Having to pay the taxman

The fish have been biting really well for this time of year, but – and this is a big but – the amount of bottom fish that we’ve been able to get to the surface has been very average. We the closed season, which has been good, but funnily enough, the Spanish haven’t been the dominant species we’ve been getting. Instead, we have been catching loads of spotted mackerel and school mackerel.

We haven’t seen spotties in big numbers in this area since I was 15, and it’s just fantastic. These fish have been really you cast, to gauge which direction they’re moving in, e.g. if they’re moving east, cast to the east of the school.

When I’m casting at a bust-up of spotties, I don’t let the lure sink before I commence a retrieve. For this particular species, it’s better to start winding as soon as the lure hits the water. Keep your rod tip right down at water level; you don’t want the lure jumping, you want it just brushing the surface as it’s coming through. This keeps it in the fish’s face, and maintains a good bubble trail. (Interestingly, that same retrieve works brilliantly for trout in shallow water around the reef.)

The school mackerel are everywhere, from the mouth will make the lure swim better, stop the line from twisting, and provide a slight buffer when the fish overbite the lure. It’s also better than tying mono onto a split ring. have managed to sneak some trout past the sharks, but not the red emperor. Reds just pull too hard for too long in deeper water.

The average size of the schoolies is just over 60cm (the minimum legal size is 50cm), with some bigger specimens in the mix. We recently caught one around 3.5kg, which is a good schoolie. We haven’t caught any undersize ones lately, but no doubt there would be some around.

Most of our schoolies have been taken trolling large lures, such as my standard setup of two Halco Laser Pros – one that dives to around 2m, and one that dives to around 6m. We have also been catching spotties this way.

The sharks have been stealing pretty much any hooked fish, even small fish that should be beneath their notice. We have even pulled up just the lips of undersized hussar.

As a result, we have changed tactics to avoid the razor gang, so we can bring some good fish to the boat. To this end, we are currently doing a lot more trolling. Charter boats have been allowed to fish for Spanish mackerel through quite large, upwards from 3kg to around 5kg. Lately the spotties have been out around about 15-18 miles out, in huge schools. They haven’t been near coastal areas like we would have expected 20 years ago.

You can get good catches of spotties by throwing chrome slugs/slices at the schools, and retrieve as fast as you can. Cast with the wind, and aim for the empty space ahead of the school, rather than aiming for the middle of the school.

If you aim for the middle of the school, it may have moved away by the time your slug hits of the river or even up the Burnett River all along the coastal reefs, out to 40 miles. If you’re fishing the bottom with a snapper rig, and you get your sinker bitten off while retrieving an empty hook, the culprit is almost certainly a school mackerel. How do I know? Because when a sinker gets snipped off, I drop down a chrome slice and catch a schoolie. A 40g Halco Twisty is a good choice, and I recommend putting a roller swivel onto the split ring at the front of the lure. That swivel

A word of warning: if you troll slowly, the sharks will follow your lures around, and potentially ruin your day. You need to troll at a speed where they won’t follow you. This is backed up by footage from Fisheries Qld of sharks following people’s baits being trolled around, patiently waiting for a mackerel to get hooked so they can steal it.

To beat the sharks, we have been trolling fairly quickly (around 6.5 to 7 knots), and that has been

The Month Ahead

When fishing in March, you’ll want to make the most of any weather windows that pop up. If you miss the opportunity, you may not get another for quite a while. There will still be good grunter in the creeks in the coming weeks, and the schoolies won’t go away.

March is when the longtail tuna arrive in good numbers, and you can catch them the same way that you’d target spotties, by casting slices at the schools. The only difference would be that I’d let it sink for five seconds before commencing the retrieve.

The sharks will still be around this month. If they’re giving you grief in a particular spot, move at least a mile away and have another go.

working very well. We’ve had sessions where we caught seven different species in a row in about 25m of water, with none sharked, which is fantastic. The species have included green jobfish, Spanish, schoolies, spotties, trevally species, and sharky mackerel.

Moving to the rivers, the fishing has been very good, with good grunter and some big mangrove jack and barramundi caught locally. They have been biting well in recent weeks, and the best bait has been live sprat.

Flathead are also on the chew, with some trophy specimens in the mix. On one recent charter we caught and released a cracker oversize flattie on a soft vibe worked around the sand bank edges near the port.

March isn’t a great time for catching big bottom fish like reds, but that’s OK because the grass sweetlip (grass emperor) will really start to fire in the coming weeks. You will start to find them everywhere in good numbers, especially from late March. March and April are my favourite months to chase them. The top bait for grassies is fresh squid, particularly local squid.

• 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 $330pp (or $300 pp 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.