Whitsundays

Pelagics on form

WHITSUNDAYS Mick Underwood

We’ve been fortunate enough the last few weeks to be able to enjoy a bit of a pelagic paradise in the Whitsundays. As you can see by this month’s photos, I haven’t

Simon Young was rapt to catch this trout, they didn’t play the game too well last month. The author with a metre-plus acrobatic queeny on fly.

bothered too much about any reef fish particularly on the inshore grounds, for me it’s been all about big tropical speedsters.

To add to the goodness of it all, the weather hasn’t been too bad either. We’ve had a few blustery patches but in general the conditions recently have been mostly ideal and we’ve all been able to fish in open water on most days. Tuna have started to show up. They are still a bit cagey but around the turn of the tide they have been a feasible target.

Sometimes you just have to be lucky. Anglers on board Reel Addiction have caught plenty of these guys recently, and Tyler caught his on a piece of pilchard and no wire drifting on the bottom.

I have mostly chased pelagics recently but there have still been plenty of reef fish caught. They have come mostly from the deeper shoaly patches out in the shipping lanes or the outer reef. Some of the nannygai that I have seen coming home from the ‘shoals’ have been huge and there have been some nice red emperor mixed in with them as well.

Out at the outer reef, as always, there have been some good bags of coral trout and red throat emperor caught. Judging by the tales that I have been told, the Spanish mackerel population have also been on fire out there.

On the fringing reefs around any inner islands,

the reef fishing is struggle street but that is kind of typical for the middle of winter. There are a few astute and super keen trout anglers about who are still getting a feed but they are having to work fairly hard to get the results. The inshore pelagic fishing though is a completely different story – it is simply scintillating! The leaders in the charge at the

moment are some monster queenfish and golden trevally. A couple of days ago I was trolling lures and jigging plastics on a school of queenfish that I would have to guess at being 500 to 600 fish in quantity and not one animal was under a metre in length, that was pretty cool. It can be insane at this time of the year and when you come across fish in numbers like that, it’s like picking fruit off a tree. Okay, it is time to get into September now and I for one are excited about that. It is the change of seasons and spring is in the air. I have noticed over recent years that other contributors to this magazine from all over the country all get excited about the spring fishing on their turf as well. All over Australia, both in the fresh and the salt, multitudes of species will be starting to awaken from their winter slumber and begin to get active. Active also means hungry and that’s the important thing for us

anglers. Not only will there be fresh species coming on the chew, the winter bite will still also be there.

For me that means I will still be able to keep chasing Spanish mackerel and, as an added bonus, billfish will be a more feasible target as well. On that one for a moment, the local billfish season has got off to a solid and early start this year. On Reel Addiction we caught our first one in June this season and we have been getting tangled up with them regularly since.

In the Whitsundays, spring is prime time for little black marlin and sailfish. Given how good and early the bite has started this year I have high hopes that plenty of these stunning fish will be caught through September, October and November. Each year during the billfish bite I notice that there are quite a few guys and gals out there successfully breaking their billfish virginity. This is awesome and I love to see it. But what I notice each year is that a lot of virginity breaking anglers choose to kill their first fish or allow it to die by either being poorly handled or being left out of the water for too long. If you are not aware, they are not quality table fare, in fact in my opinion they are pretty average. Where possible, get a quick couple of photos, leaving the fish in the water is best if possible and then release the fish again. If the fish has had a hard fight and is showing signs of fatigue, swim the fish next to the boat first until it is ready to go again. You will know when it’s time to release, the fish will give a little kick or two to let you know. It is as if they are telling you, ‘righto, I’m good now you can let me go’. They may not be the best deep fried in a bit of batter but as a sports fish they are one of Mother Nature’s best gifts to us. So if you haven’t got one on your caught list yet why not put a bit of time and have a go, you won’t be disappointed.

It’s not all about sports fish this month there will be plenty of other tasty offerings to target. We still get to catch a pile of Spanish mackerel in September, but this is generally the last good month for them. As the water temps begin to climb these fish will

migrate south for their summer adjourn.

On any of the deeper rock and rubble patches to the east of the islands the bite for red fish should continue nicely and as a bonus any similar country around the outer islands will hopefully start to fire up. Typically in September a few nice grunter and fingermark get caught. If we get some of that action this month I for one will be happy, they are both two of my favourite dinner species.

The fringing reefs around the inner islands should also start to show signs of life this month. Species such as coral trout, which have been tough as hell recently, will start to giddy up and provide us with some entertainment. Looking back through my photo records most of my decent September trout are caught on hardbodies. That’s probably because that’s how I choose to target those fish most of the time but it is amazing how successful that ploy is.

The beaches are one area that shouldn’t be Jenny was thrilled to catch this golden trevally, especially as it was bigger than her husband’s!

John Black holding up a nice queenfish. They can’t be located everyday but on the days they have been found, anglers have been rewarded well. left without attention this month. If I get any personal fishing time this month, that is where I will be, on a beach somewhere sneaking along quietly in stealth mode. Bread and butter species, such as flathead and whiting, will be around but this will be close to the end of them as they will get tougher as the water warms more. Another critter to get after off the beaches this month will be tiger squid. They might not be line burners but sight casting to them in the shallows is exciting and the rewards are scrumptious. For those who are prepared to put in the effort, the sight fishing off our local beaches this time of the year is world class. Quite often September is the month where I sight the most permit for the year. They are not an easy quarry but if you’re prepared to put in time, the opportunities will be there.

There we go, there are plenty of options for all sportfishing species on fly, lures and bait. Reel Addiction operates from the beautiful Cape Gloucester Beach Resort, 40 minutes’ drive north of Airlie Beach. Combined fishing charter and accommodation packages are available. For more information, contact Mick Underwood

on 0413 882 153 or email mick@reeladdiction. com.au. Resort enquiries can be directed to Julie Houston on (07) 4945 7242 or at info@capeg.com. au. To stay in touch with what’s biting, check out the Reel Addiction Sport Fishing Whitsundays page on Facebook.

Paul with a hardbody-munching golden trevally.

this month, get out there, have a go and see what you can come up with. As always I wish you all the best out there on the water and I look forward to chatting to you again soon. • Reel Addiction Sport Fishing Charters specialises in light tackle fishing for all tropical

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