Whitsundays

Seize the spring catches

WHITSUNDAYS Mick Underwood

The run of glamour winter weather that we had been enjoying came to an abrupt halt a few weeks ago. An extended run of stiff southeasters and some unseasonal rain has put the breaks on any offshore fishing during recent times.

The outer reef, the shipping lanes and anywhere around the outer Jenny Savige always kills it on Reel Addiction.

Golden trevally have been happy to eat whatever gets thrown at them. This one nailed a soft plastic.

islands has seen very little angling pressure with the fish in these areas getting away largely scot-free the last few weeks. I can hear coral trout at the outer reef laughing at us from here in my office. It’s not only the trout out there that are having fun, the nannygai are the same on the ‘shoals’ as are the Spanish mackerel around the outer islands. Not to worry though, we are into spring now and that typically signals the end of the trade breezes for another year.

Lucky that here in the Whitsundays we have a nice vibrant inshore fishery and plenty of islands to hide behind and still enjoy a fish. Being the tail end of winter there has been plenty of pelagics to get after and for me the most predominant fish to be found has been golden trevally. They have been around in droves, which is cool and have saved plenty of tough days. Very few have been caught on bait, it’s been lures that have been getting the job done.

On the whole they haven’t been too choosy about what sort of lure to smash, as long as you have put some thing in front of them they have been happy to eat it. Even the big gaudy chatterbaits have been getting eaten with gusto.

Mixed in with the goldies there have been a few XOS sized queenfish and some tasty school mackerel. Queenfish once they reach the upper end of their size range are a superb sports fish. The school mackerel might not be quite so exciting to have on the end of your line but if they are around in numbers then they are an easy way to get a tasty feed in the ice box.

Over recent weeks the inshore fringing reefs have thrown a few nice plump coral trout but they haven’t been that easy and it’s only the wilier of anglers that have been getting the right results.

On the beaches and even the shore fishing hasn’t been pumping at anywhere near its best. I’ve seen some nice flathead caught but that has

been about it. I have had no shortage of grey nomads whinging at me at the lack of whiting this winter, which is a little unusual as they are typically thick through this stage of the year. Who knows, maybe they’ll show up this month?

Our local estuaries haven’t seen a lot of angling pressure through August but that is typical for now as the water temps are currently stagnated at the bottom end of their annual scale. This is all about to change now that spring is here, as during October there is normally so much variety in the bite locally.

Starting up in the creeks, and the angling activity should increase dramatically, especially for glamour species such as barramundi and mangrove jack. Now that the water temps are climbing steadily these fish will be coming out of their winter slumber and be keen to have a feed. Also with it being the last month of the barramundi season for the year, this will encourage a lot of people to get one or two before they become off limits. Due mainly to

Aaron with a nice flathead that he caught flicking a hardbody off the beach at Cape Gloucester. Queenfish have been the saviour this month!

Peter Rheinburger enjoyed the recent good queenfish bite, catching this nice model on a hardbody.

Another goldy on a hardbody. I have been thankful for the presence of these guys in recent weeks.

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commercial netting pressure we don’t see a hell of a lot of barramundi caught here at Hydeaway Bay anymore but to the north up around Bowen there is still some quality fishing to be enjoyed.

The southern rivers and creeks of our region still hold some good sport fishing options, in particular any of the systems that run out into Repulse Bay. Having such a large tidal range down there though limits the days when you can get at the fish. During spring tides there is way too much water movement to be able to fish successfully and, as such, fishing missions have to be planned around the neap tides.

Out the creeks and around the islands, the fishing activity should increase this month, especially by fishers keen for a feed of coral trout. As we get closer to their spawning run they will get more active and will smash whatever lure or bait you put in front of them.

The pelagic fishing on the inshore grounds will start to change and possibly start to wane a bit as well. The big queenfish will get harder to find but there should still be some golden trevally about and a few school mackerel. Spring quite often brings the best tuna bite of the year and already they are showing up and providing some good entertainment. The only thing with them is you never know when or where they are going to be. So far I’ve been running across them everywhere from right in the back of Edgecumbe Bay out into the shipping lanes.

Out around the outer edges of the islands we’ll see an increase in activity and, as long as the weather allows, is where I will be focusing most of my attention this month. Species, such as Spanish mackerel will get harder to catch but in their place should be some nice little black marlin and sailfish. I don’t need to rattle on too much as to how cool they are to catch. Out in the same areas but down deep on the bottom and there should be some nice fish to be caught there this month.

It’s prime time to bust out a few jigs and start chasing species such as fingermark and grunter. Fingermark in particular are a personal favourite of mine, not only do they pull like a proverbial freight train, they are photogenic and insanely good to eat.

There we go, there is no shortage of angling options in the Whitsundays during October. Make sure you make the most of it and get out on the water as much as you can to take advantage of what’s on offer. Until next month good luck and happy angling. • Reel Addiction Sport

Young Oscar with his first ever longtail tuna. We should be catching plenty more of these over the coming weeks. This goldy was happy to scoff a chatterbait. Fishing Charters specialises in light tackle fishing for all tropical sportfishing species on fly, lures and bait. Reel Addiction operates from the beautiful Cape Gloucester Beach Resort, 40 minutes’ drive north of Airlie Beach. Combined fishing charter and accommodation packages are available. For more information, contact Mick Underwood on 0413 882 153 or email mick@reeladdiction.com. au. Resort enquiries can be directed to Julie Houston on (07) 4945 7242 or at info@

capeg.com.au. To stay in touch with what’s biting, check out the Reel Addiction Sport Fishing Whitsundays page on Facebook.

This goldy ate a piece of pilchard drifted under an anchored prawn trawler.

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