Townsville

Signs point to an early wet

TOWNSVILLE Dave Hodge

The wind in the north has been absolutely relentless, and fishos are seriously over it. When it has been good enough to go out wide, the Spanish have been pretty full on, and long trips haven’t been needed to get a good catch. has worked for many of the anglers I’ve spoken to over the last month or so, who have been able to get out. While not a technique meant for those 20kg+ monsters, it is very effective on the more schoolsized fish of around 10kg.

Try a few drops with wire first. If the fish are still there but no action has been registered, try removing the wire and go again. Yes, you will get for a while to come. Trolling small gar, yakkas or flicker mullet is pretty much standard for the switched-on anglers, while small skirted pushers are another technique, particularly when looking for schools of bait being harassed by the small billies. 8-10kg mono with a 100-150lb leader should be around right for that raspy bill.

If you’re after more in-depth info on the local billfish fishery, get onto the Townsville Game Fishing Club and I’m sure they’ll be more then helpful as there are some exceptional anglers involved there.

RIVER AND CREEKS

Some of our favourite locations haven’t fired over the last couple of months, but there have still been enough fish to keep us interested. The one trend over recent weeks has the fish sitting deeper than would be expected at presentation in 4m+.

Downsizing lures has been a major technique alteration that has helped convert slow days into something with a bit more action. It’s going to sound strange to many people who have never tried this variation on luring for barra, but when the fish are tunnel visioned on smaller food, that’s what you need to replicate. 3” Atomic Prongs and 3 1/4” Plazos are always with us when we hit the water. We rig them on either a 1/6oz or 1/4oz Atomic Seeker Head with a heavy 1 sized Gamakatsu hook. These hooks are sharp and strong, and match the profile of the tiny plastics. These little softies would seem more at home in a bream fisher’s kit, but they really produce in the north.

Line and leaders too need to be downsized to fish these tiny things, and we generally use between 6-10lb braid with a 2m long 20-25lb Dangan about it WITHOUT OUR HELP. If you see something suspicious, please take the time to report it ASAP. Black market sales of fish and crabs know soon enough. What this means for barra stock will rely on where they are when the season is closed, and how many will be able to avoid the nets.

At the time of writing, many of the jacks have been sitting very deep, and a smaller profiled diver that has greater depth ability is a very successful option if you don’t mind trolling. These smaller lures get eaten by a range of species including fingermark, jacks, barra, grunter and so on. I like the 50mm Poltergeist with the extra deep bib on it. This lure gets down to 8m on braid, and it also has a strong action at a low speed, which is particularly handy in dirty water scenarios.

If I’m using a lure like this on my light tackle, I leave the original hooks on. However, if I happen to be after bigger, harder-hitting species then I’ll upgrade the trebles to ‘whopper stopper’ grade.

Leader size for us is still in the 30lb class, and this allows the max depth achievable, while still giving abrasion resistance.

Anyway, the season should start making a few serious changes in the coming weeks, so adaptability will be the secret to success. Think outside the box and be willing to experiment, and who knows what you’ll come across.

Even average sized barra can fit a big lure down their throat when the temps are appropriate. Don’t be afraid to use big weedless hooks on big plastics to get a better hook-up ratio.

Apart from the standard trolling of wolfies at a slow speed, lures are also doing their thing at a much higher speed, around 6 knots. While this should be no surprise to a Spanish fan, one thing that has proved to be successful also is to drop down a metal lure such as a 80g Halco Twisty in the deeper stuff when there’s a show on the sounder, and crank back at warp speed. This snipped off sometimes, but when they’re hooked in a good spot the catch rate is very high. The average depth that these schooling fish have noted has been around the 25-30m mark.

The recent Billfish Tournament held offshore from Townsville produced plenty of action considering the conditions, and no doubt this action will hang around this time of year, and jacks, barra and fingermark have been the reward for either working a vibe or deeper FC leader.

The big problem we have is finding a weighted weedless hook small enough to rig them for the snag bashing stuff, while still being strong enough to stop an angry jack. However, we have a few things in our bag of tricks to try in coming weeks, so we’ll keep you posted on that.

In recent weeks the standard 4 and 5” plastics have had less than half the strike rate of the smaller 3” models, but as the water warms, the bigger lures will get more bites. If the weather cools a bit it’ll be straight back to the small stuff I’d reckon.

Over the past month or so, one of my favourite systems has become just about void of barra. It’s an out of the way spot which has been netted consistently for weeks on end – and word has it, it’s not just the professionals that are hitting it. Illegal netting in this part of the world is a huge problem, and with limited staff and resources, Fisheries management or DPI have Buckley’s of doing much is a massive problem, and the fishery can’t withstand the relentless pressure, so do your bit to protect what you love. FORECAST

It seems that the crocs have been pairing up, ready for an early mating season, and mango trees around town have flowered way earlier than usual. These two factors could be an indicator of an early wet season, and obviously we’ll

When things are tough, try slower presentations that still have plenty of action. Tannhym nailed this big jack in tough conditions on a weedless-rigged Atomic Curly Tail worked through the snags.

With the water temp on the increase, large soft plastic prawn imitations will become a standout for bigger fish. They can be rigged unweighted and fished on the surface, or weighted and sunk to deeper fish. This fish fell to a 7” Halco Paddle Prawn.

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