May Mayhem to come

COOKTOWN

Justin Coventry

The waters are receding, the fish are fired up, and the roads are starting to open. There are so many options and the fish have started comes down from upstream. Throwing a lure along these drop-offs and snags will get a reaction. However, they learn quickly and can be hard to get to bite if they have already been captured a few times so being there first is the key. Fishing at hard to predict. I have seen in years past when the Park has opened early in May then the storms come and roads become like soup and get churned up with people recovering their vehicles. I understand parks and council want to make so decent coastal nannygai caught by Jonathan. to stir. The barramundi fishing has been next level with some great sessions and sizeable fish around. a congregation point can be next level and multiple captures can be the norm. So, take the initiative and plan a sure people are safe and the roads aren’t destroyed, so have pushed back the opening. Unfortunately, it just happens this is the best time to fish these areas.

Accessing the Park from Cooktown for the day is possible, so locals here can be a little flexible when deciding to visit and get into some nice fish. Most locals have their favourite spots to visit and have done the research staying there in the past.

Most people travelling through will need to camp in the park or stay close by to access the area. Even finding availability at other campsites and then exploring can be productive but understand that you will not be alone and respect others camping at spots. You can visit other campsites and usually it’s easy enough to walk a bank to chase some fish, but it is better to get some distance from campsites as most of the water close to these areas would have seen a few lures.

The Cooktown Wharf has seen some great action over the last month with nice barramundi caught, and grunter making an appearance when the dirty water was around. Mangrove jack and trevally have been seen in larger numbers. If you decide to visit, it is worthwhile throwing a line in at the wharf as the action is starting to heat up and should be great this month as the river clears up more and more bait is around.

The reef fishing has been great with lots of trout and

Roly did well on the grunter lately.

The race is always on at this time of the year to get to a spot first.

Fish holding areas are the deeper water drop-offs and the snags that are nearest to them this month, as the barramundi are at the front of the pools still actively feeding on another that trip as soon as access allows to reap the benefits.

Lakefield National Park is almost fully booked for the opening dates around the 1 June, however, only if conditions are fine and there hasn’t been any recent rain. Opening 1 June should be fine but the weather is large mouth nannies to keep the reef fishers happy. This month, however, will be the start of the constant SE trade winds, which will no doubt buffer us over the next few months of winter with little breaks in the weather unlikely, but can still appear. This is the time to do maintenance on your boat, gear and services for outboards, etc. and be ready just in case the weather window opens. Give all things get a tidy up, new braid on reels etc so everything is ready for the next punishing reef fishing session.

The cooler weather will start to come in the next few months and the SE winds will pick up, but it’s a great time to head out and go camping and sit around a fire and chase some barramundi in the rivers close by.