Queensland Fishing Monthly - January 2017 by Fishing Monthly

WANTED FOR SPEEDING: PELAGICS POWER UP!

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January pelagic pursuit • Essential camping tips • Spotlight on spanner crabs • Zerek BARRA Tour •

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January 2017, Vol. 29 No. 3

Contents NORTHERN NEW SOUTH WALES

Whitsundays 69 Ayr 68 Townsville 71 Hinchinbrook 73 Lucinda 72 Cairns 73 Port Douglas 75 Cooktown 74 Cape York 74 Weipa 76 TNQ Freshwater 78 BOATING AND KAYAK

103

REGULAR FEATURES Back to Basics 18 Camping and 4WD 84 Cooking 95 Dam Levels 79 Freshwater 79 Fun Page 57 Hotspot kayak 104 Junior Southern 36 Sheik of the Creek 49 Tech Tricks 16 Tournament News 86 Trades and Services 100 What’s New Fishing 96 What’s New Boating 104 SPECIAL FEATURES

QUEENSLAND FISHING MONTHLY Business Office: Unit 1, 11 Knobel Court, Shailer Park, Qld, 4128 Phone: (07) 3387 0800 Fax: (07) 3387 0801 Managing Editor: Steve Morgan s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au Editorial Manager: Jacqui Thomas Sub-Editors: Bob Thornton Nicole Penfold Cordelia Adams Dylan Orford Field Editors: Jason Ehrlich Wayne Kampe Publishers: Steve Morgan Matthew Drinkall

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Xavier Gercovich with a broadbarred mackerel from Hervey Bay. A Mark Gercovich image.

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onsite advising river users of the movement controls, and enforcing if necessary. Penalties apply to people who breach the movement control order.” Biosecurity Queensland has completed destocking infected farms but warn that anyone who needs to remove crab pots or other fishing equipment from the river must thoroughly clean their equipment before they leave the area. Penalties may apply to anyone who breaches these restrictions.

10 14 64 90

infected properties. The Biosecurity Emergency Order restricts the movement of all potential carriers of the disease out of the area. This includes crustaceans such as prawns and crabs and polychaete worms. “Commercial and recreational fishers are encouraged not to operate in the area as they will be unable to retain their catch and remove it from the area. “Biosecurity Queensland and Queensland Boating and Fishing Patrol will be

AUST

Outwitting pelagics Essential camping tips Outfoxing spanner crabs Spotlight on the BARRA Tour

and affect all types of decapod crustaceans as well as polychaete [marine] worms. “Infected prawns do not pose any human health risk and there is no suggestion that any product currently on the market is in any way affected. “To reduce the risk of the disease spreading to other areas of Queensland and other states, a Biosecurity Emergency Order has been applied to the Logan River from Jabiru Weir and Luscombe Weir to the mouth of the river and

ION

We’re sure you’ve all heard by now about the outbreak of white spot disease in the Logan River in SEQ. Devastating for the local aquaculture industry, it also has ramifications for recreational take in the prescribed area. If you have any doubts, just check the Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries website. From D A F ’s press release: “The positive river samples were collected from the Logan River adjacent to one of the affected farms and at a second site 500m downstream. Surveillance will increase in the river to determine the scale of the disease in natural waterways. “White spot has had devastating impacts in other countries, particularly in relation to aquaculture prawns. The disease can occur in marine environments

TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND

From the Editor’s Desk...

Hervey Bay 52 Rainbow Beach 52 Fraser Coast 54 Lake Monduran 55 Bundaberg 55 Gladstone 56 Rockhampton 61 Yeppoon 60 Mackay 63

CENTRAL QUEENSLAND

Tweed Heads 28 Southern Gold Coast 30 Gold Coast Canals 32 Gold Coast 34 Jumpinpin 35 Southern Bay 38 Brisbane 40 Brisbane Offshore 42 Northern Bay 44 Caloundra 46 Noosa 48

SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND

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Pelagics

Offshore racing stripes BRISBANE OFFSHORE

Kaspar Lenigas

Spanish mackerel and wahoo are by far one of the most targeted and sought-after pelagic species offshore during our summer pelagic season. Not only do they taste great, they’re also excellent sportfish that fight hard and fast. Without a doubt the most successful and easiest way to catch these awesome sportfish is to troll, whether it be with lures, dead baits or live baits. It’s easy enough trolling around generic lures, tackle and baits and catching a few fish, but there are ways to maximise your catch rates. Refining your gear, lures, rigs and bait and learning how and where to troll can make a huge difference to how many fish you can catch, and how big they are. There’s no better feeling than setting out a perfectly righted bait or lure for a troll, finding a school of fish

I also find, with the addition of mono to a longer rod, there’s a good amount of stretch and a slightly slower take up of pressure to set hooks, which allows the fish to hit and turn before the pressure is applied and the drag screams off. Faster gear ratio reels are great for these fish. Spaniards and wahoo can swim incredibly fast and change direction quickly, and you want to be able to keep up with the fish during the fight. Also, faster gear ratio reels make chasing down fish with the boat much easier. The combination of a long rod, mono and a high gear ratio certainly makes fighting these fish very easy and effective, as you can keep an even pressure very easily, further eliminating that chance of losing a fish. In most instances, a 15-24kg rod is ideal for most lures, baits and the majority of fish you will encounter. If or when you are purposely targeting larger fish in excess of 20kg with bigger baits

main line, but I usually run braid backing on my reels and run a 100m 24kg or 37kg mono top shot on my reels. I get the stretch from the mono with the top shot, and the line capacity from the braid when I need it. However, you can run straight mono if you prefer. You should still have enough line. In my opinion, you don’t need to use any fancy or colourful mono – I find the cheaper lines like Schneider to be ideal, as they last a long time and are very strong and hard-wearing. The number of set-ups you want to run is up to you, but I rarely run more then two. These fish school up, so it’s not uncommon to encounter multiple hook-ups, and I find dealing with two fish much more manageable then three, especially when I fish solo. Also, it’s much easier to run two baits or lures effectively without tangles. Setting the right strike drag on your reel is very important so you can set hooks in nicely without tearing them out. I find a

Overcast and low light conditions are key to success when chasing wahoo and Spanish, as the fish are more active and closer to the surface. on the sounder, then turning back to watch your rods in anticipation before they fold over and scream off. GETTING STARTED There are a lot of options when looking for a trolling set-up for wahoo and Spanish. Spin, overhead, long rods, short rods, braid or mono? It can be a little confusing, but in my experience the best set-up you can get is an overhead, either a star or lever drag reel in the 20-30 size range with a fast gear ratio, matched with a 7-8ft trolling rod in the 15-24kg or 24-37kg range. Using a longer rod has several benefits. The first is manoeuvrability around the boat, as these fish can change direction or dart off quickly when boat side, and with a shorter rod you could lose them to the prop or hull. Setting baits and lures apart is also easier with a longer rod, and they’re excellent for absorbing the lunges and headshakes during the fight. 10

JANUARY 2017

and lures, the 24-37kg rod comes in very handy. It can handle what you are trolling and help to shorten the fight time, reducing the likelihood of being sharked. As I mentioned before, mono is my preference as

strike drag of 3-6kg to be ideal when trolling dead or live baits, and 6-10kg is more than enough when trolling lures. What drag setting you run is a matter of personal preference, but this is what I usually run as a

A large school of Spanish mackerel and bait stacking up on the edge of the reef.

Large Spanish mackerel like this one are excellent to eat and love attacking large dead and live baits. rule of thumb. It can change depending on what lure bait and hooks I use. Once you’ve got the perfect set-up, the next thing to do is run wire leader to your rigs and lures. These fish have very sharp teeth and will have no trouble biting through heavy mono leaders. I find single strand wire to be the best when connecting to your rigs and lures; it’s much better than multi-strand. Single strand is thinner so it’s harder for fish to see, and it’s much easier to change out and retie if damaged or kinked. A simple Haywire Twist is all that’s needed to connect to a small barrel swivel which you connect to your leader. With the other end of the single strand you tie another Haywire Twist to the rig or lure. You’ll find that 50-80lb single strand is all that’s needed for these fish. You can go heavier, but the heavier you go, the fewer fish you’ll catch, in my experience. The amount of wire leader you run is up to you, but I generally run a 30-50cm length, depending on what I use. SPANISH MACKEREL Spanish mackerel are by far one of the most common pelagics on our reefs in Queensland, and can be found on most inshore and offshore reefs in southern Queensland and northern NSW during pelagic season, and throughout autumn and early winter. When targeting Spanish mackerel, I recommend trolling dead or live baits. Spanish mackerel like to swim around or sit on certain reefs, and by covering these reefs at a slower trolling speed you can thoroughly cover the reefs, trying to find where the fish

are. With the added use of a sounder, you can locate the Spanish mackerel on certain areas of the reef, especially around bait, and work them until they decide to eat your presentation. As Spanish have usually seen a lot of other anglers’ lures, baits and rigs, they can be quite cluey at times. This is why I find tempting them with natural baits to be far more successful. In my opinion, you will predominately catch smaller school-size Spanish on skirts and hardbodies, and because there’s competition between

these school-size fish, the faster you troll with lures can trigger a reaction bite. Unfortunately, that reaction bite will usually only last so long before they wise up. On most days, boats fishing baits will generally catch a lot more fish than boats trolling lures. There’s a large variety of dead baits you can use on Spanish. Most will work, but by far the most common and successful are garfish, slimy mackerel, yakkas, tailor and bonito. For very large Spanish mackerel, larger baits like bonito, small

A few wahoo lures rigged and ready. Some hardbodies are retrofitted with singles for a better hook-up rate. The Hex Heads are rigged with a single hook at the rear to stop the lure from twisting and the rig tangling when trolling at higher speeds. The Hex Heads are rigged with stainless steel cable, as it lasts longer than single strand and doesn’t kink as easily.

Pelagics tuna, school mackerel, wolf herring, small mackerel, fusilier and tailor are the go. The key to catching fish on baits is rigging them properly with the right hooks,and weighting the rig so the bait swims straight and looks as natural as possible. If the bait spins, you won’t catch many fish. Garfish are very easy to swim, but bonito and bigger baits can be quite tricky and may take some time and practice to get swimming right. There are plenty of online videos that can show you how to rig troll baits so they swim perfectly. The hooks I predominately use for my baits are ganged Mustad Tarpon 7766D in 6/0

to 10/0 and I try to match the size of the hook to the bait. To weight the rig I use net lead around the shank of the first hook, and to rig the bait I like to use copper wire. Live baits are about as good as you can get for Spanish. Small tuna, slimies, yakkas, tailor, fusilier and bonito are deadly, but you can only really work them well in areas that have very slow current, whereas dead baits can be worked in fast and slow current effectively. For live bait rigs I use a J hook pinned in the nose of the bait, and a Mustad or VMC treble at the rear of the bait. The size of the hook doesn’t have to be massive, just big enough to

suit the size of bait you are using. Between the J hook and treble I like to use multi strand wire, as it’s a little more flexible than single strand – but single stand is still fine to use. When trolling dead baits, the ideal trolling speed is around 3-4 knots, and with live baits 1-2 knots, or even drifting if the current is fast. The distance you set your baits back is up to you. As long as you still feel contact with the bait, I believe further back is better. Usually, anywhere from 30-60m back is perfect. WAHOO You will encounter lots of by-catch when chasing Spanish mackerel, especially on live bait, and it’s not

Basic rigging of a live bait. You can set the treble back further with a longer section of wire or run another treble, depending on the size of the live bait and personal rigging preference.

Baits rigged with the noses of the bait secured with copper wire to the front hook, ready for a swim. The pink squid skirt is a great addition and can trigger more bites. When used with garfish it can also prevent the bait from becoming washed out, and prevent the eyes from bulging. uncommon to catch wahoo while chasing Spanish. Wahoo are very different from Spanish, even though they look very similar. Wahoo are extremely fast – they’re up there among the fastest fish in the ocean. Like mackerel, wahoo migrate up and down the coast, but they are a true ocean-going pelagic and will travel vast distances around the ocean. So unlike mackerel, which will hold on reefs most of the time, wahoo will usually only

hold on or around the reef for shorter periods, as they like to keep on the move. Being an ocean-going pelagic, wahoo like blue water and are often found on or around reefs that receive warm ocean currents. You’ll often find schools of wahoo cruising around the reefs or moving between reefs, so covering ground is key when trying to catch wahoo. This is why trolling lures is such an effective method. Speed is also key when trolling lures

for wahoo – you usually can’t troll fast enough for these fish, but any speed over 6 knots is good. I prefer trolling at 8-15 knots, but I’ve also caught wahoo trolling at 20 knots moving between reefs. There’s a huge variety of lures that you can troll for wahoo: deep divers, shallow divers, bibless, skirts, weighted jet heads and Hex Heads. They all work extremely well, but can only To page 12

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Pelagics From page 11

be trolled at certain speeds. Most divers and bibless lures are suited to 6-10 knots, some a tad faster, but skirts can be trolled quite quickly and effectively over 10 knots, especially weighted jet heads and Hex Heads. There are a lot of lures out on the market to catch wahoo, such as Halco Laser Pros, Rapala X-Raps, Samaki Pacemakers, Classic Bluewater F18s, Halco Max, Hex Heads and River2Sea Downsiders, just to name a few. They all work exceptionally well, but make sure they have good terminal tackle. Wahoo, especially big ones, are incredibly good at destroying most generic terminals. Changing out to stronger split rings, trebles and singles is recommended. When trolling for wahoo, you usually want to troll around the edge of the reef or structure, looking for signs of bait, as the wahoo won’t be too far behind. If you are trolling on reefs deeper them 15m, it’s perfectly fine to drive over the reef, as bait and wahoo will sit on top of it. A lot of the time when trolling for wahoo, you’ll locate them sitting higher in the water column on your sounder, and it usually doesn’t take long for them to pounce on your lures. Sometimes it may take a few

passes, but usually it’s pretty instant and you generally get double hook-ups when running two rods. The distance you set your lures back for wahoo varies on speed and types of lures, but anywhere from 20-60m behind the boat is fine. If you find wahoo and they aren’t interested in

eating lures, it’s time to change tactics and try live bait. By far the best live baits for wahoo are small tuna or bonito. On occasions, live yakkas and slimies will work, but if you can get a small tuna or bonito, they generally won’t last long. If you can’t catch or find live baits, it’s also worth trying

slow trolled dead baits like a tuna or bonito, and using them the same way you would for Spanish. Another great alternative is a Wog Head rigged with a dead gar trolled at around 8 knots. Sometimes the smell and look of the bait can trigger a strike from wahoo, and can berley up the other fish in the school, triggering a feeding frenzy. The same thing can happen with Spanish as well. Even though these fish may look mean and nasty with a full set of razor sharp teeth, they are quite fragile and release terribly. For that reason, if you want to target them, I recommend that you keep what you catch, and then stop fishing for them if you reach your limit. Releasing dead or tired fish only increases shark problems. Spanish mackerel and wahoo are fantastic to eat, but need to be taken care of, like all fish. When you have these fish boat side, gaffing them is by far the best way to land them, but a gaff shot in the belly or side of the fish can really ruin the meat. You’ll also end up with an angry toothy critter with hooks attached, thrashing around on board, which is rather dangerous. A swift gaff shot to the head or pectoral fins makes

A common sight when fishing for wahoo is multiple hook-ups. for an easy capture and removal of hooks. A long esky or fish kill bag is important to store these fish, so they are stored perfectly straight. If the fish are bent in the esky it can ruin the flesh. Before placing the fish in an ice-cold esky, make sure you bleed it and brain spike it, so the flesh is at its best. A big concern many people have when keeping big pelagics is the risk of ciguatera poisoning. Ciguatera poisoning from

wahoo is unheard of, but it can be present in large Spanish mackerel over 15kg. Usually very large resident Spanish mackerel that live on coral reef may have it, but cases of ciguatera are very uncommon and most Spanish are fine to keep – just make sure you don’t eat large quantities in one sitting. I hope this points you in the right direction and gets you a few bent rods and screaming drags for years to come. Until next time, stay safe and good luck.

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Tactics for a better summer camping experience BRISBANE

Wayne Kampe wkff@aapt.net.au

Summer’s with us and there’s hardly a better way of enjoying this great time of year than to camp next to lovely water with our fishy friends nearby. For those who haven’t done a lot of camping but want to give it a go, here’s a

before departure time. Most parks have site plans on the net and a browse of the layout is an easy matter prior to commitment or a deposit. Keep well away from big dangerous eucalypts that sometimes offer tempting shade at inland lake or riverside camping grounds. These trees drop big branches just for the fun of it. With the right site organized, the next step should be to have a good

sufficient pegs are in the kit and the peg mallet or hammer is there as well. The camping light (remembering that orange lighting can deter insects) should be given a test run on the battery terminals, to see it’s still in working order as well. On the topic of camping lights, try one of the ever-popular strip lights with a dimmer switch, so that once tea is over and things are quietening down, the main light can be reduced in output so it’s not illuminating a fair portion of other camps in the area. With all the camping equipment given the once over and a tick of approval, it’s time to pack the fishing gear and other equipment, in an orderly manner. The idea is, what needs to come out first should definitely go in last. If a section of shade mat is going down as a handy floor, it should be one of the first things to hand, especially if some is going

One of the best things about camping is that everything seems to work! Several styles of camps are here. a campsite and setting up camp well after dark, noisily unloading vehicles, banging pegs into the

Camping at Arthurs Lake, Tasmania, the author supported the tent fly with a lot of poles and ropes, as strong winds were forecast. look at some things that can make camping as easy and unfussed as possible. My definition of camping is a swag or two set up under a folding marquee, staying in the humble tent or living it up in the camper trailer or caravan – it’s a pretty broad view. Whatever style of camping you choose, a great holiday usually starts with the selection of just the right place to set up that home away from home, so we’ll explore this aspect first. IN THE CARAVAN OR HOLIDAY PARK In most camping grounds, different areas are allocated for the different styles of outdoor life, which works fine. Concrete pads for caravans and grassed areas for the rest is the norm. With competition for choice sites, it’s frankly so much easier to find that perfect camping site by making early enquiries regarding a booking, well

hard look at the caravan or camper trailer and see that all is in good shape. Caravans and camper trailers could do with a bearing check and at least a tyre pressure check. Elevate a wheel and give it a spin – if there are rumbles, it’s time to do some bearing changes. A quick full setup at home will ensure things are as you left them and not spoiled by unwelcome guests. If the trusty tent is the main accommodation, it’s wise to take it out of storage and give it a once over. It’s also very smart to take a look at all poles, ropes and pegs that are going to be part of the setup. Poles that lock tight with small wing nuts and cross bolts can be assessed on effectiveness and refurbished if necessary. Ropes are usually okay, but the pegs might need some straightening. You definitely need confirmation that

Dedicated grounds offer the camping experience without the hassles of roughing it and are a great place to start with this enjoyable experience. under the tent to keep the base as clean as possible. At this time of year, most holiday parks will be well filled, so when you’re setting up camp, be conscious of the time and how it might affect those already on site and comfortable. Moving onto

Shade is at a premium here, but the campers have been wise enough not to set up under one of those big eucalypts. 14

JANUARY 2017

ground or shining powerful lights all over the place is no way to win friends. It’s far better to arrange for an arrival at a more friendly time of day if possible. That said, sometimes you just can’t arrive at a more civilized hour. That’s why I have really

emphasized the need to organize the vehicle and trailer packing before you leave. If you’re making camp in difficult circumstances, such as rain or darkness, it’s vital to be able to find what’s needed promptly, so you can be set up as soon as possible. Once you’re settled in, why not introduce the team to the neighbours when the opportunity arises? If they’re fishing as well, a bit of neighbourly networking can lead to some other network in the long run – landing net work that is. For mine, one of the great things about holiday parks and camping areas near the fishing action is the chance to talk about fishing with others – it’s surprising what gems of wisdom fall into place. CAMPING OFF THE BEATEN TRACK Holiday parks are great, but so is a camp off the beaten track, so long as selfsuffiency is given priority. Beach camping is so popular that it needs first mention – you’ll need to consider extra items that can make it easier to get to just the right place to enjoy those never to be forgotten beach views.

For the car you might need a tyre gauge and air compressor pump, maybe some MAXTRAX if the budget allows for them, and definitely a shovel and snatch strap. A thorough service before you leave is a smart move. The order of your packing should be geared around setting up camp on arrival, so leave those tackle boxes in the back: you won’t need them straight off! To improve the camping, some shade cloth or similar material on the ground around the tent will ensure that sand won’t be sneaking into all the bedding and other areas where it’s a true pest. Any metal pegs should be replaced by meaty sand pegs with extra ropes along, just in case a nasty blow develops – there’s not much cover or shelter on the beach front. Water is vital and if there’s no chance of camping near any fresh water, the drinking water containers need to be allocated plenty of space in the packing. If there’s water on hand, the Glind Cape Yorker portable shower unit will be a gem. A shower at the end of a day’s beach fishing is brilliant and all it takes is

One of the author’s beloved fly-in camping setups for Cape York. Just add a hire car and off we go! It’s a bit rough, but it works.

to get some water close to the unit’s pressure pump and connect it to a car battery for operation. When not in use, the Glind Cape Yorker stows in a small Pelican case – very conveniently. I’ve done a fair amount of beach camping and a couple of things I’ve found indispensable were insect repellent to keep away pesky march flies and Stingoes to treat insect bites or hits from jellyfish tentacles and soothing lotion if children are along. The use of solar panels is pretty standard today, but remember to ascertain how many are required for the battery charging tasks on hand. Do this before you leave and find where they might fit in the vehicle.

ROUGH CAMPING This is my thing. I love camping where it’s basic, a bit on the rough and ready side, but where the fishing makes it well worthwhile. This is the style of camping I’ve done at Cape York when we’ve towed the Bullshark up there, camped rough and launched off the beach. I sometimes take the car and camper trailer, or tent, and set up on a riverbank out west to catch cod and yellowbelly with lures, bait or bobbing gear. This style of rough-it camping, whether it’s on an inland riverbank or near the beach in the far north, has shown me that along with the standard camping gear and plenty of water, you need to opt for extra shading and

The main camping ground at Weipa has ample shade from non-eucalypt trees with the beach adjoining the camping area.

A campsite with the works – a decent shade fly, ground cover and solar panels to charge a spare battery. High output panels are bulky and it pays to find out how many are required for a given task. organize lots of poles and ropes to keep things steady, even if a storm rolls in. Naturally, fuel requirements should be considered and set in place well before leaving the driveway. SENSIBLE PRECAUTIONS The further away from help you are, the more you need to consider possible precautions. A first aid kit should feature with medication for insect bites, burns, an upset tummy and the like. Betadine is a useful liquid to treat any spikings from fish or mishaps

with hooks. Some backup dressings should also be in the kit. To avoid stomach upsets, I always take along Aquatabs or similar water treatment tablets to treat water that I’m not familiar with. Having once caught Giardiasis that ruined a trip to NZ, I’m very particular about water treatment. Choosing a campsite on inland rivers, avoid those aforementioned eucalypts at all costs. If you’re heading above the Tropic of Capricorn on the coastal fringe, there’s another less dangerous but still quite annoying matter

to consider –nasty, foraging, pesky green ants. These critters will move from any foliage touching the campsite straight into areas where they’re not wanted. So long as any part of the camp is near the tree they live in, they’ll continue to invade. A good ant repellent pesticide spray is the hero. Spraying on the contact points where items touch the ground or where items are near foliage should keep the pests from intruding. Note that once a few scouts have made their way into the camp, 500 other ants will be there within the hour. Green ants are a serious nuisance. Much has been written about the need to keep camps back from the water

in croc country. Take this very seriously. Exceptions are risky and crocs can never be discounted just because they’re not seen. Likewise, the canine issues on fabulous Fraser Island, so beloved of many campers in summer, come down to common sense. Ensure that food isn’t left where it will encourage dogs to hang around the campsite. GO FOR IT AND ENJOY! As most of us will be camping in organized and lovely campgrounds and holiday parks, which are perfect to get started with, make the best of the facilities on offer, think of others also wanting to do the same, and see the festive season and 2017 in with good times, tight lines and fun in the sun.

A green ant on his nest of folded leaves. Make sure that no part of the camp is touching foliage or these unwelcome guests will soon be with you.

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JANUARY 2017

Tech Tricks

Rigging up bluewater baits for big speedsters BRISBANE

Gordon Macdonald masterbaitertackle@hotmail.com

The warmer months see a noticeable increase in the number and variety of pelagic species in our bluewater environment. Numerous billfish species including black, blue and striped marlin, as well as sailfish are caught – with the occasional spearfish as well. Additionally, desirable pelagics such as wahoo, mackerel (Spanish, spotted, shark and school), mahimahi,

yellowtail kingfish, cobia and tuna (yellowfin, longtail, mack and striped) are all also on the agenda. These as well as many demersal species, all prey predominately on baitfish species – so using whole fish baits for these species is a wise choice. Rigging these baits well will make them more enticing and natural in appearance, which increases your chance of a solid connection to the attacking predator – due to more aggressive strikes and prominent hook positioning.

Anglers commonly use baitfish species such as yakkas, scad, cowanyoung, slimey mackerel, garfish, pike, and pilchard, as these are the species most likely to be preyed upon by pelagics and numerous demersal species in our area. Rigging, for each of these baits, is a fairly similar process – though it will depend on the target species and the location being fished, whether the baitfish will be alive or dead. Greater consideration needs to be given to live offerings, as you still need good hook coverage yet

want to minimise damage to the baitfish to guarantee it is still swimming strong and healthy until a predator engulfs it. Although experienced anglers all have their own preferences for rigging baits for certain species and situations; following are a few of the ways I rig baits for fishing throughout Southern Queensland. The first picture instructs the rigging of live bait for either slow trolling or dropping back into a baitfish school or adjacent to a structure. This rigging is especially popular with

anglers targeting billfish in open waters where the bait is scattered. In this scenario, the billfish are usually cruising around plucking off what they can from what’s on offer. The rigged baitfish is slowly trolled (1-2 knots) with plenty of stopping to allow the bait to slowly sink down. Also, when large baitfish balls are located (these are formed when lurking predators condense the bait into a tight conglomeration), anglers will commonly use a bait jig to secure a few live baits out of the school,

then rig the baitfish in the following way, and feed it back into the school. These are just a few basic rigs, which can be used when targeting bluewater adversaries with whole live or dead fish baits. Many anglers have preferences for one or the other, and this will just expand from your personal experiences over time. However, this basic grounding in rigging of your baits will hopefully give you a decent idea, encouraging you to try some live baiting when you’re next out on the bluewater.

The basic rig for deploying a live-bait generally consists of a leader (60lb-100lb) around a metre long, with a no. 5 to no. 7 ball sinker secured about 30cm up from the hook with a crimp. A small loop is crimped in the other end to allow easy attachment to the ball-bearing snap swivel on the wind-on-leader. In-line (not offset) circle hooks are commonly used, as they ensure that the hook sets in the corner of the jaw, and discourage bait spinning when trolled.

It has been proven using circle hooks will work better when attached to the leader with a stiff connection. This is achieved by passing the leader through one side of the hook eye, wrapping it around the hook shank at least once, then passing it back through the other side of the eye and then crimping close to the hook eye. Rubber bands are commonly used for attaching the hook to the baitfish, but another option is the clear poly hair bands – these bands are tough, clear and less affected by heat when stored for long periods. For rigging baits, you’ll need a pull-through bait needle. These have an open-sided loop on one end, and are commonly made from stainless steel wire.

Loop the rubber band over the hook shank (a no. 16 will do for most baits). If preparing rigs before the trip, you can use a clove hitch knot to keep the band on the hook – so they’re ready immediately when needed.

Holding your live slimy mackerel or yakka securely, push the loop side of the needle up through the top of the eye socket from one side through to the other. There is a recess in the top of the eye socket and the needle will push through quite easily, while doing little damage to the live bait. 16

JANUARY 2017

Loop the rubber band over the eyelet in the needle, then pull the needle back though so that the rubber band is now fully through the eye socket with a loop on each side.

Take the rubber band off the needle, and loop it over the hook so that both loops of the rubber band are now in the hook gape.

Tech Tricks

Twist the hook around to wind up the rubber band until it is just about taut to the head of the live baitfish. Then pass the point of the hook between the head and the base of spiralled rubber band. The hook should be firm to the head but not too tight; otherwise the baitfish will not swim freely.

Continue to push the hook through, so that it’s now mostly sitting against the head. This bait is ideal for slow trolling, or for sending back into the baitfish melee where a big pelagic will hopefully engulf it. Once the bait has been swallowed, allow the fish to run for a few seconds, then engage the drag and let the pressure set the hook. If you strike with the rod you could pull the bait out of the pelagic’s mouth.

Another way of rigging live bait is to use a snelled hook rig. Two hooks are snelled onto the leader, with the leading hook passed sideways through the bait’s nose, and the trailing hook inserted in the tail area. This is generally used when fishing at anchor or drifting baits, especially for snapper, kings, mulloway or threadfin, which may not engulf the entire bait properly with the first strike. The rear hook will greatly increase your chance of hook-up.

When fishing a dead or live bait in a strong current, or when slow trolling a live bait and favouring a double hook rig, pass the front hook up through the chin of the bait and out the top of the nose. This will keep the mouth shut and limit the bait from spiralling in the current. However, live baits rigged in this manner will generally not live as long.

Another variation of the single hook rubber-banded live-bait rig is to simply insert the hook sideways through the nose of the live bait. The bait will generally not live as long, and cannot swim as freely as with the first method, but it’s a quick way to get a bait quickly back into the water if there is predators lurking close by.

Rigging with wire is used for mackerel and wahoo. It can be fished with a mono or wire leader. The front hook is pinned sideways through the nose or up through the chin and out the top of the nose. Mackerel like to take the tail off the bait, so a treble is put down near the tail and held there by inserting one point into the baitfish. As mackerel commonly strike the tail, a wire leader is often not required, though the wire connecting the front hook and treble is all that’s required to eliminate a bite-off. This wire is generally hightensile single strand (commonly called piano wire), and is haywire twisted to the hooks. The small band of heat shrink at the head is not required and is just my personal way to neaten the rig.

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JANUARY 2017

How to use crab lures NSW STH COAST

Steve Starling www.starlofishing.com

There are several different makes and models of crabimitating lures on Australian tackle store shelves, but many anglers still seem confused about how to best present and work these offerings. Lures and fly patterns intended to imitate crabs have been around for many years, but there’s been a real surge of interest in

Steer’s highly innovative Cranka Crab range. I remember Steve unveiling these amazingly life-like lures a few years ago at the Australian Fishing Tackle Trade Show, staged on Queensland’s Gold Coast. They created a real stir and, from memory, won the award that year for the best new hard-bodied lure at the show. However, several significant production hurdles still faced Steve after his original showing of the prototype Cranka Crabs, and it took

Bream of all types are prime crab targets, but these lures catch plenty of other species, too. these cunning crustacean copies over the past few seasons, thanks largely to the immense success of Steve

much longer than expected for these fish lollies to finally reach our shop shelves and tackle boxes.

I’m glad ‘Steersie’ was such a stickler for getting everything absolutely right before putting his innovative crabs on the market – the end result has been an extremely effective lure. Some of the copyists who’ve followed in his footsteps haven’t been as stringent in their quality control, although perhaps the less said about that, the better! As well as the Cranka Crab (which is technically a hybrid lure – a hardbody and soft or semi-soft legs and a pair of soft, hook-carrying claws) there are now several other brands of both hard and soft artificial crabs on the market. All work to varying extents, especially when targeting species such as bream, snapper, jacks, estuary cod, flathead and the many other varieties that regularly consume these tasty crustaceans. It’s amazing what crab lures will catch in both salt and freshwater, and many of the fish that will happily bite an artificial crab have most likely never seen or eaten a real one in their lives! Getting the best from any crab pattern involves a little more thought and visualisation on the part of the angler than the use of some other popular lure types. It pays to think like a fish and ‘be the crab’ whenever using these artificials. As my wife Jo likes to say, all lure and flyfishing is a form of puppetry, with the angler as the puppeteer and the lure as the puppet. The more life-like and entertaining the

Crab lures often tempt bigger-than-average fish.

JANUARY 2017

The author with an absolute horse of a black bream taken on a Cranka crab.

Some days, bream and other species grab the floating claws of these life-like imitations and may only be lightly hooked in the lips. Other times, they wolf them right down! puppet show you put on, the more likely the ‘audience’ is to be convinced by it. Remember, crabs spend most of their time crawling about on the bottom, or scuttling up and down across hard surfaces such as pylons, logs or rocks. They rarely scoot around in mid water or skip merrily along the surface! Get your crab lure on the bottom first and then work it slowly. Let me stress that key word again: slowly. Try little drags and hops, short lifts of the rod or — one of my favourites — the lift-andshake. This involves lifting the crab a short distance off the bottom and literally vibrating or shaking the rod, as if you

were attempting to dislodge water droplets off the blank. Between each lift, hop or shake, allow the crab imitation to sink back and rest on the bottom again, and be keenly aware that this is often the time when bites occur. Don’t be afraid to load your crab up with a bit of scent or bite stimulant, too, especially on the legs or claws, which are often the first parts to be nibbled or bitten by an inquisitive fish. Cast these lures where lots of crabs live – under jetties, around snags, onto rocky reefs and along the edges of weed beds. If you’d like to watch a short video of me demonstrating how best to use the Cranka Crab, simply scan

the QR code on this page, or go to my Starlo Gets Reel page on YouTube and look for it there. Most of all, believe that crab lures work, because trust me, they do! VIDEO

Scan this QR code to watch a video of Starlo demonstrating how to work a crab lure for bream and other species.

No trouble catching a feed in the Yamba waters YAMBA

Dave Gaden

Warm weather and warm water have arrived and pelagics with them. January’s not just for the offshore fishos, but also the land-based anglers who catch some amazing fish off break walls at the mouth of the mighty Clarence. Each year, there are big longtail tuna and Spanish mackerel dragged up the stones for those who put the time in. Catching good livies and looking after them is the key. Floated out on heavy gear, a lot of fish are seen before the hit, hunting the bait down. A good gaff and a good mate who can use it are essential. Offshore is always busy with visitors to this beautiful area, all putting to sea. On the upside, January has a lot of fish around. This year looks like a big one for our spotted mackerel. Trolling 6” pink squid far

back behind the boat at around 9-10 knots from first light to about 9am is a good way to put a few of these tasty fish in the box. In the south, anywhere from Angourie Point to Shelly Headland in 15-30m of water is preferred. To the north, the front of Woody Head and along the reef break heading north and in the bay itself are the hotspots. None of these spots will be hard to find – if the fish are on, there will be plenty of boats to show you the way. Later in the morning, drifting for reef fish with a couple of float baits on very light wires will produce fish on and off all day. Take plenty of ice with you when heading offshore, as the early part of the day will produce good surface fish. Quite often the reef fish will turn on late morning and have a couple of hours of hot bite around lunch time after the pelagics are finished. I like to head a bit deeper late morning to the edge of the close reef in

SIZE MATTERS… MEASURE UP!

around 45-50m, where there are good venus tuskfish and pearl perch as well as good numbers of blue-spotted flathead to fill the box. Further offshore, the mahimahi will be everywhere there is something that floats or a dirty current line. Trolling is an easy way to get a few and sight casting lures to them

is fantastic. Super fast, very acrobatic, and delicious to eat, it’s hard to find a bad thing to say about these fish. In the estuary, the whiting this year have been as good as I can remember. Many fish push past 40cm in length and anglers in the know get their bag limit in a few hours. Whiting will be spread right through the river

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Young Eli Brooks with his PB snapper.

For bait fishers, worms and yabbies are the go. If you like a bit more excitement, chase them on poppers over the shallow sand banks. A white or clear popper is the most popular, but if the prawns in the river are dark, try and match that with you lure. Removing the treble from the rear of the lure and replacing it with a couple of XXS assist hooks will lift your hook-up rate greatly. Be sure to put out some crab dillies on your way as the blue swimmers have been around in big numbers. You’re allowed four dillies and two traps per person in NSW, but remember to have the float clearly marked as per Fisheries requirements. Mud crabs have also been caught in good numbers as well as good size. You can take female crabs providing they don’t have eggs. Remember, the uglier a crab looks, the better it eats.

Shiny bright coloured shells are usually freshly moulted crabs. When a crab moults, its new shell is about 30% larger than its old one, so consequently there’s less meat. If the shell is rusty coloured with barnacles on it, there’s a

better chance that the crab will be bursting with meat. Keep a close eye on your traps, as there are a lot of share farmers out there who for some unknown reason think it’s ok to harvest from other people’s traps. Flathead haven’t slowed

with nice fish being taken around the Broadwater, Harwood Sugar Mill and Joss Island at the entrance to Lake Wooloweyah. Troll hardbodies on first or last light with a pink or muddy coloured lure in about 1.5-2m of water

to produce fish will little effort. Working soft plastics and small hardbodies off the shallows into the channel as the tide starts to ebb will allow you to cover a lot of ground and find the fish. I have a theory that when you catch one good flathead, one comes to his funeral. Don’t take a fish and then move on. Keep peppering the same spot, as another fish will come to where the fish was just caught. Quite often, 3-4 fish can be taken in the one spot in a matter of 15 minutes. Summer holidays in our part of the world are really busy. There will be a lot of people out on the water both in the river and at sea. Believe it or not, some won’t even be fishing! How weird. A little bit of patience and a bit of etiquette goes a long way when fishing in close quarters. A big dose of common sense should keep you alive. Remember, the water is there for everyone to use and enjoy and we would like to see you leave here as happy and healthy as you arrived. Call into my shop, Marina Boat & Tackle, right in the marina when you arrive. We’ll be more than happy to give you the good oil on what’s happing and where.

Isaac Jaimeson with a nice mulloway on Reeltime Charters.

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January is red-hot for table fish BALLINA

Joe Allan

This time of year is my favourite as the fishing is red-hot and you get to eat and drink like a starved pirate. Remember, there’s more traffic on the water than normal, so take care. Be patient and make sure you have done your preparation with all your equipment. Take your time at the boat ramp and above all, be courteous to all other waterway users. The lower reaches of the Richmond have produced great catches of bream. Try casting noisy crankbaits at the walls early in the mornings while the tide is running. Fluorocarbon line is best suited for this. Lures to try are the Atomic Crank 38 Deep, and change up the colour depending on the clarity. Dark colours work for low light, while solid and bright colours are

Adrian and Anthony Melchior with a double hook-up on Richmond River bass. good for dirty water and more translucent, natural finishes for bright sun and clearer water. Crabs have turned up in patches around the middle reaches from Pimlico to Broadwater. Hopefully, we

get a bit of rain to stir them up a bit more. Give the pots plenty of time to settle and let the crabs find the bait. Prawns are on the move around the river. It might be a little hard to locate them around the full moon.

This month they should be back up and moving around again and this should fire up the estuaries. Bass have been quiet around Coraki and Woodburn, as the fish have well and truly moved upstream. You may find them in patches, but for good numbers, try the upper reaches around Lismore and Casino. If you’re out early or late and the cicadas are deafening, remember to tie on your surface lures to imitate these tasty snacks for bass. The trick with these is not

Aidan Kane with a huge snapper off Ballina. to do too much. Just shake your rod tip slightly every now and then, like a cicada that’s fallen out of a tree. Offshore has been patchy with the best results on the mahimahi coming from around the FADS. Make sure you get a long drift on these. Live yakkas have been the best with almost no weight. If you’re getting bites but not hooking up, put a treble hook as a stinger in the fish’s tail. This has helped a few local anglers turn

those bites into fish. Mackerel will come early in December, so as the water warms up, these beauties will come along with it. Beaches have been producing good catches of whiting and flathead. Look for the main gutters around South Ballina, along Patches Beach and Boundary Creek. Fresh bait is always better. Try digging a few pipis or getting a few beach worms – a skill I haven’t yet mastered.

Tayla Egan with a great eating size snapper off Ballina.

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The author with a nice whiting on a Bassday Sugapen.

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Local guns loving Iluka fishing ILUKA

Ross Deakin

It’s a beautiful time of year in the northern rivers. Still with clear mornings and afternoon storms, the afternoon winds are unfortunate. That hasn’t dampened the local fishing spirit – great fish have been caught in the last month or so. Summer whiting are on with some amazing size fish in the river and beaches. A lot more people are trying out poppers with great

success, but nothing beats fresh beach worms. We have seen some really nice dart caught on the Iluka beaches like the 5.5kg fish caught by Jessica Phillips on 22 November just up the road at Black Rock, taken on cured worms. Bream numbers have been a little down on previous years, but with a little local knowledge and luck, good fish can be taken. Isac Billian’s 1.15kg fish is a good example, taken at Moriartys Wall on 24 November – he was using mullet as bait. We’re still in need of

a good fresh flush to bring down the flathead, which have been in slightly better numbers toward Harwood and Mclean. Having said that, there have been some very nice lizards taken in the bay lately up to 98cm. Heaps of take-home size (45-55cm) fish have been found in shallow water close to shore. There are some

fantastic plastics out to have the best chance of getting their attention, such as the Squidgy Pro Range Prawns (with S Factor) or 4” Gulp Pumpkinseed Minnows. We’ve had some very nice snapper weighed in from just offshore in areas like Woody Head, Black Rock and Shark Bay. Also off the headlands, a 6kg beast was caught by

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Graham Paterson on 27 November. Dan Pianta’s 4.6kg snapper was caught off the bluff just recently. There have been lovely teraglin caught amongst the snapper, but it’s been somewhat quiet on the mulloway front recently. Local Ray White caught a really nice pearl perch to the south on the Angourie grounds, weighing 2.85kg. Happy fishing everyone. I hope you’re prepared for the

JANUARY 2017

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Deeper arm to make your fishing flexible WANGARATTA

Robbie Alexander

I did a product review on one of Deeper’s other products recently – the Deeper unit. The Deeper unit is a portable and convenient fish finder, or sonar device. It’s a small round ball, even smaller than a tennis ball, that can be cast out from the bank or boat. Inside the ball is a fish finder transducer, which records a sonar reading from underneath it, just like many other fish finders. What makes Deeper unique is that it has Bluetooth and sends a signal back to your mobile phone, which acts as the screen of your fish finder. Instead of having a transducer attached to the back of your boat with a cable running from that transducer to a screen on your boat seat, with another cable running to a battery

This tech is the ultimate in convenience for shorebased fishers. Now with the addition of a Flexible Arm, it’s a step up for kayak and boat fishers too. Let’s go into more detail about the Flexible Arm – not since coloured television came to Lithuania has there been a more basic, yet convenient product on the market. Seriously, the product development team at Deeper have got convenience and quality totally figured out. You may have read my review on the Deeper Pro+ unit, which I use, and this review is an expansion of that review. The Deeper Flexible Arm is designed to make using the Deeper unit possible for boat and kayak anglers. Firstly, the Deeper Flexible Arm comes in a package with two parts, the arm and the clamp. The third part of the assembly is the Deeper unit itself which simply screws on to the end of the Flexible Arm. The

your Deeper unit to your boat or kayak.

into the clamp. There are two different holes in the

your kayak that suits you best, place the clamp there

The Deeper Flexible Arm and Deeper unit hooked up and sitting nicely in the water. This can be detached from the kayak in a matter of seconds. clamp, so choose the one that fits. Before you do that, be sure to slide the small part of the lanyard onto the arm, so that when you have attached the clamp,

and tighten it up. Then it’s on and ready to go. Once it’s ready, attach the long end of the safety lanyard to your kayak somewhere and then clip it to the short end,

I have bent mine, twisted it, and really put it through its paces, without any quality concerns at all. The Deeper Flexible Arm is designed to bend, hence the name flexible, and can be quite firm when you try and bend it into place. This is a good thing, because if it was too easy to bend into place, it would self-adjust and end up sitting too deep in the water, or out of the water. The pressure required to bend the arm into position is about perfect. The reason the Deeper Flexible Arm needs to bend is because the Deeper unit needs to be sitting in the water, roughly 50% submerged. Now at 130kg (all muscle of course), I’m not a featherweight, so my kayak sits deeper in the water than others. If I get in my kayak and adjust the deeper to just how I need it, get out and my let best mate Sandy Hector get in, who weights 70kg, the Deeper unit will sit 10cm above the water and will turn off, as the unit needs to be wet to turn on. By designing a Flexible Arm that can be adjusted easily, the Deeper

The clamp holds the Flexible Arm and attaches to the boat – it’s simple and easy for anybody to use. to operate it, the Deeper Unit has the battery built in and sends the signal to you.

Flexible Arm also comes with a lightweight, yet strong lanyard for securing

To assemble your Deeper Flexible Arm, screw one end of the arm

Water conditions similar to the lower Ovens River are ideal for using the Deeper unit from a kayak to look for drop offs, submerged structure and deep holes in the river.

The Deeper Pro+ is at the forefront of fishfinder technology – convenience at its best. 26

JANUARY 2017

it’s unable to slip off. Once you’ve attached your lanyard and screwed the clamp on, you simply screw your Deeper unit onto the other end of the Flexible Arm. By this stage, the three pieces are assembled into one and ready to attach to your kayak. Find a spot that suits you and add the arm to your kayak. To do this, use the handle on the clamp to wind the clamp open and closed. Select a spot on

which is already on the Flexible Arm. That’s a description of the lanyard, and a step by step guide to the installation of the Deeper Flexible Arm, but what about the quality? In sticking with Deeper tradition, the Deeper Flexible Arm has been made to the stringent quality standards that many European companies are renowned for. Just like the Deeper unit itself, the Flexible Arm is built tough.

unit can be quickly and conveniently adjusted to suit all situations without having to install fancy fittings in the hull of your kayak for transducers, wires and otherwise. The same Flexible Arm can be taken off one kayak and placed on another in a matter of seconds. Or, it can be placed on a boat where the Flexible Arm might need to be adjusted to lower the Deeper unit further. The Flexible Arm pretty

much makes the entire Deeper unit more flexible, which is the pinnacle of convenience. What are the pros and cons? ADVANTAGES Quality – as more and more people come into contact with a Deeper unit for the first time, Deeper will quickly build up a reputation for the quality of their products. The ability to assemble and dismantle the Flexible Arm in a matter of seconds, as well as swap it from one kayak to another, or to a boat or a canoe, makes it one of the most convenient fishfinders in the world. It doesn’t matter whose boat, canoe or kayak you fish from, with the Flexible Arm you can take your own fish finder anywhere. Also, the Deeper unit can be unscrewed from the Flexible Arm and attached to a fishing rod and cast

time, regardless of whether you have a Deeper unit or not. It’s a fantastic way to keep a fishing log and mark your favourite fishing spots on your map. Go ahead and download it, as I’m sure you’ll be impressed with the app. DISADVANTAGES Probably the biggest problem, which isn’t Deeper’s fault, is that all kayaks are designed differently. Some have more places to secure the Deeper than others, and on some models it may get in the way when paddling. With certain kayaks you may wish to secure the Flexible Arm behind the seat and out of the road, but not all kayaks have this option. On the plus side, this can be overcome easily by unscrewing the clamp and sitting the Flexible Arm in the kayak while you are

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Firstly you need to screw the Deeper Flexible Arm into the clamp. Then you can bend the Flexible Arm to roughly the position it will be sitting in. You can adjust it again later to get it exactly how you want it.

Fishing from his kayak with a Deeper Flexible Arm, the author found some lovely structure just in front of his kayak at the top end of a sand bar. It was 8ft deep with large logs – ideal for Murray cod.

paddling, or even just by adjusting the Flexible Arm, so that it sits a lot more flush with your kayak and out of the road. CONCLUSION That’s it, folks. The Deeper Flexible Arm gets an enormous thumbs up from me. Built to a supreme European quality standard and providing the best in modern technology, with superior convenience, the Deeper Flexible Arm and Deeper unit combine to provide brilliance in the world of portable fishfinder technology. For a video of my Deeper Pro+ unit in full operation, attached to my Flexible Arm, go to my YouTube channel at robbiefishing and look for my video called Kayak fishing for redfin perch with my Deeper Pro+ fish finder.

out easily, enabling the user to get a visual of what is under water in the nearby vicinity instead of only under the boat. This is especially helpful in lakes! It’s even compact – the entire Flexible Arm, clamp and Deeper unit are very compact and can easily be stowed away in a backpack. It takes up little room in a boat or kayak and can be stored out of the way easily when it’s not being used. Finally, the Deeper app can be downloaded onto your mobile phone at any

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Screw the other end of the Deeper Flexible Arm into the Deeper unit. Finally, use the clamp to attach the Flexible Arm to the kayak and you’re ready to go. This is the assembled Deeper Flexible Arm.

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Options aplenty in the Tweed THE TWEED

Tim Latter

As we approach the middle of summer and the days lengthen, so do the opportunities for the

the dreaded donut. One of the best things about summer is being able to knock off work with enough daylight to put the boat in to go chase a feed of fresh whiting for the table. Targeting whiting

with those short strikes. Just remember to only take what you need that day as they are best eaten fresh and stocks can easily diminish due to recreational and commercial pressure. Another bonus about this time of year is the confidence the high water temperatures can give an angler chasing the trophy mangrove jack that reside all through the tweed and its tributaries. By now, stories of massive bust offs and a hundred dollars worth of lures gone in a session

are not uncommon. With all the storm activity we have had lately, the sharp drops in barometric pressure as storm fronts push from the south west and tower over Mt Warning, anglers brave enough to wave a graphite rod around have had success. In the middle reaches of the Tweed, slow rolling paddle-tail plastics like ZMan SwimmerZ or Trick SwimZ around rock bars and bridges, and hardbodied suspending jerkbaits such as Lucky Craft pointer 78 XD A selection of gold lures rigged and ready for a late arvo jack session, just prior to a storm front rolling through.

A trophy Tweed jack taken at midday on the wrong wind and wrong tide â&#x20AC;&#x201C; you never know when your lure will get belted. light tackle lure fishers keen to have a cast in our local estuary system. It can prove difficult around peak holiday periods, especially when the weather at this time of year screams watersports, but being on the water early and being persistent can be the key to success and avoiding

on ultra light tackle and surface lures has to be one of the best ways to spend an afternoon. For a standout session, you will need to tick a few boxes: a low light period combined with a run in tide, an expanse of sand flat, a Bassday MB16 Sugapen, and some assist hooks like those from atomic or ecogear to help

The author with a nice fish that fell to a dead slow retrieved plastic presentation.

or Jackall Squirrel 79 Hank Tunes along rock walls and lay downs can put you onto some trophy fish. It will require quick reflexes, good knots and a touch of luck to get them on the deck. Surprisingly, even with the clear water conditions we have had, gold plastics and hardbodies are making up the majority of lure-caught jacks in the Tweed. For those pushing up in the fresh, the surface bite on bass has really fired up in the upper arms

of the Tweed. Double figure sessions are the norm when conditions are right and a few 50cm fork length unicorns have either been landed or lost, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t discount any skinny water as there was a big migration this year and the fish a definitely heading up as the temperatures begin to soar. So for all the lure fishos out there, have a safe and enjoyable holiday period and for all your lure and tackle needs check out www. anglerswarehouse.com.au

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Pelagics pulling lines tight! SOUTHERN GOLD COAST

Danny Sands

Happy New Years! Hopefully Santa left some fishing goodies to play around with. January is always a busy time on the water and some days it’s rougher inside on the Broadwater than the deep blue sea. The wind plays

winds will keep the blue water nice and close to our shores. The year will start off with marlin and mahimahi. On the closer grounds, the pelagic family should be in full swing – both Spanish and spotted mackerel will be the main targets. There have been some massive yellowtail kingfish caught with some well over the 20kg mark.

and 100lb leader. Locked up drag should do the trick. Little black marlin have started to filter in, during December. Hopefully this month will see a larger run of these guys – already the darker coloured Black Snack skirted lures have been working well. Trolling the 50m line from the Seaway to the Tweed Coast, remember these fish move around a lot.

The year is starting off with marlin. a big role in January as the northerly winds will turn blue water into green lifeless conditions. This will make fishing quite tough, so hopefully the southerly

The 36 Fathom, and off the Seaway and Tweed bars has been fishing well with live baits and knife jigs. If you’re chasing these bruisers, don’t go under 80lb main line

Look for warm water and plenty of bait. Other places to fish will be the Gravel Patch of Burleigh and the Nine Mile. Mahimahi have been in great numbers and are

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an excellent by-catch when fishing for marlin. The odd wahoo have been nipping off skirts as well. In closer, spotty mackerel have finally been in good numbers and odd fish up to a metre have already been caught. The spotted mackerel will still be in good numbers on Palm Beach Reef and Mermaid Reef. Use plenty of berley, short fine wire traces with 2/0 to 4/0 hooks, and rig with half pilchards for the best results. A slow trolling pilchard with a pink skirt on the front is another great way of catching a few spotted macs or a Spaniard. With reports up to 80+ boats parked on Mermaid and Palm Beach reefs at a time, please be mindful how close you anchor to your fellow fisher. Last year Spanish mackerel were quite finicky. Most techniques like trolling 190 Halco Laser Pros and slow trolling dead pike and slimy mackerel didn’t work. If this is the case, try trolling live baits on downriggers. This is one deadly way to get those tight lipped mackerel to bite. The Burleigh Gravel Patch, Diamond Reef and the Nine Mile and Fidos of the Tweed are great places that hold a lot of fish. With the hot summer days, look after your catch, bleed mackerel and put them into an ice slurry, so you can keep their flesh nice and firm to maintain a high eating quality.

Casting spinnerbaits and slow rolling paddle-tailed soft plastics has been the undoing of bass in the dam. active in the mornings and a bit doughy in the afternoon, due to the amount of boat traffic there is around in the Christmas break. Getting up early in the morning and throwing poppers like the Yo-Zuri 3D and the Lucky Craft G Splash around retaining walls and boat harbours can be the most productive. I like a quicker retrieve that sends a spray, rather than a bloop from a cup face popper. This technique works well in January for mangrove jack, giant trevally and big-eye trevally.

some key points the river is quite shallow, with many yabby holes and a good tidal flow. Retrieved quickly and without pauses, Bassday Sugapens and the Atomic Hardz Pop are very effective on whiting in shallow water. Hinze Dam has been fishing well over the past couple of months. Casting cicada pattern surface walkers to grass patches and fallen timber is a proven winner fishing Hinze Dam. Hinze Dam will be starting to produce a few more fish off the edges. By casting spinnerbaits and slow rolling

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ESTUARY It’s been a great season so far for mangrove jack. The hot humid days followed by afternoon storms have really fired them up. Slow rolling soft plastics under pontoons and along bridge pylons have caught most of the mangrove jack. In January, mangrove jack become very

Whiting are on the chew around the Council Chambers and Budds Beach. Bloodworms, canal worms and small black soldier crabs are effective. Most of the action is after dark. Catching whiting on surface lures is fun. The Tallebudgera Creek is a fantastic spot to target whiting on surface lures. In

paddle-tailed soft plastics around the points and weed edges, you’ll more than likely come across a few bass and the odd saratoga. Overall, January has it all from the fresh water to the deep blue sea. Fishing early mornings and night is the key for a busy holiday season.

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Summer sun and cool canals GOLD COAST CANALS

Josh Dunn

Welcome to 2017! The fishing is set to only get better, with a nice increase of temperature, which will result in plenty of bait throughout our local canals. 2017 will be a year with plenty of PBs for many, and a year filled with great times on the water. January will be a month of warm water temperatures, especially deep into canal systems where there is less water movement at the change of the tides. This, at times, can be a spot that produces a lot of fish. Mangrove jack, bream, trevally and flathead can be caught in these areas, and the bait can be found in shaded areas, including jetties, mangroves, bridges and natural structures. So if you haven’t already worked it out – cast out, and keep your lure in amongst structure. Mangrove jack have been caught in great numbers, and without a doubt, live bait and 4” plastics with a large paddle-tail have been doing

majority of the damage. Big fish are around this time of year, so try and keep your gear reasonably heavy; using a rod, preferably 4kg-7kg, 4000 size reel,

mind that the lighter you go, the more chances you have of losing your fish throughout the fight, or even when the fish first gets his mouth around that lure.

A great deal of whiting have been caught in the Broadwater on poppers and small curl-tail plastics around 2-3”. Clear water has been producing most

Darby Lawrence with a school sized bream, caught deep in a local canal.

Fishing late into the afternoon, topped with an awesome sunset and a hot bite is one not to forget! 20lb+ braid and 30lb leader. Remember that if the bite gets tough, downgrade your tackle, although keep in

ZMan 3” Trick SwimZ are definitely one to give a go, with their large paddle-tail just screaming, “eat me!”

of the fish and best results, around where the shallow sand flats drop off into deeper water – especially

during the run-out tide. Don’t be surprised to hook a solid bream or even a flathead when fishing these areas. If a hungry flathead sees an easy feed of injured baitfish on the surface, it won’t hold back. ‘Walkthe-dog’ surface styled lures are an excellent whiting lure. These whiting taste beautiful on the pan, with a light coat of beer batter and a side of chips! Within the next month we will see temperatures hit their peak of the year – but up until then, we will

see temperatures up in the high 30s, possibly even low 40s, with this hot summer we’re in. I can’t tell you enough that summer is my favourite time of the year for fishing, and those afternoon summer storms after a hot day just get the heart pumping! January is set to be a magnificent month of fishing, already getting my mouth watering just writing about it! Keep in mind; it’s certainly going be a hot month, so keep reapplying the sunscreen. See you on the water!

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Warm water at the Gold Coast GOLD COAST

David Green

By January the warm current should be close into the Gold Coast, and the water should warm up to around 27°C. With this warm water come plenty of pelagic species including mahimahi,

of lures on the inshore grounds, this month mainly targeting black marlin and mahimahi. It’s currently too early to tell what the run of these species will be like, but there have been a few reports of both species off Point Lookout in recent weeks, the numbers will greatly increase in January. I usually troll with 8, 10 and

lure caught a lot of fish. If you are chasing mahimahi, it’s best to work colour changes and heavy current lines. These often hold food in the surface layers. Mahimahi rarely feed below about 10m depths, and spend their days chasing food on or near the surface – and are particularly fond of flying

A great shot of this wide-eyed black marlin. black marlin, wahoo and Spanish and spotted mackerel. This is generally one of the best months of the year to target these species on light tackle. Last month there was plenty of bait starting to school up on the 36 and 50 fathom lines – and with big schools of pilchards on the inshore reefs, and slimy mackerel on the wider grounds, it should hold the fish for a while as they migrate south. I like to troll a mix

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15kg tackle on the inshore grounds, and like to use a mix of different skirted lures and a wide variety of colours. In general blue and gold, purple and pink, lumo green and lumo white are all very effective. I use Meridian’s, Black Snacks and Pakulas most of the time. Straight running heads are generally the easiest to use. My best light tackle lure last season was a Black Snacks Hot Lips run in the shotgun position – in a fairly average season, this

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fish. If they don’t respond to lures, trolled dead baits and live baits are often far more effective. It pays to have a bait rigged ready to throw, as a hooked mahimahi is often followed by others in the school, and if you are prepared, it’s often easy to cast a bait to a second fish. When gaffing mahimahi take extreme care – they are a wild creature to handle on board if they get off the gaff, and are responsible for quite a few injuries each season. There should be good numbers of blue marlin on the wider grounds this month, and already we have had quite a good season on my boat Gemma 3, with three fish released out of six bites over four trips, which is quite good for this early in the season – and the bites should only increase in number this month. Spanish and spotted mackerel should start to show on Palm Beach and Mermaid Reef this month, and pilchards, spinning with metal lures and slow trolled baits should all be effective. The spotted mackerel generally outnumber the Spaniards this month, and a few wahoo should also show up from the 18

Fathom Reef out to the shelf. Bottom fishing is generally slow this month and the fast running current makes it difficult to get bait down to the reef below. There should be a few amberjacks, pigfish and pearl perch when conditions allow, but in general it’s a much better option to chase pelagic gamefish. GOLD COAST RIVERS AND ESTUARIES With all the storms around in recent weeks, the mangrove jack have been biting quite aggressively, with a few over 50cm being caught on both hardbodied lures and soft plastics. This type of fishing is increasingly popular, and most anglers are starting to catch a few of these challenging fish. Working floating pontoons by casting to the face, where the current flows on to, or working the front edges is generally effective. At night, mangrove jack move further from cover and often respond to poppers, shallow surface lures and live baits fished on the bottom. They also love fresh mullet fillets. Whiting are a major target species this month – worms and yabbies are effective, and small poppers and stickbaits are a challenging method to try. A mate of mine has done very well casting unweighted yabbies on 2lb braid to fish that are spotted moving over the flats on a rising tide – this has been deadly. While there are a few monster 40cm whiting

If you are chasing mahimahi, like this big fella, it’s best to work colour changes and heavy current lines. around, the majority are nice fish around 30cm34cm. Sand whiting are superb eating and are a good fish to target when the wind blows hard, making offshore fishing almost impossible. In the summer months yabbies are very effective bait. There should be a few mulloway in the Seaway entrance and Jumpinpin Bar this month. Most of these fish are around the minimum legal size of 75cm, with the odd bigger fish over 90cm. Fishing live baits or big

Sand crabs are in their biggest numbers around the weed beds in the central Broadwater.

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soft plastics on at the end of an early morning run-in tide is usually an effective strategy. Some decent tailer also often turns up using the same methods. White jerk shads are probably the most widely used and effective lure, and it’s important to keep the lure right on the bottom. January is a great month to target sand crabs and mud crabs. Sand crabs are in their biggest numbers around the weed beds in the central Broadwater – fish frames such as mullet or whiting are ideal baits for sandies. I like to keep my pots in about 4-5m of water, and check them regularly. Mud crabs should increase in numbers up in the creeks and rivers this month, and if there is a period of heavy rain they should be easy to find. These crabs love fish and chicken frames – chicken frames are cheap and effective and don’t get eaten out by small fish. Overall, January is a great month to fish the Gold Coast, and while the waterways can be quite crowded, there are plenty of options this month for the keen angler.

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Make this year fishy! JUMPINPIN

gembait@tpg.com

Happy New Years to all. Let’s hope this is our best fishing year yet and everyone finds more time to get out on the water to catch more fish. Last year was a great year for fishing the ‘Pin and now that the system has had a good flush, the fishing should be set to improve. Mangrove jack are going to be heavily targeted this month as the heat and humidity kick in and they become more active. The best baits are live mullet, herring, pike or gar. If you can’t get any livies then a strip of bonito or mullet should also work. Try around structures that have cover and more than likely they’ll hold a jack. If you get busted off, it was probably a jack. Keep persisting with heavier gear and hopefully you’ll land that great trophy fish. There should be some good flathead on offer throughout the ‘Pin system from the Logan River to the Bar. Heaps of small to medium flathead were caught in December on prawns, pillies, and small soft plastics near the bottom of the run out tide, when the banks are exposed and the fish are more concentrated to an area.

FASTER THAN YOUR

OPPONENTS

Whyatt Saverin proudly shows off his dad’s thumping jack. size as well with some good fish caught. Live blood worms and beach worms have been working best, as well as yabbies, squid and peeled prawns. I try to fish for whiting in fast running tides with a 5 or 6 ball sinker, to make sure I’m on the bottom, and a 6ft trace and a 0/6 bloodworm hook. It has proven to be a

Tannum and Bailey helped to clean up on the sandies, which should be on the chew this month. Look for drains and weedy spots at the bottom of the drop offs and that’s where you’ll find flatties lying. If you put the effort in and work at it, you should have yourself a feed of flathead. Learn their feeding patterns so you can bag a few every time you go out. Try around the Pig Styes, top of Crusoe Island, the Stockyards, mouth of Cobby Cobby, the Five Ways, Pandannus weed banks, Kangaroo Island, Rocky Point, and the mouth of the Logan. Whiting have been about in reasonable numbers and

Get to

‘BARRADISE’

Mick Morris

good consistent rig – most whiting I catch basically hook themselves. Give it a go. I hope it helps. Try around Alberton Sands, across from Rocky Point, Slipping Sands, the Gold Bank, Never Fail Island and the Pimpama River. Bream are plentiful throughout January. The biggest fish come at night from the surf on South Straddie and the deep water off the bottom of North Straddie. I recently went out early one morning and the ‘Pin glassed out on the incoming tide. I could see

the bottom in 30ft of water around the dead trees at the bottom of North Straddie and could see hundreds of bream all over the place. The worst thing was they weren’t feeding and just ignored my bait, so even when conditions are perfect, fish can still be very finicky. I got a little 60cm school mulloway out from Swan Bay on a live herring and dropped a bigger one on a white 7” plastic. The current can be very strong there, so hit the change of the tide to make sure you get to the bottom. That area is a great spot, as you can catch heaps of different fish. It’s usually crowded and can get quite rough at times. When fishing for bream, use yabbies, prawns, mullet gut and small soft plastics around Kalinga Bank, Flatrock, Tipplers Island, the mouth of the Pimpama and the north wall of the Seaway. Other spots to try for mulloway this month are Marks Rocks in the Logan, Giants Grave and the eastern tip of Short Island. Pack the crab pots if you’re heading out. It’s been a top season on sandies between Long Island and Cabbage Tree Point or Tiger Mullet Channel. Muddies have been going strong and we’re finding that they are mostly being caught out of the rivers and along the mangrove lined banks of Eden Island, Tabby Tabby, Mosquito Island and Long Island. • Thanks for all the reports. If you have any questions on conditions or what’s biting, drop us a line at Gem Bait & Tackle on 3287 3868 or email gembait@tpg.com.au.

If you're into fishing & exploring the waterways Stacer's newly designed Nomad range is the boat for you. Whether you are chasing Barra, Bream, Flathead or Whiting the Nomad is the ideal fishing machine to get you on the fish. The new standard Stacer Sports Side Console has a modern sporty look with more dash space allowing for larger sounders and electronics to be fitted. There’s plenty of room to take your mates fishing with an extra seat spigot added to the front casting platform taking the total to four seating positions for maximum fishabaility. The entire Nomad range now feature 4mm bottom sheets and 3mm top side sheets making them stronger and perfect to reach those unexplored spaces. ‘Fishos’ will love the new features like the new Shark Carpet which is soft underfoot and provides excellent grip. A very practical head turner that will have the fish world shaking at the gills and the competition retreating to the drawing board.

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Proudly made in Australia, by Australians JANUARY 2017

Southern Bay fishing is on fire MORETON BAY

Ryan Smith

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all the readers out there! Summer is in full swing, and the Southern Bay is on fire with many species being caught. Bream are in large numbers around the local foreshores, jetties and rock

the warmer months, chasing bream on surface lures is a very effective way to get a bag – my personal favourite lures for this are the Bassday Sugapen 70, Atomic Pop 50 and the Storm Gomoku popper. Using surface lures for bream is great fun and really gets your heart pumping, especially when they’re stalking your lure in only a foot of water!

Throwing plastics on a light jighead and something around the 4” size is a great starting point. Always cast in front of your drift and work the plastic back to the boat or kayak. Make sure you are in full stealth mode, because it is very easy to spook a school of fish in shallow water. Mackerel have been harassing bait around Peel Island and Coochiemudlo Island over the last few weeks. Always look for the ‘three B’s’: bust-ups, bait and birds, when searching for mackerel to cast a plastic or slug into. Popular lures for this are the ZMan 5” StreakZ and the Halco Twistys.

Float lining with pilchards is also a successful way of catching these speedsters. Remember to always have a berley trail going when float lining. Flathead are still about, and are around the 50cm size bracket, with the occasional big breeder being caught. The best results are coming from trolling 50mm lures behind the boat at a brisk walking speed. The lure that has been getting the best results is the Zerek Tango Shad, which is available in a variety of colours. Mangrove jack have been caught up the local creeks around the mangrove fringes, using prawn style lures. There

Justin Parkin with a cracking 40cm bream taken on a Bassday Sugapen. walls, as well as cruising the flats during the lowlight periods. Bait such as prawns, strips of mullet fillet, squid and chicken breast have been popular baits to soak. Slowly rolling hardbodies across the flats has been very successful, with popular lures for this work being the Atomic Crank 38 and Jackall Chubbys. During

During this busy time of year there are many boaties out on the water, which can spook species like squire. Escaping the crowds by hitting the water before sunrise can give you some great results. A great way to chase squire is by flicking plastics in the shallows. During the lowlight periods squire head into the shallows to harass bait schools.

The author got this bream on a Bassday Sugapen on a recent sunset mission.

The author with a bream caught on a ZMan Slim SwimZ cast tight to structure. have been a few reports of jack in the canals hanging around the pontoons and rock walls. Slow rolling 4” plastics along the face of the pontoons is most popular way to target jacks, and get that bite you’re looking for. Crabs are on the march in the Southern Bay, with good reports of blue swimmers coming from the eastern side of Coochiemudlo and Macleay islands, being caught using fresh mullet. Mud crabs are on the move in local creek systems such as Tingalpa Creek and Eprapah Creek. The best spot to place

a crab pot is at the mouth of small feeder creeks or along the mangrove fringes. January is going to be a big month for the Southern Bay with a variety of species on the chew. I hope you all have had a good break over Christmas and New Year, and are looking forward to the big year ahead. If you want to follow my fishing adventures, go like my Facebook page (Ryan’s Fishing) and my Instagram page (@ryans.fishing). Until next month – tight lines and screaming drags!

FISHING FILL-ITS

Brisbane Marine just gets it!

Brisbane Marine are going to kick off 2017 with a bang! They’re here to shake up the Queensland marine industry and when they decide to do something, it gets done! We all knew there was something different about this business from the time they started. The owners, Troy Wood and David Trask assembled one of the most experienced teams within the marine industry. They know their stuff and are readily recognized as the most experienced people within the marine industry. Drop into their

new showroom and you are sure to see a heap of familiar faces. The differences don’t stop there – the dealership has everything you could want or need for your boat, and if they don’t have it, they will get it. Brisbane Marine started as a Mercury mechanical/ repower centre and have grown into Mercury’s biggest account in Australia. The staff understand what is needed to get the job done and are happy to offer their advice. It’s pivotal for customers to have a mechanical service provider that they can trust, and a mechanic that knows and

understands what you want. It’s a relief to know that Brisbane Marine will know how to get it done right the first time. Brisbane Marine really make the effort to look after you well after the purchase of your new boat or engine. They build the relationship with you and work with you to ensure you stay on the water, in a boat and have an engine you can trust. Customers demand good value and great service, and at Brisbane Marine you get it. They even display their boats differently. I was amazed to see a dealership display a boat how you

The staff have years of expertise behind them and are ready to help. It’s pivotal for customers to have a mechanical service provider that they can trust, and a mechanic that knows and understands what you want. 36

JANUARY 2017

actually want it, and not with the bare minimum horsepower to meet a price. You can of course have less horsepower or less extras if you want, but let’s be honest, more hp is more fun! This philosophy must be working – Brisbane Marine are growing every time we visit. This dealership just keeps going from strength to strength. Recently they built a new showroom and a chandlery department. To celebrate their new showroom, they are having a massive New Year sale. You can get your hands on all the major brands and if they don’t have it, they will get it! Brisbane Marine are offering red hot deals on Lowrance, Simrad, Hummingbird, MinnKota, VHF’s, Aerials, Fusion stereos, MotorGuide electric motors, deck hardware, anchors, safety gear and heaps more. They are also offering awesome deals on Mercury repowers and the legendary Anglapro and Streaker range of boats. This is a serious clear out of 2016 stock. Get out there and visit Brisbane Marine at 306 Duffield Road Clontarf, or give them a call on 3889 3033. – Brisbane Marine

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Swing into Southern Bay seas SOUTHERN BAY

Tyler White

With the New Year here already and Christmas over, hopefully you were all able to dodge the poor weather, and have found some time to get on the water and have a fish. With the holidays still in full swing, the boat traffic on the water is extremely high, and luckily, this hasn’t stopped the fish from biting – with plenty of fish being caught throughout the bay. Summer is by far my favourite time in the bay, and with the water temperature higher, certain species are tending to fish very well on surface lures. Plenty of bream have been caught in the shallows around Macleay, Peel and Coochiemudlo islands. My all-time favourite spot would have to be in the Raby Bay Canals, with plenty of bream being taken on top water lures, or very lightly weighted soft plastics dropped close into the pontoons. An absolute killer of a plastic is the Gulp 3” Craw in camo colour, rigged on a 1/40 Oz Hidden Weight jighead. If you’re

not interested in the bream, there have been plenty of mangrove jack caught throughout the canals also. But make sure to have the right gear and be ready to pile them in the boat, as they put up one hell of a fight. Anglers using surface lures or small crankbaits on the weedy sand banks on the high tide around

Blakesleys Anchorage, have been seeing great numbers of bream, whiting and flathead. For those who like to target snapper, you’re in luck! Snapper are being caught in reasonable numbers around Peel, Coochiemudlo and Macleay islands in the shallow reef sections – so keep an eye on your sounder for some nice structure, and you’re bound to find a few

Jordan Kelly with a bream caught at night off the Redland Bay jetty.

nice fish. Whether you are fishing with bait or lures, both have had great success. Whole pilchards or strips of mullet have been working a treat, or for the lure lovers like myself, 3, 4 or 5” minnows are also a great choice. Try changing up the weight of your jighead to suit the current and depth. This technique has been working very well with good by-catches of bream. Snapper generally hit your plastic as it sinks, so always concentrate on your line and be ready to strike. For those that aren’t lucky enough to own a boat, but still love to fish, whether you’re going by yourself, with a mate or taking the kids for a little bit of fun, plenty of fish are still to be seen from the banks or jetties around the bay. With good bream being caught from late afternoon into the night from the Redland Bay, Victoria Point, Cleveland and Wellington Point jetties, using pieces of mullet or even chicken breast is a great way to go. Being the holidays, and boat traffic being crazy, take care out on the water and be courteous of your fellow boaties. Getting to the boat ramps

Paige Kelly with bream caught on surface lures on the sand flats at Blakesleys Anchorage. early and well prepared saves time on the ramp and usually secures you a car park – it can be hard to get a park at the ramps at the best of times. Always make sure you have the correct number of life jackets on board for the number of passengers.

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Remember to keep up to date with the local green zones, size and bag limits to keep yourself out of trouble. Enjoy the rest of the holiday period and always be safe out on the water. Tight lines to all my fellow fishy friends!

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THE R ECR E ATIONAL ANGLER’S LINK TROUBLE IN MORETON BAY The reputation of Moreton Bay as a fishing tourism destination is currently under threat. The local government authorities that border Moreton Bay, all promote recreational fishing via their information bureaus and websites as one of the great things to see and do in the

activities where we live. So firstly, we need to look at the value of the fish, caught by the netters, in our economy. Sunfish Queensland have done three independent surveys of seafood outlets in the greater Brisbane area. These surveys were taken in 1999, 2012 and in 2016. Some of the key issues identified were as

local markets. If volume sales in all supermarkets could be assessed, it would be expected that interstate and imported products would greatly exceed local fresh product volumes. Here are some local fresh product examples: in 1999, mullet were sold by 60% of outlets, which rose to 64% by 2012, only to drop to 55% by 2016. Whiting

Many locals are concerned with the amount of gillnetting that’s occurring on the beaches.

High fish prices in Moreton Bay make it almost a luxury to have fresh local fish on the table. areas. Sadly, the ability to catch a fish from the beach is becoming more and more difficult. In recent months I have been contacted more than once a week by individuals with concerns that they can no longer catch their regular fish from the shores of Bribie Island and Moreton Island. Boating reports support that fish stocks are in good standing; so it appears that only the beaches are fishing poorly. Most of the calls and emails I get are concerned with the amount of gillnetting that’s occurring on the local beaches. There are also the concerns regarding intensive gillnetting along the foreshores, even when locals and visitors are already fishing on the beach. It is past time for a solution to be found, before the reputation of Moreton Bay as a recreational fishing tourism destination is tarnished forever. As a community, we need to place value on the

follows. Consistency of local product availability was at the best, limited to 50% of outlets – and common local fish, such as fresh whole whiting, bream, flathead and snapper were only stocked by 20 % or less of these outlets. The statement that commercial operators supply the public, only has limited validity, as local product availability was low – only 50% stocked one or more local fish species, and in most cases the cost was well above non local product. Prime fish was very expensive with whiting fillets at $42/kg, snapper fillets at $40/kg, scallops at $80/kg, flathead fillets at $40/kg, and mud crabs at $30/kg – making them almost a luxury buy. Local whole products that generally sell at low prices were mullet at $6/ kg, bay prawns $10-$15/ kg and spanner crabs at $10/kg – all of which are of a low recreational catch importance and are generally bulk caught commercial fish. The export of Queensland product interstate and overseas reduces the availability to

were sold at 50% of outlets in 1999, which droped to 20% by 2012, which again dropped to 15% by 2016. And snapper were sold at 40% of outlets in 1999,

rising to 43% by 2012 – and by 2016, sales of snapper experienced a significant drop, being sold at only 20% of outlets. The bottom line is that very little of the fish netted in Moreton Bay finds their way onto local tables. Now, we need to look at recreational fishing tourism. In the 1996 Census, 71% of the people on Moreton Island that night were tourists. When considering recreational fishing tourism, social and economical factors that should be discussed include: fresh fish on the table, healthy activity for

any individual (irrespective of physical or intellectual capacity), age, sex or socio-economic status, tackle bought, bait, fishing apparatus, boats, fuel, vehicles specific for fishing, accommodation, meals and transport costs to access the island. Because this is a complex industry that has a very diverse network of economic contributors, I will just snapshot one event. On Saturday 8th October, the Junior Anglers Association brought more than 120 people to Moreton Island for the day. It was a one-day trip, so accommodation wasn’t

required. Fuel was used to get everyone to and from the barge, as well as in the four wheel drives used for supervising the beach – these vehicles were also purpose bought for fishing. Tickets were purchased for the barge, and money was spent at the canteen. Participants and spectators came with sun safe clothing, sunscreen, bait, lures, food, drinks and every kind of fishing rod and reel imaginable. By the time they went home they had also taken home hundreds of dollars in fishing prizes – most valuable of all being that each person had the opportunity to be in the Moreton Bay Marine Park. The weather was great and they spent it in the fresh air, walking up and down the beach and meeting new and old friends. Some got to catch fish, and some even got to take some home. Best of all, was the opportunity for many experienced anglers to pass on their years of experience to keen young fishers – fishing is a valuable life skill that has been passed on for many years, through many generations.

The Junior Anglers Association brought more than 120 people to Moreton Island for a great day of fishing!

www.sunfishqld.com.au

Email: judylynne@sunfishqld.com.au

The New Year season is o-fish-ally ready to go! BRISBANE

Gordon Macdonald

on offer. The run of pelagics in the bay should continue to improve over the coming month or so with the fishing getting easier due to a slight decrease in boat traffic and fishing pressure. It’s now time for serious anglers to reap the aquatic rewards in the form of

mackerel, tuna, threadfin salmon, mangrove jack, estuary cod, crabs, prawns and numerous others. The sun is beating down and the temperature is rising quickly in the mornings, however the quality fishing on offer is definitely worth tolerating the elements.

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Hopefully once everyone has recovered from their Christmas festivities, they will manage to get out onto the water and experience some of the quality fishing

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PRAWNS Last year we experienced a great run of prawns throughout the creeks and estuaries of Southern Queensland. This started late in December, and systems such as the Pine, Caboolture, Logan and Brisbane rivers were just some of the spots where prawners cleaned up with a 10L limit. The quality of the prawns was exceptional for that time of the year, and hopefully we should see an early run again this year. In some areas the prawns were so thick that anglers only required a handful of casts to achieve their limit. Those anglers with high-quality, locally made nets generally got more prawns per cast, I used a standard store bought net and had no trouble getting a limit on most days. While the locally made nets sink at a more even rate and stay open longer, they are a lot more expensive. Most serious prawners will use a maximum sized 12ft drop top pocket net. The top pocket will trap the majority of the prawns in the top of the net, and will open up for easy removal of these prawns. Many choose to not have additional bottom pockets in their top pocket net, which limits the amount of shell grit, mud and debris that will come up into the net. This reduces the amount of cleaning time between

of threadfin, especially in the lower reaches of the Brisbane River. At times, large numbers can be found schooling along underwater contours and ledges, and around the dredge holes along the retaining wall at the mouth. Side imaging sounders have really made it easy to locate threadies, and at times, anglers are managing to catch and release double figures every session in this area. Vibration baits, especially soft offerings such as Samaki Vibelicious and Thumper Tail, Jackall Transam, Threadybuster and Zerek Fish Traps, seem to account for the majority of captures. However, jighead rigged plastics (especially prawn, jerk shad and paddletail shads), micro jigs and diving minnow lures are all productive. Generally it is more important to put your offering in front of the fish, and work it well, than it is to be using a particular lure style or brand. Live baits are especially popular in the Brisbane River for those who appreciate a more relaxed approach. Anglers commonly soak large prawns, herring, mullet, gar, pike and other baits in their quest. Anchoring along the edges of the main decline into the river basin, while deploying these baits, will put you in good stead,

down that way. Good numbers of threadfin have been taken in other systems in recent years. The Logan River has produced some thumpers for anglers willing to do a little looking around with their sounders. The edges of the deeper banks and holes further up river have been some of the more common areas where anglers have scored. Additionally, species such as estuary cod, flathead and barramundi have been taken on lures by savvy anglers with good knowledge of this system. Live baits are also popular for catching Logan River threadies. Anglers need to tolerate significant numbers of bull sharks and catfish. Many anglers also fish this system successfully with lures and this system is becoming almost as reliable as the Brisbane River for this species The Pine River and Caboolture River, as well as most major creek systems feeding into the Pumicestone Passage, have been producing decent numbers of threadfin. Anglers chasing prawns can occasionally cast-net threadies, as these predators commonly follow the prawn schools up and down the river. SPOTTED MACKEREL There have been decent numbers of school mackerel

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We’re all hoping for another great season with these tasty little morsels. casts, which can be a critical factor as far as numbers go when you are onto a good patch of prawns. Whether the prawns show up early this year is anyone’s guess, however early indicators say they shouldn’t be too far away, so check and repair those cast nets and be ready to roll when they come. THREADFIN January is generally 11:54 a am great month for anglers to get amongst numbers

especially around the start of the falling tide. Live baiting from shore-based locations such as the Colmslie Jetty, Newstead Jetty, New Farm Park, and the Gateway Bridge, will likely produce a few decent threadfin. Just a word of caution; I have heard that several people have been fined for fishing and cast-netting off the Colmslie Pontoon in recent months, so you are best to stick to the jetty if heading

around for several months now, however it is the spotted mackerel that attract the most attention at this time of the year. These are commonly found schooling on the surface, and a cast with a chromed slug or slice, close to the action, will generally achieve a hook-up when retrieved flat-stick. Don’t cast into the melee, as you will probably get bitten off instantly. Casting to the side of the school will still

produce a strike when the slug or slice is retrieved. You can’t retrieve too fast for mackerel – if they are following it and not striking, then you’re not winding fast enough. If your lure is skipping out of the water then try putting the rod tip under the water as you retrieve, to keep it swimming. I like to begin winding the handle of the reel just before the lure lands on the water’s surface, as this decreases bite-offs. Mackerel have the tendency to snip off the tail of their prey to immobilise it before engulfing it – in this case, the tail is a razor sharp treble so you should achieve a hook-up in the front of their jaw, which is ideal. Good locations to look for surface feeding mackerel at this time of the year include (but are not limited to), the area between Mud Island and the Four Beacons, the Measured Mile, the northern side of The Paddock green zone, around the Harry Atkinson Artificial Reef and Foul Ground, Moreton Shipping Channel, Middle Bank, Pearl Channel, Naval Reserve Banks and Banana Banks. Any time you are transiting throughout the bay, there is a good chance of encountering a school or two, so ensure you have a good spin rod rigged and ready with a chromed slug or slice to capitalise on this opportunity. The Measured Mile and most shipping channel beacons will generally hold a few mackerel, both school and spotted. Fishing these beacons can be done with jigged slugs and slices, micro jigs and baits such as pilchards, live yakka and slimy mackerel. When the tide is running strong, I generally find the lures reign supreme. However, around the changes of the tide, baits come into their own as the best producers.

Check out my techniques article in this issue for some live baiting rigs. Learn to tell the difference between school and spotted mackerel, as they have differing minimum size limits and bag limits. School mackerel can only be taken above 50cm in length and you are only permitted to keep 10 per person. Spotted mackerel have a minimum size limit of 60cm and a bag limit of five per person – breach of these regulations could be costly. LONGTAIL TUNA Last January saw awesome numbers of big longtails lurking throughout Moreton Bay. I had a few stellar sessions on slugs and stickbaits, with fish up to almost 20kg landed. The longtails were lurking in pretty much the same areas as mackerel – as this is where the concentration of bait was. Often they skirted the mackerel bust-ups, and you simply needed to wait for a cruising fish to break the surface and cast slightly ahead to achieve the strike. However, on occasion, large numbers could be found wheeling across the surface, rounding up and harassing the baitfish in wanton mayhem. There was a lot of herring and larger pilchards around, which made the longies easy to tempt on a variety of different-sized lures. I commonly used Maria Mucho Lucir slugs on a 20lb outfit, and stickbaits such as the Nomad Madscad 115mm, and 140mm Maria Loaded on a 40lb casting outfit. Due to the size of the fish, I generally opted for the heavy outfit, as fights often lasted over 90 minutes on the lighter rig, particularly on fish over 15kg. I was lucky that the sharks weren’t a problem in the areas I fished – though the numerous quantities of longtails were shortened over the next few months,

It’s no surprise that spotted mackerel are one of the summer’s most sought after species! once the ‘noahs’ lifted their game. If chasing schools around the bay and casting lures at them isn’t your thing, then you should try a spot of live baiting. Areas such as the beacons in the Northern Bay, Shark Spit, Western Rocks and near the shark nets of Bribie are reliable producers of big longtails. Yakkas, slimy mackerel, cowanyoung, pike, and even small whiptails can make ideal baits for longtails. These baits are generally fished on a snelled hook rig with the leading hook pinned through the nose of the livie, or with a single hook rubber-banded through the eye socket of the bait (see my technique article in this issue, for rigging how

to’s, like this). I like to use circle hooks, which are ideal in a situation where there is a little slack before the tension takes up when the fish runs. ESTUARY OPTIONS With the sun beating down and upping the warm water temperatures, estuary fishing can be quite good, especially for species such as mangrove jack, flathead, whiting and estuary cod. Jacks in particular can often be quite aggressive, and seem to get rather agitated during the lead up to volatile weather, such as late afternoon storms. These periods can produce a hot bite, with numerous fish landed for the session. The Nerang River and offshoot canals are popular with those venturing south.

Closer to the bay, the Coomera River system, various residential canals, and most creeks offer a great habitat, and potentially good jack waters. North of the city there are systems such as the Pine River, Caboolture River, Burpengary Creek and a few more residential canals to explore. Many anglers also achieve great success on larger specimens from the land-locked saltwater lakes. Casting to prominent structures will account for a lot of jacks, however, many choose to live bait deeper holes adjacent to structure for their red rewards. Estuary cod can also be taken around the same areas with the same techniques. Many anglers encounter these as a by-catch while jack fishing, some anglers specifically target them due to their eating quality. Estuary cod can be real scrappers on the end of the line, and will often bury you in structure on the first run. If you survive their initial surge of power once they feel the hook, you will usually land them. Rock walls are popular habitats for jacks due to their love of crabs. These fish can be encountered around any prominent saltwater structures. Rattling and rolling lures across the rock walls will put you in with a good chance of a hook-up. Live baits and dead offerings will be well received by these bucket-mouthed assassins. Bream, flathead and whiting numbers will also be good around the estuaries and Bay Island shallows. These are a great bread and butter species to get the family out chasing. Drifting along the channels and edges of the flats with a few baits is all that you need to make a score. I like to use small whole fish baits such as frogmouth pilchards, whitebait and

hardiheads pinned on a no. 1 or no. 2 snelled hook rig. This can take anything from whiting to mulloway, and is an effective way to fish for those who don’t know the areas very well. There’s a multitude of areas in both the Pumicestone Passage and Jumpinpin systems to explore using this method. More experienced anglers will often choose to target these species on lures. Shallow minnow lures, small poppers and stickbaits worked across the shallow estuarine flats will often produce whiting and bream. There are a lot of areas where this can be done landbased around Brisbane, and I have had very satisfying results in areas such as the mouth of the Pine River, Sandgate foreshore, around King Island (near Wellington Point), Wynnum foreshore, the mouth of Tingalpa Creek, Nudgee and Victoria Point. Whether you’re into chasing bay pelagics on high speed lures, or prefer the more relaxed approach of live-baiting a threadfin, or even bait-fishing for estuarine staples such as bream, flathead and whiting, January has you covered. In addition, there are still good opportunities to score species such as prawns, crabs, snapper, mulloway, sweetlip and a host of others. Many will still be on holidays and keen juniors with be frothing to get out amongst it before they have to return to school. Turn off the air conditioning, put on your big person pants, grab the rods and tackle and head out in the boat or to a land-based location, and get amongst the aquatic smorgasbord on offer this January! You’ll never remember your Candy Crush victory or the cricket score on telly, but you will remember the big fish you caught that tried to brick you three times. Good Luck!

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JANUARY 2017

Summer fishing forecast looks like fantastic fun BRISBANE OFFSHORE

John Gooding

I hope everyone got through the festive season okay and Santa got you that rod and reel you wanted. At the moment on charter we’ve still been pulling good numbers of quality squire with the odd snapper tossed in, from both the wider grounds in the 70-90m and also the Shallow Tempest area. Snapper are a viable option all year round off the South Passage Bar – you just have to be prepared to move a few kilometres to find them.

Last January and February were very productive months, but fish were isolated to a few areas, so as I said, be prepared to put in the time to find them. As far as pelagic species are concerned, there’s been a few Spaniards and wahoo kicking about, but the next few months are normally when their numbers are at a peak. Earlier last month, there were reports of many spotted mackerel in Hervey Bay. By now they should’ve filtered into Moreton Bay and further down into the shallow reefs off the Gold Coast, like Mermaid and Palm Beach reefs. For the next couple of

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months when you’re trolling across Moreton Bay, it will pay to have a spin stick handy, if you come across a school of working spotties. I spoke to a few people who fished the Palm Beach Reef in late November and early December and they got their bag limit, but the sharks were bad. Judging by the chat on the radio, gamefishers are doing well with plenty of marlin tagged and released, which is good to see. Cape Moreton has long been a well-known fishery for small black marlin and sailfish, but the larger blue marlin is a more recent one and very successful by the amount tagged. If you’re keen on catching a marlin or

These quality fish were caught from 70m.

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local tackle shops, they won’t survive or be there when we need them. You might be able to save a few dollars online or at bulk outlets, but you don’t get that service or hands on experience like at the local shops. East of the South Passage this month, anglers have the best of both worlds. They’re able to target a few pelagics and put a bit of colour in the box with some reefies. Enjoy your fishing and take care on the coastal bars. If you’d like to join me on charter (max. 8 persons) give me a call on (07) 3822 9527 or 0418 738 750 or visit my website – www.outlawcharters.com.au. • Until next month, enjoy your fishing, take care on the coastal bars and if you’d like to join me on charter (max. 8 persons) give me a call on 07 3822 9527 or 0418 738 750 or visit my new website www. outlawcharters.com.au.

two, now’s the time to get out there and have a go. If you need advice on tackle and lure selection, have a chat to your local tackle shop. I’m sure they’ll point you in the right direction. There’s huge competition for the fishing tackle dollar, so if we don’t support our

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A typical squire caught on the wider grounds during summer.

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As we roll past another festive season, it’s always great to start the year by christening your newfangled fishing gear on

the waterways you’ve grown to love. The Christmas period is always loaded with extra boat traffic around the Northern Bay, and this year has been no exception. Key boat ramps like the Pine River, Scarborough Marina and Spinnaker Sound have been as busy as Boxing

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Day Sales on days of great weather, making it a testing time for boaties in and out of the water. Our afternoon storms have continued over this summer with much gusto, allowing the fishing to be reasonable in all corners of the bay. Bread and butter species like flathead, bream and sand whiting have not skipped a beat this summer season, making anglers happy to be

plastics when casting into snags and off rocky points up river. Upgraded leader size have limited catch losses in the past, but many daring young anglers have been sacrificing landed fish by using lighter leaders to increase their hook-up rate. Bream numbers have been mediocre – the run-out proved to be the pick of times to target them. On the other hand,

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Ryan Dixon landed this great estuary cod. rewarded for their efforts, especially over the hot days we’ve had lately. Spikes in barometric pressure, especially pre-thunderstorm activity, have really helped lift the fishing action in our many estuaries for predator species like mangrove jack and bream. Lures and soft plastics have had a large impact, as is normal over the hotter months. Fresh baits have given them a good run for their money, particularly after rains, as food sources are flushed from the upper reaches. PINE RIVER The Pine has seen some good action lately. The upper reaches really benefited from recent rainfall, allowing a good supply of bait to stay in the area. Mangrove jacks and estuary cod have been the stand outs in the Pine, and anglers have found good rewards by slow rolling soft

flathead catches have been great. Soft plastics and bait work well throughout the system. Sand whiting have also been caught at the start of the run out tide in the lower reaches around the mouth of Bald Hills Creek and the Ted Smout Bridge. Sand crabs have been caught throughout the area. A vast number of crab pot floats can make the river tricky to navigate at times. BRIBIE AREA I thought I’d open up this area a little this month, as I wanted to mention the Caboolture River in my report. Fishing has been rather good in the Caboolture River over these hot months with many anglers chasing the elusive mangrove jack throughout the system. Caboolture’s many bends hold good bait most of the time, allowing predators to target these areas, especially as the river narrows in the upper reaches.

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Good bream and flathead have been caught towards the mouth and the ebbing tide is proving its weight in gold. Around the corner in Burpengary Creek, anglers have been using the fuller tides to chase bream amongst the trees, casting hardbody lures and soft plastics like 2.5” ZMan GrubZ and Slim SwimZ tight under the tree line. Mud crabs have also been reported in both these areas, with lengthy pot drops reaping rewards. In the Pumicestone, while bream numbers have been sporadic, flathead and sand whiting have been the pick of the species over the last month. Flathead have been throughout the system all summer. The run-out tide has been the pick of the times to target these bottom dwellers. The mouth of the Ningi and Elimbah creeks and White Patch have been great. Hussey Creek is always worthy of a visit. Up in that direction, the W’s and Lime Pocket have been firing with sand whiting. Fresh yabbies are truly irresistible to whiting in the Passage. The southern beaches have also performed over the last few weeks with many stalwarts finding it easy to get amongst them in the surf using worms as bait. Sand crabs have also had good reports through the Passage with deeper drop offs outperforming the shallow areas by far.

REDCLIFFE PENINSULA The vibe around the peninsula is quiet. Last year was one of the slowest we’ve had in this normally hot area. Squire numbers have been average but not brilliant, as a mix of absent bait schools and inconsistent southeasterly winds made it far from a desirable area for predators to hang out. Persistent summer squire anglers have been rewarded with the odd good snapper hitting the decks in low light hours. Bream numbers have started to pick up on the reefs and in the Newport Canals. The weather has determined if anglers go wide or go sheltered. ZMan GrubZ, Daiwa Rolling Presso cranks, ZMan Slim SwimZ and Atomic Shiner 45s are among the better choices for the lure orientated with Cranka Crabs a hit around the Newport Canals. Flathead numbers have been good around the shallow flats of Deception Bay and Hays Inlet along with good whiting also in those areas. TIP OF THE MONTH Be sure to show your reels some love after each session. Give them a light spray of freshwater with the garden hose (on mist setting) to ensure excess salt doesn’t build up on your much treasured reel.

This mangrove jack will fight another day.

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Pelagics are now turning up the fun offshore CALOUNDRA

Damian Parker dpfishingmonthly@hotmail.com

This year has started with a consistent run of pelagic species. Spotted and school mackerel have turned up thick and fast across Caloundra 5, 7 and 12 mile reefs, Hutchinson Shoals, Gneerings and the Barwon Banks. There has also been a very healthy amount of bait, which will hang around for the next few months and while there is bait, there is fish! Mackerel feed aggressively on bait schools, slashing and slicing their slender bodies through them and chomping everything in their sight. A busting bait ball is the perfect time to cast a 20-40g chrome slug or hardbodied lure over the bait then retrieve at high speed. If you don’t succeed the first time, try and try again. Mackerel can be very easily spooked, so when approaching a school of these feeding speedsters, keep quiet. Put your vessel in casting distance and switch the motor off. This will at least give you enough time to cast a few

times before they move on. My favourite method for mackerel fishing is trolling live or very fresh dead baits at about 1-2 knots. There are various methods to rig up a trolled bait, so take the time to learn which one works best for you. There are many tackle stores across the Sunshine Coast and 99% of the staff that work in the stores fish, so they know how and what works the best. Just ask and they’ll show you how, the rest is up to you. If mackerel fishing isn’t your thing, then move out a little wider toward the 50+ grounds of Wide Caloundra or Hutchinson Shoals, because at the moment and over the next few months there are good numbers of quality mahimahi, wahoo, tuna, sailfish and marlin from north to the south. The water temperature in these areas is up over 25°C in parts and the bait is thick. Trolling a mixture of hardbodied minnows, divers or skirted lures will give you the best chance of hooking up to any of the above species. Anywhere between 6-8 knots is where you need to be at the throttle. If chasing wahoo, you can troll from anywhere between 8-12knots, as these razor

toothed speedsters can’t resist a fast trolled lure. Be prepared to lose a bit of tackle though, because when a wahoo hits a lure, it hits it hard and fast and will try anything to get off the hook. Always rig up with wire leaker and use as little hardware as possible, because too much bling puts them off. Our reefs are still producing quality tuskfish, trout, hussar, fusilier and kingfish. The snapper and pearlies have moved out to the deeper stretches and if you are planning to head our deeper, pack plenty of lead because the current can get quite strong. But remember, no run, no fun! The many wrecks are consistently producing XOS yellowtail kingfish, cobia and mulloway at the moment with live baiting proving to be the most effective methods of connection. Moving out of the deep blue and into our rivers and estuaries this time of the year can produce big smiles. There are plenty of hardhitting mangrove jack about smashing just about anything you cast at them. Target this species at sunrise and sunset, and again, use whatever rig works best for you. There are still plenty of

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bream, flathead and whiting about. The Pumicestone Passage is pumping at the moment with healthy amounts of herring and mullet, which are very tempting for a large bream or mangrove jack. There are good numbers of sand and mud crabs about

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All I want for Christmas is a mangrove jack NOOSA

Peter Wells

With summer now in full swing and Christmas over, what better time to head to the Sunshine Coast to fulfil that fishing addiction? With plenty of action on the rivers, offshore and on the beach, anglers have been

edges upriver from Coolum Creek has been worthwhile, with the higher tides in the late evening producing some great fish. Last month, we still hadn’t seen too much rain, so there were plenty of fish in the upper reaches. However, if the river receives a fair downpour, then they tend to move to the lower parts of the system to

jack country. Trolling deep diving hardbody lures around the 70mm-100mm size are ideal. My preferred lure to use in this area would be a Lucky Craft Pointer or the deep diving Zerek Tango Shads in the 69mm size. Both these lures are suspending, so they are also perfect for casting at structure, as well as trolling.

Terry Panton from Thornton with a thumper mulloway. really spoilt for choice! In the rivers it’s all about mangrove jacks, and this year is shaping up to be one to remember, with some cracker fish already boated. The Maroochy River has really been firing up, with the upper reaches of the river producing some great fish. Fishing the rocky

get into the cleaner, salinity rich water. If you’re chasing jacks in the Noosa River, try concentrating you’re efforts up between Lake Cooroibah and Lake Cootharaba. With plenty of fallen trees, underwater debris and also a couple of rock bars, it certainly makes for perfect

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Remember when trolling to keep moving your rod tip to impart even more action on the lure. With anglers focusing their activities on chasing jacks at the moment, there is also some very interesting by-catch, with school mulloway, trevally, grunter bream, big flathead and monster threadfin all managing to find their way onto hooks. Whiting have been in great numbers, with some real elbow slappers caught in the Frying Pan and Dog Beach flats. Fresh worms, live yabbies and peeled prawns have been the pick of the baits. Surface poppers and surface walkers seem to attract those bigger fish, so working those flats on an incoming tide in low light can really pay off. Mud crabs have also been in good

numbers with some nice bucks gracing the Christmas tables this year as part of the good old Aussie Christmas Seafood feast. Crab pots that are loaded with fresh mullet are performing best. Fishing on Sunshine Coast beaches this summer, has been great for whiting, bream, dart and sand flathead, with the majority of fish holding in those close gutters. I love fishing the beaches with a backpack on my back and a nice light 10ft rod in hand – this way you can be mobile, and not only do you get a bit of exercise, but you cover a lot of ground working those closer gutters and holes, and more often than not, you claim more fish. Tailor are still around, with some bigger greenbacks around the river mouths. Anglers have been using fresh mullet, bonito fillet and pilchard to tangle with a big tailor. Rock anglers have also been claiming some nice fish, with mulloway, large trevally and the odd sweetlip and squire claimed. Chasing those big trevally is great fun, and fishing the rock at Yaroomba, Noosa National Park and Point Cartwright has been where most of the action has been. Anglers have been casting GT Ice Creams, and stickbaits like the Shimano Ocea Pencils. These fast moving lures, when speedily retrieved over the rock, have seen anglers tangle with some solid trevally. Offshore it’s all about the pelagics! Mahimahi, mackerel, tuna and even marlin are all on the cards off the Sunshine Coast. The good news is, you don’t have to travel far to get amongst them. Just over The Noosa Bar, you’ve got Laguna Bay, and with the few small reefs in the area you can come

Mike Sultana with a nice sized jack. across tuna and mackerel. Having the first mate keep an eye out for bird activity is essential, as the pelagics will push the bait to the surface and the birds will attack from above. I always make sure I have a number of different sized slugs to try and match the bait that the fish are feeding on. I’ve also taken a liking to using flat fall jigs, as they tend to fall though the school looking like a dying baitfish, and an easy meal. Trolling the edge of the reefs out wider with big hardbody lures like the Nomad DTX Minnows at speed can also be an effective way to target big mackerel. For bait anglers, the good old pilchard floater, along with tinsel head over the top of your bait is always a good way to go. The tinsel heads are really effective, as mackerel have very sharp eyesight and can see them from a mile away. Always remember to berley

when floating baits, it makes a huge difference. For the anglers who love working the reefs, good old Sunshine Reef has again come up with the goods, with some cracker coral trout, sweetlip cod and squire. Up on North Reef, anglers have tangled with some lovely mulloway, sweetlip, pearl perch, cobia and mori cod. For the anglers heading up towards Double Island, the red emperor are always out that direction, and always hungry. From the team at both our Davo’s Stores, we hope you had a great Christmas and a very fishy New Year. • For all the latest information log onto www. fishingnoosa.com.au for up to date bar and fishing reports. Drop into Davo’s Tackle world Noosa or Davo’s Northshore Bait & Tackle at Marcoola to find out where the fish are biting, and remember tight lines and bent spines!

kt6

torch

Joe Tomic with this monster tailor. 48

JANUARY 2017

Shove that up your Khyber Pass, Biggus Reddus BRISBANE

The Sheik of the Creek

Dear Santa, Once again we’re back at Christmas time, and once again you’ve paid no attention to what I asked for last Christmas. Have you got something in your ears Buddy? Did Donner or Dancer or Prancer or Necromancer let loose some ploppies while you were flying over Condamine? I know Rudolph didn’t. He’s a Santa’s pet if ever I’ve seen one. Rudolph with your nose so bright, won’t you poo in my ear tonight? I don’t think so. Now I know I might be wrong. It might not be Blitzen-dung you’ve got in your ear. Maybe your hearing’s going because you’ve been around for such a long time. How do I know? Well, for instance, if all of the other reindeers tried to laugh and call Rudolph names in this day and age they’d be dragged in front of the Equal Opportunities Board for Cyberbullying. So maybe it’s an age thing. I can relate to that.

Is Mrs Clause whinging about you not listening to her, not emptying the dishwasher, or not house training the elves properly anymore, so there’s little elf nuggets underfoot in the morning when you wake up? Maybe you do have some issues there. Maybe I do too. I seem to be poo-obsessed today. Maybe I am, or maybe you’re just not paying attention. You called my bluff in last year’s letter when I threatened a bit of Winchester payback on your cute little deer. How did you know they’d taken my rifle away? Have you got a snitch in chambers? But be warned, old mate, there are many ways to skin a cat, Santa. Or a reindeer for instance. But Santa, let’s not get into threats. It’s very simple. All you have to do is give me what I want. It’s not much that I ask is it? That nice little boat that I requested last year is still on the request list, but I think it’s only fair that you update my list with some more gear, given that you reneged on last year. Reasonable? I think so. Let’s not let threats get in

the way of a sound, respect driven and mutually beneficial relationship. What can I do for you I hear you ask? Well, I can help oil the wheels in lots of ways. For example, you always seem to be in such a frantic, reindeer thrashing hurry getting around to all the kids around the world, getting your fat butt down those millions of chimneys in just twenty-four hours. I can get hold of many litres of good quality lanolin spray. A bit of that on your Khyber Pass and you’ll be down that smokestack quicker than a greased ferret, which you will be, in a way. Also, I know some vets that do some work on greyhounds, and horses and stuff. I can’t ask them for a little bit of juice because some fat clown says I can’t go within 500m of them or their clinics. Now that I think about it, maybe it’s more since the fourth court appearance, but anyway, I know how to get hold of some. I have friends in the Shire. Best quality. Special price for you. It’s just easier then Santa, or can I call you Big Red, to pay some

attention to my list. Forget those kids that write you those scrawled and pitiful letters asking for things for their little sisters in hospital, and dreary, selfish demands like that. Just a nice little reef boat, maybe a couple of metres bigger than my current one, and forewarning of any calm

days that will appear during the year. I imagine you’re good mates with BOM, seeing as how you need to get so much done in such a short time. Do you use the 512 or the 250km radar? Anywa0y, Biggus Reddus, old mate, have a safe trip on the 24th. Let me know

about the jungle juice and the WD40. Say hello to the elves for me and regards to your good wife, the old battleaxe, and tell her I’ve forgiven her for the IED she left in my stubby holder. On that note, could you add some plastic surgery to the request list? Happy travels. Sheik.

JANUARY 2017

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HERVEY BAY BUCCANEERS

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New Salt-Away mixing unit Salt-Away is a handy product that minimises costly maintenance on disc and drum brakes, improving safety and extending their life. It’s also simple to use. By washing your trailer down with Salt-Away after each trip you’ll remove the damaging salt that causes corrosion. To make the process as easy as possible, Salt-Away has released a new mixing unit called A-Salt Salt Attack. It has been specifically designed to dispense the SaltAway Concentrate formula, and has a new throttle-type control valve with a threeposition control valve to switch from ‘off’ to ‘rinse’ to ‘Salt-Attack’. The built-in receptacle holds 100mL, and

effect is created, allowing the flow to carry the contaminants all the way off the equipment. In areas that stay wetter longer and are primarily inaccessible or where salt is trapped, the corrosion inhibitors in the product will keep equipment from rusting and corroding from the inside-out. The selected blend of ingredients combines proven cleaning materials and surface-active agents, to provide salt removal from a wide variety of surfaces. There are no hydrocarbon solvents in the formula, and the cleaning action is designed not to remove lubricating products. Included in Salt-Away are rinse aids and liquid and

Its dense foaming action assists as an indicator to see where Salt-Away has been applied, and it also clings to surfaces to slowly soak through the layers of salt. As the salt dissolves into the Salt-Away salt-removing agent, the crystals are lifted into the solution. If SaltAway is sprayed on the surface and not rinsed off, the water evaporates out of the solution and the salt crystals are embedded into the residue. The liquid and vapor corrosion-inhibitors in the residue will not allow the salt crystals to attack the surface. If Salt-Away is rinsed off the surface, the salt crystals are lifted off the surface and washed away. A second application of Salt-Away is

is built to handle high water pressures without a problem. Salt-Away also makes a spray gun, along with earmuffs called Deluxe Muffs for outboard flushing. To flush the engine, just put 40-60mL of Salt-Away concentrate in a mixer cup for up to 90hp motor, and for 90-300hp, use a full mixer cup. You can use the remaining solution to wash the boat, trailer and fishing gear. You can see a video of the process on YouTube – just search for Salt-Away Outboard Flushing. To find out more about using Salt-Away for different applications, including on tackle and 4WDs, visit Dave Butfield’s YouTube channel. HOW SALT-AWAY WORKS Salt-Away is waterbased, highly concentrated and must be diluted. When applied, the Salt-Away solution immediately dissolves any soluble contaminant. Flow (runoff) caused by gravity is required to remove salt. As flow begins, ingredients in the product will not allow the contaminants in their dissolved state to attach to the surface, and a ‘sheeting’

vapor corrosion inhibitors. The ingredients are considered non-hazardous, non-toxic, and biodegradable and, as such, discharging Salt-Away into normal drainage outlets is safe. This product is safe to use on virtually all surfaces, including magnesium, aluminum, iron, steel, stainless steel, chrome, paint, gelcoat, nylon, isinglass, vinyl, plastic, glass, wood, leather, rubber and canvas. Salt-Away is also safe to use near plants, pets and children. Salt-Away’s saltremoving agent completely removes fresh salt and breaks down salt build-up.

recommended for further protection. Salt-Away is also good value for money, with 1L of concentrate making 512L of solution. All you need to flush an engine up to 90hp, plus will clean your boat, trailer and all your fishing gear, is 40-60mL (60-80mL is recommended for engines over 90hp). Financially, that works out to be as little as $1 per wash. Salt-Away is backed by a 100% money back guarantee. It’s recommended by leading engine manufacturers, and is used by the Australian and NZ Coastguard. For more information visit www.saltaway.com.au. - FM

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BOWEN

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CAIRNS

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KARUMBA

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JANUARY 2017

Summer Fraser fishing going along swimmingly HERVEY BAY

Scott Bradley marlin81@bigpond.com

December was a scorcher on the Fraser Coast with hot days and strong northerly winds dominating the lead up to Christmas. Hopefully we get a reprieve from the wild weather this month. In the bay, channel markers and beacons are worth a look for a bit of pelagic action. Golden trevally, mackerel, tuna and cobia are hot. Live baiting or working plastics and microjigs around the structure will soon get you on to fish feeding in the area. The flats along Fraser Island also attract pelagics feeding on hardiheads as they move in and out of the many creeks that spill into the Sandy Straits. The flats

are also world renowned for sight casting golden trevally and the next few months are as good a time as any to target them. If that’s not your thing, there’s always the ever-present flathead, bream and whiting fishing that Hervey Bay is famous for – it’s a great family fishing option over the holidays. The Mary and Susan rivers continue to produce whopper threadfin salmon with some fish topping 130cm. Anglers in the know work specific banks at different stages of the tide and work the drains and colour changes in water with soft vibes, bibless lures and hardbodies. On the troll this season, the little blacks are not in the numbers we have experienced before. There are still fish around – you just have to work a lot

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harder for them. Last year we were averaging 5-10 shots a day inside Rooneys Point. This year we manage 1-2 shots in a good day. Most billfish have been found in the Rooneys area with anglers having success on stickbaits, swimming gars and pushers. Spotted mackerel have been around in good numbers and averaging over 75cm, which is a bonus on a slow trolling session. It’s been years since I’ve seen big schools of decent spotties actively feeding in Platypus Bay, so let’s hope it continues.

Owen Howe with his first marlin caught at Rooneys on a stickbait.

A big New Years for fishing RAINBOW BEACH

Ed Falconer

The weather is hanging in there and the fishing is still fantastic. Offshore, nice reef fish are still on the chew. We had another good run of snapper along with pearl perch, tuskfish, Moses perch and Maori cod. Cobia and

amberjack have been quite active, especially when live bait is used. The odd red emperor has also fallen for livies. Beach fishing has been a bit challenging with the north winds bringing weed onto the beach. However, some clean spots have produced some ripper whiting. The Great Sandy Straits have had more beautiful flathead

caught. The bottom end of Fraser Island is still the hot spot. With the steaming hot weather, mangrove jack have really fired up. Reports of fish over 50cm are common. January is another big mackerel month and it’s very easy to bag out early, going by previous years. We’ve also had some good pearl perch

and scarlet perch catches. The silly season is here, so be careful on the water. • To enjoy a day on the water with Keely Rose Fishing Charters phone Ed Falconer 0407 146 151 or visit www. keelyrosefishingcharters .com.au. keelyrosefishing charters.com.au.

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Ash Bradnam from Nova FM with a beautiful red emperor.

Andy with some quality reds.

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JANUARY 2017

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Pier into the water and see January’s options FRASER COAST

Phil James p_j_james@bigpond.com

Before taking a look at the prospects for January, a quick review of the past year along Fraser Island’s beaches and inshore Hervey Bay would seem appropriate. For most of us who fish the island’s ocean beach, it might be a year best forgotten – at least the last five months. The infestation of brown weed almost totally ruined the seasonal tailor fishing for which the island is famous. Last month there were scattered patches of weed persisting mostly south of Happy Valley. All that remains to be said is that we don’t want to see any form of repetition this year. During the first half of 2016, the island beaches behaved in typical fashion, with plenty of dart, whiting, tarwhine and bream keeping anglers happy. It was particularly encouraging to see the numbers and quality of sand whiting improving. It had even become possible (or so regular light line specialists tell me) to bag out on whiting during those months. Hervey Bay’s inshore fishing overall was a little down compared to what we

might expect. To an extent, we can blame the weather, as uncomfortable conditions prevailed for much of the year, particularly over weekends. I guess that whether we like it or not, climate changes are upon us and we just have to accept that things might not improve. Inshore reefs performed about as well as expected. Tuskfish were particularly abundant, while others like coral bream and the sea perches were somewhat down in numbers and quality. The bream season was disappointing around the rocky points of bay islands, but the lower Mary River and Urangan Pier pylons saw plenty of action. The winter (diver) whiting season was patchy, with the main schools of fish continually on the move. As usual, the better catches were made offshore from Dundowran and Gatakers Bay. The usually reliable south end of Woody Island was also disappointing, with reports of low numbers and poor quality. However, anglers chasing flathead were not disappointed during the year, and it’s recognized that the sensible bag and size limits that have been in force for many years, are certainly paying dividends.

So what might we expect on Fraser Island’s beaches and Hervey Bay’s inshore waters this month? I would preface my comments with the hope of reasonable weather conditions and little or no dreaded weed on the island. We should expect dart, whiting, bream and tarwhine on Fraser’s ocean beaches. At this hot time of the year fishing early morning, late afternoon and even into the night is the way to go. On the western beach, whiting should be plentiful, but a reliable measuring stick could be handy. Around the creek mouths and coffee rocks there should be a few bream and flathead, and visiting anglers might be surprised to catch a dart on the inside beach, as they can also be quite plentiful. We often think of dart being purely a surf species, but throughout Hervey Bay there are many locations in which they can be taken. In fact, in these calm waters, dart are usually of better quality than those caught in the surf. Hervey Bay’s shallow reefs are now fishing well, with all the favourites like coral bream, blackall and tuskfish, all for easy pickings in the shallow reef fringe of Gatakers Bay, Point Vernon, Pialba, Scarness, Round

Brendan Whitaker shows off a great kingfish caught off the Gold Coast. The fish was caught on a live slimy mackerel and put up a truly great fight. It tested the angler and fishing tackle in equal measure.

SEASON

IS HERE!

Every Saturday 4.30pm on 54

JANUARY 2017

Hervey Bay’s iconic Urangan Pier. Island, the northern and western shores of Woody Island, as well as the picnics. Deeper reefs such as the Outer Banks, Moon Ledge, Mickys, Bogimbah Ledge, the Channel Hole and Boges Hole will also be productive. On any of the reefs, but particularly the shallow ones, fishing through the middle of the day is bound to be a waste of time. At this time of the year, I like to fish the shallow reef – leaving the harbour around 5pm and returning about 8pm. This gives me 2-3 hours of prime time. Alternatively, a session from 4-7am is an option, particularly if the coral bream is your main target. My preferred option allows me to fish further into the night without being cooked. Peak fishing times are certainly over dusk and dawn, but there can still be plenty of action throughout the night, particularly for blackall and some of the sea perches. Of course, it would be rare to take a tuskfish through the middle of the night. Young snapper can be a problem over the shallows, but in the last few seasons there has been a sprinkling of easily legal (over 35cm) fish. Where you would usually need to be quite fussy about the tidal conditions when fishing the deeper reefs, it

isn’t so much of an issue when fishing the shallows. Of course a massive flood or ebb tide over the shallows might prompt further consideration, depending on the location of the venue. At this holiday time of the year, the Urangan Pier becomes a very popular fishing platform. From the shoreline, the pier first crosses a shallow gutter (almost dry on spring tide lows), then the wide sandy Dayman Spit, then through to the outer channel. This outer channel is often the domain of specialist light game anglers chasing tuna, school, grey and Spanish mackerel, as well as great and golden trevally, and at times, barramundi. I wouldn’t recommend joining in with this activity before taking a long look at the gear and methods employed here – however, when the action is on, it makes a good spectator sport. It’s not a good plan to get too close to the action, as it could be dangerous and could incur the wrath of the serious anglers. The pylons of the pier provide structure for the shelter of huge schools of herring and hardiheads, which provide a food sources for the pelagics who make forays into the masses of baitfish.

In suitable conditions, particularly over a slack tide, fishing around the pylons, using hardiheads or herring fillets, will make likely catches of bream and flathead. The inner gutter is best known for catches of sand and yellowfin whiting, particularly on a flood tide in the early morning. It’s also possible to take bream and flathead, and even larger golden trevally that venture in on the high tide. Other land-based opportunities are to be had along the city beaches from Urangan to Pialba. Whiting can be plentiful, but you can expect many to be undersize (23cm). The better class of fish is likely very early in the day on a vigorous flood tide. The rock groynes at Torquay and Urangan make good platforms for whiting fishing along this beach. These are also great for targeting gar. The walls of the Urangan boat harbour also present some opportunities with bream, javelin, mangrove jack and trevally on offer towards the seaward end. Towards the mainland, the wall crosses shallows that hold whiting, flathead and gar. This will be a hot month, so fish hard and stay cool.

OUTDOOR & FISHING SHOW

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The early bird gets the worm in the hot summer BUNDABERG

Jason Medcalf topwater@bigpond.com

January holidays are great fun, but with crowds, heat and family holiday commitments it can be frustrating for the obsessed angler. The key is to get in early, fish hard, then get back out. This time of year I am out of bed at 3am regularly to make sure I am on the water as the sun is rising. I have a few mates that struggle with early rising, but once on the water it’s all worth

it. Besides, there is nothing better than an afternoon nap in the holidays. In the early part of January, the tides are coming off the big Christmas tides, so if you’re into crabbing, get those pots out. If you like to fish the bottom of the tide, you will need to be early. As the tides pick up for the full moon on 12 January, the high tide is early in the morning, so I will probably hit the freshwater for bass at Lake Gregory or barra out at Monduran Dam. Monduran Dam has been fishing very well of late, so if you’re keen

Early starts are the go at this time of year. You want to be on the water as the sun is rising.

for a SEQ barra, this lead up to the full moon will be worth the effort. Just check in with Rob at the park to find out what’s happening before you head out on the water. If the weather is good enough to get out the front early on, you might find a few mackerel and tuna working around the mouth of the Burnett River. As the tides get bigger, the bait move around and they like coming in close to shore, always closely followed by schools of predators. An early morning troll around the lead markers should be produce some action, and while you’re out there, always keep an eye out for diving birds, as they will let you know where the action is. As the tides drop away again off the full moon, I would book in as many family outings as possible, as the fishing tends to drop off straight after the moon. The tides don’t really start to build again until the 21 January, and this is when I will start to hit the salt again. The week leading up to the new moon has morning

If the tides aren’t favourable, it’s a good time to hit the freshwater for bass at Lake Gregory. high tides and lunch time lows, which can be hard to fish in during the heat of January. The late afternoon incoming tide will be well worth a fish, and if you can hang in until a little after dark, a bit of live baiting for some big jacks should be on the cards.

The summer whiting also love to move around on those late afternoon incoming tides, so grab some fresh bait and drift the sand bars. January can be great for fishing, but it’s all about

Barramundi blowing up a gale LAKE MONDURAN

Rob Howell

Lighter winds through December have slowed the fishing a little, but when that northerly kicks in, the bigger barra still bite. We have had a variance in wind from the southeast to the northeast, making these barra a little harder target. When these conditions occur, it’s still best to follow the given wind direction. For example, there have been plenty of occasions this month where the wind has started off from the southeast in the morning and finished up coming in from the north in the afternoon – and both wind affected areas have produced good bites. Areas that have been firing in the northerlies are, Rainforest, Bird Bay, SDA Bay and the Main Basin area in front of the dam wall. If you’re in the main basin,

be sure not to venture into the exclusion zone marked by yellow buoys as this area is off limits. When the south or southeast winds are upon us, areas like Insane Bay, Heart Bay, White Rock and Jacks will fish their best. Over the last month we have seen numerous amounts of little barra being boated, all around the 50cm mark. These smaller fish were stocked last December and were released all over the lake amongst our healthy weed beds; I have never seen such a successful stocking result one year on. While some of these smaller barra still live amongst the weed, the majority are out on the move, schooling up on points and bays, looking for a morning and afternoon feed. These little barra are great fun, especially when they bite in multiples – just remember, care should be taken in netting, removing the hooks and releasing. This

Terry Beaver from Victoria was stoked to land this metre barra.

picking your window and your target species. Get up early if you need to, or even plan an evening on the river. Remember to keep an eye on the local radar, as storms in January can be a bit scary on the water.

Call Jamie today to book your next trip Ph: 0407 434 446

Tyler showing off an impressive 110cm specimen. size group can be one of the trickiest to handle, being so feisty, they can thrash around leaving you open to a hook in the hand or somewhere worse. When picking them up, they can also cut you up with their sharp gill rakers if you don’t have a good grip. BIG BARRA RELEASE METHODS There is no doubt that the pinnacle of barra fishing is to boat a fish over that 1m mark. Now Lake Monduran is starting to produce fish of this size again, anglers need to be aware of proper catch a release methods to ensure these barra live to fight another day. The average barra over the metre mark can weigh in excess of 20kg; therefore fish of this size can be hard

to lift into position for that memorable photo. When lifting your prized barra, be sure to have a firm grip with your thumb and fingers clamped onto the bottom lip, then by lifting the head slightly, support the belly and lift the barra without putting stress on the neck area and without stretching the gill area. Then take your photo as quick as possible, and then get your barra back to the water ASAP. • Our team here Lake Monduran Holiday Park look forward to seeing you in the New Year. You can keep up to date with ongoing fishing info on my FB page; Lake Monduran Guidelines Fishing Charters, or contact us here at the park on 07 4157 3881, or email info@lakem.com.au.

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The right places to fish this year in Gladstone GLADSTONE

Liam Jones

Over December, we saw great catches coming from Awoonga Dam, which is great to see. Early morning and late afternoons are the pick of the bite times. Big rubbers like Castaics and Slick Rigs seem to be producing the most fish.

of the Boyne River and Futter Creek. It’s amazing how far upstream these fish will travel and what small water holes they are living in. The positive sign is I’ve caught fish from 20-50cm, so they’re thriving in this environment and breeding throughout the system. These are just another species to target in the long list of fish in Central Queensland. The author with a Gladstone Harbour grunter taken on a Yakamito Spirit jig.

Local guide Justin Nye with a Lake Awoonga barra. Justin Nye from Gladstone Fly and Sportfishing has been producing the goods consistently over the past month. If you’re visiting the area and want to get into some Awoonga barra, give Justin a call. When the barra closed season is on, head west to Lake Callide. Only an hour west of Gladstone, this dam is starting to really fish well, with some quality barra around the metre mark. Like Awoonga, Lake Callide lost most of its fish due to flooding events. The Callide Valley Native Fish

The harbour and the narrows have been fishing reasonably well, with good grunter still about in numbers. Small plastics and micro-jigs have once again been the stand out baits. Black jewfish are still around any deeper holes with some absolute crackers coming from the tidal island area over the past few weeks. Good numbers of whiting have been reported on Southend Beach, Farmers Point and along the inside of Facing Island. For something different and a very exciting way to fish, have a go at

cranky little gar made for a fun afternoon. The marina has always held coral trout, mainly due to the live trout export from the harbour. Whether it’s a few fish falling over the side when unloading, or the fish don’t make 38cm as expected going into the live tank and are thrown over the side – I’m unsure. Over the past few weeks I’ve seen more trout caught in the marina than I have from out wide. Crabs have started to show up in most of the estuaries. There are plenty

I was sceptical, but it was the stand out pot and I will be investing in a few more. On the reef, catches have been steady when the wind eases off. I don’t remember having such consistent northerlies over such a long period of time. Hopefully that means we’ll have a good start to 2017. Red-throat emperor are thick around most of the reefs at this time of year. Getting through the just legal ones to find the better quality is the hard part. Stickbaits, micro-jigs and 7” plastics will get you quality fish! I’ve found the

A solid trout taken in the marina. of them, but a lot are empty and not worth taking. This isn’t uncommon for this time of year. Quality should start improving from now on. Touch wood we get a little more rain to really get them moving. On a recent camping trip, I tried the Hayes Deluxe crab pots for the first time. These are a top entry dome type pot. At first

bommies around Guthrie Shoals recently and all the good fish around the 10kg mark were taken on smaller baits. I was amazed to see the number of brown Maori cod that came aboard. This is normally a sign of a healthy, unpressured reef. At one stage I managed five in a row while everyone around me was catching emperor. Unhappy with this, I went to my old faithful bait of a whole hussar side with the tail left on and still couldn’t manage one. All the emperor were caught

the surface bite can really turn it on and some of the most exciting jack fishing can be had. The Lucky Craft Tone Splash and Lucky Craft Gunfish are up there with the pick of surface lures. A new product to keep an eye on is Reflexion’s new 5” jerk minnow. This thing looks like an absolute jack killer. The 5” Bammer is already up there with my pick of the jack plastics, but the jerk minnow takes the cake! Remember barra closure is still going. If barra is what

Stephane Sheather with a 55cm Lake Awoonga sooty taken on a Jackall TN70. on smaller pieces of fresh local squid. These isolated bommies didn’t produce one trout! Once again, sharks gave us a lot of grief when the fish really came on. This is starting to become an issue every trip. Using plastics and jigs, it adds up when you lose your gear every second drop due to sharks taking your fish. Throughout January, expect to see good numbers of jacks throughout most of the estuaries around Gladstone, especially when the storms start rolling in of an afternoon. This is when

you want, head to one of the impoundments. Give Justin Nye from Gladstone Fly and Sportfish a call. He has been producing the goods out there over the past month. He is as good as any and will get you onto the fish! • 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.

trout to be a little quiet for this time of year over the past month. Normally this is prime time for trout, but I’ve had a few reports coming back of poor numbers. Emperor have been in good numbers in the 40m+ depths around the shoals and further east. We managed to nab a good feed on isolated

Les Jones with a solid red taken on an isolated bommie in 45m of water. Stocking Association have worked tirelessly to get the dam back to its former glory days. They need a massive pat on the back for getting it to where it is now. Well done, mates. Sooty grunter are starting to pop up more and more out Awoonga. They seem to like the deeper timber in the dam. Fish up to 50cm+ pop up more and more. I’ve spent quite a bit of time exploring the upper reaches 56

JANUARY 2017

these guys on small poppers or stickbaits. On a recent trip to Jenny Lind Creek, I spent an afternoon throwing micro poppers and stickbaits for whiting and it was one of the most exciting sessions I’ve had in a long time. Watching 30cm whiting pack attack a small popper in a foot of gin clear water is as exciting as any form of fishing. By-catches of small GTs, flathead, bream and even a

Mitch Innocend with a 10kg red from a bommie in 45m.

Mitch Innocend with a healthy sooty taken in the upper reaches of the Boyne River.

FIND-A-WORD COMPETITION BAD SUBSTITUTES FOR MARINE CARPET

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The first correct entry at the end of each month will win the prize pack. SEND ENTRIES TO: QFM Find-a-word Competition, PO box 3172, Loganholme Qld 4129

FINS SCALES & TALES by A. Both

QFM JANUARY 2017

Phone (day):

Dynabait worms are an all-natural, freeze-dried bait. Just soak them in water, and within minutes they’re ready to go! As soon as they hit the water, they release a potent mix of hormones and enzymes that fish can’t resist. These worms are dynamite on bream, whiting, bass, flathead, blackfish, cod, yellowbelly, trevally and many more! Dynabait Bloodworms, Tubeworms and Sandworms are available at all good tackle stores.

FIND-A-WORD

Congratulations to M Stanger of Mingela, who was last month’s winner of the Find-a-Word Competition! Monthly winners receive a sponsor prize. Prize delivery can take 8 weeks. – QFM

BARRA COUNTRY by Brett Currie

SUBSCRIBER PRIZE

BITE ME by Trisha Mason

The subscriber prize winner for November was G Thomas of Injune, who won an ultimate Tackle Tactics Pack valued at over $300SRP. All subscribers are entered in the monthly subscriber prize draws. Prize delivery takes up to 8 weeks. – QFM

FIND THE ZMAN LOGO

GEORGE & NEV by Michael Hardy

The answers to Find the ZMan Logo for November were: 10, 15, 22, 31, 36, 45, 48, 50, 56, 62, 70, 75, 87, 93, 112. The Find the ZMan logo prize winners for November were: M Buckell of Victoria Point, B Adams of Bongaree, G McGrath of Avoca, F Brook of Leeton, B Newton of Trinity Beach, K O’Brien of Burrum Heads, R Waters of Temora, G Glinster of Ooralea, D Culshaw of Banyo, B Evans of River Heads, R Wright of Urangan, R Treacy of Frenchville, S Grice of Hope Island, D Dougan of Bucasia, H Maexipana of Kairi, J Bugno of Bardon, L Finney of Manumbar, W Collis of River Heads, K Edwards of Innisfail, N Kempthorne of River Heads, S Williams of Aspley, S Haddrill of Balmoral, T Grice of Caboolture, C Rowe of Loganholme, J Reed of Mooloollah Valley, L Hintz of Ormea, D Hall of Glenwood, M Chadwick of Burrum Heads, G Oliver of Seventeen Mile Rocks, B Mackey of Parkwood, R Kelly of Miriam Vale, R Quill of Tin Can Bay, D Davidson of Guyra, G Ward of Bloomfield, G Poor of Taromeo, G O’Brien of Mooroobool, R Peake of Gympie, M Gillett of Boonah, D Hutchins of Bundaberg, J Vee of Mawson. Prize delivery takes up to 8 weeks. – QFM

MAJOR FIND THE PRIZE

The Major prize winners for the Find the ZMan logo: 1st prize of $1000 prize pack goes to G Roberts of White Rock; 2nd prize of $500 prize pack goes to P Cobb of Berrigan; 3rd prize of $200 prize pack goes to J Inwood of Kirwan. All subscribers are entered in the monthly subscriber prize draws. Prize delivery takes up to 8 weeks. – QFM

Fully guided fishing in paradise with Norval FMG

Nicole Penfold nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au

Fishing with a guide in a remote location is something every angler dreams of. I experienced what this is like when I fished with a reef guru on a trip with Norval, at the remote Marion Reefs off Queensland, and it blew my mind. To catch such glamorous species in such a pristine location, with no other boat within 100nm of us, was unforgettable. An experience like that is too expensive for most anglers. For a 7-day reef trip with other operators, you’re probably looking at $7000-

all I cared about. That, and hot showers, of which there are two (there are two toilets as well). And the seemingly unlimited free beer is a welcome bonus! But what makes Norval really special is that you’re fishing very remote areas, roughly 200nm from land. You’ll never see another boat, and you don’t get that fishing pressure that you get in closer, which can educate the fish and reduce their numbers. The water in the outer Coral Sea is literally teeming with fish, not with boats. FISHING WITH A GUIDE The Norval experience is about to get even better. From March next year, Norval will be using a 6m tender with

with a local expert for a day or two to get ideas on how to fish the area, and the next day do your own thing with a mate or three. With the smaller tender you have the freedom to go wherever you want and do whatever you like, such as poppering for GTs or shallow water luring for trout. Whatever you choose to target though, you can expect a varied by-catch of other welcome species such as emperors, jobfish and the iridescent blue-spot trevally. One thing you definitely have to do is take the tender to a coral cay, and fish the shallows from the shore. It’s a true paradise, for both anglers and fish. I’ve spent

The shallow reefs are full of trout of all sizes.

Getting personalised help from a guru, like Redcliffe Marine’s Rick Clark, provides the ultimate fishing experience. $8000. For a 9-day guided trip with Norval, however, you’ll only spend $3500 – plus you get to take your catch home. The reason Norval is cheaper is partly because the vessel is economical to run, compared to faster vessels of a similar size. Another reason is that you don’t get the fancy, 5-star accommodation and fine-dining available on more expensive charters. The food on Norval is standard pub food – tasty and plentiful, but not fancy – supplemented with fresh reef fish. The cabins aren’t like the luxurious ones you’ll find on a Riviera, and you don’t have staff making your bed every day, but the beds are comfortable and that’s

a full-time guide specialising in pelagic and reef fishing. There’s nothing like fishing in paradise with a real guru, as I have found out. One of the main targets the guide will be chasing, depending on what the clients want to do, is dogtooth tuna. Marion is one of the most reliable places in Australia to catch a doggy, which is one of the reasons why Norval gets so many repeat clients. Catch a doggy and you’ll be euphoric, spending the rest of the day with a smile like a watermelon slice. And for anglers who like doing their own thing, there’s a smaller tender available as well. For an experienced angler, there’s nothing better than fishing

a lot of time around the reefs and islands off Townsville in North Queensland, so I’m no stranger to beautiful, fishy country, but this place blew my mind. FISHING FROM THE MOTHERSHIP Of course, if you’d rather stay on the mothership and fish from there, you can. Many anglers like to stick to the mothership, especially the older guys, and it has its own rewards. The focus there is on bottom fishing, where you’ll catch delicious reefies like coral trout. The mothership also trolls for pelagics between spots, catching everything from big Spanish mackerel to yellowfin tuna and doggies. If there’s something you’d

particularly like to do from the mothership, just have a chat to the skipper. Young gun Adam Cheers took the helm a few months ago, after a year of being groomed for the role. He has extensive experience fishing in the area, and he’s always happy to listen to clients. It’s all part of the varied, customisable experience that Norval prides itself on. The camaraderie aboard

where you can’t take your fish home, but you certainly can here. The Norval crew will fillet and deep freeze your catch before packing it into poly boxes for you to take on the plane. The only problem is that the box is pretty heavy; I recommend booking extra baggage on your return flight to avoid copping an inflated fee at the airport. Owner Ron Murphy is proud of the fact that his

– you’ll never miss it. And before you know it your trip is paid for!” If you would like to know more about these charters, which depart from Airlie Beach in Central Queensland, check out Norval’s revamped website. There’s a wealth of information on the trips available (including a map of the reefs), the vessel itself, what you need to bring, and photos and videos.

When it comes to pelagics, it’s not all about the doggies! Alan Ryder and Adam Chamberlain had a ball on these yellowfin.

If you’ve had a few trips with the guide and want to do your own thing, take a tender to fish from a coral cay. 58

JANUARY 2017

the MV Norval is great as well. At the end of the day after a hot shower and a hot meal, everyone dips into the free beer and sits around talking about who caught what. There’s lots of good-natured ribbing, and anticipation of what the next day might bring. TAKE YOUR CATCH HOME You may have heard of other charter operations

customers can take their catch home, and he also prides himself on his affordable pricing. Without it, he says, he wouldn’t have nearly as many repeat clients. “I call it the ‘working man’s affordable charter,”’ he explained. “A lot of people come back every year, while others return every second year. If you want to fish with us, all you have to do is put $100 away each month

There’s an online booking facility as well. Norval also has a Facebook page, which is regularly updated with photos from the latest trips. The Facebook page features lastminute special deals from time to time, so it’s worth keeping an eye on. Before you know it you could find yourself 200nm from land with a tropical brute on the end of your line!

MEMORIES Remote locations

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REEF CHARTERS Unfished Remote Reefs

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Pelagic Fishing Your catch is Filleted, bagged and snap frozen for transport

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Red Emperor

Spanish Mackerel

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contact Ron Murphy (owner) 0413 148 554 ď ž norval1@norvalcharters.com.au

Esturine action is getting reel YEPPOON

Scott Lynch ifishcq2@bigpond.com

Just about any species caught offshore around here is very active at the moment. Mackerel, cobia, tuna and other pelagics have been caught and will be about for the rest of the month at

least. Coral trout, tuskfish, cod, sweetlip and various red fish dominate the majority of reef captures. Big largemouth nannygai have moved into the closer rubble patches just behind the islands. Several of these spots are the best bait grounds in the area for catching yellowtail scad and slimys at times. The easiest way to catch them is

a bait jig. I find if you put a minute piece of squid on each hook or a smear of lure scent you will fill the jig almost every drop. We always put the first couple of livies straight back down on the bigger rods to see what is about. We nearly always nail one or two decent nannies or a red emperor. I have never caught any big numbers there, but you can’t be unhappy with a couple 6kg fish to start the day. Being so close to Yeppoon gives you options when the weather picks up or you want to go for a run out in the smaller boats. Just on dawn is the prime time, as we don’t seem to get any big fish during the middle of the day. The rubble patches are very low and you can drive over them if you aren’t watching the sounder. More often than not

locals. Fish turn up at all the close mackerel grounds around the islands. Most of these fish are school size from 5-8kg and the bigger fish may come through in ones and twos. Over Christmas I prefer to troll gar and small bonito if I have any left from earlier in the year. Otherwise I hook on a Crazy Deep or a big X-Rap and work the area. As always, when you see birds working with fish coming out of the water, they will more than likely be tuna. If you see birds working and no fish breaking the surface, they will most likely be mackerel. That means once we have a tuna or two for bait, we don’t bother about them. It’s entirely different when the schools of mackerel come through. The lack of decent rain

The storms are brewing and the bream are sizable too!

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Riley Bust with a Fitzroy thready. it is the bait schools that mark the spot. Most of the lesser mackerel have scarpered for other areas, except the odd school of doggies when the weather drops out and the bay is clean. Very early mornings at spots like Ritamada and Ironpot are always worth a shot. The Christmas Spanish run never disappoints the

recently has all the bait and its many predators right back up the river and almost into the town reaches. I saw an angler land a 13.5kg black jew at Devils Elbow this week. This isn’t a rare occurrence. In the dry years, this particular corner is known for the big schools of grunter that sit on the undulating bottom waiting for a feed underneath the faster current. Wherever you get grunter there is a chance of black jew, especially if there is a hole or structure. In Coorooman Creek, a couple of wrecks were removed because of the possible hazard to shipping, but they failed to remove all of the structures. On a trip last month, we found one was holding barramundi, golden snapper and some serious black jew. While we were there, the tides were too fast and the bite had shut down. It will be a prime spot when around the turn of the tides and even better at night. Other pick spots for estuary grunter are Port Alma, Connors Creek, Coorooman Creek, Waterpark Creek, the Causeway Lake and Pumpkin Creek. Best baits are fresh prawns, flesh strips, pilchards, squid and any of the smaller livies such as herring and mullet. Vibes are really head and shoulders above

Charlie Hohn with a Yeppoon mangrove jack. other lures when it comes to grunter and they can be more productive than baits when the bite is slow. I like the plastic vibes and the hard vibes but the one I go to mostly is a gold blade vibe. Many of the favourite estuary species remain on the chew over summer – flathead, mangrove jack, golden snapper, bream, trevally, whiting, dart, king threadfin and blue salmon are around. January and December usually put up the biggest bream of the year. Although the numbers aren’t the same as during the mid-year spawning, the size is there. One local man recently caught several fish over 450mm with one topping 500mm. These fish are extremely hard to find and to do it regularly is some kind of effort. Most of these big fish are released with the odd one taken for a feed. Prawns, flesh strips, half pillies and yabbies are the popular baits. I like small butterflied poddy mullet and live herring to vary the baits when the bite is slow.

away from the school perform a whole lot better. The main schools are hanging along the drop offs from the rubble to mud in approximately 5m of water. Anglers who troll prefer to use a bright hardbody with a small rattle that will touch bottom occasionally. The better fighting fish are the ones that work the mud flats and drains. Sometimes you can put a little vibe into a tiny mud drain with a foot of water and get onto a serious threadies that will go hard. Most of our local systems hold king threadfin salmon in ones and twos. You never see anything like the giant schools in the Fitzroy. There’s only a few more weeks until barra season opens again. This is the time to get your gear together, service your reel and check your runners. It pays to scout the local systems for new features that weren’t there before and mark them for future reference. I found some top structures, fallen trees and

Tony Jenkins’ whopper 485mm bream. Like last month, big king threadfin salmon have moved right up to town. The school grew bigger over the month and takes up a large area downstream of Gavial Creek. Vibes are definitely the way to go for the fun factor. Many guys still prefer to troll and use very light gear. Some of these threadies are upwards of a metre and can go very hard. I find that as the school thickens, they get very lazy and don’t put up much of a show. Fish

logs that weren’t there previously. One spot I will be going back to has a bundle of horizontal timber in the bottom of a hole just out from the main tree line. These types of spots are where barramundi will move to over the low tide. There are lots of barra in all the systems, which means the opening will be a good one, provided the weather plays the part and we don’t get flooded out.

Another year, another fish, another challenge! ROCKHAMPTON

Clayton Nicholls clay94_fishing@live.com.au

Hopefully all the avid readers got stockings full of lures over the Christmas period and picked up some great bargains on all the sales days that followed. I know I certainly added some new gear to the collection. Each year I try to set myself a goal to target a new species, or one I have not targeted for quite some time and I would encourage everyone to do the same. Throughout December, there has been some great threadfin fishing up in the river town reaches with plenty of people getting jacks and grunter too. The creeks and estuaries certainly copped a hiding with the holidays, but are fishing well even under all the pressure. FITZROY AND THE NARROWS Closed season for our dominant sportfish is still in action, but there have been reports of plenty of threadies, blue salmon and golden snapper around the river, predominantly

towards the mouth with all the islands and narrow branching creek systems. The town reaches have been holding a good population of threadfin and grunter. The threadies have been going well on lightly-weighted plastics using a prawn-like pattern. There have been numerous mangrove jack caught around the area recently, with most of them being taken on soft plastics. There’s been plenty of small mullet around the ramps lately and all around that 7cm mark, making them perfect predator lollies, especially for the big bull sharks that have been in the river. RIVERS, CREEKS AND BEACHES In the creeks and on the beaches there have been really good numbers of flathead lurking, especially for this time of year. Grunter have not been an issue to target either, and have even been schooling up hard against mangrove edges. Whiting have been a consistent catch over the shallows on both lures and lightly-weighted yabbies pumped from the

yabby beds. Bream have been a common catch around the inlets, feeder creeks and rubble patches, and they have been hitting pretty much anything thrown at them. The most consistent lures recently in the estuaries would be the Gulp 3” Minnow in watermelon pearl and the Rapala X-Rap 8 in olive colour. FRESHWATER LAGOONS The combination of summer heat, storms and the abundance of small baitfish has turned the fresh right up. The best areas are around the lilies or tree lines. Small curl-tail plastics such as the make any fish in the freshwater lagoons come out and play! With a few more hot days getting into the middle of summer with the occasional rain, the freshwater areas should be filled will sportfish to target. Whoever wants to take up a challenge, casting a fly around the lilies should get good results. CRABBING The crabs this time of the year are extremely active and full to the top with meat. With all the

Grunter have been common catches in recent weeks, and have even been schooling up hard against mangrove edges. summer sales, crab pots are cheap as ever making it an affordable day on the water for anyone to give it go! Crabbing is a great way to pass the time when

the fishing is slow, and I know many people who go crabbing without wetting a line. For me, a few pots out is just another bit of fun while out chasing a prized

catch on rod and reel. It’s time to make that New Year’s resolution to target a species you haven’t targeted before or for quite some time!

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New January pursuits MACKAY

Keith Day habdays@bigpond.net.au

January is a time to look back over the past year, and to look forward to angling pursuits in 2017 – and how better to look forward, than with all our new fishing gear from the Christmas score. Reflection is good, but anticipation is great, as we look at new opportunities on the fishing front. December’s hot steamy weather is hopefully behind us now and we can look forward to ‘the wet’ beginning, providing our fisheries with a boost. Our fishing over the next three months will be very dependent on how much rain we get, and whether this is in the form of huge dumps, or more typical continuous showers and small storms.Whatever kind of rain events we get, you can bet the humidity will be running high – that usually triggers some pretty impressive bites around Mackay. FRESHWATER On the freshwater front, the barra fishing in our three dams has been sensational since around mid November last year, and this will likely continue. I expect there will be some rises in dam levels, and if these are not too dramatic, they won’t have much effect on the barra bite. But if there is a big run off into the dams, the barra will go quiet for a while, as the colder water running in is a bit of a turn off. They still have to eat, so a varied approach is called for. Most of the barra fishing in the dams concentrates on more open water around the bays and points, but there are plenty of fish in amongst Teenburra’s timber, and they can be found in some very shallow water. Lay down logs running out from the banks with some lilies or weed beds nearby will almost always hold a barra or two and many of these fish will be feeding on freshwater shrimp and crays, as well as their usual fare of bony bream. Look for these spots on wind blown shores, where the wave action (and that of passing boat wakes) stirs up

the minute bankside critters and the predators, from bony bream up, can get an easy feed. The food chain dictates that where there are baitfish or other feed sources, the barra won’t be far away. All three of our dams now have large populations of 1m+ barra, with many now over the 1200mm mark. These big fish aren’t easy though, and they will certainly test out both angler and gear. I expect that January will again see plenty of black and gold Squidgies being cast around the dams. Many anglers ‘hot rod’ these lures, by adding stingers, rattles or trimming the tail wrist to get more action. These modifications and tinkerings are not limited to plastics either. Big plastics like the black and gold Squidgy are

the ever reliable sooty will continue to provide plenty of action in the dams during January. If we get a big dump of rain and lots of run off coming into the dams, the sooties will be lining up at the inflow. Not only are they looking to knock over an easy feed, but the rising, running water also triggers their breeding instincts. During December MAFSA members injected a number of female sooties, but while eggs were produced, they proved not to be viable. However, as soon as there is any appreciable rise in the river or into the dams, the troops will be out chasing brood stock. Sooties will often smash large 150mm barra lures, but generally to target them the angler should downsize lures and tackle. While plastics

Coral trout are always a welcome catch, and Sam Mercer nailed these two beauties jigging plastics along a shallow reef drop off. a firm favourite locally, and our dam barra probably see more of these than any other lure. Similar offerings from Reidy’s, Tsunami, Tropic Angler, Storm, Castaic, ZMan and so on all get plenty of barra time in the dams. Local barra anglers will concentrate their efforts on the dams for this month, but are already thinking ahead to the opening in February. The dams are also throwing up plenty of horse-sized sooties, with many over 500mm caught during December –

and vibes take plenty of sooties, the most reliable lure is a spinnerbait and at low light, small poppers. I prefer colours like black/ gold/red/yellow and various combinations, and on the poppers I mostly tie on some small feathers or similar fly material to just give a bit of added attraction. CREEK AND ESTUARY Moving down into the salt water, January catches will be influenced by rainfall and baitfish/prawn availability. Prawns are the

More anglers are discovering how versatile soft stickbaits can be, as demonstrated by Troy Taylor with this nice queenfish. number one tucker for almost any saltwater creek species, but they’ve been a bit scarce due to the lack of rain. It’s the same story for mud crabs, so bring on the wet! Most creek and estuary catches have consisted of grunter, flathead, golden snapper (fingermark), some threadfin and plenty of mangrove jack during the hot December weather. We can expect these same species to dominate catches during January. Mangrove jack are of course snag dwellers, but on some occasions they will be found some distance from cover, and when they are, the chances of landing the fish are much better. Chase the jacks around rock bars, freshly drowned mangroves and any substantial snag. Jacks tend to be on heavier snags than barramundi. The latter will often sit on a single small stick or juvenile mangrove. BEACHES Moving out along the beaches, anglers can expect to find plenty of delicious whiting, and although not huge by southern standards, they are every bit as sweet on the plate. Fresh whiting fillets rolled in flour and fried in butter with a squeeze of lemon or lime, a nice salad and a crisp white wine is food fit for a king. Flathead, bream, trevally and grunter will also often feature in angler’s bags along our beaches, and all these species will take a well-presented yabby or squid strip, worked with minimal weight and

light line. This is good fun, and a nice feed of fresh fish is a great reward. Towards the end of November last year, I was fortunate to attend a workshop on our Net Free Zone, one year on from the declaration, and the positive attitudes and vibes coming out of that meeting were great. Even an old cynic like me was impressed, and the data presented by Luke Galea and others was a real eye opener. Take for example the boat ramp, surveys showed that anglers catching at least one legal size fish increased by over 20% in the first three months of the NFZ. Talk amongst anglers also indicates that the NFZ is a great move for the Seaforth area north of Mackay, and I expect the positive trend in the fisheries in this area to just keep on improving over the next couple of years. But I urge all anglers to value this resource, and don’t just rip in and take everything. Limit your catch and preserve this fishery for future generations. OFFSHORE Offshore fishing in January will be a mixed bag with good reef fish available when the weather permits access. The small mackerel species and tuna are likely to be about at the end of their season, but there will always be a few stragglers available. Around the islands anglers can expect to tangle with plenty of queenfish and trevally, and both respond to a number of techniques ranging from live and

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dead baits, to flyfishing. Truly, multidimensional recreational angling is available with both these species. Many anglers are now targeting them using large plastic stickbaits and metal jigs – the soft vibes are great on both, but tidal currents can make it difficult to get the lure down to the fish. These things will catch just about anything that swims, and it is not necessary to spend $30 on a lure, as the cheaper variations around $10-$15 each will catch plenty of fish. I like the Fuze range, particularly those that are largely clear – these are great lures. Look for the queenies and trevally around all our close islands, such as the Seaforth area, Flat and Round Top and the islands off Sarina. The larger boats will find them in numbers at places like St Bees/ Keswick and up through the Goldsmith islands group. Trolling big poppers and minnows in a spread is a good system, while keeping a close eye on the sounder for any bait school shows. Find the bait, and you will find the fish – one of nature’s golden rules of survival. So while we are sweltering here in the tropics, we know that there is also plenty of red-hot fishing ready to go. As always, the Mackay area offers a huge diversity of fishing experiences, from the rainforest, dams and out to the reef, so why not, make it a point to come and join us in paradise. See you at the ramp.

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Throw a spanner in the works QFM

Michael Fox

Spanner crabs are one crustacean that you don’t hear a lot about unless you’re sitting at a

proceeded out to a spanner crab mark that a local had previously given us. If you do not know a friendly local, then ask at the local tackle shop or drop into the pub for a coldie and ask someone who the

The plan was to drop the traps and then go fishing for the day and pick them up on the way home. SPANNER CRAB GEAR The traps are simple, they consist of a 10mm steel rod frame approximately

The traps used for spanner crabs are very simple, this one was homemade, but they can be purchased very cheaply. seafood restaurant table reading the menu. This is probably because you can’t just wander down to your local creek, throw a trap in from the bank and catch a feed of them. You need to venture offshore in a sea worthy vessel and put a bit of time into the preparation, and on a recent fishing trip to Wooli on the Northern New South Wales coast, I did just that. Checking Willy Weather on arrival, I was greeted with four days straight of perfect offshore weather conditions. On the first day we thought it would be a good opportunity to take a couple of spanner crab traps out with us, just to see if they were around. After stopping at a close inshore reef to gather live baits for our day’s fishing adventure, we then

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the GPS and were off to the wider fishing grounds. After about 8 hours and one the best days fishing I’ve experienced for a long while, we headed back in to pick up the traps on the way home. We were

Appearance: The spanner crab (also known as the frog crab) is naturally red/ orange in colour with some small white spots on the top of the carapace. Their claws are large and inward facing and look like a spanner. Behaviour: Unlike other crabs, which move in a sideways motion, spanner crabs move forwards and backwards. They dig themselves into the sand, only exposing their eyes, and wait for prey.

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orange helps you locate them a lot easier later in the day, especially when you have the sun directly in your eyes. Once we had the floats deployed out in the water, we marked the spot on

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firmly with string within the framework. A gutter guard bait keeper is filled with fish frames from previous fishing trips, and zip tied in the middle of the trap on a bait keeper rope, which is attached to either side of the frame. These traps were home made, however they are made commercially through companies like Crab’n Gear Crab Pots in Brisbane and cost approximately $30 each. Spanner crabs prefer bare sandy grounds anywhere, and are sometimes as deep as 100m. The GPS mark that we had was in about 26m of water, so we set the traps on a slope heading down to about 35m: We allowed for 60m of 10mm rope tied be to one corner of the frame, and over the side of the boat it went, bait keeper side down. After the trap hit the bottom, we let another 10m of rope out. The current was screaming, so we attached three 200mm ball floats to the end of the rope. Stainless Steel Carabiner style clips are used so that when you put out the required amount of rope you can tie a loop knot in the main line and clip the floats on to it. Painting the floats bright yellow or

Closed season: There is a spanner crab closed season in Queensland from midnight 20 November to midnight 20 December inclusive. The closed season protects spanner crabs when they are most vulnerable during their breeding season. Size and bag limits: The legal size in Queensland is 10cm carapace length, measured from the centre spine to the mid carapace base along the back. There is a bag limit of 20 in possession. In NSW there is a minimum legal length of 9.3cm carapace length and a recreational bag limit of 10 crabs in possession. Trap regulations: You are allowed four traps per person and they must be marked correctly with your full name and address. Only one trap per float is allowed in QLD. Life cycle: Spanner crabs spawn between October and February. Female crabs take about two years to mature and can produce two batches of eggs each season. Each batch can be around 120,000 eggs. Just remember that it is illegal to take egg-bearing (berried) female spanner crabs at any time of the year. It is thought that it takes approximately 10 years for the spanner crab to reach its maximum size.

to the netting. Up over the side and into the boat they came! Once we had removed the legal-sized crabs and put them into the esky and iced them down, we placed the under-sized crabs back in

that spanner crabs are naturally orange in colour, unlike muddies and sandies that go orange after you cook them. PREPARATION FOR EATING Back at camp, it was

shell. From there, you cut the body in half from the head to the tail and clean the guts out. There is hardly any the meat in the legs and claws. The bulk of the meat is in the body, and there is plenty. It’s a beautiful

Success! The crabs have their legs tangled in the mesh and aren’t going to escape any time soon.

After they’ve been cooked, it’s just a matter of extracting the carapace meat and you’ve got yourself some very tasty crab meat!

There’s easily enough there to feed at least a couple of hungry people. hoping that we might have a couple of spanner crabs to complement our esky of snapper, pearlies and kingfish. On our return the trap floats were nowhere to be

current they had moved from the original drop zone, so some searching needed to be done. After a few minutes searching we motored up to the first of the two traps.

up. The rope was tight and the trap felt heavy as I pulled it up through the water column. As it got closer to the boat I noticed a couple of crabs fall off and head back to the

the water. In Queensland, the legal size is 10cm carapace length and a 9.3cm carapace length in NSW. We then moved onto looking for the second trap, which was only about 100m away. It was the other deckie’s turn to do the pulling. He was complaining all the time that it was heavy and, of course, I told him to toughen up. Soon enough, we had colour and realised that we hit the mother lode! Another 14 crabs came up over the side. Again, after sending the smaller ones back to grow up a little

time to cook them and have a feast. First, we brought a cooker full of seawater to a rapid boil. The trick is to keep the saltwater in the live bait tank from the boat and use it in the cooker. After that, we placed the crabs in the cooking basket and lowered it in the boiling water. We used a big burner, as the water needs to be back on the boil quickly. It helps when you have a purpose built crab cooker. Once back to the boil, we cooked them for 13 minutes. After cooking,

white-segmented flesh that pulls out and separates easily from the shell, which makes it easy to eat. The spanner crab has very sweet tasting meat and is one of the best tasting of all the crabs. If you catch the mother lode and want to take some home at the end of your holiday, I would recommend that you cut them in half, clean the guts out and freeze them green (un-cooked), the meat will stay firmer when defrosted and cooked. The meat gets mushy when defrosted if you cook the

Once in the boiling water, tasty spanner crabs are just minutes away.

The inward facing claws are where the spanner crab gets its name. seen on the GPS marks. The traps lay flat on the bottom, however with the strong

I used the gaff to assist in retrieving the float line and started to pull the trap

bottom of the ocean, not that it worried us, as there were still six or so attached

more, the esky was full of good-sized spanners and we had more than enough to feed the whole crew for the next couple of days. From two traps and one drop, we had more than enough spanner crabs to feed a small army. I did find it interesting

they were removed and placed in an ice slurry to cool down quickly. Cooling them quickly will prevent them from becoming over-cooked. Cleaning is easy, just pull the flap at the bottom near the rear legs up and remove the main body

crab first and then freeze it. There is a little bit of mucking around to set the traps and find the right spot to drop them, however the reward at the end of the day can be fantastic and well worth the effort. Why not make spanner crabbing a part of your offshore trips? JANUARY 2017

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Estuarine options abound in the warm weather AYR

Steve Farmer

Burdekin Creek fishing in late November and early December has been popular with local anglers, with the unseasonably strong winds limiting most fishos to these sheltered waters. Fortunately flathead, grunter and mangrove jack, the mainstays of the estuaries, are fishing moderately well for this time of the year and should continue to do so well into January. Mid-morning high tides are ideal for targeting the dusky flathead at this time of the year. I like to fish a couple of hours in the lead up to high tide and an hour or so after, if our catch is modest. This approach does not require an ultra-early start, and you can be home before the day gets too hot. While soft plastics are effective and popular, I prefer small hardbodies (some as small as 40mm long), when targeting flathead. Deep divers are essential, as they will quickly dive down and plough the bottom where the flathead are laying buried

in the sand. Vary your retrieve speed or retrieve in a stop/start fashion so that your lure darts erratically across the bottom like a wounded baitfish. If you prefer bait fishing for flathead, thread a small whole mullet or herring onto a single or a set of ganged hooks, and run a small ball sinker right down onto the hook. This will get your bait to the bottom, and allow you to work it in a similar but slower way as you would a lure. The trick is to keep it moving. You can also add action by allowing your boat to drift or the current to wash your bait along. If it’s grunter you prefer, then it pays to fish light and ensure your hooks are sharp. For creek grunter almost any bait can be effective, but prawns and yabbies are more likely to attract the attention of pesky tiddlers. Whole or slabbed herring, or small mullet (fresh is best) are more likely to score you a quality fish. Legal sizes for the two species of grunter we have in our local estuaries vary considerably, and it can be difficult to distinguish between the two fish. The

Mangrove jack should continue to be a reliable catch in Burdekin estuaries throughout January.

barred or spotted grunter must be at least 40cm in length, while the silver or small spotted grunter is just 30cm. Smaller grunter don’t yield a lot of fillet for their size, and cautious anglers might sensibly set a personal minimum take size of 40cm for all grunter. The other summer favourite for Burdekin estuary fishers is the mangrove jack. Luring for this species is becoming more and more popular and is certainly an exciting way to catch this tasty table fish. Hardbody lures around 80mm-100mm long seem to work well. Deep or medium divers are ideal, as they kick into action inside the mangrove jack’s limited strike zone, the moment you begin the retrieve. Accurate casting ability is essential to allow you to consistently drop the lure close to the snags, which mangrove jack like to inhabit. Fishing can be pretty tough in North Queensland throughout January for a number of reasons, but clued-up locals can usually overcome these little discomforts. For example, with temperatures climbing and the days getting longer,

heat and excessive sun exposure can be a problem. As well as sunscreen, long sleeved shirts and broadbrimmed hats, you can also limit your UV exposure by simply varying your fishing hours. Fishing early and late and possibly at night means you avoid those hot midday hours when the sun is at its worst. Fishing early means you can also avoid the Bluewater hazards at this time of the year – the afternoon sea breeze and the summer storms. Cancel overnight trips (especially open-water forays) if there is any hint of a thunderstorm in the forecast. Even in the confines of an estuary, a violent electrical storm can be dangerous, and at the very least, uncomfortable. Finally, the major challenge to fishing in North Queensland during January is a fair dinkum wet season that produces torrential rain and flooded streams. If that’s the hand we are dealt then all you can do is look for waterways that aren’t flood-affected. The other option is to leave the boat in the shed and prepare your tackle for the opening of the barra season on 1 February.

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Pulling ‘em past the sharks WHITSUNDAYS

Luke Griffiths

Happy New Year! We made it through the silly season and hopefully made some resolutions to stick to. December was a bit of a mixed bag with all sorts of weather, though it was fantastic to see so many people out on the water last month lapping up the holidays, and hopefully relaxing a little before the year kicked off. From all reports, it was a great finish to 2016. Most species found their way onto anglers’ hooks. One species that found their way many times was cobia. This is the usual time we see them make their appearance in the Whitsundays. They’re great fun no matter what type of

Dan Zealand got this solid red emperor past the sharks. often mistaken for sharks! The sharks are out in force again and seem to be an ever-increasing issue around these parts, and all over Queensland

decision we can make. It’s about time the decision makers pull their heads out of the sand, revisit and rethink. We should be implementing an educated

talking about mass murdering the whole population, just controlling numbers. After all, we control the pests that impact our produce on the land, don’t we? The outer reefs have been fishing quite well with some ripper numbers of coral trout and red-throat emperor caught. Most fish have been of quality size as well. Fishing the reef edges and shallows has accounted for most fish with the humble old running ball sinker rig doing the damage. Floating a pilly or live bait while fishing at the reefs is also a good idea, as some large Spanish mackerel have been lurking about too. These can be a great addition to your icebox at the end of the day. Remember, the larger fish could contain ciguatera poison. It’s a good idea to release the big ones to fight another day. The deeper water fishing has been consistent. Quality nannygai, red emperor and goldband snapper have been caught on the deeper reefs and shoals. Make use of the smaller tides this month and you should be rewarded for your efforts. It is a good idea to move on once the sharks turn up, as you will only waste quality fish trying to land more. If you don’t want to make the effort to travel out that far

The author helping Renegade client Glenn with his first-ever sailfish. this month, the islands will be a great place to dart out for a fishing fix. The island staples of coral trout, sweetlip and snapper are in good numbers for those who are keen on taking a feed home, so you should see yourself with a brace of these guys if you try your luck in close. For the pelagic warriors, there have been some nicesized Spanish mackerel, GTs and billfish cruising the outer islands, so a well placed bait or artificial could see you rewarded this month. The black marlin and sailfish were hanging around for Santa last month with good numbers making a welcomed appearance. This month should see a few about

still, so keep an eye out with your good eye. The local estuaries should be ok this month, even after the flogging they got over the holiday break. Mangrove jack, salmon, grunter and muddies have all been reported in good numbers, with most techniques landing the fish. Be sure to watch your fingers and toes down amongst these estuaries, as some whopper crocodiles like to call it home too. Good luck if you are heading out fishing this month. All the best for the New Year! • If you’re interested in a game, sport or reef fishing charters around the Whitsundays, give Luke a call on 0429 724 822 or email info@ renegadecharters.com.au.

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$21,500 Dave Lee holding a hard-fighting cobia – keep an eye out this month for a few lurking about. angler you are. They also make for fair eating as well. We should still see them this month, so keep an eye out for them. If you think you have a shark on, take a second look, as cobia are

waters. They never really stopped. Something needs to happen in regards to the massive increase in sharks up and down the coast, as they are a real problem. Unfortunately, that’s not a

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Keep that pulse up with exciting summer species TOWNSVILLE

Dave Hodge

It’s an awesome time of year to be a North Queensland fisher. It doesn’t seem to matter where you go or what you want to chase – there’s always something biting, if you don’t mind the heat too much. With the anticipation of a good wet, the mood has lifted amongst fishos. The freshwater reaches of the Ross are legally fishable during the closed season with the purchase of a SIPS permit, so it’ll be interesting to see how many people give it a go. The super moon that was all the talk produced some serious fish off the surface for the freshwater specialists. Another lucky angler got a 1.1m monster on fly. It’s actually the second fly-caught 1.1m fish recently and that’s a pretty cool achievement on the long wand. It doesn’t really matter if it’s the weir waters of the Ross, an impoundment or a small creek or stream, there’s something different about the fresh stuff that relaxes you a bit and brings you back down to earth. It’s probably because there’s so much other stuff to look at while you fish. The creeks are starving of water, but the fish still need to eat, so I decided to take the young fella to see if he could get his first jungle perch before the rains hopefully come along and dirty the waters. I wondered what was going through his mind while he considered every lure and sat on the bank staring at water. One by one, he went through half the box until he picked something he thought would do the job and then tied it on. Small barra were a pest,

Tannhym outfished the author with this 52mm Scorpion.

that there will be fish on the chew with them. Golden snapper are really putting on a show now, and they have become the focus of some of the shallow water specialists that fish from kayaks and small boats. While no monsters at up to 70cm, and regularly around 60cm, they’re great sport and can be released unharmed in under 10m of water. There’s nothing wrong with keeping one or two – they’re top table fair. Just remember, these things are slow growing and an important species. Finally, the Akwa Pro Tackle store has moved to new premises at 10/232 in the Woolcock Street Complex in Currajong. The move has proven to be a great success and the parking has made all the difference. Boaties can pull up now and get supplies with heaps of parking. Akwa’s been busy stocking up for the Chrissy period, so there’s heaps of specials and a huge range to choose from. Anyway, I hope you had a great festive season and the big red fella treated you kindly.

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Brendon Lowe caught this beast off the surface recently. She’s a full on fat mother that blew the theory that freshwater barra don’t pull out the window. the JP up the bank, and there was another one off his bucket list. Not only that, but it was a nice one at 40cm. A few casts later, a 36cm fish was gently unhooked and released, almost reverently by Tannhym. Still on a high

Dressed in his ‘You can’t see me’ gear, Tannhym got dragged all over the place before landing his first freshwater jack. A soft tipped rod like the Samurai Inflict makes long casts easy. and after about the third one, the chrome flashes up in the shadows showed a bit more promise. There were a few tense moments as I slid

take someone up on their offer and give it a go. The bottom fishing has really hit its stride now, and large-mouthed nannies and red emperor in the ‘holy crap’ size range are pretty common, if you can get past the bities. The further you go out, the less sharks. This has been the incentive for boats to do more overnighters. Night has been time to use the cuttlies. Don’t be afraid to use a bait that seems a bit on the big side. Rigging two 10/0 Gamakatsu Suicides about 150mm apart, one on the back of the hood and another pinning the hood and head together improves the hook-up ratio. They’re an extremely sharp and strong hook so you can really give it to them on 80lb braid and 100lb leader. Soft plastics are still accounting for plenty of fish, but it may be worth holding out on them and sticking to baits, if the sharks and macs are thick. Until recently, the baitfish were thick everywhere. They seem to have thinned out a bit. You can be pretty certain if you see bait on the surface or on the sounder

and buzzing from his achievement, he slowly slid down the bank and shot a flat cast up under some trees about 15m away. While he

was jabbering away about how awesome JP fishing was, he got slammed by something obviously more serious. I was holding my breath and whispering to myself, “It couldn’t be a jack, could it?” Then that red flash gave it away. Another first, and often held in higher regard than JPs, freshwater jacks are another prestigious fish to mark off that list of desired species. For a jack, 46cm isn’t bad. On the JP tackle, it was a well-earned fish. He also caught a few snakehead gudgeon – more firsts. All was good. On the drive home, I couldn’t believe how relaxed we both felt. I started to remember why I love that stuff so much. Over to salt, I just need to highlight the very real risks of ciguatera poisoning at the moment, as there have been several serious cases in recent weeks. The two main culprits have been big trout and big Spanish mackerel. I was talking to one of the victims who was informed that there had actually been three deaths caused

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by ciguatera poisoning this year and over 30 ICU admittances. She was saying he had felt a slight paralysis feeling in her legs to start with and over a couple of days it got more severe. Then she stated to have stomach cramps. By the time she made it to hospital, her pulse was down to 36bpm, and she was lucky to have survived this one. We don’t really get out wide to the big fish grounds much, so it’s not really a concern to us, but if your a regular reefy, it could be worth keeping in mind. Talking to the guys who spend a lot of time way out in the deep stuff, there seems to be an emerging dogtooth tuna fishery out there, and lots of jigs and trolled lures are getting confiscated by these brutal things. They have sort of been a bit of a boredom breaker for marlin fishos out wider, but I get the impression they’re becoming more excited by the doggies than the billfish. I haven’t been out there and my back’s begging me not to, but I think I’ll have to JANUARY 2017

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As another year passes, I like to set myself some goals for the New Year. Last year I wanted a 60cm mangrove jack from my local waters, which is a tough challenge in NQ. I didn’t achieve this, but got a couple around the 58cm mark – close, but can’t tick that box yet. 2017 for me will be learning a lot more about impoundment barra One of the biggest factors for epic fishing also takes place in the New Year

what they’re feeding on can be the secret to success. A good quality sounder will also make finding fish and good fishing locations easier. The jacks, as usual, have been biting their heads off. The fresh water can make them difficult to locate, so if there has been a bit of rain, it’s best to shoot on up into the Benjamin Flats area – this will provide clean water that still has plenty of hungry fish. Benjamin Flats is a huge area, and it’s easy to get lost there have been plenty of stories of visiting anglers getting lost as they try find there way at night. Your best bet is to make sure

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JANUARY 2017

Threadfin salmon have been plentiful in the Hinchinbrook Channel. – the wet season. Fingers are crossed all over the country for rain, and NQ needs it bad. Fishing Lucinda in January is normally a safe time to make the trip, and as in most cases, the heavy rains have not begun yet. It also can fish very well, with hot, humid days and the odd thunderstorm getting the fish active. Happy New Year to all the readers, and lets get stuck into some great 2017 fishing! HINCHINBROOK CHANNEL Barra are still off limits until next month, and hopefully there has been a lot of early rain to help in their spawning. The usual targets of mangrove jack, grunter and fingermark are the fish to chase, and they all should be biting their heads off. The bonus of threadfin salmon adds all the more reason to get out and spend some time on the water. In early December I stumbled upon a big school of threadfin up a tiny creek and they stayed in this spot for two days, and I kept visiting – this was so much fun, and I hope this means they’re on their way into the channel for a feed. Threadfin will take live baits, and occasionally dead baits, but chasing them with lures, plastics and blades is your best bet. They are not a species I have caught much of, but everyone regards them as one of the pickiest eaters. So trying to match

it is marked in your GPS unit. There is a boat ramp at Fishers Creek that allows easier access into Benjamin Flats – you’ll want about 1.7m to get back onto the ramp without to much hassle. JETTY, ISLANDS AND REEF The weather can be pretty good in January. Allowing for early morning departures and making sure you’re back in before the summer NE sea breeze is a good idea. I haven’t been on the blue water for some time, but I

A big school of threadfin stayed in the same spot for two days, and the author kept visiting. have heard great reports of big red emperor and large mouth nannies being caught in the close spots in the shipping lane. There isn’t much substantial bottom structure out there, but if you look around you are sure to find some small lumps and bumps. Trophy fish are often caught on the smallest patch of bottom, so it pays to stop and drop a few quality baits on it. The best baits are often fresh fish fillets such as hussar, but squid and cuttlefish get their fair share of emperor. Big hooks are a must, and a lot

of gun red anglers use a set of two or three hook gangs – this allows a straight natural bait presentation and also more chance of sinking a hook into that prize fish. There has been plenty of action on the jetty in the early mornings. Cobia have been hanging around causing a nuisance, and a worked 7” scented jerk shad will get eaten. Cobia are one of the most persistent and annoying fish to get boat side. They normally give you one quick net or gaff shot, then they circle the boat constantly, never giving

The jacks have been biting their heads off.

Threadfin will take live baits, and occasionally dead baits, but chasing them with lures is your best bet.

up. The GTs have been a bit hit and miss, with some sessions providing great results and others leaving you fishless. I like to start at the very end of the jetty and use the current or wind to push me down within casting distance, while casting poppers through the other side. Nearly all fish hit the popper, as it comes out from the shade and in tight to the pylons. It’s a crazy few minutes while you attempt to wrestle a rampaging 20kg+ GT from an encrusted pylon. Fingermark bream have also been biting well on the smaller tides – getting some live squid and sending them to the bottom should see you hooked up to these amazing fish. They fight hard so make sure you are using gear that means you can put a little hurt on hard running fish.

Working up a storm CAIRNS

Garry Smith garrysmith@fishingmonthly.com.au

January fishing is a bit like the weather – a mixed bag. The weather is often a combination of flat calm seas, northerlies and howling southeasterlies, with the occasional cyclone thrown in to stir things up. The fishing tends to be the reverse, with periods of no action, the occasional hot bite, and the less frequent super session. Whatever the fishing brings, the one constant will be the heat, so be prepared for it and work around it, rather than through it. Dawn, dusk and night are the right times to fish. The main topic on anglers’ minds is, will we get a decent wet season? After a number of failed wets, an outlook without a good wet season is very grim. Tinaroo is drastically low and only a major weather event, like a cyclone or tropical low, will have any significant impact. Tinaroo is a pretty good gauge for the area as a whole, but if it’s suffering, then so is the whole eco-system, and the only antidote is big rain. Here’s hoping! The fishing has been sporadic, and will continue to be that way until the wet season or the non-wet season runs its course. The key to success this month is flexibility of approach,

and taking advantage of any window of opportunity that comes along. Change offers an opportunity, and comes in the form of variation to the hot, calm conditions that prevail most of the time. Any sudden downpour, flooding, storm or even the change of tide can be the spark that gets the fish moving. Think about how you feel when it’s oppressively hot, and a storm or heavy shower comes along – the same applies to fish. Hit the water just after a storm or downpour to take advantage of the change, but I don’t recommend hitting the water before a storm or it could be you that gets hit. Barra are still off the menu this month, so focus on chasing mangrove jack, grunter and golden snapper. The large morning high tides around the full moon on the 12th and new moon on the 28th are ideal times to chase grunter on the Hospital Flats and shell grit areas in Trinity Inlet. An early start with fresh baits strips of gar, mullet, sardines, mud herring, prawns, squid or cuttlefish will see you in with a good chance. Fish until the top of the tide and an hour or so of the fall, until the heat beats you. Take as wide a variety of bait as you can, and try different ones until you narrow down what they are feeding on. Grunter can be very specific about what they will eat at times. They are also very line and noise sensitive, so fish light and cast

well away from the boat. The best leader I have found is a green or brown braid. It has consistently performed better than the best quality fluorocarbon on grunter. The only thing I can put it down to is that it closely resembles the weed strands on the bottom. I use fluorocarbon leader for all fishing, except when chasing grunter. Jacks will be hiding in the shade in heavy cover, so target these areas early and late. Don’t be concerned about luring after dark, as they readily hit lures even on the darkest nights. The only challenge is finding areas you can still cast in the dark. I look for large rock areas away from the bank. Casting to a bank or trees in the dark is a great way to keep the tackle stores in business! Use small lures, especially soft plastics and prawn imitations, and work the bottom – if you are not hitting the bottom every metre or so you are too far away from the action. Golden snapper are the premier target species in my book, and offer the greatest challenge. It’s pretty well down to live bait or lures in the Cairns area, along with a big dose of patience. The Cairns Inlet has been producing some quality fish in recent months and fishing early, late and at night around the 1/4 and 3/4 moons, when there is less run, will see you in with a good chance. Live prawns, sardines, mud herring, mullet or squid on a dropper

Quality trout, like this 10kg beauty caught and released by Keelie Oliver from Cairns, are a great reward for those prepared to tough it out in the heat. rig is a good technique. Look for structure in deep water. Patience is the key to chasing golden snapper, as you can sit for hours without a touch, and then they will suddenly come on the bite and it can be over as quickly as it started, so be ready for action. The reef is a popular, though dodgy destination in January. The flat calm seas also come with extreme heat, which forces anglers into night fishing, which in turn comes with its own set of challenges – the main problems being storms and squalls. An innocent looking squall, with no lightning, can still pack a serious punch at this time of year – don’t be complacent, be safe. Keep a very close eye on the weather with all the tools and technology you can muster. The fishing is often

like the weather – very hit and miss. You can luck into a hot session, or spend the trip searching in vain. The main thing is to keep searching. Half an hour on a spot, with no keepers on board, is the signal to move. Fish tend to be fairly lethargic in hot weather and don’t tend to roam far, so you need to do the roaming to find them. Quality trout (like the one pictured), largemouth nannygai and red emperor can be the reward for those prepared to tough it out. Generally the fishing is better in deeper water, but it’s still worth an occasional look up in the shallows – just in case there has been a cool water upwelling over the reef. Spending extra time looking in good country, for bait schools is time well spent, especially if you troll a

couple of lures or dead or live baits in the process. It pays to mark a few bait schools while trolling, then come back and work them one at a time. They will usually hang on the one bommie for some time. Any bird action is well worth investigating, as there can be bottom action as well as surface action, especially under big bait schools. There will be plenty of pelagics on the prowl for those who like chasing the speed demons. But for those looking for a cool change, wandering up a small rainforest creek in search of jungle perch and sooty grunter is a great way to wet a line and stay relatively cool in the hot weather. An occasional dip, in a safe spot, helps keep the core body temperature down and is a great way to spend a steamy afternoon.

Cool down the water and heat up the fishing HINCHINBROOK

Ryan Moody info@ryanmoodyfishing.com

I hope you all had a safe start to the New Year. It has certainly been a hot start to the year, with no real indication of decent rain. For some reason we just keep missing out on the storms associated with the trough lines, from heat lows that come through the southern states. Just seems to make it as far as the Burdekin, but no further north. The heat has put off many fishing trips for northern anglers of late. The lack of trailers at the ramps is a good indication, and the fish stocks are getting a rest at the same time. When we get those scorching hot days, the fishing usually goes very quiet, and many species will head to deeper water, particularly around the neaper tides. When the waters are not moving around as much, the water seems to get hotter. On the fishing front, there has not been a lot

of talk, and I’ve also been away, but I’m guessing that many fishers have been going out at night to make the most of cooler periods, as well as the big grunter and golden snapper (fingermark) that thrive during the dark at this time of year. Coastal and inshore island headlands are great places

such as herring and squid are also attracted to these regions, and can be caught under a squid light. Both grunter and golden snapper are foragers and can also be found around shell beds and rubble pads, and using small mangrove crabs for bait is another option – crabs are quite often found in

The author with yet another great GT from the shallows. to start looking for them. The headlands create a good break in the current as well as a backwater in some areas when tides are larger. Bait

their stomach contents. These would have to be the two most targeted fish inshore at the moment, and both are excellent on the table. One

bonus in areas where we catch grunter and goldens, is the big GTs. There has been a lot of GTs around this year, which is great to see – not to mention it’s fun watching your clients get punished by these bruisers. During January it will be much of the same, particularly with barra season closed. Offshore fishers should concentrate at night for best results. Sometimes those still hot days won’t produce a bite out wide, but then as soon as the sun drops, things can change dramatically. It is a good time of year for encounters with the big reef jacks (mangrove jack). They seem to favour twilight hours over daytime once they become mature and head into these offshore areas. I have seen them as big as 25lb and heard of them even bigger. They are quite an impressive fish at that size. Another reef species worth targeting is the tuskfish. They love crustaceans for bait and thrive around the sandy and broken coral bottom areas in the lagoons. They are a

Ben Walker with a whopper GT. handsome fish and extremely good on the table – this is why they’re a popular target for spearfishers. Maori sea perch are another fish you may run into this time of year. These are a bit rarer than tuskies, and one of the most beautiful fish in the ocean. We like to release them these days when they’re caught around the islands, as their numbers are decreasing. If we do get some rain later in January, we should

see some good captures of mud crabs. The crabbing in the recent years of drought has been well below average, but they certainly respond to rainfall and the months to follow. Speaking of rainfall, here’s hoping something might happen this season. The drought is certainly dragging its feet, and there are many anglers just waiting for the boom seasons to come – we just need our big floods again first. JANUARY 2017

Great weather, fantastic fishing and full eskies COOKTOWN

Paul Prokopuk

Happy New Years readers, I hope you all have had success on the water over the holiday period. With the festive season coming to a close, the true summer period of Cooktown is in full swing. Battling the hot, humid days, sudden downpours and the occasional storms was a true trial but those fish in the esky made every second of it worth the trouble. The lucky anglers who decided to stay in Cooktown for the holidays were blessed with perfect weather and great fishing. There has been a plethora of reports coming in, telling of success in both the rivers and reef – it would have made for some incredible seafood feasts to celebrate Christmas. The great weather around Cooktown over the

Mark, Charlie and Riley with a great catch of a couple of Spanish mackerel and a coral trout. last month has seen plenty of reef anglers getting a good feed of quality fish. These perfect weather windows will continue right through until March, so there will

be plenty of opportunities to get out on the reefs. With the warmer water, coral trout, and large and small mouth nannygai have been filling the eskies, and when

working the deeper rubble patches, good numbers of red emperor have been as well. The rig of choice has been a double hook paternoster when finding the fish, but as soon as they start firing, a single hook will do the trick. As for pelagics, there have been good numbers of mackerel around and about, and you don’t have to go far to find them. With the bait still congregating around the river mouths, there have been plenty of mackerel caught around the headlands and inshore reefs. Trolling both shallow and deep diver lures (especially Qantas colours), and Wogheads rigged with a garfish dead bait are a difficult offering for the mackerel to resist. Some solid Spanish mackerel are still being caught in good numbers. If you are having no luck on the troll, float an unweighted pilchard on gang hookers down a berley

trail while bottom bashing and wait for the reel to go nuts. Best fish a light drag before cranking it up – set the hooks before the fish wire or heavy leader for these toothy critters. The estuaries in the Cooktown region have some great mangrove jack fishing at the moment, and this will continue well into March. For the sports fisher, throwing a hardbody lure or soft plastic into a snag has been a proven measure – just remember, when fishing for jacks, you need to get the upper hand straight away. Tight drags on 15lb-20lb main line and 30lb-40lb leader would be a good start. For the bait fisher there has still been an abundance of live bait around the ramps, wharfs and moorings. With no shortage of livies, this has been the preferred method with many reports of success from sinking a live bait on a rock bar or deep snag. The favoured rig

has been a running sinker and 30lb-40lb leader with a circle hook. If live bait isn’t an option, I have found well-presented freshly dead bait will end in the same result, and in some cases better, as these fish are opportunistic feeders. As for by-catches when targeting jacks, grunter are also taking a liking to a well presented soft bait such as a mullet strip or a peeled prawn. Around the headlands and further up the rivers in some of the deeper holes there have been some quality golden snapper and cod being taken. Barramundi may also come along and snatch up your bait, but these fish must be safely released until next month. Finally, if you are fishing the estuaries, remember to sink some pots, as there are reports of some chunky mud crabs being caught. Be prepared to check pots regularly, as there some cheeky crocs with the same idea.

Coming down with marlin fever PORT DOUGLAS

Lynton Heffer

As we enter into another new year with new adventures around the corner, it’s time to reflect upon the great end we had to 2016. Last year’s season rounded off in a fine fashion with a good return of big black marlin coming

to the fore, from the early parts of November right into the December. After a lackluster start in October, the marlin aggregation came beautifully together, with reports of fish being tagged and released on a fairly regular basis. As with any form of fishing, there can be quiet periods, but when the bites began, it was game on!

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Operations were registering on average 1-2 blacks per day, for up to a week at a time. Most of the big fish were tagged at the Opal Ridge and Linden Banks over the last month or so, with quite a few surpassing the magical 1000lb mark. Overall there were consistent numbers of marlin between the 250lb-300lb range, with a solid contribution from fish going between the 500lb-700lb scale this season. This region can boast the best marlin fishery in the world thanks to this late season bite. The last of the big marlin tournaments was the Port Douglas Marlin Challenge in mid November over four consecutive days, where there were 29 strikes, 26 hook-ups and 16 marlin tagged, with three fish estimated over 1000lb. Nowhere else in the world will you see fish caught this size at such a good strike rate. This is the reason why you have up to 40 world-class game boats anchored up over night at the Opal Reefs each evening. They are living and breathing on the doorstep of fishing immortality.

On a much more subtle scale, there have been other forms of fishing worth mentioning. Starting with the reef, it has been a challenging few weeks as temperatures begin to really soar. The fishing has been sporadic, especially around the spawning periods, but the best reports have come from fishing not as far out to sea as you think. Deep pinnacles in between the outer reef and the mainland have produced huge numbers of largemouth nannygai, up to 20+ fish in a session, all between the 4kg-8kg scope. On the outer reef itself it has mainly been coral trout, Moses perch, spangled emperor, tea-leaf and bludger trevally, stripies and some pretty handy cobia, which have been around in superior numbers this year. Notably, the Spanish mackerel dried up, barring the odd big rogue mackerel, which live a lonesome life often exceeding 20kg in size. Inshore, the rivers and creeks have been putting out some consistent catches on mangrove jack during the day, in amongst the shady mangrove banks and some

The Port Douglas Marlin Challenge saw three black marlin estimated over 1000lb. good golden snapper at night in the deeper holes. There’s been a good stream of trevally in most of our systems, and of good size up to 3kg. They have been tending to wander in with the incoming tide and have been most active when this tide coincides with early morning or late afternoon. By the early part of December we are still

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JANUARY 2017

yet to see a consistent run of rain, in fact the landscape is like kindling, and very dry. They are saying we are supposed to receive a proper wet season this summer, but we’ll have to wait and see. If the long hot dry spell extends, it generally means the fishing will slow down gradually until there is a change in the atmosphere.

Reef fishing in Cape York rain deadlock, with early rain models suggesting a transition year between El Niño and La Niña, we could be in for yet another wet season across the far north. Cyclone seasons tend to be hard to predict, and no doubt there will be a

CAPE YORK

Tim O’Reilly wildrivercompany@gmail.com

Fishing reef and offshore areas on Cape York’s east coast will be the pick of the options for fishers. Heading out wider than

required to stimulate food webs and enable fish recruitment into fresh and brackish waters will typically come between January and April. With warm water temperatures, shallow bays and reef areas can stagnate a little. Fish such as coral trout, stripies,

productive up the East Coast, adjacent to the large barrier reefs marked on the charts. Contour lines and deep shoal patches are a great place to begin your search and returning to marks, which looked good during the cooler months, but failed to fire. Large blue-spot trout and leopard trout can be targeted with jigs and baits on these deeper spots. In the gulf of Carpentaria, offshore spots such as isolated rock lumps and rubble patches will be the stand outs, especially in water deeper than 20m. Fish such as longtail tuna and

Blue-spot trout can be targeted with lures and baits on the deeper spots in the reefs. settle back into dry-season patterns. Look for flocks of birds on the horizon once

A great vibrant coral cod. usual is possible during much of the year – however, storms on the horizon can be a constant companion. Rewards in the deeper reef areas and current convergences will go to those rigged with trolling lures, surface lures, metals slices, soft plastics and jigs. After a long and hot dry season, January will be a crucial month in breaking the

few flurries circling around either the Gulf or Coral Sea. Typically, January will be a good indicator month for how much rain will fall in the following months. There will often be a lag period between a good or bad wet season and the corresponding fishing. Typically years with a lot of monsoonal rain fish better than those without. Those torrential downpours

tuskfish, tricky snapper, golden snapper and spangled emperor will still be feeding around shallow reefs and shoals. Deeper grounds will be more likely to yield red emperor, nannagai, jobfish, large cod and even some pelagic species more typical of shallow areas. Looking for pinnacles and isolated lumps in areas deeper than 35m will be

Tim with some great looking crays caught off Chapman Island. Spanish mackerel may have moved well offshore this time of year, only to return inshore once conditions

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the West Coast will be rewarded this time of year. Flat morning conditions coupled with clean water will make sight fishing a pleasure. Silver flashes and dark smudges can be clearly sighted with the sun behind you – especially on mornings clear of heavy cloud. Shrimp and small baitfish presentations will tempt most fish in feeding mode up on the flats – Just be a bit wary of box jellyfish and other dangerous critters swimming around this time of year. • For information on remote charter operations for tailored fishing adventures, please email Tim on wildrivercompany @gmail.com

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s hard to argue with the benefits of a Pickle Fork bow when you’re going fishing. pecially with a few mates. The design allows more storage and more It’s hard to argue with the benefits of a forward Pickle Fork bow when you’re going fishing. sting space. Simply put...more room for mates gear! The But the Pickleallows Fork also Especially with a fewand mates. design more storage and more forward

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The fishing is going off! WEIPA

Mark Bargenquast

Finally we are getting some cracker late arvo storms with plenty of thunder and lightning – the downside is the oppressing heat build-up before it rains, and the excessive humidity the day after – the upside is the fishing is going off!

it’s more rewarding to land one on a lure. Deep diving minnows in fluoro colors that get down to 3m, 20g vibes and small plastics are working well – keep an eye out for deep rocky holes and snaggy banks. Bigger golden snapper (fingermark) over 70cm are an offshore fish. Just like mangrove jack, when the golden snapper mature they

This beautifully vibrant tuskfish was caught on a hardbody lure. ESTUARY The estuaries are fishing well, with small golden snapper up to 55cm and in good numbers. Live baits are working well also, but I prefer lures, as you cover more country and

move offshore to the rocky, shelly areas, and can be targeted on vibes and live baits. They also respond well to a trolled deep diver or even better, a micro jig. They love ‘em! We’re currently in the

middle of the barramundi closed season, but it still amazes me how many anglers are specifically targeting them. Remember it’s illegal, and if you get caught, be prepared to pay the penalty. Barra can be a pest when fishing the drains for threadfin at this time of the year, as they inhabit the same areas and eat the same food. If you catch a barra during the closed season, please release it as quickly as possible, to avoid stressing the fish to the point where it will not breed. In any case, threadfin are much better on the plate. I honestly think barra are the most overrated eating fish available, but due to commercial advertising, they’re a glamour food fish. Threadies love a bit of fresh run-off, and can be frustrating when they’re fixated on jelly prawns. They’re an awesome table fish if bled and cooled, and fight and jump as good as anything – they can reach 150cm and 20kg. OFFSHORE Offshore, the light winds make for some great morning reef trips, with some big golden snapper, tuskfish, coral trout, sweetlip (emperor) and nannygai to be caught before

A great looking queenfish.

This barra was fighting hard! the afternoon westerly sea breeze arrives. Bloody sharks are a nuisance as usual, and even

though the radical greenies keep telling us they’re becoming extinct, they’re in plague numbers and increasing

every year. They’re becoming a real problem, and it’s about time measures were taken to reduce their numbers. The big run of Spanish mackerel has finally ended with a few stragglers around. At the moment there are plenty of grey and school mackerel, and tuna can be found pretty much everywhere in small pods. As usual, queenfish can be found just about everywhere, with sizes ranging from 30cm-120cm. They’ve been smashing baitfish in the river mouth and offshore, and they’re a lot of fun.

FISHING FILL-ITS

Controversial departure of the Geelong Star Just as a Senate inquiry report was being handed down on the operation of the Geelong Star, the super trawler was confirmed to have left Australian waters. There are conflicting reports as to why this happened, but it seems the Geelong Star’s owners couldn’t reach a financial agreement with Seafish Tasmania. A large number of people had opposed the vessel operating in Australian waters, and welcomed the news that it had left. The departure came after the Geelong Star had been operating in the small pelagic fishery for 18 months. Its earlier fishing efforts had been concentrated on the south coast of NSW, where a large number of people in the community opposed its operation. The most common concerns were that it was having a significant impact on marine life, recreational fishing and, in turn, the tourism industry. The operation had also been dogged by accusations of killing protected species such as dolphins, seals and even a whale shark. In a surprise turnaround, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority confirmed in late November that the vessel was no longer operating in Australian waters. A spokesman stressed that the 76

JANUARY 2017

The Geelong Star super trawler left under a cloud of controversy. Image courtesy of www.naroomanewsonline.com.au vessel was not subject to any investigation by AFMA for breaches of Commonwealth fishing regulations. The parent company of the vessel, Parlevliet and Van der Plas, released a statement saying that the Geelong Star was returning to the Netherlands under its old name of KW 172 Dirk Dirk because of financial reasons. Specifically, because of a breakdown in a commercial agreement with its Australian partners. “The reason is that we cannot achieve a financial/ commercial agreement with the local partners in Australia,” they stated. “The management regrets that we cannot continue this fishing operation, partly because of the very healthy local pelagic stocks. The vessel is reflagged from Australia to Dutch flag and is on its way to IJmuiden

(Netherlands). The old name of the ship is reinstated: KW 172 Dirk Dirk.” A very different statement came from the Small Pelagic Fishery Association (SPFA), which represents the vessel in Australia. The SPFA said the Geelong Star had left Australian waters because it had a serious mechanical issue that could not be repaired in Australia. They added that Seafish Tasmania was “reviewing its position but hopes to be back fishing as soon as possible”. One day after AFMA released the news, a Senate report was handed down, focussing on environmental, social and economic factors. The committee’s first recommendation was that the Australian government ban all factory freezer mid-water trawlers from operating in the Commonwealth Small Pelagic

Fishery. The report also indicated that the Australian public had lost confidence in Commonwealth fisheries management. The Coalition Senators’ opposing report stated that the government was committed to maintaining a balanced and science-based approach to fisheries policy making. Eden-Monaro MP Mike Kelly said he was proud of the stand that locals took to ensure proper consideration was given to the marine environment. The Geelong Star, now the KW 172 Dirk Dirk, is one of 13 super trawlers owned by Parlevliet and Van der Plas. Super trawlers, as opposed to traditional trawlers, process their catch aboard the vessel. A standard super trawler can process over 250 tonnes of fish a day, and have a cargo capacity of 6200 tonnes. A

net measuring approximately 300m long is dragged through waters above the bottom of the ocean. A net that size has an opening gape of roughly 80m by 35m. Any fish caught in the net are sucked onto the boat with a large pipe, and transferred to an on-board fish factory that automatically sorts, packs and freezes them. The catch is frozen whole and exported to markets such as West Africa for human consumption. Supporters say this kind of operation is sustainable, but they face fierce opposition from anglers, green groups, tourism operators and local communities. The concern is that super trawlers deplete local bait stocks too quickly for the population to bounce back by breeding. This depletion, stakeholders say,

would drive away valuable predator species such as bluefin tuna. In addition to this, questions have been raised in the past about the profitability of operating a super trawler in the small pelagic fishery in Australian waters. When discussing another super trawler, the Abel Tasman (Magiris), Jon Bryan from the Tasmanian Conservation Trust said there wasn’t much margin for error when it came to running a successful venture. “[Seafish Tasmania] was selling product into West Africa at a dollar per kilo,” he said. “Out of that… they have to pay for transport, processing, running the ship, wages, everything else associated with this operation. There’s relatively small margin for profit.” – FM

A standard super trawler can process over 250 tonnes of fish a day, with a total cargo capacity of roughly 6200 tonnes. Image courtesy of www.naroomanewsonline.com.au.

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Another sweet year in our sweetwater systems FRESHWATER

Angus James Instagram: @jimmygusjames

Wow December already! I guess time really does fly when your having fun. This year has been full of action and excitement

sooty grunter session. Up here in the Tropical North there are endless amounts of pristine systems to target this brute of the freshwater. It pays to spend some time researching locations via Google Maps to find likely looking areas to enhance your results. It’s fun to find

A great jungle perch taken from shallow water. as far as the fishing goes, and there is still plenty more fun to be had for the remainder of 2016.

great looking places on your computer screen, then walk in on foot and reap the rewards.

have a serious amount of fun in the late afternoons working the surface. The explosive surface strikes from these fish can be extraordinary. They are a powerful little critter that love to put up a great fight on the finesse gear. When it comes to soft plastic surface fishing, the new ZMan 4’’ Turbo CrawZ are worth checking out. Rig them weedless on a TTs ChinlockZ, and you have a deadly presentation that will catch you plenty of fish. MANGROVE JACK With all this extra humidity around, the mangrove jack fishing is going off. The little red dogs become super aggressive during these warmer months, and are well worth the effort to target. In the fresh water, these beautiful little juvenile specimens love to hit just about anything that lands in their domain. I love using little grub style soft plastics when targeting the pups. Flicking your lures right in the sweet spot will get the fish. They are waiting in the snags to attack anything that looks like a good bit of tucker, so accurate casting is the key, especially in the crystal clear freshwater

This hungry sooty couldn’t resist a bite. Another thing to remember is to bring your underwater camera. These

for these silver gems of the fresh. One wrong move and you can shut down the hole,

The environments you will find yourself in when targeting these fish are truly breathtaking.

These fish are absolutely stunning to look at, especially when caught in the sweet water streams. SOOTY GRUNTER If you want to get into some of the action, you can’t go past a land-based

Sooties love to smack a wide range of lures, especially surface presentations, and you can

streams. Spend some time positioning yourself in order to make that perfect cast.

fish are absolutely stunning to look at, especially when caught in the sweet water streams. JUNGLE PERCH Another magical species up here in the Tropical North that is a favourite among anglers the jungle perch. Not only are these fish absolutely beautiful to look at, but they are so much fun to catch and hunt down. When I say hunt, I mean hunt! All of your stalking skills come into play when searching

These powerful little critters love to put up a great fight.

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and miss your opportunity to land that trophy fish. Walking upstream is the way to go when targeting jungle perch. The flowing water will mask your noise and will also allow your artificial presentations to flow downsteam, looking more natural to the fish. Staying in the shadows as much as possible will benefit you as well. Jungle perch hit hard and fast – they really are the ultimate freshwater sportfish in the Tropical North. The environments you will find yourself in when targeting this ripper of a fish are truly breathtaking. I’d like to wish everyone a safe and happy Christmas and a great New Year. I will see you in 2017. Fish on!

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Topwater in the fresh TOOWOOMBA

Jason Ehrlich fishability1@bigpond.com

In the hot lead up to Christmas, anglers found more success in the mornings and afternoons. It’s not a bad idea to dodge the midday heat as the fish feel it too, especially in clear or shallower water. With the hot conditions often come storms and care needs to be taken to avoid getting caught out in these. The wind can whip up the dams and have waves rolling through when things turn nasty. This I can deal with but the thought of getting hailed on or dodging lightning bolts is a bit scarier. In the middle of a dam you are the tallest

thing and the perfect target for a lightning strike. If you can’t escape the storm maybe moving closer to the bank or nearer to a tree line would be a better option. Lightning is unpredictable, so we can only guess where we are safest – normally in the car or at home. With the build up to afternoon storms, the fish can turn on. The change in barometric pressure may be the reason for this and it’s normal for most freshwater fish to get more active around these events. Watch the radar if you have internet service or otherwise plan enough time to bail out and get the boat back on the trailer before storms hit. The hot weather can call for a change in approaches to

SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND CRESSBROOK CLOSEST TOWN: CROWS NEST Cressbrook bass have been playing the ‘tough

to catch’ game. Smaller fish have been thick out from the ramp and across to the buoy line through Bass Bay. The bigger models have been

catching fish. Surface luring is one of my favourite ways to fish at this time of year. Late arvo or very early morning sessions casting topwater offerings to barra, toga, sooties, cod and bass are hard to beat. Watching fish break that still lake or river surface as they inhale a surface lure just keeps you wanting more. With the New Year here, I like to make some fishing resolutions. These may be plans to target a certain species or catch a fish in a particular waterway or even a first fish on a new technique. Give yourself something to strive for on the fishing scene. When you work to earn your fishing goals, it makes it a more rewarding experience. Until next month, buckled rods from The Colonel!

        

DAMS Atkinson Awoonga Bjelke-Petersen Boondooma Borumba Burdekin Falls Callide Cania Clarendon Cooby Coolmunda

OCT NOV DEC 5 5 5 83 82 80 38 36 32 43 41 38 88 84 77 93 90 82 77 75 71 84 82 80 14 12 10 61 60 59 100 97 92

         

17 18

Toowoomba

BRISBANE

IMPOUNDMENT DAM

water of the main basin. Look for the thermocline on your sounder. This will show up as a cluttered mess at a particular depth in the water column. If you aren’t seeing any clutter on your sounder, crank up the sensitivity until it starts to appear. The fish will suspend in the deep water and the thermocline layer will be a key to pinpointing their comfort zone. Bass like to hold close to the clutter line so pay attention to the sounder to see if they are in, above or below it and chose a lure capable of reaching them.

56 58 58 75 73 71 9 7 7 99 98 97 50 48 42 70 70 70 98 97 95 86 84 80 93 88 76 54 52 41 30 30 28 82 78 72

Gold Coast

24 1 Tinaroo Falls Dam 2 Peter Faust Dam 3 Burdekin Falls Dam 4 Eungella Dam 5 Teemburra Dam 6 Kinchant Dam 7 Cania Dam 8 Lake Monduran 9 Isis Balancing Storage 10 Wuruma Dam 11 Lenthalls Dam 12 Boondooma Dam 13 Bjelke-Petersen Dam 14 Lake MacDonald 15 Gordonbrook Dam 16 Borumba Dam 17 Somerset Dam 18 Wivenhoe Dam 19 Pindari Dam 20 Copeton Dam 21 Moogerah Dam 22 Maroon Dam 23 Leslie Dam 24 Connolly Dam 25 Coolmunda Dam 26 Clarrie Hall Dam (NSW) 27 Hinze Dam 28 Lake Cressbrook 29 Callide Dam 30 Lake Awoonga 31 Lake Samsonvale 32 Fairbairn Dam 33 Koombooloomba Dam 34 Cooby Dam

23 25

Cairns 1

Townsville 2

3 4

Proserpine 6 Mackay

Rockhampton

Emerald

29 7

Highlighted dams are covered in this issue

Gladstone

30 8

Bundaberg 9

Maryborough

Roma

Due to being spread out, lure trolling is a great option. Deep diving hardbodies like the Blitz Baga, Golden Child, Kezza Mud Mouse (with the bigger bib) and Little Ripper and JDK Ripper are all good choices. The strong action of these lures and their ability to reach 10m deep if necessary sets them apart from a lot of other hardbodies. Try trolling on 4-8lb braid and you will find you can send lures at least 3m deeper than when using heavy braid or even relatively light monofilament. A lot of the trolled bass

BRISBANE

will come from water over 10m deep and within sight of the boat ramp and pump tower. A faster troll covers more water and really gets the lures vibrating and down to their maximum depth. Stick to using the outboard motor if you have one. Otherwise try to keep your troll speed at 3-5km/h, which is hard work with a paddle craft. Lure casters will be able to whack the fish when they can be found. Reaction lures like Jets tail spinners, blade baits and Mask Vibes will fool To page 80

w w w. b a r g a i n b o a t b i t s. c o m . a u

Dam............................ % Full 

harder to find with a few reported around Deer Island, and the toilet points up each end of the dam. The bigger bass tend to scatter through the warm months and can be found in the deep, cool

Copeton Cressbrook Dyer/Bill Gunn Eungella Fairbairn Glenlyon Hinze Julius Kinchant Koombooloomba Leslie Macdonald

Weipa

brought to you by

Dam............................ % Full

Golden perch are willing lure takers and can be caught on most SE Qld lakes. This fish was caught less than 100 metres from the Cooby Dam boat ramp.

DAM LEVELS

Gympie

Dam............................ % Full           

Maroon 100 99 99 Monduran/Fred Haigh 93 91 90 Moogerah 92 91 89 North Pine/Samsonvale 63 61 58 Peter Faust/Proserpine 62 60 57 Pindari 100 99 99 Somerset 79 79 77 Teemburra 96 93 90 Tinaroo 43 39 34 Toonumbar 98 95 94 Wivenhoe 78 76 74 Wuruma 89 88 84

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 14/12/16

(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.) JANUARY 2017

you stay out of trouble and abide by the rules. The gate hours for the boat ramps and day use area will be extended this month to 6am until 8pm.

From page 79

them into biting. Most fish are often caught as soon as a new school of fish is found. The longer you sit on them, the tougher they can get. Bait fishers may have trouble keeping the rat bass away. These undersized fish are usually first to steal a live shrimp. If you are plagued by smaller fish, try moving away from the schools and suspending a shrimp in the deep water. Bass will move in below the boat as you drift along and all you need to do is present the bait at the same depth they appear. For all your fishing supplies and the latest reports on Cressbrook and the surrounding dams, call in to see the specialist tackle stores in Toowoomba. Tackle World Toowoomba in Ruthven Street on the north side and Fish’n’Bits in Alderly Street closer to the south side have a great range of lures and fishing gear. Support these tackle stores because they will be able to direct you to where the fish are biting and offer invaluable advice. Just remember there is a speed limit of 8 knots and a restricted area at Cressbrook Dam. Check out the signage to ensure

time, the bass fishing has been tough for lure casters. When you sit on the schooling bass they become near impossible to catch. Luckily, it’s not all

Cania has been a great spot for bass over the past few months, and this is set to continue as summer progresses. SOMERSET CLOSEST TOWNS: ESK, KILCOY Like last year at this

about casting and the fish can be fooled when trolling lures. With a lot of fish over 50cm in length on offer,

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visit the website www. somersetfishing.com.au. MAROON CLOSET TOWNS: BOONAH, BEAUDESERT Maroon can be a tough lake to fish through the middle of the day in summer. The mornings and late afternoons will be best if you want to tangle with the lake’s bass. The fish tend to go deeper or hide more inside the weed as things heat up and get brighter so plan your day to attack at the prime times. Surface luring should be at its best this month. Working walk the dog stickbaits, poppers, Bent Minnows and fizzers will all draw the attention of bass to the surface. The topwater bite will only last for a short time so pick your spot and try a variation of topwater offerings. The bass are pretty quick to let you know if they are interested or not. If nothing happens in the first 15 minutes to half hour, it’s time to either move or change techniques. Outside the low light bite times for surface fishing, the weed beds can be explored with spinnerbaits. 3/8 to ½ ounce lures can be worked around the weed bed edges and into any deeper pockets. Another favourite lure I have for searching the weed is a 75mm plastic paddle tail rigged onto a ¼ ounce jighead fitted with a beetle spin wire and blade. These lure stop vibrating when they become fouled with weed and seem to self-clean well if you give a few hard rips to tear the weed free. Maroon is well known for its average sized bass but again the big models are making an appearance. There have been a few over the magical 50cm mark in the last month so this could definitely be a place to visit this month.

MacDonald’s vegetation. As the day warms up and light level intensifies, make MACDONALD I prefer to use a weighted a switch to spinnerbaits CLOSEST TOWNS: worm hook and paddle- and fish hard against the TEWANTIN, NOOSA tail plastic. weed beds. The Three Ways First light has been the The bulkier shad profiles and Bass Bay have been time to hit the water »with are much easier cast than delivering the goods with 2 STROKE OR 4toSTROKE OPTIONS surface lures on 2HP ready TOgrubs. These lures can OR be LONG quite a few bass around the » SHORT EF tied » 90HP SHAFT for action. F Bass have been paddled across the surface 40cm mark. I active aroundCIthe weed and paused. During CLEAN L E N T » BORUMBA Ithe ENT L »areSmost » Ppause FUthey beds early in the mornings. isR when CLOSEST TOWNS: OW E Stickbaits and poppers are likely to be eaten and why WERRIBEE COREY GAUCI MARINE ��03 8763 2565 IMBIL, NOOSA most popular but it can I like the weighted hook. The water level at SUNSHINE DAMIEN HYDE MARINE ��0455 276 833 also pay to work tighter to This sinks the lure below Borumba had fallen making WALLAN DAYS MOTORCYCLES & MARINE ��03 5783 3500 AT the weed beds and explore the surface just as the fish it harderAVAILABLE to launch bigger HINDMARSH (SA) FITCH THE RUBBER MAN �� 08 8346 5193 the pockets with weedless strikes resulting in a much boats. The boat ramp was MOOROOK (SA) MOOROOK MARINE ��08 8583 9185 rigged plastics. This is a better hook-up rate. There closed due to the concrete FRANKLIN (TAS) FRANKLIN MARINE �� 03 6266 3768 technique I had a lot of are plenty of other topwater ramp edge dropping away. LAUNCESTON (TAS) C�H SMITH MARINE ��03 6344 1166 success on many years ago plastics out there and I have A temporary ramp was put BURNIE (TAS) BURNIE MARINE SERVICES �� 03 6431 3082 and now there are so many heard of anglers having in place to allow boats to ways to rig plastics for this success on frog styles when launch but I haven’t heard style of fishing it is insane. trying to pluck bass out of how well suited this is to SUNSHINE COAST REGION

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bass from schooling up below your boat. Even on the ridiculously tough casting days, a trolled lure can whack the fish one after another because it is always being shown to fresh and unsuspecting fish. The key to success is to choose a lure capable of reaching the fish. The Blitz Baga, Golden Child, Little Rippa and my favourite the JDK Ripper are perfect for exploring Somerset’s depths. A mix of colours is also beneficial as some days the fish will go nuts on a particular colour. It pays to carry a mix of black, purple, brown, green, chrome and grey or lighter coloured offerings. We’ve seen it time and time again where a certain lure will shine and attract most of the bites. Bass will be the

most common fish caught in the basin of the lake around Pelican Point and Bay 13 but the hot weather will have the golden perch keen as well. Venturing further up the lake past Kirkleigh and into the timber will see the ratio swing the other way with more goldens taken than bass. This water to the north may also call for a shallower lure or the same lures worked on a shorter line to see them tracking higher in the water column. Lure casters can still score some fish if they keep moving around, looking for willing biters. This time of year is great for tail spinners, spoons, blades and soft vibes. The reaction lures will usually outfish all other lures but when things are near impossible, don’t discount soft plastics and ice jigs. Slowing down with these presentations and annoying the bass into biting can sometimes be the only way to get any interest. Expect plenty of taps rather than committed bites when fishing these lures but persistence should eventually see you loaded up. For the latest reports, check out Somerset 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 Kirkeigh where it will be open every day over the school holidays. The opening days will be re-evaluated after the holidays 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

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Dave young caught this bass at Bp on a tail spinner bigger boats. With all the storms around over the last month, chances are the dam will rise soon and remove this problem all together. Saratoga have been the most exciting target. Some big female fish have been caught after the breeding season finished. These impressive fish can be caught on spinnerbaits up the back of the dam. Look for lilies, weed beds

and timber structure and the toga won’t be too far away. Bass have also been taken while fishing the same water. For better numbers of bass, it would be worth trying closer to the start of the timber and the deeper points and flats in the main basin. Blades, tail spinners and soft plastics should all entice these bass. They can be tougher at this time

of year so persistence and fishing the mornings and afternoons will increase your chances. 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.

COOBY CLOSET TOWNS: HIGHFIELDS, TOOWOOMBA The golden perch action has continued this month and the warmer weather seems to have fired them up another notch. Along with the goldens, there has also been an increase in the number of small Murray cod. There was one report of a big model over a metre long about a month and a half ago and every time you have a lure in the water, you stand a chance of something similar. Trolling dark coloured lures in 4-5m of water has been very successful. The run outside the weedbed from the boat ramp down to the rock wall has held heaps of goldens. The action can be slow in the middle of the day but earlier in the morning and late in the arvo expect the fish to leave the shadows of the weed and come out and hunt. A few goldens, eel-tailed catfish and undersized cod have been caught by shorebased anglers fishing from the rock wall. Live shrimps have been the top bait with saltwater yabbies a close second. Boaties have also had success on baits fished in over 6m of water. The bank across from the rock wall is always worth a go and last month

produced the occasional small cod as well. Cooby Dam’s proximity to Highfields and 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 definitely worth a visit. The dam hours are now 6am until 8pm, which is perfect to fish into the dark for a late arvo cod. 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 but a big electric powered boat can still be launched with care. Outboard motors can be left on the boat but must not be used. Tackle, lures and saltwater yabbies can be purchased from Highfields Bait and Tackle on the New England Highway in Highfields. Call in and see Doug and check out the great range of fishing gear, kayaks and accessories he has on display.

Cooby Dam cod have been active. The fish are taking baits and trolled lures but can be successfully targeted with bigger offerings like this Bassman Codman spinnerbait.

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LESLIE CLOSEST TOWN: WARWICK Leslie is still the number one dam for the western species (cod and yellowbelly). The dam has gone through some slower periods over the last month but for the majority of the time, the fish have cooperated well. Golden perch are the most common culprits taking trolled lures. Fishing in 4-7m of water with lures running around 4m deep will see you in with a good chance. If you slow things down and troll on an electric motor, it is hard to beat a TN60 Jackall. Trolling will also produce

Murray cod and when these fish are moving, it’s not uncommon to catch more than one. Most have been small but there is a pretty good chance of hooking up to something decent. Blade hoppers have been tangling with plenty of smaller golden perch in the main basin. ZX40 blades hopped around any structure are likely to be nailed quickly so make sure you are stocked up. Unfortunately, the better fishing is around the rougher bottom areas so you are likely to lose the occasional blade. Bait fishers have managed a mixed bag of fish on live shrimp, saltwater yabbies and worms. Try positioning the boat in

WIDE BAY AND BURNETT REGION BOONDOOMA CLOSEST TOWNS: PROSTON, KINGAROY Trolling will start to excel at Boondooma this month. The bass will be scattered from the Barbers Pole, past The Junction and up to Pelican Point. Medium divers that reach 6m are perfect for these fish. Lighter colours like purples and blues have been very popular in the Golden Child and Brolga range. Mixed in with

to encourage other fish in the area to switch on. Lure casters were still managing to nail good fish in the dirtier waters of the Stuart River arm. Spinnerbaits cast around the timber were the key to success. Nathan from Bass to Barra Kingaroy suggested 1/2oz Smak spinnerbaits counted down for 3-4 seconds before bringing them back past the trees. Boondooma is a great place to camp right near the

Pat Conduit caught this bass at Boondooma on a homemade spinnerbait the bass will be quite a few golden perch. While trolling, it pays to have a tail spinner or blade rigged and ready to cast back over the spot where a fish is hooked. The excitement is often enough

water and sit by the fire while enjoying 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

around 6-7m or look for structure on the sounder and fish on top of it. 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 a very competitive price. Warwick is only a ten minute drive from the dam and you can pick up any supplies you might need. COOLMUNDA CLOSEST TOWN: INGLEWOOD Finally the dam has started to produce. With plenty of storms about this could all change in a flash if the dam has another runoff event like it did several

months ago. Lures and bait fishing are both starting to produce again. Live shrimp will be hard to beat and can normally be caught in traps placed along the rock wall. Sit on the edge of the old river and creek channels and you should be in with a good shot. Along with the golden perch caught last month, there was also a quality Murray cod. Lure fishers should target the drop off to the river and creek channels in the main basin. Deeper lures like the 5m Poltergeist are ideal. There is a bit of structure along this edge so if you spot any put in a GPS mark or take some landmarks as these spots can be the home

to big cod. Closer to the timber, stick to the deeper water inside the rivers when trolling the open expanse of the dam. Again these edges are where you are most likely to find structure in the way of old submerged tree stumps. Venturing further upstream, you will reach the timbered arms where tossing spinnerbaits to the structure should produce Murray cod. Downsizing and using a TN60 Jackall can also be productive and more entertaining. These smaller lures are more likely to excite the golden perch and cod certainly like them too. The Coolmunda Caravan Park is only around one

kilometre away from the lake. The park is just off the Cunningham Highway but 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.

other basic items including an excellent range of proven fishing tackle. For campsites, cabins and bunkhouse rooms call (07) 4168 9694. BJELKE CLOSEST TOWNS: MURGON, GOOMERI Good numbers of fish are still being caught at Bjelke. These bass and golden perch are taking all types of lures but the stand outs have been spinnerbaits and tail-spinners. Bass Point is an area worth exploring with tail-spinners and blades. Other schools will be found on the flats and points of the lower part of the dam. Casting spinnerbaits around the schools can lure out the better quality fish. Lure trollers will start to have better results as the fish will be more scattered. Trolling the lower half of the dam will produce bass and golden perch. Shallower lures can be used in Bjelke due to its overall depth being less than the surrounding dams. Lures like the Smak 12 and 50mm Poltergeist which dive around 4-5 metres will be ideal for working the schools of Bjelke. 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. Matthew Mott also runs fishing charters on the dams and you can reach him through the store for bookings and enquiries on (07) 41627555. 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. CANIA CLOSEST TOWN: BILOELA, MONTO Cania has been a great spot for bass for the last few months. The fish are suckers for reaction style lures with tail-spinners and blade baits being the stand outs. More fish are now being found in the basin of the lake with bass schools starting within

sight of the dam wall. From here they will also be found around the quarry corner and up to the next S bend. They love cast presentations but will also respond well to medium diving hard bodies. ISIS BALANCING STORAGE CLOSEST TOWN: BUNDABERG The lake has cleared up a lot over the last few months. Weed beds are still looking a bit poor but the bass are lurking around them. This is a great surface fishery and this time of year is awesome for early morning topwater action. The bass can be found up in the shallows around the lilies which are often in behind the denser weed beds. Walking a Zip’n Ziggy stickbait past these lilies is almost guaranteed to be greeted with an explosive strike. A tip when surface luring for bass is not to strike. A bass will continue to hit a

lure several times after missing if you don’t pull it from the zone. After a missed surface bite, allow the bass time to turn around and come back to where it missed its prey. Once you think the bass has had time to do this, continue with the retrieve. One thing I’ve noticed over the years of bass fishing topwater has been the more violent and explosive the strike the less likely the fish will be to come back. If the full body of the fish comes out of the water on the strike, they rarely come back. After the surface action dies off, switch to spinnerbaits and small blades around the weed beds. It will also be worth a look out in the deeper water of the basin where the three arms meet. This can be home to schooling bass which will love tail spinners, blades and soft vibes.

CAPRICORN REGION AWOONGA DAM CLOSEST TOWNS: GLADSTONE, BENARABY After a good session on the lake last year, I have been

the quality fish. The smaller fish when found make up for their lack in size with numbers and willingness to bite. Often these rat barra around 50cm long are caught around

Awoonga barra like this fine specimen can be caught on suspending lures in the main basin. This fish ate the popular Jackall Hank Tune Squirrel. watching the dam closely on social media. There have been mixed reports of fish with some anglers catching tiny barra and others getting into 82

JANUARY 2017

the trees in the main basin of the lake. Side image is a very valuable tool to pick the barra out holding in the trees. Suspending hard bodies are

perfect for extracting them. The dam is very clear so a suspended lure has the ability to draw a fish in from a long way. The bigger model barra have been mixed in with the small ones as well as found patrolling the weed edges of the basin. Look for the healthier weed beds and pepper the points and bays being hammered by the wind. Soft plastics are a great option for this style of fishing but if you do find a spot which is holding barra, you could slow down the presentation and deliver a suspending hard body instead. Mark from Awoonga Gateway Lodge has a few productive secret spots up New Zealand Gully. The Gateway lodge is on the way in to the dam after turning off at Benaraby. The accommodation is great with plenty of boat parking space right beside the comfortable air conditioned, selfcontained cabins each with its own verandah. To book in a stay give Mark or Lyn a call on (07) 4975 0033.

MACKAY REGION KINCHANT CLOSEST TOWNS: MACKAY, MIRANI There have been plenty of barra rolling through on the sounder but the fishing has been tough. It has been a tougher barra season in general this year at Kinchant and the fish are well overdue

vibration change and they can be ripped to free them of the weed to continue the retrieve. Don’t be afraid to fish a bit faster over these warmer months. Most guys have seen the speed at which barra respond to a surface fished plastic frog, so there is no

after the dam rolled a few month ago. Slowly it is returning to its usual clear colour, but the weed beds are still looking good and healthy. The fishing has been hit and miss each month with periods of tough fishing mixed with the occasional better action. Often there is an activity spike around the full moon when the fishing can be better through the

The ultimate sport fish. If you’ve never targeted impoundment barra you don’t know what you are missing. to bite more frequently. Unlike other years at this time, the barra haven’t been playing the game up in the weeds where they are often caught on weedless rigged plastics. If you put in the time, you are bound to pull a few but don’t expect big numbers. The period either side of the full moon may get the fish more stirred up to move around and feed at night. Choose one of the major points in the dam and pepper it with casts. It is a good idea to choose your night time spot in daylight hours. This allows you to study the weed formation and see where any clumps may be separated from the main weed edge forming corridors for fish to swim through at night. The old faithful black and gold 130mm Slick Rig is hard plastic to beat. Soft vibes like the Transam 95 are also great; giving off a little more vibration. These lures can be hopped and slow rolled. When they hit the weed, you will feel the

reason you can’t trigger the same reaction bite subsurface. If the fish do get excited over this faster presentation, you can almost guarantee better hook-ups as they need to commit to eating in a more violent manner when the lure is fished at speed. If you are planning on fishing Kinchant, Teemburra or Eungella, be sure to call in and see Bruce and Ash at Nashy’s Compleat Angler on Harbour Road, North Mackay. Ash works in the store but also as a fishing guide on the lakes. Some firsthand information as to where they are biting always goes a long way. Nashy’s has a great range of tackle suited to the dams as well as all the other fishing options the Mackay area is blessed with. You can call the store for more information or to put some gear on hold on (07) 4957 2272. TEEMBURRA CLOSEST TOWNS: PINNACLE, MACKAY The water quality looks a little poor at Teemburra

night and late afternoon. The edges of the lake can be fished all over the dam under electric motor power. Slowly moving along the fishy looking edges and working the weed beds and timber can produce bites but expect to put in plenty of casts. Lures like Transams, sot plastics and medium diving suspending hardbodies can all be worked outside the weed edges. Up in the weed, switch to a weedless rigged paddle tail for exploring the deeper weed pockets or buzz a weedless rigged frog over the tops of the weed. Even surface luring with topwater lures like the Cultiva Tango Dancer or Rapala Skitterpop can be effective over the weed beds in the early morning and late afternoon. Points and bays should receive extra attention. The points in particular are worth staking out and peppering with casts late in the afternoon and into the night. The windblown points will often hold more baitfish

and the barra will follow. Keep an eye on the sounder and the side image will let you know when they arrive. Then it is just a case of trying to get them to bite. PETER FAUST DAM CLOSEST TOWNS: PROSERPINE, BEACH The fishing has been inconsistent at Lake Proserpine with many of the fish moving deeper. The edges are still producing the occasional fish, but with so many of them, I would be looking for weed edges where the fish can move in and out easily transitioning from the deep to shallow areas. Many of the fish will be found scattered throughout the timber on deeper humps. Keep an eye on the sounder for any signs of barra in 6-10m of water. If found in a school, the fish should eat heavier soft plastics and soft vibes well. If scattered, pick a clean trolling run with less trees like the powerline ally or 45 and work deep diving lures. Outside the trees the basin can also hold concentrations of barra. These fish are often found out from the dam wall and in front of the picnic huts between the wall and boat ramp but can also turn up close to the main river edge throughout the entire basin. These fish are most often caught trolling deeper diving lures. The Scorpion Crazy Deep is hard to beat when the fish are holding deep. Coming from deeper water, these fish should be released pronto to give them a better chance of survival. If you do find a fresh floater, try venting the air bladder if you have a needle or sending the fish back down to over 10m of water on a release weight. Lure casters are often able to catch these deeper suspended barra when they are found in better numbers. Hopping vibes around the boat or even vertically when the fish are underneath can be successful. Another option is to cast 3/4oz rigged soft plastics over the shows of fish. The Big Willy is a great plastic for this as its

big profile pumps out plenty of water moving vibrations to attract the barra from a greater distance. It can be tricky to master the presentation of any sinking lure to midwater holding fish. If you are too deep or too shallow, you will miss out on getting the bites. Trolling big plastics through better shows of fish can be the answer to this. Heavy plastics towed by the electric motor at a certain speed will maintain their depth. It is just up to you to work out how fast to travel and how much

line to have out to reach the magic depth and strike a winning formula. For all your fishing supplies or a guided trip on the lake call Lindsay or Dane at Barra World on (07) 49454641. The store has just ordered in heaps of new tackle and will stock a bigger range of gear from this month. Barra World is right on the highway in Proserpine and specializes in barra fishing tackle as well as catering to the needs of anglers fishing the nearby estuaries and offshore

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Hyundai Tucson 30th anniversary model BRISBANE

Wayne Kampe wkff@aapt.net.au

Hyundai celebrates 30 years of motoring in Australia with the release of their 30th anniversary models in the Tucson and Santa Fe. Aptly named the

Tucson 30 and Santa Fe 30, these special editions come with additional features unique to these models. The Tucson already features four variants with differing power trains, so the Tucson 30 Special Edition (SE) is yet another variant. For the record, the

Tucson 30 is based on Hyundai’s mid level front wheel drive ActiveX model (built in South Korea, while all other Tucsons are Czech built) and is powered by a four cylinder 1.6L turbo petrol engine providing 130kW of power and 265Nm of torque. In a departure from the ActiveX’s usual

Road presence seems to ooze from the well-designed Tucson, even at rest.

While the neat styling is a strong Tucson feature, this special model also comes with some dress up and all wheel drive.

front wheel drive, the 30th anniversary model now has all wheel drive with a seven-speed dual clutch automatic unit seamlessly transmitting power to the very classy matte black alloy 19” wheels. Just to add a little more to the celebratory party dress theme, there are neat side steps and a new rear bumper with a dual exhaust system to add some bling to the exterior. Along with the sporty exterior fittings, the Tucson 30 and Sante Fe SE are resplendent in a unique ash blue paint job, which is eye catching and adds some attitude to what have already been acknowledged as very practical and attractive motor vehicles. The Tucson’s interior is fitted out with ActiveX’s practical blend of convenience. The sensible dash layout has a 7” touch screen (Apple Car Play and Android Auto compatible) and ample storage. There’s an overall convenience to the excellent interior design. A GPS is not standard and it’s necessary to plug your smartphone in to navigate and enjoy a full range of entertainment features. Build quality, of course, is strictly Hyundai with immaculate fit and finish, highlighted by a classy leather look interior, which is stylish, durable, and great for family use. In addition to a great driving position with the Tucson’s SUV ‘high and handsome’ style of seating, which offers all-round vision, there’s plenty of leg room in the rear with a couple of Isofix points catering for families with very young children. A large easily accessed boot with a standard 488L capacity can extend to 1478L with the rear seat down. While these features carry through from the ActiveX, they are still strong incentives to see a Tucson 30 SE parked in the

The Tucson’s centre console area is strictly ActiveX with all bits and pieces exactly where they should be, and easy to use.

Comfortable, easily adjusted seating finished in a leather look material was another great feature of the Hyundai 30 SE. garage or driveway at home. Despite its classification as a medium SUV, the Tucson in any variant is definitely a comfortable family of four vehicle with

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The Tucson’s dash has a 7” touch screen and other main features within easy reach of the driver.

no compromises made to interior space. EXEMPLARY ROAD MANNERS The Tucson has always been a good performer, which is why it’s the third best selling SUV in our country. Good has become great with the addition of the 1.6L turbo petrol engine that was previously only available on the upmarket Elite model. There is plenty of low gear pulling power to get it off the mark at the lights and ample in reserve at highway overtaking speeds where around and back as quick as possible is often the requirement. The sevenspeed auto is seamless in it’s gear shifts – it was pleasing to see that even at 80kph, the dual clutch auto kicked into seventh gear and accelerated smoothly when the question was asked with the right foot.

thanks to the elegant paint job, AWD system, side steps, high-end wheels, enhanced bumper and exhaust system highlighted by the 1.6L turbo petrol engine matched to a 7-speed auto transmission. It comes at a price though, and in this case it’s an increase of $5000 over the ActiveX, which sees a drive away figure of $37,750 with on roads for the 30 SE. It’s one mighty pleasant car to drive. The 300 Special Anniversary models allocated for sale in Australia likely won’t sit in the showrooms for long.

A look into the rear seats reveals that adult passengers will have plenty of room to be comfortable.

Celebratory dress – with a distinctive ash blue paint job, revised bumper and exhaust, and a discreet 30th anniversary badge are hallmarks of the Hyundai 30 SE. The Hyundai Tucson’s 1.6L turbo petrol might not be the most economical engine in its class, as Hyundai claim figures of around 7.7L/100km, but I failed to do any better than 10.6L/100km during my travels. In a country run with some fairly questionable back road surfaces to negotiate, Hyundai have put the work into an Australian-road-

capable suspension package. This shone through with a superb ability to soak up bumps and thumps without any detriment to road holding. Apart from being well insulated from road and wind noise at highway speeds, the Tucson cornered very well and with little body roll, thanks to its lovely suspension. I want to point out the

usefulness of the Tucson’s side mirrors – these were simply superb when it came to judging the distance that other vehicles were following. These big mirrors were a quantum leap ahead of some of those fitted to many modern cars. SUMMING UP The 30 SE Anniversary Tucson is undoubtedly a cut above the standard ActiveX,

The 30 SE’s turbo 1.6L petrol engine is neat and compact.

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Get ready for the Boondooma Dam Fishing Comp Boondooma Dam Yellowbelly Family Fishing Competition spokesman Terry Allwood says that with the lake fishing extremely well,

the 2017 event should set new records in both the long-standing gilled and gutted section, as well as in the catch and release component.

Cash and other prizes will be presented at the end of each of the three sessions as well as overall competition winners at the conclusion of the event.

Last year’s event attracted 835 adult and 202 junior entrants, who all shared in over $25,000 worth of cash and prizes, including a 3.4m Bluefin drifter boat. This year’s competition is shaping up to be the best yet with new and old sponsors joining the team again. It’s anticipated that by February, there will be over $30,000 worth of cash and prize giveaways. This year will see the addition of a Boat Motor Trailer package to one lucky winner, the Frogleys Offshore fishing simulator for you to try your hand at catching marlin and tuna, many Australian handmade lure stalls and also some show-style rides for the kids, big and small. Profits from the event are used to supplement fishing permit funds from the Queensland Government and to date, approximately 4.9 million fingerlings have

been stocked into Lake Boondooma. The Catch and Release category targeting Australian bass and yellowbelly is open to all anglers who nominate, with cash-only paybacks for each session and overall. The annual competition will be held on 11-12 February 2017. Entry costs for the February event will be $20 for adults and $5 for juniors aged 16 years and under. The ongoing support of our many generous sponsors will ensure that a wide range of prizes and lucky draws are available for all competitors. Lucky draws are held at the end of each fishing session and at the Friday night briefing. You don’t even need to fish to win the prizes – turn up and have a great time. All presentations and lucky draws are conducted at the event headquarters at the Stocking Association clubhouse.

Food and drink stalls will be provided by local community groups over the weekend and the great camping facilities provided by the South Burnett Regional Council will be available for campers staying at the lake. The cost of camping fees and details of accommodation at the lake can be found at www.southburnett.qld.gov. au or by ringing the Lake Boondooma Kiosk on (07) 4168 9694. Additional information on the local area and past fishing competitions can be found on the Proston Online website, www. prostononline.info. Please join us at Lake Boondooma for a family weekend of fishing and camping. For additional information please contact Terry Allwood on mobile, 0400 860 122, or Boondooma Stocking on Facebook. – Terry Allwood

Trevor landed this golden perch using an Austackle spinnerbait.

TOURNAMENT CALENDAR 2017

FEBRUARY

11-12 Feb

Boondooma Dam Yellowbelly Fishing Competion Boondooma

Terry Allwood 0400 860122

12 Feb

BASS Electric Major #1 Clarrie Hall

www.abt.org.au

18-19 Feb

Mallacoota BREAM Qualifier #1 Mallacoota

www.abt.org.au

22-23 Feb

Gippsland Lakes BREAM Qualifier #2 Gippsland Lakes

www.abt.org.au

MARCH

18-19 Mar

BASS Electric #1 Lenthalls

www.abt.org.au

APRIL

29-30 Apr

Hawkesbury River BASS Pro Qualifier #1 Hawkesbury River

www.abt.org.au

1-2 Apr

Albany BREAM Qualifier #3 Albany

www.abt.org.au

5-6 Apr

Blackwood BREAM Qualifier #4 Blackwood

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. 86

JANUARY 2017

Somerton second at 2016 Hobie Fishing Worlds The Hobie Fishing Worlds tournament brings together a unique blend of cultures in a truly global competition. The 2016 event, presented by RhinoRack, saw 49 of the world’s best kayak anglers battling it out in Louisiana, USA.

Somerton and 12″ on fellow American Matthew Vann. However, the Leeville waterway is the kind of fishery that can readily produce a big redfish that could erase that kind of lead. On the last day of the comp, the water temperature

relax and go red fishing.” Somerton, the 2013 World Champion and current Hobie Bream Series Australian Champion set out with a plan of attack and a very clear goal. “I knew I had my work cut out for me with 10″ to

took off home with only a few minutes to spare.” The final awards presentation started with the Rhino-Rack Angler’s Choice Award, won by Brendan Bayard from the USA. First awarded to Englishman Ian Harris in Holland in 2014 and then to Guy Struthers from Australia in China in 2015, the Anglers Choice Award is run by a ballot of the anglers choosing who they believe best represents the sportsmanship of the tournament. Brendan will receive a Wild Card entry, accommodation and travel expenses into Hobie

Fishing Worlds 7. Steve Lessard won the Lure Fans Leader of the Day award for the second day running. He won a huge Lure Fans lure prize pack on

top of being crowned Hobie Fishing World Champion. For more detailed information and photos log onto www.fishingworlds. com. – Rhino-Rack

LOWRANCE LEADER BOARD Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Name Steve Lessard Richard Somerton Matthew Vann Jianping Du Matthew Scotch Fudong Li Brendan Bayard Chris Burbidge Guillermo Gonzalez Tony Pettie

Country USA AUS USA CHN USA CHN USA AUS USA AUS

Total 126 110 106 96 94 87 78 78 74 74

Anglers from five continents vied for top spot at the 2016 Hobie Fishing Worlds. After three days of intense competition, Steve Lessard from the USA claimed the top prize, with Richard Somerton from Australia picking up second and Matthew Vann from the USA claiming third. This is Lessard’s second World Championship victory, having won the title in 2014 in Holland. For his third Worlds, he entered day three with a 10″ lead on nearest competitor Richard

dropped, making it harder to get a bite. It was local knowledge that got Lessard over the line. “I fell back to a winter pattern,” he explained. “I found a little isolated area with still water that was deep and cold. I managed to pull a surprisingly good trout early. I was then able to move around to some pylons to pull a redfish that was a keeper, and at that point the pressure was off and I could

catch up,” he said. “I went out with the birthday boy, Mitch King and Aaron Williams and we decided to chase trout, but due to the cold they were shut down. We went looking for redfish and I picked up a 27” specimen, and then left to look for trout. I ran into a bunch of guys later and they were catching trout, but I was getting nothing. Finally, on my very last cast I pulled my trout, measured it and

The runner-up at this year’s event was an Australian, Richard Somerton.

Bluefin Sports Tuition Fishing Classic 2016 The Bluefin Sports Tuition Fishing Classic was held at Moogerah Dam on 2-4 December 2016. Since the drought many years ago, when Moogerah hit 1% capacity, some people are of the belief that it doesn’t fish well. With a look at the fish that were caught, it’s a very healthy fishery. The stocking groups have done a great job. The quality and quantity of the fish caught were impressive. Mitchell Petty took out the Senior Longest Bass category with a 53.6cm brute that was caught on

a purple ZMan paddletail soft plastic on a 1/2oz jighead. Matt Home collected a 52.8cm yellowbelly. Johnathan Dionysius caught a 42.7cm silver perch. The eel-tailed catfish was the final category and Peter Milner just edged out a couple of competitors to take that out with a 52.1cm specimen. The Overall Champion Angler was calculated by recording the longest fish of each species caught by an angler. This title was taken out by Shane Whell with a total length of 183.3cm. The junior division was dominated by the Whell and Hunt families.

Steve Wilkes from Sports Tuition, left, with the Scott and William Morrison – the lucky winners of the Bluefin Drifter Deluxe. Brad Richey from Bluefin Boats, right, was on hand to present the boat.

Hunter Whell picked up a 46.5cm bass, Rhyleigh Whell a 48.9cm yellowbelly, Justin Hunt a 42cm silver and a 51.3cm cattie. Justin Hunt also took out the overall Junior Champion Angler award with a combined length of 175.3cm. The competition is always a family-friendly event. The kids certainly got spoiled by the sponsors.

The category prizes were donated by L. Wilson & Co, Damiki, EvaKool, Bush ‘n Beach Fishing Magazine and QLD Fishing Monthly. Nordic Stage and Wilsons sponsored the kids’ casting competition and Mick Turner from Spin & Turn Spinner Baits also ensured all the kids were winners. L. Wilson & Co, Westfield North Lakes, Nordic Stage

Hudson caught some nice bass during the competition and was the lucky winner of the junior boat draw. He picked up the Bluefin 3.0 Catfish tinny.

Matt Home was the lucky winner of the yellowbelly senior division in the Bluefin Sports Tuition Fishing Classic.

and Shane Whell Mobile Outboard Marine Mechanic all contributed to the raffle draws. Bluefin Boats was once again the major sponsor and donated two boats, which were lucky door prizes. The senior lucky door winner was Scott Morrison who walked away with the 4.2m Bluefin Drifter Deluxe. Hudson Hammond was the lucky junior who collected the 3.0 Bluefin Catfish. Thank you to all the generous sponsors who made the event possible. The competition will be on again next year with Bluefin Boats once again being the major

naming rights sponsor. However, there will be a change of date. The event dates will be moved to avoid the heat of summer. The next fishing competition being directed by Sports Tuition is a saltwater event being held on 28-30 April 2017. The event will be based at Pelican Park, Redcliffe. Save the date now and follow Sports Tuition and Bluefin on Facebook to keep up to date. It’s going to have the largest prize pool ever seen for a familyfriendly competition. – Steve Wilkes JANUARY 2017

Kime climbs to the very top! CE 1ST PLA South coast breamer Grant Kime has secured a wire-towire win on his home water in the 2016 ABT Costa BREAM Grand Final. A firm favourite leading into the event, Kime never wilted under the pressure, holding a talented field of anglers at bay to become the new champ and the proud owner of a new $50,000 Basscat Margay/ Mercury Pro XS 115hp bream package. With a deep reserve of locations to call upon, Kime hit the deep water near the island on the eastern side of The Basin to fill his bag on day one. A location he was confident would produce a limit, and produce a limit relatively easily. “We fished in behind the island in 18-20ft of water. It’s a reliable place to fill your bag,” explained Kime. Throwing Ecogear VX35 and 40 blades in colour 439, Kime’s retrieve involved sinking the blade to the bottom then working it with what he describes as a ‘bottom hugging hop.’ “The fish sit tight to the bottom here, so you need to keep your blade close to the bottom and not lift it too high when you’re working it. I fish it by giving the lure a series of short sharp lifts so it stays in their face,” explained Kime. The approach delivered him a limit by 7:30am. With his focus now to find upgrades, Kime fished a mixture of others spots, both

THE FUTURE IS HERE Self-contained Electric Outboards

shallow and deep, and threw his beloved Juro Firebait Longtail Minnows. Two kilo-fish upgrades followed to further enhance his bag weight. His two kicker fish bumped his bag over the four kilo mark (4.26kg). One of the favourites leading into the event, Kime lived up to his predicted performance, and had a 700g lead over good friend, and fellow event favourite, Mark Crompton. “Kimey was always going to be a contender and on day one he showed what he was capable of on The Basin,” said Crompton.

With the conditions too calm and no upgrades to show for his efforts, he switched back to the deep, moving back to the shallows on occasion in search of the big bite. “I managed to get one upgrade in the shallows, but that was it. I couldn’t get the bigger fish to eat. It was too calm for them to fire up,” explained Kime. Kime caught the majority of his fish for the day in the deep on an Ecogear VX40 blade, and weighed a 3.13kg limit to maintain his 700g lead over Crompton.

that 5th though. We couldn’t get the last one in the deep so we hit the shallows behind the island, but it was too calm and there was no bait, life, or bream about,” explained Kime. He cut his losses in the shallows and returned to the deep on the western side of the lake, but for no results. “I knew the 5th fish wasn’t too far away, and I knew it would more than likely come once the wind started to blow,” explained Kime. The wind started to increase around 9am, and Kime saw his cue and moved

Grant Kime celebrates his win behind his new Basscat/Mercury package. After a successful day in the deep on day one, Kime headed straight to the deep on day two and in less than an hour he had his limit. “They were on the chew straight away. So once I had my bag, I moved shallow to see if I could catch upgrades,” explained Kime.

Back to the deep on the 3rd and final day, Kime and his partner for the day, leading non-boater Simon Johnson, didn’t have to wait long to get in on the action and in the first 20 minutes he had four fish in the well. “It was the start that I was looking for. The Basin, however, made me wait for

to Bonito Point, a shallow weed lined location that has produced fish for him over many years. His timing couldn’t have been better, and in less than ten minutes he had fish number five. The pair hooked up on two more upgrades not long after, Johnson losing his to a crushed hook and Kime losing Juro Firebait Longtail Minnow in colour 05

Ecogear VX 40 and 35 in colour 439

Visit www.abt.org.au for entry forms. For general enquiries phone ABT on (07) 3387 0888. 88

JANUARY 2017

his to a failed leader knot. “You don’t always get many chances to win in a tournament, and when they come you need to take them. I thought I’d blown my chance,” explained Kime. There was more to follow however, with Kime not long after picking up two important upgrades. The lure that did the damage

was a Juro Firebait Longtail Minnow rigged on a TT HWS jighead. “I’ve been using the Firebaits for years and nothing comes close to it when you’re looking for a lure that you can work to replicate a skipping prawn,” explained Kime. Kime’s presentation of the Firebait involves a long

down-wind cast towards the weed. The lure then skips as it lands and gently slides into the water like a gliding prawn. He then retrieves the lure with a slow cranking retrieve with an occasional twitch mixed in. With five in the well, and two upgrades to help boost the weight of his bag, Kime unfortunately was

unable to add to it after his initaial flurry of activity in the shallows. Heading back to the weigh-in, he was content with what he had, albeit a little apprehensive about Crompton making a late charge in the tournament, and day two’s mover and shaker Brad Hodges continuing his upswing.

The last angler to hit the stage, Kime needed 2.52kg to win. But as his limit hit the scales and the display ticked past 2.52 to finally rest at 2.86, his concerns quickly vanished to crown him as the 2016 Costa BREAM Grand Final Champion. His victory saw the Costa BREAM Grand Final shield remain on the south coast

of NSW and earned him the prize of $50,000 Basscat Margay/115 Mercury Pro XS tournament boat package. Post victory, Kime acknowledged the people that had help get him to this victorious moment: his wife and kids, his friends, and the welcoming and encouraging environment that is the ABT BREAM tournament scene.

Hodges Gulps for second place CE 2ND PLA For Victorian BREAM veteran Brad Hodges, it was nearly the Grand Final with a fairy tale ending, with the 36-year-old school teacher from Werribee in Melbourne jumping from 15th to 3rd, and finally to 2nd to narrowly (by 340g) miss victory in the biggest event on the Australia bream tournament calendar. Starting day one fishing shallow edges, jetties and snags, Hodges

soon moved deep once he knew the shallow bite wasn’t on. “The edges looked good but the fish weren’t there. I saw and marked a 23-15ft rise in deep water when I was moving between shallow spots, so I headed back there to see of there was anything on it,” explained Hodges. With his eyes firmly fixed to his Lowrance, Hodges sounded fish on the bottom in 23 feet but as he moved shallower into 15ft, they vanished. “You could see them at 23 but not catch them, you couldn’t see them at 15 but you could catch them,” explained Hodges. Hodges fished to his strength throwing a 3” Berkley Gulp Nemesis in

pumpkinseed, camo, and pearl watermelon, rigged on 1/12 and 1/16oz Nitro jigheads and worked with a lift and drop retrieve. The approach paid off, and he weighed in a 2.69kg limit to be sitting in 15th place at the end of day one. Day two was moving day for Hodges and with two similar locations up his sleeve that he found on Insight Genisis the night before he was armed for a red-hot day on the water. Hitting his day one spot first thing, he had his bag by 7:30am and was soon on the hunt for upgrades. He picked up an upgrade at 9am, then hit a flat spot until late in the session. “In the last one and a half hours we picked up a 37

and 38,” explained Hodges. His late run boosted his bag, a bag that weighed 3.99kg, and rocketed him up the scoreboard to be sitting in 3rd place heading into the final day. His 15ft rise was his first port of call on the final morning and in an hour he had his limit. “It was a great start, just kind you want on the final morning of a final,” explained Hodges. He moved to his number one upgrade spot, but for no fish. He then headed back to his 15ft rise and added three upgrades to his bag by 10am. He stayed there until 12pm adding the occasional upgrade. He had one fish in the well that he felt he need to get rid of.

Northcott nails non-boater win -BOATER 1ST NON Clint Northcott secured a come from behind win to claim the Costa BREAM Grand Final non-boater crown. Charging home from 6th on the final day to win, Northcott fished with Chris Gates on day one, Grant Manusu on day two, and the big bream wisperer Anthony Thorpe on day three. Day one saw Northcott start fishing 15-18ft of water near Bream Point throwing a mixture of ZMan GrubZ and Berkley Jigging Shrimps. “We fished 3-4 different spots throughout the day and made long searching casts then worked our lures back

with a series of slow lifts, with the occasional twitch added in,” explained Northcott. The day was a real grind it was until late in the session, at around 2.20pm that fish number five was added to the well. “We caught the 5th near the channel markers leading into Sussex Inlet. It was a long wait to get our bag,” explained Northcott. Northcott weighed in a 3.17kg limit to be sitting in equal 4th place at the end of day one. Fishing with Grant Manusu on day two, Northcott once again went deep to catch his fish, fishing a little deeper (20-25feet) than the day before. “We fished Bream Point and Erowal Bay with Gulp Shrimps and Nemesis and Squidgy Wrigglers, and just like the day before it wasn’t until late in the session (1pm)

that we caught our limit,” explained Northcott. Weighing in a 2.81kg limit for the day Northcott slipped to 6th place, but was destined for big things on day three. Paired with Anthony Thorpe for the final day, Northcott started day three with lightning speed. “I was still getting my lifejacket off and Thorpey had already made a cast and was hooked up to a fish,” explained Northcott. Thorpe didn’t back off and the pair had three fish in the well before Clint caught his first fish for the morning, fish number four for their limit. Number five soon followed and by 7am they were upgrading. “Things went quiet after the early flush and around 9:30-10am we moved shallow. I tied on an OSP

Dunk and Thorpey started hitting the shallows with a Gulp Shrimp,” explained Northcott. Their bite of the tournament soon followed with Thorpe catching a 1.92kg kicker fish to boost their bag into 4kg territory. The paired searched for more upgrades but to no avail. Delivering a 4.03kg bag to the scales Northcott turned a 900g deficit into 320g winning margin to claim his maiden Costsa BREAM Grand Final victory. The tackle he used to claim his victory included a G.Loomis TSR 862-2 rod, Shimano Twin Power reel, Sunline Castaway PE mainline, and 3lb Sunline V Hard leader. ABT wishes to thanks all anglers, sponsors and staff for the 2016 Costa BREAM Series. For details on the 2017 season visit www.abt.org.au

TOP 10 BOATERS Fish

Weight (kg)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

15/15 15/15 15/15 14/15 15/15 15/15 15/15 15/15 15/15 15/15

10.25 Basscat/Mercury, Costa glasses 9.91 Motorguide xi5, Costa glasses 9.85 Prize Pack, Costa glasses 9.56 Prize Pack, Costa glasses 9.54 Costa glasses 8.77 Costa glasses 8.76 Costa glasses 8.53 8.51 8.48

For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au

“We had a fish under 30 and I knew that I needed to upgrade it to be in with a shot to win,” explained Hodges. Try as might, he couldn’t get rid of it, and in the end his 3.23kg bag on the final day was 340g short of running down event winner Grant Kime. The tackle Hodges used to secure his highest place ever in a Grand Final, his previous being 6th at the Mallacoota Grand Final in 2010 included an ABU Garcia Salty Stage

Light Casting rod, ABU Garcia Revo MGX 20 reel, 4lb Berkley Fireline, 4lb Berkley Sensei fluorocarbon leader, and Berkley Gulp Nemesis and Jigging Shrimp. Post event, Hodges praised his non-boaters for the final. “My three non-boaters, John Gales, Jesse Rotin, and Luke Slavin were integral to my result. I can’t thank them enough for their contribution and company over the three days,” explained Hodges.

WINNING NOTES

Winning Tackle

Rod: 7’2” Gladiator Psyborg Reel: 2500 Shimano Stradic Ci4 Line: 3lb Fireline Leader: 5lb Sunline FC Rock Lure: Ecogear VX 35 and 40 in colour 439, and Juro Firebait Longtail Minnow in colour 05.

Winning Edge

Kime used his extensive knowledge on St Georges Basin to identify locations that would hold fish in all conditions. He hit these locations at exactly the right time to miximise his sucess and bag weight each day.

TOP 10 NON-BOATERS

Place Angler Grant KIME Brad HODGES Anthony THORPE Geoffrey BORG Mark CROMPTON Wal BALZAN Steve NEDESKI Paul CONN Kristoffer HICKSON Warren CARTER

Brad Hodges was never far away from Grant, but couldn’t quite reach the target Grant set him.

Payout

Place Angler

Fish Weight (kg)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

15 15 15 15 14 15 13 15 13 14

Clint NORTHCOTT Michael HODGES Simon JOHNSON Luke SLAVIN Clint VOSS Jonathan THOMPSON Brett PENPRASE Simon WILSON Jesse ROTIN Shaun EGAN

10.01 9.69 9.68 9.29 9.19 8.9 8.82 8.66 8.49 8.46

Payout

Motorguide xi5, Costa glasses Prize Pack, Costa glasses Prize Pack, Costa glasses Prize Pack, Costa glasses Costa glasses Costa glasses Costa glasses

For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au JANUARY 2017

Hit the ground running Picking up where they left off on last year’s BARRA Tour, Team Humminbird/ EJ Todd’s Karim DeRidder and Craig Griffiths drew first blood in the opening

Unlike the majority of the field who struggled in a seemingly shut down Kinchant, DeRidder and Griffiths were definitely on a hot bite and the hot spot on the lake.

it was a black and gold 130 Squidgy Slick Rig that they wanted,” explained Karim. Their pre-sunset lures included Jackall Transams, Lucky Craft hardbodies and

THE FUTURE IS HERE Self-contained Electric Outboards

Craig Griffiths and Karim DeRidder brained them at Kinchant to start their title defence in grand style. round of the 2016 Zerek tour to claim victory in the Spotters presented event. The only team to catch their full five fish limit for the event Karim and Craig fished one point location to catch their fish. “We fished one of the biggest points on the lake, a long weedy point that extended a long way out into the lake. We started off rather shallow, then we moved out deeper once we realised that’s where more fish were holding,” explained Karim.

“We hooked around 45 fish for the session, and landed about 20 of them,” explained DeRidder. A number that probably exceeded the number of all the other teams combined. The approach the pair used to catch their fish was a multi lure attack, a combination of hard and soft lures and a combination that varied both before and after dark. “Early on when they weren’t really on the chew we caught them on hardbodies and vibes, but once it got dark and they started to turn on

BARRA

Presente Tour R1 d by Spo tters

rigged on a 1/2oz Griffo made jighead, with its tail dipped and melted with a soldering iron to give it more movement on the retrieve. For most of the evening the pair fished their lure, and caught fish, hopping their Slick Rigs out from the weed edge. “That’s how we did it for most of the session. There was a briefing period when they were really active that we caught them slow rolling the plastics. And when they did this they really sucked down the bait, but it only lasted about half and hour,” explained Karim. The winning pair’s selection of tackle included Dobyns Champion and Sierra rods, Daiwa Zillion Type R reels, 50lb Sunline Castaway PE, and 50/60lb Sunline FC 100 flurocarbon leader. A win in the first event at the start of their Team of the Year title defence, DeRidder and Griffiths were pleased, and relieved, with the result. “We were confident coming into the event, so to

ZEREK BIG BARRA Team Humminbird/EJ Todd (Craig Griffiths and Karim DeRidder) claimed the Zerek Big Barra at Kinchant with the barra duo winning the big fish on a count back from two other teams. The pair caught their 97cm fish at 7.06pm, half an hour before Team Westin.

a pro type soft vibe lure that Trent Short had sourced from Japan. They caught three fish on the protype vibe. After dark though, the Slick Rig was king and the pair fished it

come away with the victory was very rewarding”, explained DeRidder. Their win at Kinchant was only a sign of what was to come for the rest of the tour.

Sunline just short of a victory R

Trent Short and Matt Gibson from Team Sunline started their 2016 BARRA Tour in grand style with the pair catching a 4/5, 356cm limit to secure a podium finish at Kinchant. Fishing an old roadway that created a weed and lily-free channel through the vegetationlined shoreline, the pair positioned themselves at the

entrance to the channel and it was here that they stayed for the tournament. “We found the roadway and the clearing with our HDS sounder and we expected the barra to use the clearing as a feeding corridor, and that’s pretty much how it played out,” explained Short. The pair sounded out a few fish near the entrance

then positioned their boat in about 12-feet of water and cast into the roadway based channel with a Lucky Craft Pointer 78XD in Tennessee shad, and a Jackall Transam in black and gold. The retrieve for the Pointer involved cranking the lure down deep at the start of the retrieve then working it back with a series of twitches

and pauses. “Some of the pauses were up to eight seconds long,” explained Short. The retrieve of the Transam had a similar stopstart approach. They’d sink it to the bottom, pop it off a couple of rocks sitting on the bottom, then work it back with lifts and drops. To page 91

RESULTS

Visit www.abt.org.au for entry forms. For general enquiries phone ABT on (07) 3387 0888. 90

JANUARY 2017

Place Team

Team members

Fish

Length (cm)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Craig Griffiths / Karim DeRidder Trent Short / Matt Gibson Wally Wilton / Jake Mitchell Geoff Newby / Phil Lyons Ian Tope / Greg Thomas Matthew Mott / Dylan Mott Jono Clark / Tailin Payne Andy Heskett / Gary Thompson Nick Wells / Matt Wells Dean Pateman / Rob Romans

5/5 4/5 2/5 1/5 1/5 1/5 1/5 1/5 1/5 1/5

481 356 170 97 97 96 96 92 92 88

Humminbird / EJ Todd Sunline Cairns Custom Likely Lads Westin South Burnett Directions Wilson #1 Swimbait Specialist / Bullshad Swimbaits Zerek One Last Cast

For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au

Two from two! DeRidder and Griffiths continued their dream start on the Zerek BARRA Tour with the pair securing their second win in as many events at the Zerek presented Teemburra Evening Event. One of only four teams to catch their full limit for the session, the pair once again showed their dominance, regardless of how tough or red-hot the fishing is. Leading into the tour, it was Teemburra that the pair prefished more than anywhere else, a telltale sign as to how tough the venue was fishing. “We keyed in on where the fish were and what was going on at Kinchant and Faust, but we just couldn’t

BARRA T Presente our R2 d by Zerek

get anything dialed in on Teemburra. We spent days and days here before the tour and we still weren’t confident that we were on something that we would call a solid and reliable plan,” explained DeRidder. Putting all their eggs in one basket the pair fished a lone spot that they thought could produce something for them. A relatively clear spot in the middle reaches of the dam, the pair’s location sat adjacent to a line of trees. “We can usually see fish on our Humminbird moving through from the deep into the shallows, but on this spot we didn’t. We were confident that that would be moving into the area though,

Focusing all their attention on one spot produced the fish and backto-back wins for Team Humminbird/EJ Todd at Teemburra.

ZEREK BIG BARRA Geoff Newby and Phill Lyons from Team Likely Lads picked up the $200 Zerek Big Barra prize at Teemburra, with the Mackay locals securing the prize with their 104cm kicker fish.

deeper water that the pair anchored up, then fished backed to the wind blown weed point with Lucky Craft 100 DD Pointers in Tennesse shad colour. “We’d cast the Pointer into the weed, twitch it out, then pause and tease the lure close to the weed to entice a strike,” explained Karim. The location, technique, and lure paid off, with the pair catching a total of 13 fish for the event, a number far in excess of their expectations. “To be honest we didn’t expect to catch our limit, let alone catch double figures. We thought we’d get maybe two or three bites, but that was it,” explained Karim. Expecting the Teemburra round to be their weak link for the tour, the event actually secured their second event win for the tour and had them two-from-two heading into perhaps their strongest event, the Sunline Peter Faust Evening Event.

and we expected them to work their way along the treeline when they did it,” explained Karim. Their thinking would prove to be correct, but it wasn’t until after dark that

the bites came. “Teemburra had been fishing very hard leading into the event so our hopes weren’t high. We expected whatever bites we got would come after dark and

that’s how it played out,” explained Karim. Their point held a solid line of weed in about 9-10ft of water, then it quickly dropped off into 18 feet of water, it was off here in the

Edging into second Hitting a wind blown edge at Teemburra to catch their fish, Team Cairns Custom Craft’s Wally Wilton and Jake Mitchell came close to raining on Karim’s and Craig’s parade at Teemburra. Catching a 5/5, 353cm limit for the event, Wally and Jake were only 28cm adrift From page 90

“We’d occasionally add in a burn to mix it up a bit,” explained Short. The approach paid off with the pair getting seven hook-ups for the session, four of which they landed. “There was a distinct bite period just on dark. We had a half-hour bite window when we caught our fish,” explained Short. Their tackle selection included a Dobyns 705 SF

of the event winners, and had it not been for two crucial lost fish, they may have threatened our backto-back winners. Fishing a small wind blown area in the main basin, the pair keyed in on their location due its shallowness. “A shallow location near deepwater that fish rod, Daiwa Exist Branzino 3000 reel, 30lb Sunline Castaway PE, and 45lb Sunline FC100 flurocarbon leader. The pair also upgraded the hooks on their Transams, retrofitting the hooks with large Decoy YS 81 trebles. Short and Gibson’s top two result at Kinchant was the start that they were looking for on the Zerek BARRA Tour, and was a sign of further success to come.

can move into to feed is always attractive to barra”, explained Wilton. Their spot was exactly that, with a laydown there as well, providing cover for bait and adding extra appeal for the barra. It wasn’t however until later in the session when the northerlies and the turbid water eased in the shallows, that the barra really kicked into gear. With their lead plonk deployed and their boat positioned out from the edge, the pair cast up into 3-5ft of water then twitched their lures out towards the 8-12 feet drop off. The retrieve involved a series of fine twitches and pauses. “You wanted to move the lure, but you didn’t want to draw it too far forward. We’d twitch the lure on slack line so it darted ever so slightly,” explained Wilton.

Quality mid-sized fish like this guy saw Team Cairns Custom Craft finish second in round two. Their lure of choice included a Lucky Craft Pointer 100XD and a BTD General. While the pair caught one fish early, it wasn’t until later, 9:30-10:30pm, that the bite window really opened and the pair filled their limit. Landing five

fish for the session, the pair missed two key fish, larger fish that may have seen them challenge the event winners. Their tackle of choice at Teemburra included an Edge Rods 666 Black Widow rod, Daiwa Zillion J Dream reel (6.3:1), PE 3

Toray mainline and 50lb flurocarbon leader. Cairns Cutom Craft’s second at Teemburra was one place higher than at Kinchant and had them buoyed with confidence heading into the next round, round three, at Faust.

RESULTS

Matt Gibson looking giddy with the barra Kinchant has to offer.

Place Team

Team members

Fish

Length (cm)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Craig Griffiths / Karim De Ridder Wally Wilton / Jake Mitchell Matthew Mott / Dylan Mott Ash Sims / Dan Curry Geoff Newby / Phill Lyons Omar Hamid / Chase Bursnall Rick Napier / Dustin Sippel Shane Snell / Ryan O’Donoghue Mick Weick / Brendan Barnett Trent Short / Matt Gibson

5/5 5/5 5/5 5/5 3/5 2/5 2/5 2/5 2/5 1/5

381 353 294 291 236 164 150 146 133 86

Humminbird / EJ Todd Cairns Custom South Burnett Directions Jackall Australia Likely Lads Rent Star Triton Boats / Edge Rods by Gary Loomis Get Flicked Tree Huggers Sunline

For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au JANUARY 2017

Motts motor to victory Team South Burnett Direction’s Matthew and Dylan Mott put an end to Team Humminbird/EJ Todd’s dream of a clean sweep of the 2016 Zerek BARRA Tour with the

spot and fish it thoroughly,” explained Matthew. With their spot locked in the paired anchored up wide of the point, 60-70m wider than other teams fishing the point. Anchored up the

THE FUTURE IS HERE Self-contained Electric Outboards

Team South Burnett Direction’s Matthew Mott was all smiles with their win in the Sunline Faust two-day event. father and son pair running down the defending Faust champions on the final day at Faust to secure victory in the Sunline presented event. With little to no prefish under their belt, the pair fished Faust Point for the event, a long, extensive point in the lower reaches of the lake. “We didn’t have a lot of options to choose from so we decided to fish one

pair would make long casts towards the point, then let their lure sink to the bottom, give it one quick hop, then retrieve it back to the boat. “It was like bass fishing that we use to do in the old days,” explained Dylan. Their approach was spot on, with their first fish on day one hitting the deck within the first 5 minutes, which was followed by three dropped fish in the next hour.

“It took us a bit by surprised. Once we dropped those fish, we thought we’d blown it and had missed our chance. Thankfully, it was a sign of what was to come for the tournament,” explained Matthew. With a 5/5, 541cm limit on day one, Mott and Mott sat in second place, and in striking distance to take down Griffiths and DeRidder. “We weren’t completely dialed in on the first day. So we were confident that once we made a few adjustments and got fully keyed in on what the fish wanted and the best way to land them. Then we’d catch the fish we needed to win,” explained Matthew. Heading straight back to Faust Point on day two, the pair found other boats in the area, but rather than panic, they fished around them, waiting for their spot to become available. “They eventually left and we moved in and started

BARRA

Presente Tour R3 d by Sun line

catching them like we did the first day”, explained Matthew. Getting the big bites when it mattered most. Mott and Mott presented a 5/5, 567cm catch card to the scorers to finish the event with a 10/10, 1108cm two-day limit, an average of 110cm, and the bag needed to dethrone Team Humminbird/EJ Todd as the kings of Faust. The tackle they used to secure the come from behind victory included Dobyns 704 rods, ABU Garcia Revo Beast (7.1:1) baitcaster reel, 50lb Sunline Castaway PE, 80lb Sunline FC 100 flurocarbon leader, and Mustad Fastach clip. Their lure of choice was the ever reliable Squidgy 130 Slick Rig in black and gold colour, rigged on a Griffo custom made jighead, Decoy treble, chartreuse dipped tail, and burnt tail wrist for added movement.

ZEREK BIG BARRA Fast 2-Day champions Team South Burnett Directions value added their event winnings at Faust claiming the Zerek Big Barra prize with their 120cm kicker fish.

Still lurking

Griffths and DeRidder we’re once again in the thick of action at Faust with the pair catching a 10/10, 1083cm limit to claim second place. Fishing Faust Point, a long weed bed that ran adjacent to a creek drop off, the pair positioned their boat in 10ft of water then either cast out from, or back to the weed bed. “Early in the session we’d cast towards the weed bed, then later as it got dark we’d throw out wide. That’s how the bigger fish tended to move during the tournament, so we tried to stay on them,” explained Craig. With their eyes fixed to the sounder to see where the fish were, and where they were moving, Craig and Karim

would throw a combination of hard and soft baits to catch their fish. Slick Rigs, Pointer XD 100 Pointers, Rapala X Raps, and large custom plastics all featured in their line-up of baits. The Slick Rig was a favourite of the barra, and their presentation involved casting it to the weed edge (8ft), sink it down, then hop it back to the boat, keeping the lure a foot off the bottom as it went. “We got an early bite in the first 10 minutes, then it was a fish about every 1.5 hours, then a distinct bite period on the tide change about 8:30pm. It turned on around this time, we caught a 119, 117, and 114,” explained Craig.

Griffo holds aloft another Faust barra. Leading after day one, the pair couldn’t find the fish they needed on the final day to hold off a strong finishing, and a growingly confident Team South Burnett Directions. “We caught more fish on the second the day, we just couldn’t get the big ones though”, explained Craig. The tackle they used included Dobyns Savy Rods,

Daiwa Zillion HD reel (7.3:1), 50lb Sunline Castaway PE, and 60lb (hardbodies) and 80lb (soft plastics) Sunline FC 100 flurocarbon leader. Their Faust defeat delivered the team their first loss for a long time, and motivated them for a strong performance at the next event, the 4th and final round of the tour, once again at Faust.

RESULTS

Visit www.abt.org.au for entry forms. For general enquiries phone ABT on (07) 3387 0888. 92

JANUARY 2017

Place Team

Team members

Fish

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Matthew Mott / Dylan Mott Craig Griffiths / Karim DeRidder Trent Short / Matt Gibson Geoff Newby / Phil Lyons Rick Napier / Dustin Sippel Ash Sims / Dan Curry Wally Wilton / Jake Mitchell Mick Slade / Morgan McIntyre Steve Lill / Colin Brett Steve Morgan / James Reid

10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 9/10 9/10 10/10 7/10

South Burnett Directions Humminbird / EJ Todd Sunline Likely Lads Triton / Edge Rods Jackall Cairns Custom Jumped Off Dobyns Rods / Castaic Swimbaits Fishing Monthly

For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au

Length (cm) 1108 1083 1050 1016 990 959 895 874 859 724

South Burnett smash five for a solid win Team South Burnett Direction (Matthew and Dylan Mott) continued their winning ways at Faust, with the pair catching a 5/5, 563cm limit to make it backto-back victories. With their confidence sky high, they headed straight back to the scene of their last victory, Faust Point, and picked up where they left off, throwing Slick Rigs wide of the point. “We fished wider than others, we knew we couldn’t get as many bites or fish, but we were confident that we would get bigger fish, and it’s the big bites that win tournaments,” explained Dylan. Their rationale was spot one, and with a catch card that

them to the bottom, a quick hop, then work it back to the boat. Their approach worked, but the fish were fewer and far between compared to the two-day event. “We caught one fish, then jumped eight fish off in a row. We had a fivehour stretch where we didn’t catch a fish then between 12 and 1am we caught three. It then climaxed with the big

included a 107, 117, 109, 106, 107, 107, 111 and a 121, who can argue! “It’s a marathon effort fishing from 4pm in the

Matthew and Dylan Mott completed the clean sweep at Peter Faust with the South Burnett Directions pair picking up the $200 Zerek Big Bass Prize with their 121cm fish caught at 4am on the final morning of competition.

than 2nd), was enough to deliver them victory. Their second win in as many events, Team South Burnett Direction’s victory saw them come narrowly close (1 point) to beating Griffiths and DeRidder for the 2016 Team of the Year title. “I’m a competitive person by nature, so to do as well as we did at Faust and in the team of

than any victory or title,” explained Matthew. A proud father and competitive tournament angler, this tour may be the start of things to come on the BARRA Tour front for the talented father and son pairing from the South Burnett. The tournament winning tackle include four identical outfits made up of Dobyns

afternoon to 8am the next morning. You need to keep each other focused and motivated and be ready to lift your energy levels and attention when the peak bite windows come,” explained Dylan. The pre-dawn to dawn bite period was exactly that, with the pair catching their biggest fish for the session, a 121, at around 4am. The pair’s technique for catching their fish was the same as the last event, Slick Rigs cast long and far, sink

Still kings of the north progressed. The approach saw them catch 23 fish for the session, included a peak bite period just after midnight. “We were catching them consistently each hour, but we couldn’t get the big bites that we needed,” explained Griffiths. The standout fish in

Team Humminbird/EJ Todd’s 2nd place at Faust saw them secure the Costa BARRA Team of the Year title by one point over Faust winners South Burnett Directions. The narrowest of victories that saw them successfully retain their 2015 crown.

Faust Point once again delivered for Team Humminbird/EJ Todd. Griffths and DeRidder once again returned to Faust Point, a spot they found produced bigger fish than anywhere else, but this time they were greeted by more boats on the spot. “There was few local boats on the point, so we fished around them until they left, then we moved into a number one spot,” explained Craig. With their boat once again in 10ft of water the pair fished shallow early, then went deep as the session

Venom

Dylan Mott extracts a Slick Rig from another Faust barra.

ZEREK BIG BASS

Craig Griffths and Karim DeRidder once again showed that they are the benchmark of consistency when it comes to barra fishing, with the Humminbird/EJ Todd pair securing 2nd in the 4th and final event of the tour.

BARRA T Presente our R4 d by

their limit was two 112s and a 108. Unwilling to accept not catching the big fish they needed, the pair worked hard all session, alternating lures and changing up techniques in pursuit of big tournament fish. “By the end of the tournament, we had a pile of used lures on the back deck,” explained Craig. Catching a 5/5, 546cm limit for the 16 hour all-night barra-thon, Griffiths and DeRidder, secured second place by 1cm over 3rd placed Team Cairns Custom Craft.

Dylan Mott looks tired but happy with a fish from the Venom all-nighter on Faust. fish early in the morning,” explained Matthew. The pair’s goal of sacrificing numbers for size paid off and the their 5/5, 563cm limit (17cm larger

the year points race is very satisfying. What is more satisfying, however, is that I got to share the experience and time on the water with my son. This means more

704 rods, ABU Garcia Revo Beast (7.1:1) baitcaster reel, 50lb Sunline Castaway PE, 80lb Sunline FC 100 flurocarbon leader, and Mustad Fastach clip.

Karim DeRidder and Craig Griffiths the 2016 BARRA Tour Team of the Year.

RESULTS Place

Team

Team members

Fish

Length (cm)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

South Burnett Directions Humminbird / EJ Todd Cairns Custom Jackall Sunline Rent Star Fishing Monthly Likely Lads Get Flicked Touchin’ Cloth

Matthew Mott / Dylan Mott Craig Griffiths / Karim DeRidder Wally Wilton / Jake Mitchell Ash Sims / Dan Curry Trent Short / Matt Gibson Omar Hamid / Chase Bursnall Steve Morgan / James Reid Geoff Newby / Phil Lyons Shane Snell / Ryan O’Donoghue Ben Wilcox / Andrew Wilcox

5/5 5/5 5/5 5/5 5/5 5/5 5/5 5/5 5/5 5/5

563 546 545 545 542 540 538 519 519 513

For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au JANUARY 2017

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Cooking

Classic beer batter for your fresh caught fillets BRISBANE

Lynn Bain

Last month I showed you how to make the classic chippery side dish, potato

scallops. These are also known as potato cakes in the UK, or potato fritters in NZ as well as some states of Australia. They often accompany the classic dish of fish

Ingredients: 1 cup self-raising flour, 1/2 cup custard powder, 1/2 cup cornflour, 1/2 tsp of bi-carb soda, 1¼ cups of beer (preferably pale), a pinch of salt and black pepper, fish fillets to batter (not pictured), canola or vegetable oil.

In a large bowl, add the custard powder to the self-raising flour. Then add the cornflour and half a teaspoon of bi-carb soda (in the shot glass) to the ingredients in the bowl. Mix together well.

Grind salt and pepper into the bowl. Again, mix the ingredients together well.

and chips, so this month, the recipe is the classic beer battered fish fillets – commonly a central item in any deep-fried fish and potato variant. These crispy, golden

battered fish are fantastic with potato scallops and a fresh garden salad. The custard powder in this recipe gives a beautiful golden colour to the cooked batter fish fillets. I find that

Pour the 1¼ cups of beer into the dry mix in the bowl.

With a whisk, beat the beer into the dry ingredients until you have a smooth batter.

In a shallow dish, lightly coat the fish fillets with some plain flour. Coating the fillets with flour will help the batter adhere to the surface of the fillets.

cornflour adds a lightness of texture to the batter, as well. I also use a deep fryer with excellent temperature control, which is important for deep-frying. You don’t want the temperature of the

oil to drop too low, as this can result in soggy batter. This recipe will make for a fabulous fresh summer dinner. Just add a nice garden salad and some tartare sauce.

Dip the fish fillets in the batter mix. Ensure that both sides of the fillets are covered in the batter.

Heat some canola or vegetable oil in a deep fryer. You should have a fill mark on your deep fryer. Heat the oil to approximately 180°C, or 350°F. When the oil is hot, carefully lower the batter-coated fish fillets into the oil.

Deep-fry the batter-coated fish fillets until the batter is golden brown. When the fish is cooked through, remove the cooked fillets from the fryer and drain on some paper towels. The deep-fried beer battered fish fillets are now ready to serve. JANUARY 2017

WHAT’S NEW FISHING BALISTA AFTER DARK

Balista have just released a second LED into their range called the After Dark. It’s still their regular LED technology flashing red, the only difference is this LED is significantly less bright. There is a mountain of research behind the technology, and refining it to get the best results in all scenarios has been a prime focus for Balista. The standard LED that works so well during the day right up until dark can become too bright at night time, hence the introduction of the After Dark. This is a specially formulated LED to work perfectly at night time, so there is no large LED glow around the lure. It’s a faint and much more realistic LED for night time. The results on the After Dark have been phenomenal; getting the LED fine-tuned for night fishing has made a huge difference in catch rates. If you fish at night time, you’ve got to try After Dark. www.balista.com.au

TEMPT POWDER PAINT

Tempt Industries offer a comprehensive range of high quality Powder Paints designed to powder coat your fishing jigheads. Every angler wants to get any edge they can, and it’s these one-percenters that help us to catch more fish! The Powder Paint range offers an extensive range of colours that best suit the Australian conditions giving you the flexibility to custom match your jighead to your favourite soft plastic colours. Also available are a range of UV colours including a clear coat that can be applied over the top of any colour, giving an intense UV glow. Tempt Powder Paint is easily applied and gives a professional smooth powder coat finish, available in a 60g net jar or bulk orders on request. More colours are being added to the range, so like them on Facebook to keep updated. For more information, please check out the Facebook page or their website. Price: RRP $16.50 www.temptindustries.com.au

FAR-Q LURES

One of Australia’s most prolific and recognised lure makers Robie Gaden of RMG and Classic Lures fame has decided go back to where it all started for him as a lure maker, opting this time for timber over plastic. Only released to market recently, they’ve been snapped up by anglers and lure collectors alike. Hand-crafting lures for iconic Aussie species from Murray cod to mulloway is something Robie has refined over the course of 35+ years, and it truly shows in their actions. If you like throwing big lures at big fish, make sure you give these classic-looking timber works of art a look in. FAR-Q Lures are available now from Fishing Tackle Australia in Coffs Harbour, and can be ordered through MO Tackle, so whether you want it for your tackle box or collection, grab a couple now while stocks last. www.motackle.com.au 96

JANUARY 2017

AUSTACKLE SPIRIT SERIES

PRODUCT GUIDE

Austackle has expanded its Spirit Series of rods, which now consists of two spin models (1-3kg/7’0” and 2-5kg/7’0”), and two baitcasters (2-5kg/5’06” and 2-5kg/6’0”). These rods deliver the perfect balance of sensitivity and power. The blanks use Japanese IM8 pre-peg carbon cloth and are fitted with CIGX Custom Incremental Geared wind-down reel seats, designed to prevent over-tightening and keep your reel in place all day. These new rods have a highly sensitive medium-fast action, and their stunning cosmetics change colours and shimmer in the sunlight. Finishing off this top class rod series are low-profile stainless steel guides with SiC inserts. Spirit is a great choice for experienced kayak anglers as the medium-fast taper makes it less vulnerable to breakages caused by ‘high sticking’ (taking the rod past 45% while under load) – a practice many anglers find hard to avoid from a seated fishing position. www.austackle.com

SAMAKI MARLIN TEE

Samaki’s Marlin Tee suits the deckie in all of us, the passion for being on the water day in and day out with the added comfort of a sleek soft fabric that keeps you cool, dry and protected. Sporting the stealthy Marlin trying to escape at speed the Marlin tee sports a few unique hits of design without being too overwhelming. The Samaki Marlin Tee is developed from Samaki FishDry fabric, designed to wick the sweat away fast from the body whilst pulling it to the surface of the garment for speedy evaporation. Samaki’s UV50+ sun protection fabric is 100% polyester material, a lightweight fabric that keeps you cool, holds anti-shrinking, anti-wrinkle and antipilling properties for you to get longevity from your garment. The stain release technology helps you remove stains easily and efficiently – a great feature when outdoors. Available from S to 3XL. Price: RRP $49.95 www.samaki.com.au

COUCOM’S DAD’S DILLIES

The Coucom’s range of crab pots and dillies are handcrafted in Yeppoon, made with top quality materials from Australian suppliers. They use solid 10mm galvanised steel, and 50mm polyethylene UV-treated nylon mesh. The poly pipe legs feature Coucom’s Split-leg design for ease of assembly and dismantling, and there’s also a built-in bait pocket. All Coucoms pots come with chaffing rope to protect the net as well as the boat. “Dad’s Dillies are a remake of a design my father made and used many years ago, his original design (along with a few additional ideas of my own) has gone into making the Dad’s Dilly. On our first trial we used five dillies in four hours and returned with 10 legal crabs. They have been approved by NSW, QLD and NT Fisheries, and we hope the other states will also approve them for sale. Dillies have a variety of advantages over traditional crab pots. They are proven crab catchers, you don’t have to leave them out overnight, you’ll eliminate checking and stealing, and they’re easy to assemble and collapse. Dad’s Dillies come in heavy or light gauge steel, with a bait bag included, and all you need is rope and float and bait. They’re ideal for kayakers. Price: from SRP $49 www.facebook.com/CoupomsCrab potsAndFishingGear

6 visit www.tacklejunkie.fish for the latest tackle news - AS IT HAPPENS!

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PRODUCT GUIDE

WHAT’S NEW FISHING BASSDAY MOGUL MINNOW 66

PFLUEGER SALT FINESSE

The newest addition to the Bassday line-up for Australian anglers, the Mogul Minnow 66 is a new suspending twitchbait that bream and bass anglers are going to love. Featuring an internal weight transfer system for optimum casting performance, and an enticing side-to-side action when twitched and paused, this is a lure that will grab the attention of anglers and fish alike. With an attractive, side-to-side cadence, this is a lure that encourages an aggressive response from jerkbait-loving fish. Stunning, ultra-realistic colours and textbook Japanese attention to detail make this a must-have suspending jerkbait for bream, bass, trout, and mangrove jack. The Bassday Mogul Minnow 66 measures 66mm long, weighs 5g, dives to 0.8m, and is currently available in six proven colours. For more information and photos visit the Bassday website, or like them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ Bassday. Price: SRP $24.95 www.bassday.com.au

Developed for Australian conditions, the Salt Finesse spin reel delivers the reliability of the heavy duty Pflueger Salt spin series in a light-weight and compact package. When you first pick up the Salt Finesse, you’ll notice the weight, or lack of it! A major factor when casting all day is what lure fishing is all about. Lightweight performance is achieved through features such as a smooth 9+1 bearing system, aluminium main shaft with alloy main gear and Pfluegers carbon handle design. Combined with a sealed drag system, braid ready spool and comfortable EVA handle knob, the Salt Finesse is designed for effortless performance and reliability. This little machine is available in three sizes, which are 30, 35 and 40. The Pflueger Salt Finesse is a great affordable alternative if you do a lot of light tackle sportfishing in sheltered waters. Price: RRP $199.95 www.pflueger.com.au

NEW FISH HEADZ COLOURS

KAYAK TACKLE STATION

Bigfish Gear has released three new colours in their range of Fish Headz head socks. All are manufactured in Bigfish’s new full tube material that is softer and stretchier to wear. The Camoscale Bluefish is a light blue version of the ever-popular camoscale pattern, and it’s great for those wanting to fish in high glare or crystal clear skies. Camoscale Mirage is a light grey version of their unique camoscale pattern and great for those fishing in overcast or low light conditions. Bush Camo is Bluefish’s very own, unique camouflage pattern, totally generated using Australian bush flora and colourings to help you blend into the natural surrounds. For more information and to see the full range of colours, check out the Bigfish website. They also have a wide range of sun protection shirts, pants and other fishthemed apparel. Price: SRP $21.95 www.bigfishgear.com

BALISTA HUNCHBACK 60

Hunchback 60 features their new micro LED technology, and given that dawn and dusk generally coincide with a great surface bite, it works in very well with the LED technology. Around dawn and dusk is one of the prime times to break out the LED. The sunlight is lower, causing the LED to be brighter, and more effective. Like its bigger brother, the Hunchback 90, this smaller Hunchback has a huge crawling action and a clip off bib for easy storage. As the name suggests, the new Hunchback is 60mm in length, and the body size was designed to be the ideal size and profile for bass, though it is also highly effective on Murray Cod in smaller rivers. The tail of the lure sits well below the waterline to promote excellent hook-up rates, and it’s fitted out with ultra sharp BKK trebles so you can be confident in hooking and holding whatever grabs your Hunchback. www.balista.com.au

The Wilson Ultimate Tackle Station has been designed to fit securely in a kayak, but it’s also a great choice for anglers requiring lots of storage options in a boat or on the shore. Made from 600D water-resistant, ripstop poly fabric, this unit caters to your every need. Features include two heavyduty carry straps with an adjustable and detachable padded shoulder strap, a sewn-in triple rod/tool holder with three rod tubes secured by Velcro straps, a multitude of tool holders and accessory pouches, drainage holes in all areas, clear plastic map pockets and a Velcro secured top. With features galore and a striking finish to ensure you look smart on the water, the Ultimate Tackle Station is worth a serious look. For more information on this and other products in the Wilson Fishing range of tackle storage solutions, visit the Wilson Fishing website. www.wilsonfishing.com.au

RAPALA XRAP MAGNUM 40

Monsters lurk in the deep, and now you’re going to have a new lure that will go down there and meet them face to face, as Rapala introduce the XRap Magnum 40 to their incredibly popular XRMAG range of high speed trolling minnows. If you’ve ever thrown some lures behind the boat looking for a mackerel, tuna, wahoo or other bluewater predators, chances are you’ve either already used an XRap Magnum, or you’ve been wanting to try one. Now the new XRMAG 40 goes where no other XRap has gone before, reaching depths of 40ft (12m) easily, unlocking new ground and new avenues to target the ocean’s largest predators. An increased body size of 20cm gives this lure a large profile, appealing to hungry predators looking for an easy meal. This lure can swim to 12knots. Available in 12 of Rapala’s excellent holographic and UV colours, the new XRMAG 40 is sure to be a hit when the big fish roll into town. www.rapala.com.au

Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au JANUARY 2017

WHAT’S NEW FISHING AUSTACKLE BABY WOBBLER

One of Austackle’s most popular crankbait profiles is now available in a bite size 50mm model for all the light tackle lovers out there! Just like the full size version, the Baby Wobbler is very easy to use and super effective on a wide range of species, in particular: bass, redfin and yellowbelly. The Baby Wobbler also features one of the hottest new custom colours in the Austackle range, baby redfin, and given that redfin are cannibalistic, these will surely make an impact on the redfin scene. They are available in six proven fish catching colours, all with UV paint features to give them an extremely life-like appearance in the water. At 50mm long, they’re a great bite size for light tackle predators, and with a maximum diving depth of 4m, they’ll work in a variety of situations. www.austackle.com

SAMAKI ZING XTREME 16 SWIMBAIT RODS With the increase in swimbait fishing techniques spreading across Australia, Samaki has designed two specific actions to suit our Australian market. The 7’9” model is designed for medium to large swimbaits up to 5oz, while the 8ft model targets the bigger timber swimbait lures up to 8oz. Both have a long double-handed butt design, which is detachable at the fore grip, enabling easier transport and increased power while fighting fish all without the loss of action. In designing this series, the team took into account the need for accurate size guide requirements; it is a critical factor when designing any models, but when you’re working on the knowledge of international markets and the hanging factors for our unique environment, you have to be precise. All Samaki Zing Xtremes sport Fuji Reel Seats Fuji guides, ultra hard EVA camouflaged grips and are a blend of 30 and 40 tonne Japanese carbon to obtain a perfect action in chucking these large enticing lures. Price: RRP $349.95 www.samaki.com.au

PRO-CURE SUPER GEL 14 NEW FLAVOURS BFG BUSH Angler requests have led to the addition of three flavours in the Pro-Cure Super CAMO REPEL

Gel Scent range. Pro-Cure combines powerful amino acids, bite stimulants and UV enhancement, with real ground bait, in a super-sticky formula that stays on lures and baits longer. Firstly we have aniseed, (0515), made with a combination of five baitfish and a shot of anise, a proven fish attractor in both the fresh and salt, that holds legendary status among freshwater anglers. Next, two favourite baitfish for many species, ground pilchards and sardines make this gel irresistible. Then there’s bloodworm. Combine real ground bloodworms with laboratory science and you have a dynamite scent for everything from the fresh and estuary to the surf. Maximize your chances of catching big fish with Pro-Cure Super Gel Scent. Price: SRP $17.95 www.tackletactics.com.au

DAIWA GEN BLACK REELS

The new Generation Black reel range is one of Daiwa’s hottest releases ever, packed with features such as Magseal, Air Rotor, ATD and Zaion. Magseal uses a magnetized oil lubrication system to avoid friction and reduce water intrusion, improving the reel’s life expectancy. The corrosion resistant Zaion body is stronger and lighter than magnesium or alloy. This precision engineering supports the Digigear II drive system that produces smoother rotary efficiency and increased cranking power. The ATD drag starts smoothly, and then increases its pressure to its pre-set drag rating in a fraction of a second, eliminating line breakage at the strike. There are four sizes, ranging from the 2000 (4.8 ratio, 210g weight, 4kg drag, PE 1/200m capacity) up to the 4000 (4.9, 380g, 7kg PE 2.5/300). Matching perfectly to the Generation Black V2 Rod range, these reels have a sleek, all-black finish that’s perfect for customizing with Daiwa’s Custom Project spools, handles and handle knobs. www.daiwafishing.com.au 98

JANUARY 2017

PRODUCT GUIDE

Repel gear is so effective at repelling mosquitoes and other biting insects that they figured their 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 their 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 their 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 well-proven product with a new application system. It’s biodegradable, independently tested and contains a Group 3A insecticide with APVMA approval. The entire range is available on their website, as well as many other retail outlets. Price: RRP $99.95 www.bigfishgear.com

SO-RUN JOKER SHAD 18 AND JOKER VERT The new So-Run Joker Shad and Joker Vert from Rapala are two new and incredibly versatile soft plastics. These soft plastics both come with a membrane on the tail, and this can be removed for increased tail speed. It’s perfect for when the bite changes and you need to change your presentation. The mid body crease enhances the tail action of both plastics, and gives off an enticing swagger to attract those hungry predators. The Joker Shad and Joker Vert are both scented, and come in 12 amazing colour designs, suitable for many different situations. The Joker Shads come in 4 and 5” sizes, and the 4” Shads come in packs of six, while the 5” come in pack of five. The Joker Verts come in 5” and 6” sizes, and the 5” Verts come in packs of five, while the 6” come in packs of four. Why not grab a pack and watch those big fish come to you? www.rapala.com.au

18 visit www.tacklejunkie.fish for the latest tackle news - AS IT HAPPENS!

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PRODUCT GUIDE

WHAT’S NEW FISHING

Feature-packed ATC Valour reel from Wilson Fishing The last two to three years has seen Australian company Wilson Fishing launch a number of new brands like Zerek and Venom. It hasn’t taken long for these products to establish themselves as leaders in their fields, complementing other popular Wilson brands such as Live Fibre, Snyder Glas and Sure Catch. Now Wilson Fishing has launched a reel range called ATC, and the latest release is the Valour spin reel.

of drag on this model, this bodes well if you like to target larger species on light gear. The drag is nice and smooth, so with good line capacity and plenty of drag the Valour certainly isn’t limited to targeting smaller species. TIME WILL TELL Four months down the track and I am very happy with my ATC Valour reels. They are showing no signs of any wear and tear even though I have been frugal with my upkeep of them. I have been lucky enough to

TESTED

after catching a snapper on Gone Fishing Day earlier this year. Apparently it is her reel now. CONCLUSION Retailing for a little over the $200 mark, the ATC Valour range fits into the medium price point bracket when it comes to reels. Considering all the features of these reels, I believe they are batting well above their weight – and I am yet to test them at their full potential. To learn more about the Wilson ATC

The author’s daughter has claimed one of the reels as her own after catching this little snapper on Gone Fishing Day.

The large handle and classic look of the ATC Valour reels has quickly made them a favourite with the author. Available in four sizes (2000-5000), these reels have a classic look and are a step up from the Valiant range released a couple of years ago. They have a total of 10 stainless steal sealed ball bearings and include a tournament grade multi-disc woven carbon drag system. The drag system provides an impressive 11kg of drag in the larger two models and 8kg in the smaller sizes.

I grabbed two of the 2000 sized reels, matched them on Wilson 7’0” Magnum light spin rods and spooled them with 6lb braid. This is my outfit that when I target flathead, bream and bass. FIRST IMPRESSIONS One of the first things you notice with the Valour reel is the oversize handle. My first thought was that this was overkill. I could understand the concept on bigger reels, but didn’t see the need on reels this size. Within five minutes I had changed my mind. The handle is comfortable in the hand and you certainly will never lose track of it while fishing. Fishing with anything else now just doesn’t feel right. Line capacity certainly isn’t an issue. I put on plenty of backing and still easily put 150m of 6lb braid on the spool. Considering the 8kg

Targeting mulloway much bigger than this one wouldn’t be an issue with the ATC Valour 2000. get a few nice fish while using them, and they haven’t missed a beat. My daughter has also given them her tick of approval. There was no way she was going to use anything else

Valour reels and the rest of the Wilson Fishing product range, go to www.wilsonfishing.com. au or check them out at your nearest good fishing retail outlet. - Peter Jung

Work done? Come over for some Fishflicks and chill TESTED

With the advent of more TV channels, there’s been an influx of fishing, hunting, spearfishing and 4x4 programs popping up. The trouble is, they’re often on when I’m working, busy with my young family or with any luck, out on the water somewhere actually fishing. This is why I was so excited with the 2016 launch of one of the most impressive fishing related products I’ve used: Fishflicks.tv. With NBN becoming so accessible and the quality of modern mobile devices, streaming services have become a much more viable option for so many of us and this one was on the top of my wish list. FIRST IMPRESSIONS Once my subscription came through I was excited to get straight into it. Logging in was easy, and I was greeted with an easy to read and navigate selection of programs to start binge watching: Rex Hunt, iFISH, Mark Berg’s Fishing Addiction, Big Angry Fish, Then Next Level, Hogs Dogs and Quads, Offroad

Adventure – all the big names as well as some emerging ones you’ll fall in love with quickly like the extreme land-based action from the boys at Morning Tide.

can then use through devices like appleTV or something similar to your TV. As long as you have an Internet connection, you can be watching your favourite programs. My favourite part is that the entire thing is commercial free! WHAT IF I WATCH ALL OF THE FISHING SHOWS? Good luck! There are well over a thousand hours of TV ready to watch and new content is being added all the time. You can switch from the old Rex Hunt’s fishing adventures that I grew up watching that haven’t appeared on TV screens in years, to the latest releases in glorious high definition. HOW HARD IS IT TO SUBSCRIBE? If you want to sign up yourself, just head to www.fishflicks.tv and hit sign up. Fill in a couple of quick details and you’re in. You

Access is gained via your smart TV, computer or the fishflicks.tv app, which you

can choose to pay by the month and leave at anytime, or pay the year’s fees upfront

and receive a 20% discount. They also offer vouchers you can give to a mate or a loved one for that special occasion. CONCLUSION This could be the best $79 you’ll spend all year. Fishing shows on demand is awesome, and it’s great to see it become accessible to so many audiences at any time. More people watching, talking about and learning about fishing, hunting and four wheel driving can never be a bad thing in my humble opinion. – Rupe

JANUARY 2017

Trades, Services, Charter BOAT MODIFICATIONS & REPAIRS

BAIT & TACKLE

CUSTOM ALLOY FABRICATION

GOLD COAST

BEST LURE RANGE ON THE Fishing GOLD COAST

• Boat repairs & fitouts • Bait tanks • Transom rebuilds • Fuel tanks • Consoles OVER 20 YEARS FABRICATING AND WELDING ALUMINIUM

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INSIDE SPORTY’S WAREHOUSE

07 5526 2786

MAIL ORDERS

WELCOME

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CUSTOM TRANSOMS 20-75hp $750 75-150hp $890 150-225hp $980 Freight can be arranged Australia wide

PROFISH BOATS – Phone Peter 0417 782 114

BCF www.bcf.com.au

Email: peter@profishboats.com www.profishboats.com

Tackle Land Sandgate (07) 3269 5060 Tackle Land Carseldine (07) 3862 9015

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0410 480 203

Salt-Away www.salt-away.com.au

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BOAT HIRE // HOUSE

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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

Great family and fishing boats! + 50km of sheltered waterways on the Gold Coast’s Broadwater + No Licence required CALL FOR A + Boats from $795 DEAL + 2-12 berth

Shed 1 281 Jacobs Well Road

Phone 3807 7846

TINNIE HIRE AVAILABLE

FRASER COAST Rainbow Beach Houseboats (07) 5486 3146 Lake Monduran House Boat www.lakemonduranhouseboathire.com.au

BOAT HIRE // TRAILER GOLD COAST

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

MARINE MECHANICS

BOAT PAINTING BRISBANE Brisbane Boat Painting 0433 356 620

MOBILE SERVICE AVAILABLE

TRADES AND SERVICES ADVERTISING Line listing from $90 + gst 6 months* 2cm x 2 from $195 + gst 6 months* 4cm x 2 from $320 + gst 6 months* 8cm x 2 from $590 + gst 6 months* Rates exclusive to Trades and Services Directory *Conditions apply Call (07) 3387 0800 or email ads@fishingmonthly.com.au

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• Servicing All Makes & Models • Outboard Repairs • Diagnostic Equipment • Boat Fitouts • New and Used Boats • Trailer Repairs • Wheel Bearings • Boat Detailing

07 5499 3555

1/6 Auster Court, Caboolture QLD

GOLD COAST

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• Sales • Service • Spare Parts • Warranty and Insurance work * REPOWER SPECIALISTS *

Stones Corner Marine (07) 3397 9766 Brisbane Yamaha (07) 3888 1727 Northside Marine (07) 3265 8029 Tweed Powerhouse (07) 5523 0072 Coorparoo Marine (07) 3397 4141 Capalaba Boat Centre 04011 728 379 Holt Marine (07) 3353 1928 Cunningham Marine Centre (07) 3284 8805 Caloundra Marine (07) 5491 1944 Bribie Boat Sales (07) 3408 0055

SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND

Boab Boat Hire - 1300 002 622

Advertise here - $195 + GST for 6 months Email: ads@fishingmonthly.com.au

Phone 07 5522 1933

CABOOLTURE

Mob 0427 142 201 Fax 3807 2468

+ 07 5502 6200 + www.coomerahouseboats.com.au

4/26 TAREE ST, BURLEIGH HEADS www.ssmarine.com.au

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Behind GEM Service Station, Alberton 4207

NEW

Call us for the... BEST PRICE on Garmin Electronics All your Honda sales and service needs

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2/247 Bayview St Runaway Bay GEOFF NEWMAN PH 55774411

QLD HONDA DEALER OF THE YEAR 2011/2012

NORTH QUEENSLAND Reef Marine Mackay (07) 4957 3521

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.

Boats & Guided Fishing Tours Directory MARINE MECHANICS // MOBILE WYNUMM MANLY-BAYSIDE

MARINE ELECTRONICS

SALES • REPAIRS • INSTALLATIONS

ONSITE AND MOBILE INSTALLATIONS

• Sounders • GPS • Electric Motors • Marine Radios and accessories • Stereos • Televisions • Radar Units • Autopilots

Mechanic Mobile Marine

FEE” T U O L L A C O “N

Unit 4/1440 New Cleveland Road Capalaba www.trymax.com.au PHONE: 07 3245 3633

MARINE OUTBOARD WRECKERS TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND

Fishing Monthly SPECIAL Offers!

North Queensland Outboard Wreckers Townsville 1800 812 748

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HORIZON SHORES MARINA

www.tsboatsales.com.au admin@tsboatsales.com.au Phone: (07)

3396 5633 OR (07) 5546 2599 HOT TINNY FISHING PACK!

Wondall Rd Marine (07) 3396 5633

Gary’s Marine Centre

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ONLINE TACKLE PRODUCTS

3201 6232

217 Pine Mountain Road, BRASSALL

She Left Camera Sunglasses www.hdvcs.com.au Specialty Fishing www.specialtyfishing.com.au J-Roc Tackle www.jroctackle.com.au 7 GREAT COLOURS!

MARINE TRANSPORT

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Sirocco Plush Padded Folding Seat

MARINE TRAILERS Oceanic Boat Trailers (07) 5597 0577 Seatrail Trailers www.seatrailqld.com.au Tinnie Tosser (07) 5498 7339 Sea-Link Special Trailers (07) 3881 3568

199

BOAT TRANSPORT AUSTRALIA WIDE FROM A TINNY TO 50 FEET WEEKLY SERVICE TO ALL MAJOR CAPITALS

BLUE OR WHITE!

DJ Freight Marine Transport 0418 793 357 0427 341 076 contact@djfreight.com.au

FISHING GUIDES SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND Suncoast Barra Fishing Park www.suncoastbarrafishing.com

LED Underwater Lights

FISH TAXIDERMY Fish Taxidermist www.fishtaxidermy.net.au or 0428 544 841

STORES STRONG

WE YOU BUY MORE PAY LESS

CENTRAL QUEENSLAND Lake Monduran Barra Charters 0407 434 446

TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND

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CHANDLERY & ACCESSORIES

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Trades, Services, Charter Boats & Guided Fishing Tours Directory MARINE TRIMMERS GOLD COAST

Runaway Bay

MARINE COVERS

CENTRAL QUEENSLAND

HERVEY BAY

Baffle Creek Holiday House 0419 624 833

Fully Guided Lure & Fly Fishing

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

•

BORN AND BRED LOCAL GUIDE

• 5.5m Custom sportsfishing Vessel • 4.4m Estuary Sportsfishing Vessel • Quality Fishing Gear Supplied

COOKTOWN

SERVICING ALL AREAS & ALL BUDGETS

River of Gold Motel Plenty of room for boats and trailers PH: 4069 5222 MACKAY

Quality Boat Covers

Upholstery & Carpets

• Flybridge Enclosures • Bimini Tops etc.

• Bunk Cushions • Custom Interiors etc.

5529 6277 – 0417 173 257

www.rbmarinecovers.com.au Factory 3 & 8 Runaway Bay Marina SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND Rowland Street Boat Trimmers Springwood (07) 3208 9511 Brisbane Yamaha (07) 3888 1727 Rays Canvas & Marine Caboolture (07) 5499 4911 Affordable Boat Covers Gold Coast 0419 424 587

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NORTH QUEENSLAND

D&H REEL REPAIRS ce Reel Performan

e parts needs repairs and spar el re ur yo l al r Fo Phone/Fax: 07 3372 2740 or call Duncan on 0439 717 839 Email: dhreelrepairs@bigpond.com Drag upgrades available • Rod repairs • Mail orders welcome

Servicin major b g all rands

www.reelrepairs.com.au 110 Sherbrooke Rd, Willawong Qld 4110

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

CHARTER BOATS NORTHERN NSW Evans Head Deep Sea Fishing Charters 0428 828 835 Reel Time Fishing Charters Yamba 0428 231 962

Dave Gaden’s Yamba • Deep Sea

SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND The Islander Retreat, South Stradbroke Island 0420 967 557

FRASER ISLAND

FRASER ISLAND FISHING UNITS Indian Head I Fraser Island

REEL TIME FISHING CHARTERS

• 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

0407 627 852

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

TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND 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

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OPEN 7 DAYS

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GOLD PARKINGCOAST

True Blue Fishing Gold Coast (07) 5510 9622 BK’s Gold Coast Fishing Charters 0414 293 034 My Charter Boat Tweed Heads 0407 347 446 RU4 Reel Tweed Heads 0449 903 366 Discovery Fishing Charters Gold Coast 0427 026 519 Fish The Deep Charters 0416 224 412 Paradise Fishing Charters 0403 531 428 Gold Coast Fishing Charters 0411 605 090 Hooker 1 Charters Gold Coast (07) 5528 6469 Sea Probe Fishing Charters 0400 312 330 • Ice & Gas Coastal Sports Fishing Charters Gold Coast 0412 691 929 s le a S t a • Bo arts Ph: 6646 1994 Gone Charters Gold Coast s & P7833 andlery Sale5529 • ChFishing rs(07)

INA YAMBA MAR E , E L K C A T & R ARINA BOAT CKLE STO

Andrew Chorley

CENTRAL QUEENSLAND

Yallakool Caravan Park on Bjelke-Petersen Dam (07) 4168 4746 Lake Boondooma Caravan Park (07) 4168 9694 Lake Cressbrook Regional Council 131 872 Yallakool Park and Kiosk on Bjelke-Petersen Dam (07) 4168 4746

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ROD & REEL REPAIRS

www.herveybaysportfishing.com.au

FISHING ON TV

EST TA

LARG YAMBA’S

• Traile kle or 0428 231 962 okings Email: dave@gaden.com.au Charter Bo

BRISBANE • Bait & Tac

• Charters Brisbane (07) 3209 4576 Frenzy Tom Cat Charters (07) 3820 8794 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

IDEAL GIFT!

SUNSHINE COAST

A FISHO’S DREAM For bookings or enquiries contact: Cliff Andreassen 0428 712 283 or 07 5449 9346 bearfish@bigpond.com • www.fraserislandfishingunits.com.au Apurla Island Retreat 0437 739 121 Waddy Lodge on Fraser 0414 516 364 Cathedrals on Fraser (07) 4127 9177 Fraser Island Beach Houses 1800 626 230 Yidney Rocks (07) 4127 9167 Eurong Beach Resort 1800 111 808

Keely Rose Deep Sea Fishing Charters 0407 146 151 Odyssey Charters Deep Sea Fishing (07) 5478 1109 Rainbow Beach Fishing Charters (07) 5486 8666 or 0408 767 930 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

DVD’S -

Series 3 through 9

$9.95 each GST INC. - with FREE P&H

1800 228 244

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boats & kayaks

In the skipperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s seat

Inside story...

Stessco is an Australian owned and operated family business. With a love of fishing and boating, Stessco has built a wide-ranging network of dealerships, with the goal of providing customers with dependable, value-for-money aluminium boats. Stessco prides itself on the wide variety of options available which can be added to the already wide range of different vessels.

Made for...

Anglers who are after a reliable tinny that can be customised to suit their individual requirements and fishing style.

This month...

As a professional guide, Mark Saxon knows what makes a great fishing boat. He was the perfect candidate to test the new Stessco 440 Renegade Softride.

105 Redcliffe reds

For the kayak angler wanting to target snapper, Redcliffe offers easy access and relatively sheltered waters.

106 Kayak selection and fit out for holidays Justin Willmer goes into detail about how you can fit out your kayak for a bit of summer fun.

110 Upgraded Cross Country Island Hopper We previously reviewed the 4.5 Island Hopper as a bare bones tiller-steered hull. This time itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fully optioned up!

JANUARY 2017

103

WHAT’S NEW BOATING NEW WIDESCREEN ELITE-TI DISPLAYS

Lowrance, a world-leading brand in fishing electronics since 1957, announced the addition of a pair of widescreen displays to the Elite Ti standalone series of fishfinder/chartplotters. The new Lowrance Elite-12 Ti and Elite-9 Ti touchscreen fishfinder/chartplotters include the same features that have generated so much excitement about the Elite-Ti series — but on bigger 12 and 9-inch high-resolution, widescreen displays. Including premium features like a touchscreen interface, Bluetooth and wireless connectivity, proven Lowrance navigation technology and high-performance sonar – including CHIRP, Broadband Sounder™ and StructureScan HD with SideScan and DownScan Imaging – the new displays are still available at an affordable price. CHIRP sonar offers improved fish-target separation and screen clarity, while the StructureScan HD sonar imaging system with exclusive Lowrance DownScan Imaging delivers photo-like images of fish-holding structure on both sides and directly beneath. Protected by the Lowrance Advantage Service program, the Elite-12 and Elite-9 Ti can be purchased from authorised Lowrance dealers and distributors. www.navico.com

LOW-COST MARINE THERMAL VISION

The New Ocean Scout TK thermal vision camera from FLIR is designed specifically for fishing and boating, providing users with the ability to ‘see’ in total darkness or blinding sunlight. Designed for one-handed use and built tough to handle extreme conditions, the compact yet powerful Ocean Scout TK uses FLIR’s class-leading thermal technology to display images based on heat, not visible light. From showing buoys, rocks, boats and other obstructions out on the water, the Ocean Scout TK provides situational peace of mind in an affordable, easy-to-use package. Five hours of rechargeable power via an internal Li-ion battery, combined with a range of selectable screen displays and the ability to record up to 1000 still images plus video, means the FLIR Ocean Scout TK is a valuable safety tool for all outdoors enthusiasts. The unit comes complete with a lanyard, a protective lens cap and a USB cable for downloading. Price: RRP $899 www.raymarine.com.au

AUGMENTED REALITY 3 SONAR SYSTEMS

Raymarine is pleased to announce an allnew version of its popular Wi-Fish mobile app for use with Dragonfly-PRO and Wi-Fish CHIRP Sonar systems. The app has been expanded and now includes Augmented Reality Viewing of your saved waypoints and fishing hot spots. The app works with the GPS, compass and camera in your smartphone or tablet to show precisely where you are in relation to your saved waypoints. The name, symbol, bearing and range to each waypoint is displayed as a dynamic overlay on a real-time view of the waterway in front of you. Simply pan your smartphone or tablet 360° across the horizon, the precise positions of your waypoints are shown on the live camera feed. This makes it easier to locate your favourite fishing spots and navigate right to them! To use the Augmented Reality mode, you must be running the new Wi-Fish app on a GPS enabled smartphone or tablet. Hit the water with the new Dragonfly WiFish app, today! www.raymarine.com.au 104

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NSS EVO3 DISPLAYS

Next generation Simrad NSS Evo3 multifunction displays were announced today, featuring new SolarMAX HD screens, Dual Channel CHIRP sounder compatibility and an expanded keypad, plus a host of premium features that make the NSS Evo3 Series the choice of power boaters and sport fishermen around the globe. The NSS Evo3 series will include 16-, 12-, 9- and 7-inch models with an updated, easy-touse interface and support for full operation via touchscreen or keypad, making the unit easier to operate when the boat is in motion, in all weather conditions. The touchscreen works accurately even when wet – covered in fresh or salt water – it won’t impact performance. Designed for the offshore anglers, Dual Channel CHIRP enables wide angle and deep view sonar images from the same transducer (with a dual channel CHIRP sonar transducer installed on their boat). Built in Wi-Fi enables access to GoFree online services to download software updates and map purchases directly to the unit. www.simrad-yachting.com

YAMAHA F25 EFI

Yamaha’s new F25 EFI has been developed to exceed the performance and features of Yamaha’s 25N 2-stroke, a motor that offered excellent performance and reliable operation, as well as improve on Yamaha’s existing F25. The new F25 EFI is around 25% lighter, and its 4-stroke, fuel injected design delivers even better performance and fuel economy. Battery-less Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) is a new feature on this engine, and to the Yamaha 4-stroke range as a whole. It achieves easy starting performance, delivering one-handed starting from a seated position. Excellent acceleration, achieved through optimal setting of the EFI, puts the new F25’s performance at the top of its class. Yamaha’s variable trolling switch comes standard on this engine, allowing adjustment of the trolling engine speed in increments of 50 r/min from 750rpm to 1050rpm. The F25 is compatible with NMEA2000 and Yamaha’s range of command link digital gauges. www.yamaha-motor.com.au

GPSMAP MODELS COMING SOON

PRODUCT GUIDE

Garmin has announed the release of several new products at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, among them new GPSMAP models set to arrive in the New Year. Further expanding the popular GPSMAP product range, the new touchscreen and keyed units are packed with industry-leading sonar and chartplotting features. The new units offer full-network compatibility for the Garmin Marine Network, which allows support for sharing sonar, maps, user data, radar, IP cameras and Panoptix all-seeing sonar across multiple units. There’s also NMEA 2000 and NMEA 0183 support for autopilots, digital switching, weather, VHF, AIS and other sensors. All 2017 GPSMAP models also feature built-in Quickdraw Contours software – an easy-to-use tool allowing boaters to instantly create personalised HD maps with 30cm contours on any body of water. www.garmin.com/en-AU

Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au

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That’s why they call it ‘Red’cliffe KAYAK HOTSPOT

Reece Thomas

If you are a kayak fisher that has ever dreamt about catching big snapper in shallow water in Queensland, then you may have ventured to Redcliffe, or put this location on your bucket list. Redcliffe is a renowned snapper fishery. Situated on the north side of Brisbane and bordering the waters of Moreton Bay, Redcliffe is a renowned snapper fishery. For the kayak angler wanting to target snapper, it offers easy access and relatively sheltered waters. Google Earth is the best tool for finding ground and makes it easy to locate an easy launch spot. From a bird’s eye view, many of the shallow reefs that litter the foreshore from Scarborough all the way to Woody Point Jetty revel themselves and from this you can structure a plan on where to fish. Kayaks offer stealth, which is one of the most important factors when targeting shallow water snapper. Quite often, a kayaker can quietly sneak around the shallow waters and go undetected by fish, giving the angler an ultimate

Josh King loves getting into Reddy snapper under paddle power, and as you can see, you don’t have to paddle far. and southern parts of the bay should be taken with caution. Wind direction and speed will play a big part in your travel times and how you set up a drift along structure. Sunrise and sunset are

There are numerous methods to catch snapper and other species off Redcliffe, but lightly-weighted plastics from 2.5-4” fished close to the reefs on light leaders is a successful approach, while

peeling line off a spool and heading for the nearest bit of structure. It becomes a tug of war with the fish, and a matter of getting everything in your favour to stop it from winning the battle. Trophy

Big snapper are a real possibility in these waters, so it pays to be ready. snapper of 90cm+ call these waters home, and it’s not uncommon to hook fish in excess of 70cm once you have an understanding of the fishery. A good landing net will

make landing these big snapper a lot easier when they surface beside the kayak, and will ensure better care for the fish if you plan to catch and release. By-catch you’re likely

Landing big models like this from a kayak can be a real challenge, which makes this fishery more exciting.

The by-catch alone makes this fishery very rewarding. advantage. Picking the right wind to fish these areas is extremely important to consider before venturing out on a trip. Anything that blows under 10knots from the southwest, west or northwest will leave sheltered waters protected by the mainland. However, winds that travel from the northern, eastern

prime times to target fish in these shallow waters, but make you have appropriate navigational lighting if kayaking before or after sunset. When there is little or no rainfall and moderate winds, the waters become extremely clear in the bay, which can be a great visual insight to what structure you’re actually fishing.

keeping a close eye for any bait movement or surface activity as well. Another common method that is effectively used by kayakers is to troll hardbodied lures that dive from 2-4m over rubble patches and alongside reef edges. Once a big snapper is hooked in shallow water, they will fight dirty, quite often

The author believes practising catch and release where possible is an important step in ensuring stocks for future generations.

to encounter while fishing Redcliffe are plentiful, with yellowfin bream, grass sweetlip, estuary cod and mulloway all showing up from time to time. These fish can be targeted year round, but snapper activity will increase from May through until September, with an abundance of fish moving about the reefs during this time. Redcliffe is such a unique snapper fishery that we have on offer in South East Queensland to both kayak and boat anglers. Try to keep this in mind when targeting the big fish that call these waters home and practice catch and release where possible, so our future generations can enjoy the fishing we are experiencing today. JANUARY 2017

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Yak selection and fit out for summer holiday fun BRISBANE

Justin Willmer Find me on Facebook at Yaks On

With Christmas done and dusted there will be plenty of new kayaks out on the water, and also plenty of anglers looking for a postChristmas kayak bargain from their local retailers. With this in mind I

criteria and also planned my future fit out – which I look forward to covering in a future issue. CONFIGURATION Firstly, you’ll need to decide if you’re looking for a single kayak, a kayak that can be used as a single or double, a genuine two-person kayak, or even a 2+1 kayak that can be paddled by two adults and a child. You’ll also need

and offers better protection from the elements, including weather and vegetation in the water. Sit inside kayaks are still extremely popular in the colder environments of the southern lakes and rivers, due to the weather protection and warmth they offer. Specialised sit inside kayaks, with cockpit skirts, still remain the go-to for white water kayaking and long range kayak touring.

A larger pedal kayak is ideal for hands-free fishing, and allows you to carry more gear… maybe too much!

With a capacity of 95kg, Sheri’s kayak is ideal for smaller paddlers to handle. thought we’d spend this issue looking at some key criteria to consider when selecting a new kayak, and also some of the initial fit out options that will make your new vessel safer and more comfortable, and your fishing sessions more productive. Having just added a new yak to my current fleet, I have considered many of these

to decide whether you’re after a sit on top or sit inside kayak. The sit on top kayak has become the most popular option for general estuary and offshore fishing, with its open deck making it easy to enter and exit. The chance of swamping is extremely low with its sealed hull, ease of setup for fishing and also ease of landing fish. The sit inside places you lower to the water

A sit inside kayak is a comfortable option for smooth water adventures.

CONSTRUCTION Without a doubt, the most popular kayak construction method is rotomolded polyethylene, as it is affordable, durable and low maintenance. Fibreglass, composite and carbon fibre materials are also used and can offer a more rigid, responsive and lighter kayak, but often with a higher price tag. One kayak category where these materials have become popular is the specialised, long offshore fishing kayak/ skis that are used for surf launches, long range paddling and bait fishing, lure casting and trolling for offshore pelagic species and billfish. PROPULSION SYSTEM There is a range of propulsion options available to the kayaker (although not in all construction materials), including paddle, pedal and electric. Paddle is generally the simplest, lightest and most affordable option for a set kayak length. Pedal offers the advantage of hands free fishing, while also using the larger muscles in your legs to propel you, often extending

the distance you can travel for the effort exerted. There are a range of pedal options that include finned systems and propeller driven units. Electric options include commercially available models that fit into the cockpit of certain kayaks, along with others that can be attached in place of a rudder and steered with the rudder foot pedals and steering cables. Simpler and cheaper options are also readily available that can be attached with an electric motor bracket and steered by hand. LENGTH Shorter kayaks, from around 2.7m–3.3m are generally the preferred option for shorter range adventures in calmer waters, including lakes, rivers and estuaries. They are also ideal for paddling

you have a kayak that is more likely to be suited to longrange adventures, offshore fishing and carrying gear for multi-day adventures. Many kayaks around this length will also have the option of a rudder to aid with manoeuvrability. Kayaks longer than 4.5m are generally specialised for applications, such as long-range offshore fishing, including surf launches and more hard-core kayak touring. WIDTH Check out the width of the kayak to ensure that you can fit comfortably in the cockpit area as width can vary significantly across different models. Some kayaks are narrow, sleek, fast and track well, however this can be a trade off when it comes to

WEIGHT Check the spec sheets when deciding on weight, as you need to be able to handle the kayak both on and off the water. Are you able to lift the kayak on and off a vehicle, and store it when you get home? In terms of configuration, length, width and weight, it’s a great idea to test paddle and handle the kayak prior to purchase. This can be done at an on water day offered by a kayak retailer, test pool in-store or by paddling a few friends’ kayaks until you find one that suits your needs – that is often the key phrase. The best kayak for you is the one that best suits your needs. CAPACITY Another important spec to check is the weight capacity

Fishing the edge with a pedal kayak.

A rudder is ideal for manoeuvring larger kayaks. 106

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and portaging creeks in search of species such as bass and Murray cod. Kayaks of this length are generally lighter, more manoeuvrable and cheaper to purchase, however they often don’t track or glide as well as a longer kayaks. Stepping up in length to 3.6m–4.5m, and depending upon hull design,

stability. A kayak that is too wide can be difficult to paddle, and sluggish and barge-like in the water, and means much more effort to get it moving to cover distance. Many kayak brands will rate their different models in terms of speed, handling, stability, and more. and this can be a handy starting point.

of the kayak, ensuring that it is capable of handling your weight, along with the weight of any gear you are wishing to carry. You may not require a large weight capacity for general estuary fishing, however for longrange fishing and multi-day camping adventures, you’ll need to consider fishing and

Storage capacity is important when camping from the kayak. camping gear, and water safety equipment that you wish to carry. RUDDER Does the kayak come with a rudder, or is there an option to fit a rudder at a later date? A rudder is a necessity on a pedal kayak, as it is your primary means of steering, while also being of benefit on a paddle kayak, as it allows you to correct your tracking with the rudder, rather than having to continually adjust your paddle stroke. Even when you’re not paddling, the rudder allows you to control your drift line, distance from structure or the bank, along with angle when drifting with the wind and fishing. Smaller kayaks are often rudderless due to their price points, shorter-range applications and manoeuvrability. Once you have narrowed down the kayak models to a selection that ticks the aforementioned criteria, you can then look at other less crucial features that may influence your final choice. STORAGE Storage comes in many forms, including hatches that access the hull, hatches that access sealed compartments, side pockets, seat pockets, rear wells, drink holders, bungy cord, dash boards, tackle tray storage and more. Consider whether the storage is adequate and suits your

needs, and whether other storage options can be added to customise your kayak to suit your fishing. CARRY HANDLES Are the carry handles adequate and sturdy enough for you to load and unload the kayak effectively? This can include nose, tail and side carry handles and these can be moulded into the kayak, or attached as part of the initial manufacturer fit out. ATTACHMENT POINTS What attachment points are available on the kayak (including deck eyes, bungy cord and deck lines)? These are points where you can attach leashes for rods, nets, and lip grips and other accessories, as well as points to strap down dry bags, crates, water drums and other gear. It’s also worth taking note of flat sections on the kayak, both intentionally moulded into the design and otherwise, where you can mount accessories such as flags, lighting, rod holders, sounders and so forth. ROD STORAGE Some higher end pedal kayaks offer laydown rod storage for half a dozen rod combos, while a basic kayak may not even offer a single flush mount rod holder. Rod holders on offer may include moulded in storage, flush mount rod holders or attached adjustable rod holders. Ensure

the kayak has suitable rod holders for your adventures – or at least the ability to attach the rod holders that you require. OTHER FEATURES Other features that may sway your decision in terms of the model you select include colour options, scupper hole placement, drink holders and extras offered such as paddles, seats and trolleys. My recent addition was based on the need for an inexpensive, smaller, lightweight kayak that was capable of carrying

my 90kg frame plus gear, for making the most of short windows of time for estuary adventures, as well as the occasional overnight bass or cod adventure. The Viking Nemo with Angler Kit, ticked the boxes at 3.2m long, 79cm wide, with a weight of only 20kg and a capacity of 130kg. It features a stable hull that tracks well, centre hatch with bucket within easy reach, front bungy, plenty of storage on the rear of the kayak, grab line around the deck, paddle holder, four flush mount rod holders, Railblaza Rod Holder II adjustable rod holder, paddle, seat and a 30 year warranty. The addition of a hatch in the rear well and front of the cockpit allows gear to be stowed inside the hull of the kayak for camping adventures. If you were lucky enough to score a kayak for Christmas, or have a kayak that you use for fishing, here’s a few of the fit out options that I have planned for my new rig, to make my adventures more productive, safer and more comfortable. ANCHOR RUNNING RIG/ANCHOR TROLLEY An anchor is always handy, as it allows you to position the kayak to fish likely looking areas and hold position, even in windy conditions. An anchor running rig is

basically a loop of cord that runs between two pulleys, one toward the front of the kayak and one toward the rear – it will either have a ring joining the loop, or a tag line coming off the loop where you attach your anchor line. This allows you to easily deploy and retrieve the anchor, while having the ability to move the anchor line to the front or rear of the kayak. I like to deploy the anchor and move the rope to the front so that the kayak swings nose into the current, allowing me to cast up current and work my soft plastics back naturally with the flow. In terms of anchors, the Cooper 1kg Nylon Anchor has served me well. This anchor running rig is also handy for attaching other anchor types, such as stake out poles, sea anchors and grab anchors. ROD HOLDERS Rod storage will take some customising to suit how many rods you wish to carry and the environments you’re fishing. For example, if you are fishing tight creeks with overhanging vegetation, then you probably don’t want your rods sticking straight up in the air. Probably the most effective solution I’ve found is the Railblaza Rod Holder II adjustable rod holder. The reason why this option is

Light pole, camera pole and two rod holders mounted and ready.

Longer kayaks often offer better speed and glide for long-range adventures.

so versatile is that virtually wherever you can attach a StarPort Mount, you can add a rod holder. These rod holders also have a full range of adjustments so you can control the position and angle of the rod when mounted. I will likely end up with two or three of these mounted so that I can have a selection of lures rigged and at the ready. If you wish to use the standard flush mount rod holders, that’s fine, however to lift the reels further from the water, I will add a length of pipe that fits into the rod holder, with a slot cut in it for the reel seat to lock into. These rod holder extensions are also available commercially if you don’t want to make your own. NAVIGATION LIGHTS If low light or night adventures are on the cards, you may also wish to look at your navigation light options. I will again be fitting a couple of Railblaza StarPorts to my new craft, to house their 360º white light and Bi-colour Navigation Light. This lighting provides a level of light while fishing, while also ensuring you’re visible to other crafts. The pole used to attach the 360 degree white light is also ideal for attaching a flag to increase your visibility during daylight hours, and Railblaza offer the Visibilty Kit II, which includes mount, pole, light and flag for those looking for a one stop solution. So that’s a quick look at a few things to consider when choosing a first kayak or simply looking to add to your current fleet, along with a few additions that can make you adventures more comfortable, safer and enjoyable. Remember the right kayak for you is the one that best suits your needs – so do your research, visit your local kayak dealer, attend a few on water days, and think about the fishing and adventures that you intend to undertake. I’m looking forward to fitting out the Viking Nemo over the coming months to suit my adventures, and hopefully there will be plenty of quality fish and camping adventure photos to follow.

You need a kayak that you can handle both on and off the water. JANUARY 2017

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Stessco Renegade 440 with Mercury 60hp THE HASTINGS

Mark Saxon castawayestuarycharters@bigpond.com

When the staff at Fishing Monthly asked me to do boat reviews with the crew from Hastings Marine at Port Macquarie, I jumped at the opportunity to look at what they had to offer. When I contacted Hastings Marine and found out that one of these boats was the new Stessco 440 Renegade Softride, I was a little excited to say the least. Often on the water in a guiding capacity with my boat Castaway, most weeks I don’t get the opportunity to play with new boats. My immediate thoughts were to hop in the car, head to Hastings River Drive and talk to John Morton at the shop to check this baby out. At the boat yard, I got my first look at the Stessco. First impressions are always important and this boat with its metallic grey colour matched with the black 60hp Command Thrust Mercury was definitely was an eye-catcher. The test boat was fitted with a Garmin EchoMAP 75sv sounder on the console. On the bow was the new forward facing Panoptix live sonar from Garmin, which 108

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has and adjustable transducer and is fitted to the very neat MotorGuide X5 trolling motor. The Panoptix live is a very interesting piece of equipment, and when John asked me to bring some rods along for the test run, I was ready to hit the Hastings River! ON THE WATER Putting the Renegade 440 side console through its paces was a breeze. Fitted with hydraulic steering and Active Trim and Tilt on the Mercury, it was very neat and easy to manage. Getting used to the Active Tilt, which is the motor trimming itself, felt strange at first, but didn’t take long to get used to. This can still be done manually via the control switch. The conditions on the day of the test were calm and glassy. The ride was spot on and the Mercury 60hp got the boat up on the plane easily with two people on board. Mercury’s Command Thrust in their 40-60hp 4-stroke means it has a

taller heavy-duty gear case. Larger gear shafts make it approximately 33% larger than your standard outboard gear case, so the prop sits deeper in the water. With the Mercury Vengeance stainless prop, this gives you a lot more thrust. The Renegade sits high in the water and would handle the summer northeasterly wind chop very easily. Turning in tight situations was easy and we put it through a few tight manoeuvres, such as figure of eights at speed, without problems. The Renegade 440 fitted with the 60hp Mercury was impressive for speed and handling and we had it to a top speed of 30 knots with the two of us on the boat. LAYOUT AND FISHABILITY The layout is quite effective and simple. The front casting platform is a sweet size with a roomy and effective plumbed live well underneath. Forward of this is the battery storage hatch

SPECIFICATIONS Overall length....................................................4.4m Length on trailer...............................................5.1m Beam.....................................................................2m Depth.............................................................0.975m Max hp...................................................................60 Bottom thickness.............................................3mm Side thickness...................................................3mm Max people..............................................................5

which had one battery for running the electric motor, but two would fit if you were thinking 24 volt. At the stern of the boat, there is a smaller casting deck section, which can be easily fished from, if you were taking a third person. There is also a bait well for those livie sessions and four welded upright rod holders just for the occasion. The console is neat and houses the Garmin sounder. Another feature on the dash is the Mercury Vessel View 4, which gives system scan, fuel, speed and economy read outs, plus the Smart Tow feature – a very user friendly piece of equipment. The dash also houses a selector switch panel for navigation lights, bilge pump and live well. Everything on this console is where it should be and the storage under the console is ample. Having the deluxe seats and chrome steering wheel gave the deck and console a classy appearance. On the passenger side is a fully welded pocket, which housed the fire extinguisher and would be great for all those pieces of equipment we use regularly. CONCLUSION The Renegade was a dream to launch and retrieve

and easily handled by one person, barring health restrictions. The Stessco EZY deluxe trailer handles the boat with ease and was very smooth on and off. After spending a morning on the Stessco Renegade 440, I found it very impressive, well thought out boat for serious estuary, river and impoundment anglers.

spending more time with one of these units. This package as tested was $36,500 and very well priced. The price differs on what you want on board, so for more information on this boat contact Karee Marine on (07) 3875 1600 or drop into their premises at 1776 Ipswich Rd, Rocklea. You’ll also find more information

TEST BOAT FEATURES MotorGuide X5 trolling motor 2 Garmin EchoMAP 75sv sounders Garmin Panoptix forward facing live sonar Mercury Active Trim Hydraulic steering Chrome steering wheel Metallic paint Welded rod holders Mercury 60hp Command Thrust Mercury Vengeance stainless steel prop Deluxe seats Deluxe Stessco EZY load trailer Mercury Vessel View 4 Gauge *Price as tested was $36,500 It has a maximum person rating of five, but for serious fishing activities two to three would be max. We fished and John pulled a couple of bream from the local canals, which we saw on the Garmin Panoptix live sonar. This sonar system shows fish moving through the beam and I was amazed watching the fish darting around when hooked. I’ll be

on their website at www. kareemarine.com.au. • Quoted performance figures have been supplied by the writer in good faith. Performance of individual boat/motor/ trailer packages may differ due to variations in engine installations, propellers, hull configurations, options, hull loading and trailer specifications.

From the rear, the Mercury 60hp 4-stroke with Command Thrust pushes the boat to a handy maximum speed of 30 knots or 56km/h. This rig has a generous deck space and big front casting platform. Check out the comfort of those Relaxn Deluxe seats.

The large anchor well comes standard with the Renegade. There’s room for more than just an anchor and rope!

Situated up the front of the casting deck is the Garmin Panoptix forward facing live sonar.

The console has been well thought out and looks very classy fitted with Garmin sounder and the Vessel View 4, with a throttle control and Mercury’s Active Tilt and Trim. This console was a pleasure to sit behind.

Stessco’s Ezy Load deluxe trailer was a breeze to launch and retrieve from, and looked very neat.

The fully plumbed livewell is a must on any sportfishing vessel. This one would keep any bream fisho happy!

The back casting area with a live bait well and battery storage unit underneath for main powerplant. Those are some great seats.

The storage compartment on the starboard side – great for a fire extinguisher and other necessary items. JANUARY 2017

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Features galore in the Cross Country 4.5 Lapstrake

BRISBANE

Wayne Kampe wkff@aapt.net.au

A few issues back we featured the 4.5m Cross Country Island Hopper as a car topper. With roof racks taking the place of a trailer and weight savings essential, the rig tipped the scales at a mere 135kg. Considering the overall need to conserve weight, the craft was well set up with various compartments and features. I also mentioned that there were many options available for the 4.5 Cross Country owner. To prove that statement, this review sees the 4.5 tarted up with a host of features including a fridge/freezer, under floor fuel tank, deck wash, console and canopy. Power has been upgraded to a 60hp Suzuki 4-stroke with hydraulic steering. There’s even a custom trailer for the craft as well. CUSTOM TRAILER Cross Country have their alloy trailers custom made locally to suit individual craft, with rollers exactly where they’re needed. Sets of skids are there to make loading and unloading as easy as possible. Fibreglass craft, particularly ones with large strakes under their hulls, benefit from having trailers set up to conform with hull dimensions – the extruded glass Cross Country Lapstrake style hull, with its ballast tunnel over a central planing plank, was suited perfectly to its trailer. The craft slipped off like a greased eel and just as easily winched later in the day. 110

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NO ISSUE MAXIMUM ENGINE POWER Aboard the 4.5 Cross Country, I took stock of the features. They were so numerous that I resorted to a digital recorder so I didn’t overlook an important item or two. First off was the 4-stroke Suzuki 60. With engines rated

passing craft, which confirmed to me just how good these Cross Country punt style craft can handle chop with such little perceived impact, with their well designed entry sections and prominent bottom strakes. This rig could handle! With hydraulic steering, which made wheel input a fingertip

SPECIFICATIONS Length................................................................4.5m Beam..................................................................1.8m Weight hull....................................................... 135kg Deadrise.............................................................. 14° Engines........................................................ 30-60hp Engine fitted............................60hp Suzuki 4-stroke Fuel......................................................................70L Persons................................................................Six Towing Family...........6 cylinder or big 4 SUV/sedan from 30-60hp, the owner of the reviewed rig opted for maximum power, which made for easy boating. At the helm, tucked in behind the craft’s side console and comfortable on the skipper’s pedestal seat, there was no feeling that the light-weight Cross Country hull was over-powered. Wellpowered is a better term with the Suzuki near silent at idle. It hummed easily onto a plane at a mere 12.8km/h and 2600rpm with two aboard. Cranking up to 3000rpm saw 19.6km/h on the handheld GPS, 4000rpm saw 38.3km/h, 5000rpm 46.7km/h and 6000rpm 62.4km/h. Admittedly, power came in spades – all it took was a push on the throttle to see the rig leaping forward, but it was still very smooth and user-friendly. Travelling at good speed gave me the opportunity to jump a bit of serious wash from

exercise, the Cross Country could virtually turn on it’s own length at 30km/h. Zipping up mangrove creeks to check the crab pots at high tide would be a cinch. OPTIONS FROM STEM TO STERN As mentioned, this particular rig was set up with ample options. A Kingfisher canopy was installed, along with a deck wash, a bait tank aft, a 70L underfloor fuel tank, an easy access compartment for bilge pump and fuel filter under the transom area, a cast deck and a couple of other features about the side console craft worth mentioning as well. A cavernous rod locker was set to port in the cockpit, and while taking up a fair amount of room, it was designed to be sat on, or even walked on. This was a handy feature. Atop the console (on the ever useful RAM bracket) a Garmin 955Sv unit took

pride of place. It was not only highly visible, but it created a bit of a windbreak as well! Instruments for the outboard and a Garmin radio were also handy, as was a spin out hatch on the port upper section of the console, which effectively offered completely dry storage for personal items in need of protection from the elements. Grab handles and a vertical rod rack were also installed on the console, which was large enough to do the job, but by no means intrusive. Features on the extra large casting deck up front, which sported a non-skid SeaDek that covered other horizontal contact surfaces, were unusual. Two large compartments were tucked under the deck’s friction hinged hatches, which will stay open exactly where you want them. The first

To provide continuous power for the deep cycle battery, up front cabling connected it to the engine battery astern with a 12V DC charger, so the Suzuki could keep both units topped up. The Eutectic fridge/freezer system can be bypassed if not required on the day. Most importantly, there’s inbuilt switching to prevent the refrigeration system robbing power from the engine battery. SUMMING UP As a fishing craft, the 4.5 Cross Country trailer rig would fulfil a host of requirements. With it’s 640mm high sides, there’s ample sea keeping capability for a rig of this modest size. Combined with the high degree of stability from the well designed hull and it’s under floor floodable ballast system, this rig is suited

While rated for up to six persons, the best fishing would likely be with 3-4 anglers aboard. Extra seating is an option, naturally. In overviewing the 4.5 Cross Country Trailer with 60 Suzuki 4-stroke, I was impressed with the way the team at Cross Country had combined useful features to make it a very handy fishing rig. The finish was very good all around, with strong 25cm wide decks atop gunwales a highlight, along with the extensive use of the SeaDek material to provide an attractive but functional surface to work from. With refrigeration system, big sounder, the max powered 60 Suzuki and other features, like a 55lb electric outboard, registration numbers and a half wrap to bring on the bling, the reviewed craft would come

Top: The Cross Country could really turn! John Hall put the craft through its paces. Above: The Cross Country’s lapstrake construction is beautiful. The well shaped bow reduced impact when crossing pressure waves and wash from other craft in the Bribie Passage. housed a 120amp deep cycle 12V battery to power both an electric motor and a Eutectic refrigeration unit that serviced the adjacent inbuilt 190L refrigeration compartment.

to virtually any kind of rod and reel work within rivers, impoundments, estuaries or the bay in decent conditions – and crabbing. Lets not forget the crabbing!

home for $54,000. A start up trailer package with engine would be around $29,900. Cross Country Boats can be contacted on 0410 090 317, or (07) 5499 3155.

Fully optioned and ready to go – one thing easily noted about the 4.5 Cross Country Trailer rig is the massive amount of fishing room.

Although maximum power for the 4.5m craft, the 60hp Suzuki was ideal in every respect, and certainly sits neatly on the Cross Country’s transom.

A custom made trailer is a bonus with this craft. The large rubber wheels ensure correct alignment of the hull and trailer.

Cavernous rod lockers were set up within the port section of the Cross Country’s cockpit.

Some of the major features are here, including the canopy, full-length rod lockers to port (with twin catches) and the big sounder atop the console.

A smart design there – a spin out hatch allowing access to storage within the craft’s side console.

The Cross Country sported a sensibly sized side console that provided room for instruments, radio and sounder, but hardly restricted the fishing room.

Cross Country Boats love that SeaDek material. You will too once you see how good it feels under foot.

There’s still room to store spare clothing, PFDs and the like, in the under deck compartment, even with a forward deep cycle battery and Eutectic refrigeration unit.

An overview of the rig under way shows the degree of freeboard that makes this 4.5m hull suited to estuary or bay work. JANUARY 2017

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THE POWER TO GET YOU THERE

THE RELIABILITY TO GET YOU BACK

We’re proud to welcome the new generation of outboards – the mighty FourStroke Verado 350hp. Along with the power, performance and extreme reliability, Verado includes: - Awesome acceleration, superior torque and better fuel economy - The latest in Electro-Hydraulic steering providing car-like precision and feel - Exclusive ‘Fly-by-Wire’ Digital Throttle and Shift as standard for smooth, quiet, instantaneous shifting and throttle response - Compact engine that’s 56kg lighter than its nearest competitor - Maintenance Free Valve train for life, lowering cost of ownership - 3+2=5 Year Recreational Warranty

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