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 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. anglers’ minds, and that is barramundi.

The ZMan PrawnZ is a great lure this time of year, especially in the smaller size. It’s great for jacks.

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.