Whitsundays

WHITSUNDAYS Mick Underwood

Spring has gone, summer is now on top of us and here in the Whitsundays it’s hotter than hell. All the talk about town is when are the rains coming? When are the mud crabs going to stir up and when are the prawns going to arrive? Coral trout have been the most prominent species that I have seen come to hand and they are getting caught everywhere from the mainland beaches right out to the out reef.

Moving into December and this is what we can expect over the coming weeks.

Starting up in the estuaries and it’s going to be mangrove jack, which are going to be on most angler’s hit lists. weight makes them a worthy adversary.

Moving out of the creeks now and onto any inshore fringing reef systems around the mainland and inner islands. As already mentioned, the coral trout have been on fire and this trend should continue through December. During this period of the year we do get hammered by northeast sea breezes in the afternoons so

Queenfish will be scarce until next winter but it is still nice when one does turn up. This one was caught by Kevin.

Here at Dingo Beach and Hydeaway Bay, the banter about Christmas day has nothing to do with presents, etc. It’s more about ‘are you sneaking out on the water for a few hours’ or ‘are you going to the beach for the day, it might be worth taking a flick stick’? Our little community is very cool in the way that no one really gives a rodent’s rectum about anything apart from fishing. When the weather and the tides both align there are a lot of annoyed bosses in the region. The road is void of cars going towards work in town and our local boat ramp is like Bunnings on a Saturday morning.

Over the last few weeks the fishing has followed typical seasonal trends. Of course the barramundi season has come to an end for the year and we are also done and dusted with the annual reef fishing closures. Most pelagic species have become hard to find and there are coral trout climbing into eskys everywhere. On the beaches the fishing has got tougher with the flathead becoming lethargic and the whiting scarce.

Spring was not too kind for billfish (well, for me anyway), I got a lot more bites out of these fish during winter this year, which is a little unusual. During spring, which is when we would normally target these fish, we have endured long runs of northerlies and/or dirty water. When we have the odd day or two where things looked right, the fish simply weren’t there. Not to worry though, the reef fishing has made up for it. This is not an area of the world where you normally see anglers get excited about chasing small fish but I am yet to meet anyone who doesn’t enjoy chasing a red devil or two, and we are very fortunate here in that we have piles of estuaries available to us and they are all loaded with tasty jacks. They have a voracious appetite will readily eat everything from pilchards to poppers. It’s this incredible appetite and aggressive nature that makes them appeal to so many fishers, they are not hard to get bite out of. Getting the bite is only the first part of the game with these guys though. Their lightening fast speed combined with their instinct to find structure and their ability to pull way above their for the small boat brigade in particular making the most of the mornings will be important for success.

Not only do the afternoon sea breezes make things uncomfortable the fish don’t particularly like it either and on most days they generally clam up a little. Dropping pilchards and other fresh baits over the side and dangling them in the fish’s faces is the age old technique for chasing these guys and, why not, it works.

This is only my view and I know I’ll stir some people up here, but to me that is like watching paint dry. I regularly stir people up by saying ‘that’s not fishing, that’s wishing’. If you haven’t tried it before why not introduce a bit of sport fishing into your next trout hunt. Ditch the 80lb hand line and pick up a 15 or 20lb flick stick. If you intend targeting trout on shallow reefs try casting hardbodies or soft plastics around your favourite trout bommies. If the fish are super

shallow peg a few poppers over their heads, that’s piles of fun. When targeting these guys in water that’s a little deeper, hit them on the head with some jigs. Soft plastics, vibes, chatterbaits, micro jigs, bucktail jigs, they all work. Your options are only limited to what you’ve got in your tackle box on the day. This is a great time of the year to fish for coral trout using sport fishing techniques. They are not all continually hiding deep in their holes, they will be spending extended periods of time out in the open for the sole purpose of some light gear to make these fish some fun. Rarely do I see these fish caught on baits, it is normally about either casting or trolling small lures. I locate these fish all over the show but two of the most regular haunts where they hang out

The humble spotty mackerel may not be the biggest fish in the ocean but they are so tasty. Loretta was happy to catch this one.

It hasn’t been a bad season for tuna and, as usual, it’s casting chrome slugs that gets the job done.

looking for a feed.

Coral trout won’t be the only delectable on the hit list this month, fingermark will be moving into the sights of anglers. Here in the northern Whitsundays they can be caught everywhere from up in the estuaries right out into the deeper shoals in the shipping lanes. It’s generally in deeper water where the best fish are caught. As with the coral trout they can be caught by basic bottom fishing techniques and they will also eat a plethora of lures. It is generally accepted locally though that the best way to get a good bag of these guys is to live bait with squid at night time in deeper water.

The pelagic fishing will possibly be a little limited this month, but there will be some options though. There’s normally always a giant trevally or two lurking somewhere and during December we get a run of grey mackerel migrating through the region. With the grey mackerel especially, find the bait and you’ll find the fish. Pound for pound against other mackerel species, I don’t find the greys to be a particularly strong fish so it’s a prime opportunity to bust out is in Gloucester Passage and in the shallows out at Rattray Island. When I find the fish in these locations casting sub surface stickbaits around the 100-150mm size is gold and watching the strikes always gets the blood pumping.

There we go that’s a wrap for another month, as always I wish you all the best with your angling endeavours. Happy Christmas to everyone, I hope Santa brings you some nice fish catching goodies. • Reel Addiction Sport 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.