was scary but the snakes could not care less about me as they had other things on their minds. Even my dogs took no notice of them and for that I’m grateful because these were big brown or black snakes. I’m not sure which because I was on my toes and running. I’m not scared of much but snakes are my nemeses, I hate them. On the beaches, bream are showing up, as are tailor, but not in droves. If you put in the hours you will be rewarded. I would start at the 4x4 track and work my way up. I don’t own a 4x4, so I walk and cast into any hole I find. Sometimes you hit the mother lode and other

times you just keep walking. But think of the exercise you get and the added bonus of a feed of fish at the end if you’re lucky. I don’t know how many times the minister of finance and I have done the walk but I’m definitely craving amber liquid by the end. The Evans River looked really good during the last king tides. The water was so green and the bream and blackfish were playing under the bridge and just teasing the hell out of us. You could not get them to take a bait no matter what you tossed at them. Talk about frustration! Some of those fish were big and you don’t get big by being stupid. Boy they were fussy, as I had good green weed, good cabbage and my setup was perfect. Well I thought it was but these fish thought otherwise and just wouldn’t play the game. Once again, it is called fishing, not catching. The flathead have moved all the way to the top end of the river and if

you don’t own a boat it’s a bit hard to get to them, but if you drive past the golf course to the end of the road and walk in there you can fish the banks with white pillies. Or if like me you use soft plastics, I like the Squidgie 70mm Fish in Black Gold. This has been a winner for me for years. I also like the Atomic Prong. With 14 moving parts, how can you go wrong? Cast it with a bit of weight on its nose and let it slowly sink to the bottom. If not hit on the drop, slowly wind it with a little hop every so often, but don’t wind fast, slow and steady is the way to go. So many fishers complain that soft plastics don’t work but it is all in the action and how fast you retrieve them. Most problems new soft plastics fishers have is the action they put into the retrieve. You just have to remember you are hunting fish and the fish are hunting a feed. If you move your lure too fast you will miss the flathead waiting camouflaged near a downed tree branch. Just slowly wind and impart a couple of hops. Not big hops, just move your wrist a little and slowly wind, then move your wrist and repeat. Train your mind to do this and it will come naturally. On plastics using this technique I have caught whiting, bream, flathead, sharks, tarwhine and even the fish I hate, Australian salmon. On the freshwater front, things are going gangbusters with very big fish being caught and a hell of a lot of them from skinny water. Damon Andrews has been slaying them.

Damon goes to areas where you have to put on your boots and do the mileage. He does a lot of walking but his results are brilliant. I’m not going to say where he goes but if you have a small watercourse nearby, I would take a walk and have a cast in skinny water. You never know. I fished areas around Kyogle and Cawongla in some very skinny water. Reg Presbury (who has passed) took me under his wing when I first arrived in this area about 35 years ago and taught me heaps. We explored spectacular hills, sheer cliffs and waterfalls. The best part of all was hardly any fishing pressure. The Richmond River has plenty to offer, with bass from the top and bream at the bottom. Fish around the Broadwater sugar mill at this time of year for school jew, bass, bream and tailor. Fish the rocky reef just before the mill on the bend and you will be surprised at what fish you pull out. Be very wary of the rocks because they will wreck your prop, so best fish at low tide to be able to see the rock formations, then come back and fish the run-up tide. I have caught very nice fish there. Even try the bridge and the reef on the right-hand side for bass and flathead. You can drift the run-up tide all the way to Rileys Hill and fish around the old buildings on the left for bream, flathead, bass, school jew and the odd tailor. That’s it for me this month. Remember: limit your kill, don’t kill your limit. Tight lines and smelly fingers. www.bnbfishing.com. au

Land-based game fishing season I HAD intended on doing an article on fishing the headlands for jew this month, however due to sea conditions I have not been able to get the pics I need, so I’ll have to do it in coming months.

However, don’t let that stop you getting down to the Bluff during the day in April chasing jewfish

Just Jew

by TYE PORTER

because I can assure you they will be there in good numbers. As long as a bit of swell is running your best chance of catching a jew will be two hours either side of low tide in the

Mischa sunk the gaff home on Ted’s tuna.

middle of the day using your preferred minnowstyle lure that runs no deeper than a metre. In recent weeks nice fish have been taken from the southern side of the Bluff, along with plenty of big tailor and the odd turrum. If you would like to give the Bluff a go but are not sure how to fish the spot, call me on 0427 978 790 and I will happily give you the low-down. All the hot action has been coming from the Iluka wall where the annual run of longtail tuna and spanish mackerel is in full swing, with the good news being that as long as

Ralph with his monster 24.5kg tuna taken on live garfish.

we do not get a flood the fishing will only get better this month. Sydney based LBG guru HT paid us a visit during the third week of March with the aim of getting his mate Ralph onto his very first longtail, and I am glad to say that under HT’s expert guidance Ralph nailed a monster 24.5kg tuna on his first attempt. The only downside to catching such a beast first up is everything else you catch forever and a day will seem small, however I suppose that would be a nice problem to have. HT also helped two other mates from Sydney, Millie and Red, hook up that day and then duly landed one himself. All in all you could say the eight-hour drive was well worth it. Mischa Porter of Iluka and Ted McLean of Ashby were among the fish that same week, each landing a typical-sized tuna on live garfish. Woombah angler Dave Deveigne did his usual trick of sharing his tuna with the sharks but I suppose that is one way of bleeding your fish and not covering the rocks with blood. A few decent mackerel have also been taken along the wall on both live baits and lures, with the best fish I know of weighing 25kg.

Given that April and May are typically the best months here for pelagics along the wall, anglers can look forward to really hot fishing sessions. Inside the river, whiting catches have dropped dramatically but I suppose that is to be expected at this time of year. However, nice catches of flathead and the odd school jew are being taken throughout the lower reaches on baits and soft plastic lures. April sees the start of the run of big jewfish inside the river as these * continued P28

Mischa and Ted McLean with a pair of Iluka longtails taken on live gar.

HT, Millie and Red with their morning’s effort on the wall.

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 27

Magic mulloway around Newcastle

H ing.

Scotty with a solid daytime jewie.

Kirt Jackson joined Scotty to get his first jewie.

I everyone, welcome to a new month of fish-

This month I will talk about one of my best mates who I grew up with. He is my fishing partner and right-hand man and this year he has achieved phenomenal catches of jewies (mulloway), landing 61 in just a few months. Scott McIntyre and I have been targeting jewies for the past couple of months, assisting in the NSW DPI Game Fish Tagging Program by catching and tagging as well as recording data to help research stocks of mulloway. When Scotty first expressed interest in taking part in the program DPI said no problem we will send you 10 tags to get you started. Little did they know Scotty would send them back within two days of receiving them. Scott then messaged DPI and asked for more tags and DPI responded by saying: “Wow, that is the fastest we have ever received tags back – we’ll send you another 30 to keep you busy.” Scotty is now up to 61 tags for 2019 and has even recaptured tagged fish that he tagged only two days prior. It goes to show if you carefully release them, it won’t be long before they regain confidence and feed again. At one stage Scott was managing eight a trip, many of them well over the metre mark. I occasionally managed to catch up with Scotty to help out with the tagging and filming between doing work for Viva Fishing in product development as well as getting the new tournament boat ready for this year’s ABT bass tournament, but more on that later on.

Land-based game fishing season * from P27

large fish move into the river in numbers to meet the huge schools of migrating mullet that run to sea on their annual breeding cycle. Any slack high tide after dark is the time to target jew, with the best tip I can give to let your ears do the work by listening for the jew busting into the fish on the surface each night. Main Beach is fishing reasonably well for tailor around the 2.5kg mark, however some days they are a lot harder to find. I have seen two nice jewfish of about 15kg taken on bonito by anglers chasing tailor near the water towers.

The beach along Shark Bay has been a bit of a hit and miss affair due mainly to the large amount of kelp that has washed up, however if you can find a spot with no weed then a feed of school jew or bream is on the cards. Offshore fishing has been difficult due to the foul weather but that has not stopped the die-hards getting into the good run of spotted and spanish mackerel that is occurring along the coast, with quite a few big snapper coming in as well. Sorry I’m a bit short on news this month but things have been a bit on the hectic side. Until next month, stay safe.

Page 28 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

Dave has a habit of sharing his tuna with the sharks.

2 Mates Fishin – Newcastle by CAINE ‘CAINO’ GOWARD

One recent weekend Scotty gave me a call and said let’s go, as everything was lining up perfectly. Scott would be showing a bloke how to target them on his boat, so I said I’d bring my boat and invited Jason Partridge from DVP Lures to show him the ropes as well. Jason had previously expressed interest in targeting them so he can replicate it in his local waterway. We started in Newcastle Harbour and the first thing was targeting livies. I planned to briefly show Jason where and how to target them as we had limited time to catch bait and get to the fishing spot before the jewies would cruise through. Most of our bites have occurred about a quarter of the way through the run-in tide, so we had to go out on dead low to catch livies and give us enough time to travel back. Scotty was on the bait grounds already and amassed an impressive 25 live yakkas using Hayabusa Flash Scale bait jigs. We were focusing on the main breakwall and fishing close to the white wash as a drawcard for targeting yakkas, basically just casting the jig close to the wash and letting it sink to the bottom before giving a slow lift or quick double hop to get the flashers moving and entice the yakkas to strike. We got 10 yakkas in short time and I said we are running out of time, so we moved to the spot and got lines in the water before the jewies cruised through. Fishing in about 12m of water, we proceeded to rig the livies and place them in position. We were right next to a rock wall that drops straight down. The jewies cruise past here in schools as they make their way up the river from the ocean chasing bait before moving back to the ocean. This usually gives you about a 30-minute window if sitting on anchor. We had our livies in place only 10m from the rock wall and sitting in about 12m of water. Scotty wasn’t far away employing the same tactics. Now it was just a waiting game. Fortunately we didn’t have to wait long until

one of the livies started playing up and acting like it was being chased. I turned to Jason and said the rod’s yours, get ready, but he declined and bang the livie was hit and the reel started screaming. We were using circle hooks, so it’s best not to try to set the hook by

jagging the rod. Simply set a tight drag and let the fish hook themselves. About 15 minutes later the jewie was landed with a perfect net shot by Jason. Unfortunately that was it for the day because the weather started playing up. That jewie went just over a metre and was very solid. Though Jason didn’t get a jewie, we gave him all the info he needs to start targeting them in his local waterway. If you would like to see some of our jewie captures, jump over to @2 Mates Fishin on Facebook or Instagram #Caino2MF.

Tackle box Jewfish: • Lox Iridium Kingy rod 1015kg • Pioneer Altitude 8000 saltwater spin reel • Timber Wolf 30lb PE braid • Sasame 40lb fluorocarbon leader • Hayabusa circle hooks 6/08/0

A few measurements before the fish was tagged and released.

Scotty’s mate landed his first jewie and was hooked.

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This mighty mangrove jack fell to Phil Bitzel. Photos: fishingnoosa.com.au

Jay Hargreaves scored this cobia on a jig.

Pelagic fun continues leading into Easter

FFSHORE pelagicshave been high on the agenda for most anglers.

North Reef and Sunshine Reef off Noosa have been fishing very well and are the most popular. A great variety of fish including yellowfin and longtail tuna, spotted mackerel and big spanish mackerel are on offer. On the bottom, snapper, jewfish, pearl perch, cobia, coral trout, nannygai, moses perch and many more are turning up. Pilchard floaters are claiming the fish that feed higher in the water column and traditional paternoster rigs have been getting the best of the reef fish. If you’re chasing a feed of mackerel, the best way to find them is to look for the birds. Doing this does not require you to be at the ramp in the dark, so unless it’s going to be four knots of wind or less, then enjoy the lay-in. It is vital to have at least two rods pre-rigged and ready to go with slugs or stickbaits. Should you lose a lure to a set of teeth, having a spare ready saves you a lot of lost time. You don’t know how long the fish will hang around, so being prepared helps. Don’t forget to approach the feeding school slowly and limit the amount of wash you create because this, along with motor noise, often drives the fish deep. After this happens once, the fish wise up and it often turns into a game of cat and mouse. If this occurs, you are best to call it a day and hit the reefs. Easter is a great time to break out the hard-body lures because the cooler water has the bigger spanish mackerel and longtail tuna around in stronger numbers. It pays to mix up colours and dive depths to see what’s working on the day. The red head and pilchard colours are generally the first to go over www.bnbfishing.com. au

Sunshine Coast by GRANT BUDD

the side, so take a look at what’s on offer from Nomad, Zerek and Rapala. Trolling at six to eight knots is ideal because it lets you cover lots of ground. While under way, make sure you keep an eye on your sounder for anything that looks promising on the bottom. Creating waypoints as you troll is a great way to build up an image of the bottom while giving you places to come back and fish. Fishing the wider grounds of Double Island has been very rewarding for anglers, with anything on the cards from mackerel to dolphinfish, big pearl perch, snapper, jewfish, amberjack, red emperor and many more. These waters are the perfect place for highspeed vertical jigging if you see a good show on the bottom. Big amberjack, cobia and tuna will happily smash a jig. PE3 rods, 30-40lb lines and 30-50lb leaders are the minimum you should use. Take a look at River2Sea knife jigs, Shimano Butterfly Jigs and Palms ZetZ Slow Blatt Long in the 120-200g range. Don’t forget to take split ring pliers and use 4/0 single assist hooks for maximum holding power. The Barwon Banks is another area where anglers have done well over recent weeks, with goldband snapper, cobia, moses perch, pearl perch and amberjack all on the chew. On the beaches, the Easter holidays present a great time of year to dust off the camping gear, give the tackle box a once-over and head up the beach. Noosa’s Northshore is a fantastic place to take the family. Even if you don’t own a four-wheel-drive, you can still find a nice place to camp without having to drive out onto the beach.

One spot that fishes well year in, year out is the stretch along Teewah Beach. Be on the lookout for gutters with good entry and exit points because these will bring in the better-quality fish. Keep rigs light and present your baits well so they look more natural to the larger, wiser fish. The majority of fish being caught are whiting, bream, dart and flathead. You can also expect to pick up the occasional tailor. The Noosa River has been producing quality fish, with early morning sessions yielding the best results. Trevally have been hot on the bite, with anglers getting into the action in the Woods Bays and around Munna Point Bridge. Surface poppers have worked well at sun-up, particularly the River2Sea Baby Bell, Rapala X-Rap and Storm Chug Bug. Tailor have also been coming into the river system, with the mouth the place to be. Pillies rigged on a set of 3/0 gangs present one of the most effective ways to target them. Away from the river mouth, the Gympie Terrace stretch has fished well for legal size bream and whiting around the flats and drop-offs, with prawns and worms the preferred baits. Tarpon and queenfish have been showing up after dark around Noosa Marina. Squidgy Prawn soft plastics and larger 7080mm surface walkers are getting crunched. Be sure to keep rod tips low and even under the water to prevent fish jumping off once hooked. In the Maroochy River, trevally have been in good numbers around the motorway bridge, with anglers having good success on live baits.

Prawns have been relatively thick in the river over the past month, with anglers managing good results around the Bli Bli islands. This area will also see huge flathead coming down and sitting in the drop-offs. The stretch from Coolum Creek to Dunethin Rock has fished well for flathead and jewfish on the run-out tide. When fishing this stretch, concentrate on fishing out the front of drain and creek mouths, with hard-bodies a great option. The Mooloolah River has fished very well for trevally, bream, mangrove jack and queenfish. First, try fishing around the change of tides, particularly from the last of the run-out to the start of the run-in. Spend a little time searching for bait shows on your sounder before fishing. For lure anglers, a wellworked surface walker or popper can produce a vast array of fish. Fishing early in the morning and late in the evening is key when targeting fish on the surface. You should always change your retrieve to find what works. Bream have been on the bite and are starting to gather around bridge pylons. Light leader and smaller hooks and sinkers are needed to fool the fish into biting. Berley never goes astray. In the sweet water, Lake Borumba is the perfect place to chase saratoga before water temperatures drop and they become less active. Walk the dog surface lures such as the Cultiva Zip ‘n Ziggy and Megabass Dog X are great options early in the day and can result in very exciting visual hook-ups. Another great option is the Westin Swim, which is a suspending lure that works on the retrieve and entices those fish not committing to a surface strike. As most of the bass are

coming from the timber, slow rolling soft plastics and hopping blades has produced the goods. Tailspinners are another great option and can sometimes entice the fish when they won’t bite on anything else. Attach one to your favourite jig head and plastic combo. Finally, check out the range of spinnerbaits at the Davo’s shops because these will tempt solid fish from deep within the snags. Don’t forget to check in to fishingnoosa.com.au for all the latest 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!

Angus Roberts landed this monster flathead.

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Originally available in Black and Green Pumpkin colours, anglers were looking for a couple of strike-trigger colours, with both Chartreuse and Orange being popular highlight colours on other lures, such as hard-bodies and blades, and the perfect fit for pairing up with plastics to attract fish and trigger strikes. Orange is also ideal for teaming up with natural-coloured plastics, such as the Greasy Prawn-coloured Z-Man 2.5” TRD CrawZ to create a saltwater yabby imitation when fishing around yabby beds.

The NedlockZ jig head combines perfectly with the buoyancy of Z-Man’s 10X Tough ElaZtech plastics to create a presentation that is either fleeing when retrieved or rapidly standing vertically in a feeding or defensive pose when paused, much like a crab, shrimp or yabby, throwing its claws up to defend itself and in turn triggering a strike from predatory species. The NedlockZ are built on heavy-duty Mustad UltraPoint black nickel, chemically sharpened hooks, the hooks that have made the TT Lures HeadlockZ HD series of jig

heads so popular, and they also feature the ‘head lock’ grub keeper to better secure your soft plastics in place. Available in Black, Green Pumpkin, Chartreuse and Orange colours, NedlockZ are available in four weights of 1/15oz 2H, 1/10oz 1H, 1/6oz 1H and 1/5oz 1H, with five per pack and a SRP of $9.95. It’s great to see an Australian owned and operated family business introducing quality, innovative products for both Australian and international anglers. Bring it on! www.ttlures.com.au

Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 29

The author with a PB golden trevally.

Everyone was stoked with some of the day’s highlights.

Look what cyclone Oma washed up T HE weather on the Sunshine Coast lately hasn’t been the best, so you can understand the frustration fishers here have being going through.

Joel with the first fish for the day.

Joal Boag landed a solid sweetlip.

Page 30 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

Bronson Tilley boated a nice cobia.

The weekend was approaching and I was studying what the weather, tides and swell were doing. At the time, I was sitting around a table with my mates discussing how we haven’t been fishing in a long time and how everyone else on the coast would be itching to get offshore and target offshore species as well. Within an hour, we had planned to set off bright and early the following morning. A 1.30am wake-up saw us at the boat ramp by 2.30am. The hour we agreed upon just goes to show the determination and how keen we were to get out and finally make the most of the great conditions. Getting to the boat ramp, everything went as planned and we were ready for take-off. We planned on using

Offshore Action

by JACK O’BRIEN

bait for the first hour or so after the sun came up before switching to lures when drifting over schools of fish marked on the sounder. This method worked a treat, resulting in my mate Joel hooking onto the first fish, a goodsized jewfish of 90cm. This fish fought extremely well and the excitement of catching the first fish so early was contagious. Joel’s first fish made everyone more eager to drop down and see what else we could drag up from the deep. Not long after the first fish was landed, we all started hooking cobia. We were using light combos and fishing with plastics, which made it a fun challenge. As the day went on and the sun well and truly rose, the hot bite never died. We were managing to pull up fish all day using a mixture of soft plastics. Our lure of choice for the day was the Z-Man 3” MinnowZ in Pearl or Opening Night. The water was pretty clear, and in the 20-35m of water we were using 3/8-1/2oz jig heads. I have never experienced a day offshore as good as this. We were getting triple hook-ups most of the day and bringing up a variety of species, with everyone having a ball landing the fish on light gear. The technique we found worked best was keeping the plastic close to the bottom. We were fishing over structure, reef and rocks, so keeping the lure down in the zone saw us getting the bites, however that came with the risk of getting bricked, which did happen a few times. You have to be ready to pull the fish away from the reef as soon as you hook up. While 20lb leader

worked well most of the day, a few times we couldn’t stop these fish no matter what we tried. We managed to catch many pearlies and sweetlip as well, which was good for the Esky. Towards the end of our session I decided to drop another Z-Man MinnowZ again. While it was sinking I got smashed. This fish was going insane and at first we called it for a snapper, however halfway through the fight we changed our minds and then believed it to be a golden trevally. After a good 10-minute fight on my light combo I finally got the fish to the surface and a golden trevally popped up. Once we got it into the boat I was so excited. This fish was a PB, measuring in at 70cm. The challenge of landing it on the light gear I was running made it more rewarding as well. I came to the conclusion it was time to head back in. We were all exhausted, but not because of the time we got up, because of how much fun we had catching fish all day. I had never experienced a session like this and neither had my mates. It was a constant bite all day resulting in plenty of fish, plenty of laughs and a whole lot of fun. With cyclone Oma passing by and the weather being generally bad for months on end, not many people have managed to get out and fish offshore, so making the decision to get out and fish that one good break in weather was definitely worthwhile! If you would like to keep updated with my fishing, check out my Flick Strike Fishing Facebook page and YouTube channel, with plenty of videos including this session. www.bnbfishing.com. au

Ready to do the miles off DI H

I, it’s Craig Tomkinson here.

April is one of my favourite months of the year. By now the weather has cooled a fair bit and the humidity is starting to drop, the rain has started to clear away, the run out wide offshore has backed right off and the weather settling into its winter pattern. This month I want to start fishing more off Double Island Point because the sharks should have retreated. I want to get out and find a few new bits of ground in the 25-45km zone to the east and north of DI. Over the years I have done really well in these areas but that was on overnight trips. I used to just find a patch of bait with reef fish nearby or under the bait, anchor and berley and then jig livies and drop them back down. Doing this I would catch fish including reds and estuary cod, big pearlies, maori cod and sometimes snapper, along with heaps of good size grass sweetlip. Now I have my smaller 5m tinnie I will just be doing day trips. I know this limits my time on the water but with the tinnie being so cheap to run I am not worried. I may even camp back near Freshwater Track

Noosa to Fraser Coast by CRAIG TOMKINSON

camping area at Teewah for a couple of days at a time. On the quiet days I will put in a lot of time sounding. Even though my 832C Koden LCD colour sounder is about 15 years old, it still works really well and has a great picture at any speed I can do in the tinnie. Dave Anderson and I recently did a trip to DI with the tinnie in tow. We launched at the lagoon and headed out about 43km. I know you might think that’s a fair way out in a 5m tinnie, but my boat is full of survey foam under the false floor and the bench seats are full of it too. On the back is a 60hp four-stroke Yamaha, which I believe is the best outboard brand on the market today. I also have a near-new 5.8hp auxiliary outboard with enough extra fuel to come home with the aux if needed. A near-new VHF radio is fitted, and I still log on from the lagoon once on the water. Being tiller steer, it rides well for a tinnie but in future I will buy a couple

of folding seats to support my back on the longer trips. It took a couple of hours to get out to my first area because it was a bit choppy. I found good bait shows, so we anchored and started fishing. I rigged Dave up to chase red emperor with heavier gear and he got smashed on the way down by something that cut him off. Well that just set the tone for rest of the day. I set him up again, he dropped down and hooked a great fish, got it up off the bottom a few metres and it was pulling drag and then bang, the whole lot was gone… flaming sharked! Next I dropped down with lighter gear and scored a double header of good size tuskfish. By now Dave had rerigged with lighter 35lb main line, a paternoster rig and 55lb mono trace with two 4/0 hooks using pillies and squid as bait. We both caught nice hussar and bits and pieces but the sharks got any fish that pulled drag, which in turn shut the rest of the fish down. We moved around and

I sounded for 30 minutes at a time just looking for new shows, which I found, but sharks were on every patch. By midday it was very calm but then the wind swung to the east-northeast, so we fished and sounded our way back to DI where we loaded the boat on the trailer just on dark, had a cuppa, put on some dry clothes and headed off down the beach to home with a good feed of fish. I have also been crabbing the upper Noosa River for sweet bugger all lately.

My son Gavin and I worked our pots for a few days for one crab. The flood way back in November pushed the crabs down the river and for some reason they have not come back up into the big lake. They might have headed out and spawned. Over the past few years we had floods around the same time and the crabs stayed put in the big lake and we had fantastic crabbing. Every year is a bit different I guess. ‘Til next month, stay safe on the water.

Dave Anderson with a nice maori cod.

The author and his son Gavin came back from crabbing wearing face protection. The author has used face protection for over 45 years and now everyone is using it, which is great to see.

We have you covered

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For more information visit www.seajayboats.com.au www.bnbfishing.com. au

Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 31

An introduction to my fishing experiences

I everyone, my name is Rick Waugh and I operate a fishing charter business called Big Dolphin Fishing Charters.

A quality red emperor for a Big Dolphin client.

Casie captured this cracking estuary cod while on a charter with the author.

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

TURKEY BEACH 2 Bedroom Villa Holiday Rental • Outdoor BBQ and pergola For • Fish cleaning facilities enquiries • Large yard with room and for the boat bookings • Undercover carport phone • Close to boat ramp 07 4974 2153 • Linen available

We run full-day and extended evening trips offshore from Fraser Island and Double Island Point, departing from Tin Can Bay and Carlo Point and taking four people per trip, making it easier to hook you up. I have a 6m Shark Cat cuddy cabin with rear deck cover and twin 80hp Yamaha four-strokes. I mainly fish with Shimano Baitrunners and know how to anchor up and then shift the vessel without retrieving the anchor, which keeps you on the fish longer. The grounds offshore from Fraser Island, Rainbow Beach and Double Island have been my domain since I was 12. I always get a buzz when a live yakka is slapped by a big reef fish. Control is the key with a big fish. Don’t put your hand on the drag and bust it off, work the fish with the rod and reel’s drag. Sometimes you have to go with the fish if it doesn’t play your game. I was a commercial fisher for about six years, always deep-sea reef line fishing off Fraser and Double Island Point. I started with Aurora II, a 10m Cougar Cat, doing extended overnight trips from in close to way up northeast on the continental shelf. At the same time, I was commercial fishing and running charters on my own vessel. Then I jumped on Baitrunner for Rainbow Beach Fishing Charters and did a couple of seasons fishing out to about 25 miles offshore and everything in between. All up in the past 10 years I have done about 1200 ocean days as Master Class V, MED II, open

Tin Can Bay by RICK WAUGH

coxswain fishing for every species offshore, but mostly reef species and a lot of big reds over the years. I guess you all love chasing red emperor and so do I. I don’t knock back big grass sweetlip and over the years have caught them up to 10kg. As a young boy I remember going to Hervey Bay and seeing my older brothers coming back from early morning trips out to the beacon at Woody Island. Wow they caught some big grass sweeties and slaty bream, but my time was coming. When I was about seven years old I would use spare veranda railing posts, trace out lure shapes, cut them out with a jig saw, hand shape them with a pocket knife and take them down to the Mary River to slap silver fork-tailed catfish. I went freshwater cod fishing and did just about any other fishing I could. When you get it into your blood at an early age I guess it’s an instinctual hunting thing. Anyhow, I like getting hooked up to big fish and hooking someone else up is just as much fun. I spent three years on Cape York in Weipa where I fought it out with about 100 barra, lots of fingermark, king salmon, black jewfish, mangrove jack and anything else that came near me. There’s fantastic fishing up there when the temperature is right. Over the years I have had many of the younger generation with little or no experience come out on fishing charters. I get them hooked up on a nice 10-15kg golds-

Join in on the fishing fun • Full-day and extended evening trips, specially catering for smaller groups of four. • Depart from Tin Can Bay and Carlo Point at Rainbow Beach.

Big Dolphin Fishing Charters Page 32 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

potted cod for a first arm stretch and they’re hooked for life. I supply the best bait and catch live yakkas where possible, fishing mainly snood rigs with an 8 ball sinker, a pair of Mutsu 6/0 hooks, 55lb trace and 30lb braid for main line, however it depends on what’s on the chew and which reef is being explored. I have deck winch posts if it gets a bit too exiting. The main fishing season is from April through to November. I kick off around 5am and return about 4pm for day trips and kick off at 8am, returning around 8.30pm on ex-

tended trips, as most of the horses bite on dark. During the last snapper season, just as the sun went down over Fraser Island two rods bent right over with 8kg snapper and the bloke on my side was cracked by a 15kg cobia. I had three big aggro

fish at my feet at the same time – good fun! Check out the attached photos and give me a call on 0497 112 753. Bring on the snapper. Last season was the best I’ve seen off Fraser and even just outside the bar offered really great fishing.

Quality snapper will be just starting to come on the chew as the water temp drops.

Fishing with live and dead bait is the staple on Big Dolphin Fishing Charters. You never know what might smack a bait!

This groper put up an immense fight but was quickly released.

• Get on board and catch a few yourself! • 18ft Shark Cat Cuddy Cabin with twin Yamaha 80hp 4-strokes • Offshore Fraser Island and Double Island Point Call Rick 0497 112 753 Facebook: Big Dolphin Fishing Charters www.bigdolphin-fishing.business.site

Huge red emperor are the goal for many anglers fishing off Double Island Point and Fraser Island.

www.bnbfishing.com. au

Andy boated a solid spanish mackerel.

Young Kaius captured a longtail.

Fraser fish firing

HE weather continues to be cruddy.

We are still getting out but it doesn’t make it easy when the tuna are out wider. Luckily, good numbers of pelagics have been around, with plenty of longtail and mack tuna as well as spotted and school mackerel too. The super-thick bait balls seem to have moved on, which is a shame, because great captures were possible around them. Most of the above species are caught from surface-feeding schools. I’ve often written about this style of fishing but what I don’t mention is targeting school mackerel. It’s pretty simple and the easiest method is trolling. School mackerel are often found near structure and bait. Choose a lure you can troll deep. You will be surprised how big a lure they will eat. You can also try small lures on paravanes or downriggers, but a plain old deep-diver 10-15cm in length will do the job. Just make sure you find fish first. I prefer to cast and retrieve lures for the added involvement. Usually metal, and often very cheap. Jigging can be effective, however an erratic retrieve will often result in many bite-offs. Erratic jigging retrieves cause the fish to miss the lure, often ending in a cut leader. Lure loss can be bad enough even with a fast and constant retrieve. School mackerel attack with swipes and lunges, often as a group, exacerbating the lure loss rate. You will also find you often foul hook them too, which is another sign they are swiping at the lures. This system can catch www.bnbfishing.com. au

Fraser Guided Fishing by TRI TON

It seemed the trevally wanted the same thing as the mackerel, so we drifted and hunted down schools and snared more trevally of a few different species. other species too. Again, make sure the fish are present before you invest too much time trying to catch them. On a recent trip I found it difficult to locate tuna, so we resorted to deep fishing. We jigged and spun small cheap lures for mackerel because the other presentations didn’t seem to produce. Luckily for me, the boys had fished with me many times before. We entertained ourselves with banter and the lads had a small competition going too. Unfortunately for the lads’ tackle boxes, a twitching retrieve triggered the better responses. Many lures later, they had a few legal mackerel in the box. While chasing the mackerel, we also caught a trevally. It seemed the trevally wanted the same thing as the mackerel, so we drifted and hunted down schools and snared more trevally of a few different species. The goldens we caught were not too bad and pulled a fair amount of drag to keep the lads happy. Had the boys not been so happy to chase what was presented to them, I may have been forced to hunt around and potentially miss the hot little bite.

We ended up with six goldens over 70cm for the session, as well as other species along the way. Not bad for a tough day with the weather really against us. Another similar day saw me jigging as I tried to turn on a bite for the crew. We managed a few mackerel but nothing huge until suddenly one of the boys hooked up to either a queenfish or trevally but the soft plastic pulled free as we entered the end of the battle. As I pondered whether that was our one good chance lost, a few drifts later I saw schooling fish. Dropping a little metal into the school, a few twitches later I came up tight. It felt heavy and was something worth handing over to one of the punters. The reel screamed as the fish decided it couldn’t shake the lure free. A quick squirt and then a cartwheel in the air and we saw we had a decent queenfish attached. After a fast and charged battle we had a photo and fast release. We got back to it and thankfully the fish remained in the same area long enough to boat about six queens and a nice brassy trevally. The best queenie went 110cm, which was very nice indeed on a tough day.

Andy and a big GT.

Peter Herbst with a golden caught on a Molix plastic.

> Hervey Bay > Fraser Island > Sandy Strait

Get into the best fishing action! Full and half day tours All levels of experience Experienced guide

www.fraserguidedfishing.com.au > 0427 230 261 Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 33

Tide Times Sponsored by

AUSTRALIA EAST COAST - BRISBANE BAR

A lovely blackspotted estuary cod pulled from the snags by Leeah.

A cracking saltwater barramundi caught on a 3” paddle tail soft plastic.

Another eventful weekend on the water

H ROUG HOU T summer and autumn so far, the Bundaberg region has experienced very little rainfall.

WADDY POINT - FRASER ISLAND

Page 34 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

There’s nothing worse than a wet weekend of camping, so surely after months of no significant rainfall we could plan a weekend camping and fishing trip… surely. My girlfriend Leeah and I were itching to return to a hidden hot spot not far from town that is only accessible by boat and notably tide dependant. The tides were prime for a late Friday afternoon dash in the tinnie after work, so the boat was packed with the basic camping essentials for the weekend. After getting off slightly later than planned, worryingly the tide was already running out by the time we launched, and with about 30 knots of wind the going was slower than expected. We made it through what I thought was the shallowest section of creek, but being pitch black darkness by now we were relying only on the spotlight to lead our way, which is never ideal for determining water depth. Things went downhill fast when we ran aground on a mud flat. Running aground on sandbanks is rarely a big deal because you can slowly drag a small boat across the shallows, but mud is a whole different story. By now up to my waist in sloppy mud trying to pull the boat into a seemingly non-existent channel was what took place for the next hour, until we finally admitted defeat and decided to camp on the boat for the night. Not that we had much of a choice. What else could possibly happen to top off our night? A sudden and un-forecast torrential downpour of course! Luckily we were quick to set up the swag as soon as the rain began and managed some shut-eye for the night. As dramatic as it sounds, we were still perfectly safe and things could’ve been a lot worse. The things you do for fishing! Fortunately, the morning tide lifted us from our stranded state and

Bundaberg Estuaries by JOEL JOHNSON

we found the deepest part of the creek was in fact where we ended up running aground, but due to the night-time high tide being abnormally low from the neap tides combined with running an hour late, we ended up stuck. Something to pay more attention to next time! Neap tides are tides that have the least difference between high and low, so high tide isn’t always a ‘high’ tide, which is obviously important when navigating shallow areas. We didn’t waste any time, making it through the creek system to our destination before the sun had fully come up to dry our soggy gear. It wasn’t the most conventional way of doing things but we got there in the end and could finally get out and try our luck at the fishing. We had high hopes of targeting barramundi late in the afternoon, so the day was really only a warm-up. We explored some narrow creeks searching for new ground and came across a shallow section of creek riddled with river prawns. It didn’t take long to cast net a handful to use as fresh grunter and whiting bait, so we set up a drift down the main creek where we caught plenty of juvenile grunter but none worth a photo, unfortunately. Freshly caught prawns are ideal grunter bait when rigged on a light running ball sinker and small long-shank hook, similar to the rig used for whiting. They are a hard-fighting species but only light tackle is needed because they rarely snag you up. The best places to fish for them are generally muddy or rubbly stretches, but the best bet is finding their food source and fishing close by. As the creek funnelled into a nice deep hole with plenty of activity showing on the surface, we decided to anchor and fish, with a couple of quality bream and a nice flathead coming aboard. The sun was slowly dropping, meaning the

magical last-light bite time was nearing, so we headed up the narrow sections of creek, once again collecting a good number of live poddy mullet to send out alongside our lures in the hope we might tempt a barramundi or mangrove jack. We had plenty of action and lots of hook-ups, but frustratingly only caught eels and a small bull shark, until finally I landed a beautiful barramundi on a soft plastic! A slow rolling motion with a lightly rigged 3” minnow soft plastic did the damage on this fish, and this is my go-to method for triggering a bite. Just as the light was well and truly fading, the largest live mullet of our spread was smashed and had me holding on as it tore off towards the snags. After a brutal 10-minute fight around the boat and in the snags, I finally had the fish near the boat, still without seeing it, when devastatingly the hook pulled! Nothing is more frustrating than losing a quality fish boatside without a glimpse of what it was, but it keeps us coming back time and time again.

All we could do was keep fishing and hope to encounter more hardfighting fish, and we did with a number of bust-offs on suspected mangrove jack as well as a goodsized blackspotted estuary cod caught by Leeah. Once the darkness had fully set in, the fish slowly went off the bite, just as we had found on previous trips, so we headed back to camp for a welldeserved rest. The next morning saw us packed early, ensuring we had plenty of time to

get home before the tide dropped. Despite the drama that is seemingly always attracted to our camping expeditions, it is what we love doing, and even after getting beaten by the elements and our tempers tested from losing fish, we still came home wanting to go straight back out the next weekend and do it all again. A true passion for the outdoor lifestyle isn’t deterred by testing experiences.

This table size flathead was hooked on a live prawn while targeting grunter.

Leeah landed a good-sized bream.

www.bnbfishing.com. au

Finally, a window of opportunity

FTER many months of windy weather, with the majority blowing from the north, we were teased with a narrow gap in the weather.

The window was not very long but provided those with an ‘offshore twitch’ the chance to finally check out their offshore marks. My boat has been in the shed since last September, with the two or three small breaks in the weather since September out of my reach due to other commitments or work. Finally a Sunday forecast started to appear a goer, with winds less than 10 knots forecast. While there was a swell,

Bundaberg Region by BRAD YOUNG

it was not too big and was regular. I was a little apprehensive because it had been quite a long time since the last trip. I had dragged the boat out of the shed on Saturday and took to it with the water blaster and detergent to clean off the accumulated dirt and dust before completing some basic checks. Batteries were checked and were sitting at 12.5V (about 50 percent), EPIRB use-by date checked and tested, flares use-by date

Joel’s trip offshore with his dad and mates saw him clean up with a box including snapper, grassies, goldspotted cod and hussar.

The author came home with a mixed box of reef species.

checked and life jackets checked. All seemed right for the morning. A call went out for crew and I was able to put together a crew of four including my son Lachy, Daniel and Doug. With a set departure time of 5am, we planned to head towards our mark about 42km from Burnett Heads. I was excited at the thought of fishing after such a long break and had convinced myself the fish would have doubled in size and would be oblivious to a baited hook after such a long break. There was action at the ramp, but not too much when we arrived at about 4.30am. With all the gear stored in the boat before we left home, we were able to head straight to the launching ramp and skip the developing queue of boats removing tie-down straps, lights and so on. I was rewarded for my slow and steady launch once reversing as even at my slow pace, gentle application of the brakes to slow our progress saw the car and boat trailer sliding a little backwards on the slippery surface. Lucky I am not a member of the roll back and slam on the brakes crowd as the whole kit and caboodle would have slid unceremoniously into the water! I continued to slowly allow the combination to slowly drop lower on the ramp until the boat trailer was submerged to the correct depth for a launch. Here I had to pause because Lachy and Doug needed the support of the stationary vehicle to help them travel to the front of the boat trailer without losing their footing. After the boat slipped off the trailer, again I waited until they had climbed back up the ramp using the car as a crutch. Within minutes we were boarding at the pontoon and then began making our way out of the harbour and subsequently the river

Proud of a nice fish from a patch about 50km off Bundaberg.

www.bnbfishing.com. au

mouth before swinging the boat onto the course for our first spot. It was a relatively smooth run to our start point where we hoped to pin mackerel on dawn. The Signature handles the chop well with the motor trimmed out and hull on the plane, with the Lectrotabs then used to pull the bow down, increasing both the waterline length and ensuring the fine bow has the opportunity to cut through the chop. I would say any deep-V fibreglass boat needs tabs to get the maximum benefit out of the hull shape. They also help to trim port/starboard, again preventing the hull from tilting to one side and landing on the flat rather than V of the hull. Arriving just as the sun lifted above the horizon, we dropped the lures over the side and commenced our fast troll. It wasn’t long before we hooked the first spanish mackerel and after a short fight, led it towards the gaff and then dispatched it with a whack to the head. There aren’t many things scarier than a large mackerel or similar pelagic kicking madly in the back of the boat with two large sets of trebles and its teeth slashing backwards and forwards near feet, calves and thighs. After setting the lures again, it wasn’t long before we had a double hook-up, dropping one but getting the other to the boat. Again it was quickly dispatched and bled and left in the bait tank to bleed before being iced. With the sun rising higher, we decided to head to our first bottom mark and searched for signs of fish. It wasn’t long before we added some species to the box. We anchored and fished this location until things slowed and then moved to another mark and repeated the exercise. This pattern was repeated several times through the morning and we slowly added to a mixed box that included hussar, grass sweetlip, moses perch, Spanish flag, tuskfish and maori cod. About 50 percent of the box was caught in the hour leading up to the top of the tide. We also landed quite a few juvenile red emperor but all were well undersized and returned to the water immediately. As midday approached and the fishing slowed, the decision was made to pull the pin and head home so we could complete the clean-up with plenty of daylight. Let’s hope it is not too long before the next window of opportunity. As always, I can be contacted via the Bush ‘n Beach website, by email at fishnboat@bigpond.com or post at PO Box 5812 Bundaberg West Queensland 4670. Until next month…

COMPETITION DATES COMPETITION

DATE

LOCATION

2019 ABBT* Bass Apr 13-14 Cania Dam – Russell Nowland Round 2 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 Hook Up

Gladstone – 0428 743 474 boynetannumhookup.com.au

ABBT* X-Factor May 4-5 Teams R2

Wuruma Dam – Russell Nowland 07 4167 8183

ABBT* Bass Jun 1-2 Round 3

Boondooma Dam – Russell Nowland 07 4167 8183

Pottsville Beach Jun 8-9 Sports Greenback Fishing Comp

Pottsville Beach – Stephen Duffield 0421 052 135 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 4167 8183 Evans Head Fishing Jul 13-19 Evans Head – 02 6681 3988 Classic evansheadfishingclassic.com.au ABBT* X-Factor Jul 27-28 Somerset Dam – Russell Nowland Teams R4 07 4167 8183 ABBT* X-Factor Aug 17-18 Dam TBA – Russell Nowland Teams Grand Final 07 4167 8183 Moreton Island Aug 27-31 Moreton Island Fishing Classic moretonislandadventures.com.au ABBT* Bass Round 4

Aug 31- Sep 1

Somerset Dam – Russell Nowland 07 4167 8183

Women that Fish Sep 6-7 Barra Classic

Rockhampton – Shara VanHaeren 0429 923 243

ABBT* Bass Sep 21-22 Wuruma Dam – Russell Nowland Round 5 07 4167 8183 Rocky Barra Oct 21-23 Rockhampton Bounty rockybarrabounty.com Lake Moondarra Oct 25-27 Lake Moondarra Fishing Classic lakemoondarrafishingclassic.com.au Saratoga Oct 5-6 Spectacular

Bedford Weir Blackwater – Dennis 0438 635 840

ABBT* Bass Grand Final

Dam TBA – Russell Nowland 07 4165 4286 or 07 4167 8183

Nov 30- Dec 1

*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

Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 35

Old ways, new ways – for better, for worse

OMETIMES, Fred, we do certain things certain ways because we’ve always done them those ways and we’ve never really thought why.

We just do it. It’s a bit like sitting in the classroom and having a teacher drum into you that 2+2=4 and then tell you not to count it or question it, just accept it. Remember when we were talking last issue about the symbols for the new and full moons, and why the new moon was drawn as a black circle and the full moon was drawn as an empty circle? We didn’t discuss the symbols for the quarter moons. For centuries, the moon’s first quarter was drawn as a circle with the left half shaded black and the right half white, or it was sometimes drawn as a stylised crescent moon representing the face of the Man in the Moon, with his eye, nose and chin pointing left. At the same time, the third quarter was shown with the right half of the circle filled with black and the left half white, while the stylised face on the crescent moon now faced right. That’s how we came to accept the moon’s representation in Australia because that’s the way it always was. No one thought to question why. No one thought to look up into the sky and see how each quarter moon appeared to a casual observer at the different phases. If they had, they would have noticed that the moon’s appearance south of the equator is the reverse of how it looks to a person in the northern hemisphere. Moon in northern declination

Lunacy by PETER LAYTON

Fred, that’s a bit like how, when you pull the plug out of your bathroom basin, water swirls down the drain in a clockwise direction in the southern hemisphere and anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere. Never noticed? Watch next time you’re brushing your teeth. So when we first published the Angler’s Almanac, we decided to represent the moon’s phases the way we see them in the southern hemisphere. We explained why. I’ve attached a diagram we published at the time to help you understand. It took the authorities until 1997 to follow suit. If you can put your hands on a copy of the Queensland Government’s 1998 Tide Tables, you will find both representations of the moon symbols in it where it repeated the last four months of 1997 showing the old way and all the months of 1998 showing the new way. That’s a minor change, Fred. It’s the big changes you need to look for. Sometimes someone comes up with what seems like a much better way to do something and we change over and let the old way fade into the past. Sometimes, Fred, the new way isn’t the best way but after a couple of generations of people have grown up with

the ‘new’ way, they have accepted it as the norm and forgotten the old way. Sometimes, Fred, the change is a bit subtler, so no one really notices the change. Change in those circumstances is more probable where a culture doesn’t have a written language of its own and the old ways aren’t always accurately passed along from one generation to the next despite the best intentions and efforts of those entrusted with safeguarding the information. Sometimes, Fred, that old knowledge becomes so corrupted it doesn’t work effectively anymore. More effective modern technology is introduced, and the old ways are discarded for the new. Sometimes they can be salvaged. Sometimes they cannot. I have a couple of cultures in mind when I write this, Fred. I wasn’t about to say which ones because the copycats might then start copying me there too. But I will mention one, the muchfabled Maori calendar. This is a classic example of change over the centuries. If you look up the Maori calendar on the internet these days, Fred, you will find some interesting interpretations. Perhaps I shouldn’t have said ‘interesting’. Perhaps I should have said contradictory. The Maori calendar was more than just a lunar fishing calendar, much touted for its piscatorial prescience by many who have never really looked

very closely at it. You can include me among that mob of nongs, Fred, because I was interested only in how it functioned for fishing. I overlooked the fact that its other functions were every bit as essential as the fishing to the old Maori culture, their lifestyle and their food supply. How you read one aspect of any given day’s prediction more often than not impacted on the others. So when the calendar was simplified and generalised over the years to concentrate on the fishing aspect without considering those other aspects – or correct interpretation of them – errors began to appear. The end result, Fred, is I have just gone on to the internet and grabbed three Maori calendars at random. One gives a broader description of what to expect on the different days of the moon’s phases if you were to start at the new moon and mark it as number one. The second is not as descriptive but still looks at more than just fishing. The third concentrates solely on fishing. The first and second calendars list the first day of the new moon as ‘unpleasant’, with both using that word, and a bad day for fishing. The third calendar says the fishing will be good. On the second day of the new moon, the first calendar says the fishing will be good. The second calendar fails to mention fishing and the third says the fishing

30oN

SUN

15oN

Moon A over Equator

15oS 30oS

Moon in southern declination

The symbol B shows how people in the northern hemisphere see the moon’s first quarter. The Angler’s Almanac adopted the A symbol, which is how people in the southern hemisphere see the first quarter most of the time. To complicate matters, the moon moves up and down as well as around an elliptical orbit, crossing the equator twice a month. This means people living in far-northern Australia can see the quarter moon both ways at different times. More about the moon’s jiggy-jigging in another article.

The humour of cartoonist Mac Vines was captured in the original Tide Guides. Sadly, Mac passed away several years ago.

No doubt the line fisherman photographed early last century was pleased with his morning’s catch (yes, that is one of the original Alvey reels with a red cedar or silky oak turned wooden reel he is holding). Compare his catch on rod and line with the haul in the other photo. Our forebears in recreational and professional fishing were well versed in the ways of the ancients. The Maori calendar used to distinguish between the different modes of fishing and which modes were best suited to the different days in the monthly lunar calendar. The third photo shows the first fisher with a friend carefully hauling in a net. Note the water level in the background. That also tells a story.

Page 36 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

will be ‘very good’. On the third day of the new moon, the first calendar says fishing will be good, the second says the fishing will be ‘pleasing’ and the third calendar says ‘bad’. Get the picture, Fred? I could go on, but too many people have been trying to interpret the spoken Maori calendar over the past 100 years, with too many conflicting results. The problem, Fred, is that the Maoris, like all the peoples of the Pacific, have never had a written language. Their lunar and solar calendars, along with their navigational skills, were safely handed down from generation to generation over thousands of years through incredible feats of memory training. This wasn’t unique to the Maoris. The Melanesians, the Micronesians and the Polynesians all held this knowledge, albeit not always the same applications. Just as their languages differed across the geography of their islands, so too was much of their knowledge related to their island groups, often with broader similarities, sometimes unique. One Micronesian was witnessed early in the last century ‘dreaming’ to the dolphins, calling them to him. A sort of telepathy. When he began ‘dreaming’ just after midday, his clan started preparing a feast. Three and a half hours later, he emerged from his small dolphin-calling hut. The people wore garlands of flowers for celebration. They waded out through the waves to chest depth and waited. The witness, a British administrator who had befriended the people for decades after his cadetship, stood next to the dolphin caller. He was the caller’s trusted guest. “They come, they come,” the people called as they first sighted the dolphins that came in from the sea and then cruised back and forth along the edge of the reef. Then the dolphins disappeared. The administrator thought he had witnessed something unusual, something great. He was about to return to shore when the dolphin caller said softly to him: “The king out of the west comes to meet me.” The lead dolphin appeared close by the caller’s legs. The rest of the dolphins followed. The caller slowly walked to the shallows. The dolphin drifted in by his side. The natives followed and the rest of the dolphins accompanied them to the sand. The men gently picked them up, 10 men to a dolphin, and placed them unresisting on the water’s edge where the dolphins could not turn around. Then the men slaughtered the dolphins for the feast. An incredible tale. Its credibility comes from the administrator’s reputation and the detail of his written reports. Doubtless, such an event did occur and occurred many times over the centuries. Do dolphin callers still exist today? That is doubtful. So much knowledge has been lost in comparatively recent times as the European influence spread at the expense of the skills and natural sciences of the islanders. Fortunately, some far-sighted administrators and literate European settlers earned the trust of the natives, observed many of the native rites and wrote down what they had seen, what they had been told. Finding those original records can help our understanding of what is happening in our seas today. The more we understand, the wiser and better we become as anglers. And as the custodians of planet earth. Next issue we’ll discuss bobbing up and down on the lunar waves. Peter Layton is the publisher of the Tide Guide and the Angler’s Almanac. www.bnbfishing.com. au

Mount Isa and big barramundi

EADING to the Northern Territory to fish in seemingly untouched waterways is probably on everyone’s bucket list.

We’ve all heard tales of big barra and lots of them in exotic places. It’s a place of outback country scenes and colours reflecting off the water you have to see to believe. Maybe while you’re there you can organise to fly over to Arnhem Land and fish with the guides from the Arnhem Land Barramundi Nature Lodge. It is a ‘must-do’ thing that is very well worth doing. You’ve got so many things to do and see in that part of the country, but on the road up there is one place you should spend a few days before you get there – and it’s not even out of the way! It’s still in Queensland and is the last major town on the way to the NT. In the northwest Outback of Queensland is the mining town of Mount Isa. It’s an iconic Australian town where you’ll see the great stacks of the mine well before you see the town. Once you get there, it is well worth checking out the sites from the lookout in the middle of town opposite Coles, then taking a tour of the underground mine and hospital. All iconic places but for most of us, the hidden gem is the dam. Just on the north side of town is the turn-off to Lake Moondarra, and 13km further on though amazing hills is this very pretty dam. Lake Moondarra is a dam full of barra… big barra. I must add, there are lots of long-toms, sooties and fork-tailed catties, just to name a few of the lesser sportfish you will find here. There is plenty of food in the dam, so everything is big and strong. Even those catties will give you a good run for your money. This year had an unusual wet season that certainly left its mark on parts of

Mount Isa by HELEN ABDY

This year Julius overflowed in a pretty big way and I’m sure the barra that have been swimming around there for several years have made their way to the salt. north Queensland. I was in Mount Isa at the time of those devastating floods and the Isa was cut off from the eastern towns but still open from the northwest and via the Adelaide/Darwin central highway. So trucks were diverted to bring the Isa food and produce to ensure we and the nearby communities were OK. We received just the right amount of rain to not cause too much damage in the area and not quite overflow the dam. This was a blessing and means there will be at least another season of those big barra swimming around, getting bigger and stronger before the next wet. The Mount Isa Fish Stocking Group had everything crossed hoping for another year of decent rain into the dam but hoping it wouldn’t overflow and take some of those big barra downstream. Over the years the dam has filled and overflowed and big fish have gone over and survived to make their way further downstream in the Leichhardt River to the salt water in the Gulf of Carpentaria. However, before they get to the salt, they are contained in another dam: Lake Julius. This year Julius overflowed in a pretty big way and I’m sure the barra that have been swimming around there for several years have made their way to the salt. The Mount Isa Fish Stocking Group has been around since about 1987 and stocked barramundi fingerlings from brood stocks in Karumba into Moondarra and to a lesser

extent Julius. Sooty grunter fingerlings from the group’s own hatchery at Moondarra supply Moondarra and Julius as well as Lake Corella and East Leichhardt Dam, both of which have free camping. Moondarra is a very picturesque dam with many islands, rocky cliffs and rock formations, a huge abundance of birdlife and… freshwater crocs. But they don’t worry you at all when you fall in for a cool swim in the heat of the day. Weed beds across the dam are more visually apparent when the levels are lower but with the dam being very full at the moment, these beds are well underwater, though still ideal places for the barra to be cruising. As you might imagine, like all dam barra, the fish are a bit lazy. They don’t have to travel far or compete much for food, so trolling is the most common and successful form of chasing them. Big diving lures such as the Classic Barra 120, Storm Thunder Barra and Killalure Barra Bait are all proven barra lures that work because they have a great rolling wobble through the water. Don’t be shy to use wooden lures, most of which do not have rattles built into them. I believe it’s the vibration that attracts the fish more than the sharper rattle of a moulded lure. This also applies when using plastics, either trolling or casting. Locals here love trolling big plastics rigged weedless such as the Zerek Flat Shad 7” and Squidgy

Slick Rig Pro. In the shallow areas where the water is still covering the weed beds, a lightly weighted frog again rigged weedless and worked slowly makes for exciting fishing. When the water levels are low, you will see many tailing barra with their heads down into the weed beds. An awesome sight that is more commonly seen on shallow saltwater flats. These barra are so intent on feeding you can often sneak up very close before disturbing them. Fly fishing is one of my favourite forms of targeting these big fish in the shallows, especially when sight casting to the tailing barra is possible. I’ve had success on unweighted flies worked slowly on a 9 or 10 weight rod and attached to a bulky deceiver with a weed guard. Colour wise, I recommend greens through to clears/whites. As you head out to the dam and enter through the gates into the main area you’re met with very well set out grounds and manicured lawns. To the left are a few boat ramps that cater for all sizes of boats and the council has not long finished a bitumen ring road around some of the waterfront that offers a few day camp sites. For security and safety, the gates are open from 6am until 9pm. Unfortunately, there are no facilities for camping overnight but town is only a short drive away. For further tips, talk to the boys and girls at BCF Mount Isa who work closely with the fish stocking group. Also check out the Mount Isa Fish Stocking Group Facebook page. The Isa really is worth checking out. You will be surprised what’s out here. Happy fishing.

Experienced local guide

Carl Nicholson with a killer 103cm barra captured on fly.

Mount Isa barra guru Carl landed a 122cm horse.

Reflections by the boat ramp.

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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Awesome views.

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The author and John showed off the first bream of the day, taken on the Zerek Live Shrimp.

Michael with a lovely specimen taken on a Zerek Bulldog Crank.

Terrific family trip to Tassie I

T’S been a long time in the making and our little family finally flew down to Tasmania to do a ‘taste of Tassie tour’, exploring some of the state’s best and most famous tourist locations.

The Zerek Live Flash Minnow accounted for plenty of fish.

Michael with one of the better captures of the day.

Will we get the fish or won’t we? Contemplating how to get the fish of the day out of the weed bed.

Page 38 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

The kids loved watching the fish come into the boat.

We didn’t pack a rod this time, which is highly unlike us, however we did hook up with Michael Haley who operates his Gone Fishing Charters out of the beautifully scenic town of St Helens in the northeast of the state. Michael had been telling us of the absolutely stonking black bream available in the local area for quite some time and we were keen to get one or two of the larger versions under the belt. Picking us up from our accommodation at 7am, Michael drove the vehicle northwards to Ansons Bay where we were given a fantastic commentary of Tasmania, the landscape, the gossip and the fishing. This bloke is passionate about his state and the fish! After driving through beautiful farmland and Mount William National Park, we arrived at Ansons Bay. It was simply gorgeous and the type of location you could easily spend a week at, fishing and just chilling out. Launching in spectacular conditions with the slightest of breezes, we donned our life jackets to motor to the first port of call and an area Michael usually does quite well in. The tide was running out as we made our first casts into the mirror-calm waters. The most important suggestion Michael could give us fishing for these black bream in skinny water was to fish our lures slowly, really slowly. If we thought we were fishing slow, then we should slow it down even more. Another important pointer was to cast to the sand areas within the weed beds because this is where the bream sit. It took only a couple of casts before we came across the fish. The line had to be tight

Fishing Australia by LEEANN PAYNE

to feel the subtle bump and it wasn’t long before a few smaller bream started coming into the boat. Both Robert and I simply love our flats fishing and sight casting, and it was easy enough at times to spot the bream swimming in the sandy areas, however, the fish were ultra-flighty that morning and often took off before we even had a chance to cast. A few kayakers were also using the waterway, and unfortunately they went over quite a few places we had intended to fish, not knowing that they had just spooked the fish we were trying to catch. The weed beds in the bay were also very interesting to fish. If a fish was hooked, it had to be brought to the boat as quickly as possible because this species has a little trick of swimming into the weed and staying put, which usually ends in disappointment for the angler. Lures used on the day with varying degrees of success were the Bulldog Crank, 90mm Live Flash Minnow and Live Shrimp in the 2” and 3.5” size, all from the Zerek range. Michael hadn’t used the 3.5” Live Shrimps prior and was simply stoked at the response from the bream and how hard they hit the lures. I’ve really got to hand it to Michael as he thoroughly enjoys his fishing and is passionate about getting his clients onto fish. On this day we were happy enough for him to fish with us because we love seeing someone land a fish as much as landing the fish ourselves. Having said that, a good guide will always put his or her clientele first and most guides will only fish if invited by their clients, and even then, a lot of guides won’t. All the Payne clan ended up catching fish, except for Selina who was too busy playing with the shells and small starfish

the kids collected while we had a cuppa. As the hours ticked along, both the tide and wind picked up, which made it a bit more difficult to fish. We were fishing just after one of the ‘super moons’ and it appeared a lot of weed had been dislodged with the bigger tide, so it was difficult to keep a lure free of weed during the retrieve. It certainly became more difficult to fish as we tried to keep the belly created by the wind tight while attempting to maintain a slow retrieve. Michael manoeuvred the boat around the bay to several spots where we persisted in casting to the edges of the weed banks and in the patches of sand in the weed. In the last couple of casts of the day Rob managed to hook ‘the one’, a

huge black bream hooked in the shallows that turned quickly to head out into the weed bed. We all saw it, and it was of ‘holy grail’ size but it was certainly a lot smarter than we were. The bream had made its way into the weed and putting too much pressure on the fish through the line would lead to a certain loss. Michael used the net to prod at the fish to try to find its location so it could be scooped into the net, but the plan didn’t come to fruition.

In hindsight, the reel should have been put into free spool to allow the fish to swim out of the weed, but anyway, that’s fishing. Michael was a lot more disappointed than we were in the loss as we had a fantastic day in a new fishery. So much so, Rob’s looking at a boys’ weekend down there in future. Tasmania is one hell of a beautiful state to travel through and next time we will definitely be doing less touristy stuff and more fishing!

John was net man for the day and absolutely loved the task.

Calm conditions greeted the author at the boat ramp at Ansons Bay.

Rob put his Blade ‘n’ Tails rod through another workout.

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April 5-7, 2019 Brisbane Showgrounds HOURS

FRIDAY, APRIL 5 9am - 6pm SATURDAY, APRIL 6 9am - 6pm SUNDAY, APRIL 7 9am - 5pm

THE MONTHLY MAGAZINE WITH A DAILY HIT OF NEWS.

Buy online and win with the 2019 National 4x4 Outdoors Show, Fishing & Boating Expo

ICKETS are on sale now for the 2019 National 4x4 Outdoors Show, Fishing & Boating Expo at the Brisbane Showgrounds from April 5-7.

Queensland’s premier outdoors lifestyle exhibition, the 2019 edition, is set to be the best yet with a huge array of exhibitors, attractions and special guests.

Pre-purchasing tickets online comes with many perks, including an automatic entry to go into the draw to win a Dometic Portable Solar Blanket valued at just under $1200. Once purchased, the tickets can be registered online to receive a free three-month digital subscription to Pat Callinan’s 4x4 Adventure magazine. All visitors can also scan their tickets at the show to go in the draw to win a Dometic prize pack valued at $2548 consisting of a Waeco portable fridge/ freezer and a Dometic portable lithium battery, plus there are heaps of other lucky door prizes to be won. Event Director Paul Mathers said, “Tickets have now gone on sale for the National 4x4 Outdoors Show, Fishing & Boating Expo and there’s some great incentives to buy online and avoid the queues.” “It’s always a great show and we’ve worked hard to make this the best yet,

with a strong focus on giving our visitors a better overall experience.” Camping, boating, 4x4 and fishing exhibitors will be spread throughout the new user-friendly layout of the 2019 National 4x4 Outdoors Show, Fishing & Boating Expo, which this year also includes a new entrance off the oval, more parking than ever before and free train trips all the way to Showground Station. The event’s two stages will be kept busy throughout the three days with a host of 4x4, fishing, boating and cooking experts both entertaining and educating show-goers, as will the Action Arena with its 4x4, quad and Trophy Truck shows. The Motorama 4x4xMORE Proving Ground will enable visitors to test drive and compare a range of popular SUVs and utes from Toyota, Ford, Holden, Mitsubishi and Nissan over a specially constructed simulated 4x4 course. “This year’s Show will provide hours of enter-

tainment for the whole family,” Mr Mathers said. “Whether it’s taking in all the excitement on the Action Arena, learning new fishing tips from our experts on stage, listening to fascinating outback tales from our special guests, meeting a favourite 4WDing personality, checking out the reptile kingdom or casting a line in the giant Berkley Supertank, there really is something for everyone at the National 4x4 Outdoors Show, Fishing & Boating Expo. “It’s an entirely affordable family day out, with entry free for children under the age of 15, and plenty of budget items to buy and heaps of special

deals across the three Show days.” Tickets are now on sale at 4x4show.com.au/brisbane with adult tickets priced at $19, pensioners at $14, and children under 15 free. But don’t forget, BNB Fishing readers can instantly save 15 percent on adult tickets by entering the promo code BEACH at the online checkout! For further information about the Show, including stage schedules and a full list of exhibitors, visit the event website. The 2019 National Outdoors Show, Fishing & Boating Expo will be staged at the Brisbane Showgrounds from April 5-7.

THE MONTHLY MAGAZINE WITH A DAILY HIT OF NEWS.

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 39

April 5-7, 2019 Brisbane Showgrounds

a k u v Le

Bonetti Campers establishes distribution of ti.systems tyre inflation systems

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These systems are by now fully established within the Australian Army, which equipped most of the new Mercedes 6x6 fleet with these superior but simple tyre inflation systems that are designed to be easy to use, reliable and tough. These systems suit offroad and beach tour operators, off-road travellers and avid four-wheel-drivers, but are also necessary

for certain police, fire and ambulance services and natural park and beach patrols where changing the tyre pressure in a swift but controlled application is crucial. As you can imagine, these German-made systems are built strong with the best-quality products available on the market. Following systems can be configured: Semi-automatic Tyre Inflation System – precise tyre pressure adjustment when vehicle is stationary. Central Tyre Inflation

System – Precise tyre pressure adjustment on the go. Air Supply – hydraulicdriven air supply systems. Check out www. ti.systems for more information and contact Bonetti Campers on 0401 914 496 for individualised information regarding your system’s needs and configuration. Soon Bonetti Campers will have a 6x6 demonstration vehicle available for testing. Visit Stand GT90 to see more from ti.systems and Bonetti Campers.

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Page 40 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

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April 5-7, 2019 Brisbane Showgrounds

Fulcrum Suspensions has the answer

ULCRUM Suspensions, also known as the ‘Suspension Specialists’, aims to provide you with the highest-quality suspension service and best available product range.

Diagnosing your car with both highly experienced technicians and the latest suspension technology, our team is dedicated to always giving you the best suspension solutions suited for your vehicle. Fulcrum Suspensions recently launched its new eCommerce website where its Formula 4x4 Range is available to buy online! These products can either be sent directly to you, picked up at your local Fulcrum Dealer or fitted at your local Fulcrum Dealer. Formula 4x4 Lift Kits have been engineered by Fulcrum to ensure the ride quality of the vehicle is

not compromised. A Formula Lift Kit takes into consideration the maximum lift that can be achieved for a specific vehicle. As lifting a four-wheeldrive significantly alters the suspension geometry and requires an ‘individualistic’ approach to wheel alignment. This is the approach that needs to be taken by your installer. Our Fulcrum stores are fully equipped to take this approach with every vehicle. Fulcrum stocks the best 4x4 kits covering a range of applications. If you’re looking to get a 4x4 lift kit to upgrade your suspension, you can now use the online search to find the best-suited 4x4 kit for your vehicle. You can search by make and model of your vehicle and are provided with a results page of

suited suspension kits. There is also an option to search suspension kits by brand. Each listing also supplies a detailed description of each kit as well as tech specs. Whether your vehicle is used to carry heavy loads or tackle tough off-road tracks, the Fulcrum website will help you find the best 4x4 lift kit for your vehicle. By choosing the vehicle’s use type, front load and rear load, Fulcrum’s

search filter will automatically determine the best kit. At the end of the process you still have the option to contact the online support team to double check the kit. Fulcrum’s Formula lift kits take into consideration the maximum lift that can be achieved for a specific vehicle by looking at the ability to correct camber and caster angles and any changes to driveline inclination angles. Many Formula 4x4 Lift

Kits come supplied with SuperPro bushings that have been specifically designed to ‘tune’ 4WD suspension systems. Long service-life shackle bushings, caster correction bushings, setback correction kits, camber correction kits and complete new camber/caster adjustable control arms ensure wheel alignment correction is possible. Come and see the friendly Fulcrum team on Stands F2/F4 at the show!

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Full Evakool range on display

VA K O O L , based in Queensland, is both a manufacturer and distributor of an extensive range of caravan and camping fridges, iceboxes and ancillary products.

Evakool is a wholly owned Australia company based on the Sunshine Coast with representation throughout Australia. Founded in 1994, the company was established to manufacture fibreglass iceboxes for the recreational fishing industry and has over the years developed into Australia’s largest manufacturer of 12V portable refrigeration. Evakool is today both a manufacturer and distributor of arguably Australia’s largest selection of 12V camping and caravan fridges as well as both

fibreglass and polyethylene iceboxes. The full Evakool range of products can be viewed at evakool. com Evakool products are synonymous with quality, reliability and value for money. We are focused on offering exceptional after-sales service, and testimony to this is that Evakool fridges are the choice of many of Australia’s leading camper trailer companies. Importantly, as a local manufacturer we are also able to offer tailor-made refrigeration solutions and custom-made iceboxes. We invite you to view Evakool’s extensive display of fridges and iceboxes on Stand 830 at the Brisbane 4x4 Outdoors Show, Fishing and Boating Expo and check out our many show specials.

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Contact EvaKool for details or for your nearest stockist: 07 5492 7777 | sales@evakool.com | evakool.com.au Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 41

BOATING & marine

Polycraft produces a true Tuff Tender

HAT do you look for when browsing the market for a tender?

Polycraft’s new-for-2019 300 Tuff Tender introduces fibreglass-look sides. This design will be rolled out across upcoming Polycraft models.

Like most, you probably want something small that will easily hoist onto the back of your larger boat, top of your car or at least tow well behind your boat when under way. And like many Aussies, you’ve probably seen the ubiquitous Polycraft 300 Tuff Tender mounted on the back of boats nationwide. Polycraft boats are manufactured using a

Boat Review by DANIEL TOMLINSON

roto-moulded polyethylene construction system, meaning dual-hull boats can be built in one seamless piece. So yes, they’re plastic, and yes, they’re bloody tough. The 300 ‘Tuffy’ as it’s affectionately known was the first boat produced by Polycraft, way back in 2001.

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...Stessco has it!

In 2019, this iconic model now comes with a raft of changes and is more versatile and useable than ever. Polycrafts have long been renowned for their on-water stability and the updated 300 Tuffy is no exception, with the diminutive 3m boat able to handle three adults (maximum carrying capacity) sitting right on the edge of the hull without tipping. Other changes saw Polycraft listening to the thoughts of existing owners who were chasing more versatility once on the water with a rod in hand. That’s right, plenty of Tuffy owners don’t just use their tender as a means for getting between the big boat and the shore, they actively fish from them! The team found owners were primarily chasing more casting space and more storage options. Polycraft was happy to oblige and extended the front casting deck while adding a large storage hatch capable of swallowing tackle boxes, life jackets and even small Eskies. Down the back, two more casting decks feature lids that allow them to be opened up to store myriad boating essentials such as sunscreen, lures and drinks. On that last point, the Polycraft’s polyethylene

construction lends itself to turning the boat into a natural Esky, so these rear storage bins suddenly become the prime place to stow a bunch of drinks on ice. This is extremely handy when you consider space is at an absolute premium in a 3m boat. Anything that can be cleared off the deck is a big win. Both front and rear hatches also feature a unique moulded and raised lip that means when closed the seal is exceptional, and any water that comes over the side or from the sky won’t have a chance of penetrating the hatches and reaching your valuables. The hinges on these innovative hatches are onepiece with the lids, so there’s no chance of them breaking or becoming ‘stressed’ from continuous use. In the same vein of durability, owners of the previous model noted when having the tender tied alongside overnight, the bow shackle could become a bit too friendly with the hulls of their expensive pleasure craft. Polycraft came to the party by deleting the shackle and replacing it with a ‘winch rod’ forward of the moulded anchor well. This means apart from the motor, no extraneous metal parts extend from the hull of the Tuff Tender. The front rod and four in-built metal lifting * continued P43

Electric deployed and fishing rod in hand – the Tuffy was in its element. Photo: Yamaha Motor Australia

ur new

h yo t i w r e t the wa Get on today! o c s s e t S BRISBANE Karee Marine

IPSWICH Ipswich Marine Centre

ROCKHAMPTON Rockhampton Marine

SUNSHINE COAST Sunshine Coast Yamaha

1776 Ipswich Motorway, Rocklea kareemarine.com.au 07 3875 1600

45 Huxham St, Ipswich ipswichmarine.com.au 07 3294 3944

289 Campbell St, Rockhampton rockymarine.com.au 07 4819 1181

14 Machinery Ave, Warana sunshinecoastyamaha.com.au 07 5346 9981

Page 42 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

Facility to mount an electric motor up front a big selling point. Storage hatches keep deck clear.

www.bnbfishing.com. au

BOATING & marine Rear hatches afford handy storage and raised lips prevent water ingress.

With one person aboard the 300 Tuffy can relatively fly along at 38km/h when powered by Yamaha’s F15 four-stroke.

Polycraft produces a true Tuff Tender * from P42

points along the gunwales are all wrapped deep in polyethylene during construction, meaning there’s no chance of them ever breaking or being popped out of the hull like comparable screw-in fittings. You can safely hook a crane up to the five lifting points and effortlessly hoist the little rig aboard the deck of bigger boats (ideal for extended charter operators). As mentioned, plenty of owners like to get out and about chasing fish in their Tuff Tenders and to facilitate these desires, the Tuffy features four flush-mounted rod holders, the capacity to fit an electric bowmount motor and a maximum outboard rating of 15hp. Yep that’s right, you can legally whack a 15hp four-stroke on the back of your 3m tender! Which is exactly what the test boat was running, in the form of the sublime F15 from Yamaha. Yamaha outboards have carved out a well-earned repu-

tation for dependable reliability and smooth, quiet running. The little F15 is no exception, and on the test day it felt seriously toey, even with a Minn Kota and another passenger up front as well as a battery for the electric down the back. A quick pull of the starter cord saw the F15 kick into action and with barely any noise we reversed away from the shore and swung the nose out of Spinnaker Sound Marina towards Pumicestone Passage. Tootling past a previous-generation Tuffy hoisted up on the back of a cruiser, we passed the breakwater and I gave the F15 some throttle, which saw it react smoothly and swiftly by getting onto the plane with barely a movement from the bow and begin skipping over the northeasterly chop. A key point to note when shopping around and comparing Polycrafts and tinnies for tender duties is the amazingly quiet ride the Poly’s hull affords. The fish won’t hear you coming, seriously!

Front hatch under the casting deck is genuinely large for such a small boat and a divider can be slipped into place to prevent items moving about.

Excellent stability is at the core of all Polycraft boats and the 300 Tuffy is no exception. Passers by were chosen at random to test that fact.

www.bnbfishing.com. au

Especially when you can pair this little rig with a four-stroke outboard capable of genuine speed and stealth. During testing with two people on board (but no electric motor), Yamaha saw the little Tuffy scoot out to more than 36km/h, reaching 30km/h in just 6.6 seconds! Now that’s punchy! With a happily speedy and economical cruising speed pushing the 83kg hull along at about 25km/h at 4500rpm, you’re actually talking a decent range with 20 litres of fuel on board, and getting to your destination in quick time and relative peace and quiet too. If you want to stretch the range equation even further or if you’ll be using the Tuffy in an instance where manual portability is a major factor (car-topping), Yamaha’s 9.9hp four-stroke makes an even better power option. Able to run the 300 Tuffy out to 32km/h with two people on board (35km/h one-up), you don’t give away much to the F15 in terms of outright speed but pick up greater economy and ease of transportation thanks to a smaller engine capacity and lighter weight (40kg plays 51kg). The 9.9 is the engine I’d choose to maximise the versatility of this setup, even though I’m usually a sucker for picking the maximum horsepower. You’re always going to cop a bit of spray over the gunwales when piloting a 3m boat in chop and the Tuffy is no exception, but the hull’s uniquely flared design certainly does its best to minimise this and in any case, in a large open waterway you should probably be fishing from the big boat! The Polycraft 300 Tuff Tender absolutely nails the brief of being a rugged and reliable tender, car-topper and all-round versatile small fishing boat perfect for protected waters. It will never rust or deteriorate if left out in the elements and will probably outlast mankind itself, so as a low-cost tender proposition, the Tuffy makes absolute sense. Right now you can get a 300 Tuffy on a trailer and powered by one of Yamaha’s venerable four-stroke outboard range starting from just a few thou-

sand dollars, so call Brisbane Yamaha today on 07 3888 1727 to work out a ripper deal. For any more information on Polycraft’s unique range of fishing boats, visit polycraft. com.au and to see more of Yamaha’s outstanding outboard line-up, head to yamahamotor.com.au And to watch a video interview discussing the 300 Tuffy with Steve from Polycraft and Will from Yamaha, jump on the BNBFTV YouTube channel.

With a 1.4m beam and moulded rear steps, getting around the outboard is easy.

NEW RELEASE

300 TUFFY The littleTuffy just got better!

Same legendary stability and durability as the older Tuff Tender but now with cast deck, improved hull design, non-slip surfaces throughout and dry storage facilities under the front cast deck and rear seats. Excellent choice as a tender or a small fishing boat for rivers and impoundments.

Go to Polycraft website and Facebook page to find out more about the 300 Tuffy. Call Polycraft on 1800 336 603 or contact your local dealer. Brisbane North

Brisbane Yamaha

07 3888 1727

brisbaneyamaha.com.au

Brisbane South

Brisbane Quintrex

07 3133 3468

brisbanequintrex.com.au

Bundaberg

Adrian’s Marine Centre

07 4153 1819

adriansmarinecentre.com.au

Gladstone

Curtis Coast Marine

07 4972 0135

curtiscoastmarine.com.au

Sunshine Coast

Port O Call Boating

07 5493 2255

marinecenter.com.au

Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 43

BOATING & marine Stacer National and State Dealers of the Year

TACER Boats Australia has crowned its 2018/19 National and State Dealers of the Year.

The Stacer National Dealer of the Year Melbourne Marine Centre.

• Bluewater Marine – WA. • Phoenix Powersports – Queensland. • Renmark Bikes and Boats – SA/NT. • BL Marine – Victoria. • Blakes Marine – NSW. Stacer’s national account managers Cameron Wood and Dominic Smith had the tough task of choosing each award winner. Even with their strict criteria, the decision to choose the best dealerships in Australia is a dif-

Thorough analysis of the vast dealer network was performed in order to identify the top performers. With over 50 dealerships across Australia, the competition is stiff. Congratulations to all the winners! • Melbourne Marine Centre – National Dealer of the Year.

ficult responsibility. The award criteria includes customer satisfaction ratings, dealership growth, presentation and cleanliness of their premises, team dynamics, marketing and finally a thorough physical representation of the Stacer range. Melbourne Marine Centre crowned Stacer National Dealer of the Year It has only been four years since Melbourne Marine Centre opened its doors for the first time,

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“We have factorytrained technicians who take care of all boating needs.” Queensland A very active dealership in the community, Phoenix Powersports of Mackay is the great winner of the Queensland State Dealer of the Year. Customers can find Scott Bain at his polished dealership, the Big Boys Toys Expo in September and other local agriculture events. New to Stacer, it is an impressive achievement for Phoenix Powersports to receive this award within 18 months of becoming a Stacer dealer. Scott believes the bigger range Stacer provides is exactly what the country customers of Mackay need. With proven customer service, Phoenix has been open since 2010 and has sung the philosophy that customers should be treated the way you want to be treated. Scott said they always go the extra mile, which goes hand in hand with his philosophy “It is easier to keep a customer than find a new one”. “They are the bestpresented retail outlet in Queensland, probably Australia!” Stacer’s Cameron said. “Their facility makes it so easy for customers to drive in, drop off their boat and drive away. “When you walk into the showroom, that is where the pizazz is. “Everything is immaculate.” Conclusion To be selected as a Stacer dealer is no easy task and to be the best among peers is a fantastic accomplishment. The dealerships awarded in 2018/19 realise that customer service is king, teamwork is vital and it always helps to go the extra mile. Now these awards have been granted, each of the Stacer dealers can reflect on their achievements and refocus to the year ahead in order to recreate similar success. Stacer, it’s a revolutionary ride. www.stacer.com.au

IA N

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and already it has received one of the most highly esteemed awards in the Australian Marine Industry: Stacer’s National Dealer of the Year. A driven duo, Andrew and Pauline Stephen started their Hallam, Victoriabased dealership with a handful of employees. Today the dealership is a one-stop shop for new boat sales, tackle, boating accessories and all aftersales needs. Melbourne Marine Centre has experienced consecutive year-over-year growth and forecasts 2019 to be a cracker. Their success is attributed to a loyal customer base built through their trustworthy reputation and ensures Melbourne Marine will be a sustainable business for many years to come. Unique to Melbourne Marine Centre is the trophy marlin hanging on the wall. More than just a decoration, this symbolises the dealership’s success in the eyes of Andrew and Pauline. Now the Stacer National Dealer of the Year award will hang alongside it as another milestone of success. “We provide a personalised service,” Andrew said. “At Melbourne Marine Centre we empower our team to make quick decisions and take the time to make sure customers get what they want.” “Andrew and Pauline are extremely business smart and deserve this award,” Stacer’s Dominic said. “In just four years they have built an extremely reliable team in the Melbourne area. “There are 10 pieces of criteria that go into choosing the best dealership in Australia. “Melbourne Marine Centre particularly excelled in customer satisfaction, dealership presentation and of course growth.” “We believe buying a new boat is a big purchase for our customers, so it’s important that we look after it properly,” Andrew said.

S TA

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT YOUR LOCAL N GOV EVINRUDE DEALER TODAY

IA N

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STEVE FLEETWOODOMARINE N S QLD 07 4972 10 Morgan St, Gladstone O M 9463 ST DC E: sfmarine@tpg.com.au A N D A R SS

CALOUNDRA MARINE 8 Baldwin St, Caloundra QLD 07 5491 1944 E: sales@caloundramarine.com.au W: caloundramarine.com.au

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WATER SKIERS WAREHOUSE (QLD) 91-93 Neil St, Toowoomba QLD 0400 379 514 E: info@waterskierswarehouse.com.au W: waterskierswarehouse.com.au WHITE WATER MARINE 10 Hinde St, Ashmore QLD 07 5532 4402 E: sales@whitewatermarine.com.au W: whitewatermarine.com.au

*Use in salt or polluted water requires more frequent inspection and maintenance as per operator’s guide. **Use in salt or polluted water requires more frequent inspection and maintenance as per operator’s guide ** Includes industry leading 5 year Corrosion coverage.

Page 44 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

Queensland Dealer of the Year Phoenix Powersports.

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BOATING & marine Insights into boat insurance

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.

Countless times, specialist marine insurers like Nautilus have saved well-meaning boat buyers from making very, very expensive mistakes. And it’s just another reason why it is always prudent to contact a marine insurer to get an estimate of how much it is going to cost to properly insure a particular boat before finalising the purchase. Even more so if it’s a used boat. Here’s why: If you buy a used boat that subsequently turns out – even some years later – to have been stolen, then ordinarily you can kiss your original purchase price goodbye. Most times, your only chance to recover any money is to track down the person who sold you the boat and then set

about proving in court that they knowingly sold you a stolen vessel. Having done that, you then have to secure a court order for recompense and after that, actually extract the money from the fraudulent seller. And just think about how difficult that’s all likely to be. So where do marine specialist marine insurers come into this? Despite it not being their responsibility, marine insurers sometimes start seeing red flags when you begin giving them details like serial numbers, boat production numbers and registration details for the vessel you want to insure. As marine specialists, they sometimes know that a particular brand of boat ordinarily starts its vessel identification number with a certain series of letters or know where exactly in an outboard’s identification number the horsepower is indicated, or that it might be worth checking out why a boat being sold in Queensland has had a NSW replace-

ment boat registration plate affixed to it. They understand, unlike some potential owners, that a registration certificate is not proof of ownership, or that an assurance from the seller is not sufficient proof that the boat is not under some kind of financial encumbrance. It’s not the insurance company’s responsibility to confirm the seller’s legitimacy or the boat’s pedigree in terms of it not being stolen. But sometimes, marine insurers are the first to smell something may be a little fishy or at least worth exploring further. As with all things relating to marine insurance and vessel ownership, it is always better for everyone to know all the details and circumstances before an event occurs, rather than learning afterwards. One of Queensland’s most respected boat brokers recently posted a very detailed explanation of how he set about checking details on a boat he had been asked

to sell, simply because he was not comfortable with it having too many ‘replacement’ numbers for a relatively new boat. Despite the ‘owner’ being totally unaware that his boat, bought as a used vessel some years before, had in fact been stolen earlier in its life, police seized the vessel with the intention of sending it back interstate. Unfortunately, in that case as with so many others, it was the person left holding illegitimate ‘ownership’ of the boat who suffered the financial loss. It is important to understand the key differences between insuring a stolen boat and having your legitimately owned boat, stolen. If, even through no fault of your own, the boat you are trying to insure turns out to be stolen, then authorities will seek to return it to its rightful owner. You don’t get compensated unless you can achieve a successful outcome in a court action which you initiate.

You are probably out of pocket thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars. However, if you are the legitimate owner of a properly insured boat and it gets stolen, then provided you have not breached the terms of your insurance contract, you will be paid out for the value – be that market value or agreed value – of the boat. In general terms, you are not out of pocket. If the insurance company pays you out in accord with the theft provisions of your contract and then the boat subsequently turns up elsewhere, that boat ordinarily becomes the property of the insurance company, not you. “Why not?” you ask, “It was my boat”. Yes, that’s correct – it was your boat and you have been paid out for it by the insurance company. You don’t get to ‘double-dip’, as in, you don’t get to keep the boat and the payout. If the insurer does recover the stolen boat for

which it had provided cover, then it ordinarily has a legitimate right to sell that boat and recover back some or all of the money it paid out to you. Again, matters of ownership are not the responsibility of your marine specialist and they can’t be expected to be across the full history of every vessel. But there sure are some very happy people out their whose wallets were saved by an eagleeyed staff member at a specialist insurer like Nautilus. As always, any special conditions and excesses should always be explained clearly in your insurance policy’s product disclosure statement. Always check your PDS

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. 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

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.

GO FOR SOME QUALITY TIME. Time spent out on the water with your family is far too precious to risk with anything other than the absolute best in marine engineering. And that’s exactly what the Mercury MerCruiser V8 delivers. Efficient, powerful and backed by Australia’s largest dealer network. You know you want to go. Learn more at mercurymarine.com.au

See your authorised Mercury Marine Dealer today. AIRLIE BEACH | Whitsunday Outboard Centre 17 William Murray Dr, Cannonvale Q 4802 P: 07 4946 7286 E: woc@whitsundayoutboardcentre.com.au W: whitsundayoutboardcentre.com.au

BRISBANE | Manly Harbour Marine 570 Royal Esplanade, Manly Q 4179 P: 07 3893 2199 E: info@manlyharbourmarine.com.au W: manlyharbourmarine.com.au

BRISBANE | Holt Marine 25 Queens Rd, Everton Park Q 4053 P: 07 3353 1928 E: info@holtmarine.com.au W: holtmarine.com.au

BRISBANE NORTH | Brisbane Marine 306 Duffield Rd, Clontarf Q 4019 P: 07 3889 3033 E: info@brismarine.com.au W: brismarine.com.au

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IPSWICH | Ipswich Marine Centre 45 Huxham St, Raceview Q 4305 P: 07 3294 3944 E: enquiries@ipswichmarine.com.au W: ipswichmarine.com.au

Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 45

K AYAKING & canoeing

The author was happy with this pair of chunky bass.

Dayne Taylor with a couple of solid fish.

Bass Kayak Open at Clarrie Hall Dam

VER the past few years a dedicated group of kayak anglers have fished bass competitions around Queensland, NSW and the Australian Capital Territory.

Wade Walker’s 1.172kg bass was the biggest for the event.

Page 46 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

Anglers prepared for the start.

But with the demise of B.A.S.S. Australia Nation, these anglers have limited dedicated kayak competitions available to them, with only ABT providing an avenue where the kayakers would have to compete against boats in the Bass Electric competitions, in addition to the Yak Hunters competitions. Dayne Tayler and Ken Gerk decided to run an

Kayaking by LEX IRWIN

event to determine interest among kayakers to fish in a competition, albeit in a very social atmosphere. The first Kayak Bass Open was set down to be fished at Clarrie Hall Dam, NSW on the weekend of February 23-24. About 24 anglers intended to fish the event. Unluckily, cyclone Oma moved towards southeast Queensland and Northern NSW and the event was hampered by strong wind and rain.

Numbers dwindled to only 13 anglers for the weekend but the interest shown was a positive and future events are sure to be planned. The competition was run similar to the old B.A.S.S. Nation format of two four-hour sessions on the Saturday and a final four-hour session on Sunday morning. The first session was tough fishing, with only four anglers presenting five fish to be weighed and Dayne Taylor being the only angler to catch the two-fish limit for the session. Wade Walker caught the heaviest bass of the session at 1.172kg. The afternoon session fished better, with seven anglers presenting 12 bass to be weighed and Dayne still leading the way with four out of four fish from the two sessions combining to weigh 3.73kg. Wade was in second place, with three out of four fish weighing 2.271kg. At this stage Dayne had a healthy lead over the field and everyone was very keen to keep him honest for the final session. On the Saturday night, a social evening at the Uki hotel had all the anglers primed for a big final session. The Sunday session pro-

duced good numbers of fish, with 13 fish weighed and plenty of movement in the final placings, but no one was able to catch the consistent Dayne Taylor who finished with six out of six fish totalling a great weight of 5.76kg. A big congratulations, Dayne! I was lucky enough to move up into second position with four out of six fish tallying 4.05kg and Andrew McKinnon coming home in third with four fish weighing 3.56kg. Wade Walker’s first session bass of 1.172kg held on to win the Big Bass prize for the weekend. Dayne explained he caught most of his fish on vibration Jackall lures while mine were hooked on a mixture of Atomic Plazos soft plastics on a Seekerz 1/4oz jig head and an Atomic Metalz blade in Hay U colour. Despite the weather, all anglers enjoyed the social atmosphere and comradery of the event and discussion was had of another event to be held at Lake Macdonald in southeast Queensland later this year before the dam is drained for maintenance. If anyone is interested in fishing this type of event, please contact Ken Gerk or Dayne Taylor through Facebook. Thanks to Ken and Dayne for organising and also to the sponsors Spida Sports and Berley Pro for their assistance. www.bnbfishing.com. au

I had a good topwater session on sooty grunter at Eungella Dam near Mackay using an Ecogear PP60F. Paul Lake

Riley and Cooper from Golden Beach with a 43.2cm whiting caught in the passage. Jason Martin

I caught this ripper bass from my kayak. Jonathon Roberts

I got this trevally on a gar in the Coomera River while going for jacks. Michael Pitkin

My mate Nathan and I with a couple of Lake Moondarra barra caught after the full moon on 20lb braid, 60lb leader and slow-rolled 7” Z-Man SwimmerZ. Michael Reader

My young fella Zak with his first-ever jack, which went 50cm and was caught at Donnybrook. Daniel Smith

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.

■ Readers Forum ■ Readers Forum ■ Readers Forum

PUZZLE PAGE w i l s o n f i s h i n g .c o m

Spot 10 differences

Fishing the fresh Words can run vertically, horizontally, diagonally and back to front.

W A

BAn eastern R U blue R devil. C Photos: G S PaulVSelwood F S

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BARRAMUNDI BASS BONY BREAM CARP CATFISH www.bnbfishing.com. au

Catch me O F H V T U B C you F T A C if N E J O E L G N U J R D can!

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SARATOGA SOOTY GRUNTER TILAPIA TROUT YELLOWBELLY

WIN a Wilson Fishing prize pack worth over $50! For your chance to win, simply solve page or email design@bnbfishing. the puzzles, take a picture and mes- com.au before April 18, 2019. GOOD sage the Bush ‘n Beach Facebook LUCK!

Congratulations to Alan Seymour on being the winner of the March puzzle competition. T&Cs: One winner per month. One entry per person. Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 47

Charter Directory RAINBOW BEACH

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The Kookaburra Tackle boys were blessed with great weather on a recent fishing trip with Smithy’s Fishing Charters.

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 49

Fish on offer in Gladstone D UE to Gladstone’s location, we are lucky enough to have a good mixture of northern and southern fish species in the area.

Fingermark are common around Gladstone. This one took a live mullet fished over a rock bar in the Calliope River.

Sam with a nice flathead pulled from the edge of a sandbank in Graham Creek on a 70mm hard-body.

Just about all these fish will take some sort of lure, whether it’s whiting and flathead on the flats or barra and jacks in the snags. Northern species When people talk about northern fish species, they tend to be talking about fish like barramundi, fingermark and salmon. Barra will take all styles of lures, from poppers to vibes in a variety of locations, with fallen timber, rock bars and bridge pylons some of the more favoured spots. Most systems around Gladstone hold good numbers of barra, but with the introduction of the net-free zone around Rockhampton, the Fitzroy River is the place to visit for numbers. A good sounder will pick up schools of fish, with the bigger fish tending to come from deeper water and smaller fish from shallower timber and rock bars. About the only fish we don’t have good numbers of is threadfin salmon, with only the odd fish caught now and them. They are really hard to actively target, with most fish falling to people chasing barra and jacks around the snags or blue salmon and fingermark in deeper water. The top end of the Narrows and into Port Alma

Gladstone Region

by GARY CHURCHWARD

holds far better numbers than Gladstone. Blue salmon are more common around Gladstone and I have had good success around the islands in Gladstone Harbour and into the Calliope River. Fingermark and jacks can be found on the same snag or rock bar, though fingermark tend to come from deeper water. Both these fish will take a larger lure aimed at barra but for a more consistent bite, drop lure sizes between 50mm and 100mm. Prawnstars are a great lure for these fish and you can fish them in the snags, over rock bars and in deeper holes by adjusting the weight in their heads. Z-Man plastics on a TT Snake Head or standard jig head will allow you to cover all options as well. Fingermark respond well to hard-bodies trolled over rock bars and along rock walls. Choose a lure that will touch the bottom occasionally or run just above it. Graham Creek and the Boyne River hold the best numbers of jacks, with fingermark found more in the Calliope River and Gladstone Harbour. Pikey bream are a more aggressive cousin of the yellowfin bream and it’s not uncommon to catch pikey bream on large lures.

They are great fish to target with lighter spin gear and will take a popper off the surface or a hard-body or soft plastic fished a bit deeper and put up a good fight. Prawnstar Shrimp are one of my favourite lures and will commonly get picked off the surface as soon as they hit the water. Queenfish are in excellent numbers and bigger fish tend to be found around channel markers in the harbour and smaller fish in the rivers and creeks. Southern species Our southern species consist of yellowfin bream, whiting, flathead, dart and every now and then tailor will make a brief appearance. Flathead are caught everywhere but are less actively targeted the further north you travel. You will catch them just about anywhere, underneath fallen trees, sitting beside rock bars but most commonly around sand and mud banks. When fishing for them around Gladstone, I usually stick to shallower water and the drop-offs around the edges of the sandbanks in the harbour. They are fantastic ambush predators and will take any lure they see. Soft plastics get the best results because they stay in the strike zone the longest.

Trolling small hard-bodies such as Tilsan Minnows, Lively Lures Micro Mullets and slightly bigger Richos Little Herrings can be an enjoyable way to pass the time and catch a few fish. Whiting can be caught in good numbers along Lillies Beach, around the mouth of the Boyne River and in the harbour. Our overall size is smaller than those down south, with a fish of about 35cm considered very good. We get the odd fish over 40cm but they are few and far between. Catching them on poppers is something I have not had much luck at. I can catch a few on 2” shrimp soft plastics but bait is still the winner. Most of the sandbanks in the harbour hold good yabby banks. Kids really enjoy running all over them and finding the holes. We still have large numbers of yellowfin bream and what looks like a cross between the two bream species. Yellowfin are a bit more skittish than pikey bream but can be found in the same areas and caught using the same techniques. A lot of people forget about the smaller fish and just target the premier sportfish. I believe both styles have their place in this region because catching a good bream on light rod and line can be just as fun as landing a barra on heavier gear. Cheers and happy fishing from Gladdy.

First barramundi fishing trip to Awoonga Dam I RECENTLY experienced my first trip to the infamous Lake Awoonga, and I have only one word to describe it: wow!

Barra Fishing

by LACHIE BAKER

We made a move to I remember sitting in some standing timber that front of the TV as a kid I thought looked rather watching guys like John- promising. ny Mitchell effortlessly Poking our way through land giant barra in this on the electric motor, I dam and dreaming of one was super hopeful one of day getting the chance to the casts would result in a wrangle one myself. proper bite. While my session there Eventually it happened wasn’t quite the multiple and what ensued was one metre-plus fish experiof the most frustrating/ ence I’d seen on telly, I was more than satisfied awesome bites I have with how I went consider- seen. Slow rolling down being it was my first time fishing an impoundment side a tree saw my hardbody get crammed and for barra. I hit up a couple of a nice barra leaping into mates for some pointers the air. My guess was it measand they didn’t disapured somewhere in the point. A big thanks to Nick mid-80cm range. It began rampaging toWhyte and fellow BNB wards the next set of dead scribe Joseph Cormack for a push in the right trees, and in an effort to slow it I jammed my direction. My uncle and I started thumb on the baitcaster the morning by throw- and ended up pulling the ing deep-diving jerkbaits hooks. Without a word I, reand paddle tail plastics towards the weed edges cast straight back into the and into the back arms same spot and another and bays for one hit and fish jumped on. This time I got to wita half-hearted follow, as well as a few dirty catfish. ness the fish grab the lure Page 50 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

just under the surface and smoke off between two trees. I managed to steer it back through the gap, this time going a bit easier on it hoping the hooks would stick, but to no avail. It had one more spectacular jump behind the boat and threw the hooks. This time I swore, and swore again, but managed another cast back to the same snag. Again a barra of about 80cm nailed my lure and took off. Once I had it out of the timber I played it out super easy and the hooks held through two headshaking aerial displays. The net was at the ready and I could almost smell the barra slime on my hands. One thing I had noticed with their saltwater cousins is that during the fight better fish will do a big dive right under the boat, and I soon found they’re no different in the impoundments.

Just before it was in the net, it dove for its freedom and the hook pulled. I was not happy. Chris was giving me heaps for not being able to keep the hooks in one, when almost on cue he hooked one and jumped it off, then the following cast got blown away by a big barra. It then teased us by free jumping around the boat trying to shake the lure from its mouth. By this stage I had lost all confidence in trebles, lures and myself. I had experienced troubles in the past with these particular trebles not connecting with saltwater barra, so I changed lure from a 100mm Lucky Craft XD Pointer to my old favourite 89mm Zerek Tango Shad. The trebles pre-rigged on these lures are Mustad Saltisms, which I have ultimate faith in. It took all of two casts for a barra to grab the lure and bury me under three snags. I gave chase on the electric and got directly over the fish. I reached over the side and started pulling up the

sunken tree to get to the fish. Having confidence in your braid, leader and knots makes it easier to go hard on fish to get them out of tight situations. I dragged the barra backwards from the log and had it in the net in a flash. I was absolutely relieved to see it on the deck of the boat – finally

I had landed one! It wasn’t quite as big as the ones we lost but 75cm isn’t too bad. It was super healthy and in great condition. A few pics and a tag going in saw it back in the water. I was pretty stoked! Our hot little bite stopped there and we didn’t see any more action for the rest of the session.

Though the conversion rate was shocking, I was rapt to have ticked a destination off my list as well as opened my impoundment barra account. For me, fishing is all about learning, and that’s what this trip was all about. I made mistakes and learnt from them, so next time I go back I will be better prepared and hopefully nail a few more!

The author’s first impoundment barra.

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Grahame picked up a 62cm barra using a live mullet while land based.

The author and Marius with a pair of 76cm barra caught from the bank, one on a live mullet and the other a plastic.

Land-based barra action H

I all, the fishing has really started firing up locally, with great catches of late, especially for the barra fishos both on and off the water.

Not all keen barra hunters have the luxury of a vessel to get them out on the briny to enjoy their passion for fishing. For many, land-based fishing is the only option to get among some rodbending action. Fishing from the banks of creeks and rivers can bring many challenges and limitations. Accessing suitable locations where you’ve got a good chance of catching fish will require good planning and preparation to ensure the best chance of a successful and safe adventure. Picking locations that don’t make you an easy target for some of our waterways’ larger predators like saltwater crocodiles is a good first consideration. They are an ever-present danger to any land-based fisho in the Mackay region and should be in the back of your mind at all times when in their environment. Understanding the tides and when they will create the best conditions for your chosen location, when to get there and more importantly when to leave, so as not to get trapped or boxed in by the returning tide, are all necessary considerations. This could require local knowledge or prior experiences to get your timing right, so err on the side of caution when starting out. Only taking the fishing equipment you will actually use will help reduce your load for the long hikes through, across and around the many obstacles often on the path to good land- based locations. This will also help for www.bnbfishing.com. au

Inshore Fishing Mackay by JASON KIDD

the walk back out with the additional weight of your catch. The places that are easy to pull up next to and get straight into it are usually overfished and crowded. As the saying goes, “do the miles and get the smiles” still applies when land-based fishing. Being land based has some advantages. For the live bait fisher, gathering bait is easier, with most target baits in the shallows along the edges usually out of range for boaties. You can also spread your baits out a bit more along the bank and fish more area than you could from a boat. Fishing with lures from the banks creates a more realistic ‘fishy’ situation, as your retrieved lure is now swimming away from the danger of the depths and towards the shallows. It is more like a baitfish’s natural behaviour to flee into the shallows away from predators, rather than swimming into the deep towards an anchored boat. On my recent land-based trips, these basic theories have made for great little sessions. After catching my breath and settling the heart rate after a 2km walk into one of my favourite barra holes, I took a quick swig from the water bottle and got straight to work chasing up quality live baits from the bank. On this occasion they were fairly easy to get, with the water still dirty from the recent rains. Keeping a close eye on the surface of the water for any movement, I was able to identify the characteristic swirls of a

school of good size mullet. Half a dozen casts later with the cast net and I had 15 to 20 perfect-sized live mullet ranging in size from 5” to 7”. They are just big enough so the head hunters leave them alone for a while and they’re not so big that you can’t launch them a fair distance out into the creek. It was about an hour and a half from the bottom of the tide by the time I had the rods set up in holders with live baits. Then I got busy flicking soft plastics as far as possible across the hole into the deep edge, before slowly walking them back from the deep structure, keeping close contact with the bottom. I used a slow lift of the rod, making sure to pause long enough to allow the plastic to get back to the bottom while carefully winding up the slack to maintain contact with the plastic without affecting its falling action. After about 20 minutes of casting and a few lure changes, the unmistakeable sound of line peeling off one of my live bait setups got my attention. I looked up just in time to see a good size barra launch a metre clean out of the water, throwing my mullet and hook another metre into the air. While I was disappointed with the result, as I wound in to replace the bait and found my mullet’s eyes popped out of its head and scales gone, I was heartened to see the hole had begun to come alive as it approached the bottom of the tide. Schools of bait were scattering everywhere and

the awesome sounds of barra boofing baitfish on the surface got my adrenalin pumping. After replacing the bait and getting it back out there, making sure to land it in the same area, I didn’t have time to put it back in the holder before I felt the mullet get inhaled and weight take up on the line as it started moving off. By the time I had lifted the rod to set the hook, the fish broke the surface and I was on. After a couple of strong screaming runs, followed by spectacular aerial action, the fish settled down to battle it out deep before tiring. Landing barra on the bank is another advantage of land-based fishing. Most fish are lost trying to get them into a landing net from the bank. I find just maintaining good pressure on the line with about 5m of line still out and walking backwards to be the safest bet. Keep a good bend in the rod, back the drag off and always be ready to absorb those final lunges. The next hour of fishing was something to behold, with six more baits smashed off and another three fish landed on live bait and released. My mate who had come along for the session had persisted with flicking plastics during the action period and after several hits landed a great fish of his own. Then as the current slowed for the turn of the tide, the action turned off as quickly as it started. We packed our gear and fish and started the long hike back to the vehicles before the tide covered our path. That day the walk back was a lot easier and seemed shorter than normal as we analysed and discussed the amazing action we had enjoyed.

Marius captured a cracker jack on a herring-imitation plastic worked from the bank. Fantastic by-catch.

A land-based fish taken on a Z-Man plastic.

Jason Kidd

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 51

Lee Brake with his new PB thready.

Lee with the first barra from day two at 75cm.

Cap coast still hot as temps drop

I Luke’s 114cm barra and new PB.

Humminbird Mega Imaging is simply amazing. One of many cool shots from the season opener.

S it April already?

Jeez, before we know it Christmas will be here again. In my opinion, April is one of the best months of the year. The days are still nice and warm but the nights are starting to get a bit crisper. At least we aren’t melting during the middle of the day now. Some of the days back in February were absolutely shocking. Midday shade was very favourable that month. Before we get into our barra season opener trip report, let’s have a look at what’s been happening locally. I’m pleased to report a few weather windows for getting out past the Keppel Islands. The red fish have been chewing well when you can locate them. More and more interest is being generated in fishing wonky holes here on the Capricorn Coast. These little gold mines can be hard to find but well worth the effort. The only downside to

Luke with a ripper barra at 96cm. It was well deserved after a bad luck day.

Page 52 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

Capricorn Coast by JOHN BOON

We had found a new school of barra the day before and were sitting on them for the peak bite time just as the sun came up. finding and fishing wonkies is the number of large goldspotted cod that inhabit these areas. If we start pulling up cod, we will either move or try to target other fish higher in the water column. Wonkies are a jigger’s dream. Generally there’s not much structure to get bricked in and they hold trophy size fish including red emperor, nannygai and coral trout. In the estuaries, fingermark have been fishing extremely well. About 18 months to two years ago we started to encounter big numbers of small fingermark as bycatch. Now it’s pretty common to catch a legal fingermark when the water clarity improves and plenty of bait is present in the creeks. Coorooman Creek has been reliable but Port Alma would have to be the pick at the moment. The rock patches and bars all seem to be producing. If you can locate concentrated areas of bait then this is where I would be spending my time. Most vibration style lures have worked well, as have Berkley Gulp soft plastics. The go to live baits have been herring and mullet. Black jew have been keeping the fingermark fishers honest as well.

Some decent creek jewies up to about a metre have been mixed in with the fingermark. Jewies will test every part of your gear, so make sure it’s serviced and up to scratch. Crab reports have been patchy but those crabbing the making tides towards the full and new moons have had the best results. One final report I’m glad to hear about is the big local whiting being caught. Some absolute slappers have graced the social media pages of late. Corio Bay has been reliable but the better catches have been coming from the gutters on Farnborough Beach. Open season It’s a bit late for a barra season opener report but better late than never. We had four days to fish over the first quarter moon in February. I had Luke Peisker coming out from Emerald and Lee Brake coming down from Mackay. The weather was looking good and the boys were pumped. With the Fitzroy running fresh, we decided we would fish all three of the other systems in the Rockhampton net free zone. We knew the bite would be tough for us because the Fitzroy is where we have spent most of our time. We were also confident

our average size of barra would be up. The first two days would be spent at Port Alma. The Port is a massive system, with so much country and it has taken a long time to get to know the place. My biggest piece of advice for the Port is to pick an area for the day and search it well. Scanning the same banks on the run-in and then run-out will reveal different activity during the tide cycle. The first day was tough. It was almost midday and we hadn’t even received a hit, let alone boated a fish. We were heading past a known thready haunt, so swung in for a prospect. The sounder picked up good threadies hanging deep in fairly fast current. We opted to vertical jig with heavy vibes. The technique worked a treat. We ended up with good numbers of king threadies from 65-121cm. Lee got the big one and upgraded his PB by a long way. The second day out at the port started well. We had found a new school of barra the day before and were sitting on them for the peak bite time just as the sun came up. We boated a 75cm and 80cm barra from this spot before it shut down. After heading to another nearby spot, Luke hooked up solid and the fish took off with a strong run. We were thinking big barra before the behaviour of the fight changed. Lee and I almost fell out of the boat when we realised Luke had somehow snagged a shovelnose ray on a vibe. The heckling was priceless. Two casts later and Luke was on again. This time it was about 8” of goldspotted cod. Luke was crowned the verminator for the day. He decided to seal the deal about an hour later by hooking a large sea turtle * continued P53

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Cap coast still hot as temps drop * from P52

(they are abundant at Port Alma). We thought it was funny but I don’t think Luke could see the funny side. We pulled out from the Port and decided to spend the remaining few hours of daylight in Coorooman Creek. It turned out to be a good move as Luke hooked up to a beauty. Upon setting the hook, the barra got about a metre and a half of airtime. Angry chrome glistened in the afternoon sun. The fight was a long one but the fish was finally netted and lifted aboard. At 96cm, it was a welcome sight for Luke. I can honestly say he really deserved it. Same cast angle and I struck at a tap through the rod but didn’t get a hook-up. Imagine my disappointment when I wound my vibe in to find a big cheek scale lodged on one of the trebles. That hurt, and Luke just laughed for some reason. Day three and it was just Luke and I because Lee had to head home for work. We opted to fish Coorooman again. The day started well. A 50cm fingermark climbed all over my Berkley Gulp Swimming Mullet.

This one would have to be released into the Esky because fingermark are fine dining. About 20 minutes later, Luke’s Old Dog hard body was crunched. We were thinking a 90cm-plus barra with the way it was fighting, but it turned out to be just an angry smaller version. It fought well above its size, at 77cm. We moved from our timbered area to a rock bar towards the back of the system. Cod were plentiful here. We persisted and I landed a little barra at 60cm. This one would be the smallest of the trip. Day four and I was now by my lonesome. On solo missions I love nothing more than searching out new areas. My plan was to hit Coorooman Creek for a few hours to see if I could replicate some bite times, then head up to Waterpark Creek, which provides access to Corio Bay. I pulled the boat out from Coorooman about 7.30am. I boated one barra around the low 70cmrange and dropped another that would have been over 90cm. First mission completed. Within an hour of pulling out, I was now dropping the boat in at Corbetts Landing. I’ve done a few trips to

Waterpark and Corio but never a serious barra hunt, so I was pretty keen to suss out a few spots. The heat was extreme but I persevered looking for new areas. At the end of the day, I found four good patches of barra. I landed one, which was my first barra from up that way, at a respectable 88cm. I also got smacked by a jack at the boat, which I wasn’t ready for and it nearly ripped the rod from my hands. Overall it was a tough bite but through sheer determination, patience and persistence we got the rewards we were after. I should also mention Luke did a half-dayer before our first day at Port Alma. He went to Coorooman and nailed a sneaky 114cm barra. I was so bummed I wasn’t there with the camera to get some cool shots or to net his PB for him. However, it does maintain our now four-year record of a metre salty each for the opener. We caught our barra and threadies on a wide range of lures including Zerek Fish Traps, Berkley Shimmer Shads, Z-Man GrubZ, Samaki Thumper Tails and Threadybusters. If we had to give an award for the best lure of the trip, it would have to go to the 5” Zerek

Live Shrimp because it accounted for the most barra. I would like to thank my wife Amanda for holding down the fort while I was out on the water, along with Luke and Lee for a fabulous trip with great banter and plenty of laughs. It was a fantastic few days of fishing the Cap Coast. If you haven’t been to the Rockhampton region for a barra fish, you’re missing out.

The author with a quality fingermark from Coorooman Creek.

The author scored a solid barra from Waterpark Creek after hours of searching.

Super-exciting Stanage Bay W

ELCOME everyone to what looks like the beginning of our nice cooler, calmer weather.

At last! April looks like it’s shaping up to give us the best of both worlds from

Stanage Bay by PEE WEE

the creeks and reef. Barra have been going crazy in the creeks running off the bay and taking trolled lures, soft plas-

The author and Nick held a couple of ripper Stanage muddies.

tics and live mullet. We are seeing great photos, measurements and of course stories of the one that got away. It’s been super exciting! Alongside the barra are a few blue salmon and bream. Jewfish are still about, with anglers enjoying successful outings at the Jew Hole. No reports of monsters but still a good feed. Mud crabs are living up to their size title, with one group of holiday-makers jagging their bag limit of 2kg-plus crabs. This was great to see

on their first-ever trip to Stanage Bay. Funnily enough, they will be back. Reef trips are becoming more frequent now we’re finally seeing decent weather. Great stripeys, sweetlip and parrotfish are out and about at the Percy Isles. Marble Island has given up plentiful supplies of sweetlip and coral trout. And we can’t forget the beautiful feed of cod at the Hexhams. Given this is just the beginning of the cooler months, I can’t wait to see what other incredible species come on the bite. Hopefully they’re generous in size to keep anglers coming back. For the land-based fishers, flat rock is still being

fished for whiting. Porters Creek is home to great salmon and it’s definitely worth pulling out the lures to chase barra. School holidays are almost here yet again, so if you’ve not already made plans, Stanage Bay Marine & Accommodation is a great option worth considering. The campground is currently vacant and won’t cost you a dime. Other accommodation options are available too. We are more than happy to assist in the bait shop. In the meantime, I’m off to make the most of this fantastic fishing weather. Take care fishers and stay safe.

Fred and her steely salmon.

Stanage Bay Marine

oAccommodationoBaitoIce oTackle

Aparadise fisho's

Monster crabs

Awesome fishing www.bnbfishing.com. au

Fantastic barra that made for a very tasty meal.

stanagebay.com Call Von 07 4937 3145 Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 53

North Queensland jungle trekking N OW I’m the first to admit I have a serious problem.

The brawler of the streams: sooty grunter.

The jewel in the jungle: jungle perch.

You see, fishing consumes my every thought and there isn’t a moment of any day where it’s not on my mind. There is always a plan and this normally means a boat is being prepared and fishing gear is getting sorted. But we are always in the hands of the weather gods and in most cases good weather and free time rarely align. So for someone like me who must fish, there has to be more options at hand. This is where a good sense of adventure and some shoes come into the story... Pretty much everyone has some sort of water in their vicinity, and the first step if you haven’t already done so is to check out Google Earth. The is the greatest tool available for land-based fishing because it shows roads and river systems

Chunky soots test light gear and are so much fun.

This is what it’s about – postcard-perfect water.

Page 54 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

Luring the Streams by JEFF WILTON

from a satellite image. I will point out now that I am very lucky and live in Lucinda, north Queensland, so am surrounded by waterways and my Google Earth map has saved points (jump-in spots) everywhere. I look for accessible spots that get me close to my chosen creek and not in trouble with land owners. In my area, our major fish species to chase by walking creeks are sooty grunter (soots) and jungle perch (JPs) but we are also lucky enough to catch the odd barramundi and mangrove jack. What follows is an outline of a typical day trekking some of our creeks here in the tropics, and though you may be living somewhere very different, I hope it will spark a desire to pack a bag and explore your own waterways, no matter where you live. Preparation is key. Pack light but pack right. You only want to pack necessary things because you are probably going to walk many kilometres and every extra bit of weight makes it tougher. A good solid backpack is the perfect option. Make sure it’s got quality padding on the straps, and I like a few zipped compartments to store different things securely. Water is very important but always the toughest to carry. Remember, every litre of water equals roughly a kilo of weight. I won’t specify how much you should take but you need to consider your environmental factors. Here in the tropics we have heavy humidity and intense heat in summer and even deep in the jungle you will sweat a lot and need plenty of water to keep hydrated. I will take about two litres on a walk and I’ll also pack some frozen bottles that remain in the car for when I get back because nothing is better than a cold drink when you’re finished. CamelBak water holders are super handy because they offer an easy way to carry water that doesn’t get in the road and leaves more room in the backpack. A first-aid kit is essential and I carry a basic kit with me at all times. A few bandages for snake bites or to support an injured limb from a fall are mandatory. Clothing is also a very important consideration. You want lightweight gear that offers good sun protection but protects you from potential dangers. In our region we have plenty of trees and plants that sting, biting ants that will fall from branches when brushed, wasps and snakes. For these reasons I choose to wear long-

sleeve shirts and jeans on all my walks. I also go the extra length of wearing leather gaiters on my legs to prevent potential snake bites. The last essential is good shoes. You want lightweight shoes that are comfy and offer good traction for walking over rocks. It goes without saying that sun protection in the form of a hat or cap is mandatory, with sunscreen and insect spray adding to the comfort against the elements. You should always fish with a companion and it is always a good idea to inform someone where you are going and when you should be back. In most cases, mobile phone coverage will be non-existent or patchy, so if you get into trouble, knowing someone will be coming to find you provides good peace of mind. When it comes to rods, reels and tackle, you need to think of the target species you’re chasing and techniques you will be using. For up here in north Queensland, our major fish species don’t grow to massive sizes, so a light spin setup is perfect. I have been fishing with an awesome little combo

from Okuma. It consists of a 6’ LRF rod matched with an Inspira 2000 reel spooled with 6lb braid. This handles fish no worries but most of all it’s great fun and tough. Leader needs to only be light and I like to use 10lb because it offers a little more abrasion resistance. Keep in mind the fact you may be traversing cliffs and bush bashing to get to spots, so a longer rod can get in the road and a full graphite rod tends to break easier. Tackle needs to be kept to a minimum due to the lack of room. I can pack all my gear into a small tackle box no bigger than my hand. Small soft plastics in various styles with matching jig heads is all I take, along with a few small topwater lures. Some of the places you will see are simply mindblowing and I always won-

der how many other people have been where I am. Make sure you have a good camera on hand because you will want to capture plenty of moments, and not only the fish-related ones. I hope after reading this article you’re feeling motivated to get out and explore your backyard. Walking jungle creeks here in north Queensland is tough work but the rewards can be so worth it. It is not for everyone and plenty of people I talk to ask me why I bother walking so many kilometres to catch fish you can’t eat. If you are wondering the same thing, then this style of fishing is not for you. The thrill of getting way off the beaten track and hunting fish in a pictureperfect location takes a lot of effort. Now please excuse me while I pack my bag and get my shoes on. Stay keen.

No mucking around, this Z-Man Finesse FrogZ was inhaled.

Rainforest, clear water and no footprints. Perfection.

Hooked up! Check out that water.

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Are shark numbers increasing?

W sharks!

E’VE all had hooked fish taken by

It’s part of the fishing equation – the ‘taxman’ in his grey suit getting his share. Sharks will always make up a significant proportion of a healthy marine environment. But lately we’ve seen numerous complaints of increasing numbers of sharks mauling hooked catches. Facebook and similar social media sites have been riddled with stories of fishers losing fish to marauding ‘noahs’, in some cases to the point where it became impossible to land even a single fish. Some commentators have decided shark numbers are spiralling out of control and are calling for them to be culled to stop them eating ‘their’ fish. A similar story has been going around regarding shark attacks on humans, particularly surfers. The north coast of NSW is definitely a hot spot, particularly when it’s compared to the south Queensland strip that seems to be receiving protection from a long-term shark-meshing program. The question obviously being posed is whether numbers of these ‘man eaters’ are also increasing. On the other side of the coin, robust scientific evidence reveals that shark numbers worldwide have been decimated by overfishing to the extent that some species may be threatened ecologically. For instance, great white sharks were protected many years ago due to a dramatic decline in their population and it would appear somewhat ironic that this species has been identified as the main perpetrator in the attacks south of the border. What is really going on here? The knee-jerk reaction to the greater incidence of shark attacks is simply that increasing numbers of sharks are causing the spike in activity, so we need to kill as many of the ‘grey suits’ as we possibly can, both big and small. However, when the contrasting picture painted by marine scientists that shark populations are under threat ecologically is factored into the equation, perhaps the situation deserves much closer scrutiny. Something is definitely out of place with two such conflicting viewpoints. In my 30-plus years as a charter fisher/guide, I’ve spent thousands of days on the water from the Capricorn Coast to Darwin, many of which have included shark encounters. Perhaps the most memorable happened in the early 1970s, before I became a tourism ‘professional’, when I first discovered the fishing paradise that was Fraser Island. One of my most vivid memories of that place was sitting on top of Inwww.bnbfishing.com. au

Shark Talk by DAVE DONALD

dian Head at the peak of the tailor season in lateSeptember (circa 19721974) enthralled by the marine phenomenon that was a feature of the area in those heady times. Dark-coloured schools of tailor stretched as far as the eye could see in the surf break north to Waddy Point and south towards the Cathedrals. Numbers would be hard to estimate but there had to be thousands in each school. Stalking and feeding on these tightly packed aggregations were dozens of large sharks and pods of dolphins as well as a few very big tuna and yellowtail kingfish. Strange ‘holes’ would open up in the tailor schools as a big tiger or hammerhead would make an incursion into the mass. It was easy to lose track of time as this experience in real-time nature kept you absolutely fascinated. Of course, down on the beach with the tailor coming every cast on our Abu Garcia Toby lures, it was inevitable that every once in a while a shark crashed the party. They were usually whalers around 1.5-2m long and it was not unusual for them to beach themselves in pursuit of a hooked fish. One of my mates grabbed the tail of a stranded shark before the next wash came along and tossed it onto dry sand, just for the thrill (this was the ‘70s, remember). On another occasion, I turned back to the surf after unhooking a fish to see a tiger shark at least 3m long mooching along in the shore break right where I’d just been standing! I ended up making my next few casts from dry sand before wading out to my usual spot, head turning from side to side like a lighthouse. Those Indian Head experiences really highlighted the vision of what a holistic marine environment should look like. Sadly, those times at Fraser are long gone! There is more to this reminiscence than just indulging in a nostalgic interlude, in fact those experiences would seem to offer a benchmark for the dilemma we are seemingly facing over why there seems to be so many sharks around. Our fish stocks are no longer anywhere near as prolific as back in my Fraser days: could the loss of that biomass to the marine environment be a factor in the seeming resurgence of shark encounters? Up here in the Gulf of Carpentaria, we’ve not been immune to the shark problems – or the significant loss of our fish population due to overfishing. Large-scale offshore

mesh netting and the use of drift nets since the late1990s has seen fish and marine fauna numbers plummet, both in commercial and non-commercial species. This has been accompanied by subtle changes to what were once regular seasonal events – things like species and baitfish aggregations, for starters. Attacks on hooked fish by sharks happened rarely when I first started charter fishing out of Weipa back in 1997 but gradually ramped up in the early 2000s. The occasional fish lost to a big whaler or tiger suddenly morphed into increasing attacks from the more aggressive bull sharks that started to learn to follow boats between schools of tuna and queenfish. Nowadays, once the bull sharks arrive, it’s time to move somewhere else at least a couple of nautical miles away. But if you head 70km north to Mapoon, bull sharks are usually no longer a problem. The issue seems to be based on a learnt response – the more boats, the more bullies. They are congregating where they can access food more easily. A conversation with Greg, a veteran commercial barra and mackerel fisher with over three decades of Gulf experience, brought the widespread changes to the marine ecosystem here into perspective. Most of the Gulf’s spanish mackerel fishing is carried out by line fishing around large bait schools. Greg reported the prevalence of bait schools was not only decreasing but areas where aggregations had traditionally occurred each season were no longer as predictable. In his opinion, the change in bait habits signalled a change in the activity of pelagic fish species, including mackerel, tuna, queenfish and trevally. The significant drop in numbers of these species meant many bait schools were no longer being pushed into tight formations by large numbers of feeding predators, thereby allowing baitfish to scatter and disperse. My experiences certainly mirrored that theory. I’d kept daily trip sheets for more than a decade while guiding in Weipa and these demonstrated more than a 70 percent decrease in catch numbers for major sporting species – queenfish, trevally and mackerel, for instance – during that period. While not documented on these log sheets, I’d also noted the reduced incidence of the classic tightly packed Weipa bait balls and the failure of a couple of established bait-rich ar-

eas to hold the number of schools they had when I’d first come to the Gulf – or for as long. Where once it had been possible to hook a tuna or queenfish among the sharks feeding on a bait ball and work those fish into open water while the feeding frenzy continued without interference from the grey suits, the status quo has changed now the food chain had been disrupted by overfishing. The days of the ‘easy feed’ for the sharks, facilitated by large numbers of pelagics concentrating the food source so they could just lay in the middle of the mass, opening their jaws to get a mouthful, were not happening as efficiently. In a nutshell, we’ve overfished the resource and the sharks now have to find an easier way to get their meals, even though their numbers are reduced as well. It’s a lose, lose situation, primarily caused by poor fisheries management. Blaming increasing shark numbers for your lost fish is definitely not the answer! The ‘monster’ of more shark attacks is one of our own creation and will only be alleviated by a return to healthy fish stocks. The Fisheries Reform process currently under way in Queensland talks about rehabilitating our stocks to 60 percent of the original population, a level that would certainly go a long way to restoring the imbalance that would seem to be providing the stimulus for current shark problems. Given the questionable state of the Reform process, it remains to be seen if such goals are achievable. Will the Indian Head tailor carnage ever happen again as it did in the early ‘70s? If these Reforms are as good as stated, by 2027 this event should be visible again. The Fisheries Reforms sound good on paper but only practical results like this will prove whether it’s achievable or merely bureaucratic fantasy.

Medium-sized whalers like this beauty landed on live bait by Eligh are a bundle of fun to catch but definitely second choice when barra are the target. They still deserve to be respected and released unharmed if not wanted for the table.

Chomp! Larry Lockwood sported a wry grin as he pondered his luck in having his jewfish monstered on the way to the top. At least his Reidy’s jig was reusable!

This lovely kawa kawa (mack tuna) was hooked around the edges of the bait ball pictured below – and landed intact, in spite of the sharks nearby.

A typical Weipa bait ball under attack from tuna, trevally and queenfish. Note the blacktip whaler feeding in the middle of the baitfish mass. Pelagic fish hooked in this situation are not usually monstered by these sharks. They have plenty to eat!

Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 55

Awesome run-off action in April A PRIL on Cape York is typically a transitional month between the wet and dry seasons.

Barramundi of this size are a good chance around gutters, creek junctions and waterfalls during the run-off period.

Usually a few showers will persist, particularly in the north and east, and every few years a tropical low or cyclone might bring more heavy rain. Generally though, April heralds the beginning of the dry season, and is a prime month for ‘run-off’ fishing for barramundi. This iconic species, unquestionably one the best all-round angling fish in the world, is now targeting creeks, drains and below cascades and small waterfalls, feasting on the abundant small fish, prawns and other small crustaceans in those areas.

Cape York

by ‘BILLABONG’ BAZZ LYON

Depending where you are, sooty grunter, mangrove jack, blue and threadfin salmon, saratoga and tarpon will also target such features to fill their stomachs. If you are new to run-off fishing, it pays to carry a decent range of lures, as although the predatory fish are hungry, they can sometimes be very particular about what they’ll hit. On one occasion I recall fishing below a small waterfall where the barra were only hitting soft plastics, totally ignoring the hard-bodied lures in-

This worklight has proven its usefulness and durability over the past two years in plenty of bush work.

TechLight Slimline 10W Rechargeable Worklight

ED lighting has revolutionised 12V lighting for camping and boating.

While gaslights are great, they are noisy, require a gas bottle and stand, and need their troublesome mantles replaced fairly frequently. LED strip lights are basically a staple in bush camps these days.

Sometimes though, you need a more portable light for away from camp, or to better light a spot where people might be working on a vehicle, boat or rigging fishing gear at night. A couple of years ago I bought a portable TechLight 10W light for just those purposes, as well as filming and

photography. The unit is relatively small with a steady base (which can be removed if needed), and a swivel capability for aiming up and down. It also features a padded handle for carrying and hanging via a tree or rope. The unit is described as water resistant.

The TechLight Slimline Rechargeable Worklight is a versatile light for around camp, vehicle or boat.

Page 56 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

The light spread and strength is effective, and the light’s power can be dimmed via a switch. All these features really appealed to me. However, the real seller was it is rechargeable from both mains and 12V power. Use it one night, plug it into the vehicle or generator the next day, and it’s ready to go again without having to replace throw-away batteries. On overnight stays we often use just this light, rather than roll out the strip lights. I’ve been able to get at least two hours of life out of the battery, which no doubt varies according to what light strength you have it set on. In a nutshell, this has been a cracker piece of equipment and a relatively inexpensive one too. It and other TechLight units in different configurations can be bought for between $25 and $75.

cluding Leads, Richo’s and Nilsmasters that worked so well at other times. I always carry a good range of softies (prawns being a standout favourite), small to medium poppers and fizzers, and some hard-bodied lures, from surface models to deep divers. If the water is dirty, which it often will be, it doesn’t hurt to have a few lures with strong body patterns or other attractants either, such as stripes or dots, rattles, or a general ‘noisy’ action. This will help barramundi locate the lure by sight and through the lateral line along the body that helps them detect nearby movements of prey (and predators). Work your lure all around the junctions of the gutters and creeks, and the full length of the cascade, both below and above if possible. Sometimes barramundi and other predators are right in among the boiling water, smashing any prey they can. At other times they will hang deep or to one side, or drop away to resting or ambush positions. Around snags, protruding parts of the banks and behind rock bars or boulders are prime spots to try if the fish have retired for a while. And that’s the thing! The barra aren’t going to be feeding all the time. Though eating more than usual to build a fat supply to tide them through the coming cooler months, they can’t just continuously gorge themselves all the time – their metabolism just can’t handle it. Where to go ‘run-off’ fishing? Pretty much any river or creek you can legally and safely access! Some of the Cape York roads will still be closed due to boggy conditions or vehicle-swallowing washouts, and please bear in mind that many will remain rough and rutted during April. The road crews do a fantastic job of repairing wet season damage as quickly as possible. However, Cape York is a vast region with many kilometres of gravel roads to attend to. I would suggest the Endeavour and Annan rivers at Cooktown, the Laura and Hann Rivers near the main road, and when roads are open, the Stewart River at Port Stewart east-southeast of Coen, the broader Weipa area, and the beautiful Jackey Jackey Creek and Escape River in the Northern Peninsula area. If towing a boat into the Cape, it is vital to continu-

ally check boat rollers and wheel nuts remain secure, wheel bearings are not loose, and the suspension is in good order. All too often you see rollers and other broken bits along the road, making you cringe at what damage is now being done to the boat in question. For peace of mind and given the relatively small cost, it really is worth carrying a spare trailer spring, hangers and shackle bolts and bushes, and a complete wheel bearing set. For those who aren’t keen on tackling more adventurous roads yet, apart from Cooktown (inland route all sealed), the Flinders and Norman rivers in the southeast Gulf of Carpentaria can offer superb run-off fishing. Don’t worry about the water often looking like

mud, as the barramundi and salmon here seem to have especially welldeveloped senses to help them home in on prey. If you are fishing an estuary, throw some crab pots in too and set them in the zone around where the salt water meets the fresh, then let the tide do its work. April is also the time when the ‘brisk’ southeasterly trade winds usually return to Cape York, reducing opportunities to head to the reefs off the east coast. The windows to get out wide are typically the short gaps between highpressure systems that migrate eastward over southern Australia, or if a low or trough blocks the ridge up Queensland’s east coast. As always, it pays to listen to the weather forecasts.

Josh Lyon with a cracker barra caught in a run-off gutter near Weipa.

Mangrove jack will also target run-off features. This one was captured by Sarah Polderman in the Hey River, Weipa.

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HUNTING & archery

This waterhole shows the effects of wallowing pigs stirring up the mud and using it for a toilet. Would you drink this?

A couple of smaller pigs taken with a small-calibre CZ Brno rifle while hunting foxes. A head shot guarantees an instant, humane kill.

Black hog down – hunting wild pigs

AVING grown up on a farm, I am acutely aware of how time poor (and cash poor) our families are who earn their living on the land.

The Australian-made Lithgow .308 topped with a TruGlo Intercept scope is proving to be bad medicine for hogs.

Various feral animals have a significant impact upon the annual earnings of our inland primary producers through direct predation on stock, consumption of crops and competition for grazing (and water). This is why recent years have seen me spending more of my spare time on farms controlling those pest animals. We’ve already looked at rabbits and foxes in the pages of Bush ‘n Beach, so this month I’ll share some random yarns about a larger pest, the feral pig, or razorback as it is sometimes known. Pigs are incredibly destructive both on farms and in the bush, causing damage that needs to be witnessed for full comprehension.

This is what an inland waterhole looks like without visitations of feral pigs. Clean, healthy water, even in the current drought conditions.

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the last of the dams in the back country dry completely, forcing the reby NEIL SCHULTZ maining pigs to move on in search of waterholes. Not long prior to that They’ll punch holes That income, in the abhunt, my wife and I had through sheep mesh fenc- sence of a grain harvest, is es, destroy hectares of absolutely essential to pay been much further south crops, damage stock feed- the costs incurred in just to stay on a farm on the ers and water points and keeping a farm running desiccated saltbush plains also plough bore drains and putting groceries into of southwestern NSW. Though we were tarand dam banks. the pantry. Being omnivores, pigs Every pig sneaking in at geting foxes that may also kill lambs and even night was therefore taking be preying on lambs, we ewes during lambing sea- food from the table of the encountered quite a few pigs, obviously intent on son, along with preying family. upon drought-weakened I was carrying my dedi- a feed of newborn dorper stock (too common at the cated pig rifle, an Austral- too. Every afternoon and moment). ian-made Lithgow LA102 In the bush they destroy chambered for the time- evening we encountered substantial swathes of proven and popular .308 either large solitary pigs or family mobs patrolling wetlands, uprooting veg- Winchester cartridge. etation to eat roots and Due to the daytime heat, the lambing paddocks. tubers. pigs were laying up in Head shots from my acTheir habit of wallowing the scrub during the day, curate little CZ Brno fox and defecating in water- coming out to raid the cul- rifle kept tipping pigs over holes fouls this valuable tivated paddocks at dusk. as fast as we could find resource and can spread This meant spotlighting them, resulting in an exwas the obvious method tremely satisfying outing. disease. When foot and mouth to get rid of some of the The owners of the proparrives in northern Aus- marauding porkers. erty were quite surprised Pigs are allegedly as by the fact we dropped tralia (an inevitability as it is present in the islands intelligent as dogs, and more pigs than foxes beto our north), feral pigs those that have had expo- cause they were unaware will spread it through the sure to hunters certainly how many grunters were become very cunning and visiting under the cover of landscape like wildfire. One of my recent hunts hard to shoot. darkness. It became obvious we was to a 15,000-acre catWithout the efforts of tle grazing and broadacre were dealing with educat- recreational hunters, little cropping property in cen- ed pigs because the only pressure would be placed sights we were getting tral NSW. on the nation’s feral pig Like much of inland were of retreating black problem. NSW, this property sits rumps half a kilometre It is unreasonable to exin an area in the grip of away. pect landowners to meet Persistence eventually drought, meaning grain crops had failed and dams produced results, with the expense or invest the were drying – times were close shots coming when time required to control a mob of small pigs were the numbers of razortough. Chatting to the farmer flushed from a hay shed backs, so an unpaid army revealed feral pigs were where the cheeky buggers of conservation-minded shooters takes on the task coming out of patches of were eating sorghum. Hand-loaded ammuni- throughout rural Australia native bushland to eat the meagre heads of wheat tion turned out of my ex- every weekend. Currently I’m playing that had managed to form tremely diverse workshop, using 130gn hollow-point with night vision gear to in spite of the dry. Though the crops were projectiles pushed along do away with the need for far too patchy to consid- by Aussie-made AR2208 a spotlight that gives the er harvesting, they were powder proved to be spot- game away, alerting pigs to our intentions. being used as forage for on for mid-sized pigs. But that, as they say, is During our few days on the beef cattle that would the property we watched another story. bring an income. Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 57 Hunting

C AMPING & outdoors Withstand sun, wind and water with BlackWolf’s new Sombra Shelter

ENOWNED for engineering some of the world’s most durable and reliable camping gear, BlackWolf is proud to be launching the Sombra Shelter – built to last, adventure after adventure.

With a heavy-duty canopy that boasts a UPF 50+ sun protection rating, BlackWolf’s latest innovation offers much-needed shade under the harsh Aussie sun, and even shelter in unpredictable conditions. While the BlackWolf Sombra Shelter provides campers with a premium space to relax after a long day in the outdoors, its core purpose is to aid in the prevention of sunburn, ageing skin and harmful melanomas. The UPF 50+ sun protection rating in the canopy’s fabric allows for increased airflow while blocking 98 percent of harmful ultraviolet rays to keep everyone sun safe when basking in the great outdoors. Made tough and practical for modern adventurers, BlackWolf’s new

by MELISSA FROHLOFF

Chicken breast stuffed with oysters and tarragon sauce Ingredients • 4 x 200g chicken breast fillets, trimmed • 16 slices prosciutto • 800g gold sweet potato, cooked and mashed • 2 bunches steamed broccolini, to serve • 1 bottle of 20 oysters Tarragon sauce • 20g butter • 1 medium brown onion, finely diced • 300ml cream • 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh tarragon • 1/2 cup dry white wine Method – tarragon sauce • Melt butter in small saucepan, sauté onion until lightly browned. Add white wine, bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until liquid reduces by half. Add cream, simmer for 10 minutes, stir in tarragon until

sauce thickens slightly. Method – chicken 1. Cut a deep, long pocket through the thickest side of each chicken fillet, without cutting all the way through. 2. Arrange five oysters in the pocket of each breast. 3. Wrap each fillet with four slices of prosciutto, tucking the ends underneath the chicken to hold in place. 4. Heat a non-stick frypan on high, place chicken in pan and cook on either side until prosciutto is browned. 5. Transfer chicken to an oven tray. Cook in a moderate oven (180C) for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. 6. Remove chicken from oven, cover with foil and rest for five minutes. Serve on a bed of sweet potato mash and steamed broccolini and drizzle with tarragon sauce.

Prep time: 15 min | Cook time: 60 min | Serves 4 Page 58 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

150D polyester camping canopy is coupled with a 2000mm waterhead rating, ensuring you stay dry even on the rainiest of days. For extra sun and weather protection, an additional side panel is available for purchase. For strength and sturdiness in the face of windy conditions, the Sombra Shelter is fortified by BlackWolf’s custom 19mm Tuff steel poles.

Among the most heavyduty on the outdoor market, the Tuff steel poles provide a practically unshakeable frame, ensuring the shelter maintains its structure and endures wild weather. Quick to assemble thanks to the easy pitching guide and packing down to a convenient, compact size, BlackWolf’s new camping canopy is available in two sizes to provide up to 20sq m of shade.

As the latest innovation on the adventure market, the Sombra Shelter is a must-have for those looking to explore the best of nature in sun, wind or water. The BlackWolf Sombra Shelter 300 has a RRP of $399.99 while the 450 model retails for $499.99. For more information on the BlackWolf range of products or to find your nearest stockist, visit blackwolf.com.au

Clean, revitalise and waterproof your shoes with Nikwax

AMP, dirty and smelly footwear is undesirable when out exploring the best of nature.

Nikwax’s Footwear Cleaning Gel and Fabric and Leather Proof help keep your shoes clean, breathable and waterproof. So say goodbye to soggy socks and hello to all-day comfort with Nikwax’s new Footwear Cleaning Gel and Fabric and Leather Proof. Formulated to eliminate water-absorbent dirt and stains, Nikwax’s Footwear Cleaning Gel revitalises the durable water repellent by forcing any liquids or contaminants to bead on the outer surface and slide right off. Unlike traditional cleaners that leave a water-attractive residue, ultimately hindering the DWR, this Footwear Cleaning Gel actually renews the layer of DWR to enhance breathability and performance. Not only will you have clean shoes, but they will feel brand new like the day you began your first adventure. While your footwear may be waterproof, after many hikes and hun-

dreds of kilometres your shoes may need a fresh layer of DWR to ensure your feet continue to stay dry adventure after adventure. Just one application of Nikwax’s Fabric and Leather Proof leaves a water-repellent treatment on your shoes that aids in eliminating damp feet. Available in either a spray or sponge-on for fuss-free care, Fabric and Leather Proof is just what you need to ensure

your feet stay dry and comfortable no matter the terrain you choose to explore. Like the entire Nikwax range, these new products are palm oil free, non-hazardous, water-based, biodegradable and contain zero fluorocarbons. Nikwax aims to produce innovative and safe, high-performance waterproofing, cleaning and conditioning solutions for outdoor gear that is environmentally

friendly and cruelty free. Visit nikwax.com for more information. Available in leading outdoor and snow retailers nationally. • Nikwax Footwear Cleaning Gel (125ml) RRP: $17.95. • Nikwax Fabric and Leather Proof Sponge On (125ml) RRP: $22.50. • Nikwax Fabric and Leather Proof Spray On (125ml) RRP: $22.50.

www.bnbfishing.com. au

C ARAVANNING & adventure

This area resembled the Bungle Bungles.

Yeehaw to Kings Canyon!

O we made it to Kings Canyon.

We decided to stay in the caravan park at Kings Canyon Resort because of how close it is to the canyon. With the base of the canyon only a 15-minute drive away, the sunset’s reflection of the gorge made for beautiful afternoon light. The resort itself could be really amazing with a bit of TLC but the pool wasn’t that great, and compared to other sites we’ve stayed at the amenities were not the cleanest. Despite this, it was still the closest caravan park to the canyon and at the

Caravanning by TODD EVELEIGH

end of the day, that’s what we were there to see. On the day of the climb we made sure to leave as early as possible. It was extremely hot with the heat wave hitting just after Christmas bringing 45C-plus temperatures and we wanted to not only beat the heat but see the colours of the sunrise bouncing off the canyon. Kings Canyon sees quite a few tour operators coming through daily so we wanted to leave with enough time

The Garden of Eden.

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to avoid the crowds. The first part of the walk was pretty much just a straight climb up some very steep rocky stairs. Considering I’m a little bit round in the middle these days, and was carrying a pack filled with lunch and water for the family, let’s just say it was definitely a character-building experience. At one point I even thought ‘what the heck am I doing this for?’ But then the walk started to level out at the top and became quite flat around the scenic rim of the canyon. What was great about the walk up was the diverse scenery, which provided multiple opportunities for fantastic photos. The canyon itself had these massive pieces of sandstone that looked as if they had been perfectly cut for the sun to shine through the cracks in the rock and create the perfect photo opportunity. After about an hour’s walking around the rim, we started descending into the valley they call the Garden of Eden. The ferns, black boys and eucalyptus made for a nice cool walk before reaching the beautiful waterholes at the bottom. Unfortunately, a rock had collapsed and we weren’t able to access the swimming hole. It was still, however, a spectacular little oasis set against such a harsh environment and made for a great place to take a seat for a while and enjoy the cool air. With the descent down to the waterholes came

the climb back up to the Southern Scenic Rim. Luckily for us it was only a 20-minute walk uphill before it flattened out. We were then able to look back over from where we had just been on the northern side and experience the canyon from a whole new perspective. Another spot right on the cliff’s edge was perfect for just sitting and marvelling at the incredible views and the beauty of the canyon. The descent back down to the carpark was quite gradual and let me tell you, a lot more enjoyable than when we first started climbing. All in all, Kings Canyon really was a highlight for us and of all the hikes and walks we’ve done in the past, I think this one takes the cake. It’s simply breathtaking and the diversity of the terrain reminded us of many other remote places around Australia. The makeup of the rocks, the lay of the land, and the light shining at different angles bringing out the colours of the stone was incredible, with something new to look at around every corner. The Kings Canyon walk

is free and the track itself is very well marked and easy to follow. The only real hard part of the walk was at the very start but once we made it close to the top it was quite easy and enjoyable. I’d advise going early, not just to beat the crowds and the heat, but also to see the views with the amazing colours from the sunrise. Great photos were also a lot easier to take without crowds of other people around. They say the walk can take around three to four hours but it took us about two and a half hours with the kids and plenty of stops for photos and admiring the views. Take plenty of water, as even with the coolness of the early morning we still needed a few water breaks. All in all, Kings Canyon is a must-see if you’re in central Australia. It’s about 380km from Alice Springs via the Mereenie Loop and I would definitely recommend the detour. From Kings Canyon we’re heading towards Uluru and the Olgas, so stay tuned for my next article in the May edition.

Southern Rim.

It’s an adventure!

Just one of the amazing photo ops.

The view once you reach the top (after the excruciating rocky stair climb).

Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 59

4WDING & off - road

The 80’s rear bar all mocked up and waiting to be finished off.

Off to get a new injector pump and valve buckets replaced.

80 Series LandCruiser build

HOSE who follow our Flexible 4WD Solutions Facebook page will likely be aware we recently bought a new project in the form an 80 Series Toyota LandCruiser.

A legal 2” lift bought second hand helped speed up the process of getting the 80 on the road.

The 80 was in pieces when the author bought it.

Page 60 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

Back in November we saw an ad on Facebook for a tough-looking 80 Series that needed some work. Now when we saw this ad, we were already thinking about selling our Patrol (the Milk Carton) to make way for a dedicated bush rig and a fun daily driver, so this immediately sparked my interest. A tough-looking 80 advertised at an affordable price of course led to a high level of competition and interest. This 80 Series appealed to us on a number of levels. First, the price. At under $8000, it would allow us enough money leftover for the build. Next, the practicality. The 4.2-litre diesel motor is well known for its durability and ‘never die’ reputation, which has the added bonus of sitting on solid axles with coils all around. But most of all, the look. With its fresh custom paint job, huge lift, aftermarket bonnet scoop and large turbo, this rig certainly turns heads. We immediately knew this 80 would be the perfect project for Flexible 4WD Solutions to take on and build into a fourby that met all our needs. The only issue was it was in pieces! After looking over some photos and seeing a walkthrough video of the 80, we quickly became concerned by how much work it would take to simply get it on the road. But given the cracking price, we made the deci-

4WD Build by GREG BELL

sion to head out to see the car with cash in hand and an expectation that this project would need to be completed over several months. Typically, the day we went out to see the car was the day it rained the most in weeks. Nothing like viewing a car during a storm! The rain was so hectic that I was soaked and literally lying in flowing water as I checked under the car. We spent about an hour crawling all over this rig checking it out. It sat so tall that I was literally climbing up to get into the car and could crawl under it on all fours without even hitting the drivetrain. From here it became evident our original guess of the level of work required to get the 80 back on the road was fairly accurate. Our inspection revealed a rear main seal leak, gearbox brackets missing, an interior in pieces, valve shims knocking and a complete rat’s nest of wiring. We started having second thoughts but after an hour of hard contemplation and conversation regarding the costs involved in rebuilding, we finally decided to take the plunge and buy the 80. Then the fun really began as it was time to load the car in the torrential rain. We certainly underestimated the number of spare parts that came with it because we managed to completely fill the wagon as well as put parts on the roof and floor of the tow vehicle.

Even then we had to get the seller to deliver a few remaining parts we couldn’t squeeze in. As soon as we got home the 80 started getting attention, with our neighbours coming round to check out our latest buy. That night, we started creating the to-do list and separated it into three sections: things needed to get it on the road, extras (or wish list) and electrical. At this stage we felt overwhelmed and unsure about our decision to take on this project. First things first, the starter motor on the 80 was completely rooted. Initially we were adamant we wanted to learn how to rebuild the starter as it’s something we had never done before. But after about a week of research and pricing parts, we decided to simply buy a new one and be done with it so we could at least easily move the

car when we needed to work on it. It’s safe to say I can now remove the starter motor in less than three minutes. We were now able to start and stop the car whenever we needed and turned our focus to other issues. The first and probably most devastating find was the completely destroyed gearbox. We were told the second and third gear synchros were a ‘tad crunchy’, but as we had limited space to test drive the car (as it was unregistered) and no ability to engage 4L due to a missing shifter, we

had no idea of the extent of the damage. We later discovered it was impossible to shift into either second or third gear while moving. We quickly began the search for a second-hand box and were advised to purchase a H151 gearbox to replace the original H150 box due to it being stronger. This was no issue as we managed to source a box easily and were able to make a bundled deal including a fresh clutch, hub-to-hub front axle and perfect rear LSD. * continued P61

The author customised the airbox to keep the valve cover breather legal with the custom intake setup.

How she sits after a quick wash during the recent storms.

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4WDING & off - road

80 Series LandCruiser build * from P60

What we did not realise at the time was we needed a 1HDT flywheel to accommodate the gearbox swap, which was nearly impossible to find at a half-decent price. We searched everywhere before getting in contact with NPC Performance Clutches who quickly came to the rescue. We ended up with a new billet flywheel, 1FZ throwout bearing and a few other bits and pieces thrown together to make this box work. Pulling out the gearbox was barely an issue with our mates lending a hand. From start to finish we managed to pull out the box in under an hour. Next we were onto the clutch. When removing the spigot bearing we were unable to get any traction

with the range of bearing pullers we had on hand, so out came the bread! For those who haven’t experienced this before, spigot bearings support the input shaft of the gearbox and are pressed into a housing, which in our case was blocking the bearing pullers. An old mechanic’s trick for removing spigot bearings is to fill the centre of the bearing with bread, soap or something else that can be compressed, then use a punch that fills the diameter of the hole and make the item compress and force itself behind the spigot bearing, pushing the bearing out of its housing. We have never used this trick before, however we were pleasantly surprised with how easily it worked. Next thing we knew the drivetrain was back together and we were able

Forcing bread into the spigot bearing to squeeze it out of the housing.

to move forward with the build! With a build list ranging from installing a shifter knob to replacing the entire gearbox, this project has thrown challenges at us left, right and centre. I neglected to mention the reason this car was in pieces when we bought it. It was due to the previous owner half completing a body swap with a full respray inside and out. We have spent countless hours over the past four months piecing together this puzzle, with many late nights spent clipping together plastics and researching parts. There’s been 12-hour days of swinging spanners, grinding and racing to parts shops to grab the last-minute pieces we failed to remember to buy the day before. To date our goal has been to get the 80 on the road (hopefully by Easter) and to accomplish this in a reasonable time frame without (completely) breaking the bank. We have managed to source a range of secondhand parts including a 2” (legal) lift to replace the ridiculous 5.5” lift that made climbing into the car nearly impossible. We also sourced a set of 16” Mickey Thompson Baja Lock rims that

Load, unload and secure gear with Rhino-Rack’s Pioneer Grab Handle

H I NO -Rack’s Pioneer range continues to grow and much like the company itself, is leading the way in terms of innovation and practicality for its customers. Introducing the Pioneer Grab Handle: designed to aid in loading, unloading and securing your gear onto all Rhino-Rack Pioneer systems. We’ve all been there –

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shifting item upon item up onto roof racks, tying your load for the trip ahead and being left with nothing to hold onto while you make your descent... but those days are over! With the new Pioneer Grab Handle, its large and sturdy form allows for a strong grip when used as a handle and a solid anchor point when securing gear. Made from diecast aluminium powder coated

to prevent rust and corrosion, the Rhino-Rack Pioneer Grab Handle has a 120kg load capacity while keeping it super simple with a quick and easy installation process. Rhino-Rack’s Pioneer Grab Handle (two pack) has a RRP of $59. For more information on Rhino-Rack and to view the full product range, visit rhinorack. com.au

sit with a -20 offset and are wrapped in a set of 285/75R16 Yokohama Geolander ATS tyres, which sit perfectly in line with the flares – just how we like it. Our future plans for this rig are to set up the suspension properly, running Dobinsons coils and remote reservoir shocks, replacing all the bar work with custom gear and setting up a quality 12V system. The goal is to transform the 80 into a highly capable, custom, headturning rig without exceeding legal boundaries. But before we get there, we need to get it running properly and test it out on the tracks. Make sure to head to our Facebook page to stay up to date on the build and our upcoming adventures. Easter is around the corner! And with Easter comes our annual trip to Levuka 4x4 Park situated just south of the Queensland/ NSW border. This is an awesome park for off-roading enthusiasts and simply the best place to head for the Easter break. The park hosts a range of family friendly activities over the long weekend and we definitely recommend jumping onto the Levuka 4x4 Park Facebook page to check out the event details. Lastly, we are still looking to name our new 80… if you have any ideas or suggestions please feel free to flick your ideas through to us and if you’re onto a winner we will send some stickers your way! Until next time guys, this is Greg from Flexible 4WD Solutions.

The author completed a full seal and wheel bearing rebuild.

She skipped leg day – massive lift with 285/75R16 tyres looks very odd.

The previous owner showed off the 80’s articulation before handing it over.

TOUGH GEAR FOR TOUGH TRUCKS

Suspension - Recovery Gear - Electrical - Snorkels - Accessories

Call today for a quote! Find us on Facebook

0401 221 596 Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 61

Anglers in luck around Lake Monduran

A Venturing into the salt water can see you well rewarded with a wide variety of desirable species on offer.

CatCh barra

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Barra Havoc TACKLE

HOME OF WORLD RECORD BARRA

Dennis Harold with his world record 44.62kg, 134cm long, 107cm girth barra caught from his kayak at Lake Monduran in 2010.

NEW LOCATION Pop in on your way to Monduran Dam for all your tackle needs – easy parking with boats! 26 Mulgrave St, Gin Gin (next to fire station)

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Page 62 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

UTUMN started like a second round of summer, with temperatures in the mid-30C range, but as we get into April the weather should start to cool.

This is a fantastic time to chase impoundment barramundi. The cooler months are becoming more and more popular with barra anglers as they begin to realise these great fish can be caught all year round. Southern state anglers are taking their winter holidays and coming to Queensland for the warmth and sunshine. As we welcome these visiting anglers, we strongly suggest not leaving your cod lures behind because some of the classic models such as the large Arbogast Jitterbug, Koolabung Codzilla and many more work well on barramundi too. Changes to tactics are essential if you’re going to target barra in the cooler months, not only in terms of the areas you fish but also the type of lure and retrieve you use. The weather and forecasting is more predictable than in our cyclonic months. Skimming across the glassy surface of the lake on a cool, clear morning heading to your favourite fishing spot is living the life and having the chance to experience the dream. Here at Lake Monduran, we are very lucky in that the water temperatures remain relatively warm throughout the cooler months and do not get below about 19C at the 3m mark. Shallow areas close to the main channel and the shallow bays are places to target in the cooler months because the water temperature in these places will be warmer. Barramundi are coldblooded, so by finding warmer water you are finding the more active fish that will be more inclined to feed and strike at your lure. When the barra are less active, they are less likely to be cruising around feeding and more likely to be hunting by ambush around structure and warm rocky outcrops. Accurate casting is a must at this time of year, as a lure dropped short or wide of the snag won’t be hit by a sluggish barra. Lures generally have to be placed right in their face, and sometimes several times before the barra become aggressive and smash it. Remember monster impoundment barra are usually big, fat, lazy and very well fed, so they don’t have to chase prey to eat but will strike if an opportunity arises to get a feed without expending much effort. Because there is a lot

Monduran Dam by DONNA GANE

less traffic on the lake in the cool, try to be stealthy because there is no camouflaging the sounds made by your boat. Two areas in Lake Monduran that tick the boxes are the small bays on your right as you go through the first cut-through and the timbered area on your left. Both these spots can produce good-sized barra at this time of year. Another promising area is the cattle yards close to the second cut-through and the timbered areas on the right-hand side as you go through the second cut through heading north into the lake. If you are looking for a quiet place to fish, head upstream of the Kolan arm and fish the left-hand side between C and D and up in the Two Mile. B can be a little too popular, but this area is usually quiet and rewarding. Nearer to the ramp and ideal for smaller boats are many timbered bays worth tossing a lure in. Places like SDA and Wiggle Bay both have good structure to cast at, and with the calmer water conditions during this time of year they can be easier places in which to boat a barra. Kayak anglers are becoming more abundant and I suggest the bay on the west of the wall is a top spot for kayakers. It is narrow and warms faster than most other bays. Remember you are fishing in shallow water and stealth is of utmost importance because the fish are spooked very easily. Use the electric when approaching, don’t bump and bang around the boat and even tone down your voice when talking. The lures of choice have always been shallow-diving, slow-rising hard-bodies but this year I think we will see a lot more soft-bodied lures used. Because you are fishing in about a metre of water, lures that run at 30-60cm such as Bombers, Reidy’s B52s, Halcos

and RMGs are all good choices, though some of them do rise too quickly when paused during the retrieve. Using poppers and subsurface lures can score great results, especially in the afternoons and evenings. The buoyancy of the lure can be altered with the addition of suspender dots or sticky weights, which make the lure suspend or rise very slowly, and this is what you want because it keeps your lure in the strike zone longer. You can employ either a slow rolling retrieve or if using a neutral or slow-rising lure then try a retrieve with short, sharp twitches and lots of pauses. Depending on how fast your lure rises, these pauses can be up to the count of eight before starting your retrieve again. With soft plastics, use Threadybusters, Zerek Flat Shads, Halco Madeyes and Reidy’s Rubbers. Run the plastics with either a slow rolling retrieve with a lighter jig head or fit a heavy jig head (1/2oz) and let them sink to the bottom and then jig them back to the surface and continue this pattern. The lighter heads do not sink fast enough to give your lure that swimming action on its descent. Impoundment barra

are truly rewarding fish to chase and hook (and hopefully land!). It’s a style of fishing that’s rarely a walk in the park and success doesn’t come easily. But if you’re patient, persistent and put in the effort, you will come out on top. Make sure when passing through on your way to Lake Monduran that you stop in at Barra Havoc and say hi. I will help you with all the latest fishing news and tips for Lake Monduran.

Need barra lures for other destinations? My website barratackle. com.au has a wide selection of specialist barra fishing gear and lots of tackle for other species. Remember, Gin Gin doesn’t only have Lake Monduran, but many other pristine fishing locations within an hour from my shop. And don’t forget, a guided tour can always be of help in both technique and finding the secret fishing spots.

Family fun in the Gin Gin region even entails catching mud crabs.

A ripper feed of jacks with a salmon thrown in for good measure.

Quality mangrove jack are everywhere around the region.

This blubber-lip bream put up an epic fight on light gear.

A beautiful barra for this young fella.

www.bnbfishing.com. au

Denis held a nice chunky bass.

Dory had an epic day on an Untapped Fishing Expedition, landing his PB bass and then this small saratoga.

Tough bass bite at Borumba B ORUMBA Dam has been a little off lately, with water levels dropping and the dam experiencing a roll-over.

The fishing has been tough but still been pretty steady if you know where to look. Over the past month the water clarity has gone from a nice tannin to a greenish colour. This has to do with the dam rolling. This is a term we use when the oxygen levels flip from the bottom of the water column to the top, making the water go off colour. I’ve been fishing this dam since I was 10 and it happens nearly every year. The schooling bass go very quiet and are hard to locate. When this happens I usually place all my bets on fishing either really steep rocks wall or right up the creeks where the water is clearer. At this time of year the bass are aggro, hit hard and play dirty, so using heavier line is a must. My go-to lures are spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, TN60-70 Jackalls and even skirted jigs, with nearly all these baits being reaction-style lures. The Yabba arm has been the best bet because it is the deeper of the two arms. Fishing the main rock

Freshwater Luring

by CALLUM MUNRO

wall up the dam has produced the goods for most of my clients. At Untapped Fishing Expeditions, I’ve been doing a couple of oneon-one charters and have taught fishos about fishing steep rock walls. Most of our fish have been coming on Smak Smackos in the 5/8oz size. This is a very heavy spinnerbait that allows you to hug the bottom as much as possible. I’ve been teaching anglers to get the boat right up close to the rock wall and fish parallel. By doing this you’re going to keep your lures in the strike zone through the whole retrieve. With these heavy spinnerbaits, the retrieve is a little different from what most are used to and you’re going to get a lot of snags. But this technique has been the most productive by far. The key is to slow roll and bounce the spinnerbait back across the bottom. By touching the bottom the whole time, you’re basically imitating a fleeing red claw and when the fish hits, it’s game on. Because your bait is so

close to the bottom, you can only imagine how many snags are between you and the boat. A number of my clients have said it is some of the most insane fishing they have done – almost like mangrove jack fishing. The setup is very important when doing this because the fish can drill you into the timber before you know it. I use a 7’ rod with at least 10lb braid and a very long 16lb leader of at least 6m because you need that extra abrasion resistance. When using such a long leader, you almost have a slingshot effect when you strike hard at a fish, effectively pulling the fish away from the snag in an instant. That extra 4-5m of leader makes a huge difference and I highly suggest doing this when fishing rock walls. My favourite setup is an Abu Garcia Villain baitcaster rod matched to a brand-new reel I’ve had sent up from Abu Garcia Australia called the Revo Rocket. It’s called a rocket because it has a 10.1:1 gear ratio, which means every time you turn the handle you’re going to get 104cm

of line back (now that’s a huge amount of line!). You are probably asking yourself why the hell I would want a reel with such a high gear ratio. Well, with this reel, when you hook a bass you can pull the fish away and have it in the boat before it knows what’s going on and has a chance to brick you. The reel also has a massive 7kg of drag, so pulling that fish away from cover is no hassle. A quick recap: 1. Go parallel. 2. Slow roll the spinnerbait so it bounces across the bottom, imitating a red claw. 3. Use 10lb main line and 6m of 16lb leader for a slingshot effect and extra abrasion resistance. Lake Borumba is an amazing dam to fish, with big saratoga and bass still around even though the fishing has been a little tough. 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 so you can learn more about this amazing fishery. Until next month, tight lines!

Dory and the author with a quality bass.

LAKE BORUMBA A MUST-DO EXPEDITION!

LLUM MUNRO

GUIDED BY CA

info@untappedfishing.com.au

Young Dory picked up a cracker bass on a spinnerbait.

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0412 887 651 Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 63

Cameron held a good size toga hooked on the second cast for the afternoon session.

Tom Stephens with a nice land-based toga.

Saratoga fun in Bedford Weir

OWDY folks, I haven’t had many chances to wet a line this year.

The Bedford Weir boat ramp on the Mackenzie River.

Plenty of shaded level camping spots are available at Bedford Weir.

Hot showers and toilets close to camp. Please kindly make a donation to ensure they will be there for the future.

Page 64 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019

Temperatures in our region have been well into the late30C and early 40C range for consecutive weeks at a time. Thanks to modern technology and social media, forecasts showed it finally looked like a cooler change was coming in for the weekend. We’d had reports of quality saratoga and barra on the chew in Bedford Weir, so after a couple of phone calls with mates from Blackwater, the weekend trip was planned. Travelling only 26km or so north out of Blackwater you’ll come across a big gravel quarry on the left, with the turn-off into the weir just a few hundred metres along. Almost immediately after you turn in you will be at the camping area. Follow the signs and see the caretakers to let them know what you are up to and they will point you in the right direction for camping. At the moment it is a free camping area (no powered sites) with plenty of level shaded areas and a well-maintained amenities block including hot showers and toilets. A donation box near the caretakers’ residence helps with maintenance. Once camp is set up, a concrete boat ramp with plenty of parking is only 200m away. Dennis and Andy from the Mackenzie River Fish Stocking Association told us a large population of saratoga naturally occur in the river, along with the stocked barra and yellowbelly. After a quick dinner it was time for an evening session. The Bedford Weir is fairly close to the boat ramp (downstream), so fishing activities occur upstream of the ramp for about 23km. The river was down about a metre when we were there. Timber and lily pads line the water’s edge and we found casting spinnnerbaits, beetle spins and soft plastics very close to the lily pads to yield solid saratoga, with these predators most likely using them as shade or to ambush the large resident population of garfish and long-tom. The hardest part was keeping the long-tom (some up to 60cm

long) away from our lures to get a toga bite. We found by moving away from the baitfish and working our way along produced more saratoga. These fish are great sport, frequently leaping out of the water trying to dislodge your lure. Saratoga have a real knack of doing this, so getting them in the landing net is a bonus. However, it makes for good camera footage. We didn’t manage any barra but while having a chat at the boat ramp we found a couple of local lads who had landed some nice specimens, with the biggest going 88cm.

A large population of catfish can also be found in the system, and these critters make great fun for the kids. Drop any type of bait over the side of your boat and you will be into them in no time. Our biggest catty for the weekend went 85cm, which was good fun on light gear. Bedford Weir is a top spot for camping and water sports and the campground even features fire bins in designated spots for those cooler winter nights. Please leave it as you find it. Plenty of large skip bins are available to take care of your rubbish. ‘Til next time, get hooked. Glenn Hobson

A beautifully coloured saratoga from Bedford Weir.

This is the scenery for most of the Mackenzie River.

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Fishing still great in South Burnett despite dropping water levels

HE water levels in our two dams are slowly dropping and this has been happening for some time.

It’s hard to ignore but it’s a simple fact of life when you’re going through one of the worst droughts in quite some time. Boondooma Dam currently sits at 35 percent and Bjelke-Peterson Dam at 8 percent. Despite the low levels enough water is in both dams to get out and catch quality fish. This past month has been great on the fishing front. Boondooma Dam You always have a few fishing options when hitting the water in Boondooma. Early in the day, your best option is to hit the trees in either the Stuart or Boyne arms chasing bass, yellowbelly and saratoga among the spindly timber. I usually start here when the arms are quiet and it often pays off. I like to cruise among the trees with the electric motor and cast 5/8oz Bassman

Freshwater Impoundments by MATTHEW LANGFORD

Spinnerbaits and soft lipless cranks tight to the spindly trees, let the lure sink for three to five seconds and start my retrieve. This usually accounts for a few bass and yellowbelly. Golden perch particularly like lipless cranks cast tight to the structure and bass tend to hit as the lure bounces over the underwater structure. If you’re after saratoga, casting surface lures when the water is still is a great way to catch one of these prehistoric fish. These techniques are a great way to fish and it can be nail-biting stuff at times, especially when you hook a quality fish. Later in the day when the sun is up, I’d be moving out to the main basin and sounding for concentrations of fish in the 4.57.5m range. At this time of year the fish sitting in this zone (called the thermocline)

The Nories 18g Wasabi spoon is deadly on Lake Boondooma bass.

are real suckers for slowly retrieved or quickly burned 5/8oz spinnerbaits, 1/2oz-rigged plastics and 18g Nories spoons. So give this a try next time you’re out, but make sure you find good shows of fish on the sounder before you start casting. It pays to put the work in to find them because you can be greatly rewarded. Trollers are getting big bass in the main basin on 5/8oz spinnerbaits, mainly around the Barbers Pole area, the dam wall, Leisegangs Ledge and Pelican Point. Be patient and the rewards will come. Bait fishers are recording good catches in the timbered sections of the dam using shrimp and worms. Silver perch, bass, yellowbelly and eel-tailed catfish are all catchable and good eating quality. Red claw are patchy but if you put in the work you will catch some whoppers. Remember, if your pots are empty, keep moving them because you might drop a pot on the honey hole. Lake Barambah Barambah (Bjelke-Petersen Dam) has been the pick of the dams as far as numbers of fish go. Sessions of 20 to 40-plus fish are not uncommon and if you put in the work you can get some quality as well. A few areas fishing well lately are the open water straight out from the park boat ramp, wide of the Quarry and wide of Bass Point. Soft plastics rigged on a 1/2oz jig head have been very effective. Soft vibes and spinnerbaits are also great go-to lures if the fish are sitting up off the bottom, with a burn and kill re-

trieve doing the trick. Don’t forget the areas around the edges of the dam that hold some rocky structure. Because the dam is so shallow, the fish like to move up into these areas to feed. Spinnerbaits and blades could become key baits at this time of year. Trollers are catching nice fish around the predominant lake points of the dam and in the open water out from the main boat ramps. Deep-diving hard-bodies are also accounting for nice yellowbelly, especially the more fluorescent colours. Bait fisherman are getting golden perch along the rocky walls around the edges of the dam using shrimp and worms as bait. The red claw have been fairly quiet this year but are still there to be caught. Set your pots around rocky structure for the best results. Park news It was great to see another massive attendance at the annual yellowbelly comp at Lake Boondooma. A huge thankyou to everyone who attended this year’s event and made the weekend such a huge success. Thanks also to the Boondooma stocking group led by Terry Allwood for making it so enjoyable. The organisers will put the money raised back into fingerlings to keep the dam flourishing for years to come. Coming into the Easter break, the dams will become quite busy. Can I please remind

everyone to be wary of the six-knot zone in front of the camping areas and make sure you have your Stocked Impoundment Permits and life jackets. Fisheries Queensland will be visiting quite often over the Easter break and we’d hate to see you fined. Don’t forget you can book a fishing charter with me on BP and Boondooma dams. If you’d like a great day out and all the info and knowledge to catch bass and yellowbelly in our two great dams, make sure you give me a call on 0408 658 592 and I’ll be happy to take you out. Until next time, tight lines and bent rods.

Trevor’s bass came from a shallow 3m point near the Quarry.

Dion Handford with a nice bass caught around a rock wall at Lake Boondooma.

y Guided b g f o rd n a L t t a M

Australian Freshwater Fishing Charters Vicki Stead picked up a cracker bass on a soft plastic near the Quarry.

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0408 658 592 | australianfreshwaterfishing.com Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 65

Precipitation – where is it? T HE big question lately is when is it going to rain?

Jason Nicholson from Pomona captured a huge catty on a lure.

With just 13 percent capacity left in Glenlyon Dam, 7 to 10 percent in Pindari, 8 percent in Copeton, Split Rock at 3 percent, Keepit nigh-on empty and Burrindong below 10 percent, that means no flows. Even the dam at St George is to be let go with repairs being undertaken over the next month. I’m getting shades of 1995 when people could venture into the limestone caves at Glenlyon at their own risk. So what of next year’s flows through the Darling? We have to hope good winter rain is on the cards, which has happened before. I was talking to someone within the MurrayDarling Basin Authority and mentioned an audit

GLENLYON DAM TOURIST PARK A great place to fish! • Powered and Unpowered Sites • No Domestic Pets or Generators • Kiosk • Ice • Gas • Petrol • Amenities Blocks and Laundry • BBQs • Hire Boats • EFTPOS • Fishing Permits

Glenlyon Dam

by BRIAN DARE

of water currently left and stored in the Murray-Darling Basin. The response was it is being done right now and is updated fortnightly by a spy in the sky. So what will become of that info? Will it be released for public comment and strong condemnation of the total allocation process? Sitting out there are holdings of water allocations not used and held back for next season by those who obtained extra water through allocation sales. Don’t sit there saying “that can’t be right” when you hear of water allocations being transferred from their original location to be used in a different region. It’s a similar story to the crown land that has somehow been changed to freehold along major river systems within the Murray-Darling Basin, enabling the purchased areas to be turned into areas to grow crops along the banks. You’ve got to wonder where those new areas will get their water al-

locations from to grow crops in the western division of the Murray-Darling. The breeding season is now over for our native freshwater fish including silver perch, catfish, golden perch and Murray cod. And with fingerlings released into storages mainly due to lack of water in rivers and streams, what now? From experience, the likely answer chosen by the powers that be will be to restock as soon as we get our rivers flowing again. But caution – this is not the answer, as we found in the Dumaresq River. By playing God and stocking this river we blew it. Someone said we need to get our riverine Murray cod populations back to pre-European settlement levels. But what level is that? Is that where you have a cod every 8m through a 56km stretch of river, just like in the Dumaresq as per our research findings? A lack of catfish, yellowbelly and silver perch being stocked at the same level caused a massive

imbalance within the system, which is still the case 12 years down the track. Oh yes and what about the slot size limit for Murray cod? Remember, you don’t get new kids out of grandparents. Thank goodness our Fisheries Queensland biologists saw fit to leave the 60cm minimum size limit in place and change the closed season for cod. It will come out eventually that the slot size limit may work with some species in some countries. However, real research is getting your hands dirty, and not from tapping a keyboard rehashing old information. Having said that, it looks like we are to continue with research for another three years on the Dumaresq and other rivers. What is needed is others to get up off their bums and contact biologists like Gavin Butler, Steve Brooks and Dan Smith and ask how they can commit to this research format. The work might be a bit hard and a commitment is required. You don’t get paid but you do get to do some scientific research on fish that live in our freshwater rivers.

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 18/3/2019

DAMS

PERCENTAGE

OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR 5 Atkinson 5 5 5 5 5 90 Awoonga 88 87 85 84 82 17 Bjelke-Petersen * 17 16 15 10 8 37 Boondooma * 40 39 41 37 35 100 Borumba * 100 98 99 96 94 73 Burdekin Falls * 72 66 83 114 104 64 Callide * 64 62 84 56 54 89 Cania * 87 86 60 79 77 29 Coolmunda * 28 24 28 18 14 3 Dyer/Bill Gunn * 3 3 6 4 9 93 Eungella * 88 85 86 101 100 19 Fairbairn * 19 16 15 13 12 44 Glenlyon * 42 37 43 16 12 96 Hinze 97 96 97 94 94 83 Julius 80 78 75 100 99 65 Kinchant * 59 49 70 85 87 9 Leslie * 9 9 8 8 7 109 Macdonald 101 99 100 98 96 92 Maroon * 93 91 89 82 79 94 Monduran/Fred Haigh * 93 91 90 85 82 77 Moogerah * 76 72 78 71 68 80 North Pine/Samsonvale * 80 77 76 73 73 63 Peter Faust/Proserpine * 61 59 60 81 81 77 Somerset * 77 76 77 75 76 89 Teemburra * 85 79 83 101 101 76 Tinaroo* 71 67 82 102 100 101 Toonumbar 99 96 90 79 75 70 Wivenhoe * 69 67 67 63 60 99 Wuruma * 98 98 97 94 89 95 Wyaralong 94 93 93 90 92 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, April 2019

Graeme Barnes’ first day on the water with shrimp resulted in an 84cm cod and four nice yellows.

Bryan Power with a 96cm cod hooked on a Powers Lure.

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Bush ‘n Beach merchandise HOLIDAY RENTALS BUXTON – Modern brick home, fully s/c sleeps 7. Fish the Burrum, Gregory, Isis & Cherwell Rivers & Hervey Bay from one Great Location, OS $350 p/w Ph 0428 262 976. RUSSELL ISL FOR FAMILIES OR INDIVIDUALS – 3 bedroom $350/week or $30/night. 0404 866 571.

FOR SALE & WANTED ALLY CRAFT 480 CHALLENGER CUDDY CABIN (2004). Telwater alloy trailer with override brakes (built 2011). Yamaha 70hp oil-injected two-stroke (268 hours), bimini top, front and side clears, storm cover, VHF marine radio, bait board, bilge pump, transom boarding ladder and more. Get on the water for $19,990 drive away. Call BrisbaneYamaha on 07 3888 1727 or visit brisbaneyamaha.com.au BAR CRUSHER 670 HT (2013) heavily optioned and sitting on an Easytow trailer. This rig is a serious workhorse ready for some serious offshore work! Suzuki 175hp four-stroke motor with stainless steel prop and only 80 hours. Trailer stone guard, live bait tank, saltwater deck wash, Fusion stereo, storm cover and so, so much more. Priced at $82,990. Call Wynnum Marine on 07 3396 9777 or visit wynnummarine.com.au CRUISE CRAFT RESORT 5 (2004) powered by Evinrude 135hp on Redco braked trailer. Boarding platform, fullwidth internal rear lounge, storage under rear lounge, dash storage box with lid, separate anchor locker with hatch, walk-through transom, storage in front bow area, lockable glovebox, port and starboard cockpit side pockets and carpeted ski locker. Heavily reduced to $23,990! Call Wynnum Marine on 07 3396 9777 or visit wynnummarine.com.au HAINES HUNTER V17R – Haines Hunter collectors, this is the boat you have been looking for! In excellent and still-original condition. Two owners since new, with a new Mercury 175hp two-stroke fitted back in 1990 and only 89 hours on the clock. You will not find an old motor in such showroom condition. Trailer has had new crossmembers at some stage and brakes are in very good condition. Won’t last at $13,990 drive away. Call Trevor at Karee Marine today on 07 3875 1600. LATE MODEL USED ALUMINIUM BOATS WANTED from Quintrex, Stacer, Ally Craft, Stessco, Bar Crusher, Bluefin, Brooker and Clark – Make selling your boat simple and hassle free - Cash or Consign – John Crawford Marine Queensland’s Used Boat Specialists since 1964 www.johncrawfordmarine. com.au Ph. 3890 2322. MAKO CRAFT 440 ESTUARY TRACKER (2007). Wooden floor removed and replaced with alloy and carpet so it will never rot. Also features Lowrance Hook-5 colour sounder/GPS with map card, marine radio, nav lights and bilge pump, cup holders, stereo, padded seats, Mercury 40hp two-stroke XR lightning oil-injected and a good trailer. Massive price drop to $9000 drive away! Call Trevor at Karee Marine today on 07 3875 1600. NORTHBANK 600C - Mercury 150Hp four stroke low hrs, Dunbier tandem axle trailer, Dual battery system, Garmin colour GPS/Sounder, Stressfree electric anchor winch, Trim tabs, large cabin, Overhead S/S rod holders, aft Snapper racks, huge cockpit and so much more!!! Now Reduced

to $64,995 tow away! – John Crawford Marine Queensland’s Used Boat Specialists since 1964 www.johncrawfordmarine.com.au Ph. 3890 2322. QUALITY USED FIBREGLASS BOATS WANTED from Haines Hunter, Signature, Cruise Craft, Baysport and Whittley – Make selling your boat simple and hassle free - Cash or Consign – John Crawford Marine Queensland’s Used Boat Specialists since 1964 www. johncrawfordmarine.com.au Ph. 3890 2322. QUINTREX 385 EXPLORER (2007) with bimini, 15hp Mercury two-stroke, galvanised trailer and glovebox in forward seat. A bargain at $4990. Call Brisbane Quintrex on 07 3133 3468 or visit bris banequintrex.com.au

ORDER FORM Item

Size (S-3XL)

Qty

Cost

Polo Blue/White

x $35

Polo Blue/Gold

x $35

Polo Navy/Red

x $35

Polo Navy/Gold

x $35

T-Shirt Stone

x $18

T-Shirt Lt Grey

x $18

T-Shirt Blue

x $18

QUINTREX 435 HORNET TROPHY (2003) – Honda 2004 50hp TS PTT only 65 hrs. Bimini, Humminbird 787 GPS side-imaging sounder, GX600 VHF radio, MinnKota RT55AP remote/foot control. Sealink 4.8 trailer. $8990. Located Birkdale. Call 0458 888 449.

one size Beanie Black Subtotal $

RANGER 188VX - Side console sports/comp package with a Suzuki 175Hp EFI 4S low hrs, Minn Kota Maxum electric motor, Ranger alloy trailer, Dual sounders, Power Pole anchor, VHF radio, Stereo system, Custom glitter gel coat, Sea Star hydraulic steering, ‘Hot Foot’ throttle pedal, Plumbed tanks & more! Now Reduced to $42,995 tow away! – John Crawford Marine Queensland’s Used Boat Specialists since 1964 www.johncrawfordmarine. com.au Ph. 3890 2322. SMARTWAVE 4800 SW – rotomoulded plastic centre console made in NZ. Immaculately presented. Suzuki 60Hp four stroke 21 hours, hydraulic steering, Oceanic (DOM10/16) braked trailer, Lowrance 7 sounder/GPS, safety gear, brand new bimini top, nav lights, boarding platform and so much more… suit new boat buyer! Only $23,495.00 tow away – John Crawford Marine Queensland’s Used Boat Specialists since 1964 www.johncrawfordmarine. com.au Ph. 3890 2322. STEJCRAFT MONACO BOWRIDER (2004). Powered by Yamaha 200hp with 386 hours. Very well looked after boat. Ready for a new owner and fitted with a custom wake tower with wake racks, custom bimini and other features including stereo, bow cover and 130-litre fuel tank. Rated for eight people! Drive away at just $23,990. Call Trevor at Karee Marine today on 07 3875 1600. TOURNAMENT 1750 - Heavily optioned, Evinrude 90Hp ETEC, Dunbier braked trailer, Garmin GPS/ Sounder, Humminbird GPS/Sounder, Garmin VHF radio, Fusion stereo system, EPIRB, Hydraulic steering, Bimini top w. ext. canopy, Storage cover, Plumbed LB tank, Kill tank, Seating for 5, Simply stunning! Now Reduced to $32,995 tow away! – John Crawford Marine Queensland’s Used Boat Specialists since 1964 www.johncrawfordmarine. com.au Ph. 3890 2322.

adjustable

Cap Blue/Grey

x $15 x $10

+ $7.95

Postage & handling per order

Free postage for orders over $80 TOTAL

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Do you want to know more about bar crossing & offshore fishing? Tuition with Bill Corten – successful offshore fisherman and commercial skipper

WANTED – LATE MODEL USED BOATS. Cash or consignment. When you buy a used boat from Karee Marine you know it has been through our workshop and checked over. A RWC is given with each boat sold. We have a fully insured undercover showroom so your boat will not be left out. Call Trevor at Karee Marine today on 07 3875 1600.

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• Online at www.bnbfishing.com.au • Post to PO Box 387, Cleveland Q 4163 • Phone 07 3286 1833

QUINTREX 420 ESTUARY ANGLER (2003) with Yamaha 40hp outboard. For more info please call our dealership and chat to Brent or Justin. Big price drop to $10,990. Call Wynnum Marine on 07 3396 9777 or visit wynnummarine.com.au

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Bar crossing courses: • Hands-on experience crossing coastal bars safely • Direct supervision mastering all bar crossing skills • Fine-tuning of skills in breaking swells and white water • On-water training in the safety of a Cruise Craft Explorer 685 filled with upright buoyancy to naval architects’ specifications • Overcome your fears and learn vital skills as part of an onwater course

Offshore fishing courses: • Comprising a night of theory and a full day’s practical training on offshore reefs • Finding reefs • Locating different fish species • Bait rigging • Shallow and deep reef fishing techniques • Using a full range of rods and reels • Sounder and GPS instruction • Offshore anchoring • And much more

Contact Bill Corten T: 07 3286 3647 M: 0447 233 247 0447 ( a f f a i r ) E: reel_affair@yahoo.com Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2019 – Page 67

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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.

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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

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AIRLIE BEACH

SENSATIONAL DRIVE-AWAY DEALS Tournament 2000 hard top

FREE! colour sounder

$108,900 SPECIAL!

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Mercury 200hp 4-stroke

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Tournament 1750

$52,200 SPECIAL!

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Tournament 1900 Bluewater

Mercury 115hp 4-stroke

$74,500 SPECIAL!

$68,000

Mercury 150hp 4-stroke

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Stessco Gulf Runner 550

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$33,990

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UNBEATABLE UNBEATABLE

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PREVIOUS MERCURY FOURSTROKE 1.7L

BSFC dyno testing; data is an average of 60%-80% rated MERCURY PREVIOUS NEW MERCURY engine speed based NEW OPTIMAX MERCURY MERCURY OPTIMAX on standardMERCU ICOMIA emissions test. FOURSTROKE 115hp 1.7L 2.1L 115hp 115hp 2.1L 11 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