Port Douglas

Extraordinary period

PORT DOUGLASPORT DOUGLAS LyntonLynton HefferHeffer

www.fishingportdouglas.com.au With the onset of our winter pattern, the fishing has taken a bizarre twist in our neck of the woods but it is all positive.

We’ll start with the outer reef fishing, which has had some serious action packed days! We normally see this type of transition in the early stages of winter but it has gone to a new level. We’ve had our traditional target species really kicking in, including coral trout, emperor and small and large mouth nannygai. They have rolled out nicely on most days.

What we’ve also seen recently is some of our more exotic species play a big role and a few oddball surprises. The exotic category has included regular barramundi cod (released), baldy bream, reef mangrove jack, speckle scaled sea perch and a good rounding up of cattle dog cod, which are normally elusive.

Now for the odd balls: we’ve seen some coastal fish venture way outside of their parameters, some 20+ miles to the outer reef, including big golden snapper and dusky flathead. What inspired them to make such a journey has us all guessing.

On the pelagic scene, Spanish mackerel have turned it on in a big, big way. Whether trolling lures or floating a pilchard, they have been sensational. Whether it’s been our reef bottom fishing charter or game charter, they have been a regular feature. In more recent times they have grown from the average 7-8kg range to 12-20kg in a short period. In my opinion, they are right up there when it comes to pure sportfishing, adrenalin fuelling for the angler and a whole heap of fun. Taking home a slab of fillets to feed a family of 12+ people is the cream on top.

Now closer to home, we have had some very interesting fishing in our calmer waters for this time of year. The Daintree River has remained very strong for the likes of big queenfish, trevally, golden snapper and grunter, along with some interesting species including sickle fish and feather bream.

Locally, the Dickson Inlet has fished really well for this time of year for mangrove jack, and some barra have also shown interest. The surprise captures to turn up have included legitimate sized slatey bream and spangled emperor, of all things. These are offshore fish without question. As like the reef, the inshore fishing has experienced surprises and it is a like a cross-species scenario. Again, something must be in the water to encourage this type of behaviour between two vastly different environments.

In the Far North, there is always something to raise an eyebrow and the fishing will settle in beautifully for the next few months. Outside of dealing with frustrating Covid restrictions, we sincerely hope as many of you can get here to see what we are talking about.

From page 36 game enough to fish in the dark. The other benefit of fishing this time of day is you have the many lit up beacons and artificial light sources, which are found throughout the Cairns Inlet. These always hold good fish and can turn up some monsters.

The rubble patches and small wrecks littered throughout the Inlet have also been producing some excellent finger-mark and mangrove jack for bait and lure fishers on the neaper tides. I found a small wreck the other day on my Humminbird GN4 Helix 12 and it has been a real honey-hole hot spot for fish over the colder months.

The Cairns Inlet has also been throwing up some unusual catches and there have been several Spanish mackerel landed up to 10kg closer to the mouth. Not a bad catch when chasing a jack or barra!

In the creeks to the Jacks are also on the chew but will require a few more accurate casts.

north, the fishing has also been stable with good catches of jacks coming from Thomatis and Moon Creek. Being smaller creeks, it pays to have a bit more patience fishing these systems and putting in multiple casts to get the bite. Also, it pays to scan up the hidden timber on the bottom as opposed to hitting all the side bank structure.

Finally, if there is one thing moving this month it will be the mud crabs. They have been running crazy the last month or so and it hasn’t been hard to get a feed. For those thinking of taking a trip to our wonderful part of the world and thinking of doing a bit of fishing, shoot me an email on dkaggelis@gmail. com if you want some up to date information on what’s happening. Alternatively, if you are thinking about booking a charter make sure you ring up early as many are already very busy so don’t miss out. This barramundi cod was a surprise capture. It was quickly released after the photo.

Finding those wrecks and rubble patches in the Inlet will get you on the fish.