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Find the prawns, find the fish CAIRNS
Dan Kaggelis dkaggelis@gmail.com
With the barra season in full swing and the rain setting in, there will be one thing on Net Free Zone
advantage of this explosion in prawn populations and will be stuffing themselves. To make the most of this, your best bet is target the same areas where these prawns will be. Most of the prawns will be up against the banks so it’s a good idea to get those
hard bodies. There are plenty of prawn imitations out there, and the Live Target Fleeing Shrimps are my favourite. The most important thing when considering lure selection is size. You need to match the size of the prawn to your lure to get the best results.
Popular spots include First and Second Beach at the mouth of the Inlet as well as Hills Creek area. In the other creeks, anywhere near the mouth is a good option. Another species that will be feeding on these prawns will be the threadfin salmon. They haven’t been as thick this year compared to last, but they are out there in some numbers. They have been more prevalent around the beaches between Yorkeys Knob and Machans but in isolated schools. I use my Humminbird to side-image up the schools then pinpoint them using my 360. This combination is deadly in this type of fishing. In the creeks the jacks are still biting, though too much
Blue and threadfin salmon love the Fleeing Shrimp, especially when the prawns are thick. rain has made many of the creeks really dirty. This is not ideal for throwing lures, but those persisting are still finding some excellent fish. Next month should follow suit and the fishing will be
determined by the amount of rainfall. If we see a decline in rain the creeks will clean up and the fish will begin to move back, which will make for some excellent snag and bank bashing.
The ZMan PrawnZ is a great lure this time of year, especially in the smaller size. It’s great for jacks. anglers’ minds, and that is barramundi. With the rain comes the prawns, and they will all be flushed out around the mouths and banks of the Inlet, Barron, Thomatis and Moon creeks – not to mention out the front headlands on all the open beaches. The barramundi will be taking
lures hard up on the banks and move them slowly into the shallows. Early mornings around sun-up will give you a good idea where they are, as they will be ‘boofing’ in the shallows. The best results will come from mimicking what they are eating, and that means using prawn baits, soft plastics and
Also, colour is important. Prawns being caught are the greasy, banana variety with lighter colours. Match your lure to this and you will be on your way. I find slow retrieves with very small hops to be the best technique in this shallow water. Too much action and you will spook the fish.
The Fleeing Shrimp is a favourite for barra. They love to eat it off the bottom on the slow retrieve.
Sunshine days and gloomy nights continue PORT DOUGLAS
Lynton Heffer www.fishingportdouglas.com.au
As 2023 has progressed, it has become apparent that we’re in for a good old-fashioned wet season. It may sound a bit gloomy, but it’s actually been pretty good, as most of the rainfall has been at night, leaving us with sunshine during the day and quite reasonable sea conditions. There haven’t been too many obstacles preventing us from completing a good day on the water in the tropics. With tourist numbers dropping during our low season, charters have slowed. However, those charter operators who have headed out have been putting their clients onto some good fish. OUTER REEF Our bottom fishing efforts have seen smallmouth nannygai and coral trout dominate 40 MARCH 2023
the red species in handy numbers. Gold spot and tea-leaf trevally have been providing some extra serious punch into the sessions. A big trevally school bite, with fish averaging around 5kg,
never disappoints. For the average punter, these fish will leave you somewhat bruised and battered. Other than that, some some more exotic species have been turning up, including cattle dog cod and
barramundi cod (remember barramundi cod are a protected species that must be released). Overall, there have been good results coming from your standard reef charter of late. There has been more
Anglers are reporting good catches of Spanish mackerel.
action out wide for the light tackle enthusiasts, with some cracking days on the Spanish mackerel and yellowfin tuna. Anglers travelling to the outer edges of the reef along the shelf have been experiencing some multiple hook-ups from both species. Spanish mackerel to 20kg and yellowfin to 15kg have lit up the scene on occasions. Calmer days on the water have allowed our boats to travel to these greener pastures. The good numbers of Spanish mackerel, especially for this time of year, has been a highlight in particular. Garfish, wogheads and Halco diving lures have been attracting the most attention. There’s even been the stray small black marlin still out there to 250lb, but they have been difficult to catch using these types of lures. INSHORE The heavy rains have turned our main rivers and estuaries into a bit of a slurry. When fishing in discoloured water,
it’s good to revert to old-school tactics using fresh dead baits such as mullet strips, pilchard and squid. These baits have flushed out some popular target species including grunter across the flats, and mangrove jack amongst the snags. A reduction in rainfall will make it easier to target barramundi, and you would expect trevally and queenfish to be cruising in and out with the tides. Mud crabbing has been successful along the coastline. The mangrove flats of these systems have been yielding crabs seeking refuge from the amount of fresh water. Prawns along the beaches will also become a feature this month, with a solid supply of fresh bait distributed along the foreshores. There’s always something to be angling for in Far North Queensland, so get out there and get amongst the action!
