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 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. the best results for land-based fishers with mullet and flicking prawns working the best.

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.

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