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Clean tropical waters make for great catches CAIRNS
Dan Kaggelis dkaggelis@gmail.com
May is typically a more stable month weather wise which makes it idea for fishing the Trinity Net Free Zone. The creeks and rivers are usually running clear and crisp as a result of the drier weather and smaller day time tides. This is excellent news for lure fishers as clean water makes it easier for the fish to see their lures. The other good news is that water temps also
start to fall, and they have certainly been scorching hot this year. When the water gets over 30ºC the fishing can be tough, and I really prefer that mid to high 20s when fishing in the creeks. May usually sees these temps fall into the optimum range which can also be a big plus. The target species will be jacks and barramundi in most of the Net Free Zone Creeks. The Cairns Inlet has been fishing really well for barramundi with some great captures coming land based off the Marlin Wharf Pier. Live bait has been producing
Jacks will be on the chew in May, and working poppers in the shallow systems will be a good way to snare them.
Flathead will be feeding hard on the flats.
the best results for land-based fishers with mullet and flicking prawns working the best. For boaties, flicking suspending hardbodies and vibes around the deeper bends has been producing the better fish in the Inlet. Large paddles tails like the 140 Molix has also been finding barramundi casts amongst the artificial structure as well, especially at night when all lit up. Other systems in the Net Free Zone like the Barron and Thomatis have also been producing both barramundi and threadfin salmon. The areas out the mouth of these creeks have also been giving up the bigger fish as well. This spot was once a very seasonal
place to chase barra and threadfin but since the NFZ has come in it is now fishing awesome all year round which is terrific news. The smaller systems like Moon River have been producing the odd mangrove jack and barramundi. They love a surface lure in this shallow system so make sure your hooks are sharp and your drags are tight. If you want to fish sub-surface then small paddle tails like the Molix RT Shads in 3.5 and 4.5” are working well for these fish. Retrieving them on a slow roll is best and try not to twitch the lure too much as this can put the fish off. The other fish which will be slowly starting to hunt around in better numbers is the humble flathead. With
the cleaner water around, working over the flats with small poppers or plastics is worth the effort. Big long casts over the sand is the best method with a slow retrieve. Finally the mud crabs will be moving as well so it will definitely pay to be setting a pot or two even if you are only fishing for a small time. The big bucks will be moving so getting a feed this time of year shouldn’t be that hard. In closing, as the Governor of the Cairns Area Fish Stocking Group I would like to thank all those who helped out with the stocking of 4000 barramundi across the Net Free Zone. These stocked fish do help to support our fishery and it’s great to see so many people coming to support the group.
Barra will be chewing but make sure your hooks are sharp as they tend to swipe at lures this time of year.
Promising prospects ahead for autumn bags PORT DOUGLAS
Lynton Heffer www.fishingportdouglas.com.au
Having experienced a proper tropical wet season, which created a few headaches at the beginning of the year, the general feeling now is of optimism. For example, we’ve had plenty of rain ranging from 150mm up to 370mm in a 24hr period. This surprisingly equates to good fishing in the following weeks and the sense is the highest of this precipitation is behind us. However, a tropical low pressure system during the March/April period can put us on the back foot again and the weather pattern will be watched with anticipation in FNQ. The positive signs we’ve seen of late have occurred mostly outside of the heavy rain periods. Offshore we’ve had no real serious extended winds to contend with so heading to the reef has been viable 40 APRIL 2023
most times. The reduction in water temperature it appears has created a burst of activity from a variety of species and overall numbers have been above expectations. There’s been a good supply of coral trout to go around,
small and large nannygai have contributed evenly and some high-quality red emperor have made cameo appearances as well. Outside of this there’s been a mixed bag adding to the fishing creel with
the likes of big gold spot and tea-leaf trevally testing angling abilities. Green job fish, monster cod, baldy bream, cattle dog cod and spangled emperor all featuring at some point. Floating a pilchard
Decent high-quality red emperor have been cruising around this season.
whilst bottom fishing has also turned over quite a few Spanish mackerel up to 10kg. They’ve been the icing on the cake on quite a few occasions. Looking ahead leading into April these early signs are very encouraging where currents and conditions turn the tables in the angler’s favour. Along the coastline we’ve already started to see the benefits of the rains with a massive supply of bait spread not far from shore. The pelagics have cottoned on to this and there’s already been substantial catches of Spanish mackerel and trevally ready to pounce. Medium-sized poppers worked across the water have received serious attention. Look at the size of bait flicking around and match the hatch with a similar sized lure. Soft plastics and metal slices will also play an important role in your success. Headlands and islands are a good starting point to explore. Within the calm waters
estuary systems will fish best immediately after a good rain and the bigger river systems may take a couple more days. Draining gutters on a low tide have already been a popular haunt to lure up some good barra. Don’t dismiss the size of the drain trickling water out of the mangroves, the smaller ones may just surprise you as to what may lay in waiting. The deeper snags are positive for fingermark and mangrove jack with live bait being the locals’ choice of method. As our coastal systems settle and water clarity returns, it won’t be long before we see some thumping queenfish amongst the action, along with a solid supply of river trevally and GTs on those decent tides with a steady flow on the incoming tide. The next month or so I always highlight on the calendar because when the conditions align, it is hang on by the seat of your pants action!
