Mackay

MACKAY Cameron Christian

Last month saw plenty of rain and the conditions are really starting to cool down. Fishing during July should depend on more rain and clean water for the inshore winter regulars, like mackerel, queenfish and snapper.

On nice calm days Spanish mackerel, along with greys, should be accessible from decent tinnies around spots like Reichlemans Reef, Round Top Island and the outer edge of Slade Island or Danger Reef. Other popular spots are the harbour walls but activity will heavily depend on N/NE wind, clean water and if schools of bait have been pushed into the area.

Spanish mackerel are commonly caught trolling gar/squid head combos or wolf herring down deep, advice from local tackle stores should be sought for how to rig these baits properly. If Spanish mackerel are found on the Big fat barra will brave the cold for a tasty morsel.

help to find the fish but locating where the schools of bait are holding is most important.

Baits for snapper include squid, pilchards, cut baits and large prawn while

There are plenty of smaller sooty mixed in with the monsters at Eungulla.

surface, live baits may be floated using balloons or similar, again proper rigging for correct presentation is essential. If schools of grey mackerel are found, old busted up barra lures like Halcos, Reidy’s and Tilsans can be an affordable trolling option.

Snapper are around on their annual spawning run and some can be caught from close inshore spots like Flat Top and Round Top islands and the harbour rock walls. On calm days however the boat ramps will be full of anglers looking to head out to spots like Danger Reef, Reichlemans Reef and the islands out from Sarina. Looking for structure will large soft plastics and soft vibes are proving reliable lure options. Regardless of lure or bait choice it is important to adjust lead weights depending on the run, with large tidal movements easily pushing offerings away from the bait schools as they fall through the water column.

Finding the bait, drifting over and jigging through the schools typically find plenty of queenfish and golden trevally which like to mix in with the snapper. Both are great fighting by-catch and are good eating when prepared properly, which is important to consider when fishing deeper water due to the poor survival rates find the warmest waters and good side imaging sounders will pinpoint the areas where the fish are holding. While dam barra can be particularly tricky to catch during winter, live imaging shows that barra are always mooching around will almost always take a good look at a nearby shag roosts. Accurate casts tight into the structure often result in immediate hook-ups but working the lure all the way to the boat is important, as many will follow a lure right out of the structure and into the open water. Live imaging also often shows sooties moving between trees so even a bad

after release.

Whiting and flathead should continue their prominence while the cool weather hangs around, common tactics include focusing on sand flats, mud flats, rubble patches and yabby beds. These areas can be found teeming with flathead and whiting right through the Pioneer River and can be best targeted by working up with the tide from the mouth all the way up to the hospital bridge. The Bassett Basin can also be worked in this fashion again focusing on the sand and mud flats.

Best baits include worms and yabbies but in a hot bite, strips of squid provide a more durable option. Lures include small soft plastics hopped along the bottom, shallow divers worked along a flat or very small poppers finessed erratically.

Squid are another great feed available during the cooler weather. Popular spots include around the lights at the harbour jetties at night or around Round Top and Flat Top Island. Squid are commonly caught as by-catch on a variety of lures like divers and metal slugs however hooking them properly can be a challenge, hence squid jigs should be kept nearby and deployed when good numbers are found.

The dose of rain during May has injected plenty of water in Teemburra and Eungulla and, with cold weather around, barra will be docile but still available for the persistent angler. Focusing on known bite times particularly around late afternoon to early evening (the warmest part of day) should increase odds. Following the wind should Tim Swann with a nice Spanish mackerel caught on live bait floated out on a stinger rig.

lure, getting them to bite can seem impossible.

Sooty action remains all year round and the Mackay Tournament Anglers sooty comps are in full swing. Recent comps have seen plenty of quality sooty caught from both the weeds and timber. While fishing the timber, anglers typically focus on treetops, big stumps and around cast should be worked with a good retrieve.

The rain during May has currently placed the weed edge below the water and has left most of the weed banks with a shallow flat followed by a steep or tapered edge to the open water. When the weeds are like this, finding the edge using side imaging and sitting right on top allows casts to be fanned in all directions. Over the flats, shallow divers or surface lures can be easily used, but vibes are still a great option and can be worked by holding the rod tip high, using monofilament leader and slightly increasing retrieve rate. Fishing over the shallow flats will often require ripping through a lot of weed but persistence will result in many hook-ups as soon as the lure hits the water.

Vibes, divers and soft plastics can also be worked deeper down and parallel to the edge. These lures may also be cast perpendicular to the edge and slowly rolled up the weed face. Whether fishing the weeds or timber, looking for bait should help to find where the fish are holding, with the amount of feeding activity often increasing in the weeks around the full moon.