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January fishing: happy days! BUNDABERG
Luke Truant
Spanish mackerel are the stars of the show at the moment, making up for the lower than average numbers of bottom fish being caught. Yes, there are still some nice red emperor and coral trout showing up, but there are
our local waters the fish have always had roe in December. At least, this is what I have observed in all the years that I have fished here. Perhaps DPI Fisheries should review the finish closure dates. Regardless, by the time you read this, the fish should hopefully have spawned and the bottom fishing will be picking up.
bait school from different angles. Sometimes you’ll only catch them trolling in one direction. If you want to troll livies, I recommend using a stinger rig. First, insert a single hook under the livie’s chin and up through its mouth, pinning the mouth closed (if the mouth is allowed to gape open, the livie won’t live as long).
Crazy Deep model (XDD), and one of the 2m divers (DD). I prefer pilchard-style colours, but I don’t think it matters too much. I’ll troll at between 6-7 knots; I definitely find that when you troll too slowly you get fewer bites. It’s well known that bigger mackerel can easily bend hooks. You may be tempted to ‘fix’ the bent treble with pliers, but this is not a good idea – you will make the metal soft by moving it, and then it will straighten even more easily next time. You don’t want to lose the fish of a lifetime due to a bent treble. Instead, replace the hooks when they straighten. If you invest in some good split-ring pliers, this process is quick and easy. I suggest using strong 3/0 trebles such as VMC 3x hooks. Also, keep an eye on the barbs to make sure they haven’t been flattened, either by the fish’s jawline or by your pliers while you’re dehooking. As with trolling livies, I use 69lb mono wire trace when trolling lures for Spanish. It’s very thin wire,
We can expect some good catches of red emperor this month. include the odd yellowfin tuna, mac tuna, and occasionally a cobia. While trolling in deep water you may even encounter the odd coral trout. I’ll occasionally catch trout off the top while trolling in 25-30m of water. The most common Spanish by-catch, however, is shark mackerel. Sharkies might not be as big as Spanish mackerel, but they are still a fun sportfish and they’re good on the plate as well. To ensure the best quality fillets, bleed the fish and get it straight into a slurry. Before you cook
Spanish mackerel are taking bait and lures with gusto. fewer of them than usual at this time of year. We can’t be 100% sure as to the reason for lower catches of trout and red emperor, but the main suspect is the spawning season. Officially, the spawning season is meant to coincide with the finfish closures in October and November. However, in
SPANISH MACKEREL The Spanish have been pretty easy to catch of late. You can troll dead baits, live baits or just keep it simple and troll lures. Look for bait, because if you can find bait you’re more likely to find the predators. If you find some bait and troll over it with no luck, try approaching the
Next, run a second set of trebles down the back of the fish, using 69lb mono stainless wire to withstand the mackerel’s razor-sharp teeth. You’ll want to troll the livie as fast as it can swim, up to 3 knots or so. If I’m trolling lures for Spanish mackerel, I always swim them a long way behind the boat, i.e. around 80m back rather than 20-30m. I get far more hook-ups this way. If you have a lure at each corner,
January is a good time to chase trout in the shallows.
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JANUARY 2023
Spanish mackerel can save a slow day. make sure one of the lines is around 20m or so shorter than the other, so that you can turn without the lures getting tangled. When it comes to lure choice for Spanish mackerel, I love using Halco Laser Pro 190s. I’ll run one
so the fish aren’t put off by it. I like to run a fairly long trace, around 18” long. Trace is cheap but losing fish and losing lures isn’t! When you’re trolling for Spanish mackerel you can encounter a mixture of by-catch species. These can
it, you’ll want to skin it, and then remove any of the strong-flavoured red flesh. I use a brain spike as well, with the goal of minimising stress to the fish and keeping its flesh in top condition. BOTTOM FISHING We should be able to enjoy some good reef fishing in January. The fish will have spawned, and will be hungry and ready to eat. At this time of year you can get good catches of red emperor in around 36-50m of water. Fishing little rubble patches away from reef areas will help you to avoid the sharks somewhat. If you’re fishing for trout, it’s good to go quite shallow, even in as little as 10m of water, to keep away from the sharks or at least give yourself a better chance of getting your fish in. Just remember to use light sinkers in the shallows and try not to move your
bait too much. In fact, you shouldn’t move your baits for any bottom fish in our waters. Just let the bait waft naturally in the water. Also, you may have heard that you should wind your bait up a metre or two after hitting the bottom. That may have made sense in the old days when the fish were really thick, but these days you will catch fewer fish if you’re not right on the bottom. Yes, you may lose more sinkers, but it’s worth it. ESTUARY FISHING At the time of writing this report, the crabs are really firing. A friend of mine recently got 14 full crabs in one lift, including some really big bucks. The crabs should still be active in January. If there’s a crazy amount of fresh you could try around the river mouths. If not, just head to the normal areas, making sure you’re in a nice, muddy area of the creek. Right now we’re experiencing a great run of big grunter, and they have been annihilating the sprat (herring). They have been up in the shallow mud bars, and you can catch them fishing with a pea sinker and half a sprat or a whole live sprat on a 2/0 hook. The average size of the grunter is around 50-55cm, with a few stonkers up to 75cm in the mix. • Truansea Charters specialise in 10-hour day trips chasing prized reef targets such as coral trout and red emperor, as well as arm-stretching pelagics like Spanish mackerel. The maximum number of anglers is 6, so you’ll never feel crowded. The price is $350pp (or $330pp if you book the whole boat), which includes all gear, fuel, bait, ice, chilled water/soft drinks and laughs! You’re welcome to bring your own reef fishing gear if you prefer. Other charter options include half-day reef trips, half day river trips and private guiding. To find out more visit www.truansea. com.au, or you can Like them on Facebook or call Luke on 0423 015 490.
