Townsville

from Fishing Monthly Magazine | March 2022

Boat test: Whittley FF1950

A good mix of species

TOWNSVILLE Dave Hodge

With just enough rain to make the rivers dirty, but not flood, we somehow avoided most of the serious weather that was predicted for the opening of barra season. For a rec angler, this was bad news because we often count on there being enough rain to stop the nets going in while the barra do their spawning. Not this year that’s for sure, and commercial fishers from all over converged on the Townsville area as it became open season.

I know, I know, the pros have to make a living and I do agree with that, but I don’t like the concentration of nets in a reduced area. I’d love to see the season opening pushed back a month, as the decent rain associated with the spawn is usually in February.

Anyway, on with the report.

Apart from the productive mangrove jack fishing we have had over the last couple of months, it’s the grunter that have been the main talk in recent weeks. For me, the lures are the way to go, and I rarely fish bait these days unless I chuck one out the front of camp.

Surface lures have been producing plenty of spectacular bites, and my young fella Tannhym has been braining them on his favourite 60mm Roosta Popper. He is pushing the limits with his tackle though; he’s getting lighter and lighter with his gear all the time, with surprisingly consistent results. The last of the run-in has been working the best for us on the smaller tides, and when the water hits the right height, it’s game on. Another lure that plays a big part in our selection is the Bassday Sugapen, which is a 90mm stickbait. There seems to be a pattern as to which lure will work better on a particular day. The dirty stuff typically sees the Roosta reign supreme, while in the clearer stuff the Sugapen seems to do very well. That’s not a hard and fast rule though, just a general pattern.

For the grunter hunters, live and dead baits have been working well. With the prawns finally showing up in more reasonable numbers, they’re going to be the best you can get. Slab baits of squid and mullet fillets have been catching larger fish, but numbers wise, it’s the livies that win. Old school specialists love the greenback herring butterfly filleted, and big gar fillets rigged on two 4/0 suicides, so which rig and bait you use is up to you, just make sure it’s

as fresh as you can get. It does prove though that they’re more catchable than you may think if they’re around your area.

If lures are your thing, then small prawn imitations, small vibes and blades are very hard to beat for grunter, and the this is our go-to method when the barra and jacks are up in the unreachable snags on the bigger tides. I’m a big fan of the Atomic Semi Hardz 40mm for grunter and the same size in blades. I use blades in the deeper stuff because they hold down a bit better in the run. Obviously with barra season open now, the deep stuff is going to put you in contact with plenty of barra also, but the lighter leaders needed for the grunter may give you a few tense moments.

Fingermark too will get in on the deep action, and once they get used to the initial fresh and you can find the deeper holes in local systems, they’re usually quite easy to get a bite from. A big one for the creeks is over just 50cm, but my god there isn’t a better eating fish in my opinion.

Salmon schools have been

quite regularly intercepted if you keep your eyes open (they are often mistaken for tarpon schools). They’ll take a wellplaced plastic prawn imitation, small diver or even surface presentation when they’re feeding, and they put on quite the show with hard runs and high jumps. Salmon are regarded as a medium quality eating fish, and we release all of ours.

Another species that meets with mixed opinions is the good old bream. Up north, it’s the pikey bream that’s most often caught. Plenty of people love the taste of bream, and on light line these fish give a good account of themselves.

Many people up north say that barra are way overrated on the plate, but I’d have to disagree. We are, however, quite picky about the barra we do neck for the table. The fish has to be silver chrome with a yellow tail to make its way onto our dinner plate. These characteristics are an indication that they’ve been in the salt for an extended period of time, and it makes all the difference. This extended time in the salt purges any residual traces left over from the fish’s days in freshwater. Barra should be bled instantly and put straight on ice, and if treated properly they will freeze well.

IF YOU CAN’T BEAT ‘EM, EAT ‘EM

Thankfully, people are starting to realise that shark

flesh isn’t too bad either. With the amount of sharks stalking the rivers, creeks, reefs and bays nowadays, you shouldn’t have too much trouble getting a good feed of them. Legally, you’re allowed one shark per person under 1.5m in length, and there are plenty of them around so go for it! Usually the easiest way to find one is to hook a fish you really want to land, and a shark will promptly eat it. However, if you want to specifically target sharks, they respond very well to a slight amount of berley, though it’s usually not needed these days.

When it comes to the taste of shark flesh, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Just remember that sharks, as with any fish, need to be treated well if you want to maximise their culinary potential. There are many YouTube videos on shark preparation, so it’s not difficult to learn from experienced sharkies.

Offshore the electric revolution is well and truly

underway, and with each passing week more and more anglers are gearing up with powerful electric outfits to beat the sharks in offshore locations while chasing more desirable species like nannygai, trout and red emperor. Catch rates on average have increased by over 80% according to our customers, so there’s no arguing with the worth of the financial commitment. Just a quick note though on appropriate hooks for the deep dropping thing. Strong circle hooks in 8\0 to 10\0 sizes are ideal due to the fact that you don’t get to strike with the rod in the gunwale, and circles load up in the corner of the mouth nicely.

Red-throat emperor (also called trickies and red-throat sweetlip) have shown up in huge numbers, and they are good size fish too. The average we’ve been seeing pics of are around 3.5kg and bigger, which is a bloody good tricky. When you find them, you can get your bag limit in quick time. There are reports of massive schools hammering the reef fishos, and that’s just awesome to hear. Red-throat emperor have beautiful white flesh when treated in the right way, and they also freeze well, so it’s win-win when you find them.

Apart from the traditional

bait fishing techniques that have always worked on them, red-throat emperor are suckers for a jig, soft vibe or soft plastic put anywhere near their nose. Their fighting ability is renowned, with 30-40lb jigging or soft plastic outfits considered sporting. Back when I used to target them a bit, it was 30lb braid and 40lb fluoro leader, and I’d still get done regularly enough to call it challenging. The upside to this style of fishing is that your by-catch of trout and other desirable species is quite high, so expect a mixed bag. As you can imagine, the faster you can land them the better, before they get eaten by a shark.

All in all it should be pretty good fishing up this way for the foreseeable future – just make sure you check bag limits and other regulations, because there have been a couple of changes in recent times.

For some reason the red and silver colour scheme on the Atomic Twitcher 110 is a great barra colour in the fresh.