Queensland Fishing Monthly - Front - October 2013

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Tried and Tested Techni Ice 45L fridge/freezer • Crestliner Super Hawk 1600 • Formosa 480 Classic •

Tips and Techniques Getting crabby • Filleting pelagics •

Features Spotlight on Mission Beach • A teaser on teasers • Gold Coast International Marine Expo •

October, 2013

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Getting quite crabby STH PUMICESTONE

Jason Wallis

This article is aimed to help broaden the brain on crabbing and all its attributes. I will start off by giving you a few hints on the gear you will need and use on a daily basis when crabbing.

GETTING THE RIGHT GEAR Our two main targets are mud and sand crabs.

The difference between a mud crab pot and a sand crab pot is, well, nothing. One

pot is designed to do it all, however, there are quite a few pot designs to choose from.

You can design your own out in your back yard shed with a bit of mesh and some handy work. You can get them tailor-made to your very own specs, such as 2 entry, 4 entry, entry depth, chafe ropes, bait bags, width of pot, depth of pot, diametre of gall ring, you name it and it can be done – at a cost, of course.

Alternatively, the market today is flooded with cheap imports that retail for around 4 for $80 and go up slightly from there, depending where

MUSTAD.NO

You can choose from a variety of crabbing gear.

Just remember that quality is often reflected in the price tag and you will get what you paid for.

you purchase your product.

There are plenty of options.

I like to run a high quality crab pot that comes in at around the $50 each mark. At this price you start to see some real quality components, like heavy strong mesh 12mm galvanised rings, deep entry points chaffing ropes on the bottom ring, bait bags. What I’m trying to say is that you can get what you pay for – if you look after them they should last you a lifetime; unlike the cheapies as they only hold up a short period of time then self-destruct.

One of the biggest factors when purchasing your crab pots is the weight of the pot; your cheap pots are very light weight, which is good if you’re hiking around the hills, but most times we are not. Anything more than a light tidal current and you will see your cheap pots drifting away with the jellyfish. I have been anchored up angling and have seen them drift past my boat.

Cheap pots should be made illegal as they drift away and the owner can’t find them, then they become lost and go on to kill marine life for months on end. Crabs enter the pot and slowly die, then fish enter the pots to eat the dead crabs then the fish is trapped and it too dies slowly then more crabs/

WELL AHEAD ON POINTS

Mud crabs are tough as nails. If you look after them, they will live for days out of their natural environment. fish enter to eat the fish and so on and so on. Hence one of the many reasons for purchasing a heavy-duty crab pot.

A tip to help stop them from drifting is to run a thin rope; this cuts through the current and creates less drag, just make sure it’s good quality because with quality comes strength.

Your pots need to be marked clearly with your phone number and your name and address, otherwise Fisheries can confiscate them indefinitely. The crab pot limit per person is 4, same for red claw; and there is no age limit on the person using the equipment.

Freshwater Action If you want to chase red claw, there is a new four-entry quick fold red claw pot. It is on the market in competition to the only two-entry cheap pot. For anybody serious about chasing these critters, this pot is gold!

From Land or Kayak Due to the rising cost of insurance, rego and fuel, we are seeing more and more kayakers on the water. There is a special designed pot called the Pup Pot, with a quick pop design and small strong build to suit anglers with limited storage.

The Pup Pot would also suit land-based anglers travelling around in a small car or push bike, especially at the end of long piers, such as the Urangan Pier at Harvey Bay or the Ted Smout Memorial Bridge at Redcliffe.

Quick lift dilly net The use of inverted dilly apparatus (witches hats) is prohibited. If a collapsible trap is used, it must be made of rigid material and have one or more collapsible sides. The crabs don’t get tangled in this style of dilly and they are not trapped until you lift it from the ocean floor.

This type of trap is best suited for people wanting to lift and work their pots every 10-15 minutes or so and in minimal current situations.

This can be great for the kids as you are going flat out all the time; when you get to your last dilly lift it’s time to return to the fist again and start lifting.

Tools of the trade The essential tool of the trade is the crab carapace measurer. You will need one for the mud crabs and another for the sandies. Alternatively you can purchase them both in the one tool at most tackle

The Pup Pot, with its quick pop design and small strong build, suits anglers with limited storage space, such as kayakers and land-based fishers.

Mustad’s unique Ultra Point is now available on treble hooks.

Ultra Point gives unparalleled durability and sharpness to chemically sharpened needle points. That’s reflected in tournament successes – like Kord Luckus’s 117cm barramundi (pictured above). It was hooked on a Mustad 36329NP-BN Ultra Point treble and was ‘Most Meritorious Capture’ in the 2011 Barra Classic.

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stores; these have the muddie measurements on one side and the sandie measurements on the other.

For those that don’t like handling crabs too much you can get a ‘crab grab’.

They will save your fingers when those nasty nippers are swinging around.

Other useful tools include stainless bait hooks – for holding bait in positions; Stainless rope clips – if you want to quickly and easily change your ropes to crab at different depths; UV stabilised rope – a rope that will sustain the elements over a long period of time; and bait bags – used in place of the bait hook and keeps bait for longer.

BAIT – WHAT THE CRABS WANT! This can make or break a crabbing trip. Here are a few tips: Mullet is one of the best baits, but is not the be all

The four-entry quick lift red claw trap is taking over from the opera house pot.

and end all. If you want to catch bulk sand crabs I would suggest using mullet and/or mullet frames only. Your next best would be tailor frames, if you can get them. Whichever option you choose, these baits must be fresh.

When it comes to mud crabs, they will eat anything as long as it’s fresh. Many advocate using rotten bait, the ‘more stink the more crabs’ theory, but why would a crab eat a rotten fish unless it was starving. If a crab is eating rotten or partly perished bait it is because it is very hungry and needs to eat to survive.

Two essential tools of the trade when catching crabs are the crab carapace measurer and the crab grab.

Any fish frames are great bait, including reef fish, mullet or tailor and if using bait bags or bait tubes you can use your old angling bait like herring or pillies.

Muddies don’t mind eating chook frames, they love them, but the chook goes off quickly. Once unchilled and have entered the water, they will only last 12 hours maximum in the water before they make you dry heave and need to be replaced with fresh ones.

WHERE TO CATCH THE GOODS Sandies I like hanging around gutters that hold approximately 15-30ft of water and prefer a sandy bottom. Water temperatures don’t seem to make a huge

difference. Rumour has it that if there is a good number of jellyfish around, there are a good number on sandies around. Apparently they follow them feeding on them.

Muddies Muddies can be found in 1ft of water upwards.

They can be anywhere from high up in the mangroves down into deep gutters, just depending on conditions.

Freshwater run-off will bring them out of their mangrove homes sending them out into deeper water in search for food and saltier water. If there is no fresh, they will generally hold higher up in the creeks and mangrove system.

Water temperatures do affect their behaviour; they like the warmer water

periods of the year, but they can be hunted in the cooler months with a bit of persistence. The old saying, “Any month that has an ‘R’ in it is a good month for catching crabs,” is a load of you know what! Take no notice of this old wives tale.

You will need to check the sex of the crabs; female are a no-take species and huge penalties apply.

You need to look at the underside of the crab as the jenny (female) will have a large distinct flap and the underside of the buck (male) will have a thin distinct flap.

The bag limit for mud crabs is 10 per person, but there is no limit on sand crabs. Ensure you abide by the size limits of 11.5cm minimum for sandies (blue swimmer) and 15cm for muddies.

TAKING CARE OF YOUR CATCH Once you have acquired a few crabs you need to look after them.

Sand crabs needs to be chilled immediately as they die quickly.

Mud crabs are tough as nails, if you can tie them up to stop them from fighting to the death and place them in a cool moist area they will live for days out of their natural environment.

QUALITY CONTROL A good quality full

crab will take on a brownish appearance from light brown through to rusty dark brown and have a much harder thicker shell. You can check for wear and tear on their teeth inside the claws; if they are worn down by any amount the chances are they have been feeding and will be full and flavoursome.

An ordinary empty crab will have a very bright green nearly see-through appearance and big full teeth on their claws with no wear and tear. These crabs will still feel heavy and this is because they are full of water not meat, and are very ordinary on the plate.

In general, sand crabs will always be full and great quality, it is very rare

Female crabs are a no-take species and huge penalties apply. Look at the underside of the crab as the jenny (female) will have a large distinct flap (picture left) and the underside of the buck (male) will have a thin distinct flap (picture right). to catch a poor quality sand crab – don’t ask me why as I can’t explain it.

Cooking these guys is fairly simple, boil a pot of water and drop them in for 6 minutes for sandies and a maximum of 15 minutes for muddies. Start timing

A good quality full crab will have a brownish appearance and a much harder thicker shell.

them after they return to the boil. Salt the water to preference; I like to place approximately two large handfuls of salt to 10L of water. Better still, as you’re leaving the boat ramp, grab some sea water – this works great. They can be cleaned before cooking if you prefer, this shaves the cooking time down a little (1-3 minutes).

I would just like to give a quick thank you to the guys at Crab’n Gear Clontarf.

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Prime time is now for flatties at Jumpinpin JUMPINPIN

Mick Morris gembait@tpg.com

What a cracking time of year to fish the ‘Pin as the water temperature heats up and so will the fishing.

Flathead should be continuing to make up the bulk of the catches as they will still be around in large numbers after their breeding season. If you’re after a feed of flathead, then now is the time to get out there and hit the water.

The Flathead Classic is run this time of year because it is the best time to catch

Trent Eichmann took this hefty mulloway on live bait around the ‘Pin.

Young Locky Wood took this flathead, which was almost as big as him, in the Broadwater. Watch out junior Flathead Classic contestants!

lizards. Last year well over 2000 fish were caught and released back into the system over the 3 days of competition and all were caught on lures so if you’ve never given lures a try, now is the time.

Aim to fish at the first of the run-out tide as this is the time when lizards become more active and feed. Being an ambush predator they will be lying in wait behind snags, holes, drop-offs and where the sand meets rock walls and as the water level drops they will be looking for an easy meal. Live mullet and herring should be the pick of the baits but if you can’t get any of those then pillies, prawns or white bait should do the trick. The pick of the spots this month to try will be along the bottom of Kangaroo Island, the mouth of the Logan River, deeper holes off the Never Fail islands, Tipplers Channel, the mouth of Whalleys Gutter, Kalinga Bank, along Crusoe Island and the Broadwater sand flats near the Seaway.

FISHING FILL-ITS

QBFP and fishers meet The Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol (QBFP) and commercial fishers are meeting throughout the state to join forces to tackle the key compliance issues facing the industry.

QBFP Manager Ian Fricke said the meetings would help target the patrol’s efforts in protecting Queensland’s fisheries.

“So far meetings have been held in Brisbane, the Burdekin and Mooloolaba with line, net, crab and trawl fishers,” said Mr Fricke.

“QBFP addresses a range of fishing issues on a day-to-day basis, but with industry’s input we can prioritise where they need our assistance.

“Key issues facing commercial fishing vary between sectors and areas, but they uniformly battle

public misconceptions about the sustainability of their practices.

“QBFP often receive calls from people concerned about commercial fishers operating in certain areas, but they are usually legally allowed to fish there under their licence.

“Commercial fishers use a range of practices to ensure they fish sustainably, such as bycatch reduction devices to reduce capture of non-target species, catch limits and seasonal closures for spawning.”

Mr Fricke said commercial fishers also struggle with illegal practices that affect their bottom line.

“Black marketing of seafood by unlicensed individuals, and theft and interference with crab pots, undermines a commercial fisher’s ability to supply

product throughout the state,” he said.

“QBFP routinely undertake surveillance operations to catch black marketers and illegal fishing, but we rely on tip offs from the public.

“The community can help by doing the right thing and reporting suspected illegal fishing to the Fishwatch hotline on 1800 017 116.

“By working together, we can help safeguard our fisheries resources and continue to enjoy local seafood on our dinner plates.”

Commercial fishers can contact their local QBFP office for details on when the next meeting for their fishery will be held.

For more information on commercial fishing in Queensland, visit www. fisheries.qld.gov.au or call 13 25 23. - QBFP

Bring on the whiting, there should be plenty about the sandy banks near Tipplers, Never Fail, Diner islands, Cobby Passage, the Green Bank and Ageston Sands in the Logan. The best bait are blood or beach worms and yabbies. Prawns or squid should also get them on the bite.

Small schools of chopper tailor should be coming through the bar chasing schools of white bait so use lures that look like white bait or just pick up a frozen pack of them and use small ganged hooks. Look for the birds diving and tailor chopping and get in there and chase them. The better quality fish will be running along the beaches of North and South Straddie as they make their way down the coast and you will definitely have better luck fishing at night.

Great catches of bream throughout the ‘Pin will be the norm in October from the usual hotspots. There are a lot of pickers but still some quality 30cm+ bream will definitely be available so keep persisting until they come on the bite near the top of the tide. Try around the Five Ways, Short Island, Tabby Tabby, Fishermans Channel, the Powerlines and of course Kalinga Bank.

Big mulloway move through the bar this time of year as the bait schools move through and can be caught at the bar, out from Swan Bay, Kalinga Bank, the point of Short or the deeper holes that hold bait. Using Livies is a must and patience required as they will play with a bait for ages before actually eating it.

There should be the odd mulloway, cobia and snapper available on the close in reefs for those that like to head out.

Thankfully, the muddies have arrived on time after a dry end to the winter months.

These will be caught mainly in the Albert, Logan and Pimpama rivers and Redland Bay Channel or around the mangrove-lined banks near

Cabbage Tree Point, in Jacobs Well Channel and southern side of Russell Island.

Outside there may be the odd early season pelagic hanging about with mac and longtail tuna a prize catch amongst all fishers. Trolling lures on the surface should stir up some action but if the fishing is quiet then try

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deep diving lures that rattle to try to entice the fish into a strike.

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

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Southerly winds signal spring NORTHERN BAY

Grayson Fong graysonfong@optusnet.com.au

Forging our way through this beautiful spring weather, it hasn’t taken too much convincing for us fishos to dust off the gear and hookup the boat to

venture out to our favourite spots to see what’s biting.

Southerly winds and clearer days have been conducive to great fishing as an increase in the key elements of water clarity, water temperature and bait school frequency has turned the northern bay into a happening fishery. Estuary

anglers have reaped most rewards with areas like the Pumicestone Passage, Pine River and Brisbane River producing good catches, especially in the lower lit hours of dusk and dawn.

Early morning anglers have also been rewarded around the Redcliffe Peninsula with light inshore winds

The presence of good bait and pushing southeast winds have seen bream numbers climb.

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giving anglers the chance to get amongst good fish before the weather conditions turn uncomfortable.

FLATHEAD Flathead numbers have remained good from last month with anglers gaining success from baits and soft plastics. Targeting run-offs and creek mouths have been the ticket this month with flatties ambushing prey while basking in the sun, giving anglers the chance to get good catches all through the day.

Hotspots have been the Pine River between the highway bridge and Bald Hills Creek, Clontarf foreshore (try the Wells at night) and the mouth of Cabbage Tree Creek.

Further north, the Pumicestone Passage has produce good numbers with the mouth of Ningi and Glasshouse Creeks showing good form. Also gaining popularity are the channels around Donnybrook, especially on the receding tide, with locals choosing baits over soft plastics.

BREAM Bream are known to really come to the fore during this time of the year and the northern bay has been true to form. Presence of good bait and pushing southeast winds have seen bream numbers climb as water temps have fired up the feeding patterns of bream.

Hardbody lures and soft plastics have accounted for many good catches last month, which are set to follow on this month as summer is just around the corner.

Decreased leader size (3-6lb) has been a common factor for anglers lately as water clarity has improved making fish that little mor skittish.

The mouth of the Brisbane River, Ted Smout Bridge pylons, Suttons Beach foreshore, Osbourne Point at Scarborough, inside North Reef, Tiger Rocks at Sandstone Point and Ningi Flats have been the pick of the spots, with anglers preferring the rising tides to target these areas.

Impressive sized tailor are being caught in many corners of the northern bay as temperatures start to increase.

SUMMER WHITING Good summer whiting have been showing up around the traps as anglers are reaping rewards for patience during catches. As numbers are slow but steadily increasing, size has been the impressionable factor with moving water being the key to finding these scrumptious table favourites.

Yabbies and bloodworms are the crowd pleasers on the bait front, with anglers finding fresh is best.

Moving water areas like the surf beaches of Bribie, Cockle banks, Donnybrook flats, White Patch have all shown good potential with areas around the mouth of the Pine River fishing productively, especially on the run-out tides.

TAILOR Impressive sized tailor are being caught in many corners of the northern bay as temperatures start to increase into what looks like a dry, hot summer. As big tailor do their annual migrations to spawn and hit the beaches north of the northern bay, goodsized specimens can be seen ripping through bait schools and terrorising all in their path.

As these toothy speedsters are being seen everywhere, the list is too long for specific places so here are a couple of tips for limiting your bust-offs and nailing a good tailor. When

targeting tailor be sure to upgrade leader size 12-15lb, always have a spare rod in the boat rigged up with a larger plastic or chrome slug (for busting schools), and if you hook one and it starts running erratically, wind like hell! The tension on the line will limit the tailor’s turning during the fight therefore decreasing the chances of your line from shearing on it’s razor sharp teeth.

ESTUARY COD With the weather warming up, you can pretty much start to encounter the lure stealing, bait smashing estuary cod. Known to terrorise many an angler, these greedy feeders are starting to show their faces in our estuaries and are leaving many anglers empty-handed during their dirty fight. Reported areas of late, include Glasshouse and Hussey creeks in the Pumicestone Passage, upper reaches of the northern arm of the Pine River up to the Gympie Road Bridge, shallow reefs of Scarborough in particular Queens Beach and the reclaimed rock wall of the Brisbane River.

Using 40-50mm hardbody lures have drawn the most success for anglers, like Atomic Shiner 45s, Cultiva Mira Shads and Ecogear SX43Fs with a forceful approach applied when hooking a potential cod. In laymen’s terms, ‘wind like hell mate!’

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Flathead numbers have remained good from last month with anglers gaining success from baits and soft plastics.

Roll the dice to come up trumps STH PUMICESTONE

Jason Wallis

October is when I roll a dice to see what species I will chase for the day ahead; big flathead, big elbow-slappers or the mighty mangrove jack.

They are primary targets

in October and this is one of my favourite months of the year.

The upper reaches of the Caboolture River is a killer hot spot for jacks. It is quite a large system with plenty of snags littering the shoreline, which gives anglers limitless opportunities. Once you are

finished with these snags there are plenty more deep below the surface. Ensure you have a good sounder to help locate them.

Trolling hardbodies or sinking plastics into these deep hidden snags should bring results; it only takes one or two of these bruisers to make a session you’ll

Left: Live action! The author’s mum in full swing.

Right: The end result – one pan-sized snapper.

never forget. The jack held in the Caboolture River for some reason, seem to grow big and they hold a lot of weight for their size. It may be because there is a lot of food or they might just be older fish leaving the system later in their life. Whatever the reason, I don’t care because they pull extra hard and make great photos.

When it gets a little later in the day you can head straight to the mouth and angle some big lizards as these guys have been very productive around the mouth entrance. Glassy Creek and Bells Creek have been two hot spots pulling good numbers along with size. The banks on both sides of the mouth of Glassy Creek have been producing great hauls of elbow-slappers as well on a rising tide.

Mission and Lime Pocket have been very productive and also the Northern end of the passage around Hussy and Coochin Creeks are always a good spot to head if wanting to chase the pocket rocket elbow-slappers. On 4lb line these guys can really give you some curry.

The ever popular yellowfin bream have been thick throughout the system; Ningi and Elimbah creeks and their surrounding banks have been good on a rising tide early in the morning or

READER’S PICTURE

Nathan Gittins with a very respectable 87cm duskie on plastic. This guy can angle! The fish was released to fight another day. late at night. The bigger smarter bream love the late afternoon into the night feeding sessions – these fish are bigger for one reason and that’s because they are smarter. A session on big bream can be a lot of fun as they are no slouch when it comes to pulling line.

There are a few decent grunter bream showing up in scattered numbers.

These guys have mainly been taken by the bream anglers as by-catch, but they are great on the table.

The crabs are very much hit and miss although when you hit a good patch they seem to be of a great quality, just ensure you watch your size limits as some people like to push

7

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this boundary and it’s simply not worth it as huge penalties apply to those doing the wrong thing.

If you see some very erratic bait movement and they are being smashed up by something with speed and size, chances are this month it could be queenies or trevally. These guys are awesome sport, so hold on!

In my experience and time on the water this action happens a lot more on the northern end of the passage, up around Caloundra.

Just watch out for cruising dolphins when on the water as our passage is in prime condition at the moment and the dolphins are making the most of it, so take it easy and have some fun.

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After fishing all day up the Pin, Stuart Grice decided to ride his bike down to the canal opposite the Hope Island Resort Shopping Centre and throw in a Sarku Dog walking surface lure in purple. On the first cast he got a good hit, on the second nothing and on the third he hooked up to this 53cm jack.

On the bike ride home he got stopped by Hope Island security and the driver insisted on taking photos of the jack to show his mates back at the office!

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Roctober rocks Bundaberg BUNDABERG

Jason Medcalf topwater@bigpond.com

I don’t know what happened to spring but we are well on the way to a hot, hot summer.

With the early increase in temperatures, the fishing is really heating up and so long as we don’t get too much rain, we should see some awesome estuary fishing.

THE BURNETT RIVER The Burnett is as clean as I have seen it for years.

The reason is Sunwater has stopped releasing water from Paradise Dam so they can repair the spillway from the damage of the floods. I believe it won’t be long before we see them releasing again, which will give us a bit more environmental flow.

This will see an increase of dirtier water back in the river.

In the freshwater reaches the low water levels have revealed how much the river has changed due to the massive amount water that carved its way along the river. There are some very deep holes and

carved out banks and also some very shallow areas that will make navigating the river in anything other than a kayak or canoe nearly impossible. For the explorer who is looking for some untouched water that is loaded with bass, golden perch, silver perch and believe it or not barramundi, the freshwater reaches of the Burnett should be on your list of places to visit.

Further down in the salt the river has been fishing sensationally with the guys in the know catching barramundi, salmon and some big mangrove jack.

How are they in the know you say? It’s simple, the guys who are getting into the quality fish are putting in the time. I have been speaking to a few of those in the know and the common thread with is the amount of time. They don’t have great sessions every time they are the water, but each time they are on the water they are learning more about when is the best time and what is the best technique. So a good tip is to get out on the water look around and put the time in.

THE BAFFLE Roger from Baffle Creek Caravan Park has

been very busy fishing nearly every day and he has been catching plenty of flathead and mangrove jack. This time of the year is prime fishing time for the Baffle and mad keen jack anglers should get themselves up there before any big fresh water flushes.

I would be putting in at the ferry crossing and heading up stream looking for the bait. If you don’t see baitfish or jelly prawns, head back towards the mouth. This time of year the fish will move up and down the river with the bait, so it’s very important to make sure you fish where the fish are.

As the water is very clear, getting on the water early before the sun is too high and casting to the shallows would be the go.

As the sun rises and the fish move to deeper water, it’s time then to get out the sinking lures and hit the deeper ledges. I like using darker plastics and lures in such clear water.

I also like to be very quiet and use longer casts as the clearer water means the fish sometimes see you before you see them and when that happens they spook and are nearly impossible to tempt.

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FURTHER AFIELD I managed a trip up to Middle Creek recently and had a great day catching my favourite mangrove jack, fingermark, flathead and quit a few trevally. The key that day was locating fish on the side imaging and nearly every time we did we caught them. We used Prawnstars, Ripple Shad soft plastics and Jackall Transams and they all caught fish. My fishing partner for the day Paul was amazed at how well the side imaging worked for locating fish and luckily enough the fish were active, so all we had to do was too put the lure where the fish were.

Of course this doesn’t work every time but it certainly helps if you’re fishing where the are.

One of the jacks caught recently. Whether it’s the Baffle, the Burnett or further afield at Pancake and Middle creeks, now is the time to hunt a jack.

Line-burners feeding HERVEY BAY

Scott Bradley marlin81@aapt.net.au

With the water temperatures pushing over 20˚C at the start of September, this month should see the bay hit the magic 23°C mark and that means only one thing –pelagics!

Last month Platypus Bay had scattered schools of mac tuna and a few longtails busting up north of Arch and typically

ON THE REEFS The fishing has been hit and miss at times with Rooneys, The Gutters, 25 fathom and the local reefs all experiencing quiet spells.

In the tough times all you can do is down grade tackle, fish the freshest baits on the better tides in the dawn and dusk periods if you can, and persist!

The guys who have caught fish have had a mixture of snapper, cod, coral bream, hussar, blackall, trevally and trout on flesh and live baits as well as plastics.

A WHALE OF A TALE Recently I heard of an incident where a boat was heading home from a trip up to Platypus Bay a few hundred metres off Fraser at speed when they hit a whale that breached in front of them. Luckily no one was seriously injured but one bloke ended in the drink and the others were a bit banged up. I am told the whale swam off seemingly unaffected and the boat swamped with water from nearly flipping was bailed, the motor started

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OCTOBER 2013

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Deano caught this 98cm barra on 4kg off the rocks at Point Vermont while fishing plastics. this month should see an increase in surface activity.

Look for condensed gatherings of bait on your sounder and diving birds to find tuna, spotties, schoolies, trevally and billfish. Trolling a spread of lures or casting plastics, slugs and stickbaits will get you connected to the fish, just match your lures as close as possible to the baitfish in the area.

ON THE FLATS Summer whiting, bream and flathead are responding to live yabbies, plastics and small poppers from Wathumba Creek to Ungowa. Golden trevally are stalking the flats and drop offs that run along Fraser Island chasing whiting, baitfish and crustaceans and are easily targeted on live bait, lures and fly. Try creek mouths and sand bars that spill on to a decent ledge for best results.

and the trip home could be completed under their own steam.

Whales are a part of life in Hervey Bay at this time of year and we all need to be aware of what can happen. Slowing down or at least keeping higher speeds to water shallow enough to eliminate the risk of whales goes a long way to eliminating the risk of fatality on the water.

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OCTOBER 2013

43

Barra season heats up and set to be a cracker unseasonal warm winter, the fishing over the previous couple of months has been promising to say the least and will only improve in the coming months.

Barra from 40-80cm have been caught consistently in bays and on points from J to

LAKE MONDURAN

Rob Howell

The warm weather is here and the season ahead is set to be a cracker. With the barra season well and truly under way due to an

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I on the Kolan River system and also in the north arm of B from Pig Trap Bay to Barra Alley. As for lure selection I am still finding it hard to beat the smaller sized hardbody lures like the Jackall Squirrels, Jackall Smash Minnows, RMG Scorpion 90s, Tilsan Barras, Halco Hammas and the B52 Junior.

The bays and points with lily pads and plenty of structure have been producing the best.

Recently I have upgraded my Humminbird 798 side imaging sounder to the much bigger 1198 side imaging sounder and the results from this have amazed me.

I have been scanning points and bays only to have barra of all sizes move through in big numbers and in high definition. I know these sounders have been around for a few years now and we have all heard how good they are, but they really do add another dimension to finding

barra. You don’t realise how valuable they are until you have had the opportunity to use one.

FISHING CLASSIC The Monduran Anglers and Stocking Association are holding their annual Family Fishing Classic on October 19 and 20 and as usual there are plenty of great prizes on offer. First prize for the biggest barra is $1000. First prize for the biggest bass is $500. First prize for the biggest catfish is also worth $500 and just for buying a lucky draw ticket you could win a tinnie worth $12k. The stocking group has been running this event for a number of years now and they really do put on a great weekend for the whole family so come and join us for some fishing fun.

OFFSHORE Finally some great offshore fishing opportunities have come our

way. After being hounded for weeks by two of my regular fishing partners to get outside amongst the reefies, the weather Gods had blessed us with a nothing over 10 knot forecast for 4 days. I made a quick call to the guys to get their bums up here from Brissy and for them to meet me at the 1770 boat ramp. After an anxious wait at the ramp we launched the boat and were on our way to Fitzroy and its surrounding reefs.

Arriving at the outer side of Fitzroy early in the morning we were keen to get lines in the water and after a few drops I had boated a nice red emperor that weighed 10kg and the boys boated a few thumper trout. Not a bad way to start the next four days. The next 3 days fished at a steady pace with assorted reefies adding to the icebox. Every offshore fisherman knows that’s it

is not the easiest thing to get consecutive days of good weather given that not everyone can go at the drop of a hat. But this was one of those trips where the wind dropped out and water turned to glass for 3 days.

After 3 days of bottom donging we always spend the last half a day chasing pelagics in a favourite spot down south of Fitzroy and it surely didn’t disappoint.

Wahoo were hitting our Halco Laser Pros in a feeding frenzy and after boating a few and then releasing a few others we decided to call it a day and head into Lady Musgrave for a few cold beers, rib fillet steak for dinner and a well deserved camp.

• That’s all for this month and for any further enquiries on how Lake Monduran is fishing don’t hesitate to contact us here at the holiday park.

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There are some great fish around this month, from big barra in the creeks to smaller specimens in the lagoons, all the way through to bream, flathead and whiting. Here is what’s happening where this month.

FITZROY The river is getting fired up at the moment and is full of healthy barramundi and king threadfin salmon.

The typical way of getting the barramundi at the moment is to use deep diving hardbody lures and twitch them right into the strike zone before a very slow roll out of the structure. Currently, the barramundi have been more prominent around the rocky ledges and drop-offs. The rocks that emerge with low tide along Victoria Parade, especially between the two city bridges has produced

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Terry from BCF Rockhampton picked up a decent estuary flathead. some very large catches.

The salmon have been caught with the vast amount of live prawns running in the river at the moment, however any smaller prawn imitations, even prawn patterned hardbodied minnows, have had success. The salmon have typically been caught along the banks where the water drops from around 1m down to deeper depths such as 3m and will sit on the edge of the drop-off trying to get the prawns.

THE NARROWS AND LOCAL BEACHES The estuaries have seen some nice fish recently but the lack of cold weather this winter has meant the flathead have not really been that switched on and will shut down fairly early compared to last year. This doesn’t mean to say there are none however! There have been some great fish caught, many on curl tail grubs and prawn

imitation plastics.

The bream and whiting are still out and about but have recently been more switched on to small hardbody lures and there have been fewer captures on plastics.

The local beaches and creeks have been full of grunter over the winter period and there have been no signs of them leaving with plenty of large captures along the creek mouths and rubble patches.

The dart, salmon and queenies have all provided some great entertainment recently with little metal slugs or sinking stick baits getting them most of the time. Letting the slug/ stickbait sink to mid water then pulling it back can see you hook up on these fish.

Many fishos have also had luck using live herring to catch the queenfish and dart along the beach. Catching

herring is no hard task.

A good pair of polarised glasses and a bit of patience is required. The herring normally sit along inlets and can be spotted by the silver flashes as the school moves just under the surface. A quick throw of a net will see many livies caught, which make exceptional bait.

FRESHWATER LAGOONS The freshwater lagoons are fired up again, finally!

There have been many reports, and a few captures of healthy barra and hundreds of tarpon that have suggested the freshwater lagoons, like the Yeppen and Frogmore, are fired up again. These are great places to shoot out to after work and have a quick flick with some bream weighted gear to cast out little poppers and stick baits.

Some exceptional poppers and surface lures have been hitting the market recently and look perfect for these situations. Nine times out of ten the colour doesn’t matter, it’s mainly the action, however on a full moon night I like to use black poppers to get a nice silhouette happening on the water.

CRABBING If you’re out baiting in the rivers and creeks you may pull up a catfish or two. Nobody really likes these local pests so instead of throwing them back, cut the spines off and put them in a bag, catfish make one of the best crab baits around.

The rogue heavy-duty crab pots are the go-to pots in the Fitzroy River.

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OCTOBER 2013

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Reefies and stacks of macks Island) including the well known Douglas, Innamincka, Barcoo and Moresby. These shoals are the favourite haunts of the small charter fleet from here and Gladstone.

Because the fleet is so small and the weather plays the biggest part in our fishing opportunities, you can always catch quality fish with a bit of scouting about.

The expected catch is always red throat emperor and coral trout over the top of the shoals but in the surrounding country red emperor come to the fore.

Spanish mackerel are present all year particularly at

YEPPOON

Scott Lynch ifishcq2@bigpond.com

September started with good weather after the last of August was brilliant, allowing all the offshore anglers to get out to the wider grounds. Hopefully conditions allow for more offshore fishing in October.

The Redfern Reef patches start about 45km from Rosslyn Bay and head north all the way inside the reef. In our area we have quite a bit of shoal country starting approximately 86km out (north of North West

the ends of the passes and the points where the current forms eddies and wash.

Giant trevally are another catch although the average guys target other stuff and release the big trevs to fight another day. This type of mission out to the wides should only be taken by experienced boaties with decent offshore rigs, large fuel capacity and good weather predicted for the duration of the trip.

We have had a slow spell with fish like big reds in shallower water over previous months. I was at the Tightlines Fishing Competition recently talking to a couple of

The southern part of the bay has been the go for spotties although the big schools have bypassed us so far. Some fine fish have still arrived and the signs are we may get a reasonable run through October or November. Spotties seem to start in spots like Quartz, Pelican, Wedge and Divided in the southern end of the bay out from Keppel Sands and Emu Park. From there they move through the other coastal patches like Ritamada, Ironpot, Double Heads, Forty Acre, The Rosslyn Bay Harbour wall, Farnborough, Bangalee and Findlays. They will grab either lures or pillies

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The reef fishing might be good, but there are plenty of sharks around as well. professionals about this. One of them came up with a theory: the unusual amount of earthquakes in eastern or southern Australia and New Zealand in the past twelve months has affected the fishing. These tremors and quakes make the fish move into deeper water than usual for short periods. He said that many of the other line fishing pros had similar thoughts. I did a little research and checked this out with the ES&S Seismology Research Centre.

We have had over thirty minor quakes and tremors from 2.4-4 on the Richter scale already this year. There may be some merit in this. My previous theory was that reefies feed better on the incoming tides in our area and over the last few months (when I have had the chance to get offshore) the best weather has been on weekends where the lows were in the middle of the day. It also leads me to previous years where the fishing was much better at times forgetting the early morning starts and heading out at lunch time for an afternoon/early evening session instead. On saying this, we have still scored the odd decent catches around the closer patches, but our best captures were definitely in the deeper 45-65m depths.

All sorts of mackerel have shown in recent catches from around the islands and out to the wides. This time of year the Spaniards are pretty well the only resident fish and there are some big fish among them like the 30kg fish weighed in at The Tightlines.

so take both to increase your chances. One technique is to leave a floating pilly out the back while you cast a chromie out the side. Spotties usually hang a little deeper in the water column so by adding a pea sinker above the gangs you can put the pilchard down where the fish are. When casting chromies it pays to keep the lure in the water as long as possible and cover the maximum water with each retrieve. To do this I always count to 10 after the cast to let the lure sink down as far as I am game in shallow water and count more when fishing the deeper parts.

Chris from the US Marines with a great golden trevally ready for release on Bite Me Charters.

Recent glassy days have produced good shows of doggies at many of the spots you get spotties and a few other areas including Claytons, Humpy, Sykes, Liza Jane, Man and Wife, Outer and Barren. On those exceptionally still glassy mornings they school along the harbour wall and some locals don’t even bother to get the boat out because they can get all the fish they need land-based. I sound repetitious but the best way for anyone that doesn’t fish around here normally to find out whether the doggies or spotties are around is to drive along the coast heading south from Yeppoon towards the harbour and look for tinnies gathered around the headlands or just out from the harbour wall. Another give away is the anglers lined along the rocks at Double Heads looking like spikes on an echidna, hence the local name Porcupine Point.

Flathead have been on fire in the local estuaries lately with the only problem being that there is a very high ratio of oversized fish. It’s not often we can say that, but the past month all of the local flatty chasers have complained that they are getting a stack of big girls in between keeper fish. Many of these guys are experienced and have released them all unharmed. The best spots at

Greg Ologhlen landed this chunky rosy jobfish out from Yeppoon.

present to catch a flathead, are towards the mouths of the main creeks lining the deeper channels and eddies around the sandbanks.

King salmon are going hard in the river as reports come in of schools hammering the little run off gutters downstream of Nerimbera.

There are loads of prawn fry everywhere and the salmon are fattening up big time. The guys having the most success are throwing the small, almost clear Atomic Prongs and any other tiny prawn-like plastic they can find, the smaller the better. The best option is to hit the river just after high and work the gutters as they become exposed.

Kings will move around in very shallow water, even if it looks like melted chocolate they can feel the fry with their whiskers. Reedys and Little Oaky down at Port have a fair population of kings and they all work the same way.

The top end of Waterpark and Coorooman creeks are other prime locations for salmon this month.

Some of the biggest barra caught in the Fitzroy for ages have been appearing in the last few weeks. The crew fishing the town reaches has had nothing to complain about as they released upwards of a dozen fish over 1.2m this week.

People who have never caught a metrey before can lay claim to more than one in a week.

Transams and threadybusters are the goods for the plastics guys. Live silver perch are always good, particularly as there is a ready supply in the freshwater lagoons surrounding Rockhampton (adhere to local size and bag limits). The hardbody lure guys have to work a bit harder for their captures, although trolling deep divers heading down to low tide does okay.

Well done to Yeppoon Coast Guard for putting on another fine fishing comp.

As their primary fundraiser it also fills the gap along the coast for those who wish to test their skills against others.

There were quite a few class fish caught over the event and one standout was a 10.5kg largemouth nannygai caught by junior Jack Sutton.

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Barra burst before closure MACKAY

Keith Day habdays@bigpond.net.au

October, although not officially summer, normally brings hot dry weather, northerly winds and occasional storms and that spells barra for the estuary, creek and impoundment angler.

Barra will be the main target as there is only a short time until the closed season, which starts on 1 November, so expect plenty of boats on the water at all the favourite barra spots. Lure and bait fishos will be out in force, but a good way to avoid many of the crowds is to have

some early morning starts, like about two hours before daylight, or fish into the night.

Night lure fishing brings its own hazards unless there is some moonlight, although I have found that on really bright nights the barra can be pretty touchy. If you can score a night with plenty of moonlight, but with cloud periodically drifting across the moon, then it is almost the ideal night fishing scenario.

Full moon and barra fishing at night is very popular, but if you only fished the full moon then there would not be a lot of barra fishing time.

Remember the barra have to feed regardless of the moon phase, and this applies equally in the dams or the mangroves.

In the mangroves on darker nights the big flats covered with the tide can see some spectacular barra fishing as they move right up into the shallow water over the flats under the cover of darkness chasing bait, which also feel safer on the flats in the dark.

One of my favourite ways to lure fish for barra at any time, but especially at night, is with surface lures. Traditional poppers work well but the walk-the-dog style lures such as the Tango Dancer are even better, and they can be worked with a varied speed retrieve for slightly different actions. Z-Man Pop Frogz are also rapidly becoming one of my favourites as they can be worked slow, fast on the

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surface or dig them down with a low rod tip and fast retrieve.

In the dams target the points of bays where there are good weed beds or lilies at night as these spots are generally fairly snag-free and the barra will come right into the shallows to feed. There are plenty of barra in the timber areas too, but they are difficult to fish at night, and you spend more time unsnagging lures than fishing, which is not good.

Kinchant Dam will be very popular, and on good nights the camera flashes are all over the dam. Kinchant offers plenty of bays with points, but don’t ignore straight shorelines as they all have good weed beds jutting out and there are small inlets into the weeds, which are hot spots. If there are some weed islands out from the main beds and you have around 3-5m clear depth then fish the area hard.

Teemburra has plenty of open areas, including the boat ramp bank, the bay on the south side of the ramp, and the various bays straight across from the ramp. Similar type country is all over the dam, but the point is you don’t have to travel for 20 minutes to find good productive areas.

Teemburra, although a little further away than Kinchant, does not see the same amount of boat activity of a night and offers plenty of opportunities.

For dam fishers, lure choices are many, but a few favourites standout and should be in your tackle box. Shallow divers, like the Reidy’s B52 in all sizes, and a few Bombers are a must-have. Rapala XRaps have a great reputation as fish catchers but the standard hooks are light on, so upgrade them rather than lose that fish of a lifetime.

Koolabungs, Lively Lures, Warlocks, RMGs and Tropic

Luke Vella loves Threadybusters and with results like this decent barra from a Constant Creek sand flat, who could blame him?

Angler all make proven barra minnows in various sizes and running depths and are always in my gear. Remember though most of your night barra fishing will be in shallow water so ultra deep divers aren’t needed. Save them for the day, and particularly those times when you find barra lying deep on the sounder.

For surface fishing get yourself plenty of Tango Dancers, cup-faced poppers and frogs. I prefer the Z-Man ones but there are others that work well too, but the toughness of the Z-Mans also is a bonus, and you can rig them weedless and fish them right in the weedy stuff.

For the anglers who prefer soft plastics, the list is endless. Try to stick with the better known brand names like Squidgies, Tsunami, Storm, Tropic Anglers, Reidy’s and Z-Man. These are all proven performers, but are by no means the only ones that will be successful. Call into our local tackle shops for advice as they all have

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keen anglers working in them and they will give you good advice on plastics that are producing the results. As well as the usual paddle- and curltail plastics, don’t ignore the vibration baits like Transams and Threadybusters as barra find them very much to their liking.

While the above info is mainly aimed at the dams, the same principles apply in the saltwater, but be aware Mackay’s creeks have some pretty serious crocs in them and they are more active at night. A good spotlight will show you lots of red eyes with some big mummas among them, so be careful.

The same lures will work in the saltwater and again using the same techniques, look for the barra in the shallow water, or anywhere there are small baitfish. Remember the fish will be more active at night, and less cover orientated, so get out onto those flats as the tide is rising and if you can find some small gutters they can be absolute hotspots.

Because you are fishing shallows, it pays to keep as quiet as possible and avoid shining lights down into the water. Long casts work well when fishing the shallows and remember the barra can be found in water that will not even cover their backs, so if there is 200mm or so of water and bait around, fish it.

Mackay during October is not all about barra though and is not necessarily a night fishery only. The advantages of fishing late include, lack of crowds (Kinchant Dam excepted), personal comfort,

less risk of sunburn/skin cancer and less spooky fish.

But you do need to know your way around and travel slowly as there are plenty of rocks and shallow banks to catch the unwary.

Apart from barra, the big target during October will be the small macks and tuna, provided the northerly winds arrive and that in turn means schools of small bait in close.

The doggies, spotties and tuna play havoc among the bait schools and provide top sport and plenty of quality food fish. Recently we have had a

few days of calm northerlies, but the bait is yet to move in close, but with a week or so of northerlies that will all change. At this time of year the south wall of the harbour/ marina sees lots of vehicles cruising out to the end light, with anglers all checking out the conditions and waiting for signs of bait schools, birds or fish feeding.

Once the conditions are right, and the bait is in the fun really begins with boats from 3m up, small kayaks and canoes all out chasing the fish. It is a time of crowded

Large schools of baitfish will have plenty of predators, like this golden trevally, working close inshore this month.

boat ramps, lack of trailer parking and some tempers frayed, but once on the water all that is forgotten and the adrenalin kicks in. The sight of fish slashing into bait, birds wheeling and diving, and bait spraying out of the water will get any angler with a heartbeat fired up.

Trolling or drifting pillies on gang hooks, live herrings and small gar under floats will all bring mackerel undone and can be fished with some berley to crank up the action.

Trolling barra style minnows that run 2-3m deep will also get good results on the small macks, but I reckon the best fun is casting slugs, shinies, blades or vibes to feeding fish.

This is eggbeater country and a good spin stick around the 7ft mark will get you plenty of action. A 4000 or 5000 size reel will handle anything you are likely to hook, but some chasing of a fish may be needed if a solid longtail or cobia is hooked, but that just adds to the fun.

Double hook ups and general mayhem can be the picture, but remember to bleed your fish immediately and get it packed in ice quickly.

We usually have a tail rope handy and the fish, after unhooking, is then tail roped, hung over the side and the throat latch cut to bleed it.

A few jiggles up and down

and then the fish is onto the ice after a quick wipe down of the slime on the skin.

An old towel is the best for this and can be discarded or washed and used next trip.

Result of this is prime, high quality fish that is delightful

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OCTOBER 2013

49

Teaser trolling basics PART 1 BRISBANE

Kim Bain

A teaser is a fish attractor that you pull behind the boat when trolling.

Teasers have been used for bluewater trolling since the early days of trolling and were popularised by anglers such as Zane Grey and especially in the origins of game fishing in Hawaii.

This is something different – a rubber mahi mahi school with a tuna mud flap.

Teasers are typically designed to represent a school of bait (baitfish or squid) in the water. While some teasers use mirrors, most use rubber fish, rubber squids and ‘birds’ tied either in a line or side by side (birds are a rubber or hard lure with side wings that make them splash on the surface). The string is pulled from either an outrigger, a conventional rod or a line/cord run to a stern corner cleat.

Some teasers are made from rigged dead-baits; particularly garfish as they hold together longer than most other types of baits after being bashed by a sailfish bill or similar. Most teasers incorporate soft lures so that the fish have something to chew on. Ideally the teaser offering will be very durable so that the target fish has a reason to either hang around for a long time and/or come back again with their mates a second time.

In tournaments, one person will usually be dedicated to sit at the teaser with a rigged dead bait, such as a swimming garfish or swimming mullet rigged with a chin weight and a hook in it. The swimbait is freespooled down alongside

Kim swims a marlin beside the boat, readying it for release.

Marlin are prime candidates for teasers. the teaser, looking for a bite.

Once their dead-bait has been freespooled back past the teaser, they’ll reel in and repeat the drill. This process will continue throughout the fishing day. The reason for this tactic is that fish seem attracted to offerings (bait, lure, or fly) that are travelling at a different speed than the boat – in this case, slower.

Try it when you have a fish in the pattern that won’t

I’ve had pelagic game fish continuously attacking a teaser for longer than most readers would believe. I’ve even had some fish more interested in the teaser than the presentation that we’ve put into the water to try to hook it on. Accordingly, one of the drills with teaser fishing is to coordinate its removal from the water with the instantaneous placement of a bait, fly or lure in the same

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Semi-soft ‘rubber’ squid rigged on an umbrella-like dredge. eat…this trick works great in these situations.

Live baits also work well if you have a fish come up on your teaser. It pays to have a livie prerigged and on station in your boat’s livewell.

In light line record attempts and flyfishing, teasers are pulled around behind the boat and the actual fishing lines are kept in the boat until the target fish shows itself in amongst the teasers.

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spot. Often when the teaser is pulled out of the water, the fish will hunt around until it (hopefully) finds your replacement offering.

TARGET SPECIES The bigger the pelagic fish species, the more likely that they’ll be interested in your teaser. All billfish species love chewing on teasers as do mahi mahi and some tuna species. It is not uncommon to have a whole school of sailfish attack your ‘dredge’.

DAISY CHAINS, SPREADER BAR, OR DREDGES? Dredges Dredges are usually made from two or three or more spreader bar rigs fashioned together so that the wire frame looks like an umbrella that has lost its cloth.

Dredges can run up to 24, and even to 50, baits and/or lures. From these dredges hang either garfish or mullet, or 9-12” shad tails, rubber garfish and/or squid.

I prefer the rubber offerings because they don’t need to be changed out throughout the day like dead baits do.

These dredges create so much drag when pulled through the water that they are commonly run off electric reels and/ or electric downriggers.

Running teasers on electric outfits means that they can be retrieved (sort of halfretrieved) at the press of a button. However, even with electric retrieval, you still need to clear the kit away and clear the decks to fight the fish.

A typical splashbar with ‘birds’.

THE RECREATIONAL ANGLER’S LINK LOOKING FORWARD FOR SUNFISH ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• By the time you read this, the federal election will be done and dusted and we will be watching to see if any of the promises made are fulfilled.

So, one week out from the election as I write this, only one party has provided any policy information regarding recreational fishing. It has been quite sometime though since a federal election has resulted in policy statements with respect to recreational fishing so I guess all the letters, submissions and meetings we have been having in Canberra and with Ministers and would-be Ministers has had at least some effect.

Thank you to everyone who has provided assistance in the last year when we have asked for phone calls, emails and letters to Ministers and Members of Parliament. The additional voices whether they have been individual or on the numerous petitions we have had certainly seems to have been effective.

As we saw with the super trawler, we have awesome numbers on our side when each individual speaks together. Sunfish can only achieve so much without the vocal support of individual rec fishers.

KIDS FISHING DAYS •••••••••••••••••••• We have been fortunate enough to receive funding from Fisheries Queensland to again run our Sunfish Kid’s Fishing Days.

Expressions of interest to run these are coming in thick and fast and are spread from Townsville to Mount Isa to the Gold Coast and

are a mixed bag of fresh and saltwater locations.

I’m never sure who has the best time at these events, the kids or the instructors and mentors. As events are confirmed I will put the relevant details onto our website. If you are a community or fishing group and are interested in having one of these, give me a call and I will try and line you up with a Sunfish group and a couple of instructors.

JUNIOR ANGLERS •••••••••••••••••••• Still on good news stories, Brisbane City Council provided $1,500 towards this annual event. It is run by a small band of volunteers with significant pedigrees within the recreational fishing community. This event has been running since the 1950s so we are starting to get the third generation of angling families attending this trip.

In addition to Brisbane City Council we have a few small sponsors as well as three major sponsors who have been with us for a very long time, one in fact right from the beginning.

Jack Alvey was one of the founders of this event and Bruce and Glenn continue in his footsteps proudly supporting young people into the healthy sport and recreation of fishing.

Our three major sponsors are Alvey Reels Australia, Tackle Warehouse and Platypus Fishing Lines.

This event is open to any high school student over 12 years of age. We will be leaving Whyte Island on the Micat and travel to

This pregnant dolphin that washed up in Deception Bay after being entangled in a commercial net.

Tangalooma on the morning of Saturday October 26 and return that same afternoon.

The cost of the trip is $25 and we have loads of prizes to be won. Trip details can be found on our Facebook page.

is a National Park, and the other of a pregnant dolphin that washed up in Deception Bay after having been entangled in commercial net.

If you see any activity that concerns you feel free to send me an email with as many details as possible and include photos if you have them and I will see what I can find out for you.

Whether it is or isn’t a legal activity and if it is, then perhaps why is it.

SUNFISH SPOTTERS •••••••••••••••••••• Sadly not everyone in the community does the right thing, so education is very important. Sunfish has three major lines of activity – education, policy and habitat.

A great portion of our educational resources are spread between kid’s fishing days and community events like boat shows. These events are of great importance in not just spreading the appropriate message but also increasing our community network.

I have seen over recent

SUNFISH ••••••••••••••••••••

Sunfish Kid’s Fishing Days are as popular as ever.

Last year’s Junior Anglers event at Tangalooma was a great success.

52

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QFM

months a significant increase in the number of incidents that have been reported to me. Personal safety is always a great concern so being able to report to me as a third party who can forward individual concerns on incidents eases the mind of many.

It also allows us to provide valuable information to the Fisheries Officers and National Park Rangers who may or may not be able to assist. At times it has become necessary to involve various community or media networks to solve, even if only for a while some very significant problems.

Two of the recent ones brought to the attention of the Minister were the tonnes of fish dumped on Moreton Island, which

Email: judylynne@sunfishqld.com.au

Fifteen months ago we had a strategic workshop to look at changes in direction for Sunfish. We recognised a need to take an organization that has been around for decades into the 21st century. The social scientists tell us that Gen X and Gen Y aren’t joiners and this seems to be demonstrated very clearly throughout many community groups, whether it be sport, recreation or social. So the challenge was to come up with a plan to engage them more than just peripherally on forums.

I am putting out a challenge to find a couple of interested volunteers who love their recreational fishing whether you go every week or only a couple of times a year doesn’t matter but I need an avid Facebooker and a keen web surfer. – Judy Lynne

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OCTOBER 2013

53

Catches worth getting out for EVANS HEAD

Tony Zann t.zann@fishingmonthly.com.au

A lot of people celebrate the October long weekend by getting out for their first camp of the new season and it’s usually a good time to fish and relax.

There are plenty of places to choose from.

If you like it rough and ready, there’s always behind the dunes in the Bundjalung National Park at Jerusalem Creek (bring your own water), amid the banksias at Flat Rock north of Ballina (tap water and toilets) or on the upper Clarence River (cows crap in it, so boil it!), and plenty in between.

Or you can kick back in a tent or comfy cabin in

caravan parks at Evans Head, Brunswick Heads, Lennox Head or Ballina, and cook your catch, dine out or eat takeaway.

Whatever your choice, there’s some good fishing to be had at this time of year and it’s a fine foretaste of the months ahead.

The October long weekend, like most long weekends, usually provides a mix of weather so it’s worthwhile remembering the rain gear, even if the forecast is promising.

But you’ll also need sunblock and hats It’s a changeover time on the beaches, with tailor and bream making way for whiting and dart, although the water is still a little cold so those bream could linger and if the baitfish are there, chopper tailor are always a possibility.

ANGELS AWAY

After months of being strangled by bureaucratic red tape, it looks like the ANSA campaign for the release of 15 Angel Rings between Iluka and Byron is back on track and local rock fishers and their families can begin to rest a little easier.

This life-saving program, started in Sydney more than a decade ago by a handful of dedicated anglers, is now able to spread out along the Far North Coast unhindered by petty nitpickers.

The chances of at least one life being saved by an Angel Ring over the upcoming holiday period are extremely strong.

There’s still the odd pipi on the beaches for the whiting and dart but remember, even though you can now line fish on beaches (and rocks) in the marine park sanctuary zones around Cape Byron, south of Brunswick and at the southern end of Lennox Beach, you can’t gather bait there.

Mulloway of all sizes could also still be on the cards, although daytime catches will be well down on their winter peak.

The salmon just didn’t make it this year. I’m no great fan of their eating qualities but they fight splendidly and I get more than the odd phone call and email from readers asking when they’re going to turn up here.

Since the netting north of Barrenjoey resumed in 2012 there’s a fair chance those fish have been shipped off to WA and turned into cray bait. If other plans go ahead, most of the rest of them could well be shipped to China. Another triumph in fisheries management fades into oblivion.

ESTUARY The estuaries should also fish very well.

We seem to be having the dry spring that we needed and river life is flourishing

as the water clears and plant and animal growth thrives.

In fact, if it does rain a little over the holiday weekend or thereabouts, a lot of locals will welcome it, although maybe not the weekend prior when the big Ballina Bonanza comp is on.

The rivers could well be getting a little too clear and a touch of a fresh would bring things on – as long as it’s nothing like the 200mm deluge of the 2011 holiday Monday.

Most fish seem to have been moving upstream in good numbers and spreading out.

Mulloway, bass and estuary perch have been dining well on baitfish and prawns and there have been plenty of school flathead as well.

The bream have been late working up the rivers into their warm-season homes, with quite a few fish on the beaches still in roe in late August. But move up they will, unless we get a heavy fresh.

This month the perch seem to disappear, but it’s more that most upper estuary fishos keep chasing the bass farther upstream, leaving the perch to fossick around in the world of those two schoolies most inextricably linked – school prawns and school mulloway.

While there will still be

This 82cm fish was by-catch on an estuary perch outing and took a 3” minnow on a 1/16oz head.

On 4lb Jinkai leader and 3lb NanoFil, it took 15 minutes to get to the net and another 15 minutes to revive until it swam away vigorously. flathead in those upper to middle reaches of the estuaries, it’s down near the ocean that will be the focus for the big spawning females and their harems of attendant males.

As the silky oaks gather their golden blossoms and a lilac mist descends over the jacarandas, most of these big flatfish will be headed for the river mouths, although some big mamas have already started doing what comes naturally.

As the big brown fish gather in the lower reaches they should be able to enjoy some tasty whiting dinners, and so should we.

Many of the larger whiting that wintered in the deep holes of the middle estuary are working downstream and

there are also more along the beaches.

Peak local whiting time is this month and next, as the water warms in the shallows and the yabbies and worms come out.

The now commonplace poppers and stickbaits will be out in force over the flats but don’t discount a clear, compact polycarbonate blade.

One with a flash of pink or orange scuttling across the flat and over the lip of a deeper hole has a hot chance of being nabbed.

A bit of chop on the water seems to be a lot better for any whiting fishing, mainly because these guys have keen vision and when it’s calm, they can see almost any threat.

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So many topwater targets ILUKA

Ben Pilch bjpcdh@gmail.com

This is a great time to fish the mighty Clarence River and the nearby coast. I know I say that nearly every month, but I like October so much because there are just so many targets for my favourite way of chasing fish on the surface.

You have tailor and trevally off the headlands; whiting, bream and smaller trevally in the estuary and last but by no means least,

you can’t forget about those bruising bass and eastern cod up in the sweetwater.

The whole visual aspect of surface fishing gets the blood pumping and watching it all unfold in front of your eyes is just so exciting.

We haven’t had a regular or consistent tailor season in a long time but we have definitely noticed in the past couple of years that the better quality tailor have turned up in late spring to early summer.

If you want to tussle with a trophy tailor, you can throw around spinners all day

Brock Partrige with a kilo-plus bream.

catching choppers but to catch a proper trophy greenback on a lure, you need to be throwing a popper around.

I usually find an area on a headland with some wash and start fanning casts around using different retrieves to see what the fish are turned on by at the time. It can change from day to day and during each day.

The type of popper used depends on the water.

In choppy conditions I use a cup-faced popper, something that puts out more noise to attract fish. In these noisier conditions I like a River 2 Sea Bubble Pop 130.

On a more glassy day I use a pencil popper or a stickbait, which are less in-your-face and don’t seem to spook the fish as much.

Lures like the BJP stickbait are my choice of surface lures for trophy greenback tailor on calmer days.

If you’re not catching fish at one spot, move to another.

Try to find where they are hanging.

All the same principles apply if you’re chasing trevally.

RIVER HOTS UP And with the weather warming up, the river starts to fire.

The flathead are generally in the lower reaches and picking up a good feed of fresh flattie fillets shouldn’t be too hard.

Try working the weedy drop-offs with your favourite plastics or a blade.

Chartreuse is a favourite colour of many flattie hunters on the Clarence.

Places like the North Arm, Browns Rocks and Oyster Channel are good spots to start chasing up a feed.

The author with 5kg of greenback tailor that attacked one of his own stickbaits.

Jake Book headed to the gorge country for this bass.

These locations should also be good spots to start the hunt for a whiting using live

worms or yabbies.

But if you’re a lure diehard, it’s time to crack out

those surface lures. Again, which ones to choose depends on the water conditions, with the cup-faced poppers up to 60mm long good for the chop and the more subtle stickbaits and pencils better when it’s calmer.

The prawns should be in full swing by now, making it a great time to get out and chase school jew on the river.

And the warming weather will start sending the bream up river, as well as signalling the return of the bass to their sweetwater summer homes.

If the weather plays the game, October will be a great month to get among them all.

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OCTOBER 2013

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Make your mark on the reds TOWNSVILLE

Jack Reid

You can expect excellent fishing in October with the warming temperature firing many species up.

The barramundi fishing is great in the right areas and Townsville is an ideal location with plenty of creeks and rivers, which are close and a wide variety of ones that are within an hour’s drive. Giving the avid angler a place to fish with no crowds and good fishing opportunities.

BARRA TIME The weather is well and truly heating up and the water temperatures are following suit, this results in the north’s favourite fish becoming increasingly active – barra.

Barra are a wonderful fish for many reasons but one of them is that they can be effectively targeted on a wide variety of techniques.

One of the more popular techniques of late has been jigging soft vibes and sinking lures in the deeper water. It is no new fact that big fish prefer the deep water and by fishing in these areas you have a much better chance of hooking up to your next PB. River mouths, junctions, rocky out crops, deep ledges and sunken timbers are all ideal areas to jig for larger barra. Probably the most popular method to target barra would have to be snag casting, and for good reason. Visual strikes and some tight drag hand-tohand combat are needed to

extract the better fish from the snags.

Casting at any likely looking structure that is scattered along a mangrovelined bank will get some action in October. A few lures that have worked well for many anglers,

sure you’ll have a ball getting into a few of the local species.

OFFSHORE There have been some magic days of calm weather in the previous month and those ideal conditions have followed through to give

There are plenty of excellent fishing spots in and around Townsville where anglers can get away from the crowds.

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Casting at any likely looking structure that is scattered along a mangrove-lined bank will get some action in October, hopefully as good as these golden snapper. including myself, would be the Koolabung Razorback Prawn Divers and the Maria range of divers.

Golden snapper are another species making their mark in October and fishing around the bay and islands are top spots to catch a few decent ones.

Using soft plastics is a technique that has grown tenfold in popularity for golden snapper recently and it is because of one reason, it just works. I was fishing with a mate recently using plastics and he fished down south for snapper and was mentioning that the technique was just the same. Drifting over a likely looking area and casting up current then working the lure back.

If you are heading up to Townsville from the southern areas I am

the keen reef fisher no better opportunity than to head offshore and get the rod bent.

Some absolute cracking red emperor have been around recently. Despite the notion they can only be properly caught at night, I have plenty of photos with the sun in full light to convince any red fisho to give their hot spots a crack in the day time hours.

Large baits are the way to go and having good size hooks of 8/0 up that are sharp will see you staying connected to the big fish.

Overall, October is a month with plenty of options and picking up your favourite barra rod and tying on your favourite lure and spending a few hours up the creek should see you having a blast.

Tight lines and good luck.

There have been some wonderful days of calm weather to head to the nearest reef and catch some fish, like this bar-cheeked coral trout.

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Kevin Elferink with a decent bream caught on a Stiffy’s Clear Popper in the shallows at Peel Island.

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Jeff Wilton jeffwilton83@hotmail.com

The tide dropped out of the mangroves and the mullet seemed nervous – so much so that they were starting to beach themselves on the mudflats on purpose.

Watching them, I decided that I didn’t blame them one bit. If I were in their position I would do the same, and the reason can be summed up in one word: BOOF. Yes, the Hinchinbrook barra are back in action.

a sand or mud bank. This should produce results if you stay patient.

For barra, don’t be scared to leave your rods in the rod holders. Barra normally hook up better when the rod is in the holder rather than in your hand. Plenty of charter operators use this method so it obviously works.

Mangrove jack are available all year round if you use the right tactics, but as water and air temps are now increasing these fish will really be sharpening up their teeth. Heading right up into the snag-ridden creeks

If you haven’t tried plastics for nannies you’re missing out.

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13 Watkins Street Tully, QLD, 4854 Phone: (07) 40682222 Fax: (07) 40680396 hos3@westnet.com.au

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These fish are hungry, and are getting more aggressive as each day passes. The last few months have seen barra being captured more regularly on both artificial and live baits.

Most conversations at the ramp have been about this iconic tropical sportfish.

HINCHINBROOK CHANNEL The first thing you’ll notice when fishing the channel in October will be the increased boat traffic.

During the cooler months the barra crews spend more time cleaning their reels and sharpening trebles then fishing, but when the waters warm they’re all over it. And it’s not just the barra that will be bending rods this month, with jacks, grunter, salmon and golden snapper all about in good numbers.

The snags in the creeks should hold better numbers of barra then the drains and banks. When the water was cooler it was easy to spot schools of barra just sulking in the sticks, and it was difficult to get a response.

These fish are still there but at this time of the year they should be ready to smash your offerings.

On the bigger tides when the water is pouring out of the flats, you can get into some action by fishing the drains with shallow lures and fish or prawn imitation plastics.

If bait is more your thing, gather some live mullet, gar or herring and set them in a creek mouth or along

will put you in jack territory.

Screw your drags up tight or you may head home with your tail between your legs.

Live baits can be excellent for jacks. Smaller mullet or herring suspended under a float get serious attention (especially from larger 45cm-plus fish) but the humble mullet fillet or half pilchard is very hard to beat. Running a small sinker straight to the hook will help with snagging and get bites, but it’s important to use just enough weight to have the bait ‘flutter’ down the water column. Jacks will hit you hard and fast, so you’ll have to hold onto the rod or be very quick to a rod holder, otherwise you’ll be rigging up again.

REEF AND ISLANDS It blew in that annoying 15 knot-plus category for most of the cooler months, aside from some magic windows every now again that allowed anglers to head out into the

deep blue. This month, as always, we can only cross our fingers and hope for the weather to be kind.

Nannygai, both largemouth (saddletail snapper) and smallmouth (crimson snapper), have been about in great numbers.

Now is the perfect time to chase them on plastics and lighter gear. It still amazes me the amount of people that are surprised when told that nannygai eat plastics! These fish just love them, and are a great species to target for those wanting to start off fishing with plastics.

Fish in the 40-60cm range will provide plenty of fun on lighter spin gear, and when they are on it can be mayhem.

Any plastic in the 3” to 6” bracket will get bites, and the Gulp 5” Jerkshads and Gulp Jigging Grubs are very hard to beat. Make sure they get to the bottom and slowly work them, the key word being slowly!

When you find these fish schooled up it is easy to reach your limit in a short amount of time. When you catch a nannygai in deeper water, or if you rip it up fast when you’re racing sharks, the fish has no chance of survival when released. For this reason, it’s good to stop fishing for nannies when you have enough for a feed.

When fishing plastics for nannygai you can also run into golden snapper, plenty of trevally species and the odd trout using this technique, not to mention mackerel on the drop.

For those boats heading wider, the spectacular king of the reef, the mighty red emperor, has been dragging anglers around their boats.

The two key factors to gracing your ice box with reds are to fish into the night on the bigger tides, and get a good anchor right on the spot. Over the last few months I’ve seen plenty of juvenile emperor in amongst the larger specimens.

I’m not sure if it was just the time of year or the spots I was fishing, which is a great sign for the future.

If I can pass on one tip for increasing your chances of an emperor, it’s to up-size your bait. Bigger is better, and fresh is always best.

Barra are back. I can’t hear anyone complaining!

OCTOBER 2013

61

Golden snapper fishing fires HINCHINBROOK

Ryan Moody www.hookedonhinchinbrook.com

Golden snapper have showed up a little earlier this year, with bigger models around the outer islands during winter.

We have been catching them on plastics while jigging for other species.

They become a very welcome catch among recreational fishers.

With the waters warming on queue we have also tangled with some goodsized king threadfin salmon.

Once again jigging has been the preferred technique but I have also picked up a few trolling lures. The next few months are a good time to tangle with threadfin in most of the tropical coast estuaries, including the Townsville region. Berley Jerkshads are a favourite of mine when chasing threadies, with light jigheads on the changing tide.

Golden snapper have also been firing with some great captures from the deeper waters and they will become even better in the next month or two as many larger fish wander in off the headlands. Warmer waters

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will mean there should be some good squid showing up for those who like to fish the evening. Neap tides around Haycock Island at night should be good for squid, as well as golden snapper and the odd black jewfish.

It’s also possible to tangle with GT, big queenies

and cobia when fishing the evening hours with live squid.

There has been some reasonable billish action continuing with many boats getting amongst little blacks and some good sailfish around the inner reef entrance. It’s likely for mackerel fishers to

There have been some good-sized barra getting around over the past month.

encounter a few billfish during this time of year.

Many of the gamefishers will be also lining up along the shelf from Cairns to Lizard Island as well as waters off Townsville near Myrmidon Reef for the annual run of giant black marlin, which has made these very waters famous.

October is when most Spanish mackerel head offshore away from the inner islands. They will start their spawning aggregations around the reefs off the Palm Islands. They can also start a spawn on just about any reef in the region. It is very impressive when they start a continuous shower out of the water as part of their spawning rituals. They are easily caught this time of year and trolled gar is one of the most common methods.

Also remember that they have a bag limit of three per angler and steer clear of the real big specimens as some can be riddled with ciguatera and that is one thing I wouldn’t wish upon anyone, well maybe with the exception of some of our pathetic politicians.

October is also the favoured month for many barra fishos and I would

Decent sized king threadfin salmon will be popular in the coming season. expect to see most gutter and drain banks being sprayed by hundreds of lures over the coming month. The barra will need a well- earned break by the end of month.

Try using shallow minnows and soft plastics around dirty water lines too as that can be rather rewarding as sometimes it is possible to hand cast bigger fish.

Most barra fishing is done in shallow water when the waters are warm.

Deep water jigging is more of a winter practise as is deep trolling. You can still troll this time of year but

look to get your lures a lot higher in the water column as that is where the fish are.

Also be aware of bag limits and be sure to release the bigger fish as they are what keep the wheels turning.

Fingers-crossed for a better wet season this year.

• If you would like to come up for a fishing charter contact us at w w w. h o o k e d o n h i n c h i n brook.com. We are now taking bookings for next year’s season and king threadfin salmon on plastics in November and December.

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No matter how you get here, we encourage you to take your time exploring all the natural wonder that Mission Beach has to offer.

Spotlight: Mission Beach that simply invited visitors year round, it is now tourism that is the main driver for Mission Beach, and once you’ve visited once, you’ll be back again and again.

WHAT TO DO Luckily Mission Beach is surrounded by fishy options. Less than an hour in any direction will see you having the chance to tangle with the secretive and elusive jungle perch, the icon of the north, the barramundi or chasing down a billfish or mackerel offshore. It really is an angler’s paradise.

It is the bluewater, reef and barra fishing that really attracts anglers to Mission

Mission Beach has hundreds of other activities. From the fast pace of skydiving with a beach landing to simply sitting and watching the sunrise over Dunk Island, Mission Beach has it all.

Nature-based tourism is at the heart of the area, with the famous Mission Beach Tropical Fruit Safari through to whale watching in season, there is something for everyone.

Need to cool off? No worries as you can visit the freshwater reaches of the beautiful rainforest streams and take a refreshing dip safe in the knowledge that they are crocodile-free.

Hook-up and it’s on. Fishing plastics and jigs on the pinnacles and reefs is very productive.

Beach. In a day you could literally chase barra and jacks in the rivers, head offshore for a spot of mackerel trolling and then head a little wider still for some of the country’s best reef fishing.

Mission Beach is the access hub for all of this activity and with town facilities that have everything an angler and boater could require, it makes sense that Mission Beach should be squarely in the viewfinder for those travelling north.

But it’s not all fishing.

Being a major tourism area,

Want more action? Take on the challenge of white water rafting in the Tully River.

Want to be on the water?

Grab a hire boat, take a charter or simply bring your own.

The list of activities is as long as you want it to be and some activities you may or may not decide to participate in are sea kayaking, jet skiing, scuba diving, snorkelling, hiking, croc spotting or sailing: It’s all there for you.

WHERE TO STAY There are accommodation options to cater to all levels in and around Mission Beach.

If you want to get away from the hustle and bustle you can check into one of the low key Council run parks and plant yourself in front of a million dollar view for less than $20 a night. At the other end of the scale you can also access full resort-style accommodation at affordable prices – again with a million dollar view.

There are bed and breakfasts, caravan parks, en-suite cabins, hotels and motels, self-contained units and holiday houses aplenty.

The recreational opportunities do not just extend to fishing. Local food festivals and tours are not only eye opening but simply mouth watering.

MISSION BEACH El Arish

Not to Scale

Mission Beach

Tully South Mission Dunk Island KEY

If you’re young and ready for fun, there is a place for you to stay. If you’re older and wiser, there’s a place for you to stay. If you’ve got the family in tow, there are places to stay in abundance.

Mission Beach really is set up to cater to the holidaymaker, whatever holiday they want to experience.

GET THERE Mission Beach is one of the places that simply needs to be experienced. And not on a short 2-3 day trip.

Mission Beach deserves at least a week simply so you can unwind and get into the feel of the whole area. Fun, slow, adrenalin pumping, very fishy and filled with exceptional people, Mission Beach is what you want it to be and there simply are not that many places left where that can be said with any confidence.

• I’d like to thank the team at the Mission Beach Wet Tropics Visitor Information Centre for their assistance in putting this Spotlight feature together.

I’d also like to acknowledge the wonderful people at Castaways at Mission Beach (www.castaways. com.au) for the amazing accommodation and Dean and Carla from The Tinnie Shack (www. thetinnieshack.com.au) for their support and drive.

– Stephen Booth, Editor

VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRE

Mission Beach Wet Tropics Visitor Information Centre is located on Porter Promenade, Mission Beach. Off road parking is available.

The centre has a wide range of local and regional information and offers a free booking service for accommodation and tours.

The Visitor Centre is adjacent to the C4 Environment Centre, which has excellent rainforest and cassowary displays.

Opening times are from 9am – 5pm, seven days a week. Contact details are 07 4068 7099, www.missionbeachtourism.com or email, info@ missionbeachtourism.com.

THE PLACE TO STAY AT

MISSION 5 ACCOMMODATION STYLES

Our facilities include: • 4 star rating • Cassowaries visit park • Large pool • Half court tennis • Games room • Basketball • Children’s playground • Electric & gas BBQ • Boat Hire, powered dinghy, body boards • Takaway/BYO restaurant on-site • Stinger resisant swimming enclosure in front of park (for the summer months)

Kennedy Esplanade South Mission

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Boat Ramp Information Centre Cabins Caravan Camping

The view from Castaways Resort. Find me a better way to start the day in the tropics?

Tully Heads

www.dunkislandviewcaravanpark.com info@dunkislandviewcaravanpark.com Phone 07 4068 8248 21-35 Webb Rd, Wongaling Beach Qld 4825 OCTOBER 2013

65

Fishing frenzy begins PORT DOUGLAS

Lynton Heffer www.fishingportdouglas.com.au

It has been one of those winter seasons where we have experienced the highs and lows of fishing in the tropics. We’ve seen some of the most superb weather at times and then this has been followed up by some of the worst you could imagine.

In saying all this we are now entering a period where you would expect the weather to settle, allowing angling opportunities to become more consistent across the board.

We are entering an exciting period where will see all our tropical species on the bite whether it be inshore or offshore, big or small. The big shift in focus in the coming months switches to the arrival black marlin along the edges of the continental shelf on the Great Barrier Reef. Game boats, all shapes and sizes, have arrived in the region for their chance to lure the ultimate sporting fish. Approximately 85% of the world’s 1000lb fish caught are registered along our stretch of the Great Barrier Reef. The last couple of years produced bumper numbers of big fish and we are anticipating

another cracking season ahead.

We will see the running of a couple of prized tournaments including the Lizard Island and the Port Douglas Marlin Challenge tournaments during October and early November.

When combined, these two tournaments cover 11 days of hardcore fishing by some of the most seasoned vessels and crews in the country will determine how the bite is going this year. Leading into the heavy tackle season, the small black marlin season only produced moderate numbers of fish this year but this does not necessarily translate to the bigger models.

Apart from the marlin, in between the big bites there’s plenty of sensational light tackle action to be enjoyed as we start to see the arrival of the yellowfin tuna schools, the wahoo come in along the shelf and the mahi mahi schools will arrive in numbers at some point. A day filled with catching some great light tackle sportfish followed up by trumping a monster black marlin is as good as it gets and thus the reason why anglers from all over the world flock to the region. With the economy on the improve charter vessels are gearing up for a rather busy period ahead.

On the reef the fishing during October should continue along at a steady rate of knots, especially following the first spate of reef closures at the beginning of the month.

If the fish have successfully spawned they can come on the bite in a ravenous way, especially when it comes to the coral trout. Having congregated into the shallower waters they will disperse out into the open grounds with nothing but food on the mind.

Those in the know as to where these congregations occur can find themselves neck deep right in among these fish.

A couple of our other prized species, including the large mouth nannygai and red emperor, should continue to fire particularly in the deeper waters. Not only during the day will these fish be available but also on the turns of the tide at night. These fish have the ability to turn up in massive numbers which equates to hectic times on the deck.

Generally speaking the depth of water you should be fishing is between the 40-60m range across the rubble patches and isolated bommies for your best results. Not only will these fish be busy but you will also have plenty of others to contend with including reef

The big black marlin become a big focus during the months of October and November in FNQ. (Pic supplied by Saltaire Charters) jacks, sweetlip, cobia, Spanish mackerel, spangled emperor, trevally species including bludger, gold spot, golden and tealeaf. If you can combine good weather with a day out to the reef in all of its glory, there’s no better way to spend time in the tropics.

Not only is there plenty of action on the blue water, but our rivers and creeks really heat up and start to produce the goods. Finally the barramundi are out in search of food along the entire river and creek systems. They’ll be partial to live baits such as mullet, herring and sardines and a variety of hardbody and soft plastic lures dragged in front of their nose will get

a reaction. Being nocturnal predators, late afternoon and into the evening is prime time to target these fish but on the turns of the tide during the day you’ll see them spark into action for short periods.

The next month or so is probably the most consistent conditions you can have to chase down a barra before the wet season weather kicks in and can disrupt their mood.

Already the mangrove jacks are in full flight and will be even more aggressive as the days warm up. If you are fishing in among heavy structure, whether it’s with lure or bait, they’ll strike hard and you’ll need to be instantly locked up and on your toes.

There’s plenty of other prime fish to target including golden snapper, as they will be active in the deeper holes and they are best targeted with a juicy live bait dangled in front of their nose on the slowest part of the tide whether it is the top or the bottom of the run.

We’ll have healthy stocks of queenfish and trevally sweeping through our systems on the incoming tides and can be followed right upstream to the deeper bends and holes where they’ll feed until the turn of the tide.

Across the flats in shallow water on the incoming tide our grunter stocks will be busy and a strip of fresh dead bait or even better, fresh live bait will not go unnoticed.

Around the river mouths and along the adjacent beaches blue salmon should be around in numbers and when in the mood will not hesitate to devour a lure or even take the lazy approach and take a well-presented fresh dead bait.

Low light periods will fish best and try to avoid the heat of the midday sun No matter which rod you pick up during October, whether it’s a light spinning rod or you take up the challenge of using a 130lb heavy tackle outfit, you are assured of seeing some great action in October in far north Qld. It is the best all round month to be fishing in the tropics.

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To watch the video, scan this QR Code with your smartphone or log onto http://goo.gl/8ZaVT3

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Maxima has introduced new braided lines called Braid Ultragreen and Braid High Visibility (yellow).

This new braid is manufactured with the latest 8-yarn Round Construction Braiding process. Its sealed and smooth surface is achieved by Maxima’s new Triple Coating Treatment which leads to exceptional castability and outstanding abrasion resistance.

In order to ensure a high-strength connection as well as a sensitive contact to the fish, Maxima’s Braid is pre-stretched and heat fixed.

Price: RRP 300m $80 www.jmgillies.com.au

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The Nano PX range of rods incorporates the proprietary 3M Powelux nano resin technology to produce a range of rods that are at the cutting edge in rod technology.

Designed in Australia for Australian species by renowned rod crafter Ian Miller, the Nano PX series of rods incorporates the very best of everything in this top of the class rod series that will impress even the most fastidious rod buyer.

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Halco Tackle has developed a new topwater lure design.

The Skim Stick 185 is a totally unique and innovative concept for all blue water anglers.

A hybrid lure, the Skim Stick fits somewhere between stick bait and skittering popper. It imitates a long, narrow profiled baitfish fleeing on the surface from any hungry predators in the area.

Intended for long casting and slow trolling applications, the lure frantically skitters across the surface with a steady but simple winding technique. The result is often a phenomenal surface strike from mackerel, wahoo and many trevally species.

The lure features a very distinctive head design and is 185mm long and weighs 75g.

Halco has incorporated its new clear polymer technology with internal holographics and scales in some colours, while other more traditional Halco paint finishes are also available in the range.

For the first time on a Halco lure, premium Japanese Decoy 5/0 inline single hooks come as standard fare to make the handling active fish a far less risky proposition while also giving superior hook setting and holding ability.

The all new Halco Skim Stick is set to make waves wherever it goes, look out for them at all good stockists.

Price: approx. $23 - $25 www.halcotackle.com

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• Mustad Staylok Snap •

This new model torch from global company Fenix is extraordinary. It matches or exceeds the durability and brightness of many heavy-duty torches, and is a fraction of the size.

An incredible 850 lumens of output in the Fenix PD35 makes it the perfect fit for those who want high performance in a compact, lightweight package. This torch has an anti-slip grip and is made of durable, aircraft-grade, abrasion-resistant aluminium.

The PD35 weighs less than 100g and is only 140mm long, so it’s easy to store in your glovebox, in your pants pocket, on your belt or around your neck (a holster and lanyard are included as standard). There are five brightness levels and a strobe mode, which you can select with a simple press of the side switch. The LED has a lifespan of 50,000 hours of continuous use, and there’s a low-voltage warning to remind you to replace the battery.

The Fenix PD35 uses one 18650 rechargeable Li-ion battery or two 3V CR123A lithium batteries (batteries not included).

Price: RRP $99.95 www.g8.com.au

The new Guide Series of Plano bags feature a moulded top which holds one 3700 Series stowaway for quick access to your favourite baits. This top section is secured with elastic tie-down straps.

The bases of these bags are made from waterproof, impact-resistant material. There are side pockets and a mesh pocket on the back for easy access of tackle and equipment.

Each bag comes with a range of stowaways to store all of your lures and tackle items.

Like all models in the Guide Series, the 467310 has been designed to meet the demanding needs of professional fishing guides. The durable materials and construction ensure that these boxes can handle the rigours of daily life on both fresh and saltwater.

Price: RRP from $80-$150 www.jmgillies.com.au

To watch the video, scan this QR Code with your smartphone or log onto http://goo.gl/IpvBTr

To watch the video, scan this QR Code with your smartphone or log onto http://goo.gl/UzHLi4

• Plano 467310-3700 Guide Series •

Some anglers are leery of snaps because they’ve lost a fish to a failed snap, but the Mustad Staylok will never be opened by a fish.

Mustad representatives at the AFTA Tackle Trade Show demonstrated that you can’t just pop this snap open; you have to press in at the side first. This makes it easy for anglers to open (and close) but it’s impossible for a fish to do so.

The Staylok has a nice round end to give your lure the best action possible, which means more fish in your boat.

And you don’t have to worry about ripping up your fingers on these snaps, as you don’t get the protruding wire that you get on traditional snaps.

Released at the same time is the Mustad Fast Snatch Clip, allowing people with arthritis or less dextrous fingers to quickly change lures. A simple twist is all it takes to attach or remove a lure and, like the Staylok snap, it’s designed to give lures the best possible action.

Price: $4.50 - will be available December www.wilsonfishing.com

To watch the video, scan this QR Code with your smartphone or log onto http://goo.gl/D9VQhT QFM

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weedless hook, and the 6” model comes with both a worm hook and a hammerhead-style jighead. The jighead allows the Cherabin to sit with its nose on the bottom and its buoyant tail waving in the current – something that has proven to be irresistible to snapper.

The worm hook lets you use the Cherabin in the snaggiest of waterways. Unique rigging slots in the body shield the hook, making the lure super-snag resistant whilst maintaining great hook-up ability. You can re-rig this lure with a standard jighead or worm hook.

There are currently 11 colours in the range, and you can check them all out at the Wilson Fishing website.

Price: approx. $14-$15 www.wilsonfishing.com

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Nothing in the ocean that doesn’t like eating a prawn. The Zerek Live Cherabin from Wilson Fishing is a lifelike prawn imitation that fish just love.

It has a unique segmented tail held together by Kevlar matting to give durability and a lifelike action, and a unique moving leg action. There’s an in-built rattle chamber for added attraction, and a realistic colour range with lumo eyes.

The 4” Live Cherabin comes pre-rigged with a weighted

To watch the video, scan this QR Code with your smartphone or log onto http://goo.gl/3mxjX1

With technological advancements in gear design and production, drag technology and power and Shimano’s new X-Technology, the Shimano Stella SW sets the benchmark for the top of the line, saltwater reels.

The new Stella 30000 SW is designed to hustle XOS gamefish, right up to brutal dogtooth tuna and marlin.

The 30000’s Power Gear has a 4.4:1 gear ratio, pulling in 131cm of line per handle crank for maximum retrieve speed. The lower gear ratio lets you put the hurt on big, hard-fighting fish, and it’s all topped off with 20kg of drag

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To watch the video, scan this QR Code with your smartphone or log onto http://goo.gl/AK9QFj

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Every competitor in the USA B.A.S.S. tournament elite rounds uses a HydroWave, and now this amazing fish magnet has been customised for Australian fish.

The HydroWave has an underwater speaker that plays pre-recorded sounds of fleeing baitfish and other prey items, as well as sounds of predatory fish feeding. Because these are real recordings, not simulated sounds, they create a peak bite time, attracting predators with the promise of a hearty meal.

The Australian HydroWave comes in both freshwater and saltwater versions, and has a range of different predator and bait sounds to choose from. This allows users to adjust the settings to suit their target and location. Some of the available sounds include: bream surface feeding; slimy mackerel, mullet, jew ‘croaks’, barra ‘boofs’ (both surface and sub-surface), boney bream (including panicked, balled-up boneys being picked off), smelt, freshwater shrimp, redclaw and yabbies (including gravel flicking sounds), and baitfish fleeing.

The HydroWave comes with an easy-to-use head unit and an underwater speaker, and is an excellent tool to add to your fishing arsenal.

Price: RRP $699 www.hydrowaveaustralia.com.au

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blank innovation, design and components with proven reels, delivering ultimate performance yet incredible value for money.

TDS rods use Daiwa’s HVF carbon, resulting in even stronger, leaner, lighter, sharper rod than ever before. They’re finished off with Fuji stainless Hardloy guides, customized Fuji VSS/TCS reel seats, custom manufactured alloy componentry and ultra tough EVA grips.

Built on a solid one-piece aluminium frame, the TDS exhibits incredible strength and lightweight power. The rigid metal framework holds the drive train in place even under the heaviest load.

There are five spin models and two baitcaster models in the range, covering a wide range of applications from flicking lures for bream, whiting and trout, through to muscling in barra, snapper and Murray cod.

To read up on all the specs for each of the seven models, visit the Daiwa Australia website.

Price: SRP $299 www.daiwafishing.com.au

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and a line capacity of 600m of 80lb braid.

Other features include a cold-forged main gear and stainless steel pinion, Propulsion Line Management system (to combat line twist and wind knots), Propulsion Spool Lip with anti-scratch coating, ultra-tough SR One-Piece Bail system, SR Arm Cam, redesigned Bail Trip and Power Roller IV with over-flange, a water-resistant body, hyper disk drag, Assist Stopper, Fluidrive II, DynaBalance and aluminium frame, rotor and sideplate.

Shimano recommends pairing this reel to an Ocea Rod for the ultimate combo.

Price: RRP $1399 www.shimanofish.com.au

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TDS is the perfect enthusiast combo, pairing high-end

• Aeris F11 Freediving watch • This brand new watch from respected brand Aeris is an upgrade of the popular F10 watch.

The F11 provides spearfishers with up to 10 visual LED alerts and different alarms which you can customise. These include depth, elapsed dive times, surface recovery times (so you know how long you need to spend on the surface before you can safely descend again). The depth range is an impressive 150m, giving you the confidence of knowing this watch will never buckle under pressure.

There are also logging and history modes so you can know where and how you were spearing, and you can download any or all of this information to your PC. This super-durable diving tool is protected with a stainless steel housing and is backed by a 5-year warranty with unlimited dives. For more information on the F11 watch, or to view a range of other spearfishing and watersports gear, visit the Oceanic Australia website.

Price: RRP $749.95 www.oceanicaus.com.au To watch the video, scan this QR Code with your smartphone or log onto http://goo.gl/JnDqXE

WHATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NEW CRANKA CRAB FINALLY HERE

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been waiting a long time for the award-winning Cranka Crab to hit Aussie VKRUHV DQG QRZ LW KDV Ă&#x20AC;QDOO\ DUULYHG ,WV action underwater is so lifelike, it has to be VHHQ WR EH EHOLHYHG VHH WKH YLGHR OLQN EHORZ

The Cranka Crab has been designed with tournament bream anglers in mind, and those pros lucky enough to fish with prototypes have been rewarded with great results.

The level of detail and features are testament to the Crabâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nine years in development.

It features floating claws, through-wire construction, Decoy trebles, interchangeable weighted tungsten base plates (4.4g or 6.6g), interchangeable legs and claws (five different colour options), and internal scent and rattle chambers. This level of customisation means the lure can tempt the fussiest of bream.

It comes in eight patterns which replicate different Australian crab species. No matter where you live, there is a Cranka Crab to replicate your local crab.

Price: Too new!

YouTube video: http://goo.gl/Kh4Z3M www.crankalures.com

NEW GARY HOWARD G-FORCE MODELS

* )RUFH URGV DUH DQ H[FOXVLYH UDQJH RI KLJK SHUIRUPDQFH VSRUWĂ&#x20AC;VKLQJ URGV FXVWRP GHVLJQHG E\ PDVWHU $XVWUDOLDQ URG EXLOGHU *DU\ +RZDUG The unique strong-yet-lightweight construction is achieved by infusing, under high pressure, a blend of durable E Glass with graphite cloth. This creates incredible power in the butt section while the tip section retains sensitivity.

For a long time the mainstay of snapper bait anglers has been the 7ft range, and now Gary has refined it with three key models: 8-15kg, 15-24kg and 24kg to cover 99% of offshore applications. He has changed the action slightly to reflect the increasing use of braid, giving the rods a softer tip thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a bit more forgiving so you wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pull the hooks.

The 7ft spin range is great for reefies like snapper, and pelagics like tuna and mackerel.

However, many customers wanted a shorter version so Gary has released a 6ft rod thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ideal for jigging or trolling for pelagics.

These rods have polished stainless guides that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t corrode, and the overhead models

FROM AROUND THE TRAPS

have high quality, super secure reel seats so you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get any side-to-side rocking while you wind. The grips have also been designed to be very comfortable, so you can fish with them all day.

Price: from $229 YouTube video: http://goo.gl/ZdQaZr Jarviswalkerfishing.com.au

DUO ROUGHTRAIL AMASOA

OKUMA RTX PRO

DUO lures have attracted a strong following DURXQG $XVWUDOLD ZKHWKHU LW EH EDUUD Ă&#x20AC;VKLQJ LQ WKH QRUWK WR WKH Ă&#x20AC;QHVVH Ă&#x20AC;VKLQJ DORQJ WKH HDVW FRDVW DQG WKH WXQD VFHQH RIIVKRUH One of the latest models from this Japanese company is the RoughTrail Amasoa. These 148mm, 50g (including hooks) diving pencil baits are vastly different from your everyday run-of-the-mill stickbaits in that they have been specifically designed for kingfish. With a little rod action these lures dive under the surface, swim in a neat little â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Sâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; shape, and pop back up to the surface. This is the moment when the fish strike, so be sure to pause and hang on!

Of course, the Amasoa is very effective on a range of other species â&#x20AC;&#x201C; pretty much any pelagic hoodlum that eats pilchards will love this lure. Keep an eye out for a bigger 188mm version of this lure, scheduled for release in the coming months.

Price: approx. $40 YouTube video: http://goo.gl/2ZP0pW www.swldistributions.com.au

7KH 2NXPD 57; 3UR ERDVWV DQ H[WUHPHO\ OLJKWZHLJKW & ; FDUERQ frame, sideplate and rotor, resulting LQ D UHHO WKDW ZHLJKV OHVV EXW LV WZLFH as strong as traditional graphite reels in LWV FODVV Inside it has a very strong and

REIDYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S HELLRAISER 5HLG\¡V QHZ +HOOUDLVHU LV WKH ODWHVW PHPEHU RI WKH /LWWOH /XFLIHU IDPLO\ â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Little Lucifer has been very popular, but weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve always been asked for a shallow diver,â&#x20AC;? said Reidyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s co-owner Colin Burdon. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is it!â&#x20AC;?

The Little Lucifer has always been a strong lure to stand up to the punishment dished out by jacks and barra, and the Hellraiser is no different. This floating lure comes with 3X VMC trebles, or you can go for heavier hooks to make it suspend.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ideal for fishing sand flats, mud flats and mangrove areas for all sorts of species, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also affordable so you can fish it around snags without hesitation.

This new lure is just about ready to hit tackle stores, so keep an eye out for it in the coming weeks.

Price: SRP $14 YouTube video: http://goo.gl/nCL08q www.reidyslures.com

PENN CONFLICT

Designed for inshore anglers looking for topOLQH SHUIRUPDQFH 3HQQ¡V &RQà LFW 6SLQQLQJ Reel delivers a lightweight and smooth FDVWLQJ UHHO FDSDEOH RI ELJ GUDJ SUHVVXUH ² XS WR NJ It has a Full Metal Body, and the 1000-4000 models use a high-strength graphite rotor, while the 5000-8000 versions use an aluminium rotor.

All rotor designs are Techno-Balanced for a smooth and balanced retrieve.

Other features include: 7 +1 SSBB; HT-100 Versa-Drag carbon fibre drag washers for multiple drag settings; heavy-duty aluminium bail wire; and Line Capacity Rings on the spool, letting you see how much line is left on the spool while youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re fighting a fish.

There are six models in the range, and you can view all the specs at the Penn website.

Price: from RRP $199.95 YouTube video: http://goo.gl/rbYstj www.pennfishing.com.au

ZMAN 2â&#x20AC;?

GRUBZ

:KHQ WKH =0DQ Âľ *UXE= EHFDPH DYDLODEOH LQ $XVWUDOLD LW H[SORGHG LQ SRSXODULW\ ² winning bream and bass tournaments, TXLFNO\ DFFRXQWLQJ IRU VSHFLHV IURP WURXW WR WUHYDOO\ ZLWK LWV ; WRXJK EORZLH UHVLVWDQW (OD=WHFK FRQVWUXFWLRQ Now, after numerous angler requests, Tackle Tactics has worked closely with ZMan US to design a smaller, more finesse version of the GrubZ, the 2â&#x20AC;? GrubZ. This smaller, narrower curl-tail is a deadly presentation when the bite is tough, the fish finicky and the bait tiny. Its buoyant, so its tail wafts back and forth when the head is resting on the bottom, and its tough yet supple construction means more fish per lure.

As well as taking up residence in the bream tournament anglerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s box, this little curl-tail will also be deadly on trout, redfin, bass, yellowbelly, saratoga and a multitude of other species that feed on small insects, baitfish and crustaceans.

The 2â&#x20AC;? GrubZ is currently available in 10 colours, including motor oil, bloodworm and watermelon red. TTs recommends rigging it on a HeadlockZ jighead to keep it locked on tight.

Price: SRP $8.95 for a pack of 10 YouTube video: http://goo.gl/2BSLvk www.z-man.com.au

smooth multi-disc, Japanese oiled felt drag system; Hydro Block watertight drag seal; and seven stainless steel ball bearings plus a quick-set anti-reverse roller bearing.

Other features include: ALG Precision AlumiLite alloy main gear and oscillating gears; durable one-piece aluminium bail wire, machined aluminium two-tone anodized spool; Precision Elliptical Gearing system; and a lightweight EVA handle knob.

Like all Okuma reels, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s backed by a Lifetime Guarantee.

Price: approx. $200-$250 YouTube video: http://goo.gl/6R5tAO www.okuma.com.au

BERKLEY SQUIDDO

'HVLJQHG LQ $XVWUDOLD E\ 0DWW )UDVHU WKH unique Squiddo jig combines slow movement with scent and action with the addition of VRIW EDLWV Fish-attracting features include the pulsing silicone skirts, lifelike 3D eye and finishes complete with UV accents for extra appeal in deepwater. The Squiddo head is shaped to mimic a squid, and the torpedo shape also improves sink rate for deepwater applications. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The unique Owner Centring-Pin Spring allows the addition of scent and flavour via soft bait additions,â&#x20AC;? Matt Fraser explained. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To attach a Gulp or PowerBait, simply screw the plastic onto the Centering Pin Spring. This adds scent and flavour to provide the best in slow jig technology.â&#x20AC;?

There are currently three models in the series: 28g, 57g and 113g. Colours include proven favourites such as nuclear chicken, blue pepper neon, orange tiger and pink shine, which you can mix and match with your favourite soft bait colours.

Price: SRP $16 YouTube video: http://goo.gl/dx7WIF Berkley-fishing.com.au

Please send contributions to: The Editor, Fishing Monthly Group PO BOX 3172 LOGANHOLME, QLD. 4129 QFM

OCTOBER 2013

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THINGS YOU DON’T WANT TO CATCH

BIRD

PUFFER FISH

BOOT

ROCK

BOTTLE

SEAWEED

COLD

SHELL

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STARFISH

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OLDRIG

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PLASTIC BAG

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LAST MONTH’S SOLUTION

FIND-A-WORD COMPETITION WINNER Congratulations to Alan Kewley of Morningside, who was last month’s winner of the Hawk Tournament Find-a-Word Competition!

Monthly winners receive Hawk Tournament Tested Bayer Perlon IGFA line, assorted Panther Martin lures, Youvella hooks and a keyring. Prize delivery can take 8 weeks. – QFM

FINS SCALES & TALES

HAWK FISHING

FIND-A-WORD COMP

by A. Both

The first correct entry at the end of each month will win a Hawk Fishing cap, Hawk Fishing line, Hawk HB Lure, assorted Panther Martin lures and 3 packets of Youvella chemically sharpened hooks.

SEND ENTRIES TO: Hawk Tournament Competition PO box 3172, Loganholme Qld 4129 Name Address

BARRA COUNTRY

by Brett Currie P/Code Phone (day):

Find the Marukyu Isome Boy

BITE ME

by Trisha Mason

G&N

by Michael Hardy

The Find the Marukyu Isome Boy answers for February to July 2013 were, February: 20, 24, 28, 30, 34, 36, 40, 46, 50, 69, 74, 84, 90, 93, 96, 97.

March: 12, 14, 20, 28, 40, 49, 58, 78, 106, 108, 112.

April: 10, 16, 24, 25, 40, 54,

64, 71, 83, 91.

May: 10, 14, 18, 20, 26, 34, 42, 53, 64, 77, 87, 92, 100, 103, 107.

June: 10, 16, 18, 28, 32, 43, 50, 53, 62, 63, 70, 77, 85, 96, 101.

July: 11, 14, 18, 22, 25, 31, 38, 46, 48, 59, 65, 69, 77, 96, 98. – QFM

SUBSCRIBER PRIZE The subscriber prize winner for August was J Freak of Gladstone, who won a MajorCraft package and Atomic lures valued at $199.

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QFM

All subscribers are entered in the monthly subscriber prize draws.

Prize delivery takes up to 8 weeks.

– QFM

Johnny be good, please?

BRISBANE

The Sheik

I have four brothers, all of whom love to fish when they get the chance. None are perhaps as keen, or for that matter as hopeless, as Stuffer and I but given the chance we all look forward to chucking a lure or drowning a worm/yabby/ shrimp/whatever can be found under a nearby log.

But one of us makes up for Stuffer and I being absolute Dudds. For the sake of anonymity, let’s call him John. Now where Stuffer and I would spend on average about 12 working days (and that’s normal working days, not public service working days) getting one strike on one lure across roughly 99% of the workable surface area of Lake Awoonga, John will wander in and hook up to a metre-plus silver assassin within 15 minutes. Then lose it. But pick it up when the landing net falls overboard just as he’s trying to balance

himself after losing the fish and the net happens to tangle itself in the lure that’s still hanging off the end of the barra he’s just lost. And got again.

If it was restricted to barra, that would be almost acceptable. Almost. But the bugger can go anywhere and manage to pick up a trophy.

Wanders over to Somerset a couple of weeks ago and manages to hook up to a 3.6kg bass. Yes, 3.6kg – I haven’t pulled up an anchor that heavy!

Stuffer and I, along with Boobs, have spent many long hours chucking shite at various logs, weed beds, other competitors and passing pelicans. Except that one time, at Boondoomba.

We put some shrimp traps out early (back in the days when we were keen and still thought we’d catch fish).

Boobs tore out of the camp half an hour later for some unknown reason to fish on his own. When we checked the traps there were no shrimp in the traps at all.

“No shrimps Boobs?”

“Didn’t check ‘em,” he called back.

“Mustn’t be any around, hey?” Yeah right. So while we threw more lures than someone who threw a lot of lures, Boobs fished on his own and picked up about half a dozen little bass. Of course he neglected to tell us that he’d checked the traps and kept the shrimp. Not that I remember that occasion and hold a grudge at all about that…

But as I say, John has this knack of picking up trophy fish wherever he travels. He’ll get good yellas out of the Moonie when it’s so dirty it’s got a skin on top like a month old custard. He’ll go out onto the reef with someone just for the day from Mooloolabah and hook up a legal red with a piece of shoe as bait. And everyone knows that the last person to catch a legal red on Murphy’s or the Inner, Outer or Middle Gneerings was using string fishing line, a kero lantern and Manly players were all locals.

Meanwhile Stuffer and I will have put in days getting smashed up at Turkey, stranded at Baffle, snagged at Monduran and completely bored witless at Boondoomba (there are no shrimps there apparently, or bass), and Johnno will wander into an email discussion about the best return available for used fishing equipment and

mention he’s just landed a jack, golden snapper, blue salmon, threadie, red, trout… at which point Stuffer’s replies become conspicuously absent.

I think.

I’m not following the discussion at this point. I’m too busy stabbing myself in the thigh with a pencil to notice. I mean, where’s the fairness? Why not us?

Surely, if there was any justice in the world Stuffer and I would be the ones getting the fish because let’s face it, we’re the master fishermen not him. Right?

Right? Hey, don’t just sit there looking at me! Give me an honest answer. No, wait, forget honest, just give me an answer. There’s some used fishing gear in it for you...

Saucing up your seafood basket CITRUS SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE ••••••••••••••••••••

BRISBANE

Lynn Bain

1/2 cup vegetable stock 1/2 cup orange juice 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar 4tbsp tomato sauce 4tbsp brown sugar 2tbsp soy sauce 1tsp chilli paste 1 clove garlic, crushed

Adding dipping sauces to seafood will add extra dimensions of texture and flavour to your meal. A variety of seafood on a platter (or basket) and multiple sauce options will always look impressive.

CITRUS SAUCE •••••••••••••••••••• This is a simple to prepare sauce that has a great burst of flavour.

To make the sauce, place all of the ingredients in a non-metallic bowl and whisk vigorously to combine.

Refrigerate for at least an hour before use to allow the flavours to blend.

GINGER DIPPING SAUCE •••••••••••••••••••• This sauce can be made several hours before use.

Please keep the sauce at room temperature for serving.

1 cup orange juice 1/4 cup sugar 1 star anise Good pinch of chilli flakes Simmer the orange juice and sugar until reduced and slightly syrupy. Add the star anise and chilli flakes to the sauce and stir well to combine. Excellent with fish or drizzled onto freshly shucked oysters.

PEANUT LIME DIPPING SAUCE •••••••••••••••••••• This sauce has a touch of satay about it. This is a great dipping sauce for fresh prawns, crumbed prawns, crumbed strips of fish and/or grilled calamari.

1/3 cup crunchy peanut paste 3tbsp hoisin sauce 3tbsp white wine or stock 1tbsp soy sauce 2tbsp fresh lime juice

Lime zest 1 small red chilli, finely chopped (or 1tbsp) chilli jam To make this dipping sauce, mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Allow them to stand for an hour to let the flavours blend. This sauce will thicken while standing so you may need to thin a little with wine or stock before serving.

CORIANDER AND LEMONGRASS SAUCE •••••••••••••••••••• This sauce is best served either hot or at room

temperature.

100g coriander leaves 2 golden shallots, peeled and finely diced 1 lemongrass stalk, split in half lengthways 1 small tin coconut cream 50g butter, chilled and cut into small cubes Freshly ground salt and pepper Coriander leaves, for garnish Place the coriander leaves, stalks and roots as well as the golden shallot, lemongrass stalk and coconut cream into a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer

and continue to simmer for 10 minutes. Take care not to boil the sauce or it may split. At the completion of the cooking time, remove the lemongrass from the saucepan and discard.

Transfer the contents of the saucepan to a blender and blitz until smooth. Sieve the contents of the blender into a clean saucepan. Bring to a simmer and add the butter, a cube at a time, whisking continuously as you add the butter. Season to taste.

Add the extra coriander leaves to the sauce, stir well and pour the sauce into a serving dish.

2cm piece fresh ginger, peeled 1/2 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup Chinese cooking wine (or white wine) 1/4 cup Chinese black vinegar (or rice wine vinegar) 1tbsp honey To make the sauce, grate the ginger into a small pile onto a very clean tea towel (or cheesecloth). Gather the corners of the tea towel up in your hands and squeeze the ginger flesh over a bowl to extract all of the juice.

Discard the ginger pulp.

In a small saucepan,

bring the soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, vinegar and honey to the boil. Continue to boil for about a minute.

Remove the pan from the heat and allow the contents to cool completely. Now add the ginger juice to the pan and stir. Pour the sauce into a serving bowl and cover until ready to use.

BEER SAUCE •••••••••••••••••••• 2 golden shallots, peeled and sliced very finely 1tsp cracked black pepper 300ml pale beer 200ml thickened cream 1tbsp flat leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped In a saucepan, place the shallots, cracked black pepper and beer. Bring to the boil and continue to cook until the liquid in the saucepan has reduced by two-thirds. Add the cream to the contents of the saucepan, reduce the heat to a simmer, and continue to cook for a further five minutes.

You want the consistency of the sauce to be such that it will lightly coat the back of a spoon.

If the sauce is too thin, continue to heat in order to reduce it down, until the desired consistency is reached.

Sieve the sauce through a fine meshed sieve into a serving bowl and then gently stir in the finely chopped parsleyflakes.

QFM

OCTOBER 2013

85

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