Queensland Fishing Monthly August 2017

BRISBANE BOAT SHOW SPECIAL • METRO MULLOWAY

Tried and Tested • • •

Features •

Black Magic DX Point Hooks Stessl 580 Seahawk Profile 735H Limited

Metro mulloway in the shallows • Cleveland Point tips and tricks • Fathers’ Day gift ideas • Net Free Zones update • Lure Show winners NEW

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Boating and Kayaking • • • • •

Brisbane Boat Show Evinrude iDock Simrad NSS evo 3 Part I: DIY trailer bearings Wellington Point kayaking

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Contents

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Fishing Monthly sub-editor Bob Thornton nailed this pretty little mulloway on a Rapala jerkbait in shallow water at night.

A Bob Thornton image.

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SINCE 1987

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with the Green Paper last year that called for submissions (you submitted plenty – well done), the government is now calling for broad working groups of interested anglers to work with them refining the plans and policy.

Word from the inside is that they still need recreational anglers to help with the process.

I’ve volunteered to be part of a working group, so if you’re a keen angler, keen reader or have skills working in groups, then it’s time to stick your hand up and have a say in how our fishery is managed. There’s already one round of places they’re looking fill that had a deadline before this magazine hit the shelves, but there’s plenty more to come. Just head to www.daf.qld.gov.au and search for ‘Sustainable Fisheries Strategy’ to find out more.

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AUGUST 2017

to experience fishing and the outdoors in such a sparselypopulated part of the world.

IDOCK There was an embargo in place so we couldn’t run it in the last magazine, but this month features the Evinrude iDock – the product launch I travelled to Florida for last month.

It’s always amazes me to see these jumps in technology.

Of course, driving a boat by a joystick has been available for years, but with Evinrude’s engine architecture, it’s becoming more compact, cheaper and easier to do.

The product will be available Down Under in 2018, and you can expect to see it on twin-rigged boats soon after.

MOVEMENT AT FISHERIES In the last month we’ve seen movement in the State Government’s attempt to reform Fisheries. Starting

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at an exponential rate in this country.

We’ve put together a page of all the award winning lures from the show – and although these are all awesome, they’re just a small fraction of what was on display.

CHINA I did spend half of the last month in China. Not fishing, although like most anglers, I checked out each waterway we encountered for signs of life.

Apart from plenty of baitfish-sized fish, it was hard to see anything that wasn’t a carp that was worth fishing for.

In one place, the local angler used a Shanghai powered bolt that looked like a spear tip to shoot turtles. It was attached to a closed-face reel on his wrist.

Combine the lack of apparent fishing with smogladen skies, and I returned to Australia being solidly reminded of how lucky we are to be able to see the sky, and to have such great opportunities

AUST

SPECIAL FEATURES Metro mulloway in the shallows Cleveland Point tips and tricks Father’s Day gift ideas Net Free Zones update Lure Show winners

It’s probably the closest I’ve written this to the FM offices for months: Ballina, NSW. We’re here for another round of the ABT Costa BREAM Tour and we have four boats this time live-streaming from their competition rigs. We’ve talked about it before, and fishing is becoming a real spectator sport much quicker than you’d think.

A lot has happened in the last month!

LURE SHOW Fishing Monthly was an integral part of the organising team of The Lure Show in Ipswich in July. Over 65 booths filled with Australia’s most talented lure makers, all selling their creations, was a vibe you have to experience to believe.

There were locals, interstate and international visitors there to check out the local lure making talent, which seems to be growing

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REGULAR FEATURES Back to Basics 69 Camping and 4WD 80 Cooking 68 Dam Levels 84 Freshwater 74 Fun Page 41 Junior Northern 67 Junior Southern 37 Sheik of the Creek 87 Sunfish 79 Tech Tricks 16 Tournament News 82 Track my fish 88 Trades and Services 90 What’s New Fishing 70 What’s New Boating 114

From the Editor’s Desk...

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BOATING AND KAYAK

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TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND Ayr 59 Townsville 60 Hinchinbrook 61 Lucinda 62 Cairns 63 Cairns NFZ 62 Port Douglas 64 Cooktown 65 Cape York 64 Weipa 65 TNQ Freshwater 66

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CENTRAL QUEENSLAND Rainbow Beach 49 Hervey Bay 48 Fraser Coast 49 Bundaberg 50 Lake Monduran 50 Rockhampton 51 Yeppoon 52 Gladstone 53 Stanage Bay 51 Mackay 54

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SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND The Tweed inshore 25 The Tweed 24 Southern Gold Coast 26 Gold Coast Canals 28 Gold Coast 30 Jumpinpin 32 Southern Bay 36 Brisbane 38 Brisbane Offshore 40 Northern Bay 42 Noosa 44

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NORTHERN NEW SOUTH WALES Wooli 18 Yamba 20 Iluka 23 Ballina 22

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Fishing Diary Location: Seventeen Seventy, QLD Conditions: 19 SSE 6 km/h gusting 22 km/h Tackle: Black Magic 60lb Supple Trace.

Note: Use quality leader because you never know when you’re going to hook up to that monster fish.

Angler: John Nelson Date: May 19th 2017

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Mulloway

Metro mulloway in the shallows BRISBANE

Bob Thornton

When most anglers think of mulloway, what usually comes to mind is a deep schooling fish, often relating to structure and using the slack tide to feed. What I’m about to

down a river, capitalising on the copious amounts of bait being swept down in the murky surge. Indeed, anglers have known for years that this is a great time to pick a spot along breakwalls at river mouths and throw shallowdiving or even surface presentations to these

action can be few and far between. Furthermore, this kind of fishing isn’t known to happen in every system that harbours mulloway.

In some areas, mulloway feed high in the water column and up shallow without the aid of infrequent weather events, but there are a few things

When mulloway feed up close to the surface, they make themselves available for fly anglers. Lachlan Hickey loves a slab of silver on the wand and who can blame him? tell you goes against most traditional mulloway luring techniques.

It’s no secret that mulloway will feed up high in the water column during a good run of fresh

fired-up silver slabs. The same can occur in a stiff swell around oceanic rocks.

As fantastic as this fishing can be, it’s often short-lived, and the weather events that spur this kind of

ingredients you need if you’re going to look for mulloway feeding near the surface. The first and foremost for me is that it has to be dark, and I find all my shallow and topwater mulloway have come at night time, or in the very wee hours of the morning.

The second is something that aggregates bait, which may take the form of mullet, herring, prawns, garfish and so on.

Small fish and crustaceans are often attracted to light pools on the water at night, and these can be found around pontoons, bridges, walkways, restaurants, moored boats, and so on.

Other things that aggregate bait might be a hot water outlet, creek mouth or culvert.

The third is current.

I’ve noticed that bait will hang around light pools when there is no current, but quite often they’re not being eaten. I have a theory that without current, there is no sense of urgency in the mulloway’s mind.

Add some current to that however, and that mindset quickly changes.

Now the bait is moving past – often quite quickly – and the mulloway has to

The Westin Swim makes for a great imitation of the bait in the author’s local area. It also allows for some exciting visual takes! them through the beam of light and out of sight. It seems that no current is too strong, and most of the time, I won’t even make a cast until I can see some

pontoon or a moored boat, and it’s here that you want to begin your search.

LITTLE HINTS There are a few extra ingredients, which aren’t

to understand before taking on this caper. Let me tell you what I’ve learned in my local waters in South East Queensland.

THE INGREDIENTS There are certain

In SEQ, king threadfin make for an exciting by-catch in shallow water, especially when they approach the metre mark, like this model that Hayden Ross caught.

Mulloway often sport a magnificent purple streak down their nose, and a bright yellow inside their mouth, making them a very photogenic species.

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AUGUST 2017

make a decision, and this is when you can witness some fantastic boofing action. Bait will try to hold themselves under the light, but most of the time the current gradually pushes

movement in the water.

Most urbanised systems in NSW and South East Queensland will have lighted areas along their course, whether the light comes from a bridge, a

always necessary, but they can accelerate your search.

Certainly, if you find any of the following things in your local water, focus your attention toward them!

When looking for light,

Mulloway the most common we see is orange or white – the sort you see lighting our streets at night. Fishing around orange and white light has put me onto plenty of fish, but I will always favour

blue light if I can find it.

Blue light has a shorter wavelength than orange or white, and will penetrate further into water. Does more light mean more bait?

Absolutely!

Another handy extra is structure. When the current is ripping past, it can be tiring work for a mulloway if it has to hold itself in the current for the whole tidal phase. Anything that

One look at the head on these things and you can see why they are such good night hunters – look at those eyes!

obstructs the current, be it a bridge pylon, moored boat or pontoon, will act as a resting station for the mulloway between mouthfuls of bait. Both behind and in front of anything blocking the current there is often slack water, and I’ve found dominant predators like mulloway like to sit in front of structure so they can get at the bait moving through first.

Something that aids mulloway when hunting around lighted areas is shadows. In most light pools, and particularly around bridges, there will often be shadows, where the light is blocked out by something overhead. In this scenario, mulloway will often sit in these shadows, using them as an ambush, and dash out when something enters the light pool. Bridges almost always have shadows, where the bridge structure itself prevents part of the light from reaching the water, creating one of these light lines.

PRESENTATIONS When you’ve found an area where you know mulloway are feeding, quite often it doesn’t matter too much what you throw at them. So long as it gets in the zone, it should get

Bream are just another regular by-catch when chasing mulloway at night, and will happily scoff the bigger lures and flies associated with this caper. eaten. When the bait is very specific, it can pay to match the hatch, and my preferred baits range from

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Mulloway From page 11

look in the water to see what’s swimming around.

When I go out chasing mulloway at night I carry a range of jerkbaits, crankbaits, topwater presentations, swimbaits and soft plastics in varying sizes. If the action is a bit slow, vibes and plastics fished deep will also work in these same areas if the fish are down deeper.

Perhaps the best thing

about this style of fishing is it allows fly anglers a decent shot at mulloway, a fish that is seldom targeted in this way. And believe me, they love flies!

Anything resembling the bait in the area will work.

I started off by using flies tied for barramundi, but these days I catch most of my flyfish on home-tied herring patterns, around 5-10cm long, tied on Gamakatsu SL12s hooks in

size 2/0 or 3/0.

BY-CATCH When fishing for mulloway at night, which are there to capitalise on the abundant bait attracted to one area, it’s no surprise that other predators often get in on the action as well. The by-catch can be as impressive as the mulloway themselves, and can be different up and down the coast!

Where I fish in South East Queensland, our usual

Ryan Limpus doesn’t mind a bit of night time mulloway action either, and took this specimen along a fairly dim light line.

The last thing so many small fish and prawns will see is yellow.

by-catch consists of king threadfin, flathead, rogue bream, tailor, estuary cod, and even the odd barramundi and bull shark. Further down the coast, you can expect some of the above species, along with trevally, estuary perch and snapper.

Anything that comes

and grabs a lure intended for mulloway is good fun in my books, and the by-catch is just another reason I enjoy this style of fishing.

CREEPIN’ WHILE YOU’RE SLEEPIN’ The only way to know if there are places like this in your local area is to get out

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY.

of a night and start looking!

You never know if you never go! While this is a bit of a cliché, it’s how I got started in this caper and I know I’m not alone. A few hints here and there got me thinking about some urban waters close to home, and within weeks I was hooked.

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BRISBANE

25 to 27 August 2017 BRISBANE CONVENTION & EXHIBITION CENTRE South Bank The original Queensland Boat Show returns and it’s bigger and better than ever • Fresh new releases from Queensland’s major boating manufacturers • Entertainment, education, advice and plenty to see for all the family

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No boat? No worries! Fishing at Cleveland Point rocks that still extend a long way out from the wall, we used luderick floats to easily detect bites as well as keep our bait moving in the current.

My feeling was that bream in this locality would be among the most educated on the east coast.

I decided that the only sure way of fooling them would be to keep things as light as possible and make generous use of a mix of bread, prawn heads, pillies and sand as a berley to fire them up.

A few berley bombs fired them up all right, but it also fired up other fish as well. With main baits of fresh bread or slivers of prawn on our size 1 hooks, tarwhine, bream, butter bream and some

BRISBANE

Wayne Kampe wkff@aapt.net.au

Being between boats for several months, the Kampe fishing team was looking at some fishing alternatives. The point is that we love our fishing – any fishing. We were obviously land-based for a spell.

The Spit at Southport can be good for tailor during a late afternoon or early morning. The only drawback is that tailor are somewhat unpredictable.

We saw some lovely gutters, but, as tailor are not being paid appearance money, they tended to be quite hit and miss. We missed.

CLEVELAND POINT I can remember my short pants days when I lived at Raby Bay and fished all around the Cleveland area from my bicycle. In those days, my brother Peter and I caught enough fish from various places (many now part of the canal estates) to feed Mum and Dad and three siblings.

It’s not quite what you might expect from shore-based fishing in quiet conditions, but this tailor gave the author a pleasant surprise.

The lighthouse on the northernmost point – what happened to the old

lighthouse? Ah, there it is, now some 80m away to the southwest. And the pine

A berley mix of bread, prawn heads and pillies attracted a range of species.

I remembered Cleveland Point was a favourite location, especially at high tide. Figuring that not much would have changed (so far as habitat was concerned) at ‘The Point’ in the past 55 years, Denise and I had a good look at the area to gauge the potential for some shore-based fishing.

A Sunday recon trip saw us with only our picnic tackle, as fishing would have been difficult with all the people there. I loved to see all the boats, but really wished we had ours; it was still in the mould at Galeforce at that stage.

BREAM STILL ON THE JOB We found that some things had changed.

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AUGUST 2017

plenty of fish that were more than happy to whack the bread, few would touch the hooks.

This was not so for the big 8kg+ wobbegong shark that latched onto Denise’s small sliver of sliced prawn. The weight of the rough skinned warrior was impressive. Her canny in keeping the 3kg leader intact among all those sharp teeth during determined runs was phenomenal, and a small crowd gathered to watch her playing what we first assumed was the mother of all flathead.

A broad head and a mouthful of terrible looking teeth soon revealed the truth, but the lady was not for quitting. She wanted photos.

Guiding the brute’s

tree I used to climb right by the lighthouse? Gone, no doubt converted to shavings and in someone’s yard.

But the formed wall was still there, as were the numerous rocks covered by over a metre of water at high tide. That northern area was always good for a feed of bream, and other fish as well, so would they still be there despite the fishing pressure of today?

Yes! A chunk of bread thrown a short distance out was attacked willingly by these master scavengers.

SHORE-BASED SHOWDOWN Next morning on first light and with a high tide at 07:00 hours, we were back with the tackle – light tackle at that – and a good lashing of berley to liven things up. We set up with 8lb braid and 3kg leaders on fine rods and, to prevent snags on the very gnarly When you’re chasing bream from the shore, remember to fish as light as possible. These fish are very educated, so you need a natural presentation.

Youngsters would enjoy catching bream like this little bloke from the comfort of the shore. Just remember to fish light as possible.

tasty, nicely sized gar also joined us on the bank. With some heavier tackle in reserve, I landed a tailor on a spinner when I noted a few chopping into baitfish around 50m out. The undoubted highlight of the morning was Denise and the ‘Cookie Monster’ – a big wobbegong shark.

There were some solid bream belting into bits of the bread we were throwing out to see if we could upgrade to some larger fish.

Of course, these fish hold a degree in Angler Savvy 101, so while there were

boofy head into the breamsized landing net was a challenge in itself, but old age and cunning outclassed the rough skinned rockdweller, and once his head was in the net up he came.

Held bravely by Denise and distributed among the crowd for children’s show and tell, and some selfies, it was a fun time and that old wobbegong is still probably wondering just what happened. Once he was released back into the water, he certainly wasted no time in swimming away as fast as he could.

GREAT FOR YOUNGSTERS So there you have it.

The Point is still a viable

proposition for some fishing fun from the shore, and an absolutely ideal place for a keen youngster to find out

what fishing is all about, with mum or dad guiding them. The area demands light tackle, and the bait can’t touch the ground or a snag, courtesy of the tidal flow. The bottom is very

work well when suspended around 50-60cm under a fine float. For the record, we took home three bream and a nice gar for our dinner and had a lot of easy fun from our shore-based outing.

Denise playing the ‘Cookie Monster.’ A small crowd enjoyed the spectacle.

Sweet eating gar are a good standby for a feed of fish from Cleveland Point.

rough, but if things are done correctly, there will be some fun on that light gear.

Strips of prawn or small bits of bread (it must be fresh)

IF YOU GO Try to select a big early morning tide when there are light winds, or a high tide towards dusk, so long as

Bug eyes and a big mouth saw this old wobbegong shark as a dead ringer for the Cookie Monster from TV’s Sesame Street. He was also the highlight of a morning’s light tackle fishing at Cleveland Point. there’s not too much chop.

With daylight westerlies likely this month, there would certainly be some ideal early morning tides to enjoy, but even a stronger

west wind would not prevent easy fishing from the east side of the point, between the restaurant (great coffee) and the north facing area of the wall.

AUGUST 2017

15

Tech Tricks

How to process your prized luderick catch BRISBANE

Gordon Macdonald masterbaitertackle@hotmail.com

Whether you call them luderick or blackfish, there is no denying that these stripy, bronzed estuary fish are very underrated. Whether you target fish for sport or table fare, the luderick will fill your criteria.

Luderick are easily available for all anglers to target from either a land-based or boating perspective.

Few target them in South East Queensland, possibly because you need specific techniques and baits to catch luderick and they rarely respond to lures. Some believe they are not that good to eat, however their flesh can be

exceptional when handled and processed correctly.

Luderick predominately eat weeds and other estuarine salad that they pluck off the rocks, pylons and other hard structures from which they grow.

Occasionally luderick will eat worms and saltwater yabbies, however they are primarily vegetarians.

Like many fish, their environment will affect the

flavour of the flesh. I am not sure of the scientific reason why, however, if a luderick is dead for a long period before processing, the flesh will be almost unpalatable at times, which is why they fetch such a low price at the fish markets.

In fact, the flesh can even possess an unpleasant, tainted taste, which is probably the reason luderick haven’t gained

popularity as a table fish amongst the fish-eating community.

Correct handling and processing of a luderick will have you licking your lips and yearning for more of the soft white flesh with its distinct, delicate flavour.

Good cooking methods are similar to the ones you would employ for other quality table fare, including shallow frying, oven bake,

barbecuing, grilling and deep frying, either wrapped in crumbs or batter.

The way you store your catch before processing and how you process and handle it will go a long way to putting a tasty fillet of fish on the table. There are a few varied ways of doing this, but let’s look at one of the more common methods to get the best out of luderick.

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Luderick have fairly tough scales so the easiest place to insert the knife is just behind where the dorsal fin attaches to the body. There is a soft patch with minimum scales here and the knife will pierce into the flesh easily.

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Cut along the backbone and remove the entire fillet in the usual fashion by cutting through the rib cage bones. You will now be able to see the black gut lining on the fillet.

1 You need to keep your luderick alive until filleting. This is extremely important. This can be achieved using a simple scaler bag or hessian sack, which is kept in the water. The concertina style fish storage net (pictured) will stay erect to allow the luderick to swim freely and remain healthy until processing.

Additionally you can upgrade your catch and release the smaller fish in a healthy condition if necessary. Luderick are very hardy and it shouldn’t be too hard to keep them alive.

2

At the end of your fishing session, the next step is to dispatch the live fish. This can be done in several ways, however brain spiking the luderick in the ikijime method or severing the spinal cord with the knife point by stabbing the fish just behind the head are both quick and humane. You can also slit the fish’s throat to allow it to bleed out for a few minutes if you wish.

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AUGUST 2017

5

If you are fairly handy with a fillet knife you might be able to remove the fillet without cutting through the rib cage bones. If you can do it this way then you will be able to skip Steps 6 and 7 and will already be at Step 8.

6

The black gut lining must be removed from the fillet. You will be able to see the end of the rib cage bones (that you cut through in Step 4) in the middle at the front of the fillet. Place the blade of your knife right next to these and begin cutting down.

Tech Tricks

7

You will be able to slide down and around using the curvature in the rib bones as a guide for where to cut. Keep the blade next to the bones and follow the bones around until this rib cage section is removed along with the black gut lining.

This can be discarded.

8

Now it is time to skin the fillet. Starting from the back of the fillet (thin end), cut in, leaving just enough flesh for your fingers to grip the fillet. Begin cutting in along close to the skin.

10

Once the flesh is removed from the skin (which can be discarded), you now have to remove the pin bones. You will be able to feel these if you press your fingertip along the centre of the fillet from the front to about halfway along.

Cut down each side of these bones and remove this section to leave a totally boneless piece of fish.

9

Continue along the fillet, keeping the knife blade close to the skin and pressed flat against the cutting board or bench you are filleting on. Rock the knife gently as you slice through the flesh to sever and remove the skin.

11

12

To get the excess blood out of the fillet, soak it in some salty water. You can use some clean sea water or combine about four or five heaped dessert spoons of salt with 3L of water. Soak the fillets for 1530 minutes. I often rub the fillets with my fingers to help remove the excess blood on the outside of the fillet. This process seems to suck the blood out of the flesh and will greatly improve the quality of the fillet.

When taken out of the brine, the fillets will be clean and white.

The upper side of the fillet is quite thick while the low side is thin due to the removal of the rib cage. I split the fillet in half lengthways and keep the upper (back) portion separate to the lower sections as each will cook at a different rate, due to the difference in thickness. You now have some tasty luderick fillets, which are as good as many quality reef fish.

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Softies killing it on snapper WOOLI

Michael Fox

I believe August is the best time of the year to head to Wooli if you are chasing a good feed of snapper, pearlies or kingfish.

OFFSHORE There are plenty of slimies and yakkas around on the bait grounds at Bennetts on the way out to

North Solitary Island, so make sure you have a couple of bait jigs onboard.

Plenty of pan size snapper are coming over the side of the boats from anglers bottom bashing with paternoster rigs baited with pilchards and squid.

However, a more productive and exciting way to catch quality snapper and pearlies is by using plastics. Some of the plastic-caught snapper

have been weighing in around the 5-7kg mark, and on lighter gear at this size they are fantastic fun.

By fishing your plastics around the island you will have a good chance of hooking up with a kingy or two, and again, on light gear it may take some time and effort to get them into the boat.

The best way to fish plastics is drifting and casting

out the front of the boat and letting the plastic drift down through the water column until you get a hit or once it reaches the back of the boat.

If your plastics makes it this far, retrieve and repeat the process. I find plastics like the 4” ZMan Curl TailZ and the Zerek Fish Traps work well, as you do not have to work them, the tail does all the work for you. Even when the rod is placed in the rod holder, they still catch fish.

The whale numbers are larger than ever this year, so keep an eye out for them, as it’s common to see 20-30 in a days outing. They will put on a great show for you if you keep out of their way.

There has been a few leatherjackets around out wider and they will make short work of your tackle by biting through any part of it.

After retrieving a soft vibe back to the boat on a recent

Curl tail style grubs work a treat for snapper around Wooli.

BEACHES AND ESTUARIES After all the rain a couple of months ago, the river has now cleaned up nicely and the luderick have been on the bite big time, with large numbers being caught up and down the rock walls leading out to the bar.

There has been plenty of bream throughout the river and the beaches have been firing as well. Using fresh

the rock walls, around the headlands and along the beaches between Wooli and the mouth of Sandon River.

Sandon River has been fishing well for flathead on the run-out tide. Throwing soft plastics along draining sandbanks and the edges of weed beds works well, or by trolling small hardbody lures in 4-6ft of water, you can locate schooling fish.

Once you pick up a couple

Kingies have been all too happy to snaffle a plastic intended for snapper.

WOOLI FISHING CHARTERS

Double ups on tasty snapper are one of the joys of fishing during August.

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trip, it looked like it had been attacked by a school of hungry piranhas.

If the current starts to run down hill (north to south), take a some spanner crab traps out and drop them a couple of kilometres north of the island and you should get a great feed of crabs to help fill the esky.

or live bait is the best way to catch plenty of fish in the river. Pump some yabbies or grab a handful of fresh prawns from the local co-op and you’ll be well on your way to catching a great feed of bream, whiting or flathead.

Mulloway and tailor will be hunting up and down

of fish in the same area, stop and throw plastics and you should come up trumps.

If you come to Wooli without a boat, drop in and see Bruce at Wooli Boat Hire, he’ll get you on the water and give you some great spots to catch a fish or two.

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AUGUST 2017

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AUGUST 2017

19

It’s the best time to get out YAMBA

Dave Gaden

As a charter operator the most frequently asked question is, ‘what’s the best time of the year to go out?’

Well this is it! August is by far my favourite month of the year to fish and not just because of the numbers of fish that you can catch in a session. These fish are bunched up nice and tight for a change and this is the best chance for anglers to get that trophy fish.

August is the month in my part of the world when

the snapper come in close to spawn. The water temperature drops to between 16-18°C and they run in from the deep water. Like year 12 kids at the end of the year, they just go crazy. Fishing shallow around the kelp beds at first light is a really good way to start. There is no such thing as fishing too shallow at this time of the year. You can literally catch 8kg snapper in 8m or less of water and sometimes bag out in 10 drops.

For those who have always dreamt of catching a snapper on plastics or vibes or even micro jigs, go fishing this month. This is your best

chance even if you don’t have your technique down pat yet. Drift over the grounds.

If you’re throwing plastics then throw them ahead of the boat (in the direction you are drifting) and let them sink to about half the water depth working them back to the boat with good, hard and sharp jerks. Most better fish will be in this area of the water.

For those who are more traditional, anchoring with a good berley trail and floating out virtually unweighted baits of pillies, or my favourite, long thin strips of mullet flesh, with reels out of gear and wait for the rush.

As a rule, I only fish the shallows until the sun is high enough to penetrate the water around 8-8:30am then move out to deeper water, as I believe the fish do. In saying that, I have a heap of mates who stay in the shallows all day continually changing the way they present the bait and literally catch fish all day.

Now you have a boatload of snapper and it’s only 8am, you have a choice: go home early, even though you

line above for a start. More importantly, try and take the fish’s attention away from anywhere but the hook. I do this by putting luminous beads and tube on the loop holding the hook. I’ve been doing this now for four years and I hardly ever loose a rig. It won’t stop them trying to eat your sinkers though. This sounds like a joke until you have a session on them and see how much of your sinker has been chewed by these crazy fish.

That being said, you will still find the staples like pearl perch, Venus tuskfish and trag in the mid reef area around 40m from Shelly Headland to Broom Head. Once again, fish bunch up this time of the year.

They’re easy to see on the sounder and anchoring over them with a good berley trail will keep them on the bite.

This is the area where we get our big snapper lately, usually between midday and 1pm.

Deep sea is pretty much sorted for August, but that doesn’t mean the estuary won’t have fish. Luderick have already made a good early start, but should be red hot

Corbin Dolan from Brissy with his first snapper.

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AUGUST 2017

Garry with his PB snapper. have waited three weeks for a chance to get out fishing, or chase another species.

Lucky for you this is August on the North Coast. Point the boat east to find reef 50m or deeper (the deeper, the better and sometimes they are not even on reef) and I reckon my old mates the Chinaman leatherjackets will be there waiting for you.

I know people who hate these things. I’m certainly not one of them. Leatherjackets at the size we can catch them here (my best is 95cm) are great sport and good tucker.

I make up a very simple paternoster rig with 90lb nylon coated wire trace. It’s identical to the one you would use to reef fish, but you need to be a bit sneaky with these critters.

See, leatherjackets will bite anything that smells like food, so if you have the smell of bait on the line or braid above the rig, they will just bite the whole thing off.

Try not to touch the

this month. It won’t be hard to see where they are, just spot the fishers.

The good spots will be busy. Busy can be better than quiet, and part of the reason for this is that good fishers berley. If everyone berleys, it will keep a shoal of fish there way longer than if you were just relying on the right tide. Middle Wall around the old tide gauge on Iluka side, or Collises Wall upstream of Iluka Bay are worth a shot if you have a boat. Try the peninsula or under Oyster Channel Bridge if you are land-based.

Bream have been great after the heavy rains in June and are showing no sign of slowing up, even though they may have spawned. Sometimes this is an actual benefit as the larger females lose a fair bit of condition during spawning and will spend the next few weeks aggressively feeding.

Bream are bread and butter fish. Every angler has

Alex Beetson from Dalby with Venus tuskfish. or can catch one, but if you want consistent bigger and better fish then night fishing is by far the best. Yamba’s Middle Wall on the Iluka side is my favourite spot. As a rule people won’t fish with a light on in the boat of a night and

that’s great if there is a fair bit of moonlight, but often there is no moon or cloud cover.

I fish with a light on in these conditions, you just have to do it right. If you just turn up when it’s dark and turn the light on, you’ll startle fish no question. I get to my spot before dark, turn the light on and like under a bridge there has been no sudden change for the fish to be startled. Also I have a saying that you don’t put a bait on until you need a light on, meaning ‘don’t fish while it’s still light.’ I find this brings the rubbish fish around and they won’t leave. Half an hour after sundown I put the first bait down. Waiting will drive you insane, but it’s well worth it to catch better fish.

Remember, if you need any advice when you hit town or would like to jump on one of my charters, call into the shop at Yamba Marina and we will do all we can to help you fill the creel.

Mark Dolan with a great pearl perch.

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Offshore conditions continue to be consistent signs pointing towards a bumper snapper season.

Areas around Riordans Reef, Black Head, Lennox Point and the close reefs around the Ballina beaches are all holding quality numbers and sizes of snapper up to 90cm.

There are some big girls

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Michael Starkey with a snapper caught on a jig. out there at the moment.

The best baits are horse mackerel, fresh squid and bonito floating or very lightly-weighted, depending on the current. Soft plastics are accounting for the bigger fish though. Try big plastics around the 6” size. At this time of year, the big girls are here to breed, that’s why there are so many in such good numbers. Only keep what you are going to eat and let those trophy ones

go to breed.

Further offshore on the wider reefs, along the 42 fathom line, there are

that day. Try to get in early before the wind gets up and it becomes too hard to hold onto the fish.

targeting flathead. You’ll get the odd bit of big snowy bream as by-catch. These things pull hard on light spin tackle. There’s plenty of bait if you’re out for some fun with the kids catching pipis.

These then turn into some great fun baitfishing as the winter bream and whiting will take a liking to them.

The river mouth has been producing some great sizes and numbers of bream and luderick. Try getting there on the top of the tide as it starts to run out for good numbers of luderick.

As always, green weed or weed flies are always best.

For great numbers of bream, try cut baits along the south wall on light weights.

The bream hole in behind the police station is also worth a shot.

Surface fishing for bream in Emigrant and North creeks will be worth a shot. It may not produce huge numbers,

Paul Starkey with a cracking mulloway caught on an Atomic Jerk Minnow. pearl pearch, amberjack and kingfish. There have been a lot of great fish caught on Lucanis Jigs and knife jigs. This is a really physical way to fish, so don’t worry about going to the gym

The beaches of South Ballina have seen plenty of tailor being taken on blue pilchards. When the westerly winds flatten the winter swell, it’s worth walking the gutters with 1/4-1/2oz blades

but you’ll most likely come across some thumper winter whiting. Try chartreuse for this technique. It ain’t no use if it ain’t chartreuse!

Until next issue, tight lines.

Michael Starkey with another beautiful snapper off the close in reef.

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AUGUST 2017

Awesome, clear winter days ILUKA

Ross Deakin

We have finally slipped into awesome, clear weather and hopefully we won’t see too much rain for a while.

The river is slowly clearing up and the fishing is steadily improving with some very nice fish in the river and outside off the headlands and reefs.

We have weighed in some excellent snapper up to

9kg just recently off Woody Heads headland. The areas from Black Rock and south to Angourie have all been producing some very nice fish with light winds and seas.

Tailor have started to come on in better numbers off the beaches, headlands and off the Iluka Wall. The largest weighed in recently was 1.9kg.

The sea bream have been slow to show, but there are good numbers of fair size fish around.

We have also had some nice, fair sized mulloway being caught up off the Iluka wall and off the headlands.

These have weighed up to 12kg.

There are some very nice

awesome end to the winter fishing season.

• For all your fishing needs and up-to-date information and tips for spots and fish, drop into the shop for a chat. Iluka Bait and Tackle is located at 3

Heath Palmer with an awesome 910g luderick.

Dan Pianta and Chris Pianta caught these great tailor that weighed up to 1.9kg.

luderick being taken off the wall, the bluff and the old ferry return. These have mostly been taken on the black weed and cabbage. Conditions look set to continue for an

Owen Street, Iluka NSW 2466.

Give us a call on (02) 6646 5217 or 0402 997 572. We are available online at www. ilukabait.com.au, or you can visit our Facebook page.

Gordon Barton caught this mulloway weighing 5.8kg.

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AUGUST 2017

23

Near perfect conditions offshore THE TWEED

Anthony Coughran

Well after a few months of average conditions on the Tweed, the weather has turned around for Tweed anglers with near perfect conditions.

Late sunrises have given anglers the chance to bag a few quality reef and estuary species before the sun rises, and beach fishing has improved considerably with the good weather.

What a great time of the year to be fishing the Tweed. Whatever style of fishing you’re into, the Tweed is fishing really well.

The cool crisp mornings, light winds and slow currents have opened up more options for anglers, such as deep dropping, slow pitch jigging, bottom bashing, finesse deepwater

OFFSHORE This is such a great time of year to be fishing offshore, as anglers really are spoilt for choice. Deeper reefs are more available and easier to fish. There’s a wider variety of species to target, and different

The author with a cracker parrot caught on a 5” pearl jerk shad at the Mud Hole.

Justin Stayt with a nice kingfish caught on light gear with a plastic at the Mud Hole. plastics, drift baiting and live baiting. There’s been good numbers of mixed species taken over the last month.

There are still a lot of whales moving around and anglers are reminded to comply with rules and regulations, like keeping to the 100m no approach zone. So what if a whale approaches you? Everyone has their own way of dealing with inquisitive whales. When I’m under drift I keep my course and make my presence noticed to the whale, by making noise. Banging on the sides of the boat and stamping your feet on the deck will notify them of your presence and they should vary there course. Larger boat shouldn’t really have this problem.

24

AUGUST 2017

smash these plastics when not expected, and normally make short work of your light gear. It’s always a good option to have a heavier live bait rod set up or a stickbait set up with you for when these brutes show up.

techniques you can employ make fishing at this time of year really fun.

Good snapper, tuskfish, pearl perch, spangled emperor, Moses perch, mulloway and cobia have all been taken this month on most reefs off the Tweed.

The better fish have been caught around sun up on Fidos Reef, the Mud Hole, 5 Mile, 9 Mile, Kingscliff Reef, the 24s, 36s, 40s and 50 fathoms.

Slow pitch jigging and micro jigging have been working best in deeper water, and 5-7” plastics in bright colours like pearl are working best before and during sunrise, with natural colours such as pumpkin seed and blood worm working better once the sun is up.

Kings will quite often

Unweighted live baits and high speed stickbaits are proving too irresistible for most kingfish. 9 Mile, 5 Mile, South Reef, the Mud Hole, Fidos and Kingscliff reefs have been all producing kingfish this month.

A few packs of tuna are starting to get around the close reefs, and pegging high-speed metals into the boiling balls of tuna will catch these speedsters, so it’s also a good option to have one set up on your boat for this caper.

Tailor are hanging around at the back of the breaking waves at Fingal, Kingy, Caba, Tugun and Kirra beaches and are also sitting on Kirra Reef, Desal, Snapper Reef and Kingy Reef. Metal around 10-60g seem to be working best.

If they are being fussy, try floating out an unweighted half pilchard back to them, it normally does the trick.

There’s still lots of bait on Snapper Reef, Point Reef, Kirra Reef and at the bait grounds, if you’re needing fresh or live baits.

ESTUARY It’s all about the mulloway and bream this month. Larger mulloway are being caught around the rock walls around the bar and smaller soapies are being caught in the various holes and bridges throughout the system.

Plastics around 7” and 150-200mm deep diving hardbodied lures are catching the better fish around the rock walls. The 3-5” plastics and live pike have been catching more fish in the holes. Try the Blue Hole, Nussics Hole, the Piggery, Terranora tide marker, tide marker at Cobaki, Barneys Point bridge, Boyds Bay bridge

and Tumbulgum bridge.

Good size bream are schooling up on most rock walls and bridges. Small lightly-weighted wriggler plastics in natural colours such as bloodworm are working well, as are unweighted drift baits. If they are being finicky, try berleying to send them into a frenzy, then slowly feed out an unweighted drift bait through the berley.

Tailor, GT and big-eye trevally are sitting in current lines in the river.

Small lightly-weighted plastics, bladed lures, micro jigs and high speed metals are working best of a night around bridges on the run-in tide. Live herring are also catching the bigger GTs. Some big flathead are being caught up in the skinny water this month.

This time of year they love sunbaking in the shallows and ambushing unsuspecting baitfish.

Lightly-weighted 3-5” plastics are catching the better fish. Try around the edges of weed beds, sand bar drop offs and mangrove lines for the big girls.

Remember, most flathead over 58cm are females and are our breeders and should be released to reproduce. Try Cobaki Lakes, Terranora Lakes, hastings Point, Ukerebagh Island and the Piggery on the last of the run-out for best results.

BEACH The beach has been fishing really well lately, with good catches of mulloway, tailor, bream and flathead being taken from most of the beaches from Currumbin to Byron Bay with deeper gutters

A cracker snapper caught on a micro jig on the 40 fathoms for Guy Huthings. offering the bigger fish.

Large plastics, 150-200mm hardbodied lures, whole beach worms, ganged pilchards and strips of pike are all producing quality fish this month. The last hour of the run-in tide and the first 2 hours of the run-out are producing the better fish.

Pipis and beach worms on Fingal Beach, Kingscliff Beach and around South Beach, Cabarita and Hastings Point should put you onto some bread and butter species. If the gutter really smells of fish, chances are there are big mulloway sitting in it. When mulloway sit in these gutters at the beaches, headlands and rock walls they will often emit a fishy smell for an unknown reason. So if it smells fishy, chances are, it is fishy!

Black Rock, Hastings

Sam Rahmate with a nice early morning tailor spun up off the rocks at Byron Bay.

Point, Cabarita Headland, Fingal Headland Kingy rock wall, Snapper Rocks and Kirra groyne are all producing tailor on metals, with first and last light producing more and better size fish.

FRESHWATER With all the rain over the last few months it has seen dam levels full or over capacity, and this means plenty of water for us to fish in. Waterfalls, drains and run-offs are fishing really well with spinnerbaits and beetle spins, whereas ice jigs, lightly-weighed worms and grubs are fishing better in and around the timber.

It’s always handy to have a deep diving lure set up to troll between spots.

NEXT MONTH Over the next month snapper and other reef species will thicken up as they start to spawn and will venture closer to the land.

Close reefs will hold good numbers of these species and will make it easier for anglers to find and catch them.

More mulloway will make their presence felt around the rock walls, holes and headlands over the next month.

Tailor will thicken up on the beaches, rock walls and headlands.

More bream will move in around river mouths, rock walls and bridges to get ready to spawn.

The weather will clean up even more and we should see a few perfect days next month. If you would like any additional information or if you are chasing weekly weather and fishing reports for the Tweed and Gold Coasts, head over to my Facebook page ‘Fishing Fun Gold Coast’ and give us a like or send us a PM and we will be happy to steer you in the right direction.

It’s prime time for school mulloway at Tweed THE TWEED INSHORE

Tim Latter

With the days getting considerably longer again, I reckon it’s a great time to chase school mulloway in the Tweed system. You can pretty much catch them all throughout the year, but as August is the last of the cooler months, I find it a

productive way to round out winter.

Hitting the bridges around the tide changes at night is probably the number one option. It can sometimes mean setting the alarm for a 2am session or having a quiet Friday night flick and missing out on the footy.

A light to medium spin outfit with some 12-20lb leader will have you sorted

for most situations. A range of plastics like the 2 and 3” Berkely Gulp Shrimps, Atomic Prongs and ZMan 3” MinnowZ, soft vibes like those from Samaki or Zerek and 1/4-1/2oz blades, depending on the current, should see you wellequipped for a quality bridge session. It’s best to fish with a mate, as landing good fish from bridges can be tricky on

A mulloway that was holding up around structure when it was caught.

A great fish taken from a deep hole mid-river.

your own. They can also take the photo for you.

There are some deep holes in the Tweed, especially around the middle reaches. During the daylight hours you’ll find schoolies ambushing prey in the eddies that these drop-offs create.

Grub-tail soft plastics and lipless cranks are a good choice in these situations.

Try sounding the bait and the predators shouldn’t be too far away. Working your way upstream on a productive bite and leap frogging the tide change can be an effective method of increasing your results.

The rock walls and groynes around the mouth of the river, especially the first few deep holes, are hotspots for the better class of fish.

Ramping up your tackle will be required, especially if you’re land-based. Bigger paddle-tail soft plastics that imitate a mullet would be the first lure to tie on and try keeping it in the lower third of the water column.

If there is any dirty water around then try throwing some hardbodies in the 150mm range off the ends of the breakwalls. Target the foam and eddies on the run-out tide. Remember, it can be dangerous on the

stones, especially when the swell is up. Always go with a mate and take all the necessary safety precautions.

With spring around the corner, we can look forward to some more temperate conditions. Arguably the best time of the year for fishing in the Tweed is next month. Big flathead captures will become more common, kingfish will mix with other pelagics in the mouth and the bass will fire up with the opening of the season. Bring on spring!

Be kind and courteous on the water this month and remember, it’s just lovely being out there.

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Snag a snapper on soft plastics SOUTHERN GOLD COAST

Danny Sands

The northwesterly winds will start to blow in August making fishing tough on

the wider grounds and the inshore quite pleasant. A lot of the snapper action will coincide with their spawning run from the 18 fathom reef line all the way out to the 36 fathom line.

August is a great month to chase snapper on soft plastics on the close reefs of Southport, Surfers, Fidos and Mud Hole off the Tweed. Soft plastics like the 7” Berkley Gulp Jerk Shads in the pearl

Soft plastics are an excellent option when chasing snapper.

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and pink shine have been the pick of the plastics.

When choosing a jighead for your soft plastic, make sure that the hook is heavy duty, as a snapper will crush a light gauge hook. Making long casts on medium spin gear with a slow drift aided by an electric motor or a sea anchor over patchy reef and rubble on the close inshore is a great recipe for catching quality snapper this month.

When casting soft plastics, try setting a lazy octopus jig in the rod holder.

These rigs are a very underrated option when chasing snapper and will often out-fish a soft plastic.

They are effortless to use; I like to have them about 15ft

off the sea floor and put your rod in the rod holder with the ratchet on. The motion of the boat rocking is enough to get the snapper interested in your lure. Cobia numbers have been excellent on the 18 and 20 fathom lines and the inner and outer Focus Reef.

In August we should see plenty of fish around or over the 15kg mark. Look for reefs that hold plenty of bait as cobia are fast growers and need plenty of food. Don’t hesitate to use large baits such as legal tailor or big slimy mackerel. If the weather is fine and the wind is not blowing northwesterlies, you may be keen to head a little bit wider from the coast.

The 42 and 50 fathom lines are the perfect places to target reef species like pearl perch, pigfish, morwong and snapper as well as numerous other species that live out there. When fishing these deep reefs I prefer to use a paternoster or dropper rig.

These fish mainly live close down to the bottom, so your bait spends more time in the bite zone.

The 24 fathom reef off Southport and the 30-36 fathom reefs of the Tweed have been producing big numbers of quality teraglin.

A simple two hook dropper will get more bites than float lining for teraglin and will often catch your bag limit of five fish in a short time.

INSHORE August will see the start of the northwesterly winds and with them some big tides can turn the Broadwater into cold and lifeless brown water, making fishing a bit tough on certain days. The Broadwater has an influx in bait like mullet, whitebait and herring.

With this the winter run of mulloway, flathead, tailor and bream has been excellent.

Flathead tend to move around a lot in August prior to their spawning run.

Trolling hardbody lures is a great searching tool when finding flathead. When you have found a few flathead, try anchoring up and casting plastics and soft vibes. This will draw most flathead close to your boat and it’s a great method in catching a lot of flathead in a certain area. If the water is dirty, try fishing places that are out of the tidal flow.

Areas like the ‘Ghost Hole’ in the middle of Crab Island, Tipplers Passage and places like the weed beds in front of the Grand Hotel all the way up to the swimming enclosures in front of Southport. There should be a few big mulloway in Tweed and the Seaway this month. A live mullet on the top of the tide is your best bet.

As well as mulloway, big live bait can produce yellowtail kings. The kingy

Trophy flathead start to show this month. This big girl was caught and released in the Seaway. numbers are more prevalent during the weekdays due to less boat traffic. Kingies respond well to surface lures and both live baits and metal jigs. They are most active on the last of a run-in tide.

If we get a good run of northerly winds, don’t rule out an early mangrove jack.

places like the Narrowneck Sand Bags, the Tweed Bar, the mouth of both Currumbin and Tallebudgera bars and the sand-pumping jetty are worth a look in August. To catch a few greenback tailor, use pilchards and garfish baits on gang hooks in the early mornings and late

Luderick are an excellent table fish if they are well looked after. This pair was caught in the Seaway with cabbage as bait.

Try places like the Runaway Bay canal system, which have big concrete retaining walls that heat up during the day and make the water a fraction warmer during the winter months. Slow rolling soft plastics under pontoons is worth a look in August.

On the beachfront the tailor are in good numbers in

afternoons and try to fish well into the night.

Overall, the fishing options are endless for August.

Don’t forget the Flathead Classic is quickly approaching.

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Find where the bait congregates GOLD COAST CANALS

Josh Dunn

August already? The year is going very quickly! As we settle into the cooler weather we are seeing magnificent catches and excellent signs of the fishing flourishing.

Baitfish have been a little harder to find; your best bet would be to find the pressure points where the bait will congregate. You’ll find these everywhere, although the more water pushing through, the higher chance of greater baitfish numbers. Normally I would sit behind a wall near to where the water is pushing into – in this area the water makes a sort of a whirlpool. This is where the predatory fish sit in wait for an easy feed from the tired baitfish sitting in the main pressure point.

Trevally are normally in solid numbers, along with tailor, flathead, bream, mulloway and mangrove jack.

I’ve found the run-out tide has worked best for me, especially with the highest tide out of the two in 24 hours. There will be more water pushing out in only a six hour timeframe.

I’ve been saying it for a month or two now, but night time bream fishing has really been going off! Just last month I caught over 10 bream hitting the 40cm mark, all caught on 2.5-3.5” ZMan GrubZ. The full moon has seen an increase in action with fish becoming hungrier, and the baitfish in solid numbers. The bream will sit around most lights throughout the canals and Broadwater. If you cast a

plastic rigged on a 1/4oz or 1/6oz jighead, and retrieve it along the bottom, you should see some results.

I have found that smearing the plastic with scent has definitely seen an increase in hits, without a doubt. I’ve had a few sessions recently where I’ve fished for an hour or two with only a few fish and a hard bite, only to add scent and find a lot more hook-ups.

Quite a few tailor are getting around lately, and the early morning sessions are proving that around the rock walls of the Broadwater. The north wall in the Seaway is also a great spot to hit around the break.

Cast small metal slugs into the break and retrieve them at high speeds for the best results. Remember to use heavy fluorocarbon leader around 25lb+. I wouldn’t go any less. Keep in mind their

The author’s PB bream taken during a midnight session using a ZMan GrubZ smeared in Pro Cure.

Will Smedley with a quality mulloway taken off the rocks in an afternoon session.

razor sharp teeth, especially when throwing around expensive lures.

Within the next month or two we will see some excellent weather conditions, with the 28 day rain forecast showing only a few days of rain in the whole month! At this time last year, I noticed that as temperatures slowly rose, baitfish started to move

around in heavy numbers, and less scattered. This is a good sign for anglers chasing tailor and trevally!

August is a great month, although cold, and the fishing is hot! Remember to check out my instagram @josh__dunn__ where I will be posting some of my recent catches for Far North QLD mid-way through this month!

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Great winter snapper run GOLD COAST

David Green

This winter has seen an excellent run of snapper off the Gold Coast. From the 18 fathom reef out to the 36 fathom line there have been excellent catches of quality fish, with quite a few over

90cm long. These have been responding to bait, soft plastics and microjigging techniques.

In the recent Snapper Classic, run by the Gold Coast Sport Fishing Club, most boats caught their bag limits and a large number of impressive knobbies were caught. This month the snapper will be spawning

and the 36 fathom line should produce excellent catches, particularly around the period of the new moon.

August is also a great month to chase mulloway on the offshore reefs. Most of the action takes place just after sunset, and live slimy mackerel, tailor and pike are generally the best baits. Spots need to have

The author with a great snapper.

a ledge or a cave nearby, and some of the close reefs should fish well this month.

A tide change just on dusk definitely seems to help.

Most of the offshore mulloway are between 90 and 110cm long. If you happen to stumble on a spot and catch a mulloway, there is a good chance it will be continually productive, and usually this means there is a ledge, cave or deep hole somewhere nearby. These fish are rarely encountered on flat, gravelly reef.

Out on the continental shelf there should be a few yellowfin tuna, striped marlin and the odd blue marlin if the temperature holds at around 23°C. It’s surprising how well August can fish out wide off the Gold Coast. If there is bait present and birds are active, the fish won’t be too far away. Sometimes there are good numbers of striped marlin on the 50 fathom line in August, particularly when the current is running and there are schools of sauris around.

There has been quite a bit of local interest in chasing broadbill swordfish in daylight hours off the Gold Coast in recent

Charles Britton with a decent winter flathead.

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months, and quite a few smaller fish have been caught. This month should be a good one to chase the elusive swordfish. Most have been caught in depths of around 500-600m on suspending squid or fish baits at around 30-50m off the bottom. This is a long way down, but with an 80lb reel full of 200lb braid this is quite achievable, and a few of the local game boats are increasingly targeting swordfish.

In closer to shore on the 18 and 20 fathom reefs off Southport and Surfers Paradise there should be a few cobia, teraglin, snapper and tailor. Fishing a mix of live baits, soft plastics and pilchards is generally quite effective, particularly if you use a fair amount of berley.

Sharks can be a problem at times, unfortunately.

The area off Jumpinpin also holds schools of longtail and mackerel tuna this month, and these can be caught casting metal slugs and weighted soft plastics. Look for the birds and try to get upwind of the schools before casting, and try to minimise motor noise.

BROADWATER AND RIVERS August is a great month to chase flathead in the estuaries. The season so

Tanya Britton with an awesome mulloway off Southport. far has been quite erratic, and the water has been quite discoloured most of the time, which can make fishing hard. The bigger fish start to move towards the entrances and river mouths this month in preparation for spawning, and there is a lot of activity on the flats as well. Trolling is particularly effective in August when the fish are

quite spread out. Recently we have enjoyed a lot of success using Zerek Prawns casting to weed beds and shallow gutters.

It pays to experiment when flathead fishing and try a wide variety of lures.

At times the fish seem to lock in on one type of lure and ignore most others, particularly when casting.

We have recently done

quite well on black and dark brown lures, which is quite unusual, but may reflect on the baitfish the flathead are feeding on at the moment.

In any session I will use soft plastics, vibes, hardbodies and prawns. In August, when the bigger fish start to move across the flats, it’s worthwhile using large Slug-Gos, eels and big soft plastic stickbaits across

the weeds at high tide.

This method, pioneered by Chris Metcalfe in recent years, has been an eye opener for most who have tried it, and consistently catches big fish.

The deep water in the Jumpinpin Bar and the Seaway is worth a look this month using big soft plastics such as 7” jerk shads. This area should start to produce

big flathead and quite a few mulloway, particularly around the change of tide.

Work the deep ledges, structure and drop-offs and use sufficient weight in your jighead to get the lure almost vertical under your boat. I like to use white and pink jerk shads, and find that Gulp and ZMan lures are generally the most effective lures, although large soft vibes are also quite useful at times.

With the mullet run in full swing as the westerlies blow, there should be good fishing for large mulloway at night in the Seaway on the change of high tide.

A live tiger mullet drifted through the eddies as the tide slows is a time proven method, but it pays to fish light and minimise noise as much as is possible. These bigger mulloway seem to move into the Seaway from the offshore grounds at night, and are much bigger than the average mulloway caught during the day, averaging around 110-120cm in length. These fish are a very worthwhile target and take a bit of catching.

Overall, August is a great month to fish the Gold Coast and there is a lot of fish activity in both the estuaries and offshore grounds.

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August offers up a fishing feast for their breeding season and there are heaps of other species on the bite too, such as mulloway, whiting, juvenile snapper, tailor and more.

The flathead will be starting their annual run at the end of the month in preparation for their breeding season.

We can expect them to be feeding hard and fattening themselves up during

JUMPINPIN

Mick Morris gembait@tpg.com

August would have to be one of the best times of the year to fish Jumpinpin.

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August. There will be heaps of larger 75cm+ females about, which must be put back so be sure that you handle them with care and release them to breed and pump up the flatty stocks of the Pin. The peak time to target flathead is on the last few hours of the run-out tide.

Focus on banks that are becoming exposed and look for drains and back eddies as the water drops away.

This is when you should get a few flathead in quick succession. This is why I troll a lot, as it allows me to cover a lot of ground and find a patch of fish. At this time last year I pulled five 50cm flatties off one patch of weed, so when you’re on a hot bite be sure to make the most of it.

The pick spots to try will be the southeast side of Kangaroo Island, Whalleys Gutter, Pandannus Bank, Tipplers Island and the flats across from Rocky Point. The deep water from the Pigsties to the dead trees at the bottom of North Straddie is littered with snags and drop-offs, which are perfect places

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for lizards to lie in wait for a feed of pillies, herring, prawns or mullet, or any lure that looks similar to those. Divers have told me there are always hundreds of flathead along this stretch at this time of year. The trick is to get them to bite.

Bream will again be one of the most popular species being targeted, and you can expect them to be around in great numbers right throughout this month.

All the usual spots will be firing like Kalinga Bank, Short Island, Flat Rock, the power lines and up towards Karragarra Island in the deeper water.

Or you can try to avoid the crowds and try the Stockyards, Five Ways, Tabby Tabby, the mouth of the Pimpama and Tipplers Island. For the land-based fishos, the jetty at Jacobs Well has been producing good bream late at night or you could try the rockwall, or under the bridges of the M1 in the Logan and Coomera rivers. Prawns, mullet gut, bonito flesh and balled up fresh bread will certainly get the bream on the bite.

Where you find bream you’ll more than likely find the odd juvenile snapper, as they frequent similar areas and will take the same baits. The deep water off the western side of Macleay Island is a great spot to try for bigger snapper with whiting frames, whole squid

It’s big flathead time. Drew Shelford caught this monster near Tipplers Island on a plastic. or big pillies. Snapper to over 5kg have been caught in this area in previous winters, so now is the time to target them.

Tailor make their way along the coast at this time of year, feeding on whitebait and small pillies.

These tailor can be caught mainly out towards the bar and just beyond, using small metal slugs that look like these baitfish. They move through the Jumpinpin area quickly in small schools that randomly pop up and can be gone as fast as they arrive.

These are a great fighting and tasting fish, and they are always fun to catch.

Alternatively you can try for a mulloway on the slacker, slower moving tides when the mulloway tend to bite better. Use big plastics and vibes during the daylight hours, and live baits and strip baits at night. Sometimes you will end up sitting out all night, but when you catch a big mulloway, it’s definitely worth it.

• Thanks for all your reports and keep those fish coming in. If you’d like any advice or up to date fishing information drop us a line at Gem Bait & Tackle on (07) 3287 3868 or email gembait@tpg.com.au.

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Fishing News GOLD COAST (SOUTH) MARINE TUNE

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GOLD COAST (NORTH)

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BRISBANE (SOUTH)

STONES CORNER MARINE 117 Old Cleveland Road Stones Corner, QLD, 4120 Phone: (07) 3397 9766 Fax: (07) 3397 2456 www.stonescornermarine.com.au

BUNDABERG

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GLADSTONE

CURTIS COAST MARINE 40 Chapple St, Gladstone QLD, 4802 Phone: (07) 4972 0135 Fax: (07) 4972 0136 www.curtiscoastmarine.com.au

Gold Coast teenager awarded world record Bass fishing is one of the world’s most popular fishing sports and in the USA alone, millions of enthusiasts chase bass. In Australia freshwater bass fishing is perhaps less well known, but that may be about to change.

who is a year nine student at the Gold Coast’s Emmanuel College, is a quietly spoken modest girl who brims with enthusiasm when talking about her favourite sport of fishing.

To have a world record under her belt at such a young

age she hopes may inspire other girls to ‘have a go,’ as she says, at this great sport.

She caught her bass using a Rapala diving hardbody lure on 10lb line with a Daiwa Gen Black rod and a Shimano Stradic 2500 reel. – Reg Lambert

MACKAY

REEF MARINE 26 Prospect Street Mackay, QLD, 4740 Phone: (07) 4957 3521 Fax: (07) 4957 2447 www.reefmarine.net

WHITSUNDAYS

WHITSUNDAY MARINE 4/11 Shute Harbour Road Cannonvale,QLD, 4802 Phone: (07) 4948 3298 Fax: (07) 4948 3298 www.whitsundaymarine.com.au

Lucy with her record-breaking bass.

BRISBANE (BAYSIDE) WYNNUM MARINE

31 Fox Street Wynnum, QLD, 4178 Phone: (07) 3396 9777 Fax: (07) 3893 2046 www.wynnummarineyamaha.com.au

BRISBANE (NORTH)

BOWEN

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CAIRNS

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KARUMBA

RAY SCHOLES MARINE 146 Eumundi Road Noosaville, QLD, 4566 Phone: (07) 5449 7633 Fax: (07) 5449 9830 www.rayscholesmarinenoosa.com.au

JONES MARINE

A young Gold Coast teenager, Lucy Davis, has just been awarded a coveted world record for her Bass. Her secret spot was the local Coomera River on Queensland’s Gold Coast where one morning, while fishing with her dad and brother, she hooked it.

At 1.3kg in weight her fish was the heaviest Australian bass caught to date by a junior female angler.

Lucy sent details of her fish to the International Game Fishing Association in Dania Beach Florida USA, along with a section of line, the lure and photographic evidence and around three months later received confirmation in the form of a certificate signed by the President of the IGFA confirming her world record.

Fourteen year old Lucy,

Lucy Davis was awarded a coveted world record for her 1.3kg bass.

30 Yappar Street Karumba, QLD, 4891 Phone: (07) 4745 9159 Fax: (07) 4745 9366 www.jonesmarine.com.au

HERVEY BAY BUCCANEERS

19 Islander Road, Pialba, Hervey Bay, QLD, 4655 Phone: (07) 4124 6988 Fax: (07) 4194 2364 www.buccaneers.com.au Jake Hardwick, 13 years old, caught this awesome mackerel near Wistari Reef. It weighed 17.5kg and was 145cm.

AUGUST 2017

35

Winter species that are well worth targeting SOUTHERN BAY

Nick Whyte

Light westerly winds will give way to some strong westerly winds and cold temperatures this month.

The good news is the tailor should be a better size and in larger numbers.

Mulloway, winter whiting, snapper, flathead and bream will all be well worth targeting in the southern bay this month.

When looking for flathead this month, the most numbers will be found up in the shallow waters on the flats around the bait and weed. Places worth a look are the western side of Macleay Island, the eastern side of Russell Island around Double Island and the bottom of Long Island.

A Jumpinpin mulloway that fell to a ZMan 4” ShrimpZ.

Pan-sized snapper really crunch a hardbody in shallow water.

Just be aware of the green zones on the bottom of Long Island and to the north of Double Island. I like to use a natural lure colour in clean water and the brighter fluoro colours when the water gets a bit dirty.

Mulloway will be hunting the bait around the bar and river mouths this month. Work the well-lit areas around the Port in the Brisbane River that are holding good bait. Fish plastics through the water column or crank some hardbodies through the hard shadow to light lines.

The deeper holes in the lower reaches of the Logan

River should be holding a few fish. It’s best to use your sounder to locate the fish and bait to target. The Pin bar is hard running water with big fish. Don’t be scared to run big lures or live baits – 6-8” is on the money. Live pike, mullet, prawns or even a legal tailor will see you in with a chance three days either side of the full or new moon.

Winter whiting have been caught all over the bay in places like the Amity Banks, Rous Channel, Pelican Banks, Banana Banks, Navel Banks and the shallows out the front of Redland Bay. It’s best to drift until you find a few fish, and then anchor up.

Worms and strips of squid will do the damage.

Tailor will be everywhere this month.

Anywhere in sight of the Pin bar will be worth floating a pilly or having a small 20g metal slug rigged ready for surface action. Any rocky outcrop around the bay islands should hold fish.

Some 80-100mm cup-faced poppers are a great way to search an area for active fish. Spots worth a look are Cleveland Point, the southwest rocks and hole in the wall at Peel Island, and Bird and Goat islands.

Bream are thick all through Jumpinpin, the Seaway, the rock walls at the mouth of the Brisbane River and the Amity rock walls. Small soft plastics are great lures to put a few of these fish on the decks.

Freshly pumped yabbies or worms will account for their fair share if you want to soak a few baits.

Snapper have been about in good numbers.

There have been plenty of just-unders in the shallows, with a few good pan-sized fish coming on lightly weighted soft plastics or small hardbodies. The top of Macleay, the southwest rocks and Cucumber Point have produced good numbers. The bigger fish have been coming from the deeper water at Harrys and the Peel Island artificial reefs. Live winter whiting or big fresh green prawns along with most soft plastics from 3-7” will put you in with a chance at a 70cm+ model.

If you have a great capture from the Southern Bay area you would like to share, email pictures and details through to techfishing@ hotmail.com. Until next month, tech-it-easy.

• If you would like to learn more about targeting fish on artificial lures or would like to learn how to get the most out of your sounder, please call Nick on 0422 213 669 to customize an on-water session to suit your fishing or sounder needs. Check out the Tech Fishing Facebook page for further information. Your boat – my knowledge – more fish!

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Big lizards like this will be on offer on the flats. This one smashed a trolled Zerek Tango Shad.

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AUGUST 2017

Southern Junior

Get out early for the best results MORETON BAY

Ryan Smith

August is here and just the thought that two thirds of the year have passed is insane. The recent school holidays allowed me to get out on the water a little bit more with a few trips to North Stradbroke Island.

In addition, at this time of year there are a number of different species around the southern bay for us to tangle with.

around the foreshores. I tangled with a variety of species including trevally, bream, whiting, squire and even a few squid. Throwing small plastics I ended up with a few trevally and juvenile snapper while surface lures like the Bassday Sugapen accounted for many bream, whiting and even squid!

The school holidays also gave me a great opportunity to get out on the water to wet a line. A number of successful land-based and boat missions were had with

trippers head out is the best way to score a few fish.

Early morning periods have been the most successful, with bream taking surface lures and shallow hardbodies twitched just under the surface. Casting these lures over weed beds and rock formations is where I have been having my success.

I have been targeting juvenile snapper without great results, but have still landed a few fish. Some 3-4â&#x20AC;? soft plastics with a curltail or paddle-tail rigged on anything between a 1/8-1/4oz jighead with a 3/0 hook will

work. Drifting when using soft plastics is a must; you need to cover ground when using lures and this is a great way to do it. Rubble grounds, reef edges and drop-offs are all good spots to find juvenile snapper. You should also look for bait schools around these areas. At this time of year the southern bay is full of hardiheads, which are a great snapper bait.

Squid are just about everywhere along the mainland foreshores and around the bay islands.

Finding clear, clean water with some kind of hiding/ ambush area is perfect for

This squid was caught using a Bassday Sugapen meant for bream.

Over the last few weeks I have been hopping on the ferry over to Stradbroke Island to flick a few lures

bream, flathead and juvenile snapper being the main captures. Getting out on the water early before the day

The author caught this mid-30s bream on a Bassday Sugapen.

This month you should see a lot more flathead around the local foreshores. squid. Weed beds, rubble ground and rocky foreshores are just a couple of places that are worth a look when chasing squid. Small squid jigs are best, but they will even eat your surface lures!

Flathead should be on the rise, with a number of them already being caught.

Recently I had a great landbased session chasing them on the little ZMan Slim SwimZ fishing a weedy drop-off. A total of nine fish were caught and released within an hour. There was no real size to them, but they were great fun on

the light gear. Any flat on a run-out tide is worth a look for flathead, with the baitfish moving off the flats into the deeper water as the tide recedes.

This month should see a variety of fish being caught around the local areas. I hope all of you get a chance to wet a line this month, and if you want to know any more info or ask me any questions, come into Daveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bayside Bait and Tackle in Victoria Point and we are always happy to have a chat.

Until next month, tight lines and screaming drags.

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37

Heaps of fish biting in the right weather BRISBANE

Gordon Macdonald masterbaitertackle@hotmail.com

With the back end of winter approaching, conditions during August are often varied. Westerly winds are usually common this month.

Inshore fishing conditions are still comfortable, however the conditions further offshore can often be a bit lumpy when the westerly winds are blowing.

Cold mornings and brisk evenings produce great conditions for anglers fishing the bay, rivers and estuaries for species such as snapper, tailor, mulloway, luderick, school mackerel, bream and flathead. Anglers should take the opportunity to target these species before the warming waters bring forth a different array of angling targets.

LUDERICK Although luderick aren’t targeted by a broad array of anglers, they are an exceptionally fun fish to target. The are also great table fare when handled and processed correctly (see my techniques article in this issue). Cabbage weed is generally fairly easy to locate on most floating or partially submerged objects in the estuaries. These can include pontoons, jetties, rock walls, buoys, navigation beacons, moored boats and the like.

This estuarine salad is then suspended beneath a near neutral buoyancy float and drifted along the rock walls, deep mangrove banks and retaining walls in the estuaries where luderick commonly lurk. If the float dips or rises slightly then there is a good chance that a luderick is mouthing the bait. A firm strike will hopefully set the small hook into the luderick’s mouth and the dogged fight will commence.

Light fluorocarbon leaders, size #6 to #10 hooks, floating main line, centrepin reels, slow actioned rods and quality floats are all part of a serious luderick arsenal. There are a lot of places where luderick can be taken from a land-based perspective.

With the average fish being a chunky 38cm or so, they are well worth targeting.

SNAPPER This year’s snapper season has been decent at best. We haven’t yet seen good numbers of larger snapper showing up in the bay. Anglers have experienced great sessions and there have been some quality knobbies caught, but this hasn’t been consistent – especially with quality 38

AUGUST 2017

A chunky Brisbane River luderick from a good session that produced a full bag of quality fish. specimens over 50cm. The Harry Atkinson, Curtin, Peel and Turner artificial reefs are all good places to soak a few baits or cast and retrieve lures. Quality fresh baits are always best, however frozen offerings can also work well.

Toughening baits such as mullet fillets, pilchards, tuna fillets and bonito fillets by salting them is well worthwhile. The tougher baits will withstand the onslaught of pickers until the larger and oftenwary snapper prowling out on the fringes come in to inspect, and hopefully engulf, the bait. Fishing well-presented baits lightly weighted, cast them up current then allowing them to drift down current while using fluorocarbon leaders to heighten your chances.

Lures are also best fished using fluorocarbon leaders. Braid will give you a lot better feel and heighten your chances of setting the hook when you get a strike.

It will also increase your casting distance and allow you to maintain contact with the lure, especially in stronger currents. Snapper respond to a surprising array of plastics, vibration baits, minnow lures, microjigs and other offerings.

These all require different presentation techniques to get the best out of them. What works today may not work tomorrow, so it pays to alternate retrieves if strikes aren’t forthcoming. Hopefully the latter period of winter will produce increased numbers of quality snapper for anglers fishing Moreton Bay and the Brisbane River.

MULLOWAY Quality mulloway have been fairly common captures for those who have targeted them in

recent weeks. Plenty of 1m+ specimens have been caught on an array of baits and lures, some due to specific targeting and others as by-catch for those chasing snapper.

From well up rivers to far offshore on the reefs, mulloway have always been a welcome capture.

Live baits such as prawns, herring, mullet, pike and squid are all worthy of a

including paddle-tails, jerk shads, curl-tails and prawn profiles. Additionally they can be taken on micro-jigs, vibration baits, minnow lures, flies and numerous other artificials.

Some reliable spots to search for these silver slabs include the Brisbane River, Logan River, Harry Atkinson and Peel artificial reefs, around the numerous wrecks throughout the

during August. The larger females come inshore to breed, closely followed by hordes of eager males.

The better numbers show up around the mouths of the rivers first and then gradually move further upstream and deeper into the estuaries. Flathead are a great fish for anglers, as they can be found in a broad array of areas and their movements can be fairly predictable.

Additionally they will respond to a wide array of lures and baits. Towards the top of the tide they are most likely to be up on the banks, lying in the shallow gutters and slight bottom recesses as they ambush baitfish, prawns and crustaceans. As the tide turns and begins to fall, they will move to the edges of the banks and the mouths of the gutters and drains where baitfish must pass as the falling tide flushes them off the banks.

Here they stay until almost the bottom of the tide before moving into the deeper holes and channels.

Once the tide is rising again, they will make their way back up onto the shallow flats when the water is deep enough. The larger flathead (generally females) will take up the best ambush spots, usually accompanied

The shallows of the bay islands and the prominent channels can produce some quality squid. This quartet of chunky cephalopods came from the Rous Channel on a size 3.0 Yamashita egi. mulloway’s attention.

Live mullet to over 25cm in length are the go if you want to tempt one of the larger 15kg+ mulloway.

Expect to put in numerous trips before you snag one of these trophies. Most anglers are happy with one of the average models, which are commonly around 80-90cm in length. These fish will eat a broad array of lures with many choosing vibration baits and larger plastics

bay, Jumpinpin Bar and the shallow offshore reefs.

However, mulloway can occasionally be hooked by anglers chasing snapper around the bay island shallows, deeper holes in the creeks and rivers and some of the deeper holes around the southern bay such as the Salt Works near Macleay Island.

FLATHEAD Good numbers of flathead are usually around

by several smaller males.

If you catch a flathead in one spot then it is highly likely that you will encounter several others in the same area, so it pays to work it over a few times.

Casting plastics, vibes and minnow lures up on the tops of the flats on the higher stages of the tide and along the edges of the banks on the falling tide is generally a good way to catch a few.

Drifting over these areas with small whole fish baits such as hardiheads, whitebait, frogmouth pilchards, small blue pilchards, small garfish and herring is a very good way to catch flathead and an array of other species. These baits are generally rigged on a twin-hook snelled rig with the leading hook pinned up through the head with the point exiting just in front of the eyes. This will ensure that the bait wafts instead of spinning in the current. Drifting on top of the flats or in the channels will greatly increase your chance of success and is a great way to familiarise yourself with the area.

Flathead numbers will be good over the next few months and now is a good time to check out a few areas at low tide to work out where the flathead are most likely to be at certain stages of the tide. Remember that flathead have a bag limit of five and must be 40-75cm.

SCHOOL MACKEREL School mackerel can often be located in decent numbers in the channels and occasionally around the beacons during August.

The Rous Channel is one of the more reliable, with schoolies often located along its length. The eastern end is usually where the commercial line fishing boats work, especially between the last three red beacons.

They commonly troll spoons behind paravanes, a technique which will also produce results for recreational anglers.

Halco No.3 Barra Drones are one of the more heavily used spoons, but there are a lot of other metals and minnow lures which can work well.

These are usually trolled behind a No.6 Yamashita trolling board or a Bluelinestyle paravane to get them down deep. The edges of the shipping channels, the Comboyuro Ledge, Rainbow Channel, western edge of the Naval Reserve Banks and numerous other locations can all produce numbers of school mackerel over the coming months.

Drifting pilchards in these zones is another highly productive approach.

SQUID The squid fishing has been great over recent months, with plenty of quality tiger and arrow squid being caught. The land-based squidders have found the going tough at times though, mainly due to the huge amount of pressure that areas such as Manly, Wellington Point, Cleveland, Victoria Point and Scarborough receive.

Still, those who have persevered have generally met with success.

Out into the bay, squid numbers have been fairly good with the shallow fringes of the bay islands, weed bed areas, discoloured patches on the sand flats and the major channels all producing succulent cephalopods. The upper stages of the tide are generally best around the shallow reef, rock and rubble grounds. The start of the run-in tide and an hour or so into the run-out are good times to get amongst a few along the edges of the channels.

There is no one best egi (squid jig) and it usually pays to have a few sizes and colours at your disposal, as squid can be exceptionally fussy at times. The quality Japanese jigs are definitely better than most of the others and exhibit better coatings, sharper barbs, more controlled sink rates and better actions. Whiting fishers drifting the flats and those fishing around the bay islands will commonly be rewarded when drifting an egi or baited squid

anglers for their efforts. The lower reaches have been where most of the action has taken place. This is the main hub where anglers concentrate their efforts.

Snapper have been caught along the retaining wall at the mouth, the Caltex Reach wall, the bases of the jetties and Claras Rocks.

The dredge holes at the mouth, the ledge upstream from the sewerage chute, around the jetties and the bridges have been good spots producing mulloway and even a few tailor and snapper. The deep holes in front of the shipping buffers on the oil pipeline have also been worth fishing for snapper and large bream.

Claras Rocks has produced mixed bags at times, which have included bream, snapper, cod and a few flathead. Boggy Creek and Aquarium Passage have been fishing well for flathead, bream and occasionally threadfin and mulloway.

At night, lighted areas such as those around the Gateway, Goodwill and Expressway bridges have produced threadfin and

with quality baits such as blood and beach worms, whitebait, mullet strips, yabbies, fresh prawns and raw chicken fillet strips will generally reward.

However, any bait in the water is likely to produce a bream at any time of the day or night in nearly any inshore waters.

Bream will also attack a huge array of small artificial offerings.

Minnow lures, soft plastics, blades, topwater offerings, vibration baits and most other smaller lures will all take quality bream. What is best to throw where and when is an instinct that comes with time on the water chasing these wily critters. Anglers fishing the shallows of the bay islands often crack quality bream, with topwater offerings being one of the most exciting ways to target them. Increased numbers of larger bream will be around for a few months, but these fish can be caught year-round.

CONCLUSION Although strong westerly winds can often decrease opportunities to

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Mulloway are virtually a year-round proposition in Southern Queensland. This one scoffed a micro-jig at the Harry Atkinson. skewer out behind the boat.

A soft tipped rod is ideal for this. When the rod tip loads up, simply lift the rod and slowly wind in your prize. Keep tension on by winding the reel handle constantly – don’t pump and wind in the conventional manner that you would with a fish.

There should be decent numbers of quality squid around for a month or two yet so you have plenty of time to get amongst them.

BRISBANE RIVER Plenty of good captures have been taken by anglers fishing in the Brisbane River recently. Mulloway, snapper, cod, bream, flathead, threadfin and many more have rewarded

the occasional mulloway and tailor. Most of the rock walls, including Boat Passage, the Sunken Wall and retaining wall at the mouth have had luderick, mainly on the falling tide, for those with the correct techniques.

BREAM Wherever you fish around the estuaries, you are likely to encounter a few bream at this time of year. The full moon often presents a great opportunity when the large sea bream head up into the estuaries to breed. These large silver fish (‘snowies’) will commonly run up the main channels of rivers and estuaries during this period.

Night time sojourns

get out on the bay during August, there is still plenty of quality fare in the rivers and estuaries. When the opportunities arise, fishing in the bay will be rewarding with plenty of quality species to be caught including snapper, school mackerel, mulloway, squid and more. Cold westerlies can make the conditions a little tough, but quality piscatorial rewards will make the effort worthwhile.

Turn off the TV, kick off your slippers and chuck on a flanny and beanie.

Hook up the boat and get out on the water as there’s quality viewing on your sounder, and fun to be had on our awesome waterways during August.

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AUGUST 2017

39

Venture out for some solid catches offshore BRISBANE OFFSHORE

John Gooding

Through most of late May and June until the school holidays we had limited opportunities to get offshore. When we did get out though, the fishing was very good. Solid juvenile snapper and the odd bigger specimen have turned up on most lines of reef off Moreton and North Stradbroke islands, and most anglers who have been floatlining have been

getting their bag limits.

On charters lately we have been pulling good numbers of fish from the northern 29s and also the 33 and 35 fathom lines.

The 90m line south of Deep Tempest also produced reasonable fish for us on a couple of trips. We also ventured up to the bottom end of Wide Caloundra and scored solid catches of mixed reefies along with a few average cobia.

The next couple of months should see snapper continue in good numbers,

season they have been well worth the effort. Mulloway will also be a good option this month, especially on Shallow Tempest, if you can find the bait!

• Until next month, enjoy

your fishing, take care on the bars and if you’d like to join me on charter (max. eight persons), give me a call on (07) 3822 9527 or 0418 738 750, or visit outlawcharters.com.au.

A solid yellowtail kingfish that nailed a livie out wide.

Anthony Molino (centre) had a great reef trip when his wife Loretta bought him an Outlaw voucher for his birthday.

and lines of reef like the 33s and 35s and Deep Tempest should see some consistent fishing. Down off North Stradbroke, the Cathedrals should also produce good numbers of fish.

Mixed in with the snapper lately have been some solid pearl perch, and they have been happy to take floatlined pillies aimed at snapper. Anglers fishing at night around the moon have reported good catches

of both snapper and trag jew coming from areas such as Deep Tempest and Square Patch on the 42 fathom line.

Both yellowtail kingfish and amberjack have also been quite active lately. Anglers using both jigs and live baits have scored solid fish out on the under grounds.

As I mentioned in an earlier report, the kings and amberjack were in good numbers at this time last year, and so far this

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AUGUST 2017

An XOS gold spot wrasse that was nearly 3kg.

FUN PAGE AND COMPETITIONS THINGS FISH DO WHEN CAUGHT

FLAIL BITE FLOP SQUIRM PIERCE POO REGURGITATE PUNCTURE SHAKE SLASH

SMACK SPIT SPLASH STAB CUT STING STRUGGLE THRASH FLAP GRUNT

LASH THUMP TWIST VIBRATE WIGGLE SLICE WRITHE

Loaded For Bass Sudden In-Pact Baits are jig/ spinnerbait trailers that soak up a huge amount of catch scent and continually release it. These supple trailers are very durable, won’t tear off, dry out or become distorted, and their absorbency prevents your catch scent from washing away after a few casts. There are nine models, ranging in size from 2.25” to 5.25”, and colours include red, green, yellow, blue and white.

To place an order visit www.loadedforbass.com.

Name: Address:

P/Code:

The first correct entry at the end of each month will win the prize pack.

SEND ENTRIES TO: QLD Find-a-word Competition, PO box 3172, Loganholme Qld 4129

QLD AUG 2017

Phone (day):

FINS SCALES & TALES by A. Both

SPOT THE

9 DIFFERENCES

GEORGE & NEV by Michael Hardy

ORIGINAL

FIND-A-WORD

Congratulations to H Law from Wandoan, who was last month’s winner of the Finda-Word Competition!

Monthly winners receive a sponsor prize. Prize delivery can take 8 weeks. – QFM

SUBSCRIBER PRIZE

The subscriber prize winner for June is N Hudson of Home Hill, who won a Wilson prize pack worth $300RRP. All subscribers are entered in the monthly subscriber prize draws. Prize delivery takes up to 8 weeks. – QFM

Caboolture, K O’Brien of Burrum Heads, D Richter of Toogoolawah, N Hogbin of Coominya, D Gibson of Banksia Beach, C Renz of Crestmead, E & V Jackson of Long Flat, R Whillans of Bellara, T Hainsworth of Warwick, B Devine of Pialba, H Ingham of Upper Mt Gravatt, A Hewlett of Mothar Mountain, T Jamieson of Morayfield, A Adams of Newport, M Gillett of Boonah, O Noffke of Kulangoor, B Halberstater

of Yeppoon, R Dowden of Bundaberg, M Handley of Pacific Haven, E Lezuchowski of Darra, L Arthur of Morayfield, D Benson of Belgian Gardens, M Hinton of Yarraman, T Hodges of Ballina, R Waters of Temora, C Rowe of Loganholme, K Morrison of Moama, B Mason of Koongal, M Fergus of Yeppoon.

Prize delivery takes up to 8 weeks. – QFM

LAST MONTH’S ANSWERS

FIND THE COASTAL BLACK LOGO

The answers to Find the Coastal Black Logo for June were: 11, 14, 20, 25, 28, 34, 40, 52, 76, 80, 85, 99, 114, 123, 131. – QFM

This month’s Guess the Fish Answer: Yellowfin Bream

The Find the Coastal Black prize winners for June were: B Mackey of Parkwood, K Grice of Hope Island, B Schmidt of Dalby, J Willmann of Windaroo, B Nicholson of Bundamba, G Green of Currumbin Waters, L Betts of Kendall, A Bragg of Mount Isa, S Davies of Emerald, W Collis of River Heads, D Goodwin of Brigalow, T Grice of

GUESS THE FISH?

Answer: AUGUST 2017

41

It’s smooth sailing on those clear, windless days NORTHERN BAY

Grayson Fong graysonfong@bigpond.com

With winter still in full swing, many anglers have been enjoying the beautiful, clear windless days for boating, but have had not enjoyed the fact that catching fish on those days can be nearly impossible!

But as anglers, are we ever happy?

Probably not. But it makes for a good story over the afternoon beer while cleaning the boat!

The northern bay has been known to be a tough fishery during windless days, which is often due to great clarity in the water (if we haven’t had rain) and the fact that fish are less spooky when the wind is blowing, especially from the east. Either way, we can’t complain – some anglers have found ways to find the

Winter breaming yields the healthy models.

fish during these times, with many holding their secrets close to their chest.

Squire numbers have been good throughout the bay with Bribie, Scarborough, Woody Point and Mud Island leading the way with the best consistency. Early mornings and dusk have been the best times, and larger shad style soft plastics in bright colours are accounting for most of the catches. Fresh squid has also worked well, and light presentations are also the key in these areas. The Ripples and 112 have been the pick at Bribie with Shields Street and the southern end of Scotts Point being the better places on the peninsula.

Bream have been hit and miss over these last few weeks, with the last of the spawn due to conclude any minute now. Caloundra’s end of the Pumicestone Passage has had good numbers over winter as per usual, with the Pelican Waters Canals and Bells Creek reaping rewards also from the annual congregation. Fresh raw chicken and mullet strips have been the pick of the baits, with moderately weighted ZMan GrubZ working well down in the deeper waters.

Cranks and lightly weighted soft plastics have been working well for bream

on the peninsula. Anglers are having to contend with weed blooms throughout the area, which often tests patience.

Constantly moving your plastics is a good remedy for this, along with choosing shallower diving cranks when fishing areas where you know the depth is consistent.

Winter whiting are being picked up along Margate Beach by the locals. The southern end is fishing best, especially on the westerly wind days. The Compass Adjustment Buoy has been hit and miss lately but is still worth a try, and the Cockle Banks at Bribie have their fair share of good days, too.

Hays Inlet and the lower reaches of the Pine have been working for whiting on the receding tide, with many anglers having to sift through some small ones to get better table fish.

Squid numbers have been good in recent weeks, with Mud Island fishing slightly more consistently than Redcliffe Peninsula.

Mud Island has been working better in waters around the 7-8ft mark, with Redcliffe fishing well in the shallows and during the incoming tide.

Slow rolling with small hops has been the best retrieve for squid jigs, and pay careful attention in the shallows.

Winter time is squid time!

TIP OF THE MONTH Boat battery terminals are always susceptible to corrosion due to saltwater splashing on them as they are often stored near

wet areas of the boat. Try coating your terminals with Vaseline – this stops water from getting in contact with your terminals and therefore slows corrosion.

COMPANY PROFILE

Caloundra Marine present top Apex hulls So, you love to fish and you have a family… what boat should you buy?

The first thing that overwhelms even the most experienced boat owner, let

alone someone just getting their feet, is the question of what boat is going to give them the best bang for their buck? Especially when you’re looking for a crossover boat that does everything. You want to take the family and friends 42

AUGUST 2017

out on weekends and sneak in the solo fishing trip on the days off, and in the summer months give the kids a thrill with some wakeboarding.

Usually what happens

is you end up with a boat that is either a compromise, impractical or completely out of your budget. There are a lot of solutions that end up being a ‘jack-ofall-trades and a master of none’. You could go and buy a competition bass boat, but

that’s no good for moving a crowd, let alone safely towing the kids on a tube with an observer facing backwards.

Quintrex have been

leading a leading force in innovation for more than 70 years and their new Apex Hull Design has in many ways made the traditional bow design obsolete, turning a once underused part of the boat into an asset.

The newly released

Freestyler range are the perfect boats, comfortably seating four adults with room for a picnic hamper and esky.

There’s even more room for two more or people in the bow rider section.

In 20 seconds the Freestyler transforms from recreational entertainer to hardcore fishing boat. The back seat folds away, making room for two adults to fish from the rear – and using the

simple drop-in centre section will turn the seating into a casting deck.

Caloundra Marine love the Apex design hull so much they have taken a great thing and made it even better, combining 25 years of record-breaking ski racing boat design with their love of fishing to build the perfect Freestyler 510 package. It’s priced at under $45,000, including a powerful factory

installed 90hp E-Tec. That’s a pretty awesome price considering you get three boats in one!

You can check out the rest of Caloundra Marine’s range of Quintrex boats and Apex Hulls at their premises at 8 Baldwin St, Caloundra. For more information visit www. caloundramarine.com. au or give them a call on (07) 5491 1944. – FM

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The perfect time to target cold water species NOOSA

Peter Wells

With August the last month of winter, the water temperatures are still very cool, so this is a great time to target those cold water species.

In the Noosa River there are still plenty of quality bream being landed off the rocks at the river mouth, the sand bags at the dog beach and the deeper sections of both Woods Bays. Most anglers are using fresh strips of mullet, whole small herring, prawns and live bloodworms.

Around the Frying Pan there have also been some great bream as well as some elbow-slapper whiting!

These tasty fish are great targets when using small surface lures like the Bassday Sugapen, Fish Candy Skinny Dog and Strada Virals.

Small soft plastic grubs and minnows have been very effective, too.

This time of year you’ll often find some good tailor

MARINE

WINDOWS

Rees Johnson got a couple of thumper pearl perch while fishing North Reef.

getting up over the 40cm mark. The river mouth has been the pick of the spots for big bream, with fresh mullet strips and small pilchards being the go-to baits.

Chopper tailor and trevally have also been making their way through the mouth on the run-in tide, and seem to hang around the jet ski run. Small slugs worked quickly through the water column and micro-jigs have claimed their fair share.

Mulloway have been active throughout the river, and those anglers fishing low light periods and into the night have been catching quality fish. Paddle vibes have claimed some great fish. These lures have broad tails that put out a lot of vibration that the mulloway can’t resist.

with smaller boats. For those that have a boat capable of heading wide, don’t hold back.

The 5” ZMan Scented Jerk ShadZ rigged on the correct jighead is a snapper slayer. Remember when snapper fishing with soft plastics that it pays to fish with the lightest possible jighead you can use for the conditions. Pearl perch and cobia have also been caught out in reasonable numbers out from Caloundra Twelve Mile.

On the beaches it’s all about the tailor, and it seems we are on the comeback trail when it comes to the amount and quality of fish available. Good schools of fish have been travelling up our coastline, with big fish taken from the Maroochy

around the Frying Pan, due to the large schools of mullet. Medium size poppers and walk-the-dog lures are a good option and provide plenty of entertainment as you see the fish crunch the lure. Woods Bay and the

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Richard Jordan from Brisbane fished the Tewantin ski run during the early morning for this very nice giant trevally.

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AUGUST 2017

Noosa Sound have also been firing with mixed schools of trevally including golden, diamond, cale cale, tea leaf, bigeye and giant trevally feeding hard early in the morning and late afternoon.

Micro-jigs continue to be one of the standout lures for chasing trevally throughout the river, and allow you to cover a lot of ground and fish the entire water column.

Some of the standout jigs have been the Blue Blue, Shout and Ima jigs in various weights. Rigging them with an assist hook on top and treble on the bottom will also see a better hook-up.

Soft plastics are another consistent producer, with a good mixture of baitfish and prawn imitations delivering the goods. Take the time to rig your plastics nice and straight for maximum results! Up on the Ski Run mulloway continue to be caught with fish up to 80cm taken on soft plastics and live baits.

In the Maroochy River, with the temperature continuing to drop, a few different species are making their way out of hiding.

Bream are taking over the river system, with solid fish

On the offshore scene out of Noosa plenty of snapper have been boated from the North and Sunshine reefs.

Fishing the low light periods with a high tide has been the key, and don’t forget to set up a berley trail. Small cubes of pilchards and other flesh tossed into the water at regular intervals will create a berley trail and help to bring the fish on the bite and to the boat. The key here is to use small amounts, often in an effort to keep the fish interested rather than fed! Try fishing as light as possible and use baits around the same size as the berley cubes.

Sunshine Reef has had good numbers of juvenile snapper, sweetlip and still the odd trout. Pearl perch have been in good numbers around Chardons Reef along with cobia and mulloway.

Larger boats that made the run out to the Barwon Banks were rewarded with amberjack, snapper, gold band snapper, pearl perch, cobia, excellent quality Venus tuskfish, hussar and Maori cod. On the southern reefs Currimundi has been fishing outstandingly well, and this suits those anglers

River mouth all the way to Double Island Point.

Pilchards are by far the most popular bait, and the most successful anglers are the ones that are up early or

fishing into the night. Team this with an incoming tide and a decent gutter, and you are most definitely in with a chance. Remember the minimum size of 35cm and possession limit of 20 fish – this includes fish in the esky and at home!

Big bream are also on the menu with some great fish up to 35cm coming from the gutters. Mulloway are firing, with the new moon phase producing the better fish.

The best baits for mulloway have been fresh mullet slabs, large clumps of worms and local squid.

In the fresh water the bass are really starting to school up near the dam wall in both Lake Macdonald and Borumba, as their instincts drive them to head to brackish water to spawn.

When fishing these schools, patience is a virtue, as a lot of the time you have to annoy them into biting. Blades, ice jigs and soft plastics have all claimed good fish. There is a closed season for Australian bass in the river systems until 31 August.

Tight lines!

• Davo’s Tackle World has doubled in size recently and now stocks a huge range of sounders, electric motors, kayaks, outdoor clothing and a vast array of chandlery.

Drop into the premises at the Noosa Homemaker Centre on Mary St, Noosaville to see what’s new. There’s also a great range at Davo’s Northshore Bait & Tackle at Marcoola, along with plenty of helpful advice on where the fish are biting. For all the latest information log onto www.fishingnoosa.com.au for up to date bar and fishing reports, and remember tight lines and bent spines!

Craig Mullet fished down toward Pincushion Island at the mouth of the Maroochy River for a nice feed of tailor.

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Shimano have delivered anglers the ultimate backpack with the new feature packed Shimano Backpack.

Comfortable and functional, the Shimano Backpack leaves your hands free, which is especially useful when carrying rods and reels, or just tackling difficult terrain on the way to that next fishing spot.

This well-made and comfortable-towear fishing-friendly backpack holds a heap of fishing gear and comes with its own tackle boxes (4 trays in total) as well, making it an essential item for all keen anglers on the go. 25L in capacity and featuring classic Shimano styling, design and build quality this new award winning Shimano Backpack sets a new standard in tackle storage and portability.

Price: SRP $119.95 www.shimanofish.com.au

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The Z-Man 3” MinnowZ is a versatile and deadly 3” paddle tail that has accounted for many Aussie species.

Anglers told the Z-Man team they wanted a paddle tail with a shorter, slimmer profile, with the benefits of ElaZtech (10X Tough, super-soft and flexible with built-in buoyancy for maximum action at slow speeds and a lifelike tail-up action when at rest on the bottom).

The Slim SwimZ packs a lively, lifelike action in its little paddle tail; an action that attracts species not commonly associated with a 2.5” soft plastic.

Both bass and bream tournament anglers are excited with this release, but it will also appeal to anglers chasing yellowbelly, trout, redfin, saratoga, sooties and jungle perch in the fresh, and flathead, grunter, tarpon, giant herring, tuna and a myriad other species in the salt. It will also be a winner on species that often frustrate anglers with their preference for tiny baitfish. It comes in 12 colours with eight per pack.

Price: SRP $8.95 www.z-man.com.au

.95

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Tonic Polarised Eyewear released their special Blue Mirror Limited Edition almost a year ago. Available in the popular Evo and Shimmer frame styles, the Blue Mirror proved a bluewater hit and both models sold out in record time.

These lenses were specially developed for Australian anglers, and share their high-tech optics with all of Tonic’s growing range of lightweight polarised optical glass lenses.

Tonic founder Doug Phillips said they had been popular with fresh water anglers as well.

“Australia’s fishing and boating public have voted with their eyes so the Blue Mirror is now a permanent part of our range,” he said. “Look out for them this summer.”

All Tonic models incorporate the latest Japanese optical technology, including unique de-centred lenses for distortionfree viewing at any angle. The scratchresistant glass lenses are 30% lighter than regular glass and feature special polarising filter systems and anti-reflective coatings.

Price: SRP $259 www.toniceyewear.com.au

59

Z-MAN 2.5” SLIM SWIMZ

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Victorian based Aquayak kayaks are continually striving to offer a quality range of kayaks that are manufactured in Australia and offer a good mix of leisure and fishing based activities.

The Scout is 3m long and the bare hull weighs 19kg, making it perfect as an entry level kayak, but also as a smallwater specialist. Anyone wanting to chase sportfish inshore will love the Scout.

With a 150kg capacity, it can accommodate a variety of users, and also cope with the huge amount of gear anglers often like to carry.

The Scout comes with a variety of fit-out options, so be sure to have more of a look online, or check out the rest of the range!

Price: SRP $799 www.aquayak.com

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44

AQUAYAK SCOUT KAYAK

Samaki’s latest fishing shirt puts a new twist on the iconic Murray cod.

The Samaki Murray cod shirt features this iconic species in all its glory, with an electric blue design detail that enhances each and every feature – from the sharpness of the fins to the depths of the mouth. You can really see the detail in the flesh and the extensive layers of teeth inside that bucket mouth, as it opens wide to engulf a spinnerbait.

Like all Samaki fishing shirts, this lightweight, long-sleeve shirt is UPF50+ rated, and the soft-touch 100% polyester material is comfortable to wear all day.

It also has the added bonus of being breathable, keeping you cool and dry.

Adult sizes range from S to 3XL, and youth/kids sizes range from 2-14. Other species in the range include barramundi, snapper, giant trevally, coral trout, marlin, mulloway, mud crab and more.

Price: SRP $59.95 (adults), $49.95 (youth and kids) www.samaki.com.au

$

Following on from the original Deeper Fish Finder released last year is the new Deeper Pro+ Fish Finder.

This newest version from the Deeper range can be synced to your smart phone like the old one, only this one talks to your smart phone via WIFI signal, and works even when you don’t have mobile reception.

It can be cast on most standard PE lines, and in the process will automatically start mapping out the terrain of your chosen waterway, even if you’re land-based.

The Deeper is water activated, so it automatically turns on when it hits the water.

All you need to do is to download the Deeper App, which is free. The moment you have connection, the app will look like a fish finder, giving you depth, structure, fish, water temperature etc.

You can also use the GPS on your phone to mark waypoints, and save spots and map for future reference.

Price: SRP $449 www.buydeeper.com

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The MotorGuide Xi5 marks a key milestone in their history. It is a culmination of a renewed focus, and significant R&D investment, to design, engineer, and manufacture these best-in-class trolling motors.

The Xi5 is designed to exceed the expectations of today’s discriminating angler.

It’s engineered to be reliable every day and durable over the long haul. Unlike the it’s competition, it includes wireless technology right out of the box, allowing angler to command a precise motor and full steering control from anywhere in the boat.

The Xi5 comes with the world class Pinpoint GPS module, which allows you to focus on fishing while taking advantage of GPS functions like anchor, heading lock, route record and more.

All Xi5 come equipped with a hand-held wireless remote. A wireless foot control is also available. MotorGuide have made the Xi5 stealthy quiet and silky smooth. It comes in fresh and saltwater models.

Price: SRP from $1,614-$2,943 (saltwater), $,1700-$3,281 (freshwater) www.motorguide.com

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BFG BUSH CAMO REPEL

Our Repel gear is so effective at repelling mosquitoes and other biting insects that we figure our gear is not just limited to angling pursuits. Why not create a range that is perfectly suited to hunting, camping and bushwalking?

Enter the BFG Outdoors and our very own, unique Bush Camo pattern, totally generated using Australian bush flora and colourings.

The BFG Bush Camo range is available from X-Small to 5X-Large.

The entire Repel range has all the features of our current fabric (soft, cool, lightweight, durable and UPF50) but now when heading outdoors you’ll be repelling mosquitoes and other biting insects at the same time.

BFMaxflow REPEL infusion is a safe wellproven product with a new application system, its biodegradable, and independently tested and contains a Group 3A insecticide with A.P.V.M.A. approval.

The entire range is available on our website, as well as many other retail outlets.

Price: RRP $99.95 www.bigfishgear.com

14

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FATHERS DAY GUIDE

Global eyewear powerhouse Costa Del Mar has launched their much anticipated new range of 2017 frames and an extension of new colours in existing frame designs.

There’s now an additional six new frame styles available in Australia from Costa dealers, as well as three new colours across the existing Costa range!

The six new frame styles are aptly named, with the first new addition ‘Bloke’ perfectly reflecting the humorous Australian lifestyle.

The five other new frames include other locally inspired designs, Tasman Sea, Reefton, Kiwa, Cook and White Tip. One of Costa’s biggest qualities is their inherent ability to continue to push the boundaries in frame colour. Their Bio Resin frames now come available in four new colour ways, including two new brilliant Matte Teak finishes.

Costa has these new frames and colours in their glorious 580 lens technology, effectively blocking the harshest light waves in the visible spectrum, and enhancing the portions that help you see more clearly into the water.

Price: From $349 www.costadelmar.com.au

WILSON TACKLE STORAGE UNIT

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Wilson Fishing has developed a complete tackle storage unit that is transportable and allows you to keep everything organised, whether you’re at home or on the road.

Built around a lightweight and super strong aluminium frame, the Wilson Tackle Storage Unit is packed with storage options and features.

Able to store eight rods either rigged or unrigged, the unit also has three internal storage shelves and a top shelf/work bench. Two removable bags that can fit up to four standard tackle trays are also included.

A zippered front flap allows the unit to be closed up, keeping pests out. A mesh vent in the rear allows water vapour to escape, as we all know water leads to mould and rust.

Coming in a flat pack that makes this unit ideal for transportation in a car or boat, the Wilson Tackle Storage Unit can be easily assembled in a few minutes. It measures 105cm x 57cm x 47cm when set up, and folds down to 52cm x 42cm x 20cm.

Price: SRP $129.95 www.wilsonfishing.com

TiCA Gymir reels are crammed packed with many superb features and offer the angler an impressive reel at exceptional pricing.

The Gymir reels are available in five sizes from a 1500 for estuary and freshwater applications through to a 6000 size so they have most fishing scenarios covered.

They feature a high tensile strength body, aluminium alloy spool, solid aluminium bail wire, worm shaft drive system, one way clutch impact absorbent ball bearing, computer balanced rotor and six RRB rust resistant ball bearings.

The Gymir reels also feature a drag system with carbon drag washers and have drag ratings of 4kg for the 1500 size through to 10kg for the 6000 size, and offer an easy access oil inlet for easy maintenance.

These reels feel very smooth straight out of the box and are certainly worth a look.

Price: SRP from $99.95 www.jurofishing.com

DAIWA EMERALDAS 12 STREAM RATTLE

Daiwa Japan’s latest premium squid jig range is here! The Emeraldas Stream Rattle is truly unique and features many design innovations that make it the most one of effective jig available on the market today.

The Emeraldas Stream Rattle is a visual and action jig, its unique lifelike pattern design incorporated with a rattle system is designed to attract a squid by sight, sound and action.

Unique to this jig is the new gliding wing design.

Rather than traditional feathers on the jig, the Stream uses plastic wings. These wings allow the jig to glide smoothly when ripped and glide in current more naturally compared to a standard design.

By attaching the Agorig sinker to the keel eye the jig will glide slowly at a 30-45° angle, but when attached to an EG-Snap the lure will sink rapidly at a 75° angle. This is ideal for deep water or fast current situations.

Price: SRP from $18.95 www.daiwafishing.com.au AUGUST 2017

47

Winter weather turns it on for keen anglers HERVEY BAY

Dane Radosevic

The Fraser Coast has certainly been blessed with some incredible winter weather over the past month, with glorious glassed-out conditions from dawn to dusk. This makes for very enjoyable days out on the water. In addition to the great weather, the fishing throughout the bay and beyond has really turned it on for anglers with some awesome catches being reported.

quality box. The continental shelf is a great option at this time of year as many species migrate back down into the depths and large numbers of bait begin to congregate along it.

Boat anglers that ventured into the 100-300m range hauled in big pearlies, snapper, flametail and even a few bar cod. Deep water jigging is another great option at this time of year as large numbers of kingfish, amberjack and green jobfish stack up and gorge themselves on the masses of bait. Both flutter and knife

cod, sweetlip, tuskfish and nannygai all amongst the mix. The bigger tides brought on by the moon fired up the reds and these fish have been tempted by big cut baits fished adjacent to the ledges on the change of the tide.

Coral trout continue to be taken on plastics being ‘tea-bagged’ (hopped.) Jacks are biting best during the dark period with live baits proving best, however a well-presented pilchard or pencil squid will often be tempting enough. Anglers will be able to enjoy this

around and feeding up on the large congregations of yakka schools. Again, soft plastics and micro-jigs have been the techniques of choice to draw strikes.

Moving inshore – the local artificial reef continues to produce nice pan-size juvenile snapper, golden trevally, cod, the odd trout and blackall. For the best results on the ‘Artie,’ fish the low light periods when there is minimal boat traffic and disturbance around on the water.

For the bait fishos, pencil squid, mullet fillets and pilchards have been the go-to baits, fished on a running ball sinker rig.

Mulloway have made a great appearance throughout the bay and down the Straits, being located on most structures such as rocky outcrops, ledges and deeper holes.

A good supply of bait seems to be the key to finding

The author with a quality-size flametail which came from the depths while deep dropping the continental shelf off Fraser Island. majority of the flats on the western side of Fraser and down the Straits. These fish have made for great sport on light tackle for anglers casting small soft plastics or topwater lures.

The grey nomads are having a field day on

Fishermans Corner staff member Nathan Nitschinsk with a solid snapper taken from the island.

Some good news to start us off is that the fast growing shark population has begun to thin out for the season and ‘sharkings’ on both the inshore and offshore waters have decreased dramatically.

However, if you’re being terrorised by sharks, it’s best to kick the engines over and make a move, as you are not only feeding the sharks, but also wasting quality fish in that area.

Many anglers took full advantage of the perfect conditions experienced over the past month, with crews venturing across the Breaksea Spit and beyond.

Boats fishing the shallower country in the 50-60m range reported mixed bags of reef fish with tuskfish, snapper, hussar, red throat, gold-spot wrasse, sweetlip and red emperor all making up a

style jigs in the 150-400g range have been working.

The topwater pelagic action over the shallower reef patches and isolated bommies has been a little hit and miss – some anglers are coming home with donuts and others with memorable photos of quality GTs and high-flying Spanish mackerel. Larger model stickbaits and poppers around the 150-250mm size are ideal in these waters, just match your presentation to the size of the baitfish hanging around. For the heavy tackle specialists both blue and striped marlin have been tagged this month with fish to 400lb reported.

In the southern and northern gutter systems most anglers were rewarded for their efforts with some quality coral trout, red emperor, mangrove jack,

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AUGUST 2017

fantastic fishing for months to come yet.

It is evident that the snapper have shown up in relatively big numbers right throughout the bay, with some quality fish up to 8kg being taken. Regular haunts like the 25 Fathom Hole, Arch Cliffs Six-Mile and patches of rubble and coffee rock off Wathumba have been producing fish on both baits and artificial lures. Trolling deep diving hardbodies has been very effective and lures that dive down to the 7-8m mark produce the best results.

Lightly weighted soft plastics have been getting smashed on the drop. Jighead weight is very dependent on the conditions, however, fishing the lightest possible head giving the lure plenty of hang time in the snapper’s face will often produce the best results. Fishing with baits has also been rewarding for anglers wishing to anchor up.

Creating a berley trail is a great option for drawing fish in from afar and then slowly wafting a pilchard, winter whiting or pencil squid back down the trail proves to be too tempting for a big knobby. In the same areas, golden trevally, XOS cobia and mixed mackerel species have been prolific, hanging

Amberjack models of this size are common along the continental shelf and are great sport. good numbers of fish, with quality fish around the magic metre mark being captured.

Soft vibes and paddle-tail plastics have been producing good results.

Grunter are also in good numbers throughout the many local creek and river systems. Fishing the deeper holes adjacent to the bends of the systems on the run out tide has been rewarding anglers with fish to 60cm.

Flathead and bream have been prolific across the

the winter whiting, with most boats capturing their possession limit of 50 per person quite easily. The greatest numbers have come from the Gatakers Bay area.

Fish have also been caught wide of Dundowran and Toogoom and even as far north as Woodgate Beach.

Green toads have been a real problem in most of these areas, so be prepared to move around to escape them or risk losing a lot of hooks.

Baits of choice have been

peeled prawn, squid strips and pieces of sandworm.

The Urangan Pier continues to fish well for land-based anglers, producing quite a mixed bag. Flathead have been caught in good numbers on the run out tide for anglers flick baiting unweighted herring or pike along the edges of the sand bar in the first and second channel.

Bream numbers have increased dramatically and are readily taking freshly cubed pieces of herring or whole hardiheads.

Fishing at night has been producing some decently sized fish. Mulloway have also been a welcomed capture at night and have been caught on both live baits and big paddle-tail soft plastics.

At the end of the pier schools of mac tuna have been terrorising anglers casting flick baits and it’s common for a school of fish to come through causing chaos with multiple anglers hooked up. The bluefin tuna have started very slow this season with only the odd fish being caught. We should see a run towards the tail end of the season.

All in all it has been a great month of fishing, blessed with some incredible conditions and the foreseeable future looks very promising for another great month of fishing on the fantastic Fraser Coast.

The author giving his first striped marlin experience the thumbs up – an awesome fish and an epic battle.

Gearing up for tailor season at Fraser Island Phil James p_j_james@bigpond.com

Last month we looked at prospects for the Fraser Island tailor season.

Anticipation was somewhat clouded by the memory of the 2016 season, almost destroyed by the floating weed menace. I also reported that there had been some worrying recurrences this year, particularly around the Easter period.

News from along the beach is encouraging. Of course, periods of heavy swells in recent months haven’t helped at all. During the winter school holiday period reports of good fish were coming in from as far south as Dilli Village and at least as far north as the Maheno wreck.

Those of us who have been around for a few years have been privileged to be involved with almost unbelievable technological developments in equipment, tackle, watercraft and the inevitable techniques that do justice to these. In almost all types of fishing that I involve myself in, the pace of change is nothing short of incredible. For the Fraser Island tailor fishers, the changes have been slower,

but the pace is increasing in recent years.

Tailor fishing along Fraser Island’s ocean beach became particularly popular in the early to middle years of the last century when champion anglers like Len Thompson and Al Sanders of the Tweed Heads fishing club developed the tailor fishing techniques that, with little modification, remain the most successful method of targeting this fine sporting fish. I have done a few rough counts on popular beaches during the last decade and estimate that about 85% of anglers are using the same basic techniques developed by Thompson and his mates.

The outfit consists of a 3-4m surf casting rod, 6-7” side cast reel, 5-6kg mono, ganged 4/0 or 5/0 hooks. For a number of decades rods were fashioned from Rangoon cane, batches of which were brought into tackle outlets. The arrival of a batch would soon become known and keen anglers would be keen to select the best canes.

Those early canes were, by standards of the day, light and flexible enough for the purpose. Even a good cane would have a fairly short lifespan so anglers would be found removing runners and tips to be bound onto new canes. In those times, split cane

rods were also popular, but I don’t recall seeing too many made up as tailor rods. As rod development progressed, solid glass blanks appeared and these found their place among rods made up for light estuary fishing.

Eventually with the development of hollow glass blanks, a lighter and sufficiently strong rod could be made up to tailor fishing specifications, and many of these remain the mainstay of tailor rods today. Such rods have been produced to enable good casting and tip action in a reasonably light outfit. Of course, more recently we have seen the evolution of the blank using lighter and stronger Space Age materials.

The original tailor rods incorporated side cast reels.

Some of the original side casters were designed and built in the Thompson Engineering factory on the Gold Coast.

It wasn’t too long before the Alvey reel found its way onto the tailor fishing scene and this has continued until the present day. There would be more Alveys on the Fraser Island beach in tailor season than the total of all the others.

These days we see a few other reels making their presence felt, but often these are associated with totally different styles of fishing. I

Sea of red dominate RAINBOW BEACH

Ed Falconer

We have had a brilliant run of calm weather with lots of fishing and some great days on the water.

OFFSHORE Even though it’s been a very warm winter, it hasn’t stopped typical winter fishing. Pearl perch and snapper are again the species most often caught and both species are on fire.

Glassy calm oceans and big snapper – it doesn’t get much better than that.

The mighty red emperor is on most fisho’s bucket list, and these guys have been on the chew.

Red emperor have also made a good appearance, and big hussar baits are tricking these big guys.

Other fish on the chew are big cod, bucket

loads of Moses perch and tuskfish.

On quite a few days we have had some hot action on the longtail tuna by casting unweighted pilchards into a

berley trail great fun.

ON THE BEACH Good flathead are still being caught along the beach from the swimming area all the way to Double Island, and tailor have also been turning it on around Middle Rock.

LOOKING AHEAD August is another prime fishing month.

It’s definitely one of my favourites! We should see all reefies on the chew particularly pearl perch.

• To enjoy a day on the water with Keely Rose Fishing Charters phone Ed Falconer 0407 146 151 or visit www. keelyrosefishingcharters .com.au.

Tailor anglers fishing the beach on Fraser Island. wouldn’t take anything away from these other offerings but I will stick with that real Queenslander, the 6 1/2” 650B. The basics of the rig haven’t changed much since Thompson’s time. Essentially it consists of a gang of four 4/0 or 5/0 hooks and a metre of heavy 10kg trace connected to the main line by a good quality swivel. Thompson and his mates didn’t like using sinkers as they preferred to use the method referred to as bait spinning, where unweighted baits were cast into the school of feeding fish.

More often than not, an onshore breeze is going to necessitate the use of a sinker.

This can be placed somewhere along the trace, using an additional swivel to place it the required distance from the hook. If the sinker is too close to the hook, the bait is likely to bury in soft sand. Too far away and it can inhibit a good cast. The heavy trace serves two purposes. Firstly it makes it a little more difficult for the tailor to sever the line.

Secondly it is handy when dragging a fish up the beach.

The use of artificials in tailor fishing can be traced back to Thompson’s time and earlier when homemade metal lures were fashioned from a variety of materials.

Over the years we have been able to purchase a variety of metals like the favourite Wonder Wobblers and Tobys.

Today, metals like 65g and 85g Raiders and Knights do the job particularly well. Although it is possible to use these with traditional tailor outfits, a specialised distance casting rod teamed with a high speed spinning reel is the way to go.

It’s good to see many more anglers accepting the challenge of targeting tailor with a variety of plastics, hardbodies and poppers.

Of course, hungry tailor are capable of destroying many plastics with ease and you need to learn the hard way which are best to use, or not to use. It is fun finding out which colour is best, but it usually doesn’t matter too

much. Using conventional flyfishing equipment, there are quite a few enthusiasts testing their skills against tailor in inshore gutters.

Baits for tailor have seen quite a few changes since Len Thompson’s days. Sea garfish and blue pilchards were plentiful and readily netted or purchased. Sea gar were considered to be the very best bait for tailor, and today most serious anglers would agree.

Being a slender and firm fish, they fit nicely on a gang of hooks and can be worked easily in a lifelike manner.

Importantly it is often an important part of the tailor’s diet. Today sea gar continue to be used by keen anglers, but it is not always easily available from bait outlets. When frozen pilchards from Western Australia became available, and were reasonably priced, local blue pilchards started to disappear from the scene.

Having been snap frozen immediately after being netted, WA pilchards land here in good condition and they have become the most used tailor bait on the island.

A disadvantage is that they

are relatively soft and don’t keep well once thawed.

This property becomes an advantage once out there on a gang of hooks. Once attacked by a tailor, the broken remains serve to attract more fish into the area.

While sea gar and pilchards satisfy the requirements of conventional tailor fishing, the very best spawning greenback tailor find cut baits of horse mackerel and bonito irresistible. Specialist tailor anglers work the beaches throughout the night with much the same equipment that might be used during the day, but with the expectation that the fish they will come in touch with will be serious tailor up to or over 5kg.

In this column I hope I have shed some light on the development of equipment and baits over the years.

Finally a reminder that the headlands from Indian Head to Waddy Point and the beaches 400m either side are out of bounds for all fishing during this month (August) and September.

Here’s to a great Fraser Island tailor season.

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49

Winter species on the table throughout August BUNDABERG

Jason Medcalf topwater@bigpond.com

Water temperatures are still down and the species change has well and truly been locked in. The Burnett River has been very consistent over the past month and should really just improve as the cool August westerlies get a hold.

Bream are a main target in the river at this time of year and the Burnett never seems to disappoint those hardy souls that brave the cold winter nights. When I say ‘cold winter nights,’ we are blessed that a cold night in Bundaberg is 12°C and we don’t even get many of these.

The north wall is always a great place to target the winter bream and those that have invested in side image technology on their fish finders will really enjoy the benefits when they find the big schools that move along the wall. Fresh

flesh bait works well, as do live yabbies and fresh prawn baits. There are many anglers though that have own their favourites from mullet gut to chicken gut.

Each to their own.

Always make sure you have a few different varieties of bait, as bream can get fussy at times, even in big numbers. Flathead tend to start making an impact as well with spring around the corner and keen lure fishers can still get their fix fishing light tackle and hopping soft plastics or trolling small lures around the sand bar drop-offs.

Most species will tend to look for deeper water during the day in winter, as the water is clearer and harder to hunt in (and easier to get hunted). This means if you want to target some of the larger predators like mulloway, barra, salmon and even big winter jacks then you will need to spend time looking in the deeper holes and ledges.

Inshore the past month was a mixed bag with

Offshore has seen some sensational fishing with great captures of pretty much every species that lives on the reef.

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a great feed for the family.

Cobia in our area have been caught up to the 100lb mark, which is a monster. These are rarer these days with most fish around the 6-10kg range. There will also be the opportunity to put some nice table reef fish in the ice box with trout, sweetlip and hussar also around in numbers still.

Offshore has seen some sensational fishing with great captures of coral trout, large and small mouth nannygai, cod, tuskies and pretty much every other species that lives on the reef. With the recent great weather there have been a lot of anglers out exploring and fishing areas that haven’t seen fishing for a while.

This has resulted in some sensational fishing for those willing to put the hard yards in. August, other than the usual westerlies, should see a few more offshore opportunities.

Fingers crossed.

Mild winter keeps barra biting LAKE MONDURAN

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weather, but it should settle down a bit more in August with more consistent westerlies and those great glass out afternoons. The inshore wrecks seem to be alive with cobia and they should still be around this month, so get into them while they’re still here. Cobia will actually sit on the bottom around wrecks resting until they get disturbed and then the school will fire up and hunt in packs.

Jigging with metal jigs and soft plastics can fire them up and they are suckers for a live bait dropped down to them. Cobia look a lot like a shark when they come to the top and they can fight quickly. Once they see the boat it’s like they get woken up and then the battle begins again.

Cobia are great eating and are even referred to as the chicken of the sea by some. I don’t tend to eat the larger models, but if a 10kg model hits the deck, that’s

Rob Howell

We have had a mixture of wind directions from day-to-day over the last month, making it difficult to pinpoint grouped up barra. However, when the wind stabilises the bites come thick and fast.

Through the winter period we can normally expect water temps to get lower than 17ºC. These low water temps can be detrimental to the feeding patterns and survival of barramundi as they are a tropical/sub-tropical species. This year has been one of the mildest I can remember and the barra have been actively feeding all season due to water temps reaching no lower than 20ºC. This means their growth rate will be faster than normal.

It’s been encouraging to see more and more anglers seeking advice prior to arrival for this impoundment. It makes sense, and it could be the difference between finding, catching and boating fish or not even finding fish at all.

Here are some governing factors and questions that should be looked into before planning your Mondy expedition.

Firstly, keep an eye out on the previous weeks wind forecast prior to your arrival as this will give you a handful of windward points and bays to start your search. Also, have a look at

a Fisherman’s Almanac to see when bite times have been predicted throughout the month. These predicted bite times have proven to be very accurate.

Next, seek local knowledge on what lures have been working well.

There is no doubt that all barra lures will work at some point in time, but there is no doubt that different lure sizes, colours, swimming actions, plastics and hardbodies can vary in performance at different stages of the year.

Lastly, if you are a firsttimer on the lake or you have been here before and had little success, and would

really like to learn how to fish this lake with confidence, booking a guide at the start of your fishing trip can prove priceless. Monduran has a few nicknames, one being ‘The lake of a thousand casts’, as the sheer size of the lake can seem daunting to a lesser experienced angler. By obtaining a guide’s knowledge you will realise that this saying is very misleading and there is no reason to throw a lure a thousand times before getting a barra in your boat.

A guide will teach you where to find feeding barra and explain why they are there, show you what lures and retrieval techniques have

been working best at the time, explain to you what times throughout the day are best to target these fish along with showing many other tricks of the trade.

• Our staff and I look forward to seeing you here at Lake M for what should be an awesome season ahead. If you require any info regarding camping, caravaning or accommodation please contact our helpful staff on 07 4157 3881 or email us at info@lakem.com.au For fishing info you can contact me on 0410 599 147 or check out my facebook page Lake Monduran Guidelines Fishing Charters.

Gavin Swan caught this awesome jack night fishing at Jacobs Well.

Good fish, good weather and some good times ROCKHAMPTON

Clayton Nicholls clay94_fishing@live.com.au

Over the last few weeks there have been some great opportunities for anyone chasing a decent bit of fishing. The weather has provided a lot of opportunities for fishing around the Keppel Group.

The barra fishing in the Fitzroy keeps getting better and better, the river is also producing a decent amount of other species. Out along the Capricorn Coast you can expect a good variety of species from queenies to jewies.

THE FITZROY The river has been going strong as usual. One of the better species to target lately

The author with a few good squid taken at North Keppel.

has been blue salmon. They have been sitting in roughly 6m of water schooled up around structure. They have been relatively easy to target using medium sized plastics and soft vibes.

The barra and threadies have been a little slower to the take than normal due to the temperature drop. A slower more doughy action is required, a lot of short strikes can be turned into fish if the lure is worked a fraction slower. There have been some great results recently from lures such as the large ZMan SwimmerZ, 120mm soft vibes and 100mm deep diver,s like the Rapala X-Rap 10 deep.

The top spots have been the gravel patches near the south side boat ramp, Devils Elbow and the rocky outcrops at Port Alma.

INSHORE REGIONS Keppel Bay has provided some great fishing opportunities lately, from mackerel and GTs, to squid and coral trout.

There have been a lot of jewfish on the reefs and wrecks up north of Yeppoon, like the Corio Bay barge wreck. Good-sized trout have been caught at the Keppel Group on the shallow reef areas, and 5” soft plastics have been doing the trick.

The squid have been holding around the Keppels

Jesse has been getting some nice jacks in the estuaries. and will pick up with the next full moon. The killer jigs lately have been the Yamashita Warm Jacket and the Molix Egi jig. The islands have had some great bait fishing activity with many large schools holding over rises and little structure point.

ESTUARIES The estuarine regions have been fishing very well for almost every species. This time of year the bream have moved quite well and the flathead will be more active in a few weeks. There is a good deal of baitfish activity around at the moment, especially on the flats around small structure. All it takes is an odd rock to hold a decent amount of bait, which in turn may be attracting anything

bars, some medium running hardbody lures have produced a great number of whiting and bream.

CRABBING Crabs have been going well with many captures of big bucks around the Narrows and Curtis Island. Left over reef frames make great crab pot bait. GPS tagging your pots can work very well. It’s easy to get the pots afterwards, plus you can save the good marks and start working out patterns to further improve your crabbing success.

Fish light, get the bite.

from a bream to a barra at the moment.

Fishing the pressure points formed by rock bars and trees around the estuaries have been fantastic to pull grunter, cod and flathead.

On the drops near the rock

Reece with a solid snapper taken near Pumpkin Passage.

Anglers loving beaut catches STANAGE BAY

Von Ireland

Welcome to Stanage Bay, the Dukes, Percy Isles and the 60 odd surrounding islands and beaches. As per usual I will begin the report with the Stanage Bay Road. Up until this morning the road was good with a small amount of corrugation starting after Couti Outi Cattle Property.

The dust is prevalent so beware if following someone. Slow down and put your lights on, and drive to the prevailing condition of the road. The estuary has been giving up some monster muddies to the lads who have been lucky. Their pots were set in all the right places and they were good pots with good bait and good sets.

Well done, fellas. While the quantity was not there, the quality was.

Fishing the Thirsty Sound has been on the improve with barra frolicking and boofing in the closer creeks. The 40cm bream are starting to be hooked along with blue salmon. Flat salmon

take on the appearance of tailor, only flat salmon don’t have teeth and aren’t quite as fat. They are good quality eating fish when filleted. Not all islands and marks work, however

sharing the giant monster.

A few little tips for the boats not catching: the skipper needs to make sure the crew has their rigs getting to the bottom and staying there, if bottom fishing. Make sure the

fish, just like our monster mud crabs. If you have to measure it then throw it back until next time.

The Gillchrist crew had a good time staying in Pacific Villa and the Wells crew had an equally fun time in Pacific Oasis.

For a good break from the real life, visit Stanage Bay, and bring your clothes and boat. The rest is here at a reasonable price. The well-stocked tackle shop obviously sells bait, ice and tackle along with camping gear. Ice is made locally, so why carry the extra weight?

More of the monster crabs that the Thirsty Sound is famous for.

An awesome coral trout and a happy angler. when the fish decide to chew, they do.

Beaut catches of red emperor, sweetlip, nannygai, cod, snapper and Spanish mackerel are adorning the ice boxes.

Many kind thanks to Noel Kime for weighing in his record-breaking Spanno.

It’s a shame the camera and scales broke, so there’s no

bait is cut up and ready for the bite session. Whether you are drifting or anchoring and berleying, this can be of great assistance.

Be ready for the unexpected. The smaller and undersize fish maybe good bait, but please refrain from using them.

These small fish, if thrown back, grow into large legal

Fantastic reef fish are a given at Stanage.

• Why use extra fuel to get here with the weight?

Do a deal with me to get the best price on your bait and ice and buy it in bulk. Specify if you require consumable bait like mullet, mullet fillets, prawns, garfish and pipis.

I can buy the best, which I normally always do.

If you want cheaper and have to stick to a budget, I can get non-consumable/ cheaper bait. It’s a quick phone call or email to sort your bait, ice, accommodation or information in general, on (07) 4937 3145.

AUGUST 2017

51

Barra are starting to pick up YEPPOON

Scott Lynch ifishcq2@bigpond.com

The annual cobia plague is in full swing, with plenty of cobia ranging from around 5kg right up to 30kg in places within an hour or so from the harbour. We have more trouble getting past them to the more favoured reefies and Spanish mackerel.

Cobia will take lures or wellpresented fish baits and the usual dead baits of pillies and squid.

What I find amazing is the schools come right to the back of the boat following a hooked fish and they stop at all our other baits to check them out. They will play with a pilly that isn’t quite straight or natural looking, and grab a lump of chewed flesh without hesitation.

Usually the schools are of similar sized fish, so you can move to another nearby spot to find a size that suits. I prefer the 5-6kg models that fit flat in the esky, rather than the trophy-sized fish. After you have caught a couple of the big fellas you don’t want to see another one for a

while. Cobia, black king, or whatever you call them, are very good eating.

They are shunned by most people, because they struggle with the size of the fish and cleaning them is a bit hard the first time. They are slimy

rocky outcrops and headlands from Yeppoon north are a great starting point. In places like Corio Heads you can possibly land a serious trophy fish.

There are a number of spots around the Keppels including Wreck Beach and the big

Tracy Chelepy from Team Chasin Tales at the last WTF Classic. and a bit difficult to hold. My mate Roger hits them with a hose and a rag to get rid of all the slime before filleting begins. This makes them much more manageable and keeps the slime away from the good flesh.

Queenfish are charging along the coast right now. The

cats loading area where they school almost all year round.

Queenies love poppers, chromies and stickbaits.

There are lots of schools of hardiheads around the islands, so we try to make our lure selection close to a hardihead size. Vary your retrieve if you don’t get a strike in the first

cast or two. Sometimes you have to really crank them back and other times an erratic jerky retrieve will be their undoing.

Spanish, doggies, greys and the odd spotty are going reasonably well at the moment in the bay on the clean days and around the outer islands and closer reef patches.

There have been quite a few reports of small black and blue marlin in the local area lately. They follow the schools of baitfish like rainbow runners into fairly shallow waters. The majority of reports have come from the area around Greasy Alley and the scad grounds. All the redfish, coral trout, parrot and sweetlip are in fine form and are getting caught at many of the closer spots right near the islands this month.

The Fitzroy River is clearing up nicely and all the species that moved downstream after the last big rain event in June have started moving right back towards town. Barramundi and salmon didn’t go far, but the grunter, black jewfish and bream all went down the cleaner areas.

This month there should be a few quality grunter at Devils Elbow and the stretch down from Nerimbera to the Pirates Point cut-through.

Blake Burgess with an acrobatic 55cm tarpon caught in Corio Bay. up considerably in the town reaches. The catches lately have all been large fish up around the metre mark.

Hardbodies and vibes have had equal billing for the lure guys. Watch your sounder to locate the fish, as they have been moving into the warmer, shallower water around the rocks at different stages of the tide before moving back down to the deeper holes with the more constant temperatures.

The young blokes fishing along the banks in town are

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Mark Sheen with a serious wild saltwater barra he caught during the Corio Classic on a Happy Rock Big Willy.

Once the grunter move upstream there is also a good chance of capturing a large black jewfish or two among them. The deeper holes that give the fish a chance to get out of the hard run are the best. Grunter will sit between the ridges of the undulating bottom and wait for a feed.

King salmon have spread out through a lot of areas in the river and will school up again later in the year.

At this time of year they will be mostly working the mud banks and eddies. I have mentioned this plenty of times over the years that they leave dints in the mud from their nose as they are trying to get small crabs from their holes.

These are visible at low tide, so it makes good sense that the fish will be working the same area or similar areas on other banks when this one has no little critters left.

Barramundi are picking

scoring their share of fish on live bony bream caught in the ponds around Rocky.

Remember, cast nets and drag nets are not allowed in the freshwater. When the westerly winds are annoying everywhere else, there are lots of spots in the Fitzroy River that are quite fishable to give you other options.

WOMEN THAT FISH In 2012, a group of dedicated women established Queensland’s first-ever Women’s Saltwater Barramundi Fishing Tournament and have continued to passionately promote and nurture this competition. It is the Committee’s vision to see the Women That Fish becoming the first and most prestigious women’s 18-years-and-over barra lure competition along the east coast of Australia.

WTF was founded in 2012 as a not-for-profit organization by

Shara VanHaeren for ladies 18 years and over.

WTF aims to empower women and build their confidence on the water as well as provide an amazing friendly atmosphere for all to enjoy. The competition is being held this year on the Fitzroy River, Rockhampton from 29-30 September.

The briefing night is on 28 September and presentations are on 30 September at the Riverside Tourist Park. If you’re interested, contact Shara VanHaeren via womenthatfish2012@hotmail. com, or check out the Facebook and Instagram pages. WTF – Women That Fish has a focus on empowering women and encouraging women in the world of angling.

This women-only event has a strong focus on safety and environmental sustainability including catch and release philosophies. This year we are introducing tagging barramundi with the help of Infofish Australia. Being into our 6th year, a group of dedicated women have promoted and established an annual, premier women’s only barramundi fishing tournament in Queensland. The numbers of female anglers are steadily increasing and this has been evident from the number of competitors nominating, rising from 20 to 40 anglers and male skippers from 4 to 12 last year.

We are predicting up to 60 lady anglers this year. They have caught and released many fish, varying from 30-100cm in length over the past five years, with some quality photos of the angler and barra.

The WTF – Women That Fish Barra Classic will surely give you a feel for the genuine fun, friendship and fishing our tournament offers competitors and sponsors alike. This is a unique opportunity for the Rockhampton region and surrounding areas to showcase a great event, which has already attracted wide interest from as far afield as Darwin, Cairns and northern New South Wales.

Long-awaited cool, calm days GLADSTONE

Liam Jones

It has been long awaited, but we have finally had some traditional winter weather – cool, calm days with that slight westerly breeze. I think just about every man and his dog got out over the first week of July. It’s the first week of 10 knot winds we have had in a long, long time. Hopefully it continues in spring!

Mixed reports came through with some saying the fish were chewing their heads off and others saying they struggled. The one noticeable thing was the amount of coral trout landed. Every person I

on. They are one of the worst species for barotrauma.

By far the best bait when targeting black jewfish is big, fresh squid! Either catch your own or call around your local tackle stores and see if they stock local squid. It’s pretty

as first thought! They’re not massive, but they are there, which is the main thing. Local lure maker Trevor Burgess landed five for a session recently with the average size being around 700g.

Big grunter are still

Trent Hall with one of the many Spanish landed during a hot bite in the recent good weather. showing up throughout South Trees, Colosseum and the Narrows. Big fresh banana prawns would be the pick of the baits at the moment. For some fun, try some soft vibes or slow pitch jigs if they’re holding in deeper water.

my father Les and brothers Cameron and Brandon Gillett.

At about 4.30am we arrived at the area of interest. It wasn’t until 6am that we found enough structure with good shows worthy of dropping a bait. We had found a few isolated bommies earlier that we marked, but at that time it wasn’t worth having a drop.

On the first drop three of us had our rods bending over the gunnel. I was feeling the trademark thumping of a red, but I didn’t want to make the call on the first drop. After a 60m battle, just as the sun was coming up, that beautiful red colour started appearing from below the boat. I had a nice school-sized red, the father had one of a similar size and Cameron caught a solid Maori cod.

By this time there’s next to no wind and minimal run, so over the side again we all went. Another two solid reds came from that drift before we upped the lines and set the drift again. This time, on goes the

Amaya Gutierrez needed a little help from her uncle Mark Buckley to land this 10kg black jewfish – not a bad first fish! another few reds and a couple of trout before the tide turned and the fish slowed down.

Steve landed this solid bar cheek on a 60g Yakamito spirit jig. spoke to said they caught good trout. This is normally the time of year the trout slow up, but they certainly weren’t slow throughout July.

Spanish mackerel have started showing up in good numbers at all the usual haunts. Rundle Island, Outer Rock, Leachies Shoal and the Twelve-Mile area are all producing fish. Once again, the standout baits are wolf herring and locally caught gar, if you can get your hands on them!

Large-mouth nannygai are still thick for those heading north around Cape Cap, the Pinnacles and further out in the gutters. Thrown in amongst these have been some big black jewfish landed, which is great to see. These things don’t

hard to beat it if it’s local and fresh!

In the estuaries there are still barra being caught for those that put in the time and effort. As the weather cools, expect the fish to start moving out into the harbour and deeper holes throughout the Boyne, Calliope and South Trees Inlet. There haven’t been too many reports coming from the hot water outlet but I expect them to start showing up once we have some more cooler weather. With the hot water outlet the trick is big baits for the big fish! Happy Rock Softies Big Willies, Castaic 7” Jerky J Swims and Lunker City 7” and 9” paddle-tails are my pick of lures.

Surprisingly there are still

Not a bad first drop for the morning.

Blue salmon are still schooling in just about every estuary in the region. I’ve had good reports come from the Boyne, Calliope, South Trees and all throughout the harbour and Narrows. Expect these guys to hang around well into November and

big baits hoping for that 10kg+ fish that everyone wants when it comes to reds.

We had another two reds and another Maori coming over the side, but still no 10kg+ fish. Another drift was lined up and this time I tried a cuttlefish head. – I hooked up solid. I

We then went back and tried a few of the other marks. We found a few lipper, trout and other bits and pieces coming aboard at a pretty slow rate.

We then decided to go to plastics and slow pitch jigs to see if we could raise a few more trout.

Trout, lipper, tuskfish and Maori cod continued

coming on board for the next few hours. Two jigs stood out above the rest – the Palms Slow Blatt Oval and the Yakamito Spirit, both in 60g.

All the trout caught on jigs were a decent size, although we probably lost just as many as we caught.

This is all a part of the process when fishing with PE 1.5, three rods and 30lb braid, I guess. Once the tide turned and began coming back in, we topped up the esky with a few more reds before it was time to head home.

Heading home at 30 knots with a full esky, flat seas and few beers is pretty hard to beat. Let’s just hope we get a bit more of it in future.

• For more information on what’s biting, or to stock up with all the tackle and bait you need, drop into LJ’s Compleat Angler Gladstone at the Gladstone Marina on Bryan Jordan Drive. You can also check out the latest news, photos and specials at Facebook Compleat Angler Gladstone.

FISHING EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME! Brandon Gillett with a nice trout taken on a 60g Palms Slow Blatt.

This big red couldn’t say no to a wellpresented cuttlefish head. release too well, so if you do happen to get onto a school, catch your limit then move

fish popping up in the dam, which is great to see. Maybe we didn’t lose as many fish

even December.

With the good weather I finally managed to get out and have a look at some country I’d been looking at for quite some time. The plan was leave the ramp at 2am to give us enough time to sound the area and hopefully locate some structure and fish the incoming tide until high, which was at 7am. Along for the trip was

gained a few metres, lost a few metres and got him up! When that red shadow appeared from the deep, I could see it was a good one. It was 11.9kg!

At the same time I looked over to see Cameron had one pushing the 10kg mark and Dad and Brandon both had solid tomato cod.

After a quick pic we went for another drift. We caught

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Unseasonably warm weather keeps fish active MACKAY

Keith Day habdays@bigpond.net.au

Recently everyone around here is wondering if we are ever going to get some winter weather. So far, apart from two days, the weather has been very balmy with day temperatures in the mid 20s and night time getting down to mid teens. We have even been blessed with some absolutely stunning days with variable winds around 5 knots and clear

blue skies. It doesn’t get much better!

The kind weather has allowed plenty of offshore fishing, even for the small tinnie anglers, as there are plenty of spots offshore within reach of a decent 4-4.5m boat. A check at the ramps shows that anglers are making the most of the weather with trailers lining the streets and every available parking spot.

During the cooler months the main offshore targets, apart from the usual reef fish, include snapper on their migration

Troy Taylor loves nothing more than finding isolated rocky and reef areas and tossing big poppers for trevally.

54

AUGUST 2017

to spawn, black jewfish and Spanish mackerel. There are also pelagics like mega queenfish, various trevally species, cobia and the odd tuna fish available.

August is normally a really good month for Spanish mackerel and they will come right in along the harbour walls if the weather is calm enough and the bait schools move in. Land-based anglers land some good fish up to around 15kg off the rockwalls and live baits like pike garfish or herring are popular. Really, any small (legal) fish will do for a livie off the walls.

Lure anglers generally use quite big lures and plenty of flash is a strong attraction for Spaniards. Try large metal lures with big single hooks. Large plastics work well too. You need to rig a stinger treble/hook near the tail, as Spanish are masters at the chop-off millimetres behind the hook! Make sure your hooks are razor sharp too.

Heading offshore, the nearest spots for Spanish are around Slade Island just off the harbour where the go is to fish the run-through areas on the eastern side of the island. Care is needed here as the rocks extend out to the marker buoy and the hot tip here is to use live gar if you can get them.

Plenty of Spanish are caught here by anglers trolling gar or floating out pilchards on ganged hooks.

Further afield, Danger Reef and the southeastern corner of Round Top Island present opportunities for Spaniards in the current lines. At Round Top the water is relatively deep, so this is a pretty good place to float down a ribbonfish with enough weight to take it down deeper.

Heading further offshore, the areas around Prudhoe Island east of the harbour are worth checking out. The north and south Overfall rocks are prime spots for Spanish as well as a top spot for black jewfish around the full moon. Prudhoe is stretching it for a 4.5m boat, but a couple travelling together on a good day won’t have any problems.

From there out though, is the territory for larger trailer boats chasing Spanish mackerel. The Keswick, Wigton and Goldsmith islands area are well known for Spanish macks and Siloth Rock is another hotspot. All these areas are well marked on marine charts, which also give depths and those depth changes can be the spot to target. A good sounder is essential to pick up bait schools and Spanish macks show up well on quality

Winter is jewfish time in Mackay and there are plenty of great fish to be caught right in Mackay Harbour around the full moon. sounders (is there any other type around these days with the advances in marine electronics?)

Black jewfish are primarily a winter catch here and apart from the Overfalls already mentioned, they can be found much closer to Mackay – in the harbour, in fact. The prime times are around the full moon. Small tinnies and rock wall anglers

to get tangled around on a jewie’s strong runs.

Nearby black jewfish frequent the areas around Hay Point and some old wrecks down off Grasstree Beach to the south. Heading north they are often found around Green Island, Cape Hillsborough and up around Newry Island. All these spots can be easily reached by 4m tinnies, and again,

Dave Frazer took advantage of calm conditions to scoot up near Brampton Island and picked up this beautifully-marked trout on a bottom rig while drifting over some reef. chase them around the end of the southern wall with either live baits or whole squid, preferably fresh. Standard bottom rigging outfits work fine and heavy handlines are probably still the most favoured outfit here. This is a sensible option, as there will be plenty of boats, anchor ropes and other lines

live baits or whole squid seem the most reliable.

The snapper season is in full swing and there have been good catches out from Cape Palmerston, around Hay Point and the islands out from the river mouth.

A few stragglers are also caught along the harbour walls, usually by anglers

chasing other species like black jewfish.

Standard bottom bouncing rigs will catch plenty of snapper. With our strong tidal runs, plenty of weight is usually needed.

Snapper will take a variety of baits from strip baits to whole squid and even large green prawns. On good weather days, they are accessible from a 4m tinnie, so they represent a great opportunity to get among solid good-eating fish that are a favourite to cook on the BBQ. The spots highlighted this month are all fairly easy to get to, but a visit to one of the local tackle shops and a few purchases will get you the latest up-todate info on the where and how to catch these species.

As always, the tackle shop staff are very helpful and ever-ready to assist genuine enquiries. They have the good oil, so use them as much as possible.

As usual, Mackay fishing in August is not just about the above species.

There is plenty of action in the creeks and rivers and some activity along the beaches. Crabbing is also usually on the up and up during August, although with the unseasonal weather we have been having so far this winter, anything could happen. Everything from whiting to barra are still on the chew and I noticed some wattle trees starting to flower recently – that’s usually a good sign for some top grunter fishing.

With the unusual weather patterns over the last month or so, it’s difficult to predict just what is likely to happen during August. Rest assured, whatever the weather gods throw our way, Mackay always has plenty of angling options available for both land-based and boat anglers.

See you at the ramp.

Net Free Zones create a recreational fishing haven GLADSTONE

Luke Galea

The St Helens to Cape Hillsborough Net Free Zone (NFZ) is one of three NFZs that were implemented in Queensland on 1 November, 2015 (others being in Cairns and Rockhampton). This was an election promise of the currently elected State Government.

By way of definition, a NFZ is an area closed to commercial gillnetting, therefore creating a recreational fishing haven, enhancing fish stocks and biodiversity, which in turn attracts tourists and boosts

realised that if our NFZ got up in Parliament we would need to undertake a data collection survey within our NFZ. If we were ever questioned in future years by government sectors or politicians as to whether these zones were working or by those wanting to revoke them, we needed to have the proof and quantification there in black and white to back it up. This data also significantly aids other regions looking to establish their own NFZs. MRFA volunteers have literally given hundreds of hours of their time to capture this data which involved sitting down at key boat ramps within

Better fishing equals happy anglers in the area.

The St Helens to Cape Hillsborough Net Free Zone is one of three NFZs currently in Queensland the local economy. The NFZ occupies an area of 147km2.

Mackay Recreational Fishers Alliance (MRFA) were the proponents behind this NFZ. It took almost fifteen years of lobbying and hard work by a small handful of dedicated volunteers to get it over the line. These committee members worked selflessly and amidst much adversity to get the NFZ delivered so that the community and their kids can enjoy the fishing and the positive flow-on economic effects these zones are bringing to the entire region.

You can bet your bottom dollar that it is having nothing other than a positive impact on local Mackay fishing tackle stores, motels/ parks, service stations and restaurants. In addition, two fishing charter operations have also commenced operating with the NFZ since its establishment.

The word around the region is that fish numbers and sizes are increasing, but this is all circumstantial if you don’t have the cold, hard evidence to back it up – the proof to appease the non-believers if you will.

It was roughly two years ago when we (MRFA)

the NFZ handing out data catch survey forms to those who were going fishing (citizen science).

Three data surveys have been captured to date.

These three surveys have

not one-off snapshots. They were extensive, thorough and incorporated 1350 hours, 1540 hours and 1485 hours of fishing effort respectively.

As expected, the October 2015 survey painted a very poor picture for local fish stocks within the St Helens to Cape Hillsborough NFZ. Results obtained during February to April 2016 (six months after NFZ implementation) showed significant improvement.

However, given the fact this is comparing pre and post wet season monitoring, you would assume this to be different. This is the reason why the monitoring

was then undertaken again at the same time of year (February to April 2017) this year so that we could compare trends associated with sampling at the same time of year, each year, including wet season, fish migratory patterns etc. This therefore compares apples with apples.

Surprise, surprise – what a positive difference 12 months can make.

MRFA have no plans to stop here. Monitoring will be undertaken every year for the next five or more years until such a time that even the sceptics will see the positive difference the Mackay NFZ is having on fish numbers.

You see, it appears we have to clearly spell it out to some people before they believe, politicians included.

Honestly, what did they think would happen?

MRFA are kicking some serious goals and carrying the can for the region. The positive trends obtained thus far in the data present such a good news story for the quantification of the St Helens to Cape Hillsborough Net Free Zone. It lays a solid foundation for the potential of further NFZs in the future and hopefully once this data gets out across the state and the nation, no political party would dare revoke these zones in the future.

Mackay Regional Council has recently released their Recreational Fishing Strategy that is built off the back of the NFZ and fosters overwhelming support for it.

Do not underestimate the positive difference just a few dedicated, like-minded and passionate recreational fishers can have on the future of your local fishery. We just need to band together and put in the hard yards to have our collective voice heard.

This is the only way to enact change for the better.

Well, here is the data.

I will let you draw your own conclusions, but to say we are elated with the findings is a massive understatement. Oh, and spread the word. Enjoy!

taken place during October 2015 (one month prior to NFZ implementation), during February to April 2016 and most recently during February to April 2017. These surveys were

Data shows continuing increases in the number of fish caught since the Net Free Zone came into effect.

It now takes less time to land a legal fish within the Net Free Zone.

The author is from the Mackay Recreational Fishing Alliance and is just one of the many volunteers working behind the scenes.

SUMMARY OF DATA FROM THE THREE SURVEYS SURVEYS ONE TWO THREE Catch Trips............................83........................... 92................................108 No Catch Trips......................12............................1................................. 2 Total Trips..............................95............................93............................... 110 Fishing Days.........................21............................52................................ 54 Fisher Days...........................230..........................242..............................214 Fishing Hours.......................1348.67.................. 1541.83........................1485.17 Fish Caught..........................553......................... 563...............................939 Fish Kept..............................116.......................... 249............................... 343 Fish Legal.............................177..........................339.............................. 598 Fish Caught/Std Trip.............6.09.........................6.48.............................9.61 Fish Kept/Std Trip.................1.23.........................2.61............................. 3.46 % Legal................................32.01.......................60.21........................... 63.68 Hours/Legal Fish..................7.62..........................4.55............................. 2.48 AUGUST 2017

55

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Chris Anderson from Thug Lures dominated the awards and scored plenty of sales with their limited edition baits.

The Best Ornamental Lure was won by their ‘Harro Bug’, a tribute to the legendary Rod Harrison. The monster topwater

paddler featured an image of a young Rod Harrison on the body and a sunset fishing scene on the bib.

“I grew up with Harro in the magazines, on TV programs and I thought it was a good idea to combine the younger Harro

with a cod scene on one side and barra scales on the back,” said Thug’s Chris Anderson.

It’s a wonderful show of respect to one of the legends of Australian sportsfishing.

As well as the Best Presented Stand Award, Thug took out the Best Bladed Bait award for their ‘Swagga’.

“It was an idea that Kimmo had, and basically an hour later we knocked up the moulds. It’s like a tailspinner, but not a tailspinner,” Chris continued.

Sam Cunsolo from Solo Lures made the winning bait in the Best Bibbed Lure section. The Solo ‘Swagger’ is not to be confused with Thug’s ‘Swagga’ and retails for around the $60 mark.

“It was designed to work the

shallows in Mulwala. It’s buoyant so you can work it around the shallow snags and it’s designed to not have

much drag on the lure so that you can fish it all day and not be fatigued,” Sam said in the winner’s interview.

TENT CON RA

HALL OF FAME AWARD

Paul Kneller and Rex Hunt were inducted into the Lure Show Hall of Fame.

FLY TYING CHAMPION Allfly Outfitters’ Shaun Ash knocked up the winning fly on-site at the Show – as are the rules of that section. His ‘Pack Rat’ is an innovative use of multiple materials, including a reversed and offset foam head to create a lot of wake as the rat struggles through the water.

We’re sure that there are plenty of cod that will be suckered into this imitation.

Thug Lures ‘Swagga’.

BEST BLADED METAL LURE

Thug Lures ‘Harro Bug’.

T

BEST ORNAMENTAL PIECE

BEST PRESENTED STAND

Q

Each year, the talent on display at the Australian Lure and Fly Expo – affectionately called The Lure Show – seems to multiply. Lure makers and fly tyers submit their creations, which are voted on by their peers and awards are given at a presentation dinner on the Saturday night.

Fishing Monthly caught up with the winners to show you the prize-winning lures.

You can also scan the QR code hereby to see the interviews with the winners.

THUG LURES Kimmo Baldwin and

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Lure Expo Award winners impress in 2017

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Lure Fly & Outdoors

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The Australian

Shaun Ash ‘Pack Rat’.

BEST TOP WATER / SURFACE / WAKE BAIT Barambah’s Matt Fraser has been kicking goals with his lizard-themed jointed cod wake baits, with his premium blue tongue pieces of art fetching over $300. You’ll need to double-check your knots while fishing that one.

His Baby Barambah

Dragon, however (at around $130) was the entry into the Best Topwater/Surface/Wake Bait and it won the most votes. At 38g and around 19cm long, it’s the baby of the series, but will attract the attention of cod far and wide.

BEST BIBBED DIVING LURE Barambah Lures ‘Baby Dragon’.

Solo Lures ‘Swagger’.

BEST BLUE WATER LURE

Lively Lures ‘Slick Stick’.

Recognising the need for a well priced, castable saltwater stickbait, Al Dolan entered the ‘Slick Stick’ into the Best Bluewater Lure category.

“This is my first foray into a stickbait making and it’s designed for GT, mackerel and trout around 58

AUGUST 2017

the reef edges,” said Al. There’s a lot that goes into getting a product like this through to the public and it was great to see Al win the award.

You can get one online for around $30 from the Lively Lures online store.

Blair Chilton is another maker who blurs the lines between lure maker and artist. His wooden swimsuits not only look that part, but suspend and swim like they were made by a meticulous craftsman – which they are.

BEST SWIM BAIT His ‘Norman’ multijointed swimsuit won the Best Swimbait category and will cost you around $150 to add to the collection.

They all sold out at the show.

Chilton Tackle Co ‘Neville’.

Burdekin bream bite AYR

Steve Farmer

Burdekin anglers haven’t enjoyed a fishing-friendly winter so far this year with strong winds and the occasional drizzly weather making life on the ocean waves uncomfortable at best.

But really, we shouldn’t be surprised. While we might fondly remember those glorious winter days when the skies are blue and the seas oily calm, the reality is those periods are few and far between. The winter months are more likely to produce howling southeasterlies and rough seas.

anglers. Luring for bream isn’t a big pastime or business in North Queensland like it is in the southeast corner.

Very few northerners actively target bream with lures, probably because the bream and the northern mangrove jack share the same territory, with the jacks more numerous in the north than in southern waters. Lob a bream lure on a 3kg outfit into jack territory and, sooner rather than later, it ain’t gonna end well.

Mind you, bream do feed across the flats and it’s here that you have a chance of landing one on a lure and light tackle.

Catch one and it’s worth firing your lure back into the same spot as quickly as possible.

temperatures and lighter winds. It’s also a month that offers estuary and bluewater anglers a mixture of summer and winter species. In short, August can be an ideal time to wet a line in North Queensland.

Barramundi catches throughout the Burdekin should start to improve slightly as the weather begins to warm up. Now is certainly the time to tune up the tackle and take a few exploratory trips in anticipation of the warmer months ahead.

While the barra might still be a bit slow, bream and flathead should be on the bite for another month or two at least. In fact, the flathead fishing can be good right

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Bream have been a welcomed by-catch for Burdekin anglers targeting flathead.

Recently the annual winter run of Spanish mackerel, which so many local anglers look forward to each year, has pretty much cruised through Burdekin waters without feeling the prick of trebles or ganged hooks. Yes, there have been a few lucky fishers who managed to hit a good day and confirm that the Spaniards are there, but most bluewater boaties have been shed-bound with empty freezers.

Fortunately the estuary option has been more rewarding.

As you would expect during the cooler months, whiting, flathead and bream have featured strongly in most estuary catches. Bream actually arrived on the Burdekin scene earlier than usual this year and are saving the day for many anglers.

Most fish are measuring in at 25-30cm and are being tempted by baits of yabbies, prawns or slabbed mullet.

However, many anglers report taking bream as a by-catch while luring for flathead – something which still surprises many northern

Bream are a schooling fish and you may be able to add a second or third fish to your catch without moving far.

It’s also worth targeting any submerged structure (such as snags or small mangrove trees) on the sandflats.

These are attractive to baitfish and prawns and may hold schooling bream or, for that matter, lone flathead, waiting for an easy feed.

Despite the chilly temperatures, anglers are still reporting the occasional barra capture, mainly from the saltwater reaches of the Burdekin River itself. One angler reported fishing the river hard all morning for zilch before scoring three fish on the falling tide in the afternoon. And they weren’t rats. The barra measured 75, 82 and 90cm!

While this angler took his barra on a trolled lure, most fishers would agree that live prawns are the best way to tempt a winter barra.

AUGUST ACTION

Being the last month of winter, August often produces warmer

through until the start of the wet season.

The Spanish mackerel should also still be in northern inshore waters and the more favourable weather conditions mean local anglers will be more likely to access the shoals and other bluewater spots where they are gathering. Spots such as the Alva Shoals, Cape Upstart, Camp Island and Abbott Point will all be worth trying when the weather is calm.

Techniques for snaring a Spaniard include drifting or trolling baits such as pilchards, garfish and wolf herring or casting or trolling large minnow or surface lures. Ideally, try to ascertain the size and species of baitfish the macks are feeding on and match your lures to them.

If you aren’t sure what baitfish the mackerel are feeding on or at what depth they are hanging, it can be worthwhile trolling a range of lures at varying depths until you figure it out. The same approach can work just as well for bait fishers.

CALL YOUR LOCAL DEALER TODAY Aussie Marine

Holt Marine

Whitsunday Outboard Centre

64 Kortum Drive Burleigh Heads Gold Coast, Queensland, 4220 Phone: (07) 5576 7388 Fax: (07) 5576 2278 sales@marinetune.com

5 Hannam Street, Cairns, Queensland, 4870 Phone: (07) 4033 8800 Fax: (07) 4033 8810 sales@aussiemarine.net.au 1 William Murray Drive Cannovale, Queensland, 4802 Phone: (07) 4946 7286 Fax: (07) 4946 7848 woc@whitsundayoutboardcentre.com.au

BlueFin Sports

57-59 Musgrave Street Rockhampton Nth, QLD, 4701 Phone: (07) 4922 2211 Fax: 07 4922 4624 sales@bluefinsports.com.au

25 Queens Rd, Everton Hills Brisbane, Queensland, 4053 Phone: (07) 3353 1928 info@holtmarine.com.au

Marine Tune

Precision Marine NT

30 Deviney Road, Pinelands Darwin, Northern Territory, 0829 Phone: (08) 8931 1140 precisionmarine@outlook.com.au

For more information visit www.stessl.com.au AUGUST 2017

59

Change it up to find what works TOWNSVILLE

Dave Hodge

Despite some very cold nights (cold for North Queensland, anyway) the water temp in the rivers and creeks has remained quite warm, with mid-July being around the 23.5°C. The fishing has reflected this as well, and casting lures at the snags and in the holes in the estuaries has been producing some good catches of a wide range of species, from grunter to barra and jacks. They don’t eat the same thing every day though, and sometimes it takes a couple of changes to find what’s best on any given day.

Just about every old school angler that I know uses fizzers at some stage, and while there have been several attempts to copy them, the Bills Bug Fuzz Bug is by far the best. A short, sharp burst will get those propellers spinning and get everything’s attention.

There’s a rule of thumb when me and my mates or young bloke fish together, and that is if you’re using surface lures or fly, you get first shot at the snags.

With fly, this is because you get reduced vibration and it can be more difficult to stimulate a fish than if you’re using lure. And in the case of the surface lures, everyone loves to

The jack fishing has been insane, and double hook-ups are surprisingly common. The one on the right was taken on a Bassman Mumbler with an Atomic Shad, while Ryan’s was taken on a 3” Prong fished on his cobweb gear.

Hardbodies have been producing well on the snags, with the trusty old 120 Laser Pro accounting for many of the fish that we have caught. The Tilsan Barra is another fall-back lure, and between the two of them, both deeper and shallow snags can be effectively targeted.

Depending on the depth of the snag, it’s usually best to cast a metre or so past it and then wind the lure down until it’s just about to touch the snag. Then you just let it float back up as you give it the odd twitch.

This draws a lot of fish up and out of the snags to have a go, and gives you a good chance of landing them.

Surface stuff is the best way to draw them out though, and the smaller Roosta Poppers can be tweaked and popped across the shallowest of structure to get the jacks and barra to rise up and out to have a go. When working your popper, give it a bloop and then pause for two to three seconds. Make sure your hooks are sticky sharp, because the attack can be lighting fast. Often you’ll hook the fish in the outside of the mouth.

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hear a smashing strike on the surface, whether you’re the one casting it or not. Additionally, surface presentations often stir the fish enough to have a serious go at a sub-surface presentation, even if they don’t strike at the topwater lure. It’s a bit like a teaser, and often can make dormant fish active.

Beaches have been producing their fair share of fish over the last few

weeks, with vibes and smaller plastics working the best. The wind has been pretty relentless though, and has made it necessary to use the heavier vibes to stay in touch with the bottom. You definitely want to stay close to the bottom to maximise your chances.

Natural and reflective patterns have been the most consistent producers.

When conditions are clear, leader size matters, and using as light a leader as possible will get you more bites. For barra, I usually don’t go under a quality 20lb fluorocarbon, with the Unitika Harisu 20 being my favourite when using smaller lures.

For bigger lures I use the same brand in 30-40lb, as required. My mate Ryan Tully is adamant that its the lighter leaders that make a difference, and his catch rate is worth taking notice of. He does get smoked in the snags every now and then, but certainly gets the bites.

Ryan’s preference for tiny lures and lighter leader also has something to do with his bream obsession, and there is no doubt he catches a lot more pikies and yellowfin bream than I do. Ryan often goes down to 12lb leader at times, and he’s more adventurous than I am, but as I say, he gets the bites too. On a recent trip he caught a dozen big pikies and yellowfin using 2” plastics, while I never hooked one on the bigger lures and slightly heavier leader. I did however manage to get more jacks and barra on the slightly bigger lures and gear – and even though I got smoked a few times in the snags, I managed to extract more bigger fish on the slightly larger plastics and hardbodies.

I know I’ve written about downsizing lures many times in the winter

Atomic Semi Hardz vibes have a lot of action at very slow speeds. Hopping them along the bottom on the top of the tide has been bringing many fish undone lately.

months, and it’s still a very relevant tactic in the cold. I usually start tiny and work my way up until the bites reduce in frequency, then find a happy medium from there. The thing is, the water temp hasn’t dropped to anywhere near where what it normally is at this time of year , and I find I’m not having to go as small as I usually would to get the bite.

Contrast is still a big part of what we count on to get results though, and pink, green or white heads give off the contrast we need to get the fish’s attention. We use Protec Powder coat to paint our jigheads in custom colours.

If you like, you can get really creative with colour combinations by dipping the tail as well – unless you’re using the RST material based plastics.

Ryan Tully with a barra taken on a tiny 2” lure and 12lb fluorocarbon fish in a dirty water line. hook for small marlin and sailfish.

Contrary to popular belief, golden snapper don’t ‘disappear’ during winter, and there are still

Jacks and barra love Bill’s Bugs. They can be buzzed across the surface like a frog, or worked in short sharp bursts in the snags.

They are more durable and stretchy, but won’t accept the Quick Coat Worm dip.

You’ll have to rely on the head colour change alone for contrast.

OFFSHORE The billfish are going off out the front, and trolled gar and smaller pusher type lures have been the go. There are a couple of people also mixing it up with hardbodies, and exchanging the trebles for bigger singles on Halco’s Laser Pro 120s. They have been hooking a surprising number of fish. It’s not hard to see who’s chasing billfish, as they come through the shop. The fishos wanting the smallest gar are after the billies, while those wanting the big fat five spot are after Spanish mackerel.

The other indicator that the billfish are poking around is the fact that straight away we sell out of Gamakatsu SL12s in the 10/0, as these are widely accepted as the number one

some stonkers being taken on both trolled 8m 125 and 150 Scorpions, and cast soft plastics as well. Fish over 80cm are far from rare, and it’s worth keeping an eye on that sounder whenever you’re scanning the shallows. My work gives me the opportunity to talk to a variety of anglers about what’s been happening and what’s producing. For example, the 5” and 7” Madeye Paddle Prawns sell out in quick time when the choppers are about.

Deep schools of Spanish are showing up regularly, and high speed retrieves with 80g Outcasts is a pretty standard procedure to catch them, but if they’re mixed in with bottom species then a plastic rigged with a bit of wire may be a better option to increase your target species range. Yep, I know – golden snapper don’t like wire either, but if you’re getting snipped off all the time what choice do you have?

There have been plenty of longtails and mac tuna around of late, and while feeding schools on the surface can be targeted with small slugs, deep schools seem to be less size orientated and will take almost anything moving quickly. While we were out the other day, my mate Karl Romano dropped a Halco Max to the bottom to see what was about, and it didn’t even reach the bottom. The lure just sped up and kept going as a big mac tuna bolted for the horizon. These super fast sinking lures with their chrome finishes get all pelagic species going, so could be worth having on hand as well. Usually a trolled option, the Max is a notorious mackerel and tuna slayer, but there’s no reason you can’t high speed them back from the depths to get speedsters excited.

A few years ago, some local guys figured out that in order to beat the sharks they had to drop these things to the bottom and on reaching there, had the skipper put the motor in gear and take off to get the chase happening. 100lb braid and 120lb leader was used, and when a fish ate the lure, it was cranked as fast as possible to the boat without letting it get its head turned in order to beat the bities. This was one of the only ways they could land a feed. Brutal I know, but effective!

All in all, it’s a great time to explore and over the last month we’ve gone and checked out waters we have never fished before. The results have been impressive, and not knowing what’s around the next corner is much more of a buzz than knowing what’s around every bend. Fish aren’t hard to find at present, and bit of experimentation will surely find you a technique that will work. Just don’t forget the light gear.

A winter of ups and downs HINCHINBROOK

Ryan Moody info@ryanmoodyfishing.com

It has been a winter of ups and downs with the weather and unfortunately for the regions fishos, the downs have been outweighing the ups. Many smaller boats have been restricted in their movements, hence the offshore reports are a bit limited.

I was lucky to get out in one of the small breaks in

the weather and managed to find some new wonky holes around the Palm Islands with nice nannygai, gold-spot cod and bar-cheek trout making up the best catches. Wonky holes are subterranean springs and are fascinating little gems that pop up in the middle of nowhere.

Finding them consistently is another issue.

Unlike well-known, heavily pressured spots, these holes can provide great fishing if you look after them and keep the marks

to yourself. They will fish out easy if they are heavily pressured. Some spots will hold a handful of fish and others will hold a whole stack. It can be addictive, because the rewards can be great when you manage to crack the code to finding them.

Further offshore also provided some good trout fishing for those who managed to get out in the breaks as well. This is the best time of year for catching coral trout, even though their

The author’s youngest boy Colby with a stonker nannygai taken on plastics.

spawning aggregations are later in the year. They do have a spawning closure later in the year, so be sure to familiarize yourself with those rules if you are a visiting angler. These strong windy periods are great for fish stocks on the reef and keep everyone at bay for extended periods sometimes.

The Spaniards, especially the school-size fish, have been in abundance too. Fish around 8-10kg have been commonplace around the islands and offshore headlands. It’s the best time of year for Spaniards inshore and these fish can be found on most pressure points or bait schools in the shipping lanes.

The best methods include drifting ganged pilchards in the current and retrieving slices at high speed.

The barra fishing has been quite good in the shallows for school-sized fish. Both lures and live baits have been working well. The best livies have been mud herring, which are an easy bait to catch at this time of the year; the marina is full of them too. The odd big barra has been biting, but they’re certainly not as active as in previous months. When September rolls around we should see an improvement in the bite for the bigger fish. It would be nice to end

Some decent sized gold-spot cod are a popular catch around wonky holes. the season well this year before the season closes on November 1.

In August I would expect to see the peak of the inshore Spanish mackerel run, especially on the making tides. The reef should also fish well on the same tides, but that will also depend on whether you can get there with the weather. Barra fishing will still see good action in the shallows this month, too.

August is also brilliant for inshore pelagics and golden and diamond trevally caught around the island trenches

should be in good numbers.

Slices and plastics are the most fun way to target them by far.

If you would like to find out how to find wonky holes, check out my online course at www. fishsmarter.com.au or www. ryanmoodyfishing.com.

• If you would like to book a charter or join our fishing community for some great fishing competitions etc, head on over to www. ryanmoodyfishing.com.

And you could also win a free charter drawn twice a year.

FISHING NEWS

Crooks pinching crabs have been nicked Queensland fishers have been caught and fined for multiple crabbing offences on the Logan River.

A Mt Warren Park man has been fined $18,000 in the Beenleigh Magistrates Court for multiple fisheries offences.

Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol district manager Rob McDonald said the fisher faced 17 charges following a threemonth investigation into illegal crabbing and the subsequent sale of crabs.

“The charges included taking and possessing female and undersize male mud crabs, selling crabs without a licence, using excess and unmarked crab pots, possessing crab meat and a commercial fishing net,” Mr McDonald said.

“QBFP officers observed the fisher working crab pots on the Logan River at Alberton a number of times and found bags containing large numbers of undersize and female mud crabs hidden in mangroves.

“Fisheries officers

intercepted the man in the act of picking up crabs concealed in green hessian bags hidden in the river bank.

“A search warrant executed at the fisher’s house located more female and undersize mud crabs, more than 5kg of crab meat and a commercial size fishing net.

“The defendant told Fisheries officers he was aware it was illegal to keep undersize and female mud crabs in Queensland, stating he had sold crabs up to eight times in the past month for around $10 per crab.

“QBFP seized 28 live male mud crabs and 13 live female mud crabs found at his residence and they were all released alive back into nearby waters.”

The fisher was fined $18,000 after pleading guilty to all charges in the Beenleigh Magistrates Court.

BRISBANE CRABBER BUSTED A Brisbane recreational fisher with a history of fisheries infringements has been fined $17,000 for

protected females and 46 undersize males, hidden in an inflatable vessel on a box trailer, Mr Saul said.

The mud crabs were either loose in the inflatable vessel, inside crab pots on board or escaping from the crab pots.

The fisher told QBFP officers he intended to stop under a street light to release any regulated crabs,

Fisheries officers found 104 mud crabs, including 51 protected females and 46 undersize males, hidden in an inflatable vessel on a box trailer, Mr Saul said. crabbing offences on the Logan River.

Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol acting district manager Mark Saul said fisheries officers intercepted the Stretton

man’s vehicle leaving Marks Road Boat Ramp at Woongoolba during a targeted operation against illegal crabbing.

They found 104 mud crabs, including 51

that he understood the laws applying to mud crabs in Queensland and could identify female mud crabs.

He pleaded guilty in the Beenleigh Magistrates Court to five fisheries

offences including possessing female and undersize mud crabs, possessing excess crab pots and using unmarked crabbing apparatus.

The court was told the fisher had a history of fisheries infringements, including the possession of a substantial number of regulated mud crabs, more than half of them female, in 2014.

He was fined $17,000, with no conviction recorded.

Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol relies on the ongoing support of the community to help protect Queensland’s valuable fishing resources.

To report suspected illegal fishing activity, call the Fishwatch hotline on 1800 017 116. Don’t engage the person, as this can compromise an investigation.

For more information on Queensland fishing rules and regulations, visit www.fisheries.qld.gov.au, call 13 25 23 or download the free Qld Fishing app from Apple and Google app stores. – DAF AUGUST 2017

61

Watching the weather and waiting to strike LUCINDA

Jeff Wilton jeffwilton83@hotmail.com

I’m sick of these winter months. It has been non-stop terrible weather with the strong southeast trade winds very rarely easing up. We’ve also had lots of overcast gloomy days with light showers to dampen the spirits. The fishing has been quite hit and miss lately and as the saying goes, ‘some days are diamonds.’

The main thing is to get out there and have a go. Even a bad day fishing here around Lucinda is much better than working or sitting at home.

It’s easy to get lost in the magnificent views as you zoom around mangrove-lined creeks with Hinchinbrook Island as your backdrop.

This place still blows my mind with its breathtaking scenery and if you haven’t witnessed it yourself then I say book in a few weeks holiday. Getting up here around August is a great idea, as it normally signifies the start of much better weather with calmer winds allowing more options. Read on to see what’s happening in August.

HINCHINBROOK ISLAND Now is a very tough time to be chasing the iconic barra as water temperatures are very low and have been for the last

few months. This means the fish have a bad case of lockjaw and, although they still eat, it’s very difficult – no matter what you throw at them.

If you still want to have a go at them, I suggest you pick your times carefully. Not only do you want to fish the hours around the low tide, choosing a day that is warmer and hopefully has no wind will push things in your favour.

Also try to match your lure or plastic to the bait you can see. I’ve seen barra systematically swim through bait schools until they find the one they want to eat. It can be very frustrating when you have barra ‘boofing’ around you, but they continue to ignore your offerings. In this case a small popper, stickbait or plastic worked on the surface

can get strikes. The idea is to get their attention and a reaction bite.

Mangrove jack have been pretty active, especially on the first few hours of the run in tide. Jacks love strong currents that push food into their ambush zones. This suites them perfectly, as they can sit very close to structure and shoot out and smash their prey.

Grunter have also been consistent and you’ll find them regularly, especially when fishing the areas around larger drains up creeks. Unlike barra that normally will be found close to the mouth of the drain, grunter will be hanging around deeper. Small plastics are excellent for grunter. Smother these plastics in scent and you have yourself a deadly soft plastic for all kinds of species.

Grunter love eating small soft plastics.

Sue’s first mangrove jack.

The usual winter run of solid flathead will continue for another month or so. Sand and mud flats that have plenty of drop-offs and baitfish are good places to start hunting them.

Also look for areas that have variations in the bottom, such as sand to gravel or mud.

JETTY, ISLANDS AND REEF It’s a great time of year to be running out to the reef with plenty of options that should see you hooked up. The jetty has been offering lots of fun and games with queenfish and GTs smashing plastics and jigs. Morning and afternoon sessions are normally the better times and, as always, tide changes will hopefully mean the fish will be active and want to eat.

The Palm Islands, although an amazing place to do some boating, can be difficult for

pulling quality fish. Mackerel are a species that are normally found around the islands, but they only school up in certain areas. Good research into the islands you plan on fishing will help a lot before you hit the water. There are green zone areas surrounding some of the Palms, so pay close attention to the zones.

Look for distinct points that should have strong currents running past, as strong currents mean baitfish will be forced into certain areas and in turn become easier pickings for predator fish. Trolling a few deep diving lures around allows you to cover ground while putting you in with a good chance of hooking up.

Mackerel like a bit of speed, so don’t be scared to troll around 8-10km/h.

The reef has been on fire when the wind has allowed

boats to get out there. August is normally the beginning of better weather patterns and fingers are crossed this is the case this year. Getting out to the reef is always exciting, as there are so many options for keen fishers. For those wanting to drop baits for trout I would suggest finding some good ground in around 18-28m.

A ball sinker straight through to the hook is all that’s needed for trout fishing.

Use just enough weight to be able to get your bait to the bottom. Once your bait hits the bottom, it’s as simple as lifting your rod tip a little to suspend your bait above the structure. Trout hit hard and go straight for their homes, so if you don’t turn their heads straight away, you’ll get bricked and won’t get them out again.

There has been a terrific run of juvenile black marlin in the middle grounds between the mainland and the reef. Finding some good bait schools is the key to getting results and then it’s as simple as trolling some skirts until a rod loads up.

Switch baiting or trolling gar purposely rigged for marlin will see you get better results and hook-ups. It comes down to how much time and effort you want to put into these fish. There’s no need to use big gear for these fish, just some comfortable gear with 8-15kg mono will be perfect.

Trinity Inlet options CAIRNS

Dan Kaggelis dkaggelis@gmail.com

The Cairns Inlet and neighbouring flats is a large tidal estuary that stretches for a length of 85km. The

inlet is a boaties’ dream, with a multitude of creeks, drains, wrecks and snags to fish for a variety of species including barramundi, golden snapper, grunter, salmon, bream and mud crabs.

The Cairns Inlet can be accessed by two main boat

This is the expected catch throwing lures at the snags of Trinity Inlet.

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ramps. The first is Smiths Creek ramp, which is next to the sugar terminal. This is a small ramp with limited car parking.

The second and preferred ramp is at Tingara Street-Smith Creek a couple of kilometres further down the road. This is a large public ramp and car park offering wash down and rigging areas and it is well lit.

It also has a floating pontoon to help with launching and as such this is a preferred option for larger boats.

When considering your Cairns Inlet NFZ fishing adventure, you need to factor in tides, weather and target species. For this reason, we will base the fishing trails for this area on these variables.

When the wind and weather makes conditions closer to the mouth undesirable, it’s best to fish the mid to upper reaches of the inlet, which is more protected.

Start by launching your boat around the top of the tide and head up the inlet, taking care and sticking to speed limits.

The inlet is dominated

by Admiralty Island, which is a large mangrove island bordered by numerous mangrove-lined creeks.

Big grunter love to hang around the mouth of the inlet.

Heading up the inlet, it is a good option to move around the island to the starboard side where you have the option of fishing Chinaman, 4 Mile, Garrison or Skeleton creek.

All four creeks branch off the main waterway.

Choose one of these systems and make your way up them for a fair distance. If you are lure fishing, the tide will slowly push you back down the creek, giving you ample opportunity to flick the many snags for barramundi and mangrove jacks.

Hardbodied lures that dive deep and suspend are the best for this scenario. Soft plastic prawns are also very effective.

If you are bait fishing, pick a bank that is heavily timbered with snags and fish into this using fresh or live baits.

Once the tide has stopped running and at its lowest, it is best to fish the deeper holes at the mouth and junctions of 4 Mile, Garrison and Chinamen Creeks. Large live baits and strip baits will produce grunter and golden snapper. These areas are also worth fishing with vibe style lures, as fish congregate in these deeper holes. These systems are all excellent places to set crab pots for mud crabs as well.

When the wind and weather makes conditions closer to the mouth desirable,

it’s best to fish the creeks and down this way, as they tend to hold the larger fish.

To fish this area, launch your boat and head out towards the mouth observing the speed limits that end at the ship yards. Once you are out into the main channel, head towards the creeks on the starboard side. Your main options are Firewood, Magazine and Hills creek.

Heading up these creeks on the top of the tide and fishing back with the run-out will be ideal.

Flicking the mangrovelined banks with hardbody lures is an excellent idea.

To page 63

The reef fishing looks promising CAIRNS

Garry Smith garrysmith@fishingmonthly.com.au

Winter has allowed few opportunities to access the reef this year, so here’s

When the opportunities have arisen the fishing at the reef has been great, with excellent, widespread catches of trout and reds. It has been more a matter of the few boats that missed out, rather than the usual few that hit the

anglers finally managed to access the reef, the fish were very cooperative. Day fishing produced the goods, but it has been overnighters that have and will continue to produce the best results.

With a gradual increase in

Everyone is hoping for a better mackerel run than last year and August will be crucial in the overall outcome of how the season flourished or faded. When the mackerel are a bit gun-shy there are a few key strategies that will increase your chances of nailing a feed. Keep your tackle light, use low visibility terminal tackle, live baits or lifelike swimming baits and fish the bigger tidal runs at first and last light to improve your strike rate immensely.

Use 20lb braid for doggies and spotties and 30lb braid is more than ample for Spaniards. If your drags are good quality, it’s no problem to drop down to 15lb for doggies and 20 for Spaniards. Always use fluorocarbon leader at or just above the breaking strain of your main line and minimal steel trace, if at all. Bite-offs will be more common with no steel trace, but bites will be more common, so it’s a lottery.

My rule of thumb is to have no trace when using chained hooks with floating or trolled

Any jump in water temperature is certainly a trigger for barramundi, so watch the weather for any calm, sunny periods. hoping August will see a let up in the constant southeasterlies and allow better access to the fish.

honey pot.

The winds have given the reef fish a serious break in recent months and when

temperatures, the overnight comfort levels will rise and so should the frequency of suitable overnighting weather.

From page 62

Trinity Inlet Cha nne l

Mud Flats

KEY

Boat Ramp

X

George Creek

Place of Interest

Cairns

Not to scale

Hills Creek

1 km

Magazine Creek

Sugar Wharf X

Firewood Creek Gordon Creek Woree

X Mangroves

Rifle Range Creek

Chinaman Creek

Smith Creek Old Barges Admiralty Island

Garrison Creek

X Bark Hut

Seelee Creek

Falls Creek (Moodys)

Red Bream Creek

White Rock

East Trinity

Wah Day Creek

Mouth Creek

Skeleton Creek

Redbank Creek

X Mangroves

Blackfellow Creek

X

h Road arraba reek Y

4 Mile Creek

Old Swallows Wharf

Glen Boughton

Pine C

The mouths of these creeks, especially Hills, is popular with barramundi anglers, especially those sinking large live baits. These are best fished on the bottom of the tide, which makes a good end to your fishing trip after you’ve drifted back with the tide through the creeks.

If the weather is really good, you can pop out the front onto the large expansive flats at the front of the inlet known as the Hospital Flats. They are named this as they are in front the Cairns Hospital.

These big mud flats are known to hold lots of bait, especially prawns after some heavy rain, and therefore also attract fish. There are also plenty of large concrete blocks and other structures such as submarine cables on the flats that hold fish like barramundi and grunter.

The flats are best fished on the last two hours of the incoming tide, and the bigger the tide, the better.

This will allow you to move around with the boat across the flats. This is not a landbased location, as crocodiles inhabit this area.

These flats rarely get deeper than 2m, so casting shallow running lures is a good idea. Look around for structure to cast or fish towards. This area can be very good at night for salmon and grunter fishing with strip baits of mullet or squid.

There are some very large barramundi on these flats, but they can be hard to get to bite, so being persistent is important. They will mostly bite on the changes of tide, so be ready.

X

X Mangroves Pine Creek

Wrights Creek

X Mangroves

Mackey Creek

Middle Creek

Trout, like this one caught by Ben Fielding, will be feeding up in preparation for spawning this month. baits and a short, light steel trace with live baits.

August is considered a top month for reef fishing, but the biggest decider will be the weather. If we get a good shot at the reef then the results will be worth the wait. Extended periods of calm weather in August, over recent years, have produced some sensational fishing at the reef, and here’s to a repeat set. Depending on water temperatures, there should be trout, nannygai and red emperor up in under 30m of water. Generally the deeper the water, up to about 120m, the better the red catches.

Anything over 60m, however, is just plain hard work, unless you are using an electric reel, which certainly takes any resemblance to sport out of it. For the more sporting minded, the 30-60m waters will be the main focus for reds, with 15-40m of water generally producing the best trout fishing. The trout will be feeding up in preparation for spawning, so make sure you allow at least a few hours of daylight fishing, before or after a night chasing reds.

Don’t ignore the waters inside the reef. Most boaties steam straight to the reef and put little effort into exploring more inshore waters. While it may take a bit of time to put together a good string of drops inshore, it’s worth the effort. Spending time trolling for pelagics around contour lines and features marked on the charts is a great way to build up a good bank of likely looking bottom structure on your GPS. Then spend some time during likely bite periods exploring these marks with dead or live baits or jigs. It can reduce the travel time considerably and a quick trip to some inshore marks can be a great way to scratch the fishing itch when time is a bit short or the weather a bit dodgy. It’s much easier to make a dash for shelter from 5-10km out when the weather turns foul, rather than 30-40km.

Water temperatures can change significantly in August, but while the temperatures remain below about 24°C, the reef and mackerel fishing will be the most productive. Once the sea surface temperature climbs towards 25°C, it’s time to shift your focus towards the more tropical inshore and estuary species like barra, jacks and golden snapper.

They bite all year round, but most people have more success targeting these species in the warmer water. Golden snapper have been pretty active through the colder months, with jacks and barra less so. Any jump in water temperature is certainly a trigger for these species, so keep your eye on the weather and watch for any calm, sunny periods this month, as the water temperature will respond pretty quickly and so will the fish.

If the waters stay cool, don’t forget about whiting and bream. They will be around and very partial to yabbies.

Pump yabbies as the tide first turns to come in and then fish the area you pumped, as the tide rises. The disturbed bottom will attract whiting and bream as the water covers the yabby bank. It only has to be deep enough for the fish to swim before the advance party will be searching the yabby bed.

The bigger tides around the full and new moons are also a great time to chase grunter on the flats. Light tackle with mullet, gar, sardines, squid or cuttlefish strips and peeled prawns is a well-proven approach. Fish with as light a line and sinker as you can, for maximum results. The sinker should be light enough to allow the bait to drift slowly with the current, while still getting to the bottom.

All up, August is one of the most diverse, exciting and productive fishing months in the Cairns area, as the dominant species make the transition from winter to summer fish.

AUGUST 2017

63

Mackerel are moving towards coastal patches PORT DOUGLAS

Lynton Heffer www.fishingportdouglas.com.au

Despite the cooler weather and sometimes grey and overcast days, the fishing in the tropics has taken on a new dimension, particularly when it comes to hitting the blue highway.

The biggest movement we’ve seen recently has been the explosion of Spanish and other associated mackerel coming into the area from the outer reefs right into the coastal patches. They have been varying in size from your micro models up to a

hard hitting and demanding 8-10kg size.

The water temperatures have plummeted to a 23°C in only a few weeks and even locals who like to jump in the water for a spear fish say it’s very cold. Finding bait schools close to the pressure points of reefs and working these over with a spread of lures being trolled has seen reels tick over at a regular pace. The mackerel have been partial to all sorts of presentations including hardbody diving lures, skipping garfish on wogheads and skirted lures.

While stationed and bottom fishing on top of a school of fish, anglers have

Brad with an awesome red emperor, caught in overcast conditions.

had floating rigs with a ganged pilchard for the razor gang.

While hunting down mackerel, there have been reasonable numbers of small black marlin being caught as well. These fish have been more evident on the wide grounds south of Port Douglas.

The small black marlin should peak in numbers this month and by the amount of mackerel that have moved in, the billfish numbers should follow suit. If a healthy supply of bait remains in the general area, the mackerel and billfish will hang around.

On the reef itself the bottom fishing has gone into overdrive at times with all the trophy fish on the bite. Red emperor, large and smallmouth nannygai, coral and bar-cheek trout and a host of others have really hit their straps. The days leading into the new and full moons have been the pick and calmer weather has produced the goods.

Getting the weather right has been the only dilemma anglers have been facing, as the southeasterly trade winds have been a constant factor so far this winter. The fish have been getting a good rest between the winds, but when they drop the anglers have quickly made up for lost time.

At this time of year you can expect a bit of a lottery draw as to what you may pick up with the above-mentioned

Visiting angler Brad, from chilly Melbourne, had a cracking day on the water catching Spanish mackerel, giant trevally, red emperor, largemouth nannygai and big bar-cheek trout. species and also reef mangrove jack, Maori bream, cobia, sweetlip, Moses perch and the vast expanses of the trevally family all available.

Everyone is closely watching the forecasts and at the first sign of good weather are putting plans into place, even if it is on a scheduled day of work. That’s the way things are done in the Far North.

In the rivers and creeks they have taken a bit of a backseat, but have sometimes been the only viable option

to wet a line when the winds have picked up. It has mainly been the winter species kicking around like grunter, queenfish, feather bream, sickle fish, trevally and bream.

There has been the odd big smashing mangrove jack being caught, the elusive barra half interested in a feed and a smattering of golden snapper as well. The mud crabbing has been excellent, particularly in the estuary systems, and quite a few

locals are enjoying a feed of this tropical delicacy.

Looking ahead we are hopeful for a more settled weather pattern to give everyone the chance of a few more options to explore. A lot of trailer boats have been gathering dust in the carport and are due to shake off the cobwebs and get back out amongst it. The reef is the obvious place to visit and the rivers and creeks will gain a bit more momentum over the coming month.

Fishing still firing in ‘winter’ CAPE YORK

Tim O’Reilly wildrivercompany@gmail.com

One of the greatest things about Cape York is that the fishing remains consistent right throughout the dry season.

Temperatures

isolated rocks, pinnacles and shoals. Early mornings and late afternoons will see them on the chew and feeding high in the water column. When the sun is higher, deeper lures and jigs may be more productive.

Reef species such as coral trout and various sweetlip, nannagai and emperor will be

rising from the bottom and mid-water will be the key to locating predators, both pelagic and reef dwellering.

Working the leading edge where current is pushing onto structure will see the most activity. Try anchoring well forward of the intended structure and pay anchor rope out until the offerings hit the pressure point.

With the freshwater reaches of most major river systems a little stagnant and suffering from a lack of flush, the lower reaches will be the most productive throughout August. The shallow reaches of estuarine bays and endless coastal flats will hold warmer water, especially in the afternoons.

Water clarity should be great, especially down the west

coast of the Cape, which remains protected from the prevailing wind.

Fishing tide changes around the low and from mid-tide down will usually be the most productive. Barra and mangrove jack will begin leaving the shallow margins as the tide recedes and settle around gutters and snags during the low. Large drains should be fished with shallow presentations once they are draining and again as the water pushes back in.

Imagine each creek and river acting as a vast funnel, pouring its contents through a narrow gap as the tide ebbs. Every critter which floated, crawled or swam its way into the system will be reversing its passage, back out into open territory. This

This small emperor was taken casting a popper over shallow reef country. remain that little warmer and when fisheries farther south are closed in for the winter, Cape York can still be firing.

Mackerel season is in full swing by now and the build up to spawning will see silver bullets concentrating around 64

AUGUST 2017

feeding actively in relatively shallow water at this time of year. The frustration of having few windows to fish offshore will be alleviated for those who pick the gaps and fish baits, plastics and jigs over likely ground.

Finding shows of bait

Tiny plastics in very narrow creeks are a recipe for barra at this time of year.

A beautiful passionfruit trout caught on an unweighted sardine. movement happens on a large scale right up and down the Cape’s east and west coasts, and it can be hard for anglers to get their heads around.

Especially hard to comprehend is just how poor the fishing can become on the last of the run-out tide, with so much life trapped in far less water. At times, it feels like someone has simply hit the off switch. Then with the incoming tide, everything just bursts back to life. It is this incoming tide that sees the most visible activity of fish predation.

Fishing the late afternoon and early evening period in most Cape York creeks can be especially fruitful with

surface lures on an incoming tide. Queenfish, trevally species and barramundi will all be at their most active during this low light period, ready to pounce on hapless baitfish skittering along the surface.

August will be a month where anglers skills, knowledge and ability to recall previous success will be paramount to putting a feed on the table. Try fishing shallow in warmer waters for a hot bite.

• For information on remote charter operations for tailored fishing adventures, please email Tim on wildrivercompany @gmail.com

Warming up now with less wind COOKTOWN

Paul Prokopuk

During this month the climate begins to gradually change in the Cooktown region. The temperature begins its slow climb towards the spring heat and the ever-consistent trade winds occasionally ease up to 10 knot winds for anglers to head offshore. With the winds still limiting offshore options, August is a great time to hit the estuaries or head inland to fish the freshwater.

Over the past month, there have been very few opportunities to head out onto the reef. There have been mixed results with boats

Tim Kreis with a great trout. filling up their eskies, while others are coming home with just a feed for dinner. Bottom fishing has been the better

The author took this Spanish mackerel.

option in the deeper water with quality fish being landed for those who are heading a bit wider.

Red emperor, large and smallmouth nannygai and coral trout are making up the best catches. Mackerel have been around in good numbers. Trolling reef edges and isolated pinnacles has resulted in some good hook-ups while live baiting is a proven fall-back option for these toothy speedsters.

With a plethora of national parks and spectacular waterholes in the region you would be silly not to head out for a weekend of freshwater fun. Sooty grunter and jungle perch become hungrier and

more likely to be about in numbers. Lure fish during the early morning with small poppers. As the sun gets higher, the lures need to go deeper. The higher the sun, the deeper the lures – that’s the rule of thumb.

Obviously, bait will also be effective for those looking for a more relaxed approach. Anglers willing to head to some of the remote river systems have been rewarded with the elusive saratoga. Good numbers of these prehistoric-looking topwater fish have been caught recently. Freshwater barra are still being caught in good numbers, though bigger ones have been landed on nicely presented live baits, instead of lures.

The saltwater estuaries

Jimmy Mann caught this sooty grunter. will be clear and cool, unless we have late seasonal rain, which can happen.

This means plenty of croc sightings, as they try to warm themselves in the midday sun.

Also, clear water usually has the big trevally and queenfish chasing the bait right up into the brackish waters. Lots of surface action usually happens

Anglers willing to head to some of the remote river systems have been rewarded with the elusive saratoga.

and it can be a bucket load of fun throwing small poppers into the schools of marauding fish and watching them chase down the poppers.

Grunter are another common species to try for at this time of year. For grunter, try the deeper holes on the clear days and up on the sand flats during a making tide on either overcast days or at night. The grunter can spook easily, so stealth fishing is the key.

The barra will be in the estuaries and can still be caught during times of cooler water. Try flicking up on the flats where the water may have warmed a little from the sun or shallower areas with structure. With some late downpours, mud crabs are definitely on the menu. Some amazing hauls have come in for those willing to put the pots out.

Way too windy? More Weipa winter options WEIPA

Mark Bargenquast

The winter season has really been a tough one with never-ending south to southeasterly winds blowing hard from the east coast with little breaks between. The trouble with these winter trade winds is the cloud they bring from the moisture blown over from the east coast, making shallow water sight fishing almost impossible.

We are lucky to have a world-class inshore fishery that can be accessed by smaller boats and a massive variety of species to catch on fly, lures and bait.

Weipa has possibly one of the biggest concentrations of guide boats anywhere in Australia. I can think of 18 and all seem to be as busy as they want with many happy clients heading home with big smiles and a few great memories.

Plenty of nice queenfish have been in close; many

are being caught from the bank by wading anglers as they make their dash along the bait schools on poppers, stickbaits and surface flies.

Small queenfish can be found everywhere up here making quiet guiding days action packed with some anglers enjoying nonstop action catching and releasing these fish for hours.

Trevally have been everywhere. Golden, diamond, brassy, giant, cale cale and fringefin are available, to name a few. There are also some

Dave Scully with a cracking jack on fly.

Trevally have been in decent numbers along with sharks. real horses that just don’t stop, these are obviously big GTs. Offshore tuna baitballs have been popping up occasionally and if you’re in the right spot, some have been going for over an hour nonstop.

Big sharks and cobia have been around as well. Spanish and grey mackerel have been scarce, possibly due to the drift netters working just offshore every night. I would hate to see what by-catch gets thrown back, as tuna and queenfish schools are in the same areas. The next month should see mackerel catches increase with the new moon and hopefully the wind easing off.

Inshore and the estuaries have been okay. Barra have been slow due to cooler water, but the live baiters are getting

a few. Big jacks are around too with some stonkers over 50cm. My son has been catching big black jewfish in the Mission on baits.

We hooked a few on lures, but got smoked big time around structure. They are dirty fighters and can really pull hard.

Big catches of pikey bream are keeping the car top guys happy and if you can find big ones around a kilo, they’re not too bad to eat. Grunter, jacks, cod and queenfish are regular visitors at the caravan park fish cleaning bench and feed many families here. Hopefully we see a decrease in winds and swell and have a good month ahead. Tight lines.

Winter is the right time to break out the fly rods.

AUGUST 2017

65

Fresh mornings, cool afternoons FRESHWATER

A U S T R A L I A

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You can only admire this time of year up here in the tropical north. The fresh mornings and cool afternoon breeze mixed in with spectacular sunrise and sunsets are truly stunning. It’s easy to see why so many people venture up here during these months of the year.

Oh and the fishing goes alright, too!

It has been a great year so far in the freshwater and it will only continue to fire as the temperatures slowly start to rise over the coming months. After getting a good flush out from solid rain recently, all of the sweet water streams are fishing great with all the classic

Jungle perch will be all too eager to hit just about anything that enters their domain.

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AUGUST 2017

Phone: 0410 173 060 basscataustralia@gmail.com

tropical north species willing to attack a lure or two.

That trophy jungle perch could be just around that next bend in the river, so make sure you pack enough food and water to keep your energy levels up. The best thing about JP fishing is the adventure it brings!

Generally finding a pristine sweetwater stream and venturing up it is a great way to go about things.

Using Google Maps can be very helpful in finding likely-looking destinations.

There is nothing better than doing the research and ground work to assist you in finding those secret honey holes full of hungry jungle perch that are more than happy to smack everything that hits the water. Remember that preparation is the key to unlocking those trophy fish.

Like always, there has been an epic amount of sooty grunter action lately. You will find and expose these angry hard hitters in most of the freshwater systems up here in the tropical north.

They are one tough customer

and will always produce a fun powerful fight in most situations.

Those targeting jungle perch deep in the rainforests will often come into contact with a big, angry

sooty wanting to take their favourite lure back under the snag. A nice tight drag and some fancy rod work will be required to land the bigger models.

A super fun way to get

into the action is by far on the top! The surface explosions from these football-shaped critters can be extraordinary to witness. The afternoon light is my favourite time of the day to get some serious action, as they tend to venture out from cover to hunt some more tucker.

The land-based fishing in this part of the country is truly incredible. Trekking up crystal clear streams, sight casting to fish and often watching them take that lure right in front of you is about as good as it gets. I love owning my own boat and getting out on the blue stuff, but I really don’t mind when the winds are up, because I know it’s sweetwater time!

Next time it’s your day off and it’s too rough to take the boat out, pack a bag, grab a rod and some lures and get out and experience some of the magic the tropical north has on offer.

Stay safe out there. Fish On!

“What’s around that next bend?”

Northern Junior

How to become a tusky tamer WEIPA

Jackson Bargenquast

We often hear the remark amongst anglers, ‘gee, those fish can fight,’ or ‘that fish nearly pulled me in,’ but amongst all of the contestants one fish stands alone in its pulling power. It’s not the infamous tuna with its red muscle torpedo body, nor the mighty popper-smashing giant trevally. The chrome barramundi also falls short of the speed and aggression of this particular fish.

The fish that I’m talking about is properly known as the blackspot tuskfish, but has many names such as bluey, blue parrot or tusker.

Occasionally it’s mistaken for a close relative, the baldchin groper. Whatever you call them, there is no doubt that they must be the hardest fighting fish for their size.

The author’s grandfather with an average sized tusky around 4kg. smaller pickers, your hook size should range from 4/0 when using softer baits like prawns all the way up to 10/0 when using crabs or when chasing larger specimens.

These fish can bite differently; depending on the day, you can get violent tugs and headshakes or ever-so-

greenish-blue, mottled with black and purple flecks along their flanks and fins.

Juveniles are coppery yellow with blue veins running along their sides. They are also identifiable from parrotfish as they have several tusk-like teeth instead of a reinforced beak. Unlike baldchin groper, they don’t have prominent red and yellow lines under the eye and around the mouth. As the name suggests, they have a single large black smudge on the higher back of their flanks that fades with death.

They are top notch when it comes to eating quality, far superior to barramundi and mangrove jack with pure, white, flaky flesh sourced from two muscular fillets.

Fried in panko bread crumbs and served on a wrap with salad, mayo and pepper, there could be no better way to enjoy fresh fish. When using prawns in tusky territory, many forms of by-catch such as red emperor, nannygai, golden snapper, cod, coral trout and many more can be

encountered, adding variety to the session.

These tusky beasts are not limited to being caught on heavy gear and baits on the reef; they regularly forage in shallow, clear water, less than a foot deep on some occasions, hunting crabs and shellfish. They use their large, powerful pectoral and caudal fins to blow away sand and expose buried prey, which they then pounce on. With this habit, they can be sight fished on small crab lures or crab and shrimp patterns on fly making them a prime target for the keen sportfisher.

Despite the fact that they rarely feed on baits of fish and squid, they will very often attack lures with extreme aggression (possibly due to territorial behaviour), and are often caught on vibes, jigs and even deep diving mackerel lures.

They have been recorded up to 20kg in weight, but anything over 6kg is a serious workout. The best tools for catching them on the reef would have to be either a heavy hand reel or deck winch and of course a heavy egg beater reel and stiff short rod. Overhead rods are slower and can’t retrieve line as quickly, making them difficult to use for tuskies.

Equip this with 80-100lb braid, a short, heavy leader, a running sinker (paternoster rigs are ineffective when the fish aren’t biting hard) and heavy-duty single hooks. You can decide whether you prefer circle or stinger hooks, as both are effective.

The size limit on tuskfish is 35cm+. Any over 35cm

The perfect pair, a 4kg tusky and 6kg red. Dinner looks good.

While they do pull extremely hard and are dirty fighters, unlike a tuna or a kingfish, they don’t have a lot of stamina. After a couple of minutes, they’re usually finished with their hard runs.

In saying this, every angler is put to the test when he/she hooks a tusky over 4kg.

Found from the northern reaches of NSW all the way to the Gulf of Carpentaria, and along the coast into the NT and beyond, these fish inhabit coral and rubble reef, generally in water shallower than 25-30ft. They can also be caught out wide in over 100ft of water at times. They can be seen in huge schools of hundreds and cruise along reef edges and bommies, picking at prey such as snails, cockles, pipis, mussels and certain corals.

They love to feed on crustaceans such as fresh green prawns (leave the shells and heads on) and the perfect bait is a rock crab around 2-4” across the shell or bigger.

Although you may miss some

gentle crunching on the bait as the fish swim upwards.

Whatever the case, once the hook is set, be ready for the fight of your life. These brutes instantly turn and charge like a freight train into the reef, burying themselves into crevices in the rock and coral.

Once a tuskfish is caved up, nothing will get him out.

These fish are identified by their colours and patterns.

The adults are pale to dark

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This brute smashed a deep diver trolled over a reef edge.

Weighing over 7kg and nudging the 70cm mark, this is considered a better sized blackspot tusky and sure pulled hard on a 9000 size reel and 80lb braid.

can be kept, however, many anglers advise you to release smaller ones to let them do some growing. With no max size and a bag limit of five per person, these are a great fish to target for a fresh feed.

These awesome fish have everything running for them. They’re found in huge numbers, able to be caught on lure, fly or bait, pull extremely hard (like a train!), are exceptional to eat and overall are a very impressive fish. Good luck to all anglers in upcoming weeks and remember to think like a fish.

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Cooking

Frying up a flatfish meuniere BRISBANE

Lynn Bain

Sole meuniere is a well known French flatfish classic; a la meuniere refers to a style in which delicate fish fillets are

dusted in flour, cooked in a frypan and finished in a sauce of lightly browned butter with lemon juice and parsley.

The meuniere works equally well with winter whiting and other small whiting.

Ingredients • 4 flatfish fillets • 1 cup plain flour • 2 tbsp butter

1

• 1 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley • Juice of 1 lemon

2

5 68

3 Gently shake the coated fillets to remove any excess flour.

Turn the heat to low then add the finely chopped parsley. Stir gently.

AUGUST 2017

6

In a heavy based frypan (cast iron is excellent) melt the two tablespoons of butter over a medium heat. When the butter is foaming, add the flour-coated fillets to the pan. Cook the fillets on one side for a couple of minutes.

Now add the lemon juice to the pan and stir. To finish, return the fish to the pan for a moment to warm through, spooning the sauce over the fish.

4

7

Place the flour in a shallow dish and coat the fish fillets with the flour.

Carefully turn the fillets over to cook on the other side. The amount of time needed to cook the fillets will depend on the thickness of the fish. When cooked, remove the fillets from the pan and place to one side on a plate.

Your flatfish meuniere is now ready to serve.

Offshore trolling for dummies NSW STH COAST

Steve Starling www.starlofishing.com

Trolling lures in offshore waters doesn’t have to be a matter of ‘drag it and hope.’ A few simple tricks can dramatically improve your strike rate, wherever you fish and whatever species you hunt.

a lot more to successful offshore trolling than throwing a couple of lures out the back of the boat and blindly driving around the ocean until something finally climbs on!

As with any form of fishing, finding the best locations is a big part of any successful strategy.

In offshore trolling, this means narrowing down

Find out as much as you can about the fish you’re chasing and seek advice from more experienced anglers on where to start looking.

Just finding the right patch of water mightn’t be enough in itself. The open ocean is very much like a desert. There are vast, barren areas punctuated by little oases of life. Often,

Winners are grinners! Rob Pullen, Adam Hill and Starlo with a school-sized Tasmanian bluefin tuna taken on the troll.

Whether you’re chasing Spanish mackerel along the Great Barrier Reef, marlin off Sydney or southern bluefin tuna in Victorian and Tasmanian waters, there’s

the best water. That might involve seeking a certain temperature range or optimum water colour/ clarity, and this will vary with the target species.

these concentration points occur along current breaks, at temperature fronts, over upwellings and near major bottom features such as reefs, pinnacles and sea

mounts. Believe it or not, a 10 or 20m high lump on the seabed can actually influence the behaviour of fish swimming near the surface 100 or even 200m above!

Luckily you won’t be out there in the marine desert hunting all on your own. As well as other anglers in their boats, you’ll have eyes in the sky in the form of seabirds such as terns, gannets, shearwaters, frigates and albatross.

These birds are all seeking the same baitfish as the pelagic predators you’re chasing and they are much better at finding them than you are! If all the birds are flying in one direction, follow them. And when you find wheeling masses of dipping, diving, feeding birds, feed the lures astern and start fishing.

Try to run a mix of different lure styles, sizes and colours. It’s always a good idea to have at least one deep diver in the mix, as well as surface-running skirted heads, rubber squid and the like. Deploy as many lines as you can comfortably handle without constantly getting tangled, but remember that all those lines will need to be cranked in when a fish is hooked. If there are only two or three anglers on board, four lines out is probably plenty.

As a rule of thumb, troll as fast as the slowest lure in the spread will allow you to go. In other words, keep increasing speed until one lure blows out of the water

Using brightly coloured lines can be a big help in avoiding crossovers and tangles when trolling.

Once the boat has slowed or stopped and the other lines have been cleared, you can ease that drag up a little and really get to work. and begins to tumble, then back off slightly. Quicker trolling speeds cover more water and tend to attract more strikes.

Mix the distances you run your lures behind the boat, too. Don’t be afraid to set at least one lure really short, right in the

Success! The gaff goes into a keeper.

Wayne Turale with a plump southern bluefin tuna taken virtually in the shadow of Tasman Island, in southeastern Tasmania. Skirted pusher style lures like this one are highly effective on most pelagic species, but need to be pulled fairly quickly – usually between 5 and 9 knots.

prop wash. Don’t forget that your boat and motor are working like a giant teaser, creating white water and noise that will actually attract many fish.

Finally, set your drags tight enough to drive hooks home without snapping lines. About a quarter of

the line’s breaking strain or slightly more is a good starting point. So, if you’re using 15kg line, set the drag on the reel at about 4kg. Once a fish has been hooked and finished its first run, the boat has stopped and the other lines have been cleared, you can

ease that drag up slightly to around a third of the breaking strain of the line.

Trolling doesn’t have to be a matter of blind luck and putting in the hours. By concentrating on the details, you can dramatically increase your chances of success.

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WHAT’S NEW FISHING DAM MONSTER BIG FISH ROD

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German company DAM has released the Monster Big Fish rod, which was developed, tested and approved by fishing celebrity and DAM team member Jakub Vagner.

Built to catch extreme fish and withstand extreme conditions, this rod comes with two different tips. This effectively giving you two rods in one – either a 3m rod or a 2.4m version. The casting weight for each is 100-200g, and can be used from the boat, rocks, jetties or from the beach using heavy lures or live baits.

No compromises have been made in the construction of the Monster Big Fish rod.

It’s virtually unbreakable while also being extremely lightweight, thanks to Japanese Toray TC30/TC36 carbon and a reinforced nano carbon blank. The rod is fitted with original Fuji PSC-H reel seat and heavyduty Fuji rings, and has a contoured, antislip original EVA handle.

And rest assured: no fish will break this rod! www.adoretackle.com

CFS PE8 FISH FLOSS

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CFS (Custom Fishing Solutions) Fish Floss Braid is made from 100% pure PE fibre material from the USA to produce one of the world’s finest and thinnest lines.

This high performance, 8-carrier braid features a rounded body construction that helps reduce wind knots, backlashes and rod tip wrapping. Fish Floss braid also features an advanced Teflon coating that produces a super slick finish that reduces rod guide friction, increases casting distance out of sight, offers superior abrasion resistance and helps to resist saltwater penetrating the fibres and helps retain colour. It also features an extremely low stretch core for superior hooking power, sensitivity and control.

CFS Fish Floss braid is available in 150m and 300m length spools starting at 10lb (PE 0.6) which is just 0.12mm in diameter, and runs up to 50lb (PE 4.0) that’s only 0.32mm in diameter. Fish Floss is available in both hi-vis yellow and mist green. www.jurofishing.com

HELPING FISH WITH 3 THE FISHER FOLK

The Fisher Folk is a relatively new Australian fishing apparel company with a very important point of difference: they give back to the sport that we all love.

The guys behind the brand have a lifelong affinity with fishing and the places it can take us all, which is why they decided to funnel a portion of the proceeds from each sale directly back to fish stocking and habitat restoration and regeneration projects.

Their initial release of quality, affordable apparel consists of a T-shirt and hoodie, with more items in the pipeline. To order your T-shirt or hoodie, make contact through their social channels – either www. facebook.com/Thefisherfolk or Instagram: @thefisherfolk.

Price: SRP $69.95 (hoodie) www.facebook.com/Thefisherfolk 70

AUGUST 2017

NEW STORM SPINNERBAITS

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Storm Fishing has launched three new spinnerbaits developed for Aussie species.

First off the rank is the new TI-1 spinnerbait featuring an indestructible titanium wire construction. This delivers a stronger and tougher spinnerbait, while still having the flexibility and vibration of its less durable competitors. You can twist, bend and flex the TI-1 any way you want and it will spring back.

The ST-1 spinnerbait utilises stainless steel wire but achieves more vibration than a standard stainless wired spinnerbait.

Both the TI-1 and ST-1 come fitted with Storm’s quick change skirting system in six colours, and come equipped with the finest quality blades and ball bearing swivels.

The final new spinnerbait is from Storm’s sub-brand, Gomoku. The diminutive Gomoku spinnerbait has a single Colorado blade on a unique pivoting wire system. Because the wire can pivot to obtain the perfect running angle, you can fish this spinnerbait super slow or burn it incredibly fast. When a fish bites, the wire pivots straight, resulting in a straight line pull through the tow point and hook, resulting in better hook-sets. www.stormfishing.com.au

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NEW PLANO WORM 5 STOWAWAYS

Plano has released two new Worm StowAway utility boxes, both of which feature a dual-sided design and transparent lids for quick and easy identification of contents without opening.

The 361610 model comfortably holds eight bags of soft plastic baits, and has one angled compartment per side (each comfortably holds four bags). There are four shallow, fixeddivider compartments for terminal tackle, and one deep compartment for scents, pliers or bulk items. It’s as deep as 1.5 standard 3600 StowAways, fits neatly in most 3600-size bags, and measures 28cm x 19cm x 6.4cm.

The 371610 model comfortably holds 16 bags of soft plastic baits, with two angled compartments per side (each comfortably holds four bags). There are two sets of clips per compartment to secure bags of soft plastics in place. It’s as deep as 1.5 standard 3700 StowAways, fits neatly in most 3700-size bags, and measures 35.5cm x 22.9cm x 7.2cm. www.jmgillies.com.au

BALZER METALLICA ACE

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For over 67 years Balzer Germany has gone from strength to strength, and this year they have released a high-end spinning reel range at an affordable price point. The name of the range is Metallica ACE, and these reels are all about quality, being made entirely of duraluminum, and are saltwater resistant.

Metallica ACE reels are ideal for targeting bream, flathead, salmon and tailor using small minnows, shads and other lures, and they won’t let you down, even when going after mangrove jacks or even barra.

Some of the features include nine stainless steel ball bearings plus one needle bearing, stainless steel axle, QSS (Quick Stop System), body and rotor made of Duraluminum, S-stroke system, and more.

The reels come in two sizes: 2500 (Metallica ACE 1025) and 3000 (Metallica ACE 1030).

Both have a gear ratio of 5.1:1, and are supplied with two aluminium spools. www.adoretackle.com

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WHAT’S NEW FISHING DAIWA TD SOL RODS

ECOODA HORNET 180S

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Combining cutting-edge blank design with unmatched value, the new Daiwa TD Sol series is built to perform. This spinning and baitcaster series is light, powerful and designed for ultimate strength and performance.

Daiwa’s HVF Nanoplus graphite combines precise resin control with unidirectional graphite fibre to produce a blank with maximum graphite density.

Light, responsive, and crisp in action, the blank performance is further enhanced courtesy of X45 blank technologies. X45 works seamlessly to eliminate blank twist and distortion to increase rod strength, function, and sensitivity.

Lightweight Fuji KL, KR and KT Alconite ring guides provide superior casting, unlimited line flow and line protection. By combining Fuji’s guide technology with Daiwa’s RR (reduced resistance) guide design system, the guide placement and sizing allows for the superior casting qualities available from these blanks. www.daiwafishing.com.au

The Ecooda Hornet 180S stickbait has been built from the ground up with one goal in mind: to create two unique swimming actions within the one bait.

The Hornet 180S has a sensational walkthe-dog action which is constant in both smooth and rough conditions. It also has a second action which Ecooda calls “snake ‘n’ roll”, which is achieved by pulling the rod tip slow and long along the water’s surface, giving it a very unique action that fish can’t resist. It’s idea for everything from chasing GTs and coral trout, or spinning off the rocks for mackerel or tuna.

The Hornet is 180mm long, weighs 80g, and has a one-piece stainless welded wire for strength. It also sports a reflective prism tape insert for maximum attraction, along with four life-like colour concepts and the exclusive Ecooda eye. And because every angler has different hook preferences, Ecooda has left this choice up to the individual.

Price: from SRP $29.95 www.ecooda.com.au

ZEST SPEARHEAD AND CUTTLEFISH

SHOVEL MOUNTING 11 BRACKET

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The impressive new Spearhead and Cuttlefish Jigs from Zest mimic squid and cuttlefish perfectly for deep water jigging.

The Spearhead is a 200g, 180mm long jig that comes factory rigged ‘centre balanced’, which makes the jig flutter through the water. You can reverse this by swapping the hook to the other end; then the jig becomes rigged weight on tail, which helps the jig get down quicker to greater depths and when the current is running stronger. The Spearhead also features an oversized eye for added attraction.

The Cuttlefish Jig is 150g and 178mm long.

It comes factory rigged weight on tail to help it get down quickly, but like the Spearhead you can reverse this. The Cuttlefish features a holographic finish on one side and a mirror finish on the opposite side.

Both jigs are available in four proven colours, have quality terminal fittings and have Mustad Assist Hooks with 200lb Kevlar that is heat shrunk. www.jurofishing.com

VERITAS 3.0 FROM ABU GARCIA

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Veritas rods are Abu Garcia’s most renowned rod series, and they now feature increased comfort and improved weight and balance.

Veritas rods combine a 30 ton construction with SubLayer Armor for uncompromising strength and sensitivity.

The SubLayer Armor Process reinforces carbon fibre for exceptional durability and hoop strength while maintaining a lightweight and balanced feel.

Fuji KR guides with Alconite inserts combine with lightweight graphite Fuji reel seats for the ultimate in balance and quality.

Fuji KL guides with Alconite inserts feature on light jigging models. The Veritas 3.0 balanced design is completed with a hyper tactile Ultralon EVA grip system for improved ergonomics and overall sensitivity.

There are five baitcast models (from 6’2” 3-6kg finesse through to a 7’9” 10-25kg swimbait rod), and 17 spin models (from ultra light 1-3kg rods through to 10-15kg inshore sport fishing rods). Rounding out the Veritas 3.0 range are six light jigging models, two overhead and four spin, from PE1-3 to PE3-5.

Price: from SRP $149 www.abugarcia-fishing.com.au

The Rhino-Rack Shovel Mounting Bracket is the perfect accessory to keep your shovel at the ready for when you get bogged.

The Pioneer Shovel Mounting Bracket mounts directly onto the Rhino-Rack Vortex crossbars or Rhino-Rack Pioneer systems.

Rhino-Rack’s Pioneer systems were designed to maximise your load capability while freeing up space inside your vehicle for ultimate comfort on the road.

With easy installation and removal, you will be able to mount a shovel onto your vehicle with multiple configuration options.

The brackets can be inverted to position the shovel above or below the tray and the hinged design allows mounting of a wide variety of handles as well. The safe and secure roof system holds your tools to prevent any cabin damage from occurring.

Constructed from steel with a high quality powder coated finish, this mount bracket is built to last, and is backed by a 3-year warranty.

Price: SRP $79 www.rhinorack.com.au

DAIWA TD SOL SV TW

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The famous Sol name re-enters the baitcaster realm with the release of the new version – TD Sol SV TW. While the Sol’s looks will grab your eye, it’s the technology that makes it stand out. With a combination of TWS, Air Rotation, Digigear, Magforce Z, SV Spool, CRBB and UTD, the new Sol is one of Daiwa’s highest performing reels ever.

The superior casting performance and ultimate casting ease of the Sol all stem from Daiwa’s revolutionary TWS and SV spool. A great leap forward over traditional line guide systems, TWS delivers unparalleled casting performance and line control, a reduction in line noise and friction, and improved reel stability and balance. Featuring a T-shaped line guide that pivots forward and back between the cast and retrieve position, TWS delivers simplicity and ease and now allows for efficient, easy casting every time, and with unrivaled distance and ease.

To check out a complete list of the extensive features of the TD Sol SV TW, head to the Daiwa website. www.daiwafishing.com.au

Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au AUGUST 2017

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WHAT’S NEW FISHING ABU GARCIA REVO ALX

VENOM 13 BARRA SPIN

Based on high quality components and a lightweight design, the Abu Revo ALX incorporates new technology including the Salt Shield Concept bearing and AMGearing systems within the compact Revo design.

SSC (Salt Shield Concept) is applied to key HPCR (high performance corrosion resistant) bearings to maximise durability, smoothness, and corrosion resistance.

The AMGearing System combines a precision machined aluminium gear with Abu’s COG (Computer Optimized Gear) gear design, creating incredible smoothness and durability.

The C6 carbon body and rotor provides significant weight reduction without sacrificing strength and durability.

Revo ALX is equipped with the Rocket Line Management System, which lets you cast further and manage line more effectively.

These rods are dedicated to light to medium lure fishing from bream on hardbodies through to snapper on plastics. There are six sizes ranging from 2000 to 5000, and all feature 7+1 bearings with super smooth carbon drag systems with drag force from 3kg to 10kg.

Price: SRP $299 www.abugarcia-fishing.com.au

FISH INC. RIGHT WING

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The Fish Inc. Lures Right Wing is based on the popular 120mm, 50g Wing sinking stickbait, configured with heavy-duty Owner singles rather than the trebles found on the original Wing. Inline singles are preferred by some anglers who believe they are stronger, more difficult for the fish to dislodge and a better option for catch and release.

The Right Wing resembles a pilchard in both size and profile, making it dynamite on everything from tailor and salmon to kingfish, tuna, mahimahi, mackerel and aggressive reefdwellers. The colour range and finishes are first class, from natural baitfish colours to more reaction colours.

Ready to fish straight out of the packet, it comes to life with a sweep or punch of the rod tip and will be a go-to in the arsenal of beach, rock and boat anglers, with its generous casting weight and the versatility of being able to fish it fast and high in the water column or sunk to the desired depth.

Price: SRP $25.95 www.tackletactics.com.au

MUSTAD 10” AND 12” FILLETING KNIVES 15 Mustad has released two new quality knives for anglers who have a need for a larger filleting knife.

The two knives (MT41 and MT42) are teflon coated to ensure durability and reliability and the edge is super sharp to allow performance straight out of the packet..

Coming with a belt scabbard, both knives will be ideal for fish such as kingies, tuna, barra, mackerel, wahoo and they’ll even be handy around the home carving up roasts and steaks!

Super sharp, easy to maintain an edge and quality that is Mustad, these Mustad knives will become a staple for many years to come. www.wilsonfishing.com.au 72

AUGUST 2017

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The Venom Barra Spin from Wilson Fishing is a brilliant 6kg spin stick designed for those fishing tight structure with spin gear.

With a light tip to allow for easy casting, the Barra Spin is a 5’9” spin stick with plenty of backbone to deal back the punishment that fish like barramundi, king threadfin salmon, mangrove jack and golden snapper (fingermark) like to dish out.

Rated for 6kg line, the Venom Barra Spin features a full Fuji fit-out from winch to guides, and is built with A-Grade cork grips for extra sensitivity.

Ideal for use when throwing lures into tight corners where big fish are found, the Venom Barra Spin complements the range of existing Venom baitcast rods perfectly. For more information on the Barra Spin, or on other rods in the Venom range, visit the Wilson Fishing website. www.wilsonfishing.com.au

NEW RAPALA PLIERS

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Rapala is extending its successful line of RCD Custom Design Series tools and accessories with the addition of new 4” and 8” variants of its Patented Mag Spring pliers, and brand new RCD Precision Line Scissors at this year’s AFTA Trade Show on the Gold Coast. The size extension to the unique RCD Mag Spring pliers means there is now a size suitable for every angler from trout to tuna. The unique opposing magnets do away with the need for springs to keep the jaws open and ready for use.

The new RCD Precision Line Scissors are by far the best line scissors the company has ever developed. Tested up to 10,000 perfect cuts by the team at Rapala, the Precision Line Scissors are crafted specifically to offer superior control and finesse for the most demanding anglers. New micro serrations on both jaws capture line and trap it so the edges can cut cleanly and effectively without burring.

The unique shape and size fits perfectly in the hand to offer unrivalled control and accuracy over any task. www.rapala.com.au

PLACES TO CATCH TROUT

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In the new book Fly Fishing – Places to Catch Trout in Australia and New Zealand, author David Anderson takes equal delight in hooking trout and taking photographs.

Both of his passions are evident in Fly Fishing, and his dramatic shots deliver readers right to the action. Visits to favourite backwaters and country streams in both Australia and New Zealand appear in stories and pictures taken on trips with fellow fly fishers.

With characteristic wit and charm, Anderson makes it all seem easy and he’s happy to share the benefit of his skill and expertise handling the ‘twig’, the rod he employs for smallstream fishing.

Along with plenty of tackle tips and rod reviews, he presents a witty, informative and well-illustrated volume, certain to appeal to armchair enthusiasts and ardent anglers on both sides of the Tasman.

Price: SRP $35 au.newhollandpublishers.com

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PRODUCT GUIDE

WHAT’S NEW FISHING

Black Magic DX Point Hooks – big changes for baitos Late last year I received an email from Fishing Monthly asking me if I would like to try out a new range of bait hooks – Black Magic DX Point hooks.

Bait fishing is something that I really enjoy, yet I never seem to make a lot of time these days to actually do it. Every year during the cold months I say that I will do a lot more bait fishing when the weather warms up, and then I usually only do it a couple of times.

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similar. With the PTFE coating on the hooks, this old bait just slides straight off, leaving the hook looking like new, and ready to bait up again.

The other thing that jumped out at me was the sharpness of the hook. This is usually immediately evident when the hook penetrates the skin of a fingertip, which is exactly what happened.

The Black Magic DX Point hooks have a razor sharp tip on them. This is achieved

The author and Jed Nagel with a Murray cod caught in the Ovens River using a DX Point hook.

Unfortunately, the DX line-up of hooks do not come in really small sizes suitable for trout, however they do still cover quite a wide size range from 1/0 to 6/0, making them more than suitable for most freshwater species, including carp, golden perch, redfin, and Murray cod. I used them extensively while bait fishing for Murray cod last summer with great results. My friends and I managed to catch quite a few Murray

fishing in the Ovens River in Wangaratta where we managed to catch 11 cod in one afternoon over the period of around three hours, all using the Black Magic DX Point Hooks. While most of the fish were very small, the fact that the hooks were able to penetrate their small mouths on a regular basis and lead to a high hook-up rate speaks a lot about the performance of these hooks.

A nice Murray cod caught using mozzarella cheese as bait on a 2/0 Black Magic DX Point hook.

So I accepted the offer to try these new hooks, more as a motivator to force me to do more bait fishing than anything else!

The first thing that jumped out at me was the feel of the hook; they feel different from other hooks. They also sound different when they rattled around in the packet.

The high pitched sound that you usually hear when hooks rattle was somewhat of a deeper sound than usual, and they felt super smooth.

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Black Magic DX Point hooks are manufactured in Japan, a country known for its high quality standards, and they are made using high carbon steel to ensure they are super strong.

In lure fishing we constantly see changes in lure designs as the world of lure fishing evolves more and more into a high profile sport. With hooks, however, we see few changes, most likely due to the fact that they are much smaller and changes are less visible and obvious.

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A small trout cod caught on bait. We caught fish right down to 7cm long with these larger hooks. Despite being small and light, the ultra-sharp hooks were able to penetrate the fish’s mouths with ease.

Little did I realise at the time that the DX range of hooks are actually coated in a super non-stick coating called PTFE, which is commonly used in non-stick frying pans. This coating serves a dual purpose. It is designed to help increase hook penetration into the fish’s mouth, and also provides excellent rust resistance, extending the life of the hook. And I discovered a third benefit the second time I went back out bait fishing.

Most bait anglers know what it is like when you finish untangling your rods and lines, unhook the hook from one of the guides on the rod, and then have to break off the remnants of the last bait you were using. Usually it is some crusty dried out piece of worm, bardi grub or something

by creating four very sharp edges which taper in until they all meet, creating a very sharp point. This enhances the hook-up rate when you lift your rod tip and set the hook into the fish’s mouth.

cod, and also trout cod, on the DX Point hooks using either cheese (mozzarella works best), bardi grubs or worms for bait.

In one sitting, my friend Andrew Wolstenholme, his son Liam and I went bait The CEO of the product testing team, Liam Wolstenholme, has given the hooks a big thumbs up.

The Ovens River in Wangaratta was where we put the Black Magic DX Point hooks through their paces.

Don’t be fooled though – changes do happen in the world of fishing, as is evident by the Black Magic DX Point hooks. A lot of research and development has gone into the DX Point hooks to ensure that it is a true game changer in the world of bait fishing.

I would like to thank Fishing Monthly magazine and Black Magic tackle for coming together, sending me a couple of packets of hooks and reigniting my passion for bait fishing.

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One last blast of cold TOOWOOMBA

Jason Ehrlich fishability1@bigpond.com

Last month I was on a return journey from Weipa in Queensland’s far north.

It was great to spend three weeks away from the colder climate at home. The fish feel the cold too and get a lot slower in the winter months.

On the bright side, once things begin to warm next month, expect some of the best fishing for the whole year. Spring is just around the corner.

On the drive back from Weipa, we crossed the Cape and passed some of the many rivers, which almost slice it in half as they flow from the western side of the Great Dividing Range. I couldn’t

help but wonder what fish were swimming in them. The rods were all packed and we were on a mission to reach our destination, so there was no time for stopping.

I have fished the freshwater in the Cape York area before.

Normally when we think of freshwater fishing we think of bass, goldens and cod. Up in northern Queensland you can add sooty grunter, barramundi, archerfish and saratoga to the list of lure munchers. If you ever get the chance to experience what our more remote freshwater rivers have to offer, give it a go.

Angus James writes about the jungle streams on the east coast up around Townsville.

Check out his amazing pictures and the quality of jacks and jungle perch he tangles with in this magazine.

SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND CRESSBROOK CLOSEST TOWN: CROWS NEST Last month was quite productive at Cressy. The winter bite has been a good one this year with goodsized bass being taken from the deeper schools.

These fish are falling to a range of presentations.

Ice jigs have been a great way to secure good numbers of fish but most have been on the small side. Jigging ice jigs under the boat amongst schooling fish can produce dozens of fish when they are willing to bite.

Casting lures around the boat over the schooling fish has been the way to hook better quality fish.

Tail spinners have been working well on fish to over 50cm in length.

Other lure styles worth trying include spoons and blade baits.

The bass action should continue this month. The fishing is often better when the fish are less pressured.

Winter sees a lot of boats stay away, so chances are the good fishing will continue this month. The early bird catches the fish,

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DAMS Atkinson Awoonga Bjelke-Petersen Boondooma Borumba Burdekin Falls Callide Cania Clarendon Cooby Coolmunda

It’s an area worth visiting just for its beauty alone. The fact there are great fish on offer is just a bonus.

This is just another example of a freshwater location overlooked by most.

The list of great locations goes on with awesome saratoga and sooty waters to the west of Mackay, monster toga in the Dawson River system and out in the western rivers in Queensland’s outback you can encounter natives like golden perch and cod.

If you are on a journey around this great country, it always pays to pack a rod and a small tackle box. You never know what you might stumble upon. For now, let’s take a look at some of the places we visit more regularly. Until next month, buckled rods from the Colonel! so if you are keen to whack some bass, be the first to get to them and leave a shutdown school to find a more active one when things get tough.

Just remember there is a speed limit of 8 knots and a restricted area at Cressbrook Dam. Check out the signage to ensure you stay out of trouble and

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abide by the rules. The gate hours for the boat ramps and day use area are 7am-6pm over the winter months.

SOMERSET CLOSEST TOWNS: ESK, KILCOY The fishing has been a bit tough at Somerset. This is normal for this time of year. A few bass can be caught from the deeper schools and off the edges, but generally it’s tough.

Many schools tend to form up away from their normal haunts on the flats. Expect to find bass holding around the edges in schools often near a point or drop-off.

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These are good areas to toss a lure away from the school and up into the shallows. More active (and often bigger) fish break away from the deeper holding fish to feed up in the shallows. Casting spinnerbaits, lipless crankbaits and blade baits towards the edges and working them through water from 1-5m deep can be the way to tempt the bites.

The schooling fish are likely to be stubborn. Apart from the schools around the edges, the flats where schools usually form will

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Maroon 99 99 100 Monduran/Fred Haigh 101 100 99 Moogerah 97 97 96 North Pine/Samsonvale 72 70 70 Peter Faust/Proserpine 77 78 78 Pindari 100 100 100 Somerset 75 76 76 Teemburra 100 100 100 Tinaroo 50 50 49 Toonumbar 101 100 101 Wivenhoe 73 71 71 Wuruma 99 98 98

For fortnightly updates on Sunwater dams visit www.sunwater.com.au This symbol indicates that a Stocked Impoundment Permit is required to fish these dams.

All figures are % readings Current as of 17/07/17

(All levels correct at time of going to press. Dam levels can change at any time, so please check with local authorities to ensure safe boating and fishing.)

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Dam............................ % Full Copeton Cressbrook Dyer/Bill Gunn Eungella Fairbairn Glenlyon Hinze Julius Kinchant Koombooloomba Leslie Macdonald

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Weipa

brought to you by

Dam............................ % Full

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Trolling Jets 18g tail spinners is a great way to fool Somerset’s schooling big bass. With 3kg+ fish on offer keep this trick up your sleeve.

DAM LEVELS

Gympie

12

also hold their share. Fish tend to move out onto these flats more towards the end of the month. Spring is their breeding time in the wild and the same instincts kick in in the dams. Look for bigger schools of fish between Kirkleigh and Pelican Point.

These fish will favour deeper water around 8-11m deep. Any flat areas outside the creek and river beds that have this depth are worth closer investigation.

If you run C-MAP Genesis you will have a good start, as the whole lake has been accurately mapped with the key depths easy to find.

Once the schools are found, you can try jigging ice jigs to get a response from any fish holding the bottom tightly. Blades, tail spinners and Mask vibes would be my next picks for lures, but don’t expect big numbers of fish. The quality can be exceptional, just be prepared to work for them.

At some stage, the switch will flick and the action will go from slow to insane. This could happen at the end of the month, but it’s more likely to take place in September.

When this occurs, soft plastics, tail spinners and spoons will all excel.

This will be the time to encounter some of the best Australian bass fishing on offer. Fish to over 3kg are not uncommon at this time of year.

One of the tricks which worked well for us last year was to troll a tail spinner at 1.8-2.2km/h through the schooling fish. Trolling accounted for way more fish than casting and when one fish was hooked, you could wind in any other trailing lures through the school and the commotion would wake up others and multiple hook-ups could be experienced.

For the latest reports, check out Somerset

tossing spinnerbaits and lipless crankbaits. Popular spinnerbaits have been from the Jackall, Bassman and OSP stables. In the lipless crank department, it’s hard to beat the TN Jackalls. Try fishing the banks concentrating on the points between the boat ramp and dam wall.

It’s worth sounding over the points out wider to see if the fish are schooling. If they are there, try noisier presentations in

Somerset Dam can turn it on at times in winter. The action can be very slow too. When the bass decide to play, make the most of it. Jets tail spinners accounted for this pair.

Fishing Tackle online and on Facebook. The store has now closed in Kilcoy and moved to the dam. The trailer can be located in the day use area at Kirkleigh. The opening days could change to include more weekdays but you can expect them to be there Friday, Saturday and Sunday each week.

Somerset Tackle has a great range of lures and gear suited to fishing the dam. They also have the knowledge and skills to help steer you in the right direction. Call in and see them or consider doing a phone or internet purchase as they mail order fishing gear all over the place.

For some of the most competitive prices around, visit the website www. somersetfishing.com.au.

WIVENHOE CLOSEST TOWNS: FERNVALE, ESK Bass and golden perch have been taking trolled and cast lures around the edges of the lake. Quite a few fish have been caught on the steeper rocky banks between Billies Bay and Logans Inlet. Try casting

SUNSHINE COAST REGION MACDONALD CLOSEST TOWNS: TEWANTIN, NOOSA The lake has fished quite well right through winter. The main body of the lake is holding good schools of bass. These fish can be found in the bay near the Botanical Gardens and any northern facing bays near the dam wall.

Try to tempt these fish with blades, spoons and tail spinners.

In the upper part of the lake around the skinny water and road bridges, bass and saratoga can be caught in the weed pockets using surface lures. The Cultiva Zip’n Ziggy is a favourite.

the coloured water. Lures like beetle spin rigged plastics and blade baits would be ideal.

Sporty’s Fishing at 32 Strathaird Road, Bundall has one of the best ranges of lures on the Gold Coast.

The staff specialise in lure fishing, so they know all about the products they sell. Call in to see the cool stuff they stock and while you’re there, pump some fishing information and secrets out of them.

For the best topwater action, try your luck early on a calm morning. The action in the late afternoon can also be good. Again, try when there is little wind.

Davos in Noosaville is just a short drive away and they carry all the right lures to use on the toga and bass.

BORUMBA CLOSEST TOWNS: IMBIL, NOOSA Quite a few bass and the occasional saratoga are still being caught by lure tossers in the lake. Golden perch are also an option, but are far more common when using live shrimp up in the start of the timbered arms.

The Junction where the timbered arms come

5/8oz spinnerbaits and TN60 Jackalls to these edges. If you find an edge with old sunken spindly timber on it, you are far more likely to find schooling fish.

The fish on the edges hold in smaller schools, which can be interrupted from their normal behaviour once you catch a fish or two. As soon as the bites stop, move away and return to the spot after you have given it a break.

Schooling fish in the basin of the lake have been hard to find. I guess they will start to leave the edges and school up at the end of the month or early in September. The flats out from Billies Bay will be the place to explore. Look in 8-11m of water for the big schools and once found offer them tail spinners, spoons and vibes.

Trolling the edges where the fish are currently holding is a good way to catch bass and golden perch. Opt for a medium running lure like a 3m Poltergeist or something similar that dives 3-5m deep.

As the fish move out onto the open flats, switch to very

deep lures that can run at least 10m deep. Use lighter braided line around 4-6lb to ensure you are achieving maximum depth. Lures like the Blitz Baga, Poltergeist 50mm Crazy Deep and JDK Rippa are some of my favourites.

HINZE CLOSEST TOWNS: NERANG, GOLD COAST The bass action has been a bit slower at Hinze Dam. Most fish are still falling to an edge bite when

Wivenhoe Dam’s deep flats will be worth exploring for big fat bass by the end of this month. Trolling is a good way to explore, then switch to cast offerings.

together is a good spot to start searching for fish.

There were some deeper schooling fish holding tight to the standing timber.

These fish, when found, can be enticed with blades and soft plastics. As you venture further up the lake, the smaller bays that tuck in beside the main rivers are worth closer investigation.

Flicking spinnerbaits and lipless crankbaits to these should produce bass and maybe a saratoga.

Davos at Noosaville has all the gear you’ll need to tackle the fish at Borumba and Lake MacDonald.

The store caters well for fresh and saltwater anglers.

They can be found in the Homemaker Centre on the corner of Mary and Thomas streets.

AUGUST 2017

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DARLING DOWNS GRANITE BELT REGION GLENLYON CLOSEST TOWNS: TEXAS, STANTHORPE The cod at the dam wall have been slow to turn up this year. The bulk of their nesting behaviour will be a bit later this year, which could see the action a bit slower this month. Once the females have laid their eggs, they will be hungry, so look out come September.

On the river, the cod have been quiet. This could also be due to these fish playing mums and dads and setting up for breeding. A few smaller fish have been caught out in the middle of the river away from the prime nesting sites.

Keep in mind these cod will be off limits once the closed season begins in September (you are still allowed to target cod in the lake).

In the upper part of the lake around Glenlyon, there have been quite a few golden perch caught on live shrimp. The biggest reported weighed 10lb. Live shrimp can still be caught from the dam, despite the cold conditions. Be patient, as

they will be pretty slow moving at this time of year.

Cod fishers have had the most success fishing the bigger weed clumps throughout the lake.

Casting big spinnerbaits weighing 1 1/2-2oz caught fish to 114cm last month.

The best approach is to locate channels through the weed. The fish move through these using them like roads.

Weed is easy to spot on a sounder and side image can help locate the deeper sections through it.

A good set of polarized sunglasses on a sunny day will also reveal the alleys to cast to. Try to work your spinnerbaits following the weed contour.

Where possible, follow the weed down to 3m, as this seems to be a good depth to find the most action.

Other areas worth trying your luck will be the rocky ledges. Fishing around the Cod Run and Spinners Run will see you in the right area. Other hotspots like the Caves may be too deep at the moment, so try to work the more suitable water. In the cooler months the cod can

2 Dams

1de stination H

South Burnett

be found shallow, so stick to water under 6m deep.

September will fire the goldens and cod right up.

Brian Dare from the Tourist Park said, “hold onto your hat,” as this is when the action will really kick off.

The kiosk at the lake has a great range of cod lures. They pride themselves on stocking quality Australian-made lures that work. If you’re staying at the lake, you can book a cabin (not selfcontained), powered or an unpowered site.

There are BBQs, a playground, two boat ramps (depending on water level) and ice, fuel, bait, and lunchtime food like wraps, pies, hotdogs and tea and coffee.

No domestic pets are allowed at Glenlyon Tourist Park and Brian and Debbie can be contacted on (02) 6737 5266.

COOBY CLOSEST TOWNS: HIGHFIELDS, TOOWOOMBA While Cooby can be a tough lake to fish in winter, the milder conditions so far have seen golden perch being caught on a fairly regular basis. The goldens can be fooled with saltwater yabbies or ZX40 blades.

From the banks you can still expect to get a fish or two and the fishing will be steady. The falling level means the rock wall is the only land-based option. Find a safe spot to reach the water and fish with fewer lines to increase your chances.

Saltwater yabbies are the most productive winter bait.

However, they are soft – a few picks from a fish will have the bait gone, so pay close attention to your lines.

Cooby Dam’s proximity to Highfields and

Coolmunda Dam’s timbered flats will be holding plenty of smaller cod this month. definitely worth a visit. The dam hours are 7am until 6pm during the winter months.

Just remember no outboard motors are allowed to be used on the dam. The concrete boat ramp is on a shallow angle when the dam is full and can be slippery in places. A big electric powered boat can still be launched with care. Outboard motors can be left on the boat and must not be used. Tackle, lures and saltwater yabbies can be purchased from Highfields Bait and Tackle at the Coles Circle Plaza Shopping Centre

LESLIE CLOSEST TOWN: WARWICK The action has slowed at Leslie as is to be expected for this time of year. Golden perch are still being caught on saltwater yabbies and shrimp out in the deeper water. The better quality fish seem to be coming from the main basin of the lake. Hopping small blades is also accounting for some nicer fish in this area.

Bank fishers still stand a good chance of landing golden perch as well. Some productive spots have been

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AUGUST 2017

Most golden perch at Leslie Dam will take jigged blades or baits this month.

If you are trolling hardbodies, slow it right down to give them time to react.

Toowoomba makes it a very popular fishery. If you are looking for somewhere close to home to drop the boat or kayak in, Cooby is

in Highfields. Call in and see Doug and check out the great range of fishing gear, kayaks and accessories he has on display.

between the two concrete ramps and off the bank below the Washpool Camping Reserve. A few silver perch have been mixed in with the

catches of goldens. Worms are good for the silver perch, and stick to live shrimp or saltwater yabbies for the golden perch.

Along with getting a fishing report, stock up on all your gear while at Warwick Outdoor and Sports at 115 Palmerin Street, Warwick. For a small store, it carries a great range at very competitive prices. Warwick is only a ten-minute drive from the dam and you can pick up any supplies you might need.

COOLMUNDA CLOSEST TOWN: INGLEWOOD Things are set to fire up next month as spring arrives but in the meantime, there are still fish being caught if you put in the time. The timbered flats around 2-3m deep are the ideal spot to toss a spinnerbait. Spinnerbait from 5/8-1oz are perfect in this depth. The cod here come in all sizes. The bigger models have been quiet but there are still quite a few 50-70cm fish to be caught. It is a good time of year to target these fish as they receive very little fishing pressure.

Golden perch are often tough to catch, but Adam Krautz reported landing quite a few last month. His fish came from the rock wall between the ramp and concrete dam wall, as well as the deeper trees in the Macintyre Brook Arm. Jigging ZX40 blades was the key to success with most of the action in 5-6m of water.

It’s surprising how effective this style of fishing can be even in the colder months. Often it will out-fish baits fished in the same area. Try jigging the base of the rock wall. Expect a few snags and have a lure retriever handy. You can also pull up alongside a tree, jig the base of it for a few minutes and then move on to the next one.

The Coolmunda Caravan Park is only around 1km away from the lake. The park is just off the Cunningham Highway and far enough away from the noise of trucks to get a good night’s sleep.

It offers camping sites, cabins, caravan facilities, tennis courts, a swimming pool, BBQ shelter and a camp kitchen.

The park now has an extra two new wheelchair friendly cabins to add to their older ones. Camping is also available near the boat ramp with toilets and hot showers to make your stay more comfortable. To take advantage of this and the great fishing opportunities in the lake and the river below, give the park a call on (07) 4652 4171.

WIDE BAY AND SOUTH BURNETT REGION CANIA CLOSEST TOWNS: MONTO, BILOELA The great bass fishing continues at Cania. Big schools of fish can be found moving around the main basin. Spend plenty of time sounding around concentrating on the 7-10m depth range. Once found, switch between different lures until you work out what the fish want to eat most.

Ice jigs, plastics, blades, spoons and tail spinners can all perform well. Some days

the fish will eat everything, other days they will refuse all but one lure style.

This is the nature of bass fishing and why it pays to have a selection of lures to offer. Let the fish dictate what you throw and once you work it out, you will catch more fish.

BOONDOOMA CLOSEST TOWNS: PROSTON, KINGAROY The dam has started to clear up nicely and the fish have moved out into the main basin. The best shows will be

found from the Barbers Pole down to Pelican Point. Look for the old sunken weed bed in 7-10m of water and fish the outer edge. Lures like ice jigs, plastics, tail spinners and spoons have all worked well.

The fish should remain in this area over the coming month and it’s just a matter of moving around to find the best concentrations. If they’re being stubborn, rotate through lures until you find what they want to eat the most. If last month is anything to go by, catching them shouldn’t be a problem. Matthew Mott had a sensational session there

boating around 100 fish.

Boondooma is a great place to camp right near the water, sit by the fire and enjoy the view. You could also stay in more style and comfort by booking into one of the cabins overlooking the dam.

The kiosk at the main office does hot food and other basic items including an excellent range of proven fishing tackle. For campsites, cabins and bunkhouse rooms, call (07) 4168 9694.

For the latest information, jump onto Facebook and check out Matthew Mott Sport Fishing for Motty’s latest fishing reports.

WHITSUNDAY REGION PROSERPINE CLOSEST TOWNS: PROSERPINE, AIRLIE BEACH The barra fishing has hung in there right through winter this year.

The late rain could be the reason and fish are being caught in the usual haunts upriver, in the old river channels and out in the basin.

If southwesterly winds hit hard, the fishing can shut down. If they stay away, you stand a good chance of landing one of Faust’s big barra.

Calm mornings are the best time to fish.

Light winds and clear sky days are ideal for working the points with topwater and shallow divers until around 8am.

As the day heats up and light intensifies, work out wider and target fish in the major creek and river systems, which run through the trees.

Casting deep divers here and working the top 3m of water is the key. Even though the bottom can be well over 10m deep, the fish will swim up and down the creeks in the upper water column. The bigger the system, the more chance

barra will move up and down it like a highway, so give it some time.

Surprisingly barra are still being caught in the main basin of the lake.

Trolling deep divers like Scorpion Crazy Deeps is a great way to search for fish.

Good shows of 30-100 barra can often be found and when this happens, switch to vibes, plastics or a suitable sinking lure. Jigging lures in these suspended barra schools has been very successful. Unfortunately, they can be hard to find.

The full moon period can be one of the better times to look around the buoys across the dam wall.

Kamp Kanga, the accommodation area below the dam wall, has been closed. The latest update is it will remain closed until October/November. Stay tuned for more information on this. If you are looking for a place to stay, I highly recommend A&A Motel, which is directly opposite Barra World in Proserpine.

For all your fishing supplies or a guided trip on the lake, call Lindsay or Dane at Barra World on (07) 4945 4641. Barra World is right on the highway in

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Schools of big barra in winter will get most anglers excited. Proserpine has been fishing well and these deeper holding fish should be suckers for soft vibes.

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BJELKE CLOSEST TOWNS: MURGON, GOOMERI There have been plenty of fish up in the shallower areas of 3-5m of water on the edges of the main basin.

This may be because the nights haven’t been too cold. If there is a sudden cold snap or prolonged period of icy weather, the fish could retreat to deeper water or move back out into the middle of the dam.

Soft plastics have been successful with natural and darker coloured 3” grubs a standout.

On the edge of the old creek bed, fish can be caught jigging blades and ice jigs.

This area is likely to get more fish in it if the shallower holding fish retreat back to the deep. Bait fishers can also

score good numbers of fish on live shrimp. Try around the rocky banks where the old river channel snakes in closer to the shore.

For help catching Bjelke and Boondooma fish, call into Bass 2 Barra. The store stocks an awesome range of gear suited to chasing our freshwater fish and the boys have all the knowledge to guide you on how to use it. You’ll find the stores at 119 Youngman Street Kingaroy.

The Yallakool kiosk is all set up with a great range of tackle if you don’t happen to have the right lure or lose one. Be sure to call in and check it out. Give them a call for accommodation and camping bookings on (07) 4168 4746.

Artie caught this beaut 50cm jack in Baffle Creek, the day before cyclone Debbie crossed the coast.

10HP OF POWER This is the most powerful electric motor in the ePropulsion range. Pumping out a massive 6KW of power which is equivalent to a 10hp petrol outboard. This motor is available in either tiller control or forward control. Forward control uses a wireless throttle and gear shifting control box. Silent, zero emissions and maintenance free makes this motor a pleasure to own.

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77

Usual Somerset winter patterns happening late LAKE SOMERSET

Matthew Taylor

Bass are well and truly in their winter patterns, having relocated to shallower water. The cool weather is currently causing the fish to roe up and become wellconditioned, with even bigger bass than usual expected to be caught soon. It is more than possible for catches of bass over 3kg to be regular occurrences for anglers. This year these changes have come about later than usual.

Mixed reports have been coming from anglers who have recently fished at Somerset Dam, with the fishing said to be hit or miss. Many of those who have caught good numbers of fish have attributed their success to having fished during the weekdays, as the fish seem to go off the chew on the weekends and school holidays – times of high fishing pressure or boating traffic. The best time of the day to be fishing has been later on or when it heats up, when the fish become more active and hungry and the heat increases their metabolism.

Bass are being found and caught in a variety of areas. There are fish on the edges and Bay 13 and Brads Bank has recently rewarded anglers. Jackall TN60s and smaller blades are working well in these areas. While

these lures are also working well on schools of bass, ice jigs have been working with greater success for the fish that are sitting on the bottom. Halco Twistys are also working well with a dead slow retrieve proving to be a consistent winner.

Darker colours are working well while the sun is low in the sky, and lighter and brighter colours are working more effectively when the sun comes up.

Light blues, whites, olives

and blacks are working particularly well. Queen Street, Bay 13, Pelican Point and Brads Bank have been the most common areas where the fish have been found schooling, rewarding anglers with sessions of up to 20 fish.

The size of the schools has been rather small lately, but this is expected to change soon. For the bait anglers, using live shrimp has worked well, with larger baits proving to be the best

Craig McDonald with a solid bass.

Brett Klaws braved some serious mist for this yellowbelly.

Daniel Brooks with a couple beaut bass.

for catching larger fish.

If you are targeting yellowbelly, the majority of fish are coming off rocky and grassy edges. A number of these have cracked the 50cm mark, with one local angler recently landing a 57cm long fish on a blade cast to the edge. Areas in the vicinity of Pelican Point like Brads Bank have rewarded anglers. A good number of fish have also been caught on the edge and in a school near Red Rock. White and light blue Smak Ice-Jigs have worked well in this spot.

For both yellowbelly and bass, trolled deep divers have also been successful in about 20ft of water.

The redclaw crayfish have been commonly targeted and caught on the rocky and timbered banks of the lake, at spots like Brads Bank, throughout Queen Street and in the timbered area at the top of the lake. It has been best to leave traps in overnight, as with the cooler weather, results dwindle when left in for a shorter time. A number of people have had success using cat and dog biscuits, and vegetable scraps like pumpkin and potato peels.

By using more bait than usual the redclaw catches will be greater, so use as much as possible.

If you are heading to Lake Somerset, there are two main boat ramps for

anglers to use – one located at the Spit, and the other at the Kirkleagh end of the lake. Make sure to drop in and say g’day at Somerset Fishing Tackle, which is located about 200m from the Kirkleigh day use boat ramp, situated in the natural bush surroundings of the Lake Somerset Holiday Park.

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Andrew McKinnon caught this great pair of bass with a storm brewing behind him.

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miss it. Don’t let the size of this shop deceive you, because believe me, they have got it all. You can also jump on their website at www.somersetfishing. com.au to check out their fishing tackle range. If you are confused about any fishing spots, or want to know what the fish are biting on, be sure to ask and they will be able to help you out.

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REALITY VERSUS EXPECTATIONS: THE GOALS FOR OUR FISHERY I was trying to decide whether or not to start ‘Once upon a time’ again.

R ecreational fishers from South East Queensland have been knocking on politician’s doors, sending letters and emails and doing everything possible to give a very clear and concise message that Moreton Bay is in clear and imminent danger from decimation by gillnets. We thought the message had been received loud and clear, however, a couple of highly placed individuals within DAF have derailed this. The economic consequences of again deferring doing anything will far exceed those from the Scallop fishery that Fisheries Queensland allowed to be fished down to 5% last year.

Credibility with respect to Fisheries management within DAF was starting to rise until late last year.

Now, it’s back to where it had been previously.

EXAMPLE 1 The Scallop Fishery was allowed to be fished down to 5%. This extract

from a November 2016 report is on the DAF website.

Average catch rates from January 2015 to April 2016 were the lowest in the 39-year record. These recent average catch rates are slightly lower than those in 1996 when the scallop population size fell to low levels and emergency closed areas were implemented by the Government. From this data the model estimates of spawning stock in 2015 are potentially as low as 5-6% of 1977 levels, when the fishery was in its early development.

EXAMPLE 2 White Spot Syndrome Virus: this virus wiped out all the South East Queensland prawn farms.

All the information provided was that it is very virulent and only takes one infected animal to spread the virus into another school. We supported an extensive movement closure area encompassing Moreton Bay to prevent catastrophic impacts around the rest of the state and the country as a whole.

As usual, there was considerable push back from

commercial fishers who held the position that the small numbers of infected prawns in the outer waters of Moreton Bay should not be able to impact their businesses – too bad about the rest of the commercial fishers around the country.

The most heavily impacted sector was the raw mud crab fishery. They obviously have a significant amount of power at their disposal because DAF have since excluded raw crabs from the movement control order.

Just remember, it was because of a low risk assessment that White Spot was even here in the first place.

EXAMPLE 3 Moreton Bay Net Free Area: Up until Friday 9 June when the Minister announced the ‘new’ Queensland Sustainable Fisheries Strategy, we had received every assurance that Moreton Bay Net Free Area would be announced prior to the state election with funding attached.

We strongly advised both the Minister’s office and Fisheries Queensland at a

meeting that Moreton Bay was in dire trouble and any delays could be catastrophic.

The targets in this strategy are ones that recreational fishers can certainly support, but then we already supported some of the same goals in 2009 and 1993! Why should we expect that this time the outcomes will be achieved?

What is the recovery plan for once again deferring the Moreton Bay Net Free Area?

Here are the goals of the Sustainable Fisheries Strategy from this year, and similar goals from 2009.

2017 By 2020, we aim to have: • set sustainable catch limits based on achieving at least maximum sustainable yield for all Queensland fisheries (around 40-50% biomass) • implemented harvest strategies for all Queensland fisheries, which set clear targets for fishery performance, triggers for action and clear decision rules for the actions that will be taken • maintained all C o m m o n w e a l t h export approvals • improved stakeholder

satisfaction about engagement mechanisms • increased satisfaction of recreational fishers (compared to 2017 figures) • better data for key fisheries to underpin evidence-based management.

By 2027, we aim to have: • set sustainable catch limits based on achieving maximum economic yield for all Queensland fisheries (around 60% biomass) • identified that no Queensland fisheries are overfished • increased certainty for commercial operators • reduced the volume of fisheries regulation • improved trends of compliance rates • implemented a responsive and consultative approach to fisheries management.

Where we want to be in 2027 • Management built on firm foundations • Fisheries monitoring and research is robust, regular and builds confidence • Sustainable limits are defined for all key stocks/regions • Effective engagement between all stakeholders

• A sound risk-based approach is used to assess impacts on non-target species • Access to best practice tools • All major fisheries are managed by harvest strategies with defined targets • Fishing rules are clear, practical and appropriate • Transparent process for resource allocation • Responsive and evidence-based decisionmaking with clear management actions • Implementation is strategic • Management and reform is adequately funded • Education and compliance is effective and provides confidence 2009 Five principles will guide the transformation of fisheries management and development in Queensland during 2009-14 to ensure it is driven by knowledge, informed by relationships, delivering valued services through partnerships, founded on responsibility, sustained by investment.

the natural and business environments • approach fisheries management as a part of overall marine ecosystem management • generate information and assessments informing less precautionary harvest strategies • manage fisheries in a flexible framework with a large degree of co-management and local and regional decision-making

• enhance market rewards to commercial fishers by preferential sourcing and price premiums for products harvested sustainably with minimum waste, in line with customer demands for a quality, nutritious product.

All material has been sourced from the Queensland Government through the DAF and Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation.

OUR KEY TARGETS Our key targets To focus our work, we have proposed targets for what will be achieved within one, three and five years.

By the end of 2010 we will: • finalise the planningbased framework for marine aquaculture • finalise the future vision for the Declared Fish Habitat Area network and review of Fisheries Queensland’s approach

to fish habitat conservation and enhancement • complete an economic analysis of the commercial fishing industry • create a commercial fisheries development unit within Fisheries Queensland • finalise the recreational fishing development plan • finalise an Indigenous fishing strategy • revamp Fisheries Q u e e n s l a n d ’s key performance indicators.

By the end of 2012 we will: • finalise a harvest strategy framework and implement harvest strategies, including more efficient and effective management arrangements for a range of fisheries (e.g. rocky reef, east coast trawl) • undertake valuefor-money reviews of regulatory, administration and enforcement services • significantly improve relationships with

stakeholders and introduce sharing (co-management) arrangements where appropriate • implement the recreational fishing development plan.

By the end of 2014 we will: • implement a revised policy and legislative framework where regulation is clear and proportionate, does not impose unnecessary costs on businesses and individuals, and is responsive to changes in

White Spot Syndrome virus wiped out all the South East Queensland prawn farms. Photos courtesy of DAF.

www.sunfishqld.com.au

Email: judylynne@sunfishqld.com.au AUGUST 2017

79

The new Isuzu MU-X is right on the money BRISBANE

Wayne Kampe wkff@aapt.net.au

With a couple of upgrades leading the ever-popular Isuzu MU-X towards top sales in its market niche, it might be time for potential larger 4x4 buyers to take a good, hard look at what the MU-X offers and the value for money that the newest model with enhanced engine and gearing really represents.

to work with the greatest of ease and convenience.

ALL VARIANTS SEVEN-SEATERS For the record the 2017 seven-seat MU-X offers both 4x2 and 4x4 drive capability and there are three MU-X variants in the showrooms with differing trim levels and a host of very desirable features. Standard throughout are ISOFIX anchors as well as six air bags, three USB points and – drum roll please – a full-sized spare. The top of range LS-T is an auto

pollen filters. Yet there’s no denying that the base LS-M is a long march from a basic no-frills unit.

4X4 AUTO LS-U REVIEWED The mid range LS-U 4x4 auto featured keyless entry, climate air, an 8” touch screen with Sat Nav and reversing camera, USB and Bluetooth streaming, rear parking sensors, LED projector headlights, alloy side steps and tinted rear privacy glass, plus rear cabin air vents. There’s electrical

Good looks, an easy drive with ample comfort for up to seven aboard: that’s the 2017 Isuzu MU-X. power for most functions along with leather trim on the wheel, and there’s also those 18” alloy wheels.

In all, it’s a very well set up unit and, as I was to find out with a five hour stint behind the wheel, an absolute pleasure to drive. The seating was very comfortable and the driving position easy to set up for my requirements.

Big power operated side mirrors made keeping an eye on things when backing a treat. The button-operated hill descent control was

Wide doors, comfortable seating and an easy interior layout are all features that MU-X owners highly regard.

Telling it like it is, the MU-X – first seen on our roads in 2013 – sits in a very hotly contested market segment. There’s close rival Colorado 7 snapping at the heels, Toyota’s Fortuner, Ford’s Everest and the Pajero Sport also in the running, but the MU-X seems to ooze something that the others don’t always exhibit. It’s called ‘practicality.’ The Isuzu might not have the longest wheelbase, nor the most powerful engine, but everything from the tailgate to the seven-seat setup seems

shifter only with the LS-M and LS-U available as both 6-speed manual and 6-speed auto units.

It’s interesting to see that the base LS-M has many desirable features shared with the more upmarket LS-U and the all-bellsand-whistles LS-T as well.

The base model’s main differences are easily noted as a 7” touch screen plus 16” wheels in lieu of the 18” wheels of the LS-U and top-shelf LS-T with its lovely leather seats, proximity start system and

A revised and improved dash layout is symbolic of what Isuzu have done to make a good car even better.

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also useful when coming down the Tollbar range from Toowoomba in very murky and wet conditions.

With the high level of kit as standard, the MU-X is also enhanced with new dash and interior tonings – including more chrome and piano black – along with increased presence of softer materials to brighten things up. The infotainment screens are also new models and have a classy look about them.

There’s still the somewhat different double glove box setup, but what’s wrong with extra storage up front? Not that there’s any shortage elsewhere for that matter; nooks and crannies are everywhere within the

Isuzu’s large body and even the third row team are treated to some. This vehicle has 12 cup holders!

The overall feel of the MU-X’s cabin was one of roominess and ease of movement. Nothing, either front or rear, felt cramped.

Head and legroom in the second row was generous even with the front pews extended back somewhat for a taller driver.

Setting the third row of seats up was streets ahead of some rivals and note that these seats are stored completely flat when not in use. They were easy to access when the larger ‘60’ section of the 60:40 second row seating was slid forward with a single touch/ fold motion. The amount of space on hand when the mid row 60 section was down and forward made it easy for an adult to access the rearmost seats. I still suggest they are best left for youngsters, as one always has to get out!

Exterior changes to the latest 2017MY MU-X (there was a 2016 release as well) are minor but reflected in the Bi-LED projector headlights, LED running lights and an

overall design that looks good and business-like. The fit and finish throughout was a vast improvement on earlier models and the MU-X is now certainly moving towards the sort of sophistication and refinement that modern 4x4 drivers are demanding of their investments in driving pleasure.

REVISED ENGINE THE BIG NEWS The real changes within this year’s MU-X are found under the bonnet with the 3.0L four-cylinder intercooled diesel engine now featuring serious upgrades to provide better fuel economy and enhanced performance with an output of 130kW of power 430Nm of torque.

The upgraded engine featured new pistons, new injectors, a new fuel pump, new turbo, ceramic glow plugs and a particulate diffuser. The engine seems smoother and more willing, and takes it easy no matter what’s asked of it. Mated to a 6-speed Aisin auto, it was still Isuzu-identifiable by a small clatter at idle. Once on the move at highway speeds, the engine loped along lazily taking all in

The MU-X’s big wide dial makes temperature control as easy as possible.

its stride as the Isuzu 3.0L diesels have always done.

Slipstream and tyre noise were indeed quite minimal.

The LS-U was fitted with Dunlop Grand Treks.

The point is that some rivals might offer more torque from smaller power plants, but the Euro5 emissions compliant 3.0L Isuzu diesel is understressed; 1500rpm saw the Isuzu towing my camper trailer at 100km/h and 1800rpm moved us along at 110km/h. I managed 8.9L

Generous sized rear seating is a feature of the Isuzu.

The MU-X made easy work of some cross country travel to the Macintyre River near Goondiwindi. per 100km when towing and a 65L tank is standard.

NO GAINSAYING THE RIDE The ride of the MU-X was superb over both bitumen and gravel surfaces.

On a run to Goondiwindi I was impressed with the outstanding capability of the LS-U to maintain the gazetted 110kph on the rough and ready Gore Highway. Although signed at

at up to 100km/h.

The approach angle is 24°, departure 25° and it has a ground clearance of 230mm, so dragging my camper across paddocks and wash outs to a strategic fishing area on the Macintyre River near Goondiwindi was a breeze.

Interestingly, there are ample bash plates under the MU-X’s vitals to guard against impact upon hard objects.

LAST THOUGHTS Seven seaters are the current trend, although not all have the easy storage capacity of the MU-X. With all three seats in use there’s room for an icebox and some groceries in back with 235L on hand.

With the third row down in flat storage there’s 878L of space on hand – to pack in some camping or fishing gear.

Then, with the second row also down and out of the way, 1830L of flat cargo area is available. A bicycle or two? Towing is big, too. Boat, caravan or camper trailer owners will appreciate the 3000kg braked and 750kg unbraked trailer ratings.

Owners will enjoy the MU-X’s five-star safety rating, the numerous

the increased speed limit, the section between Millmerran and Wyaga is a definite test of a modern vehicle’s ride.

The road is somewhat remote, and certainly wide enough for the enhanced speed limit, but the series of continuous undulations and patched up potholes are a suspension test if ever there was one. Luckily, the MU-X is equipped with high-ride gas shock equipped coils up

SEASON

“Tinnie Tosser” front and multi-link coils in the rear, so bumps and thumps rarely intruded.

Note that the gentle riding MU-X is no soft roader. As a proper 4WD with both high and low range, it can take off-road work on the chin and come back for more. The special 4x4 Terrain Command range selection is operated via a rotary dial on the console and can be changed from 4x2 High to 4x4 High

5

The MU-X’s big infotainment screen makes accessing functions as easy as reversing with the very clear camera.

The acclaimed Isuzu 3.0L diesel engine offers more torque, more smoothness and easy power.

The Isuzu’s nifty under-floor storage area is a handy place to store valuables or packs of lures.

Entry to the third row sees the large section of the middle row slipping forward at a touch and the wide rear door allows ample room to move in.

Flat storage is a big asset when planning a trip away.

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safety orientated items such as six airbags, ABS with ABD, hill start assist and electronic stability and traction control, plus other items. The warranty is five years or 130,000km, and there’s a five-year 50,000km capped price servicing with intervals being 12 months or 10,000km. Price is around the $48,990 mark and Isuzu advises there are also free services for two years.

Want to take your tinny on holidays and catch the big one but can’t because you are towing a caravan?

Well here is the answer!!

Features include: Single person operation, electric and manual models, custom made to suit vehicle and boat, built for off-road conditions, aluminium and stainless steel construction.

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OUTDOOR & FISHING SHOW

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81

Three from three for Cannizzaro THE FUTURE IS HERE Self-contained Electric Outboards

STORM

Ross Cannizzaro has taken to bass fishing like a duck to water, winning his second event in as many stops, as he rallied in sessions two and three to take victory from Warren Carter by a kilo in the Haswing Marine presented Lake St Clair BASS Pro, the fourth stop of the 2017 Bass Cat BASS Pro Series.

Cannizzaro first tasted tournament bass fishing at the Hawkesbury River BASS Pro in late April where he won convincingly on his home waterway using his extensive bream fishing knowledge. St Clair was different though, he was now in the backyard of some of Australia’s best bass anglers, and in the beginning it looked like they were going to get the better of him.

“I missed getting on the water early on the Tuesday pre-fish day and missed the important morning bite period. I poked around and caught a few fish, but nothing that was really going to set the world on fire. The first morning I didn’t have a solid plan and although I caught fish, they weren’t

the calibre I needed to place in the top of the field,” explained Cannizzaro.

It didn’t take him long to bounce back though, after weighing a 4/4 3.59kg limit to begin with, Cannizzaro started to figure out what made the Lake St Clair bass tick. His afternoon session bag of 4/4 4.68kg was the tournament’s Duffrods Big Bag and rocketed him into the lead heading into Thursday’s final session.

“I had two key areas that I found during the first day of competition. There was one area down by the no-go zone near the entrance to the dam wall arm that I could go to early and catch a good limit. Then I also had an area of rocky boulders in the Fallbrook Arm of the dam where I knew big fish resided, and that’s where I’d go to for upgrades.”

You could call Cannizzaro a creature of habit, and lately that habit has been winning ABT tournaments. He started his roll on the Hawkesbury, continued it with a win at the Manning River BREAM Qualifier and completed the

Ross Cannizzaro made it three wins from three starts with his victory at the St Clair. three-peat with his victory at St Clair. These are three very different waterways, but there was a lot of similarities with how Cannizzaro approached each event – most notably, his equipment choice.

The Berkley Tournament T Tail was the go-to bait again at St Clair, but this

R

perfection at St Clair, presenting his offering on 4.4lb Berkley Fireline Exceed and 4lb Vanish fluorocarbon leaders.

“I know most bass guys would be cringing at the thought of 4lb in amongst the weed and rocks, but I’m so comfortable fishing 4lb

WINNING TACKLE Rod: 1-3kg Abu Garcia Salty Stage light casting spinning rod Reel: Abu Garcia Revo ALX spin reel Line: 4.4lb Berkley Fireline Exceed Leader: 4lb Vanish fluorocarbon Lure: Berkley Tournament T Tail (watermelon seed colour) rigged on 1/8oz Nitro Dam Deep jighead with a #2 hook.

Warren Carter bagged the Big Bass, catching the $500 (1.36kg) fish in session one.

time in a watermelon seed colour for a more naturallooking presentation in the clearer waters of Lake St Clair. He rigged the plastic on a 1/8oz Nitro Dam Deep jighead with a #2 hook.

Cannizzaro is a firm believer in the motto, ‘go light to get the bite’ and he played that to

TOP 10 BOATERS Place Angler

Visit www.abt.org.au for entry forms. For general enquiries phone ABT on (07) 3387 0888.

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AUGUST 2017

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Fish

Weight (kg)

Payout

Ross Cannizzaro 12/12 12.65 $2600 + Duffrods Big Bag (4.68kg) Warren Carter 12/12 11.66 $1500 + $500 Big Bass (1.36kg) Mark Lennox 12/12 11.47 $1,100 Luke Draper 12/12 11.07 $700 Terry Allwood 12/12 10.99 $600 Alan McNamara 12/12 10.45 $500 Graham Ford 12/12 10.36 Joseph Urquhart 12/12 10.20 Tom Slater 12/12 10.19 Steve Muldoon 12/12 10.13 For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au

from all my experience in bream. I know how hard I can pull on it and when you have the level of confidence in your equipment that I do, then anything is possible.”

His outfit of choice again didn’t change. He preferred to use the same outfit across the bream and bass competitions. It was the newly released Abu Garcia Revo ALX spinning reel in a 20 size, matched to an Abu Garcia Salty Stage light casting spinning rod rated 1-3kg.

Cannizzaro now holds a commanding position entering the fifth and sixth events of the 2017 BassCat BASS Pro Series. With one more river event to go on the Clarence River in September, he’s sure to give the BASS guys a run for their money in the Costa BASS Pro Angler of the Year race.

BASSCA BASS PR T PRESEN O TED BY

Runner-Up Warren Warren Carter has again showed the crossover from ABT BREAM to BASS is easier than many may think, with the Victorian-based angler almost winning his second ABT BASS title at New South Wales’ famed Lake St Clair.

Carter was in the lead after his session one 4/4 4.47kg limit but was unable to repeat his heroics in the second session and thanks to Cannizzaro’s Duffrods Big Bag, couldn’t catch up come the final session on Thursday.

His 12/12, 11.66kg limit was good enough to claim second over Mark Lennox by 200g and also contained the tournaments Big Bass, earning him an extra $500.

Carter is no stranger to success at St Clair; he won the ABT BASS Pro at the lake in 2015 and used much the same technique to almost win twice in 2017.

“I had a really good pre-fish day catching plenty of fish, I knew

the two morning sessions would be the hardest to separate yourself from the pack because everyone was going to catch them.

It really was the afternoon session that was going to make the difference,” explained Carter.

With plenty of fish coming over the side in every session, Carter was able to capitalise on the first morning session just as he’d planned, going to session two with a sizeable 400g lead over second place.

Unfortunately for Carter, those scores couldn’t be repeated; despite catching over 50 legal bass for the remaining two sessions, he was unable to achieve the gold standard 1kg average weight per fish that it often takes to win on St Clair.

Fishing a technique he’s become well accustomed to, Carter threw the everpopular Keitech Easy Shiner in 2” rigged on 1/6oz #2 size jigheads. He would target the shallow weedy

banks that the bass in St Clair absolutely adore, and focused in on banks that had good anomalies in the weed growth. “The weed was very different to the last time I fished St Clair last year; back then there were defined inside and outside edges and it was easier to target the places where the bass would be likely hiding.

“This time, the weed growth was very different.

There was no defined inside edge and the outside edge was scattered and inconsistent. I tried to find banks that had some sort of anomalies for the bass to use as ambush points, whether that was a standalone clump of taller weed or pockets and depressions – it just had to have something different.”

Carter threw his presentation on an Edge Black Widow 702ISR rod matched with a Shimano Stella 2500 reel. He spooled with 11lb Varivas braid and fished a 6lb Varivas Absolute fluorocarbon leader. The

Warren Carter continued his good form at St Clair, finishing second to secure a berth in the Bass Cat BASS Pro Grand Final. technique was simple – a slow roll and shake that’s so common and effective during the cooler months in the Hunter Valley.

“That retrieve works everywhere from St Clair to QLD. I think the subtle movement your lure makes

when you shake that rod tip every few winds is just enough to trigger a bite. I guess the closest thing I can relate to it is like fishing a crankbait for bream. One of the best triggers is for your lure to deflect off a rock or piece of structure; the shake

is effectively replicating that deflection.”

Carter took home $2000 thanks to his runner-up cheque and Big Bass award, and firmly plants himself as one of the most all-round anglers we’ve ever seen on the ABT circuit.

Martin’s Magic Continues!

Jason Martin continued his magic run from the back of the boat in 2017. After two fifth place finishes at the QLD double-header earlier in the year, Martin proved he’s got what it takes, winning the Haswing Lake St Clair BASS Pro in great fashion.

Fishing with Peter

Phelps on day one and Ross Cannizzaro on day two, Martin was always near the pointy end of the field.

Together with Phelps, the pair put on 8/8 for 7.58kg to be sitting in fourth place overnight. Targeting weed beds in the Carrowbrook Arm of the dam, Phelps and Martin caught fish early and

consistently, targeting shallow water less than 6ft deep with small soft plastics rigged on light 1/6 and 1/8oz jigheads.

Departing for Thursday’s final session aboard tournament leader Cannizzaro’s BassCat Sabre FTD, Martin was always going to be hard to stop. Once the pair placed 4.38kg on the

scales at the final weigh-in, it was more than enough to eclipse the overnight lead of Walley Fahey.

Similar to Cannizzaro and a majority of the tournament field, Jason relied on small soft plastic paddle-tailed swimbaits to put his fish in the boat over the course of the tournament. These offerings

Berkley T-Tail on Dam Deep Jig Head

Jighead retrieve

TOP 10 NON BOATERS Place Angler

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Fish

Weight (kg)

Payout

Jason Martin 12/12 11.96 Westin Rod and Prize Pack Orton Marchant 12/12 11.47 Bassman Prize Pack Richard Robson 12/12 10.80 Prize Pack Glenn Hayter 12/12 10.79 Prize Pack Wally Fahey 11/12 10.68 Prize Pack Mark Parriott 12/12 10.63 Prize Pack Peter Kelleher 12/12 10.57 Prize Pack Paul Aldous 12/12 10.07 Prize Pack Lochie Rutherford 12/12 9.62 Prize Pack Troy Lowe 10/12 9.22 Prize Pack For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au

can vary from as small as 1.5” to 3” and perfectly represent the bait that is prevalent in the waters of Lake St Clair.

During the cooler months the bass gorge themselves on these baitfish and the bite in the shallows around the weed using this technique can be addictive and very fruitful.

Martin now looks ahead to the final two events where he will attempt to run down Peter Morgan for the coveted Costa BASS Angler of the Year award.

Jason Martin claimed his maiden ABT win at the Haswing presented event, securing the non-boater title.

DUFFRODS BIG BAG Ross Cannizzaro claimed the Duffrods Big Bag at Lake St Clair with the champion boater sacking the heaviest limit for the tournament in session two. Weighing 4.68kg, what made the bag even more impressive was the fact that it was caught when the winds that plague the event were at their strongest, and it was caught in session two when the fishing is traditionally toughest.

AUGUST 2017

83

Slater gets his revenge THE FUTURE IS HERE Self-contained Electric Outboards

STORM

Tom Slater has joined the elite club of ABT anglers to win both a BASS Pro and BREAM Qualifier after claiming a wire-towire victory at the BassCat Lake Glenbawn BASS Pro, the fifth stop of the 2017 BassCat BASS Pro Series.

Coming out of the blocks fast, Slater was in command from the beginning, weighing a solid 4/4 4.53kg bag to take the lead after the first session.

He didn’t let up either, with an almost identical 4/4 4.49kg bag coming in Saturday’s afternoon session to see him take a 300g lead into the final day over his good friend and camping mate Mitchell Cone.

Slater’s love affair with the winter bite at Glenbawn started a few years ago when he first plied his trade at the freshwater BASS tournament scene after spending many seasons on the Costa BREAM Series.

“Both Glenbawn and St Clair lend themselves pretty well to bream guys coming over and experiencing some success. We’ve seen it happen with Warren and now Ross in the last event and I’ve come close many

“It was a funny sort of pre-fish really, I didn’t make that many casts, but I did catch some nice fish with the guys. Unfortunately they weren’t really in any of the usual locations I like to fish, so I didn’t really get a chance to check anything.

I just made a call from my experience on the Friday with the guys and applied that to my chosen locations and it all just worked out.”

Beginning Saturday morning with a long run into the 8 knot zone, Slater focused his attention on a major rock wall just into the no-take zone. “It’s a good spot for a morning bite, but you only normally get one run at it; about 30-45 minutes is all you get and then the fish just disappear,” said Slater. The morning played out to perfection for Slater and non-boating partner Tim Ray. The pair quickly went to work filling the livewell with quality fish and within an hour had amassed a limit worth approximately 4.2kg.

With the weigh-in window opening at 10 o’clock to weigh their first limit, Slater moved down the dam

WINNING TACKLE R

Rod: 7’1” 2-8lb spin rod Reel: 2000 spin reel Line: 11lb Sufix Nanobraid Leader: 10lb Sufix Super 21 fluorocarbon Lure: 2” soft plastic paddle-tail swimbait rigged on a 1/4oz #2 TT HeadlockZ jighead times at both venues, so to finally get a victory is really nice and gets the monkey off my back for now,” explained Slater.

Friday’s pre-fish wasn’t your traditional lead up to an important event for Slater.

With his boat out of action due to a trailer refurbishment, he was forced to borrow a boat for the event. That boat wasn’t arriving until late Friday afternoon so he jumped aboard with good friends Peter Phelps and Mitchell Cone to share a boat for a portion of the pre-fish day where he spent most of the time taking photos and videos for his friends.

into the section commonly referred to as ‘The Narrows’ to try to upgrade. “I knew the afternoon session was going to be the toughest; it’s always the hardest in every comp we fish.

“I figured the best approach was just to fish hard in an area that wasn’t receiving as much attention.

So I focused on the timbered steep banks of the main basin and didn’t start the outboard from just past 10 o’clock until the session was finished at 3pm.”

Slater managed to fish almost the whole left hand side of the main basin from the dam wall to almost the

Tom Slater secured victory at Lake Glenbawn fishing deep timber banks in the main basin. clay slip in those five hours, concentrating on presenting his offering in amongst the hundreds of trees that are below the surface. “It’s a plethora of snags in the main basin and that’s probably one reason it doesn’t get fished as much. There are fish to be had there, you just need some patience, a keen sense of what’s going on below the surface and sometimes a heavy hand to extract the fish from the structure below.”

Slater and non-boating partner Ray produced the second biggest bag of the afternoon session extending his lead to 300g leading into Sunday’s final.

With another hot morning bite expected, Slater returned to the 8 knot zone rockwall that produced the morning before and again he and non-boating partner Troy Lowe experienced a hot morning bite filling the well in quick succession.

Although the calibre of fish wasn’t the same as Saturday morning, it was still a respectable bag approaching 4kg, but Slater knew he’d need one more upgrade to bring the trophy home. “I knew one of the guys in the top five would bring 4.5kg to the scales. The morning bite was just so good, and you

TOP 10 BOATERS Place Angler

Visit www.abt.org.au for entry forms. For general enquiries phone ABT on (07) 3387 0888.

84

AUGUST 2017

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Fish

Tom Slater 12/12 Mark Lennox 12/12 Mitchell Cone 12/12 Terry Allwood 12/12 Jonathan Bale 12/12 Ross Cannizzaro 12/12 Justin Evans 9/12 Mark Ferguson 12/12 Adrian Melchior 12/12 Stephen Kanowski 12/12

Weight (kg)

Payout

13.36 13.21 13.09 12.52 12.49 12.46 12.42 11.61 11.52 11.1

$3,200 $1,750 $1,300 $950 $675 $550 $500+ Duffrods Big Bag $500

For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au

only had to pull up on the right stretch to put a big bag together really quickly, so I knew I’d need to weigh at least 4.2 or 4.3kg and at that stage I only had probably 3.9-4kg in the well.”

With that in mind, Slater and Lowe relocated to the main basin, which had been so kind the day before. Again concentrating in the 15-20ft range, the pair managed a late upgrade that put their session three bag to 4.34kg and held off a fast finishing Mark Lennox by 150g.

Slater’s main technique revolved around the use of a small 2” soft plastic paddle-tail swimbait rigged on a 1/4oz #2 TT HeadlockZ jighead, which he painted himself with Tempt Industries Powder Paints.

He delivered his winning baits on Sufix Nanobraid in 11lb which he comments is one of the thinnest and best casting braided lines he’s ever used.

“With the Nanobraid I can afford to go heavier. I often fish 11lb and sometimes 16lb and still outcast most of the guys I fish with. A light braid and longer casts mean that I have a lure in the water more than the next guy, and I’ll take every advantage I can get at this level.” He topped his braid with a 10lb Sufix Super 21 fluorocarbon leader, which will be released at the end of July to the public.

Slater took home $3200 for his efforts against one of the strongest fields assembled for an ABT BASS Pro in some years.

Slater’s attention now turns back to the Costa BREAM Series where he will fish two events before returning to the BASS Pro event at the Clarence River in early September.

BASSCA BASS PR T PRESEN O TED BY

Lennox Loves the Hunter Mark Lennox is no stranger to ABT success.

A previous Costa BASS Pro Angler of the Year and also BassCat BASS Pro Grand Final Champion, Lennox proved again during 2017’s NSW BASS Pro double-header that he’s one of the very best on the tour. Coming off a third place finish at the Haswing Lake St Clair BASS Pro, Lennox rallied in sessions two and three to come from behind to overtake Mitchell Cone on the way to a runner-up finish at the BassCat Lake Glenbawn BASS Pro. Lennox approached the chilly conditions at Glenbawn Dam by maximising the early morning bite and fishing deeper than most of the field. “I found the fish very active early in the mornings in around 30-40ft of water.

We would start deep and quickly fill a bag then move shallower as the day warmed

up in search of upgrades,” explained Lennox.

His pattern seemed to be working; he weighed in a respectable 4/4 4.07kg bag in the morning session and a session-best 4/4 4.58kg bag in the afternoon to have him sitting in third overnight.

Attempting again to capitalize on the hot morning bite, Lennox struggled early after a number of frustrating encounters. “I broke a leader off one of my rods on the second cast of the day, so it wasn’t the start I was hoping for. Then after failing in my first spot, I moved to my second location only to be busted off in a tree straight away.”

Lennox rallied in the later stages of the session, slowly upgrading to produce a bag much heavier than his estimations. “I thought I had around 4kg and was going to drop from the top five.

The fish must have been in better condition than I thought, though, because I

DUFFRODS BIG BAG Justin Evans claimed the Duffrods Big Bag at Glenbawn with the NSW fisher securing the prize in the final session with his 4.68kg limit.

The impressive limit elevated Justin to eighth place overall and saw him walk away $500 richer and with a new Duffrod to his name. – ABT

ended up weighing 4.56kg, which I was very surprised with,” Lennox said.

Lennox, a long-time Duffrods angler, used the rod he won at the 2016 Lake St Clair BASS Pro event, remarking that the light spin rod is the most sensitive rod he’s ever used for this finesse plastic bite during the winter months in the Hunter Valley.

“I can feel absolutely everything that’s happening under the water with that rod; I have so much sensitivity I actually drop right down to a 1/8oz jighead where I used to use 1/4oz. The slower sink, even in the gusty conditions we had, means I get a lot more bites as the lure is sinking and even with a belly in my line thanks to the wind I have no problem detecting the bites.”

Lennox now sits second in the Costa BASS Pro Angler of the Year race after strong showings at the two double-headers in QLD and NSW. With only one event to go, Lennox is in contention for the AOY title.

The question now is can Ross Cannizzaro continue his run of good form in the Bassman Spinnerbaits Clarence River BASS Pro in September?

Mark Lennox was in hot form in the Hunter Valley claiming second and a $1750 prize cheque.

Shake

Shake

Shake

Poppy Pete Produces the Goods at Glenbawn At the ripe old age of 72, Peter Morgan seems to be in the form of his life at the back of the boat.

With two runner-up

finishes already on the scorecard from 2017, Morgan has hoisted the trophy at the BassCat Lake Glenbawn BASS Pro to

Jason Harlock cashed in at Glenbawn, claiming the $500 Big Bass prize.

take a commanding lead in the Costa BASS Pro Angler of the Year race with one event to go.

Fishing with Mark Lennox on day one, and Stephen Kanowski on day two, Morgan was never far from the action. The first day started hard and fast with Lennox, with the pair boating fish quickly and easily in the morning before moving to more timber-lined banks as the day progressed to look for bigger bites. After weighing consecutive 4kg bags, Morgan was sitting in third overnight before he jumped aboard with long-time friend and ABT

stalwart Stephen Kanowski for Sunday’s final session.

Concentrating their morning efforts on throwing small 2” paddle-tail soft plastics, the pair were on the fish quickly. Though the size lacked from the day before, the pair’s 4/4 3.82kg limit was just enough to hold off a very fast finishing Keeghan Painter.

Morgan kept the technique pretty simple, casting out the soft plastic on a 1/4oz #2 jighead and allowing the bait to come

to rest on the bottom before commencing a slow steady retrieve interspersed with twitches and shakes of the rod tip.

“The fish would knock it once or twice before you’d feel weight on the end of your line and that’s when you’d have to strike,” said Morgan. “If you strike too early, you just rip it away from them and spook them.

If they bump it and don’t load up and you just keep reeling, most of the time they’ll come back and finish

it off and you can put them in the boat.”

Morgan is a true legend of the bass fishing community and that was evident with the applause and cheers from the crowd as he was announced the victor.

The next round of the 2017 BassCat BASS Pro Series is on the mighty Clarence River in September. For more information on the BassCat BASS Pro Series, head to www.abt.org.au.

TOP 10 NON BOATERS Place Angler

Fish

Weight (kg)

Payout

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

12/12 12/12 12/12 11/12 12/12 11/12 12/12 12/12 12/12 10/12

12.47 12.26 11.86 11.71 11.63 11.26 11.21 11.08 10.82 10.78

Westin Rod and Prize Pack Bassman Prize Pack Prize Pack Prize Pack Prize Pack Prize Pack Prize Pack Prize Pack Prize Pack Prize Pack

Peter Morgan Keeghan Painter Paul Aldous Brendan Pieschel Dylan Byron Philip Nix Peter Kelleher Brett Hyde Malcolm Draper Tim Ray

For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au

Peter Morgan continued his stellar year on tour to claim the non-boater title.

AUGUST 2017

85

West wins at Borumba

THE FUTURE IS HERE Self-contained Electric Outboards

STORM

R

Charles West has continued his consistent run of finishes taking his second tournament win of the season at the Borumba round of the 2017 ePropulsion BASS Electric Series with 4/4 fish for 4.04kg, which was anchored by the event Big Bass of 1.60kg. In second place was BASS Electric newcomer Michael Rowswell with 3/4 fish for 3.63kg followed in third place by Aaron Kemp with 3/4 fish for 3.33kg.

West’s second win of the 2017 BASS Electric Series has again shown that his dedication to pre-fishing and researching tournament venues is paying dividends.

With Borumba proving to be a tough fishery, West and tournament fishing partner Michael Rowswell knew a solid pre-fish would be key to a successful tournament.

“Michael had headed up the weekend before the event and I had spots marked from Adrian and my good finish last year, so on Friday’s pre-fish we were able to focus in on a plan of attack for both the morning and afternoon sessions,” explained West.

In session one West and Rowswell headed to the area known as the ‘Junction.’

They focused their attention on a small flat adjacent to the main creek channel.

West would cast and allow his 3” Slider Grub in baby bass rigged on a 3/8oz jighead to sink to the bottom before imparting a slow rolling retrieve back to the boat. The session started with a bang for West with two fish hitting the deck of the boat in as many casts and the second fish was his event big bass. For this work West used a 13 Fishing Envy Black medium light rod match with a Daiwa Steez spooled with 12lb Sunline Castaway and 10lb Gamma Fluorocarbon leader.

“It was a great way to start the tournament,” explained West, “we both had our fish in the boat within the first 15 minutes.

It was great to see our plan coming into action.”

As the session went on the bite began to slow and West started noticing that

the fish were beginning to hold tight to the bottom, West decided to change tack and targeted the shutdown fish with a 3” Gulp Grub in pumpkinseed rigged with a 3/8oz jighead and stinger.

West would position himself directly over the fish and then would drop his lure to the bottom through his transducer beam before imparting a slow roll back to the back to the boat. “You could see the fish follow the lure up from the bottom.

This allowed me to feel confident I had sparked the fish into biting,” said West.

This technique allowed West to stay with the fish and find some key upgrades throughout the session.

As the afternoon session drew on, West began to find concentrations of suspended fish holding in the main creek bed. “Towards the end of the session we drifted off the flat and began to notice that there was a good number of fish scattered through the creek bed,” said West.

Changing lure again West went to a 3.2” Nories Inlet Shad rigged on a 5/8oz jighead; he would cast this across the scattered fish, allow it to sink to the bottom and again slow roll it back to the boat. “The key was using the heavier jighead.

This would ensure the lure got to the bottom quickly and stayed in the strike zone,” said West.

With the heavier jighead West opted to use a 13 Fishing Envy Black medium light matched with a 13 Fishing Concept KP reel.

Day one was finished – both West and Rowswell had a cracking session. Attention quickly turned to day two.

“We went to our day one spot and said we would fish it for an hour, but within 40 minutes we knew we had to move to Michael’s spot up the Yabba Arm,” said West.

The pair then moved to their key bank past Dead Tree Bend, they again targeted fish holding in a flat adjacent to the creek bed in 16-18ft of water and West went back to the Slider Grub in baby bass. He would again cast this out across the flat, allow it to sink to the bottom and impart a slow rolling retrieve back to the boat.

RESULTS Place Angler

Visit www.abt.org.au for entry forms. For general enquiries phone ABT on (07) 3387 0888.

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AUGUST 2017

Bag

Total Weight (kg)

1 Charles West 4/4 2 Michael Rowswell 3/4 3 Aaron Kemp 3/4 4 Tom Reynolds 4/4 5 Tim Nagano 2/4 6 Trent Blake 3/4 7 Brett Kleinschmidt 3/4 8 Dean Thomson 3/4 9 Brady Ellis 2/4 10 Nathan Swanson 2/4

4.05 3.64 3.33 3.26 2.45 2.13 1.99 1.77 1.62 1.25

THE F Self-co U ntaineTURE IS H d Elec tric OuERE tboard s

BASS EL ECTR SERIES IC

Charles West with a brace of Borumba winning bass.

“I managed to get one fish early, but we didn’t have good showings of active fish,” said West. With the tournament in the balance, the pair began to work a range of shallow banks in the Yabba Arm that had produced on the pre-fish day.

“I have to thank Adrian for the loan of his boat for the tournament, my family for all their support plus my great sponsors, 13 Fishing and Dogtooth Distribution.

Having their gear makes it so much easier to feel confident on the water.”

ROWSWELL ROLLS INTO SECOND BASS Electric Rookie Michael Rowswell has shown he is the one to watch on the 2017 tour. In tough conditions, Rowswell caught 3/4 fish for 3.63kg and took his first-ever podium place at an ABT event.

Fishing with Charles West the pair developed a tournament plan based on West’s experience, Rowswell’s pre-fish and their combined Friday pre-fish.

Fishing the Junction area Rowswell started targeting fish with a Nories Inlet Shad in white rigged on a 3/8oz jighead with his setup of choice being a 7’ Phantom Custom spin 4-10lb matched with Daiwa Luvius reel spooled with 9lb Yamatoyo Resin Sheller PE and 8lb Yamatoyo Harris Fighter leader.

Rowswell would cast across the flat allowing the lure to sink to the bottom before imparting a slow rolling retrieve back to the boat. Knowing that the Nories Inlet Shad was the size the fish wanted, Rowswell decided to change his lure to the wakasagi colour matched to a 1/2oz jighead.

To cast this lure Rowswell used his 7’ Phantom custom spin 6-12lb matched with Daiwa Certate 2508PE. When using this heavier lure he would impart action by drawing his rod across the top of the water, thus allowing the lure to stay in contact with the bottom.

“It was key to keep an eye on the sounder. As the fish moved off the bottom I would fish the 3/8oz jighead, and as they moved back tight to the bottom, I would then move back to the 1/2oz jighead,” explained Rowswell.

As the session drew to a close the pair moved deeper and targeted fish holding in the deeper water of the creek bed and Rowswell opted to change his presentation, giving the bass something different to the plastic they had seen all afternoon. Using a Nories Wrapping Minnow in S44 colour, Rowswell was able to keep his presentation subtle and realistic. For this work Rowswell used a Legit Design WSC 73ML rod matched with a Daiwa Tatula HD 200H reel. The late change resulted in an upgrade keeping him in the hunt for day two.

“Once we got up to our first flat, Westy got one fish early and I wasn’t too far behind with my first fish,” said Rowswell.

On day two his fish fell to a 3” Ecogear Grass Minnow (168 colour) rigged on a 3/8oz jighead.

“I am really happy with my result. These events are a great way to learn about bass fishing and I had a great time camping with all the guys,” said Rowswell. “I also need to thank Nick from Tide Apparel and Tony from JML Alliance, I really appreciate having their support.” – ABT

Some ways to make all our lives a little easier BRISBANE

The Sheik of the Creek

Sometimes people surprise me, but more often people amaze me. I know it’s dangerous to generalise, and that everyone has a story to tell, but it can get pretty depressing when you think about the intelligence of the average person then come to terms with the fact that half the population is dumber than that.

Not that I’m Einstein. I hope I’ve got more up top than some of the people I read about on the interwebs every day and see on our highways and boat ramps.

To be fair, or not, maybe it’s not a case of thick in these places. Maybe it’s more about selfishness. For those of us who were raised to be polite though, it can take some getting used to being taken advantage of all the

time. You leave that gap in front of your vehicle only for some one to slide in there.

You stay behind someone on the highway for their and your safety, only to find they speed up on overtaking lanes. And it now seems to be the rule that you plane past me while I’m sitting at anchor, smashing me with a bow wave without even trying to go wider or slower.

There are, of course, situations where people are considerate. Old mate the pro came over and towed me and Skipper to the Beaver Rock Ramp when the battery died, refusing any payment. And there are heaps of other random acts of kindness going on. I just can’t remember them.

There are millions of people out there, and not all of us are always on top of our game, due to what’s happening in our lives. It might be that person who

cuts you off has just lost a family member and is spaced out. Or that apparent idiot that appears to chuck a plastic bag overboard has just had a stroke and can’t hold things very well. So maybe we should take that into account. We being me.

Outside influences can have a big bearing on how alert and considerate we might be in our everyday lives.

With that in mind, it might be a good thing if we all took the foot off the pedal for just a few weeks. Cut other people a little bit of slack perhaps. Maybe if I do just one little thing different, it might change someone else’s life for the better. And if we all stretched ourselves just a fraction, to make one effort over and above what we would normally do for others, it might filter through in a very small way and make all our lives a little easier.

My life might improve,

for example, if a passing boat deviates 10° off course to avoid stirring up that big poddy mullet I’ve got sitting on the bottom waiting for a

big winter barra. And your life might if you’ve got a yellow number plate on your car and I’m passing you.

Maybe you might not get

that blast on the the rude finger your way as I past you on the Win-win right?

horn and extended hammer highway.

TOURNAMENT CALENDAR 2017 AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

6 Aug

Round 6 Hobie Polarized Southern Bream Series Hawkesbury

Lynette Kime 0490 762 188

13 Aug

BASS Electric Major #2 Moogerah

www.abt.org.au

13 Aug

Round 10 Hobie Kayak Bream Series 9 Mooloolaba

hobiefishing.com.au

19-20 Aug

Gold Coast BREAM Qualifier #7

www.abt.org.au

2-3 Sep

Clarence River BASS Pro Qualifier #6 Clarence River

www.abt.org.au

10 Sep

Round 7 Hobie Polarized Southern Bream Series Botany Bay

Lynette Kime 0490 762 188

16-17 Sep

BASS Electric Convention TBA

www.abt.org.au

16-17 Sep

Round 12 Hobie Kayak Bream Series 9 Forster

hobiefishing.com.au

16-17 Sep

Bowen Family Fishing Classic Bowen

Russ 0428 776 653

28-30 Sep

WTF Women That Fish Fitzroy River Rockhampton

Shara VanHaeren 0429 923 243

30 Sep-1 Oct

Saratoga Spectacular Bedford Weir Blackwater

Dennis Linke 0438 635 840

30 Sep-1 Oct

St Georges Basin BREAM Qualifier #8 St Georges Basin

www.abt.org.au

14-15 Oct

Spare Round Hobie Polarized Southern Bream Series TBA 0490 762 188

Lynette Kime

14-15 Oct

BASS Pro Grand Final Richmond River

www.abt.org.au

30 Oct

BARRA Tour Round #1 (Evening Event) Teemburra

www.abt.org.au

31 Oct

BARRA Tour Round #2 (Evening Event) Kinchant Dam

www.abt.org.au

Add your tournament or competition to this list by emailing jthomas@fishingmonthly.com.au or calling 07 3387 0800 in office hours.

Just supply a date, venue, tournament name and a telephone number and contact name.

AUGUST 2017

87

Experience for the best and the rest SUNTAG

Stefan Sawynok

Almost every article I write for Fishing Monthly I am trying to work something out. While I know the writing adage is “write what you know,” I find it a lot more challenging to write about things I don’t know. I hope in the process, somebody finds something useful. Fortunately for me, fishers provide an endless list of topics to look at.

Over the past three years I have looked at the achievements, fishing records and habits of over 20,000 fishers. I have spent way too many hours watching videos, spreadsheeted until I can’t do math and had countless conversations that highlight that there is so much more to fishing than can ever be captured in numbers. Some days I ask myself, ‘who even does that?’ On those days I avoid mirrors.

Out of all that research, I have started to redefine fishers with a more useful set of categories: • Recreational Fishers – make up about 80% of fishers and are characterised by lower catch rates (<1 fish/ trip) and fish for leisure, social or family reasons.

• Expert Fishers – make up about 19% of the fishing population, have higher catch rates (1-10 fish/trip) and focus on fishing skills.

• Master Fishers – make up about 1% either very high catch rates on average (>10 fish/trip) and/or dedication to tackling fishing challenges (>5 techniques, regions or species).

My challenge for this month is to use the ABT data to try and provide context for the fishing experiences of these three groups for bream.

It’s not easy but I am going to give it my best shot. But first, I want to go back to the other part of my article series of recent months.

HOW TO BE A BETTER FISHER – PART 3 To make it easier I will include the ‘how to be a better fisher’ and the 88

AUGUST 2017

historical figures at the beginning of my articles. By the time we’re done, you will have a toolkit compiled from observations of the best fishers, explained through the work of some of the planet’s geniuses.

To recap though from the last two articles, the toolkit currently includes: • Manage your effort – work more areas for better probability of success.

• Keep a fishing diary of fishing habits, conditions and successes.

• Stay on the water longer and fish as regularly as you can manage.

This month I am looking at a non-mathematician – Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher who was to philosophy what guys like Steve Wozniak are to fishing.

He was an insanely prolific, profound guy you probably haven’t heard of. Kant is kind of the father of reason and our understanding of how we process sensory information.

Boy, did he know how to write about it…

Here’s why being a better fisher is about connecting with our ancient past. As a quick intro to this series, (three articles in) it’s easy to forget in this era of plenty that once upon a time hunting was the difference between life and death. In fact, while scavenging got our brain growth kicked into gear, hunting turbo charged it.

We would not be the people we are today were it not down to the efficiency gain in obtaining animal protein through hunting.

Our earliest tools fit into two main classes: food gathering/hunting and food preparation. That should tell you something about our priorities.

Every fisher knows that amazing feeling that comes with catching their first fish.

That feeling is very ancient, programmed into us, because feeling good about catching something equated to ‘we are not dying tonight.’

Modern life diverts us away from the parts of our brain that fishing needs.

Don’t get me wrong, I love modern technology, but the more you use modern technology, the more you switch off the fishing part of the brain. That is something that is confronting to me, because the answer young anglers have come up with is to develop technology to make up the gap. That seems to be working, but philosophically I have to ask at what point does that stop being fishing and just become a nature-enhanced video game?

I am getting old apparently.

Many of my role models for fishing are old school fishers. Say what you want, but the best of them were tapped into all the best skills our hunting brains developed millions of years ago.

Consider this my homage to the ancient fishing traditions and the men who have taken me fishing, but also a plea to fishers to consider switching off the sounder and connecting with that ancient hunter every once in a while.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF KANT All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding, and ends with reason. There is nothing higher than reason.

Why don’t historians focus on important details like the fishing habits of philosophers? Immanuel Kant was born on 22 April, 1724 in Königsberg, Prussia.

Kant was educated in religious studies and in his younger days was a prolific author of philosophy and by his mid 40s was very influential. Time to cash in, right? Not Kant. At the peak of his powers (age 46) he stopped publishing and isolated himself for 11 years.

He came out of his selfimposed exile with the 800 odd page Critique of Pure Reason. Cue adulation and rockstar status. Well, not exactly. I am working my

way through it and let’s just say it’s pretty dense. Several of his students used his teachings to justify their own idealism and, while he was well regarded, it wasn’t until after his death that scholars came to appreciate how Kant provided the foundation for much of our modern understanding of how our minds work.

HOW KANT HELPS BEGINNER FISHERS Immanuel Kant helped us understand how the brain models the world, that is functionally not objectively.

Kant was the guy who pretty much screwed all the early AI developments that focused on object recognition.

Here is why.

If you go into your cupboard, you’ll see a lot of cups right? But if all the cups are broken, you can use a bowl to drink out of and if that’s broken, you can use your hand. What if the cup is shaped like a fish? How do you know it’s a cup? Hint, computers have a really hard time with that one.

In other words, we don’t see a cup at all, what we see is a functional tool and we are adaptable enough to be able to discern and reapply context. Which is why we didn’t die of thirst, one imagines.

That makes sense; the world is far too complex for our brains to take in all the details. We have to filter and contextualise to prevent ourselves from going mad.

Don’t believe me? Try taking in everything that is happening in the room you are sitting in all at once. I bet if you ask your mate to do the same, you’ll both be looking at a very different room.

That is to say, map the world by its usefulness to us functionally. Let’s start to break down a river/estuary a bit more functionally. A rock bar is a fish aggregator.

A sand bar is an aggregator for bottom-based ambush predators and smaller fish. Deeper holes are an aggregator for larger fish.

There are more maps and it’s a bit more complex than that but you get the idea. Now there are many ways to break down a river functionally. Bird watchers for example will see a similar map but see places for things like cormorants and pelicans to hang out. Social people will see beaches and shady trees and places for people to park and hang out. Sailors will break down the river in terms of currents and wind patterns.

We break down the world functionally based on our core focus and interest.

Good fishers break down the river in the way fish use the river, and go one better by fishing in different

conditions to understand how fish use that particular location. When you see things in that way you reduce the number of things you need to know the next time you see a similar spot.

In other words, having a good map of how fish uses the river makes you more successful next time you see that type of space.

That is why good fishers tend to not share details as much. It takes time to build that function map.

Can you take shortcuts and use the experience of others?

Yes, most leaning starts that way but good learning requires useful questions. If you meet an expert fisher, ask them about fish habits rather than tackle or where to fish. For example, if you are interested in flathead ask a good fisher what part of the tide and where fish tend to sit on sand banks.

Save your tackle questions for the tackle store but find a bait or soft plastic that works and get some advice on how to use it best. Then go out and test it. When you start to succeed your brain will naturally lock that in, and each sand bank you visit will reinforce that modelling. The next step is to experiment with different tackle and see what else you can work out about that environment.

Before long you will be a pro and ready to step it up to the next level.

HOW KANT HELPS EXPERT FISHERS The challenge with building the map of the river and how it works is how quickly the brain swaps from exploratory mode to expert mode. That is, fishing the map and not the environment.

Knowing how this works really helps depending on what you want to achieve.

If you find yourself fishing the places you know work using the methods you know work, then you are in ‘expert’ mode. That’s fine if it’s giving you good results and you are happy with that.

However, your fishing will be limited by the map.

If you want to break out of that to get into exploring mode, it’s very simple – solve the biggest mapping problem you don’t know how to solve.

Pick a fishing challenge you have no idea how to solve; that can be a different

environment or species (you can try new tackle, but only if it uses a different part of the water column). That act of going into problem solving mode will immediately kick in the Kant part of your brain, because you are building new functional maps along the road to solving the problem.

KANT FOR MASTER FISHERS Here is a novel part of mastery: you can turn your brain into a fishing supercomputer. Once you gather experience in a wide range of environments and conditions, your brain becomes a modelling tool, so rather than seeing a map, the brain sees a conceptual fishery.

I have had conversations with fishers that can visualise what is happening under the water.

Others have reported going to the other side of the planet and catching fish with ease in environments they haven’t seen, because they magically ‘know’ where the fish are.

Those anglers have kicked their Kant into overdrive.

If you plan to travel the world, fishing as many environments as possible in advance is the best preparation you can have.

HOW KANT HELPS COMPETITION FISHERS Under stress our brain goes into safe mode. We fall back on the behaviour that we ‘believe’ is going to give us the best results, which is usually what we are good at.

The problem with that is that it will only work if the thing you need to do to get better results is the thing you are good at. If what you are good at is not the right tool, it can backfire spectacularly.

If you are a competition fisher, it helps to have built up different maps based on conditions – sunny days, rainy days, different tides etc. During the day, assess the conditions and if the technique you are using doesn’t suit the conditions, go through the list of techniques you have and find one that better suits.

I don’t recommend testing that out in competition.

Instead, focus your practice on different conditions where playing with different approaches doesn’t come with a penalty. Confidence is a key part of good

decision making.

Most of the time, what you do well will work. The difference between the best and the rest is adaptability.

Having a flexible mind on the day that is not driven by stress, but rather uses stress as a signal to make better decisions, will make you a much more potent weapon on the water.

Fishbrain, Anglr, apps, Insight Genesis and modern echosounders – there are a lot of technologies I will cover later. From a skills perspective they reduce fishing skills by shifting activities fishers normally use their senses for, and interaction with the world, to data analysis. There is no doubt that these technologies can enhance good fishers, though there is no evidence they make any difference for ordinary fishers, or at least not yet.

By evidence, I mean hard data. I have looked at the hard data on the performance of fishers and if technology is making a difference for ordinary fishers, it’s so small that it hasn’t made a material difference to outcomes yet.

My advice if you want to be a better fisher is to focus on fishing skills first.

I will discuss how to get the most from technology, but that discussion will only be valuable to those who can catch fish already.

THE ABT BREAM EXPERIENCE In the last article I discussed the Pareto Distribution which follows the principle that 20% of fishers catch 80% of the fish, but with much better maths.

This month I want to come at the same question from the other angle – what are the result and experience differences between these groups of fishers.

In this analysis I have generated the distribution of fishers based on their ability to catch fish. We end up with the following distribution.

• T80 Fishers – bottom 80% of performers (1450 fishers) • T20 Fishers – top 20% excluding the top 1% (340 fishers) • T1 Fishers – top 1% of fishers (27 fishers) ABT has pretty much got the balance right between excellence and inclusion.

There is no such thing as a fair competition – we want our best and brightest to win – however every good sport adds an element

of random chance that an underdog could win and it’s in this element that the ABT BREAM series excels over every other competition series I have looked at.

• The ABT bag system has prevented the T1 fishers from dominating the results, despite the fact that on average they perform better.

• ABT has been highly effective in sharing skills, technologies and techniques among its fishers.

• ABT has managed to lift up its worst fishers the most in terms of skill development.

• All three groups of fishers in the ABT have achieved better results over time in terms of bag weights.

• ABT is very efficient at spreading the rewards,with T20 fishers gaining the most placings in the past decade (63%), while T80 fishers have shared in 16% of the top 10 placings and T1 fishers 21%.

• T80 fishers have won 16 times in the past decade.

This demonstrates that there is a chance that on the day the underdog or ring-in might just win.

• ABT is bookie’s dream.

Somebody get on that.

I personally would rate the ABT BREAM Series a gold star event in achieving its core objectives. If you want to be a better bream fisher, the price of entry is worth every penny.

COMPARING THE NUMBER OF MAX BAGS As you would expect, the T1 fishers outperform the other groups when it comes to how often they achieve the mark of five fish. If it looks like the T1 and T20 fishers came back to the field in 2014, there was larger churn in the T1 and T20 fishers than ordinary fishers. There is a clear separation between T1, T20 and T80 fishers when it comes to catching a maximum bag.

The important thing is that the five-bag affects the top fishers the most, because

they achieve five more often.

If the five-fish limit didn’t exist, the gap between T1 fishers and the rest would be much larger and T1 fishers would win pretty much all the time.

COMPARING THE NUMBER OF ZERO BAGS As you would expect, T80 fishers zero bag more often than other groups.

However, the figures made my jaw drop, because they were the exact opposite to what I expected. While the rate of zero bags was high in the late 2000s, it has dropped a crazy amount among all three groups of fishers with T80 fishers being the biggest beneficiaries. In fact, today’s T80 fishers are more than three times less likely to zero bag than the same T80 fishers a decade ago. This is due almost exclusively to improvement in soft plastic lures and the sharing of knowledge via the Boater/Non-Boater system.

Bottom line is, unlike most competitions, the bottom fishers have not been left behind, even if they aren’t achieving the heights of T20/ T1 fishers.

AVERAGE BAG SIZE PER EVENT T1 fishers are the ones most likely to get an upgrade (replacing a smaller fish with a larger fish caught post five fish). This means you would expect they would have the biggest average bag weight, and they do. All the same, it’s the T80 fishers that have been the biggest winners in terms of improving results with today’s T80 fishers gaining bags nearly three times better than a decade ago. Nonetheless, T20 and T1 fishers have also improved their results, which further demonstrates bream techniques have been constantly improving.

COMPARING MAX BAGS AND ZERO BAGS

The most clear demonstration of the improvement in performance comes in examining the differences between max bags and zero bags. In fact, the T80 fishers managed to get into the positive (more max bags than zero bags per person) for the first time ever in 2016. Whatever they are putting in the water at the ABT events, I would be demanding some. The T20 fishers have also improved overall, but I believe

they are implementing better techniques rather than becoming better fishers overall.

What this demonstrates though is a T20 fisher in the ABT BREAM Series using pre-2008 techniques would be smashed even by the current T80 fishers. Nothing more needs to be said about how effective ABT events have been at sharing the knowledge around.

TOP 10 PLACINGS Has all this improvement impacted the placings? Not quite. In this I don’t fault the ABT tournaments so much as one of the consequences of the Pareto Distribution.

While the T80 fishers have improved the most, as you can see from the average bag weights and the difference between zero bags, the T20 and T1 fishers don’t have to improve as much to maintain a lead. Having said that, T80 fishers had their best year in many years last year. Chances are there are some current T80 fishers that are going to jump into the T20 group.

When it comes down to it, you need to be in the top 20 performers to make the top 10 consistently and that’s how it should be. The fact that they don’t get their own way all the time is what makes the ABT events true sportfishing.

COMPARING WITH THE ROCKY BARRA BOUNTY I think it’s important to have a point of comparison to contextualise why I have made the judgements I have about the ABT BREAM Series. I know, for example, that hardcore fishers don’t always value sharing the knowledge or the glory.

Barramundi fishers are definitely in this class, with most barramundi competitions having point scoring systems that reward catching the biggest fish.

The Rocky Barra Bounty, a tag and release event in Rockhampton, is a good example of a barramundi competition that has been running for a similar period to the ABT BREAM Series.

Unfortunately, the rules were amended a number of times in the 2000s in a way that makes comparing that decade’s data pretty much impossible (the technical term – it’s a mess). Post-2010 however, the rules settle down and as such we have a much better comparison.

Some observations: • The RBB points system favours T1 fishers such that since the current point system was put into place T1 fishers have always won and dominated the top 10.

• T80 fishers have not improved at all. The good news is they probably haven’t gotten any worse.

• T80 fishers have managed only a single top 10 placing in five years. No dark horses

are expected in the current year either.

• The result is mathematically very predictable based on the availability of legal fish in the river. Since 2012 100% of mathematical predictions of the winner have come true. I have already run the prediction for this year and would be shocked if that changed in 2017.

• If you want to make it to the top, the only way there is to find a way of beating the best.

• The bookies should probably stay home for this one.

COMPARING THE NUMBER OF MAX BAGS The max bags for the ABT events tend to reflect the development of technology much more than changes in conditions, because events are held at different locations. The Barra Bounty since 2010 is the complete opposite, with technology improving only slightly while the fishing conditions have declined over that time. Expect the results to be much better in 2017. In contrast to the ABT BREAM Series, no T80 fishers have achieved a max bag (five fish) in the past six events. The gap between the T1 fishers and T20 fishers was largest in 2013, which was the best year for legal fish. With the Net Free Zone active in Rockhampton for over a year, expect the T1 fishers to dominate in 2017.

One thing to note is the Barra Bounty does not cap the event at five fish, but

of declining catch rates, though the 2016 event is an aberration due to weather conditions. Expect the T20s to return below one zero bag per day in 2017 and T1 fishers to return back to around 0.25.

THE POINT SYSTEM HELPS T1 FISHERS The point system favours big fish such that a 500mm fish is worth 600 points but a 1m fish is worth 2200. Clearly that point system favours those that can catch big fish. This chart (Fig. 1) measures the average advantage that each of the fishing classes enjoys compared with the original 1 point/1mm system. As you can see, the top competitors enjoy a boost of between 1000-6000 points per event.

If you plot the ability of each of those groups to catch legal fish, you get exactly the same chart. Therefore, catch the most big fish to win.

COMPARING MAX BAGS AND ZERO BAGS Unlike the ABT events, the difference between max bags and zero bags does not show improvement, but expect that to turn around between now and 2020 as catch rates improve in the Fitzroy River. Barramundi fishers are naturally very, very secretive, so knowledge transfer has been at a minimum.

T80 and T20 fishers are at the mercy of the river and really have one option – get better at catching fish and, more importantly, get much better at catching legal fish

catching five is really hard to achieve. This is part of the reason the event is dominated

by T1 fishers, as they are not restricted in the number of fish they can report.

COMPARING THE NUMBER OF ZERO BAGS Once again, the number of zero bags for the Barra Bounty is reflective of the conditions on the river. That said, during 2011 when the river was at its peak fishingwise after 30 years, T80 fishers managed to avoid zero bags more often than not. The event is run over three days, so T80 fishers manage zero bags two days out of three. Given those are long days in the heat, I have to say the T80 fishers are the most dedicated.

The results for T20 and T1 fishers are reflective

to join the ranks of the T1 fishers. Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the time off work.

TOP 10 PLACINGS As you would expect with the advantage that T1 fishers enjoy based on the points system, they dominate the top 10 placings having achieved 100% of first place wins and 65% of all top 10 placings. Last year was the first time this decade where T1 fishers did not dominate, but that is probably a random result with fishing conditions so poor that for once there was a much greater randomisation of the outcomes. Last year was definitely a case where being in the right place at the right time could take you to the top. If conditions settle down this year, as anticipated, then expect normal service to return.

AUGUST 2017

89

Trades, Services, Charter BOAT MODIFICATIONS & REPAIRS

BAIT & TACKLE

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PROFISH BOATS – Phone Peter 0417 782 114

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Davo’s Tackleworld Noosaville (07) 5449 8099 Davo’s Tackleworld Marcoola (07) 5448 8244

SAMPLE AD - BUSINESS NAME This is where your copy will appear. You will have approximately 50 words within a 5x2 ad size. $320 + GST for 6 months Email mfox@fishingmonthly.com.au

FIBREGLASS Repairs

Brisbane South and Gold Coas t

• Modifications • Detailing • Repairs JOE BONNICI

0410 480 203

Salt-Away www.salt-away.com.au

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Marine and Auto Electricial n All types of Welding n Stainless Steel n Aluminium n Mild Steel n Boats Repaired n Fuel & Water Tanks n Canopies n Bow and Stern Rails n Custom Vehicle Tool Boxes

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If you have any other trades or services that you would like to see in this section please don’t hesitate to give us a call

CABOOLTURE

www.custommarinewelding.com.au Bluewater Windscreens Brisbane (07) 3382 7883 ASM Mobile Welding Brisbane 0409 624 402 Marine Windows and Doors Brisbane (07) 3284 5088 Small Craft Electrics (mobile) 0408 063 064 Boat Collar (07) 5441 3636 CMC Marine Sales 0409 910 808 Iconic Boats Brisbane 0475 311 447

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Advertise here - $195 + GST for 6 months Email: mfox@fishingmonthly.com.au

4/26 TAREE ST, BURLEIGH HEADS www.ssmarine.com.au

Email: mfox@fishingmonthly.com.au

Mob 0427 142 201 Fax 3807 2468

+ 07 5502 6200 + www.coomerahouseboats.com.au

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SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND Stones Corner Marine (07) 3397 9766

• Sales • Service • Spare Parts • Warranty and Insurance work * REPOWER SPECIALISTS *

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Brisbane Yamaha (07) 3888 1727 Northside Marine (07) 3265 8029 Coorparoo Marine (07) 3397 4141 Capalaba Boat Centre 04011 728 379 Holt Marine (07) 3353 1928

2/247 Bayview St Runaway Bay GEOFF NEWMAN PH 55774411

QLD HONDA DEALER OF THE YEAR 2011/2012

Cunningham Marine Centre (07) 3284 8805 Caloundra Marine (07) 5491 1944 Bribie Boat Sales (07) 3408 0055

This section in QLD Fishing Monthly consolidates the trades and services in your area that are relevant to your fishing and boating. Whether you’re a local looking for more options or a travelling angler fishing around the state, this guide will direct you to reputable businesses in the area you’re searching.

90

AUGUST 2017

Boats & Guided Fishing Tours Directory NORTH QUEENSLAND

MARINE OUTBOARD WRECKERS

Reef Marine Mackay (07) 4957 3521

MARINE MECHANICS // MOBILE WYNUMM MANLY-BAYSIDE

WONDALL RD

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Mec Mobile Marine FEE!” “NO CALL OUT

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FISH TAXIDERMY Fish Taxidermist www.fishtaxidermy.net.au or 0428 544 841

• Repower specialists • Antifoul, detailing and electrical work • All servicing, repair, maintenance - fully guaranteed • Parts • Insurance • Finance

FISHING GUIDES SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND

HORIZON SHORES MARINA

www.tsboatsales.com.au admin@tsboatsales.com.au Phone: (07)

3396 5633 OR (07) 5546 2599

Wondall Rd Marine (07) 3396 5633

Gary’s Marine Centre

589

Suncoast Barra Fishing Park www.suncoastbarrafishing.com

CENTRAL QUEENSLAND Lake Monduran Barra Charters 0407 434 446

Stainless Steel Fishing Pliers •Braid •Long Nose •Split Ring

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1199

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Trailer Boat Handling DVD & Fish ID Maxi Ruler Pack

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$590 + GST for 6 Months

Oceanic Boat Trailers (07) 5597 0577 Spitfire Trailers (07) 0400 866 323

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Sea-Link Special Trailers (07) 3881 3568

MARINE ELECTRONICS

SALES • REPAIRS • INSTALLATIONS

ONSITE AND MOBILE INSTALLATIONS

• Sounders • GPS • Electric Motors • Marine Radios and accessories • Stereos • Televisions • Radar Units • Autopilots Unit 4/1440 New Cleveland Road Capalaba www.trymax.com.au PHONE: 07 3245 3633

Portable Power-Hub NEW! 10 Power Outlets, 240V AC Socket, USB & Assorted 12V Sockets •Battery not included

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SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND Rowland Street Boat Trimmers Springwood (07) 3208 9511

www.bargainboatbits.com.au

Brisbane Yamaha (07) 3888 1727 Rays Canvas & Marine Caboolture (07) 5499 4911 Affordable Boat Covers Gold Coast 0419 424 587

Advertisers wanting to be involved in this directory can call (07) 3387 0834 or email mfox@fishingmonthly.com.au AUGUST 2017

91

Trades, Services, Charter Boats & Guided Fishing Tours Directory ROD & REEL REPAIRS

WOOLI FISHING CHARTERS

NORTH QUEENSLAND

D&H REEL REPAIRS ce Reel Performan

“EREBUS”

e parts needs repairs and spar For all your reel

“THE KRAKEN”

HERVEY BAY

Servicin Phone/Fax: 07 3372 2740 or major b g all call Duncan on 0439 717 839 rands Email: dhreelrepairs@bigpond.com Drag upgrades available • Rod repairs • Mail orders welcome

Fully Guided Lure & Fly Fishing •

www.reelrepairs.com.au 110 Sherbrooke Rd, Willawong Qld 4110

BORN AND BRED LOCAL GUIDE

• 5.5m Custom sportsfishing Vessel • 4.4m Estuary Sportsfishing Vessel • Quality Fishing Gear Supplied

WOOLI BAIT & TACKLE • Top Accommodation • Tweed Bait • Ice • Terminal Tackle • Lures & Soft Plastics • Fishing the North Solitary Islands

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND

Rainbow Beach Fishing Charters 0439 775 070 Smithy’s Fishing Charters Sunshine Coast 0407 574 868 Top Catch Charters Sunshine Coast 0429 013 012 Fish n Crab Charters Mooloolaba 0412 155 814 Offshore Reef and Game Fishing 0413 485 402 Sunshine Coast Fishing Charters (07) 5500 0671 Fishing Offshore Noosa 0418 889 956 Noosa Fishing Charters (07) 5665 8170 Hervey Bay Fishing Charters (07) 4125 3958 Incredible Charters 1300 655 818

1/2 day or full day charters. All bait & tackle provided.

We are only a one hour drive north of Coffs Harbour or one hour drive south of Yamba.

The Islander Retreat, South Stradbroke Island 0420 967 557

Contact Stan or Claire Young

FRASER ISLAND FISHING UNITS Indian Head I Fraser Island

www.herveybaysportfishing.com.au

02 6649 7100

FRASER ISLAND

43 RIVERSIDE DRIVE, WOOLI

www.woolifishingcharters.com.au fish@woolifishingcharters.com.au

Evans Head Deep Sea Fishing Charters 0428 828 835 Reel Time Fishing Charters Yamba 0428 231 962

Dave Gaden’s Yamba • Deep Sea

A FISHO’S DREAM

REEL TIME FISHING CHARTERS

For bookings or enquiries contact: Cliff Andreassen 0428 712 283 or 07 5449 9346 bearfish@bigpond.com • www.fraserislandfishingunits.com.au

Cathedrals on Fraser (07) 4127 9177 Fraser Island Beach Houses 1800 626 230 Yidney Rocks (07) 4127 9167 Eurong Beach Resort 1800 111 808

CENTRAL QUEENSLAND Baffle Creek Holiday House 0419 624 833

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION COOKTOWN River of Gold Motel Plenty of room for boats and trailers PH: 4069 5222

• 6am to 2pm $150pp • 2 boats – holds up to 18 people • All fishing gear and bait is supplied • No fishing licence req.

• Pickup from Yamba Marina or Iluka ferry wharf

Phone Dave today: www.fishingyamba.com.au 0428 231 962

FRESHWATER

RU4 Reel Tweed Heads 0449 903 366 Discovery Fishing Charters Gold Coast 0427 026 519

A MARINA B M A Y , E L K C 428 Paradise Fishing Charters AT &0403TA531 A BOCharters E STOsRE L K ARINFishing C MCoast A T Gold 0411 605 090 T GES e & Ga Fish The Deep Charters 0416 224 412

• Ic

BRISBANE Big Cat Charters and Tom Cat Charters 0433 430 248 Moreton Island Fishing Charters 0413 128 056 Brisbane Fishing Charters 0427 026 510 Bucket List Fishing Charters 0428 368 316 John Gooding Outlaw Charters 0418 738 750

SUNSHINE COAST NORTHERN NSW Wooli Fishing Charter (02) 6649 7100

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le s & Parts Ph: 6646 1994 handFishing Sale Sea Charters 0400 330 • CProbe ilers312 a Tr • le k & TacFishing • BaitSports Coastal Charters Gold Coast 0412 or 6910428 929 231 962 ookings B r e rt a dave@gaden.com.au h • CFishing Charters Gold CoastEmail: Gone (07) 5529 7833

Lake Boondooma Caravan Park (07) 4168 9694

CHARTER BOATS

Eclipse FNQ Weipa Charters 0488 058 668 Fish’s Fly & Sportsfishing Weipa (07) 4069 9957 Action Charters Mackay 0417 452 346 Fishing Charters Townsville 0403 386 722 JC’s Fishing Charters 0438 753 382 Fairdinkum Fishing Charters Townsville (07) 4751 5324 Cairns Reef Charter Services 1800 119 044 Cairns Charter Boat 0427 533 081 Cairns Fishing Charters 0427 400 027

My Charter Boat Tweed Heads 0407 347 446

Frenzy Charters Brisbane (07) 3209 4576

Yallakool Park and Kiosk on Bjelke-Petersen Dam (07) 4168 4746

Bite Me Fishing Charters Yeppoon 0419 029 397 Ultimate Sportfishing Charters 0450 753 726 MV Capricorn Star 0408 755 201 Mikat Cruises Fishing Charters 0427 125 727 Bundaberg Fishing Charters 0429 017 217 Sport Fish 1770 (07) 4974 9686 Coral Coast Game Fishing 0447 347 437 MV James Cook (1770) (07) 4974 9422 Norval Reef Charters 1800 771 234 Iluka Fishing Charters Gladstone 0414 940 911 Kanimbla Charters Gladstone1800 677 202

BK’s Gold Coast Fishing Charters 0414 293 034

Yallakool Caravan Park on Bjelke-Petersen Dam (07) 4168 4746

Lake Cressbrook Regional Council 131 872

CENTRAL QUEENSLAND

FISHING ON TV

True Blue Fishing Gold Coast (07) 5510 9622

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Advertisers wanting to be involved in this directory can call (07) 3387 0834 or email mfox@fishingmonthly.com.au 92

AUGUST 2017

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm

Proudly owned and organised by the Boating Industry Association

The door to getting Australians onto the water

AUGUST 2017

91 93

Proudly owned and organised by the Boating Industry Association

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm

2017 Brisbane Boat Show set to go off!

- SC

TENT -

RE ONLINE MO

CO

DE FOR EX

T AUGUST 2017

STARS OF THE SHOW

R

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understand why the show has the appeal that it has. Trailer boating dominates our local waterways, and the Brisbane Boat Show is a haven for people who love both trailer boating and fishing.

Q

RA

CON

AN THE

The Brisbane Boat Show for 2017 is just around the corner, and looks like it will be better than ever when it runs this year on 25-27 August.

The show will return to the vast exhibition halls of the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, where the organisers have had to increase the floor space for the event to cater to this year’s increased demand from exhibitors.

When you look at the profile of visitors who attended last year’s show, you can

VISITOR INFORMATION When: 25-27 August, 2017 Where: Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre Address: Merivale St & Glenelg Street, South Brisbane QLD 4101 Parking: Undercover parking for 1,500 vehicles Doors: 10am-8pm on Friday and Saturday, 10am-6pm on Sunday Ticket prices: $15 adults, $5 children, under 5s enter for free

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

The Brisbane Boat Show is where industry comes together to display and offer the best in recreational boating. The boats are the show’s heroes, but all

the boating and fishing gear you might need or want will be available too.

The Boating Industry Association is the owner

and operator of the event.

BIA Chief Executive Howard Glenn said boat manufacturing plays a big part in the Queensland economy and this

Proudly owned and organised by the Boating Industry Association

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm event shows off the quality and ingenuity that Australia has to offer.

“With Australia’s recreational boating headquarters and manufacturing hub at Brisbane’s doorstep, visitors

together an excellent line-up of agencies to help boaties better understand how to enjoy their time on the water.

An extensive program for the education stage is being developed, and with more than 70% of visitors having

about the industry’s fastest growing sector. An oversized swimming pool will be on hand to demonstrate kayaks and stand-up paddle-boards.

Those not too shy of the water can give it a go should they wish!

10am to 8pm on Friday and Saturday, and are open from 10am to 6pm on the Sunday, with parking available at the venue. Ticket prices are $15 for adults, $5 for children, and under 5s enter for free.

$5 tickets are also available after 5pm.

Tickets are available online, simply go to the website at www. brisbaneboatshow.com.au to buy tickets or to find

out more, or scan the QR code on the facing page. All tickets bought online go into the draw to win a fabulous kayak from Hobie. – BIA

Fishing Monthly Deal

can be assured that the industry will put its best foot forward for this show,” he said.

With a huge range and special deals, the show is the best place to buy boats, and it also provides education and entertainment. Working off the principle that ‘good boating is safe boating’, the show organisers have pulled

an interest in fishing, you can guess what will take centre stage here!

ADDED ENTERTAINMENT • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

To add to the entertainment, visitors can get to know a little more

COME ON DOWN

To reward our new and renewing subscribers at the show, QFM will have plenty of free gifts to make your decision to subscribe an easy one – Okuma Duo rods, which feature a one butt, two rod blank interchangeable system.

This incredible gift will be up for grabs with any two-year subscription, so make sure you sign up at the show.

If you’re already a subscriber, we’ll give you

the same gift if you do a renewal at the show!

Don’t miss out, come and visit us and say hello to the friendly crew. For more info or to browse fishing and boating articles, check out www.fishingmonthly. com.au.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

So if you love boats, fishing and other water sports, you don’t want to miss the 2017 Brisbane Boat Show.

The show will be running from 25-27 August 2017, doors are open from

SEE US AT THE 2017 BRISBANE BOAT SHOW

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50 STRONG YEARS

AUGUST 2017

95

Proudly owned and organised by the Boating Industry Association

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm

Latest tech from Yamaha Motor Australia Yamaha is thrilled to showcase the latest in personal watercraft technology with three new WaveRunner models, along with exclusive offers at the 2017 Brisbane Boat Show.

For 2017, Yamaha has reinvigorated the line-up with an all-new, race-ready GP1800, which has already proved its pace by winning numerous races domestically and overseas. The new GP1800 delivers the winningedge by combining the industry’s largest capacity 1.8L supercharged engine with a precision-designed lightweight hull. In addition to the GP1800, Yamaha is putting the personal back into personal watercraft with the introduction of the all-new, recreational-lite EX and EX Deluxe.

Shoe-horned within the all-new fibreglass hull is Yamaha’s award-winning 1L, TR-1 marine engine – a perfect lightweight match for a thrilling ride. These light and fun WaveRunners will be showcased in some exciting customised liveries and watersports and fishing setups, all of which exhibit the EX’s

broad versatility. Yamaha’s JetFish brand concept will return to the show once again, showcasing the versatility and flexibility of WaveRunners geared up for fishing.

Over the past year, the Jetfish brand concept has headlined across the country, giving savvy fishers a new

96

AUGUST 2017

lease in WaveRunner fishing ideas and choices. Exhibiting Yamaha dealerships are also offering exclusive purchase opportunities at the show, with up to $2000 off selected models, and free lifejackets and gear bags with all EX WaveRunners purchased.

Yamaha Motor Finance is making ownership easy, offering an ultra-low 2.99% p.a. comparison rate across the complete range, over 24-36 months. Completing the suite of offers is Yamaha Marine Insurance, who are offering a $50 pay-by-the-month insurance premium for the first 12 months on eligible boat packages.

Yamaha’s WaveRunner range has something for everyone. At one end is the legendary SuperJet, a raw and engaging stand-up machine that has thrilled for decades, while the introduction of the lightweight EX and EX Deluxe has shaken up the affordable recreational-lite segment.

In the middle of the range are Yamaha’s VX and FX models, combining familyfriendly fun, versatility and features in an affordable package. At the pointy-end is Yamaha’s high-performance SVHO powered models, featuring championshipwinning, supercharged

powertrains and lightened hulls for unrivalled excitement.

All models, bar the SuperJet and EX, feature Yamaha’s exclusive RiDE dual throttle control system – an innovative electronic throttle control system that makes manoeuvring watercraft safer and easier than ever before.

For more information, visit www.yamaha-motor. com.au/waverunner, or visit

Yamaha on stand 209.

OUTBOARD SHOWCASE Yamaha Motor Australia in conjunction with their Queensland Dealership network are excited to exhibit the latest in outboard technology including the all-new F75, F90, and F25, and new rigging technology,

alongside some exclusive offers at the 2017 Brisbane Boat Show.

Yamaha’s complete range of 4-stroke engines from the F350 V8 down to the lightweight and portable F2.5 covers all types of Australian boating from high-powered offshore rigs down to small inflatables and car toppers.

And with all Yamaha engines, legendary reliability

and unmatched quality comes standard.

Next generation F75 and F90 4-stroke Debuting at the show is Yamaha’s all-new, lightweight F90C 4-stroke, the secondgeneration 90hp 4-stroke, which is proving to be exceptionally popular with savvy boaters looking to extract the maximum performance from their 90hp rated boat.

The F90’s unique single cam design actuates four valves per cylinder, delivering superb smooth operation and efficiency while also reducing overall weight.

New light and smart F25 4-stroke An all-new F25 also joins Yamaha’s range, shaving 20kg off the previous generation 4-stroke outboard.

This compact and efficient 25hp engine features battery-less EFI, NMEA2000 compatibility for third party systems, and presents itself as the new category leader with its lightweight design, making it the perfect upgrade from aging 2-stroke models. A huge

array of features and options is available on the new F25, taking small boat power to the next level.

The ultimate gauge at your fingertips Complementing the

can also connect to radar, video input, and stereo control.

This display has an integrated gateway built in to allow external connectivity to other multi-function displays, and is compatible with all of Yamaha’s Digital Electronic Control engines.

Special offers Exhibiting Yamaha dealerships are offering exclusive deals at the show, including $20 off per hp up to $800 on eligible 2-40hp outboards, up to $900 off eligible 50-90hp outboards and free premium rigging worth up to $3200 on eligible F115 to F350 models.

Yamaha Motor Finance are making ownership easy, with

complete Yamaha Outboard range is the all-new CL-7 (Command-Link 7”) Digital Gauge, an all-inclusive 7”, high-definition, digital colour gauge, featuring NMEA2000 compatibility, and monitoring of up to four outboards and critical boat systems. With the addition of optional components, the CL-7 Command-Link Plus gauge can also be used as a chart plotter and depth sounder, and

a low 4.99% p.a. comparison rate on eligible repower options over 24-36 months.

Completing the suite of offers is Yamaha Marine Insurance, who are offering a $30 pay-bythe-month insurance premium for the first 12 months on eligible boat packages.

• For more information, including finance terms and conditions, visit www.yamahamotor.com.au/outboard, or visit Yamaha on stand 209.

with a Yamaha show-stopping deal.

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selected 50 to 90 HP outboards.

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50 - 90 HP

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TO LOCATE A DEALER OR FIND OUT MORE VISIT:

www.yamaha-motor.com.au/outboard For full details, visit Yamaha at the Brisbane Boat Show 25.08.17 to 27.08.17. Disclaimer: 4.99% comparison rate is available on all new Yamaha Outboards to approved personal applicants of Yamaha Motor Finance (YMF) on a term of 24 or 36 months. The annual percentage rate is 2.87% with an application fee of $325. Offer available 25 - 27 August 2017 limited to applications taken at the show. Comparison rate of 4.99% p.a is based on a 3 year secured fixed rate consumer loan of $10,000. WARNING: The comparison rate is true only for the example given and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate. Credit criteria, fees, charges, terms and conditions apply. Yamaha Motor Finance Aust. Pty Ltd. ABN 29 101 928 670. Australian Credit Licence 394553.

AUGUST 2017

97

Proudly owned and organised by the Boating Industry Association

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm

BRISBANE MARINE • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

What a year it has been for the dedicated team at Brisbane Marine, awarded Australian Dealer of the year and Queensland/Northern Territory Dealer of the year.

Brisbane Marine are also the new exclusive dealer for Extreme and Profile Boats.

“These boats are awesome! Talk to the team and find out what makes these boats so special,” said David Robinson from Brisbane Marine. “Extreme Boats are the most awarded alloy boats in New Zealand – recently winning the ‘Boat of the Show’ award at the Auckland Boat Show.

“While you are on the stand, why not check out the range of Anglapro boats – Australia’s toughest tinnie!

Brisbane Marine is the

BRISBANE MARINE

largest stockist of Anglapro boats in Australia. If you want a custom-built 4-6m fishing weapon, this is the boat for you!

“These boat brands are clearly the best alloy boats in Australia and New Zealand, and must be seen.”

At the Brisbane Boat show, Brisbane Marine will have a range of electronics, MotorGuide and Minn Kota electric motors. David strongly recommends that you talk to their electronics specialist and find out how best to use this technology to catch more fish.

Brisbane Marine will also have a repower guru on the stand to answer all of your engine questions. Talk

BRISBANE MARINE

AUSSIE BUILT >> 94 MODELS ACROSS 9 RANGES >> ENGINEERED FOR FUN >> 5 YEAR HULL WARRANTY

399 PROLINE STRIKER

429 OUTLAW TS

to them about how you can get your engine performing like new. They are all qualified mechanics and love what they do.

The Brisbane Marine stand is located at the northeastern end of the Convention Centre.

• For more information visit www.brismarine.com.au.

TOHATSU OUTBOARDS

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

In recent years Tohatsu’s engineering arms have been concentrating on the development of their 4-stroke range. Already seeing significant success in their broad range of

50 STRONG 98

AUGUST 2017

To page 100

659 OCEAN RANGER HARD TOP

489 BAY MASTER

For more information visit www.nsmarine.com.au YEARS

lightweight portable units and the first batteryless EFI 25/30hp, the next step has been to produce a model fitting into the evergrowing mid-range boating market. It’s clear that there is a growing trend in 3.5-4.75m vessels requiring outboards that are lightweight, fuel efficient and reliable, but still have the performance and sporty look to get the job done.

This has resulted in the production of the 4-stroke MFS25/30C and the MFS40/50A. Both models are very compact in appearance with the 40/50A actually being the lightest in its class. With exceptional fuel economy, amazing torque and the added bonuses of Variable Idle Control for Trolling and TOCS technology (Tohatsu On-board Communication System) these units meet the market head on in both results and price. Available in Forward Control or with Tohatsu’s patented MultiFunction Tiller Handle, there is a model and configuration to suit most boats.

Not stopping to rest, in 2017 the engineers of

Phone: (07) 3265 8000 2294 Sandgate Rd, Boondall QLD Easy In-House Finance & Insurance Options Available

509 EASY RIDER

more fish.

Let’s face it, if you’ve got more room to cast, you’ve got a better chance to catch fish.

Our revolutionary Apex Hull gives you more of everything for a great day on the water. The radical, variable flared bottom sheet extends to the bow gunnel as does the wide chine - it’s a clever design that means more internal

space for storage, new consoles, casting platforms, bunks, upholstery and transoms (depending on the model).

We’ve also added thicker and higher topsides and raised the deck, for more freeboard.

You get more room to cast and a better chance to catch a bagful.

And that’s gotta be a good thing!

*Size and features comparison made with 2016 Quintrex models.

QX10FMAPEXMORE001

more clever,

Proudly owned and organised by the Boating Industry Association

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm

From page 98

Tohatsu set out to complete their next project – the Propane Four Stroke Outboard. Not the first to venture into this technology, Tohatsu felt there was a market for small LPG units that meet the demands of today. After market study

they decided a 5hp fits well within the existing tender, yacht and travel sector.

These operators generally have an existing LPG source on board, and don’t have to carry secondary fuel. The other benefits of the MFS5C Propane outboard include reduced emissions, fuel economy, reduced fuel maintenance

issues, portability and performance. This unit retains most of the existing benefits of its petrol variant, including throughpropeller exhaust, steering/ throttle friction control and Shallow Water Drive, to name a few.

As with any outboard, safety has been considered with shut-off valve fuel

TOHATSU OUTBOARDS

TOHATSU OUTBOARDS

regulator and start in gear protection. In addition, dressed in the new Beluga white and available in 15, 20 and 25” transom, the latter also comes in the popular Sail Drive model with

LOWRANCE • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Lowrance will be featuring a host of new innovative products at

ever produced.

The new Lowrance HDS Carbon adds a highperformance dual core processor, multi-touch SolarMAX HD screen, dual channel CHIRP and

LOWRANCE

?

E W E R A H G U O T W HO Check out what ! we do to BUSTA

High Thrust Propeller and Battery Charge system.

At Tohatsu development is key, and many more new models are in the wind for 2017 and beyond.

• For more information visit www.tohatsu.com.au or visit Tohatsu dealer TRE Motorsport at the 2017 Brisbane Boat Show.

POLYCRAFT CASH BACK ALL MODELS • ENDS 31st AUGUST CONDITIONS APPLY

200

10SH0BA0CK

$

4.10 CHALLENGER

0 $150

4.50 DRIFTER

20SH0BA0CK

$

K

CASH BAC

CA

LOWRANCE

$ K CASH BAC

$ K CASH BAC

3.00 TUFF TENDER

4.80 BRUMBY

700

500

$ K CASH BAC

5.30 WARRIOR

CA

5.99 FRONTIER

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polycraft.com.au BUNDABERG CAIRNS BURPENGARY GLADSTONE SOUTHPORT CANNONVALE NOOSAVILLE -

100

AUGUST 2017

Adrian’s Marine Centre Aussie Marine Brisbane Yamaha Curtis Coast Marine Nitro Marine Whitsunday Marine Laguna Boating

07 4153 1819 07 4033 8800 07 3888 1727 07 4972 0135 07 5532 5812 07 4948 3298 07 5442 4872

FMG

the Brisbane Boat Show, including the latest generation of Lowrance multi-function displays: HDS Carbon. With a competition held at the event, a visit to the Lowrance stand could see you walking away with a new HDS-7 Carbon, as well as a first look at the largest/ fishfinder chartplotter Lowrance has

Network Dual Sounder to the proven features that have made HDS the benchmark in multifunction displays. The HDS Carbon series includes 7, 9, 12 and an all-new ground-breaking 16” model.

The massive 16” highdefinition screen on HDS Carbon 16 provides an even To page 102

ED E

N

•A

MA

D

If purchased on a Stessco Factory Trailer

TRALI

•

5 YEAR STRUCTURAL WARRANTY

US

AN

*

AND OW

PREMIUM BOATING AT AN AFFORDABLE PRICE

Gulf Runner 550 SCAN QR CODE TO VIEW BOAT TEST

The Stessco Gulf Runner range is the latest addition to the stessco lineup with its sleek look and class leading performance it is quickly becoming popular Australia wide. The Gulf Runners standard features and layout together with the deep sides and the reverse chine “Soft Ride” Hull make the range perfect for serious fishing. * 3 Year structural warranty on any other brand of trailer.

GOLD COAST SOUTH MARINE TUNE 64 Kortum Drive, Burleigh Heads 07 5576 7388

NORTH BRISBANE MOTORSPORT MARINE 11 Brewers Street, Burpengary 07 3888 0555

INGHAM JB MARINE 102 Cartwright Street, Ingham 07 4776 1188

IPSWICH IPSWICH MARINE CENTRE 45 Huxham Street, Raceview 07 3294 3944

SUNSHINE COAST LAGUNA BOATING CENTRE 16 Project Avenue, Noosaville 07 5442 4872

WHITSUNDAYS WHITSUNDAY MARINE 4/11 Shute Harbour Road, Cannonvale 07 4948 3298

BRISBANE KAREE MARINE 1776 Ipswich Road, Rocklea 07 3875 1600

HERVEY BAY HERVEY BAY MARINE SERVICES 2 Driftwood Court, Urangan 07 4124 9955

HOME HILL PETO MARINE 15 7th Avenue, Home Hill 07 4782 1182

For more information or to find your nearest Stessco dealer visit www.stessco.com.au

Proudly owned and organised by the Boating Industry Association

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm

From page 100

bigger stage to showcase the clarity, 1920x1080 HD resolution and superior target separation of SolarMAX HD technology, exclusive to the HDS Carbon series. Setting up a four-panel split on the HDS Carbon 16 gives anglers the equivalent of four 7” screens on a single display.

Anglers in the market for a want-it-all integrated system need a processor that

can smoothly drive the hightech capabilities of HDS Carbon like StructureScan 3D with SideScan and DownScan Imaging, dual channel CHIRP sonar, StructureMap, Broadband Radar and SiriusXM Weather Chart Overlay. HDS Carbon takes processing power to an unprecedented level with a dual core processor that allows anglers to switch between applications and simultaneously view independent sonar feeds

with ease.

Lowrance SolarMAX HD display technology features high-definition views and clear visibility in all conditions with the widest available range of viewing angles. The new displays are engineered to withstand higher temperatures than conventional units, offering enhanced reliability in warmer climates. The secret behind the new SolarMAX HD displays comes from the implementation of the

SEA JAY BOATS

SEA JAY BOATS most advanced in-plane switching (IPS) screens in fishing electronics. With superior colour accuracy and boosted high-definition reproduction, IPS screens are perfectly designed for viewing picture-like sonar images. Whether viewing menu panels or onscreen fish targets, the improved clarity and sharpness of SolarMAX HD displays are clearly evident from any angle.

In addition to integrated wireless connectivity that enables anglers to download software updates and map purchases directly to the unit, HDS Carbon features Bluetooth control of multiple

BOATING IN A SEA JAY Full Range on Offer

Power-Pole shallow water anchors and Bluetooth audio streaming from the SonicHub 2 marine entertainment system.

Anglers can navigate with ease with HDS Carbon using proven Lowrance navigation technology, built-in C-MAP Insight mapping with enhanced coverage of coastal and inland waters, a 10Hz internal GPS antenna, and a multitude of mapping options accessible from the unit’s dual microSD card slots or via wireless download. HDS Carbon is compatible with the most expansive selection of optional cartography

on the market, including Insight Genesis custom mapping, C-MAP MAX-N+, Navionics and more.

• For more information visit www.lowrance.com.

SEA JAY BOATS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Family owned and operated since 1989, Sea Jay Boats are renowned for their strength, workmanship and customisation.

Popular ranges of boats sold through the Sea Jay dealer network include everything from their popular roof topper models like the

SEA JAY BOATS STRENGTH WORKMANSHIP CUSTOMISATION

NEW RELEASE

4.88 AVENGER SPORTS 550 VISION

VELOCITY SPORTS 630 TROJAN HT

CRUSADER 4.88 AVENGER SPORT

DISCOVERY 458 STEALTHSPORTS

NAVIGATOR VELOCITY SPORTS

For further information visit www.seajayboats.com.au To like us on Facebook visit www.facebook.com/SeaJayBoats

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AUGUST 2017

To page 104

ON DISPLAY AT

THE BRISBANE BOAT SHOW 488

615C • Yamaha F130XA • Easy Tow 13” Tandem Trailer • Trim Tabs • 12 Months Boat and Trailer Registration • Safety Kit

AVENGER • Yamaha F75LB • Redco RE1613Q-MO • 12 Months Boat and Trailer Registration • Safety Kit

IN STOCK NOW!!

IN STOCK NOW!!

590

670HT

VISION • Yamaha F150XA • Sea Jay Glider Alloy Trailer • 12 Months Boat and Trailer Registration • Safety Kit

• Yamaha F200XCA • Easy Tow 15” Tandem Trailer • Trim Tabs • 12 Months Boat and Trailer Registration • Safety Kit

IN STOCK NOW!!

IN STOCK NOW!!

630

780HT

TROJAN HT • Yamaha F200XCA • Sea Jay Glider Alloy Trailer • 12 Months Boat and Trailer Registration • Safety Kit

• Yamaha F300XCA • Easy Tow 15” Tandem Trailer • Trim Tabs • 12 Months Boat and Trailer Registration • Safety Kit

IN STOCK NOW!!

IN STOCK NOW!!

730 HT 670 C • 615 WR 575 C 535 C

ALSO ON DISPLAY AT THE SHOW!

550 Velocity Sport 520 Vision 490 Velocity Sport 370 Nomad HS

* Boat images for illustrative purpose - models may vary slightly

117 Old Cleveland Road, Stones Corner

ph

07 3397 9766

www.stonescornermarine.com.au

AUGUST 2017

103

Proudly owned and organised by the Boating Industry Association

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm

From page 102

Nomad and Angler, to open and console boats such the Avenger and Navigator ranges built on the Adrenalin Hull, right up to the latest generation of 3D designed and 4-stroke future proofed Samurai Hulls used on the Vision, Velocity, Crusader (runabout) and all-new Trojan cabin boat ranges.

These will be available through the Stones Corner

The 6.4 Pursuit GS (glass screen) is the feature of the Sea Jay Plate Xtreme display at the 2017 Brisbane Boat Show. The Pursuit is a true offshore plate boat with long-range capabilities.

Masterfully engineered in-house using the latest in 3D modelling, the Pursuit boasts unrivalled strength and handling, which are paramount when heading out into the open seas.

The full plate construction leaves nothing

STONES CORNER MARINE

The 5.7 Preda-King will make its debut at the Brisbane Boat Show. The Preda-King range from Sea Jay Plate Xtreme is an extremely fishable, everpopular centre console layout. Being of solid plate design, the structural strength of this hull is far superior to any pressed boat on the market.

The Preda-King features the Sea Jay Reverse Chine which, combined with perfect weight distribution throughout, assists in making it a very soft, quite and extremely comfortable riding craft. Smooth lines and inspiring aesthetics make this serious workhorse look more like a pleasure

STONES CORNER MARINE

Crusher and Sea Jay boats, all matched with Yamaha outboards.

If hardtops are what you’re interested in, be sure to come and have a look at the limited edition Bar Crusher 670HT Exocet as well as the 730HT and the flagship of the range, the awesome 780HT. Stones Corner Marine will also have the new Sea Jay 630 Trojan Hardtop on display. The Trojan is built on Sea Jay’s popular Samari Hull. Another Sea Jay to make its debut is the 590 Vision centre console.

This boat will appeal to the serious fisher with its massive cockpit space.

On display as well will be the ever-popular Sea Jay Velocity Sport, Vision and Avenger ranges in varying sizes, with some being matched with the Sea Jay range of trailers as well.

“This year Bar Crusher have made a few minor changes aesthetically and you will see Stones Corner Marine’s best line-up of cuddy models yet, with the 535C, 575C, 615C, 670C and the 615WR all being on display,” said Glen Baker

BRISBANE YAMAHA Marine stand, which will be displaying a huge range of Sea Jay Boats. They are planning to have a range of models on display, including the new 630 Trojan HT, new 590 Vision, 550 Velocity Sports, 520 Vision, 490 Velocity Sports, 488 Avenger Sports and the ever-popular 3.7 Nomad HS. Plate Xtreme by Sea Jay Boats The Plate Xtreme range

by Sea Jay need to be seen to be believed. The side console 4.8m Enforcer has been the entry point to the Plate Xtreme range, with the new 6m version unveiled at the 2016 Brisbane Boat Show.

104

AUGUST 2017

to chance, with safety coming in the form of foamfilled cavities. It also has a full buoyancy chamber due to the fully sealed, selfdraining floor. With sleek lines, gracious curves, and eye-catching graphics, the Pursuit will turn heads wherever it goes.

The structural strength of this hull is superior with 5mm bottoms and 4mm sides. The Pursuit Hull also features Sea Jay’s reverse chine technology, which, combined with perfect weight distribution throughout, assists in making this a very soft, quiet and extremely comfortable riding craft.

craft that any boatie would be proud to own.

Call in to see Col and Troy Glass to ask about a Plate Xtreme model to suit your needs at Sea Jay Boats on the Stones Corner Marine stand.

• For more information visit www.Sea Jayboats.com.au.

STONES CORNER MARINE • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Yet another boat show has rolled around, and this one is an exciting one for Stones Corner Marine as they will have one of their biggest displays of both Bar

from Stones Corner Marine.

“These boats will blow your mind with the attention to detail that both of these brands carry.”

This year Stones Corner Marine is also excited to announce that, along with Humminbird electronics, they will also be showcasing Garmin electronics and Fusion Sound Systems in their packages.

If you’re in the market for a new boat or just want more information on any of these boats, be sure to stop in at their stand at this year’s Brisbane Boat Show and talk to one of their experienced sales team.

They look forward to seeing you there.

• For more information visit stonescornermarine.com.au.

BRISBANE YAMAHA

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Brisbane Yamaha is excited about launching a number of new models at the Brisbane Boat Show.

Brisbane Yamaha owner Aaron Goodchild said that in addition to the new range of Quintrex models on

display at the show, they’ll be launching the new 2018 range of Quintrex models featuring the Apex hull.

“It is a great show for us to showcase why Brisbane Yamaha is Australia’s largest Quintrex and Yamaha dealer,” Mr Goodchild said.

“It’s for a reason – we have the best prices and unbeatable service, hands down.”

Mr Goodchild said that Brisbane Yamaha is committed to offering the very lowest prices and the best value ever at the Brisbane Boat Show.

“We have spent the past year negotiating with our manufacturers and suppliers for unique show discounts that will only be available at Brisbane Yamaha,” he explained.

“That’s what buying power means to our customers! Buy from the biggest and save.

“Quintrex has always been ahead of the game with cutting edge technology with its boat hull design. The new Apex range is the future of boating and will be as important as the Millennium hull was in the 1960s.

To page 106

w o h S t a o B e n a sb

at the

Bri

NEW

On display at the boat show

HULL DESIGN WITH REVERSE CHINES

The NEW RELEASE of the

5.20 LEGEND

Features: • 3mm Bottom Sheet with 3mm Side Sheets

• Live Bait Tank

• 2 x Fully Upholstered High Back Fold Down Seats

• Raised Casting Platform

• 5 x Fixed Seat Position

• Large Live Bait Tank with divider, plumbed

• Anchor Well - Self Draining with Cleat

• Side Pockets

• Electric Motor Bracket on Bow

• Super POD with EXTENSION Duck Board

• Folding Ladder

• Transom Door

• Fully Carpeted Floor with Underfloor Flotation

• Underfloor Fuel Tank - 110L

NOBODY KNOWS YOUR ENGINE LIKE WE DO PROTECT YOUR BOATING LIFESTYLE WITH MERCURY AUTHORISED SERVICE Simply put, no-one else has the knowledge and diagnostic equipment to ensure the best possible service. So why would you trust anyone else...

57 CAVENDISH RD

COORPAROO

3397 4141

Proudly owned and organised by the Boating Industry Association

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm

NORTHSIDE MARINE From page 104

“The new models are more stable and ride like no other aluminium boat ever has. There’s no doubt in my mind that the Apex hull is a game changer.

“Also released at the Brisbane Boat Show will be the new 2018 range from Australia’s favourite fibreglass boat – Baysport.”

The best-selling Baysport 545 is NCS Composite Boat of the Year for 2017 and will be on display. In fact, Brisbane Yamaha will have the full Baysport range at the show.

“I’ve sharpened the pencil for the most competitive pricing of the year,” Mr Goodchild added.

To find Brisbane Yamaha at the show is easy. Just look for the Baysport hull hanging from the roof!

• For more information call (07) 388 1727 or visit brisbaneyamaha.com.au.

NORTHSIDE MARINE

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

This year’s Brisbane Boat Show is going to be massive for Northside Marine. They are bringing all their boating

brands and accessories together to provide customers with the best possible experience. Located centrally in Hall 4 of the BCEC on a 1100m2+ site, they will have on display all your favourite brands, including three of the biggest alloy brands on the market – Stabicraft, Stacer and Surtees Boats.

These boats are suited to serious anglers and families alike, with safety and performance a key feature across each of these

brands. A couple of exciting new releases as well as an international award-winning boat will be at this year’s Brisbane Boat Show, with the 2017 AGB Winner – the Surtees 700 Game Fisher – on display. The new release Stacer 659 Ocean Ranger Hard Top and the all-new Stabicraft 1550 Fisher will be on display at the Brisbane Boat Show for the first time in Queensland.

These will definitely be show stoppers, so be sure to check out these fishing weapons!

PUT THE

RIGHT

TRAILER UNDER YOUR BOAT...

These packages are all powered by the ever-reliable and class-leading Yamaha outboards to provide one of the best packages that money can buy. If you’re looking at getting a new outboard, be sure to have a chat to one of the Northside Marine Yamaha Outboard specialists at the show, as they have extensive knowledge on configuring a setup to suit your needs.

Northside Marine will also have boats from worldrenowned, industry and sector leading fibreglass brands – Axis, Malibu, Jeanneau and Whittley.

These boats are all famous for high quality revolutionary designs that put you at the helm of a boat you and your family will surely love.

A few exciting new releases in fibreglass boats will be unveiled at the stand including the new Whittley CW 1950 and Whittley SL25, the Jeanneau NC 9, and the all-new Malibu Wakesetter 21VLX and Malibu Wakesetter 22MXZ for the first time at the Brisbane Boat Show.

Northside Marine have also just taken on Sportsman Boats as the Queensland dealer of these well-made,

FORMOSA MARINE

QUALITY WITHOUT COMPROMISE

PHONE: (07)

3881 3568

Check our website for your nearest dealer

sealinktrailers.com.au 106

AUGUST 2017

intelligently designed centre consoles ideally suited to the Queensland lifestyle, and will have a pop-up stand to showcase this great range. So be sure to see all the latest models, have a chat to one of their boating professionals, and immerse yourself in the boating lifestyle with Northside Marine.

Northside Marine Boating Parts and Accessories Northside Marine Boating Parts and Accessories will be showcasing a great range of boating bits at superb prices. On display will be the latest marine electronics from all your favourite brands including Garmin, Fusion, Lowrance, Simrad, Furuno, Raymarine, GME, and lots more. Northside Marine has one of the most experienced and awarded teams in the marine industry (they recently took out the Bargain Boat Bits Dealer of the Year, as well as 2016 Garmin Dealer of the Year), so for quality advice, and great prices, be sure to have a chat with the Northside Marine Boating Parts Team; they are happy to help.

• For more information log onto www.northside marine.com.au.

FORMOSA MARINE

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

The latest development from Formosa Marine is the ‘Fully Enclosed Cabin Hard Top’ option for the Offshore 740 Half Cabin.

Features include a toughened glass windscreen, sliding side windows, two rear windows, rear doors with heavy-duty stainless steel fittings, premium seats mounted on aluminium storage boxes, two exterior aluminium storage boxes welded either side of the doorway and seven rod holders welded above. The bimini (pictured overleaf) is a dealer-installed option.

Other hardtop options include the Enclosed Cabin, Open Cabin and the Hard Top Visor available on the Half Cabin and Centre Cabin models sizes 580 and over.

The New 740 Formosa has released a new 740 size in the Half Cabin, Centre Cabin and X Bowrider models. The 740 has a sharper deadrise of 20° without compromising the optimum stability a Formosa boat is known for. The 740 features a large deck space, higher sides, 300L fuel tank and more room for underfloor auxiliary fuel/ water tanks.

Formosa Marine is an Australian owned and operated manufacturer of trailerable, aluminium plate boats based in Tingalpa, Brisbane, building the Tomahawk and Sea-Rod brands. Formosa Marine’s focus is to develop, innovate and provide custom designs to ultimately produce a high quality, affordable boat with safety and performance in mind.

The Build The V2 Hull features the strength of a plate boat construction. It has the ultimate deadrise for greater trim range, softer ride and quick response providing great stability and safety.

The V2 Hull maintains a true self-draining deck in the Offshore range, which many other boats can’t replicate, and the one of the largest freeboards per size in the industry.

Brisbane Boat Show – Dealers Marine Tune (ph: 07 5576 7388) will feature the Sea-Rod brand including the Centre Cabin, Centre Console, Bowrider and Territory.

Australian Marine Centre (ph: 3808 7333) will be showcasing the Tomahawk brand, including the X Bowrider, Enclosed Half Cabin Hard Top, Centre Cabin, Centre Console and To page 108

T H A N KS TO O U R LEAN B URN FUEL TE CHNOLOGY, YOUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;L L BE O N T HE WAT ER FOR LONGE R. #BOATIN G MADE BETTER

SUZUKIMARINE.COM.AU AUGUST 2017

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Proudly owned and organised by the Boating Industry Association

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm

From page 106

the Territory.

• For more information log onto www.formosa marineboats.com.au.

MERCURY MARINE

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Global powerhouse Mercury Marine is excited to exhibit at the 2017 Brisbane Boat Show. On display will be a large range of industryleading outboards, petrol

sterndrives and inboards, and the ultra-economical Mercury Diesel range. Come and visit them at their stand and check out the latest innovations on the water, including VesselView, Active Trim and Joystick Piloting.

VesselView Mobile From the world leaders in marine propulsion and marine technology comes VesselView Mobile. Available for iOS and Android smartphones and tablet devices, the app instantly provides users access to their boat’s SmartCraft digital data in the palm of their hand.

thanks to Mercury’s Joystick Piloting systems, available on 250-400hp Verado dual, triple and quad outboard installations, dual MerCruiser

MERCURY MARINE

or Diesel sterndrives and the recently launched inboard system. You’ll get the chance to get hands on with the To page 110

FORMOSA MARINE The VesselView Mobile module, which is needed to fully use the app, is available for purchase at participating Mercury Marine dealers.

The product is compatible with all Mercury SmartCraftcapable engines built since 2003. One module supports single through quad engine applications.

Active Trim Mercury Marine’s new Active Trim system is now available for boat lovers. The new technology has already gained fans around the world

for the way it automatically and effortlessly trims an engine or engines. Active Trim doesn’t just make boating easier and more fun, it also improves engine performance and cuts fuel costs, while delivering a better overall driving experience. Visit the stand for a demonstration and to find out how Active Trim will make boating easier for you and your family.

Mercury Joystick Piloting Boaters of all levels will appreciate the ease of docking and more intuitive boat control

MERCURY MARINE

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50 STRONG YEARS

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2400 SUPERCAB

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Proudly owned and organised by the Boating Industry Association

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm

From page 108

Joystick Piloting Simulator for outboards and talk to the team about Joystick Piloting for your boat at the show.

Mercury Racing Mercury Racing is proud to reveal the 400R Carbon

will appeal to all anglers and families alike. Signature will also be releasing a new model at the show, so be sure to drop by and view the boat. It will certainly steal the spotlight!

Hooker Boats, built in Cairns, produce quality, robust, comfortable fishing and leisure vessels. They

customer service attained from years of marine experience.

Their goal is to help everyone to find their affordable luxury.

Broadwater Boating Centre operates out of North Gold Coast, looking after the Brisbane and Gold Coast areas for locally owned and built Quintrex boats. Broadwater is

BROADWATER BOATING CENTRE AND SURF COAST MARINE

AUSTRALIAN MARINE CENTRE

Edition for the first time in Australia at the show – an exotic, high performance Verado outboard, featuring contemporary layered surfacing sculpted out of lightweight carbon fibre composite. The Carbon Edition 400R shares all of the industry leading performance characteristics and creature comforts of its Phantom Black and Cold Fusion White 400R siblings, while providing an even higher level of luxury with this bold, aggressive visual treatment.

• For more information visit www.mercurymarine.com.

AUSTRALIAN MARINE CENTRE • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Australian Marine Centre (AMC) will be exhibiting their full range of first class boats at this year’s 2017 Brisbane Boat Show, which should deliver a combination of awesome rigs that cater to everybody’s taste.

On display will be two awesome alloy boat brands who have both built a great reputation and cult following: Formosa Tomahawk boats, known for their quality build, safety and design; and Bar Crusher, who are notoriously known as ‘fishing weapons’.

Both boat brands deliver awesome performance and are suited to all types of Australian conditions, appealing to the serious angler and their families.

Another Australian icon is aluminium brand Aquamaster.

Owner Paul is happy to manufacture and spec out your new boat to your requirements.

More importantly, he will be on the AMC stand to answer any questions you might have.

AMC will also have a range of fibreglass boats on display. The legendary Haines Signature boat brand, who are known to build a range of boats that are exceptional in every category, from fishing boats to sports boats and cruisers, 110

AUGUST 2017

are a popular choice for families, anglers and weekend water skiers.

Luxurious American boat brand, Chaparral, offers innovative sports/fish crossover boats as well as their recently launched surf boat, all of which offer plenty of performance for family fun!

Smartwave Boats, manufactured in New Zealand and made from polyethylene, will also be at the show. They are foam filled, completely unsinkable and are UV stabilised to last many years in our harsh environment.

All of AMC’s boat packages are powered by Suzuki engines. Their lean burn technology sets them apart from all other outboard brands. AMC is an elite Suzuki dealer and will have the new DF350A on display . It really is a must see!

As always, there will be boat show deals on offer across the whole range to every customer who purchases a boat package or new Suzuki outboard – so be sure to drop by and say hi to the AMC Team on Stand 317. In the meantime, to find out more about the boats they will have on display at the show, and pre-boat show sales, contact AMC on (07) 3808 7333, or drop by the yard at 3491 Pacific Hwy, Slacks Creek.

• For more information visit www.amcboats.com.au.

BROADWATER BOATING CENTRE AND SURF COAST MARINE • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Broadwater Boating Centre and Surf Coast Marine pride themselves on matching every customer to their ideal boat by providing excellent

also a dealer of the renowned Cruise Craft range, and is a Yamaha Platinum dealer for their market-leading outboards.

Surf Coast Marine, a Quintrex Queensland Dealer of the Year, also operates out of North Gold Coast. As well

With flexible and competitive finance and insurance rates at this year’s boat show, the team say there’s never been a better time to buy. Customers have the unique ability to trade cars, caravans, motor homes, boats and more within the Hinterland Group of companies. Come and visit the award-winning team at this year’s Boat Show on stand 422 – just look for the ‘I love Quintrex’ banner.

• To find out more visit

Show, with a range of both local boats and those imported from overseas.

In this year’s line-up they have three Tournament Pleasure Boats, consisting of a 750 Cuddy Cab, a 1900 Cabin Boat and a 1900 Centre Console.

Also on site will be an impressive range of Tracker aluminium boats from the USA, which are some of the coolest aluminium bass boats in the world.

Nitro is also proud to

www.broadwaterboating. com.au, or log onto www. surfcoastmarine.com.

announce the re-release of Mako Craft by Tim Stessl, which are built in Queensland, with a range of great Makos on display.

If that wasn’t enough, there will be a bunch of new Mercury outboards on display, and they’ll be offering great repower deals on motors.

So make sure you come

NITRO MARINE

as supplying a great range of Quintrex boats, Surf Coast Marine is an authorised dealer for Evinrude and Suzuki outboards.

Both businesses also have a huge range of used boats and trailers, with a large service centre and factory-trained technicians.

At their combined stand at the show, visitors can see Quintrex’s new Frontiers and Freestylers, featuring the all-new Apex hull, and much more.

Broadwater Boating Centre and Surf Coast Marine are part of the award-winning Hinterland Group, one of the largest motor vehicle industry organisations on the Gold Coast, supplying cars, caravans, motorhomes, boats and more. The Hinterland Group of companies is renowned for providing the highest level of customer service and satisfaction in all areas, employing over 200 staff members in the team.

NITRO MARINE • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Nitro Marine are again making their presence felt at this year’s Brisbane Boat

COORPAROO MARINE

and say hello, meet the new team that’s now running Nitro, and see if they have anything that suits your fishing and boating needs!

COORPAROO MARINE • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Coorparoo Marine can’t wait to showcase their new and exciting range of Clark Boats at this years Brisbane Boat Show.

They aim to cater to the needs of everyone – from fishing and crabbing tinnies, family runabouts, cabin boats to their new release LEGEND boat.

All their boat packages are powered by Mercury outboards with Oceanic Trailers. Go and talk to them about your outboard needs, whether it be a 2-stroke for your tinnie, or if you are thinking of upgrading to a 4-stroke, they’ve got you covered!

They will have a range of Clark Aluminium Boats, including the Sun Seeker Bowrider, and the Navigator Runabouts in a range of sizes.

For more information on the range of boats that they will be displaying at this years Brisbane Boat Show, contact them at Coorparoo Marine, located at 57 Cavendish Road (right next to the train station) at Coorparoo, or phone on (07) 3397 4141 or visit their website on www. coorparoomarine.com.au.

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AUGUST 2017

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Proudly owned and organised by the Boating Industry Association

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm

Native Watercraft’s Slayer 10 Propel FMG

Peter Jung pjung@fishingmonthly.com.au

It is always an interesting concept when you contact a marine dealership to organise some boat tests, and their reply is “We have a boat for you to test, but we do more than just boats.” All sorts of thoughts could go through your head, but in this case the marine dealer was Boats and More and they were referring to the seriously angling orientated Native Watercraft range of kayaks.

Depending on how you set them up, these kayaks are perfectly suited to targeting a range of iconic Australian native species. One of my favourite species to chase is Murray cod, and to this end I tested the Native Watercraft Slayer 10 Propel.

SET UP FOR SOME SERIOUS FISHING Our location to test the Slayer 10 propel was Bundalong at the top end of Lake Mulwala. Damien

Bennett was on hand to show over the Slayer and to explain how they had set up the kayak, based on a combination of customer feedback and from their experiences using the kayaks themselves.

Considering that most of my kayak fishing to date has never been from SPECIFICATIONS Length.....10ft – 3.05m Width..................86cm Fitted weight......28kg Depth at beam..33cm Capacity...........227kg anything remotely close to the Slayer 10, I was fascinated by the extent of the fit-out, but also by how practical it was, considering that at 10ft this is not a large kayak to offer so many options and features.

STANDARD FEATURES Propel Pedal Drive system This propeller-based system drops through the hull of the kayak and locks in place. This is very simple to

Left: If you are planning to be on the water for a long time, a comfy seat is a must and the Slayer is spot on. Right: The cockpit of the Slayer is spacious and offers you plenty of flexibility in where you place your rod holders, sounder and seat position using the Groove track system. do, and you then just pedal like you would on a bike. You can go forwards or backwards and it is very comfortable to use. I wouldn’t say that it is ultra quick (speed is limited due to the size of

can either lock it in place above the water or the entire system can be removed.

Groove track This is a rail system that skirts the length of the seating area. This provides

complete flexibility to place rod holders, camera systems and more in the place that suits you. Two smaller tracks are also just above the pedal system which are ideally placed

The Native Watercraft Slayer 10 Propel is definitely targeted towards anglers and their needs.

Top: How’s this for easy access to your battery? The Berley Pro battery system is a great touch. Above: Steering is as simple as it gets – left to go left, right to go right – and just what the author needed.

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the propeller), however you can really get into a rhythm pedalling and cruise along nicely. To me the advantage of this system is the ability to position yourself to fish and also to get yourself out of trouble if you hook up to a fish near structure.

Steering while pedalling is done through an extended rudder system which you adjust using a small hand control near the seat. Left to go left and right to go right – it doesn’t get any easier than that.

If you don’t want to use the pedal drive, you

Dry storage is not an issue with this large hatch at the front of the kayak.

Proudly owned and organised by the Boating Industry Association

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm to put a sounder and/ or a camera.

Comfort seat There is no doubt that sitting in this kayak for an extended period of time will be a pleasure, not a pain. The seat has plenty of support, sits relatively high above the kayak and uses the same groove track system so you can adjust where you sit so that pedalling is comfortable and ergonomically sound. I was super impressed at how comfortable the seat was in the short period that I used the kayak.

Storage There is a large dry storage hatch at the front of the kayak that has plenty of room for any clothing or items you want to keep dry, and the rear storage well is large enough for a decently sized esky or tackle storage system. There are also two flush mounted rod holders to place rods in while not in use.

There are also a couple of other nice touches, one of which is the non-slip padding on the deck for when you stand up while fishing. The super seal scupper plugs also impressed me. They are a multi-ribbed system that I hadn’t seen before. They have easy pull handles, so from an angling point of view there is nothing for your line to catch on and they certainly didn’t let any water through, keeping the areas dry that you want to keep dry.

Customisation If you are going to go for this style of kayak, then you may as well go all the way – and the dealer did just

distinct feeling of space when you are using the Slayer 10 Propel. It doesn’t feel crowded, and the upside of its smaller length is that everything is easily within reach. Most importantly, everything has a place and can be stored out of the way when not required.

As far as getting the Slayer to and from the water, I would suggest that it is a two-person job or that you purchase kayak trolley to assist getting it to the water edge. At 28kg it is a manageable weight to load and unload from a vehicle, and the heavy-duty carry handles certainly assist with that.

Overall, the Native Watercraft Slayer 10 Propel is the real deal and has a base price of around $3900.

From there you can opt to add your own requirements, and the setup we tested was $5000. It was a pleasure to use, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to get out on the water and test them.

For more information on the full range of Native Watercraft kayaks, or to locate your nearest dealer, check out the Native Watercraft website at www. nativewatercraft.com.au.

Top: The Native Watercraft Slayer 10 Propel set up and ready to explore all that very fishy looking country in the background. Above: The Slayer 10’s Propel system is easy to engage. You place it through the hull, lock it in place and pedal away. that, adding some special touches to make the Slayer 10 a real fishing weapon.

The first point of interest was the sounder

Mark Frost from Boats and More shows how easy it is to stand and fish from the Slayer 10.

setup; the transducer was placed neatly in the foot of the pedal system of the Slayer. All cabling was within the hull, and the battery to run it had extremely easy access.

Small touches like the Berley Pro Sun Visor placed on the Garmin unit that gives you better visibility of the sounder screen (reduces glare) and the Berley Pro waterproof battery storage port (great access to your battery) tells me that these guys have used the kayak and fitted it out so the end user can enjoy every aspect of their purchase.

On the water The hard part about doing this kayak test was keeping my mind on the task at hand. After a couple of minutes in the kayak, all I wanted to do was go and fish all the little nooks and crannies that Lake Mulwala and Bundalong has to offer. You immediately felt comfortable seated on the kayak, and the stability of the craft was excellent considering its 10 foot length.

The true test for this aging author was going to be how easily the kayak would be for me to stand up and have a cast, but as it turned out I needn’t

have worried. Even with my elderly knees, standing up and sitting back down wasn’t an issue. I didn’t feel I was going to go in the drink at any time.

The steering and pedalling proved to be easy as expected, and the ability to reverse and position the kayak to cast to structure is a definite plus. The only thing that could have been better is if a cod had hit my spinnerbait as I was testing it out. I guess I can only blame that on the angler involved.

For what is a relatively The transducer for the Garmin sounder that was on the small kayak, there is a craft was neatly placed on the foot of the pedal system.

Pedalling the Slayer 10 was easy and comfortable. You’re not going to break any speed records, but you should be able to pedal all day.

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WHAT’S NEW BOATING CRUISECRAFT OUTSIDER 595

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CruiseCraft has launched a HardTop version of the Outsider 595, styled along similar lines of the existing HardTop models in the CruiseCraft Explorer line-up.

The design is flowing, in proportion and expertly tooled. Both the roof and interior lining are smooth and buffed to a mirror finish.

This is a purpose designed and manufactured fibreglass moulding, specifically tailored to this model.

Supporting the aft end of the structure is a pair of robust yet stylish stainless steel supports.

These also double as secure hand holds.

The HardTop is formed with a full height toughened glass windscreen at the front, with sliding glass side panels on both port and starboard. An electric wiper on the starboard screen is a standard inclusion.

In the HardTop version of the Outsider 595, a re-shaped modular dash panel has been designed to accommodate larger electronic displays (up to 15”), and there is an optional sliding and lockable cabin door. www.cruisecraft.com.au

CLARION CMS4 AND M606

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The new Clarion CMS4 and M606 provide the benchmark for multiple zone support.

The M606 marine radio delivers four independent audio zones, each with its own volume, equalizer, balance and HPF controls.

The M606 features a single source audio selection that can be distributed in up to four zones allowing for discreet audio controls and configuration.

For a vessel that requires independent sources in addition to the standard audio controls, you can step up to the CMS4 Marine Black-box which features an industryfirst four independent audio zones with four simultaneously configurable sources.

The M606 features a single remote input that can be split multiple times, allowing for all four zones to be controlled from different sections of the boat. The CMS4 has four remote inputs, granting zone control for each of the four available zones. www.bla.com.au

NAVICO ACQUIRES NAVIOP

3

Navico – parent company to Lowrance, Simrad and B&G – has announced its acquisition of Naviop, a global leader in marine monitoring and control systems.

On boats outfitted with Simrad, Lowrance and B&G marine electronics, Naviop provides the integration framework to capture data from all boating systems. The multifunction display serves as the hub for complete system control and information – all designed to enhance boater awareness and enjoyment.

“For years, auto manufacturers have provided consumers with a complete integration solution at their fingertips, while the marine industry has fallen behind the curve to provide the same level of convenience and control,” said Leif Ottosson, Navico CEO. “With Naviop, we have taken a step forward to provide a comprehensive system-integration package for the boatbuilding market.”

Navico will, through this acquisition, take a further step in shifting the idea of a central multifunction display to an integrated cloudconnected information system. Naviop’s success comes from its origin in industrial automation and its continuous development of new high-tech products and systems. Naviop systems can work as an integration hub as well as a digital switching solution, and can manage everything from air conditioning and engines to diesel generators and stabilization systems. www.navico.com 114

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DUNBIER JET SKI TRAILERS

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The stylish new Alloy Jet Ski Trailer is the newest addition to the Dunbier’s Alloy Series of trailers. Its solid alloy welded frame features exclusive Excalibur extrusion and has low riding cross members, including the 4” solid drawbar.

Or if you really want to stand out from the crowd you can opt for the new Dunbier Custom powder coated jet ski trailer. With its unique design, the series is made so that you can travel in style with lower riding and many special features. These include wide stepped checker plate side steps; all black wobble rollers to complement the slick black frame; full marine coat over the galvanized frame, guards, roller beds and walk boards.

Both of these locally-made trailers have new black alloy mag wheels, chrome caps and light truck radial tyres, and a new, fully-sealed LED light system. www.dunbier.com

NEW HONDA RELEASES

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The 2017 Melbourne International Boat Show marked the global debut for the BF75, BF80, BF90 and BF100 and the Australian debut of the new BF40 and BF50 Honda outboards with a fresh new look and some updated features.

With an upgraded ECU, the new outboards have the latest in EFI technology, so the exact amount of fuel is delivered at the perfect time, guaranteeing smoother performance and greater fuel savings. The new outboards also incorporate lean burn control technology (ECOmo), which allows combustion to operate on a leaner air/fuel ratio during cruising to achieve greater fuel economy.

Honda’s revolutionary Boosted Low Speed Torque (BLAST) technology boosts engine torque at low RPM under rapid acceleration, to get the hull up on the plane quickly.

Developed for Honda’s high-performance sportscars and available on the updated BF90 and BF100, VTEC varies the lift and duration of the intake valves to provide optimum performance both at low and high rpm.

NMEA2000 connectivity also comes standard. For more info visit the Honda Marine website. www.marine.honda.com.au

WHITTLEY SEA LEGEND PACKAGES

PRODUCT GUIDE

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The latest models in the Sea Legend (SL) range are the SL 20 and SL 25 HT. The 6.37m SL 20 has all the big-boat attributes of its larger SL cousins, including a deep-vee hull that’s 23° at the transom. It has a new-look cabin entry sitting in front of the most comfortable seats in the 6m class, and the moulded fibreglass floor has a nonslip diamond tread. The cabin has a full-length double V-berth (identical dimensions to the SL 22) as well as a full headlining as standard.

Features include moulded side pockets, two solid esky/kill tanks and four stainless rod holders. The standard package also includes front and side clears, alloy rocket launchers, a vinyl cabin divider, Garmin 4.5” GPS/FF and Bennett SLT trim tabs, Mackay dual axle electric braked trailer and Volvo Penta V6 200 G SX. The SL 25 HT model also features a 23° deadrise. Features include a new lockable cabin door, stylish hardtop, moulded rear fishing platform, removable 150L kill tank, and a 30L plumbed live bait tank moulded into the transom.

Price: from $77,490 BMT (SL20) www.whittley.com.au

5

Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au

6

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Nitro boats are foam-filled to exceed US Coast Guard survey requirements.

This gives you the safety of level floatation, security and comfort – and additional fishing stealth – all backed by a Limited Lifetime Warranty.

Tracker’s Pro Guide series is designed with a deep-vee hull for exceptional performance, even in rough waters.

Their Diamond Coat finish is a Tracker exclusive that resists oxidation, providing protection and a shine lasting 70% longer. Standard features include a Minn Kota trolling motor and Lowrance colour sounder, plus tournament-ready live well systems and rod lockers.

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www.nitromarine.com.au

Proudly owned and organised by the Boating Industry Association

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm

Wellington Point tips BRISBANE

Jordyn Mogg

Wellington Point is a spectacular part of the Moreton Bay region. This is a great spot for the family to go during the summer, but in winter it supplies

sheltered areas, which serve as a great fishing grounds for bream when the wind is blowing a bit too hard to go out and chase the fish in deeper water.

Tides play an important role in the fishing. Some of the fishing grounds become very shallow once the tide

are many techniques that will prevail in landing bream in winter. These techniques range from bait fishing to some of the more technical styles of lure fishing.

Bait fishing is a lot of fun for young kids and the family.

The best baits in this area for bream are prawns, yabbies,

The author with a healthy bream caught on a soft plastic at the drop-off. anglers the opportunity to target many great iconic sports fish. This waterway holds structure that houses many different species such as snapper, tailor, flathead, whiting and bream.

Wellington Point has two boat ramps and a small kayak launch spot, which

is at its lowest, however that doesn’t mean it is no longer fishable. The more sheltered bay becomes extremely shallow at the lowest part of the tide, but it is still accessible with a kayak in most parts. At its lowest, this area becomes a great place to throw surface lures such

mullet and squid.

It doesn’t really matter where you fish with bait; you can throw a bait in any part of the water here and you have a strong chance of catching bream, as well as other species such as flathead, whiting, snapper and tailor.

popping lure will give you a greater chance of catching bream, as well as whiting.

Throwing crankbaits in deeper water, ranging from 1-2m, is one of the most productive ways to catch bream at Wellington Point.

Crankbaits are small, hard plastic lures that are very easy to use – after you cast, simply slow wind it back to your kayak. This will engage the lure’s action. The ideal size range is 35-50mm.

Another technique to use at this depth is to throw a soft plastic lure. Soft plastics are only a little more advanced to use than a hardbody – cast the plastic out, let it sink to the bottom and then add in some small lifts of your rod. This will make the lure hop off the bottom and then sink again. Repeat this and you will be in for some fun catching bream.

SNAPPER Snapper are another great target in the deeper water. Soft plastics are a very productive form of fishing for them – use a 3-5” plastic on a 1/8 or 1/4oz size jighead.

Drifting baits is another popular way to target snapper. Pilchards, squid and prawns are the best baits.

STRUCTURE The waters off Wellington Point hold many different types of structure, but the aquatic weed plagues the majority of it. This serves as a great form of structure that holds bream, whiting and flathead. Target the weed with a crankbait for a greater chance of success.

Further into the deeper water you can find a drop-off.

At high tide the water drops from around 3m deep to 5.5-6m. This spot is perfect to throw soft plastic lures for bream, sweetlip, juvenile snapper and other reef species.

The Wellington Point Jetty.

The car park has ample parking, even on the weekend!

Releasing a bream to catch again another day. allows kayak anglers a quick and easy way to launch their yak and start fishing. Even better, with the abundance of car parks in the area, you won’t be driving around for hours to find a safe park.

Wellington Point has mix of open bay and 116

AUGUST 2017

as small poppers and walkthe-dog style lures for bream and whiting.

BREAM One of the top targets at Wellington Point in winter is yellowfin bream. Fishing the shallow bay area, and the slightly deeper waters, there

Luring for bream is a different story – different spots require different lures and techniques. In the shallower areas, where the water is only around half a metre to a metre deep, throwing lures such as a walk-the-dog or a small

The boat ramp at Wellington Point is exceptionally big, which makes launching quick and easy for boaters and kayakers.

TACKLE The tackle you need in this area is basic. You don’t need to go out and spend thousands of dollars on outfits and lures. Buying a basic 2-4kg rod and a 2500 sized spin reel is perfect for this area. Braid from 4lb up to 8lb is great, but if you’re a budget angler, using monofilament line will also do the job perfectly fine.

This combo size will be a great all rounder to target bream, snapper, flathead and whiting in the area.

I highly rate Wellington Point as a great fishing ground because of the great accessibility and amazing fishing. This area is somewhere you should definitely add to your list to visit and fish!

Proudly owned and organised by the Boating Industry Association

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm

Keep a close eye on those trailer bearings BRISBANE

Wayne Kampe wkff@aapt.net.au

Boat and camper trailer owners soon understand that few things will willingly repay neglect nor will the wheel bearings, those unseen little heroes that carry the full load of whatever’s above the axle. And at whatever

speed is involved! This understanding is easily reinforced by the all-toofamiliar sight of a boat trailer on the side of the road – sometimes with a big scrape on the road leading to an absent wheel – as the result of a bearing failure.

To complete the scene the axle will usually have a jack under it with some member of the party standing guard while the rest of the

Step 1: Nice and shiny after a clean up: the front bearing, washer and nut. The bearing is now ready for some more grease to be applied to it.

team have driven off to see if they can round up some assistance or maybe spare parts if there’s knowledge of what’s required to fix the problem.

Camper trailers (and of course caravans) don’t suffer so much as boat trailers do, because they are not subject to immersion in water to any great extent. Boat trailers backed into salt water on a regular basis are well and truly in the firing line. This means that the smart boat owner will see the need to check on things from time to time. The more it’s used in salt water, the more often you need to assess the bearings and possibly re-grease them as preventative maintenance.

I look at my boat trailer bearings every three months when the boat is having regular use and in over two decades I have only experienced one issue when bearings on one wheel were growling, although still functioning. Growling? Yes, a bearing that’s suffering corrosion or pitting will usually emit some noise when the wheel is elevated from ground contact and spun, so this is the first step in a bearing health check up. With the wheel spinning

New grease and nitrile gloves are important items for servicing wheel bearings. there should be no grumbles, growls or other noise other than a slight whir.

The next step is to take hold of the wheel on each outer side and check it for bearing free play by pulling and pushing it from side to side – gently, that is; don’t dislodge the trailer from the car jack! If there’s play noted the bearings might need to be tightened, but more on this later.

For the record there is no

great mechanical expertise involved in checking trailer wheel bearings. Even doing a periodic regrease is pretty much a DIY project that is fairly easily mastered. If you don’t feel you are up to the task or don’t want to muck around with grease, it’s wise to ensure bearings are checked – or even replaced – professionally from time to time.

I would stress that the steps I am outlining

in this article are not necessarily going to ensure total bearing efficiency or longevity, but are certainly worth considering if you like keeping in touch with the boat/camper’s running gear on a preventative maintenance basis.

Our trailers have two sets of bearings; an inner set near the rear seal on the axle plus another (smaller) up front which is set just behind the Bearing Buddy or dust cap,

Step 2: With the Bearing Buddy removed and some excess grease cleared away, the split pin and castellated nut are accessible.

Step 3: Out comes the split pin.

Step 4: The castellated nut and washer have been removed and the outer bearing’s being slid out along the spindle by gently drawing the wheel outwards.

Step 5: The residual grease within the hub of the author’s camper wheel shows no signs of contamination, just a little discolouration from use.

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Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm depending upon which of gloves, a tub of grease, some these is fitted. Both bearing old paper, plenty of rags and races with their tapered away we go! rollers within them sit within CAMPER a very close fitting hardened TRAILER CHECKED cup or slipper which is push- Note that the series of fitted into the wheel hub images here are taken from and it’s within these cups one of the wheels of my Trek that the bearings rotate. camper trailer as it’s due for Note that common bearing some five-hour Macintyre components are usually of River visits this month and Ford or Holden origin on has not been checked for smaller trailers. six months according to As the bearing sets are my records. actually several centimetres The first step was to apart – and the wheel is jack up a handy wheel and rotating around the axle give it a spin. The result was courtesy of the bearings very pleasing: just a slight – there’s ample room for whir, as expected. A bit of grease to be applied around a push/pull on each side the axle to firstly assist in revealed no slack, so things reducing friction within the were looking good. I love to bearings and to keep out as be sure rather than sorry, so much water as possible.

I kept on with the inspection Providing the rear seal’s after placing a few sheets of in good condition and the newspaper down beside the front cap or Bearing Buddy wheel to collect components is properly fitted, both these as they came to hand. items will also deter water The components entry. It can still sneak in if consisted of Bearing there’s unforseen prolonged Buddies, a split pin holding immersion, hence my view a large castellated nut in that plenty of grease around position to lock the outer bearings makes sense. bearing in place, plus a big Tools for a bearing washer that sits between check up are a car jack, the castellated nut and the large shifting spanner, screw bearing race. Naturally, driver for prying things, there is going to be a fair bit and a pair of multi grips for of grease about the place, STA16051-449half_Layout PMlater.

Page 1 extracting a split pin. Nitrile1 6/07/2017 but more 5:38 on this

First move (with the wheel elevated of course) was to gently knock the Bearing Buddy from side to side to loosen the Buddy and removed it. If you have a rubber hammer there’s a job for it here.

There was a fair amount of grease that had been pumped in through the Buddy’s nipple on the outer section of the castellated nut and once this grease was removed it was easy to straighten ends of the split pin holding the all-important castellated nut in place and remove said pin from it’s dedicated hole in the axle with multi grips.

WORKING ON THE OUTER BEARING The outer bearing was now quite accessible and a gentle tug on the wheel saw the bearing slide out along the axle spindle for a clean up and to be assessed. At this point the grease was also assessed. I saw it as merely a bit discoloured from use and with no traces of water (creamy residue) about it. Mere darkening of the grease is no biggy, but if there seems to be water in it, a very hard look at the bearings should take place.

It’s best to assess your

bearings after a solvent has removed all grease.

Petrol is as good a solvent as anything, but the clean up needs to be carried out within a metal container or other non-plastic container, which said petrol might dissolve. When the bearings have had a good dunking and cleaned up with an old tooth brush all surfaces can then be assessed for any

pitting, or distortion of the cage they sit in. After thoroughly allowing them to dry it’s easy to give them a spin to see all the old grease has been dissolved and the petrol’s evaporated.

And so long as the bearings are totally shiny, not pitted, and the cup within the hub is also as clean and unmarked, there’s no reason not to regrease and replace them.

In next month’s issue I will tackle greasing and reassembly of the outer bearings and discuss what’s involved in taking a look at rear bearings as well.

It’s wise to ensure you can access more parts if required by working on bearings when supply outlets (Repco, Super Cheap, etc.) are open.

Note the machined step at the rear of the axle spindle. It’s this step that the rear bearing seal butts against.

The Stacer 449 Nomad is a budget, fishing friendly boat, offering plenty of handy features.

Surprisingly spacious and beamy with the new Shark carpet which is soft underfoot providing excellent grip. This model includes all the standard features and you can option her up with a stainless steel telescopic rear boarding ladder and electric motor bow mount plate. Visit www.stacer.com.au for more details.

AUGUST 2017

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Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

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Ditch the paddles for a Solo Skiff BRISBANE

Wayne Kampe wkff@aapt.net.au

I thought I’d seen all or most of what modern portable boating has to offer, then the Solo Skiff blew my socks off!

Like other portable craft, the skiff is injection

it in action, but there was a small problem: Jake’s usual engine – the Solo Skiff is rated for engines up to 5hp – had been stolen recently. To keep things moving I volunteered the use of my own 3hp Yamaha 2-stroke, which I use on our Porta-Bote. The little engine (named ‘Trusty’) has always started third

A VERY STABLE CRAFT That easy performance was not all that impressed me about the Solo Skiff.

I could not believe how incredibly stable it was!

Before starting the motor, Jake clambered aboard from the side by heaving himself up onto the craft, backwards, and promptly

On its Ruhl trailer, the skiff presents as a highly portable craft.

How’s that for a shallow draft craft?

THE NITTY GRITTY The Solo Skiff might

best be described as a hybrid. It’s not a kayak or a canoe, yet the hull has a low profile similar

to several modern kayaks.

It’s not a conventional boat either, as you can’t sit in it.

The Solo Skiff combines

The skiff underway with Jake at the helm. The split tail area has the mounting of the engine well inboard. moulded, which means it’s tough as old boots, not too heavy for it’s 4.39m length (at 68kg) and could be transported on car-top roof racks or carried on a lightweight custom trailer.

This was exactly how Jake from Redcliffe Marine presented the fascinating rig for a snappy review.

For the record, Jake advised me I would be impressed with the skiff and I was pretty keen to see

pull when cold, first pull when hot and is mighty handy for fishing.

When on the back of the Porta-Bote, old Trusty can keep us moving at a modest speed. It’s not quite on the plane, but far, far better than rowing!

However, set up on the transom of the nifty little Solo Skiff, the engine had the craft planing in a boat length, whizzing around at about 15km/h.

stood up and jumped about to demonstrate it’s immense stability.

I was amazed to see the 1.34m wide craft hardly rock, thanks to its virtually flat bottom. It didn’t look like it would even tip over. The roto-moulded construction makes the craft immensely rigid and the huge stability was complemented by the fact that it drew a measly 3-4cm with someone on board.

Jake holds the skiff to show off the clean bow, spin out hatch up front, elasticised webbing over the front storage space and the large, raised storage compartment that serves as a seat.

A closer look of the forward storage area, which is drained, shows it can be used as a live well or ice box.

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Paired rod tubes are a very angler-friendly feature of the Solo Skiff.

Proudly owned and organised by the Boating Industry Association

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm many of the best features of small, highly portable craft and combines them very usefully.

A fine bow, ample

beam and a shallow-formed recess within the hull leading back to a run-off deck aft, which allowed any water coming onto the

craft to exit at the stern area, were the main links to a conventional kayak. With the craft’s low profile, you can expect that some water

The Solo Skiff just wouldn’t tip over, no matter how much Jake jumped around.

There’s a recessed deck within the rig, which allows water to run aft and away.

is going to be coming across the bow at times. While a user might get wet, there’s no issue with the Solo Skiff capsizing.

The Solo Skiff has interesting design features that really separate it from the mainstream run of kayaks and canoes that are so popular today.

One person – and this is basically a one-person craft – sits or stands on the skiff, not in it. There is a raised seat section on top of a watertight compartment with a large hatch, which can also double as a drained ice box or a storage compartment for the skipper to sit on and control the outboard.

Up front there’s a storage compartment with a spin-out hatch while a lattice work of elastic tie downs sits atop another storage area, up front, which could also serve as a cooler compartment as well.

This compartment, just aft of the spin out hatch, is drained for ease of use. Rod tubes are worked into the front section of the recessed deck and extend forward towards the bow so that even a quite long rod can be stored safely.

If you prefer electric power over a combustion engine, you can store the battery for an electric within the seating compartment, because it’s quite large enough to carry a battery along with tackle boxes.

ENGINE POWER The American manufacturers of the Solo Skiff point out that while the craft can easily be poled or paddled, it’s really designed to take a motor, which is great – an angler could use the engine to sneak fairly close to a shallow water fishing area then pole or paddle right up to the action.

How good would this be in some of our barra dams or tidal flats along the coast?

The engine placement was interesting. Where most powered yaks or canoes have the engine fitted at the stern, the Solo’s transom is set some distance inboard of a split tail astern. With the engine mounted inboard of the split tail area, the setup provided the best balance and ease of driving for the skipper. It’s different and it works well, as I found out when I finally dislodged Jake from the skiff to enjoy a drive myself.

The tiller handle of the

small outboard fell readily within my reach and I was amazed at just how responsive the hull was to power application. I must say that while I would not like to be sitting on the unpadded storage box for long stints, this sort of smooth or calm water craft is primarily designed for short stints of travel between cracks at the fish. As such, it works well.

AMPLE FISHABILITY As a smooth or calm water fishing rig that offers high mobility with minimum effort this one is going to be very hard to beat. The concept is simple. An angler would use the power engine to get to the chosen spot and then pole or paddle, either seated or standing, to fish.

With the big storage area amidships, more up front there was room for a tackle box or two to make things easy to change rigs or tactics. About the only problem I saw, if I was fishing from a Solo Skiff, was just how or where I would store a fly-caught barra! Probably under the elasticized straps up front.

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Stunning Simrad NSS7 evo3 Chartplotter FMG

Simon Goldsmith simon@fishingmonthly.com.au

The advances in sounder design, performance, and function have never been greater and a recent upgrade from a 10 year old 7” unit to a new 7” Simrad NSS7 evo3 illustrated to me with blinding clarity just how advanced today’s modern sounders are. The data and information they provide for an angler, and how handicapped you can be as an angler if you’re not running one in your boat are now truly evident.

SMALL AND MIGHTY The new Simrad NSS

times identify what species is below. Telling the difference between catfish and bass at Wivenhoe is must.

BRIGHT AS THE SUN Being able to see the sounder screen in bright sunshine, particularly with sunglasses on, has often been a challenge with sounders and the evo3 attacks that challenge head on with its new display. The new SolarMAX HD display provides a bright, easy-to-read screen that is clear and crisp to read in any light, at any time. Sharp and vivid in its colours and details, the evo3 has few, or perhaps no peers when it comes to display clarity.

DIALLED IN While we live in an age

Simrad NSS7 evo3 Chartplotter. don’t think I ever found myself asking, ‘Now which button do I press again?’

Often I wouldn’t look, I’d just reach when pressing a button. For example, if I was on the front deck of my boat fishing and I wanted to mark a waypoint, I’d just lean down and hit the waypoint button without ever actually looking at the screen. It was easy and it was simple. I used the same blind approach in many cases when powering the unit on and off.

The menu button and dial

you can download the maps to your computer, save them onto a micro SD, then install them in your sounder. I used both methods to test how all the options were to use and found it all easy and logical to do.

The Social Maps available from the GoFree online shop are a fantastic resource to have at your fingertips. The ability to upgrade and expand the data in your unit and do so via a social, user contributionbased platform, impressed me the most when I made the leap from a 10 year old unit to

data you have displayed on your Simrad.

THE TOTAL PACKAGE I ran a TotalScan transducer with the evo3, and it’s a transducer that could be described as the total package providing Broadband, CHIRP, StructureScan and DownScan imaging. The Broadband sonar supports 83/200kHz frequency, medium and high CHIRP frequencies, while the StructureScan supports 455/800kHz frequencies.

As I mentioned earlier my preference in most cases was to run high CHIRP on screen, and when I needed further clarity and refinement in what I had on screen, I ran DownScan in conjunction with it.

MORE PLEASE The Simrad NSS7 evo3 is a multi-faceted, multi-function unit that offers chart, echo, structure, radar, navigation, instruments, video, autopilot, timer plot, and forward scan all on the homepage. While I only scratched the surface when it came to use these functions, chart, echo, and structure were my three go-tos. The evo3 is a sounder that is equally at home on a small inshore boat, like my 17’ bass boat, as it is on a larger offshore.

The chart options and display, especially with Social Maps, are stunning to say the

The chart options and display, especially with Social Maps, are stunning to say the least. evo3 is the latest evolution in the NSS series, the previous incarnation of course being the NSS evo2 series. While the model I had may have been the smallest in the range, it certainly doesn’t lack in performance, power, and ability.

The evo3 delivers many advances over its predecessor the evo2, with new Dual Channel CHIRP providing the ability to display both low and high CHIRP on your screen at the same time. This can be a huge asset when fishing offshore where the need and benefit in having both can be huge, with low CHIRP giving you the depth penetration you’re looking for and high CHIRP the shallow and surface detail you want.

I ran my unit on high CHIRP when fishing the dams in South East Queensland and the detail and speed in the information it provided was razor sharp. Most times I ran high CHIRP on a split screen next to my DownScan display.

I had the high CHIRP there to provide me with maximum information of what was below, while the DownScan provided me with a breakdown and a separation in the detail of what was below. The DownScan gives me the clarity to see individual fish and also at 122

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of touch screens, and they’re preferable in most cases to use over non-touch screens, there are times when they aren’t the best to use. The evo3 provides that alternative with both touch screen and keypad and dial functionality providing the best of both worlds. Offshore

anglers and those fishing in rough conditions will reap the benefits of this dual design.

I found myself using both, and to switch between the two was a fluid process and took little time to become familiar with. Once I got dialled in with how the unit worked I

The author ran the high CHIRP on a split screen next to his DownScan display.

The high CHIRP provided maximum information of what was below, while the DownScan provided a breakdown and a separation in the detail of what was below.

The menu button and dial layout is very logical and clean in its setup, making it very easy to use and learn.

layout is very logical and clean in its setup, making it very easy to use and learn.

The customization of the WheelKey on the keypad is another great setup option and you can tailor it for both a short press and long press.

Customise it how you want, and in one button you have two different functions tailored to your needs.

LOGGING ON Modern sounders are anything but standalone pieces of technology and the evo3 offers multiple connectivity options. Built-in GoFree wifi allows you to download charts direct to the unit via the GoFree online shop, or alternatively

the new evo3. I was definitely behind the times.

To access the evo3’s online GoFree options, all you need to do is connect your unit to a wifi connection. I connected to both my wifi at home and also did a hotspot with my iPhone, and just like downloading the Social Maps, I found the process simple and logical.

If you want to view your evo3 display on the water via your iPad or iPhone, that function is available too, with the GoFree Link app allowing you to view and control your Simrad via your smartphone or tablet. In large boats this is a great way to keep an eye on the charts, radar and engine

least. The Social Maps and the underwater topography they make available for anglers, and for a lake angler like me, are priceless in my opinion.

The echo and structure options show us what’s beneath the surface with outstanding detail and clarity.

The addition of the Simrad NSS7 evo3 to my bass boat has been an evolution for my fishing that’s been long overdue and enlightened me to what is possible and what is available. The only problem I see now is that I want another one and I want a bigger one. I think NSS12 just might be on the cards.

W NE

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Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

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Evinrude’s iDock for twin-outboard rigs

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With media from all over the world assembled, the rain came down. And I don’t mean a few showers, I mean it bucketed down, complete with thunder and lightning and a weather radar that looked like a plate of parma from the local pub.

The Evinrude guys were looking a little nervous –

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E-TECs are eminently suitable for the inclusion of this kind of system. Boasting power steering units included on each G2, there’s no need for bulky and expensive hydraulic pumps to be installed. But I’m getting ahead of myself here. Let’s step back a little…

always feel when you drive a boat sideways for the first time was the fact that you needed to think and steer a few seconds ahead. It takes this time for the engines to move to the correct position and the gears and revs to get to where they need to be to get you where you want to go.

It’s like driving an electric trolling motor. Spin the head round and hit the thrust and it still takes a few seconds to bring the boat to a standstill. It’s the same with iDock. If you want to change directions, it’ll take a few seconds to get the motors in order and to bleed off the speed you already have.

Also, you’ll have to stop trying to grab the helm. Trust me, you’ll do it plenty when you’re transitioning to iDock. iDock will lock the steering while it takes control. When you want to take control again, just press the button and you’ll have your steering and throttles back.

See, I told you a kid could do it!

BEHIND THE MAGIC “Our goal with the

Evinrude E-TEC G2 engines was to design a platform with unlimited potential for continued technological enhancement and innovation,” said Olivier Pierini, Evinrude Director of Global Marketing and Strategic Planning.

“The intuitive nature of the technology will give even a novice boater immediate confidence in their ability to dock any boat equipped with Evinrude E-TEC engines easily. And by using technology that is already built into the engine, it is significantly more affordable than any other joystick system on the market.”

And that’s the key to iDock. It adds very little to what already exists within the E-TEC G2 architecture and because of this, it can do it cheaper than any other system on the market.

What’s the expected cost of the system in Australia?

At the time of printing, it wasn’t yet available, however, the stateside pricing is very aggressive.

We’ll be sure to let you know when we do.

There are slight differences between the off-the-shelf G2 E-TECs and those used for iDock.

Evinrude E-TEC G2 iDock model engines are sold in pairs and will be available in 2018.

- SC

iDock controls are so simple, kids can use them.

Push the joystick in the direction you want the boat to go. Twist the joystick in the direction you want it to spin, or use combinations of the two.

There’s extra thrust available by pushing past the detent if you need an extra burst of thrust.

docking the test boats like a pro – both the luxurious and seemingly overpowered pontoon boat and the eminently fishable Scout with twin 200s.

HOW DOES IT WORK? If my kids were to ask how iDock works, I’d probably just tell them ‘magic’, but since Fishing Monthly audiences are usually a little more skeptical than my gullible youngsters, let’s go through the basics.

Traditionally, twin-engine rigs are tied together with bars and rods that ensure that the outboards are always pointing in the same direction. The driver can differentially trim these outboards and apply the throttles independently to level the attitude while underway or to skid-steer the boat when manoeuvring the boat in close.

Then came digital throttles and shift and power steering.

‘Fly by wire’ allowed the manufacturers to digitally control and maintain throttle, trim attitudes and steering. It’s how features such as iTrim work, substituting a computer and predetermined parameters to trim a boat more precisely and more accurately than a human being can, especially when they have more to think about than just trimming the boat, like fishing.

The next extension, of course, was to use the ability to totally and independently control these outboards to allow some complex mathematical algorithms to move the boat

awesome. Spin around?

No problems. And you can combine the directions when you get a feel for it.

Additionally, there’s an extra boost available if you need an extra spurt of thrust to counter a gust of wind or a burst of current. You just push past the detent at the natural edge of control and you get extra rpm to get you out if trouble.

Traditional outboard joystick systems tend to have the engines fight against one another with wind and tide, however iDock has an Integrated Aircraft Gyro Sensor, which locks in the heading off the boat. Whether there is wind or current, the boat will maintain its set heading adjusting the position of the engines to keep you on course.

We got to test the iDock in a fairly confined space, with added current and wind – real world conditions under the supervision of the Evinrude staff that looked remarkably relieved that the rain had stopped.

My initial impressions?

Apart from the awe you

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their own dock, a public berth or in a marina. What iDock does is remove the decades of experience you needed to dock a big boat with precision and make it so easy that a kid could do it, with a joystick.

THE BIG REVEAL It wasn’t an ideal day to launch this new piece of kit.

• Evinrude launches iDock for Evinrude E-TEC. • It works with twin E-TEC rigged boats only (not with single outboards).

• Fingertip control in all directions with a joystick.

• An extra boost is available with a harder push.

• It’s the cheapest system on the market.

CON

Joystick control?

TW: ummmm… maybe.

How did you know?

SM: They said at Milwaukee last year that affordable joystick control was the next thing that they were going to release to the market.

Of course, the G2

You won’t see E-TECs doing this normally, but independent power steering lets iDock control outboards individually to allow 360° control of your twin-engined craft.

HIGHLIGHTS

RA

This situation used to scare boaties – iDock makes the process of docking simple.

in whatever direction you want – including sideways and spinning on its axis.

And the best way to direct the computer controlling this?

A joystick, of course. From a captain’s point of view, it’s ridiculously simple. You push a button to transfer control from the helm to the joystick. The button you push is the only one on the joystick. You then move the joystick in the direction you want the boat to go.

It’s that easy.

Forwards and backwards?

Easy. Sideways? Yep – it’s

T

Was it one of the worst kept secrets in the marine industry? Maybe. When I received an invite to Florida, USA, from Telwater (TW), Australia’s Evinrude distributor, the discussion went as follows.

It may be paraphrased for simplicity and to not get in the way of a good story.

SM: Cool – new, smaller G2 E-TECs, huh?

TW: Nope.

New technology for existing G2s.

SM: Oh, so it’s Evinrude’s version of

plenty of the journalists were flying out that afternoon and timings were tight. The rain needed to stop by late morning, and it did.

Like kids to a new toy, the media piled in the test boats and proceeded to use the iDock, without reading the instructions. Nowadays, that’t nearly the way I judge the userfriendliness of a new product: can media guys (who think we know everything about everything) jump in and make it work straight away?

The answer is a definite yes.

Within minutes the assembly of North and South Americans and even the lost Aussie and a Kiwi were

DE FOR EX

s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au

WHAT’S IDOCK ALL ABOUT? Let’s do Joystick Control 101, or iDock as Evinrude call it, fitting into Evinrude’s current ecosystem of products like iSteer, iControl, iCommand and iTrim.

We all know how to use a joystick, right? Even those of us who are in the second half of our lives enjoyed a game of PacMan or Galaga in our earlier years at the local milk bar. Kids, of course, are experts and use one intuitively.

On a related matter, you know when most bigger boat owners are nervous? It’s not driving their pride and joy around the bay. It’s when they’re docking – be it on

CO

Steve Morgan

R

FMG

Perhaps the most impressive feature of iDock is the ability to drive a boat sideways.

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Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm

Stessl 580 Seahawk with Yamaha F130hp - SC

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Main: Stessl Seahawk’s Platerix hull is designed to withstand all of the punishment that fishing offshore can deliver. It’s a big, beamy and solidly built boat that delivers over 2km/L at 4250rpm.

Above: With 200L of fuel under the floor, the Seahawk has a serious range – over 400km!

6mm stringers and then full height, transverse bulkhead frames.”

In summary, it means that they are over-

Length.........................................................5.8m Beam...........................................................2.5m Depth........................................................1.45m Hull weight............................................... 840kg Bottom........................................................4mm Sides...........................................................4mm Capacity.......................................... six persons Max hp.......................................................... 150 Shaft.............................................................. 25”

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aluminium in the Platerix hull, combined with the foam filling makes this a quiet ride.

Yamaha’s superlative F130 isn’t the maximum horsepower allowed on the hull, but it lifts the hull onto the plane with ease and at 4250rpm delivers 2.2km/L

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from other plate boats on the market,” Scott explained, “We run a 100x10mm keel down the centre, which is fundamentally the backbone of the boat.

Followed by that we have

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Stessl boats has moved back home. With Scott James (from Horizon Boats) the new owner, Stessl is once more owned and built in South East Queensland. With decades of history for the brand in the books, it’s not surprising that Scott’s dad, the legendary Bob James, was once the foreman at the factory in one of its Queensland iterations.

And Scott is excited about the acquisition.

One of the first things I asked him, though, was about what ‘Platerix’ was.

“Platerix describes the way that we build our plate boats, which is different

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bilge and batteries through a pair of watertight hatches.

Without a transom door, boarding happens up the ladder and over the transom via the duckboard.

On the water, the hull runs quietly. Sometimes this isn’t the case with plate boats, but the amount of

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engineered and designed not to break. Ever.

The boat we tested on the Tweed River and bar was a customer’s boat that has been fitted out as a serious offshore fishing

boat. Although this craft boasts 1.8m bunks in the cabin and a bait station that converts to a ski pole in a matter of seconds, it’s unashamedly a ‘dad’s’ fishing boat.

With an impressive 2.5m beam, there’s a huge cockpit to comfortably fish three or four anglers at a time. Coupled with the factory installed vinyl flooring and deck wash, the clean-up options are easy.

The overhead rocket launchers fitted into the canopy swallow up any rods not immediately in use and the port side live well keeps your live baits in A1 condition. There’s also an underfloor kill box under the cockpit floor.

The transom design is neat, with access to the

RPM........................ km/h...................... km/L Idle................................ 4.............................5 1000............................... 8.............................4 2000............................. 13.......................... 2.5 3000............................. 23.......................... 1.9 4000............................. 37.......................... 1.9 5000............................. 48.......................... 1.4 6000............................. 59.......................... 1.2

The 2.5m of beam make this a very stable boat.

of unleaded burned. At 6000rpm the package scoots along at 59km/h, but burns fuel much less economically.

It’s the same for most outboard powered boats – ease up on the throttle and your day on the water gets much cheaper.

The real talking point for the Seahawk, though, is the price. Eyebrows were raised when the package on a twin axle trailer landed at under $60,000 – well under $60K at $56,990.

If you want more information, watch the test video on the FishingMonthly YouTube channel (by scanning the QR code hereby on your smartphone), or go to www.stessl.com.au and you can also like Stessl Boats on Facebook.

Proudly owned and organised by the Boating Industry Association

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm

Now that’s a lot of cockpit space – the test boat has custom synthetic floors fitted to keep it softer and quieter underfoot as well as easy to clean up.

Relaxn helm seats are lifted with a large storage box. The helm is comfortable on the test boat.

Yamaha’s F130 is destined to become a classic.

Delivering quiet, economy and reliability, it pushed the test boat to just under 60km/h at 6000rpm. The best economy was at 4250rpm, where fuel use for distance was nearly halved.

Excess fishing rods can be stored in the rocket launchers, which are incorporated into the canopy.

We love flush-mounted electronics at Fishing Monthly. It means that the design is modern enough to incorporate the common units used for fit-up at the time.

Top: Side pockets are standard in a boat of this configuration. The Seahawk’s gunwales are high enough to be comfortable fishing offshore.

Left: The footrest lets you lock yourself in when things get a little rough.

Right: There’s a deck wash to keep everything civil in the cockpit.

Top Left: A port side live bait tank is plumbed to keep your livies in top condition before you send them to their doom.

Top Right: The optional bait board fits five rods, two cans and a block of IQF pills. What more could an owner want? The board also detaches and leaves a ski pole for the family days.

Left: True to its bulletproof heritage, the cabin isn’t the most luxurious we’ve ever seen, but it does the job of keeping significant others out of the sun and weather.

It’s 1.8m long, which will allow most adults to stretch out and get some sleep.

Right: We had plenty of fun testing the Stessl Seahawk in the Tweed River and bar!

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Proudly owned and organised by the Boating Industry Association

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm

Profile 735H Limited with twin Mercurys

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Main: The Profile is a good-looking boat, especially with those twin Mercury 2.1L ProXS 115s on the transom, and it handles beautifully in the chop. There’s no substitute for extra length when the wind blows.

Above: This Profile hull is one of the few large plate boats that remain trim sensitive. You can make the variable deadrise work for you in the rough and then get all of the angle out of the water when you have calm conditions and let it fly!

SPECIFICATIONS Length........................................................7.35m Height on trailer....................................... 3.15m Max hp......................................................260hp Capacity............................................. 8 persons Deadrise................... 36° (bow) to 17° (transom) Tow weight.............................................2400kg Width on trailer........................................2.34m Length on trailer......................................8.85m Beam (external)........................................2.34m Beam (internal)........................................2.05m Hull..............................................................6mm Sides...........................................................3mm Fuel.............................................................400L

that we get out on the water and have a ride in the 735H Limited – one of the flagships of the range with a list of options as long as your arm.

“You’ve got to have a ride in this hull,” Troy beamed, “It’s the best alloy boat I’ve ever been in.”

We weren’t disappointed when a calm-ish forecast for Moreton Bay on the test day turned into a brisk southwesterly. When we made it across to the Tangalooma wrecks, Troy told us the story.

From calm to lumpy, the test day showed how Moreton Bay chops and changes with wind and current. It was a great day for testing with some shooting at the wrecks, of course.

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“We went across to NZ with the aim of securing a real quality alloy boat brand for the dealership, and the Profile boats really stood out,” Troy explained, “so we didn’t waste any time getting some ordered for Brisbane Marine.”

And, being Mercury’s Dealer of the Year for 2017, there was no way that the test rig was going to be fitted with anything but the best.

There are three models of the 735: the GL, the Sport and the top-of-the-line Limited. The test boat is a Limited fitted with twin Mercury 2.1L 115hp ProXS outboards. Tuned for high performance, a single 115 ProXS is impressive on any boat, but the twins fitted to this hull were incredibly fun to drive.

With a shorter and smaller hull, it’s pretty standard for a good hull to be trim sensitive.

You can trim down to use the bow deadrise in the chop and then trim up to get the hull out of the water in the calm.

I’ve found the longer the boat is, the less dynamic the response to trim, so I loved the fact that the Profile 735 really

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Nobody can accuse Brisbane Marine’s Troy Wood of sitting there and just waiting for things to happen. In the last couple of years, he’s actively transformed the business from a quality Mercury Service and re-power agent into a boat dealership that offers turnkey packages for multiple brands.

One of the latest brands he’s taken on is the New Zealand designed and manufactured Profile hull. It was an excited Wood that called and suggested

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got up and out of the water with the trim high and the hammers down.

This responsiveness also lets you trim the boat to take advantage of the variable deadrise in the hull in less

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From a design and fit-up point of view, the Limited lacked nothing. From a fully carpeted and optioned cabin (with a concealed gas cooker under the passenger seat) to a beautifully designed

PERFORMANCE RPM................... km/h................ km/L/engine Idle........................ 5.7................................ 3.9 1000....................... 8.0................................ 3.5 2000..................... 13.5................................ 2.3 3000..................... 26.0................................ 2.7 4000..................... 43.0................................ 2.7 5000..................... 59.0................................ 2.2 6000..................... 72.0................................ 1.8 6400..................... 73.0................................ 1.6 *Best economy was 3km/L/engine at 3750rpm than ideal conditions. Heading back to Scarborough across a sloppy southwesterly against the tide in the Pearl Channel is as good a test as any, and the Profile made the trip dry and comfortable.

The Mercs delivered a top

cockpit with live bait tank in the transom step, the options list is (literally) longer than this article.

Take a look at the test video to see the big girl in action. You can do this by scanning the QR code hereby

Even though the 735 is a big boat, there’s no wasted space and passengers can get out of the weather without being stuck on a bench seat down the back when it gets nasty. speed of 73km/h at 6400rpm, but drank enough fuel to get only 800m/L burned. Easing up to 3750rpm got you 40km/h and nearly double the economy (at 1.5 km/L combined).

Coincidentally, that was also a great speed to negotiate the wind versus tide chop.

with your smartphone or by visiting the FishingMonthly YouTube channel.

As tested, this rig weighs in at $159,000, with the base models and single outboard setups coming in significantly cheaper. Visit www.brismarine. com.au for more information.

Proudly owned and organised by the Boating Industry Association

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August 2017 The door to getting Australians onto the water

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank • Open Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm • Sunday 10am - 6pm

Top: With the bunk infill, there’s a mile of space in the cabin and the carpeted walls soften the ambiance.

Above: There’s very little of the helm and cabin that’s not carpeted. The wet work area in the cockpit is washable.

We should have brought some stumps and a cricket bat. There’s plenty of room down the centreline for a pitch. Plus we still like talking about the cricket one-day World Cup, especially to New Zealanders.

It doesn’t matter how big you want your electronics to be – the Profile will fit them in flush-mounted. Into the carpet.

With sliding windows and skylights for ventilation and illumination, there’s no problem with going boating in the heat or the cold. Remember that New Zealanders know all about cold, rough weather boating. Those crazy Kiwis love it!

Top: Check out the grab rails on the hard top. Along with the comms mounting area, you can see that there has been a lot of thought given to the design of this boat and no expense spared in making it.

Above: Surprise! There’s a gas cooker under the passenger seat.

This is optional in all models except the Limited where it is standard.

Top: It’s not the beamiest cockpit on the market, but it uses the space very well. Check out the live bait tank with the clear front under the transom step.

Left: The deck wash and pump are standard in the Limited (top of the line) 735 as tested.

Right: More and more manufacturers are getting this right – easy access to the bilge and batteries. The Profile does this through the three waterproof hatches in the transom.

Top: The transom door allows easy loading and unloading. When you don’t have one, you miss it greatly.

Above: The bait board holds half a dozen rods and everything you need for assembly of terminal tackle within easy reach.

What’s better than a 115ProXS Mercury? Two of them! The power plant for the Profile is super responsive and as much fun as I’ve driven in a boat over 7m.

Fuelled up, rigged up and ready to go. All we were missing was a few extra hours to fill the underfloor kill tank with fish.

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CONFIDENCE TO GO WHERE NO ONE ELSE IS.

Whether you’re going for some alone time, or getting away with family or friends, Mercury Verado FourStrokes will get you there and back again with a level of power and refinement that can’t be matched.

Learn more at mercurymarine.com.au 132

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