14 JANUARY, 2015
MONTHLY
VOLUME 6.
H
appy New Year and welcome to the first
addition of JTSM for 2015. I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas with friends and family. The crew at Jones’s Tackle wish to extend a happy, healthy and prosperous 2015 to all our readers. Our regular contributors Pete, Paul and Jack are all
CLICK TO WATCH
enjoying a well-earned break and fingers crossed getting stuck into a few fish. This month’s movie honours go out to the crew at I’m very sad to report that a true legend of the
On the Fly Productions for their multi award
Australian fishing community Mr John Dunphy
winning Once in a Blue Moon. I believe this fine
lost his fight to liver cancer earlier this week. Many
example of cinematography put Australian and
of you may not be familiar with the name but John
New Zealand Sportfishing productions on the
Dunphy founded a distribution company called
world map. Exquisite camera work and a fantastic
Dunphy Sports in the early nineteen eighties. Until
insight to a world class brown trout fishery.
2008 Dunphy Sports were the sole distributors of Shimano Fishing Gear throughout Australia and New Zealand. John was a good friend and supporter of Jones’s Fishing Tackle and will be sorely missed throughout the Australian and New Zealand fishing scenes. Our thoughts go out to the Dunphy family and their friends. We would like to stray from our usual JTSM layout and include over the page a piece from Shimano Australia. cont’d
It is with great sadness we advise the passing today of
Dunphy Sports/Fishing Imports. John remained with
John Dunphy.
the company in an advisory capacity until 2011.
John had been fighting a long battle with liver cancer
After a lifetime of giving & supporting the fishing
throughout 2014. John passed away in Osaka, Japan
industry, Shimano was always in his heart & mind to
where he had been undergoing treatment for the past
the end and the Shimano family and company have
month, accompanied by his family.
been supporting John and the Dunphy family in
John founded Dunphy Sports/Fishing Imports in
Osaka.
1981 and a short time later secured the distribution rights for Shimano in Australia & New Zealand.
John has left a legacy of enriching the recreational
Over 30 years John & his team including several
fishing and general community for all Australians &
family members built Shimano from a relatively
not only for our generation but future generations. It
obscure name to be market leader in fishing in
is a legacy John and his family can be very proud of &
Australia & the Oceania region.
one which we are sure you will be able to reflect upon.
John was highly respected not only within the fishing
To John’s family including several employed within
industry at large for his extensive knowledge &
Team Shimano we extend our sincere condolences at
foresight but also within the global Shimano
this very sad time. We are not aware of arrangements
community
for a service for John at this time however we will
&
in
an
advisory
capacity
with
government fisheries departments. He was a strong
update further in due course.
advocate for ensuring the Australian passion of fishing is sustainable for future generations & was heavily involved in such measures as fish restocking programs.
Yours Sincerely,
In that regard he was often mentioned as a visionary
Colin Tannahill & Lindsay Secombe
& creator. In 2008 Shimano Japan acquired 100% ownership of
CLICK TO WATCH
Good mate and JTSM reader Jamie bacon with a stunningly marked brown trout whilst on holidays in Tassie. An absolute trophy fish, fantastic capture mate!
INSHORE FISHING REPORT Much needed rain throughout the southeast over the past few weeks has not only done wonders for our lawns but also our inshore fishery. The precipitation has aided in not only encouraging the bait towards the surface, it has forced the jelly fish and slimy (snot) weed out of the estuaries.
throughout the Bribie Passage and on the expanse of skinny water at the mouth of both the Pine River and Hayes Inlet systems. Regular captures well over 40 centimetres make for a good fighting and great eating quarry. Any surface popper or walk the dog lure between 40-60mm in length and preferably in a translucent colour should produce results. The new Storm Gomoku Popper and Lucky Craft Sammy 55 (pictured overeaf ) are perfect for your next assault on flats whiting.
Exceptional whiting have been targeted on the flats
cont’d
Excellent reports of flathead have come through
have been told amongst tackle shop walls this
over the Christmas break with larger specimens
season; I believe a whopping 71cm is the mark to
being caught in the deeper channels. Both the
beat this year.
Southport Seaway and Jumpinpin Bar have been popular locations to chase oversized female lizards on larger profiled sinking vibes. Popular lures are the River 2 Sea Fish Candy or FLT Transams. Focus your interests on the last hour of the making tide and the second and third hours of the run out tide. This is also one of the preferred techniques for chasing both threadfin salmon and jewfish. Whilst the threadfin have been quiet over the holiday break there have been good consistent captures of jewfish throughout southern Moreton Bay and the Brisbane River mouth. Along with soft vibes, jewfish are a sucker for a well presented Micro Jig, definitely a must have in your tackle box. Mangrove jack should be in full flight throughout our local rivers this month. It’s not uncommon for these brutes to go a little quiet in late December however the full moon in January typically sees them fire up again. Some entertaining encounters
A quality 49cm Noosa River mangrove jack subdued on very light tackle at the hands of Jones’s Tackle regular Nathan Weil
MORETON BAY FISHING REPORT January is traditionally an excellent calendar month to be fishing in the greater Moreton Bay area. Surface water temperatures have increased, coupled with our recent rainfall has baitfish a plenty throughout the bay. History shows the first month of the year to mark the arrival of our spotted and spanish mackerel season. While surface feeding schools have been inconsistent over the past fortnight, promising reports from both Wide
Lyn Baxter with a better than average kingy caught on an Ima Gun jig from the northern bay.
Bay and Sunshine Coast have these toothy critters making their way towards us. Moreton Bay is
The northern bay is still offering opportunities to
currently experiencing a nice run of bonito and
tangle with both cobia and yellowtail kingfish.
juvenile mack tuna providing light tackle anglers a
Popular locations are around the shipping channel
good taste for what’s to come.
beacons and the exposed coffee rock on the channel edges. Whilst live bait fisherman do have a slight
Southern Moreton Bay islands have reasonable
advantage, both of these species have been
numbers of squire throughout the coral fringing
responding well to light jigs and larger shad style
reefs, with the odd 60cm snapper for the persistent
soft plastics. This season, local sportfisho’s have
soft plastic enthusiast. Both grassy and spangled
won encounters with cobia reaching well north of
emperors are now frequenting the southern bay
the 20kg mark. Mack tuna have been progressing
reefs and weed beds in approximately 4-8meters of
down the coastline and are due to arrive with the
water. Emperor species have a distinct liking for
spotted mackerel any day now. Whilst many turn
curl tail soft plastics around the 4” mark along with
their nose up at mack tuna, I can certainly recall
Atomic Prongs and other prawn imitations. The
many afternoon summertime sessions when they
curl tail and creature style baits offer a great
have saved the day. Mack tuna are a great sportfish
swimming action when sinking and this is the time
and a sensational target for youngsters to develop
to pay close attention to your line between the rod
correct rod skills.
tip and water’s surface. A sudden acceleration whilst your plastic is sinking signifies a fish eating on the drop. Snapper, grassy and spangled emperors in the larger size range love eating plastics on the first drop after making a cast. Long casts away from the boat (especially when on top of the reef flats) and lightly weighted jig heads on strong hooks provide for great light tackle encounters.
Local lads Johno and Glen got in on the action over the Christmas break. A fine example of a SEQ light tackle black marlin.
OFFSHORE SEQ FISHING REPORT
Juvenile blacks are progressing nicely down the coastline and reports from both Mooloolaba and Wide Caloundra last week were almost as good as it gets. Two boats in these locations recorded over 50
Mahi mahi (so nice they named him twice!).
billfish tagged and released in a single days fishing,
Offshore SEQ has had quite possibly the best run
sensational! Wahoo are also starting to frequent the
of quality mahi mahi I can remember over the past
inshore grounds with reports, from our charter
decade. These guys do it all, jump, pull hard, attack
friends, of good schooling sized fish. January is a
lures with vigour and when cooked correctly taste
prime time for all three of these species. With the
sensational. All the usual light tackle locations
abundance of bait offshore at the moment they
north of Cape Moreton, the 18 and 24 fathom lines
should hang around, fingers crossed. Whilst deep
on the Gold Coast and the grounds east of South
baiting techniques in specific locations can often
Passage Bar have produced over the past few weeks.
provide the biggest captures of billfish, skirted
Mooloolaba and the Gold Coast currently have the
lures are accounting for plenty themselves.
measure with both locations offering up sensational blue water trolling. cont’d
Pete Cherrett (Waspy) with a stunning Hervey Bay baby black marlin. Great in water shot!! Glen and Dale with Billfish number two for the session, both fish were taken on well presented baits. Great job fellas, keep them coming in 2015.
Anglers are favouring the smaller models of skirts
Tempest have extensions of weed beds that run to
this year, with both Black Bart and Fat Boys being
the north. The better quality spangled and grassy
the most popular on our store walls. If you’re new
emperor, historically, come from these weed
to billfish trolling and don’t know where to start,
covered areas. All the shallow reef systems, out to
please drop in and say G’day as we are only too
the 60m line, can provide some of SEQ’s best light
happy to try and connect you to your first marlin.
or slow jigging throughout January and February.
The flick of a switch can see these speedsters
In these months the quality amberjack and kingfish
disappear for another year. So when conditions and
often move into the shallows enabling anglers to
time permit, dust off the trolling gear and head out
have an amazing variety of species without having
for an oceanic meander (troll).
to venture too far.
Whilst our bottom fish have taken a back seat to the frantic pelagic bite we are experiencing, the shallower grounds are fishing consistently, as predicted. Snapper, tuskfish, grassy emperor and spangled emperor are all responding well to a light jig or a well drifted soft plastic. The stand out locations this month have been around the Sevens reef off South Passage Bar, the Southern 29’s reef and Shallow Tempest. Focus efforts not only on the hard reef structure because locations like Shallow
LURE OF THE MONTH Ima Lures fabulous Gun range of jigs have been at the top our favourite micro jig list for over half a decade now, so they’re not exactly new, but they have just released some great limited edition colours to spice up any jig roll. Available now in 12 – 20 – 30 and 40 gram sizes.
TIL NEXT TIME Well readers we have reached one of those very rare moments in time where I have no more stories to tell. We encourage you to please send through some of your favourite captures from 2014; and sincerely appreciate the feedback you have given throughout the year. For any issues you would like to see covered or any questions you may
have,
be
sure
to
drop
us
a
line
at
jtsm@jonestackle.com.au or pop into the store and say G’day. From all the crew and fellow writers here at Jones’s Tackle we hope 2015 is a fishy kind of year. Until next month get out and enjoy the outdoors and be safe on the water. Hooroo.
Editor of JTSM
Speechless…Timing is everything.
SATURDAY 17TH JANUARY (9:00AM - 4PM) & SUNDAY 18TH JANUARY
JONES’S
TACKLE P: (07) 3350 2054 F: (07) 3350 2091
692 GYMPIE RD, CHERMSIDE 4032 www.jonestackle.com.au
jtackle@bigpond.com