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How to catch beach whiting
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Tactics for jack
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Page 4 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
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From the Bush ‘n Beach Fishing Editor
N
EW year and new fishing gear! Well, hopefully that’s what was under the Christmas tree for you or your family. Though at times it has been a little hard to get certain fishing gear, which has highlighted how reliant we are on China. I am sure this is already happening in numerous businesses and across many sectors, but we should be reviewing how dependent we are on one country. As we have seen firsthand, it can impact our economy and our way of life. There is sure to be more to unfold on this, given our current situation. Though I’m hopeful as we progress through 2021, things will start to return to ‘normal’, whatever that is. Snapper closure I recently went to a workshop in Wynnum where recreational fishers discussed ideas on how to take the focus off snapper during the closed season and change ingrained habits.
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Given snapper are an iconic fish here in Queensland, the task is a little harder than you might imagine, but it is good to get ideas shared and discussions happening. The workshop looked at other fish that could be targeted and caught during the snapper closure and ways to promote these alternate species. A mix of ideas came up, including the possibility of running a fishing competition during that time pursuing other fish, such as winter whiting, threadfin or jewfish. As part of the competition, there would be a campaign to teach people how to catch the selected species – taking a wholistic approach and getting the tackle shops, relevant Facebook pages and fishing magazines to provide information and tips on how to catch these specific fish. There are still plenty of details to work out and I’m not sure if it will come to fruition, but I think it has merit.
While not quite addressing the aim of moving the focus off snapper, one key suggestion raised by several people was the addition of more structure in Moreton Bay and offshore. Currently good work is happening with Ozfish and their shell reefs, with initial results proving very positive. Though I do still feel there is a need for bigger pieces of structure or artificial reefs in the bay and offshore. Particularly with the current influx of people from down south, who are coming here to enjoy our beautiful state and all it has to offer, including fishing. This combined with existing green zones means there is a more concentrated fishing effort in the same sized area. I’m not asking to remove green zones but instead add more reefs so we are actually increasing the number of areas fish can breed and live. It seems so simple – I am not sure why more of this is not happening. Fishing The recent hot weather has got several summer species on the move. Mangrove jack in particular have definitely started to fire. I’m not an expert on catching these fish, but I did manage to land a couple the other night when fishing with Warric Johnston, who is on the cover of this edition.
Initially hooking and then landing these brutes is definitely an artform, especially when you are fishing around serious structure. Despite an increased fishing focus over the past few years, it has
been good to see a lot of people releasing these fish, which is what we did the other night. As someone before me has said, these fish are way too much fun to only catch once. Ben Collins
OUR COVER
WARRIC JOHNSTON shows off a quality Gold Coast mangrove jack. For tips on catching this great summer species, flip to Page 12.
NEXT EDITION: February edition will be on sale in newsagents from January 29. JANUARY SUBSCRIPTION PRIZE: See subscription form on Page 97 to go in the draw to win one of three Okuma Avenger 3000 spinning reel and BNB cap packs valued at $85 RRP. NOVEMBER PRIZEWINNER: Congratulations to Chris Bull, Whiteside; Chris Pryce, Westbrook; Jon Kinman, Warner; Kevin Armstrong, Tin Can Bay; William Anderson, Thornside; Andy Hyker, Thornlands; and Craig McKenna, The Gap who have each won a How to Use an Echo Sounder/Fish Finder book valued at $50RRP.
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 5
January 2021 contents Tips for flathead and squire. . . . . . . . . . . . . by Sean Conlon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P8 How to handle the heat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Keith Stratford . . . . . . . . . . . . P12 Shallow water snapper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Brian Webb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P16 Kids fishing in Moreton Bay. . . . . . . . . . . . . by Mark Templeton . . . . . . . . . . P20 Alvey Beach Fishing Competition. . . . . . . . by Mick Clutterbuck . . . . . . . . . . P24 Primed for jack and pelagics. . . . . . . . . . . . by Heath Zygnerski . . . . . . . . . . P28 Escaping the crowd over Christmas. . . . . by Clint Ansell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P30 Low tide beach whiting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Sean Thompson . . . . . . . . . . P34 Tide Times. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .P38 Topwater fishing tactics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Brad Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P40 Flat out fishing for flathead . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Brett Hyde . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P42 Open borders bring town back to life. . . . by Gavin Dobson . . . . . . . . . . . . . P44 Headland action heats up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Tye Porter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P46 Cruise Craft Tannum Sands sortie. . . . . . . by Brent Ferguson . . . . . . . . . . . P48 Fishing plastics around structure. . . . . . . . by Justin Willmer . . . . . . . . . . . . P52 Crabbing after Christmas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Craig Tomkinson . . . . . . . . . . P54 Holiday action on the Sunshine Coast . . . by Grant Budd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P56 Readers’ Forum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .P58 Tin Can Bay attracts a mix of species. . . . by Chris Rippon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P60 Basking in bait ball action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Tri Ton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P62 Recipe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Melissa Frohloff . . . . . . . . . . . P64 Burnett grunter and flathead. . . . . . . . . . . . by Brad Young . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P65 Adjusting for water temperature. . . . . . . . by Gary Churchward . . . . . . . . . P66 Cash in on new year resolutions . . . . . . . . by John Boon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .P68 Fishing Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .P69 Weipa Fishing Classic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Dave Donald . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P70 1770 BNB Trophy wrap-up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Mick Clutterbuck . . . . . . . . . . P72 Product News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .P73 Fitzroy River Barra Bash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .P74 Boating & Marine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .P76 Insights into boat insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .P77 Charter Directory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .P79 Isuzu D-Max review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Ben Collins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P82 Stressfree airbag system. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Paul ‘Chief’ Graveson . . . . . . P84 Full swing on the South Burnett. . . . . . . . . by Matt Langford . . . . . . . . . . . . P86 New year, exciting new lures. . . . . . . . . . . by Neil Schultz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P88 Glenlyon golden perch update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .P90 Glenlyon Murray cod update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .P91 Lake Borumba bass update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .P92 Lake Boondooma bass update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .P93 Glenlyon Dam – That’s 2020. . . . . . . . . . . . . by Brian Dare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P94 Trading Post. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .P96 Subscription Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .P97 Page 6 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 7
Mark with a flathead caught while trolling a Zerek Tango Shad.
Kyle with a legal 37cm squire. His first fish on a soft plastic.
Techniques and tips for flathead and squire
W
There are always squire around the southern Moreton Bay islands.
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Kyle’s flathead was hooked on a Zerek Bulldog Crank while trolling.
ELL, I suppose this is a happy new year and hopefully 2021 is going to be better than 2020, but we’ll just have to wait and see how it all goes. At the time of writing, the weather was a bit all over the place. But I was able to line up the odd charter and fishing tuition with the occasional small weather window, and on the right day the fishing was fairly good. That’s not to say there weren’t a few days the fish just didn’t play the game – but that’s fishing. The predominant fish were definitely squire and flathead – they’ve been in reasonable numbers around the southern Moreton Bay islands and in expected areas for this time of year. I’ve had a couple of anglers come out and do their fishing tuition on these particular species. They’ve done quite well – learning a lot and
Southern Moreton Bay by SEAN CONLON
catching a few fish for a photo, and releasing most to fight another day, with the odd one in the Esky for dinner. So, I thought this month I’d run through a couple of the techniques and what type of gear we use for this – I’m asked regularly what type of lures, line and rods we use to target these fish. First, we’ll go with the old flathead. The rod and reel setup I prefer for this type of fishing is a 2-4kg or 4-8lb rod with a medium action, paired with a 2000 or 2500 spin reel. I find the Wilson Fishing Blade N Tails 4-8lb medium-action rod and ATC Virtuous 2000 reel are a very good match for this style of fishing – you’re able to troll and cast with one outfit quite well. Now, we want to spoil that reel with either 6-8lb braid and
an 8-12lb leader when casting – I like to have a 10-15lb leader when trolling. When it comes to soft plastics, I prefer any type of curl tail or paddle tail lure. Colour-wise, the rule of thumb is darker colours in dirty water and nice bright colours in nice clean clear water. Jig head size is going to depend on what depth you’re at or how much tidal flow you’re fishing in, but I find anything from a 1/8-1/4oz is fine and pair it with a 3/0 heavy duty Mustad hook. Next thing is where to fish for flatties. One of the easiest starting points is around mangroves on high tide. Work around the mangrove line – the bait will be hiding up in the mangroves and the flathead will be lingering on the outside, waiting * continued P9
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Tips for flathead and squire * from P8
for a foolish small fish to swim into their area. Then on the low tide, work in the channel at the bottom of drains, where possibly more baitfish will be congregating – bigger predators are going to hang around there, waiting for an easy feed. So, in both of these areas you could be casting soft plastics and trolling hard-bodies, it depends on what you feel like using at the time – this is a brief description of the gear and areas to look at to target these fish. This is what my courses are all about – information and tips but also a lot more. There is a bit more that goes into it and while it’s quite hard to
explain when writing, it’s a start. Another thing with flathead – if you’re working on the mangrove line and you’re not having any luck, water temperature could be the problem. Remember, flatties don’t like it when water gets too hot, so keep your eye on that. Squire or juvenile snapper have been around in reasonable numbers. They can be a little more finicky than flathead, and they tend not to enjoy discrepancies in barometric pressure. What I mean by that is – squire don’t relish it when it’s too high and when it’s too low, they seem to sulk a bit, so volatile weather makes targeting them a little tricky.
We definitely have a healthy population around in summer, though they have an inclination to sit differently to the winter species we target. Instead of hanging around the wrecks and significant pieces of structure, they have a tendency to spread out and work on rubble grounds, which we have a fair bit of in southern Moreton Bay. Squire tend to mimic cows in a field – just grazing around on flat bottom, nibbling away on mussels, razor shells and any crabs or squid they can pick up. They are a scavenger species, with grinding teeth for crushing shells and that sort of thing. They’re well equipped
Brad’s sand flathead was scored on a Zerek Live Flash Minnow Wriggly.
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 9
Tips for flathead and squire * from P9
Kylie and her first flathead captured on a Zerek Live Flash Minnow Wriggly.
Simon boated his flathead on a Zerek Bulldog Crank after trolling the mangrove line.
to live on this type of ground but have a propensity to be completely flat, hence being overlooked by many anglers. Over a large area of ground your techniques might be a little different, trolling hard-bodies or drifting soft plastics work quite well because you’re covering a lot of ground. The rubble grounds can be quite large and as they’re flat, fish can be anywhere on them, making them hard to find. Techniques that cover vast areas and a good quality sounder – plus knowing how to read it – will help pick up fish as you drift or troll over the top of them. When it comes to gear, I prefer a 3-6kg rod or 6-12lb, paired with a 3000-4000 spin reel. Again, for me the Wilson Fishing Blade N Tails and ATC Virtuous 2000 reels work very well for this style of fishing. When casting soft
Tick all the boxes and catch more fish! FISHING TUITION
plastics, I favour any curl grub, jerk shad and paddle tail. One of my favourites is the Zerek Live Flash Minnow Wriggly. As I said before, use a darker colour in darker water and bright colours in clean and clear water. For jig head sizes, I go with the 3/0 and 4/0 heavy duty Mustad hook, but most of the time I’ll be using a 1/4, 3/8 or 1/2oz when drifting with soft plastics. When trolling, my lure of choice – as everyone knows – is a Zerek Ripper Diver. Plenty of lures are out there, but you’ll need one that will dive to at least 5-8m to work the southern Moreton Bay grounds. Hopefully, you now have a few more ideas on targeting flathead and squire. Though remember, when you do one of my tuition courses, the information is more comprehensive and detailed. We talk about everything in a classroom situation and then I take you out in the boat to
show you in an ‘on the water’ practical sense. Another tip is to use plenty of scent – several people think it works, several people say it doesn’t – but if it gives you a chance of catching a fish, why not? Anyway, with luck jewfish will turn up soon and summer mackerel will start to show themselves – and maybe 2021 will be a year to remember for all the right reasons. As we all know with our busy jobs and lives, we are time poor, so if you can learn to optimise your time on the water more, then why not? Remember: knowledge is the key. If you’re interested in any off or on-water tuition classes or you want to do a fishing charter, give me a call on 0432 386 307 or send me an email at seanconlonsfishing@hotmail.com You can also check out the Sean Conlon’s Fishing Charters and Tuition Facebook page. Until next time, stay safe on the water.
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Mark and a nice 67cm southern Moreton Bay flathead snagged while drifting the mangrove line casting soft plastics. www.bnbfishing.com. au
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Atomic Hardz Shiner 85mm Double Deep catch everything. Ben Monro hooked this hairtail at Port Alma.
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Page 12 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
The author with a nice mangrove jack.
How to handle the heat n Warm water daze for mangrove jack
W
ELCOME to 2021 and a happy new year to all Bush ‘n Beach readers. Last year was a pretty wild ride, but thankfully the fishing side of things wasn’t affected as much as other activities. Summer started with a bang and a nasty heat wave ripped across the eastern side of Australia and pushed the temperature gauge over 40C in quite a few areas. Constant heat can push water temperature right up and make fishing quite difficult, especially for bread and butter species such as bream and flathead. The water in several of the smaller systems can get up to around 30C, which can shut the fish down. A couple of years ago, my friend Phil and
Local Luring by KEITH STRATFORD
I spent a bit of time targeting the creeks around Tin Can Bay for mangrove jack. On the first trip we landed 10 jack in an hour by floating pilchard halves into the mangroves. We went back on the same tide two weeks later, but a heat wave had flogged the area and the water temperature was up to 33C. We only landed one small jack and a big cod in three hours. We could see jack swimming up the middle of the creek in crystal clear water. It looked as though they were in a daze – just swimming around in circles. They certainly didn’t want a bar of anything
we put in front of them. During extended periods of hot weather, it can be a good idea to target larger creeks and rivers with good tidal flow, to keep the water temperature slightly lower and more stable. As well as being one of the hottest months of the year, January is also the busiest month on the water. The borders opened to our southern friends at the start of December, so we can expect huge numbers of holiday makers on the water in all the popular places. If I’m chasing jack at this time of year, I prefer to be on the water before first light and off the water before the * continued P14
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 13
How to handle the heat * from P12
The Atomic Hardz Shiner 85mm Double Deep scores. The author will be trolling them for barramundi when the season re-opens.
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hordes try to reverse their trailers down the ramp. Night fishing is also a great way to target jack, whether bait fishing or casting and trolling lures. Jack have no problem finding a well-placed lure in the dark. A bit of light on the water is a good place to start looking for this species, as the light attracts baitfish. If you find good numbers of bait hanging around a light, it’s worth giving it a good flogging before moving to the next spot. Surface lures are very addictive and species such as trevally and tarpon will also get in on the action. If a surface presentation isn’t working, try
a shallow-diving hardbody that gets down to around 1m. Occasionally this is enough to get a bite from fish that are sitting a bit deeper. Trolling deep-diving hard-bodies among the rocks and bridge pylons at night has also been an excellent way to get hooked up to a rampaging jack. It’s a good idea to check out areas late in the afternoon and troll into the first couple of hours of night. I prefer a run-out tide for targeting jack, so a low tide around 8-9pm is ideal for me. The by-catch tends to be good when trolling for mangrove jack with deep divers. Cod are high on the list, with trevally, tarpon, grunter, jewfish and flatties all keen to
have a crack at them. The Atomic Hardz Shiner 85mm Double Deep is an excellent lure for trolling. These lures get down to over 6m and swim perfectly out of the box. I changed my trebles to VMC Fishfigher 6X hooks, which allow the lures to still float. A floating lure is very important to help avoid snags. I’ve used these lures many times on big barramundi and mangrove jack and have never had the rings split or lure fail – they just keep going, and the more scratches and bite marks on them, the more fish they catch. Well, that’s it from me this month. Enjoy the start of 2021 and I hope to see you out on the water.
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When out chasing jack, grunter will show up. www.bnbfishing.com. au
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John Weston with a shallow water snapper.
George and his quality snapper.
Shallow water snapper in Moreton Bay
I
SPEND many hours exploring and pursuing shallow water snapper in Moreton Bay, and nothing comes close to matching the aggression and brute power these fish have. I use the term shallow water to describe the water I fish, as it’s not often I find myself casting a lure for snapper any deeper than 1.5-5m. A huge variety of these areas are situated throughout Moreton Bay and can be easily accessed by small boats. Fishing in shallow
Moreton Bay by BRIAN WEBB
water requires a lot of stealth and keeping boat noise to a minimum is vital. Snapper are forage feeders and also aggressive hunters. You are actively targeting the fish when using lures, so the first place to start is to find structure. Structure can consist of anything from reef, ledges, drop-offs and gravel beds to manmade rock walls, pylons
Craig Stewart’s shallow bay snapper. Page 16 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
and artificial wrecks. My approach to snapper angling is to fish as light as possible. Generally, reels in the 2500 and 3000 size matched to 7’ graphite rods and spooled with 12lb braid will cover this, though occasionally a 6-8lb fluorocarbon leader is needed to entice wary fish in clear water. However, a 10-12lb leader will be a general go-to and give you a little more confidence when hooked up to that large snapper. The main focus of lure fishing for snapper is soft plastics, and the ZMan range suits every application I need when chasing this species. Their 10X tough ElaZtech material also means I can catch fish after fish on them.
Z-Man 4” StreakZ Curly TailZ, Z-Man 3” Scented ShrimpZ, Z-Man 3” MinnowZ – these lures rigged on a 1/8 or 1/6oz HeadlockZ are a deadly combination in the shallows, and on numerous occasions have been eaten on the drop. When selecting colours, I prefer to match the hatch with any baitfish present, with Baby Bass and Motor Oil UV working extremely well in the areas I fish. I have a strong belief that adding scent can help increase the chance of catching fish. The Pro-Cure range has a huge line up and I’ve tried many, though by adding only a small amount, the Shrimp and Mullet Super Gel scents have achieved good results. Fishing the shallows for snapper means you may need to change your strategy from those used when fish-
ing deeper reef systems – any angler who has caught a decent snapper knows how strong and powerful they can get. Generally, when snapper are hooked, they tend to swim deep and head for the bottom. Obviously, the risk with hooking snapper in shallow water is the fish snagging or cutting your line off a lot easier, as the swim to the bottom can be done in much less time. The best tip to overcome this issue is the obvious one – fish a little heavier – try increasing the length of your leader and use thicker gauge hooks. If you hook a fish in shallows that contain a lot of snags, your job is to get that fish off the bottom as quick as you can and guide it to safer waters. From my experience, when fishing the shal-
* continued P17
www.bnbfishing.com. au
Shallow water snapper in Moreton Bay
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chance of spooking the snapper. Another tip is to try to be the first angler to your chosen spot, as the more anglers in the one area, the louder it gets, and the fish may move on or stop feeding altogether.
Bait fishing or soft plastics Though I personally have had more success with bait, I’ll still throw out a plastic, especially if I’m not getting anywhere with bait. Many anglers have * continued P18
Superb snapper from the shallows.
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S
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Shallow water snapper in Moreton Bay * from P17
started to fish with lighter jig heads as opposed to the heavier ones. The reason for this is because the light jig head has more hang time in the water and will sink at a slower speed. So, try using a 1/4
or 1/3oz jig head rather than a 1/2oz – you might find you get better results. Soft plastic fishing shallow reefs The downside of fishing soft plastics in shallow water is definitely the increase in the number of times you snag the bottom, which hap-
pens more frequently than when fishing deep water. Another method is trolling hard-bodies – you can do this in stealth mode by using an electric, if you have one. In terms of lure choice, it probably goes back to the lo-
Vic’s better than average size snapper.
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cation of your fishing spot – what might work in one area might not be as successful in another. But for what it’s worth, I use a Rapala X-Rap Long Cast 12cm because this lure looks very similar to a pilchard. I switch out the treble hooks for singles and a better hook-up rate, and I often use a size 1 ball sinker to my main line, running directly to the lure. This helps get the lure near the bottom, and by adding a sinker I have caught many good flathead as by-catch. I always cast this lure on the way to my chosen fishing destination and on the way home too. You would be surprised how many fish I’ve picked up using this lure and method of fishing. Additionally, not only has it been a good snapper lure but it has also attracted sweetlip. Dropping unweighted bait in the shallows – a pilchard, a half pilchard or full squid in combination with berley – is a method that should not be rejected. I find by avoiding a gang of hooks and using a single or at most a two hook rig, the bait will sink at a rate that lets the fish have a good look at it before it vanishes. I use a twin-snelled hook rig and a 40lb leader for big fish, with anywhere between 4/06/0 octopus beak hooks
or occasionally circle hooks. Flasher rigs are great for shallow water – you can either fish them on a paternoster or with a running sinker. In the shallows, I fish them unweighted with a chunk of pilchard or a nice piece of fresh squid. During the day, I use the standard flasher rigs because they reflect the light well and seem to attract snapper on a more frequent basis. Interestingly, I seem to be able to bring fish home from the shallows on a far more regular basis than I first expected. It’s a year-round exercise, with the usual 1-4kg fish coming in during the cooler months and a few stonkers over summer and autumn. The paddle time per fish increases during periods of warm water, as they are in close more often than not. Perhaps one reason for catching bigger fish during warm water periods is because in the shallows, big snapper take the bait deployed, and they’re often encountered when bait is set in 3-4m of water. There is no denying that snapper lie in the shallows far more regularly than we realise. Success will depend on how much time you spend fishing the bay’s shallow areas and learning the spots where snapper hang out. www.bnbfishing.com. au
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ESTABLISHED IN 1946 Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 19
Ivy managed to catch three fringefin trevally in a session on the Shorncliffe Pier. Cambria took the opportunity recently to switch off.
Top locations to take kids fishing in Moreton Bay
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HERE are you going to fish during the holidays? Moreton Bay has many locations for you and the family to explore and enjoy this holiday season. There are heaps of places in the Moreton Bay area to spend a day or even a few hours of quality time with family. Pumicestone Passage, Red Beach, Skirmish Point and even the surf side of Bribie Island should be on the to-do list. You don’t need a fourwheel-drive to have a great time on Bribie Island, but if you have a permit Second Lagoon Norfolk Creek holds the best views of the bay and Moreton Island. Give the kids a challenge to see how many pipis they can get in an
Northern Moreton Bay by MARK TEMPLETON
hour – though be mindful of the vehicles on the beach. It will provide entertainment for the kids and fresh bait for you. Whiting, bream and dart are all great for the kids using light gear and the beach is an untapped resource when it comes to fun for younger anglers. Redcliffe and Woody Point jetties are two great places to visit and they are both child-friendly, providing shelter from the sun and with toilet facilities close by. Set the kids up with a ‘bait challenge’, give them a bait jig or fish trap and see who catches the best bait – you get to use it too. One jetty that is providing a great range of
fish is the Shorncliffe Pier – you just don’t know what it’s going to produce next. Recently, queenfish, cobia, jewfish, mackerel and longtail tuna have carved up baitfish in the area – these species are awesome sportfishing on light gear. After coming in-store to stock up on her favourite things, Ivy took her dad out fishing again, and once more had a great time. A species I don’t see often is the fringefin trevally, though young Ivy managed to catch three of them in a session on the Shorncliffe Pier. All three were released to be caught another day. * continued P21
www.bnbfishing.com. au
Kids fishing in Moreton Bay * from P20
Well done Ivy, and it was great to see you take dad fishing. We see a lot of bread and butter species caught by kids from this pier – bream, whiting, flathead, cod, butterfish, toadfish and my favourite, garfish. A while back, I did a write-up on catching garfish, so in case you missed it, here’s a cutdown version. Gar would have to be one of the easiest fish for kids to chase – light gear, either a small pencil or bobby float, a No. 12 Mustad long shank hook, a tiny bit of beachworm, bloodworm or prawn, and you’re set.
With garfish, if you catch a large or small one, you can put it straight back out under a float or unweighted for mackerel, jew and other predators. Gar also make for awesome cut bait for bream, flathead and snapper – even the odd mangrove jack has found it hard to resist. If pier fishing is not your thing and you want a spot that’s a little quieter, give our local creeks and rivers a go. While these areas offer less shade for the kids, with the help of a broad-brimmed hat, a great day out can still be achieved. Cabbage Tree Creek, the Pine River and the
Caboolture River have great family friendly areas that are easily accessible by family vehicles. Deep Water Bend has family facilities, barbecue, playgrounds and plenty of shaded areas. Dohles Rocks, Brighton foreshore, Margate Beach and Queens Beach are awesome places to unwind for the day or a few hours, and there are usually plenty of whiting, bream and flathead within targeting range for kids. If you’re venturing into Moreton Bay, make sure you take at least one rod a bit heavier than the rest. Summer will produce
* continued P22
Drew absolutely nailed this 18kg cobia on a 1-3kg rod his dad made and a 10lb leader.
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 21
Kids fishing in Moreton Bay * from P21
Kids doing what they do best – out-fishing the grown-ups. Will at it again.
In true Tamika style, she out-fished everyone.
a few cracker catches of speed demons such as spanish mackerel, mahi mahi, wahoo and giant trevally. A couple of the crew have been out and about lately. Ian had a day off recently and took his daughter Tamika out in the bay. In true Tamika style, she out-fished everyone! Well done Tamika. While on the subject of kids doing what they do best, which is outfishing the grown-ups, Finn and Will were at it again, both scoring very nice whiting.
Well done, we look forward to more classic catches from you both. Speaking of cracker catches, I would have to nominate Drew, who absolutely nailed an 18kg cobia on a 1-3kg rod his dad made and a 10lb leader! After over an hour, they finally boated the beast. An awesome job Drew. It as indeed a wicked catch! If you need more ideas on fishing with kids, jump onto our website t a c k l el a n d. c o m. a u / posts and have a read of the articles written by our customers – this
could save you a little headache. Before you hit the water, double check your safety gear for serviceability and check the dates on your flares. If your gear is not up to speed, it will not save you or your family when you need it to. If you get the chance, take five minutes, a seat on the ocean and just switch off – Cambria took the opportunity recently and looked as though she was a thousand miles away. Enjoy the time spent together, be safe and maintain the passion.
Tide Guide and Angler’s Almanac 2021
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HE leading pocketbooks for anglers and boaties on Australia’s eastern coastline – Tide Guide and Angler’s Almanac – have been improved for 2021 and are available now from retail outlets. The Angler’s Almanac, which provides a ready reckoner for the best days and times to go fishing times according to lunar and solar cycles, also features a new section on the best months to target select species, as well as a guide to the latest seasonal fish closures. It includes new colour plates to assist anglers in identifying their catch, shows which species are protected and indicates which are known car-
riers of the debilitating ciguatera toxin. Angler’s Almanac has sections on the transition southwards of traditionally northern fish species, as well as the usual diagrammatic guides to tying the best fishing knots. The super-fast summation of moon phases extrapolated into the times you are most likely to catch a fish (providing the weather plays ball) remains a winning feature. The Tide Guide companion publication is a must for recreational fishers and fourwheel-drivers, as well as boaties looking to dodge sandbanks. Since 1991, both books have been providing the most likely times to catch fish, the best times to safely
Page 22 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
travel along sandy and rock-laden surf beaches, the best times to cross a coastal bar in a boat, as well as other helpful information and tips such as how to fling a cast net properly. The titles are available through tackle and outdoor equipment stores, select marine dealerships, and convenience and related stores in river and seaside locations along the east coast of Australia, from Bundaberg to MallacootaEden on the NSWVictoria border. The 2021 editions of the Tide Guide and Angler’s Almanac include information through to December 2021 and are priced at $8.25 each. The author of the
books Peter Layton said despite inducements from elsewhere, he has once again continued to print both publications in Australia. “That’s a 30-year tradition of backing local printers and jobs, which seems very appropriate for publications aiming to help local fishers and boat-
ies,” he said. “Once again we’ve unravelled the complexities into easy-tounderstand guides that enable instant reference to the best dates and times for fishing, and have packaged them in a convenient format so they can be kept in a glovebox, boat, tackle bag or pocket.”
Two of the best resources for anglers, fourwheel-drivers, beachside caravanners and campers, along with other outdoor recreationalists – Tide Guide and Angler’s Almanac. www.bnbfishing.com. au
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www.tohatsu.com.au Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 23
Chrissy Firman did well to land this bream in trying conditions. The crew in action.
Alvey Beach Fishing Competition
T
Hailey McClurg was pleased with a dart taken on the beach.
HIS comp is one for families and particularly for the kids. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 we had to reschedule our April comp to November, which saw less fish caught but better weather for the family to enjoy. The club stayed at Cotton Tree Holiday Park again, as it offers both beach and river
The kids took a break for a bit of fun in the surf.
Page 24 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
Power Boat Anglers by MICK CLUTTERBUCK
options, and if the wind is blowing in one direction you can head to the other. All the members arrived on Friday, allowing for the usual ‘sit down and discuss plans for the weekend’ routine while having a few beverages. Later a contingent went to the local surf club for dinner, others went to the bowls club, so there were plenty of choices if you didn’t pack cooking supplies. Saturday dawned and the early birds caught the worms. Dale and his family were up at sparrow’s as was Blackers, and by the time the rest of the mob got down to the beach, they were on the board with fish. Hayley charged ahead and lead the way once again – because this young angler is a fishing machine and had no intention of giving up her trophy from last
year without a fight. Dale and Blackers were toe-to-toe both having caught fish, though by the time everyone else got down to the beach the sun was high and the fish were off the bite. Among the catches were dart, bream, whiting and sole, but with legal fish few and far between, only pictures could be taken. With the beach side fishing shut down, they moved to the calmer waters of the river and fished for the rest of the morning. At lunchtime all headed back to camp for a feed and a few refreshing beverages while sharing stories and tips. Later in the day the wind picked up, so the river became the only option. Because there were little to no bites happening, everyone decided to call it quits for * continued P26
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 25
Alvey Beach Fishing Competition * from P24
Zoey McClurg didn’t mind getting her feet wet and sticking out the tough fishing conditions.
Mikayla McClurg enjoyed the action and managed this little whiting.
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the day and head back to camp to rehydrate. Right on dusk the wind slowed down and a couple of members headed back to try out the beach but lost interest quickly, as it seemed anything with scales had taken the afternoon off. In the evening the club dinner was attended by all, however it wasn’t the usual barbecue due to being unable to secure the barbecue area for long enough to actually cook anything, as the place was packed with other campers. The next best thing were fish and chips from the local seafood place, which went down a treat with everyone. The kids played a hacky sack board game that Commodore Rob had brought up and Sal taped a $5 note to the board for the winner. This kept the kids and a few adults amused for a couple of hours, while the rest watched on and had a few drinks. At one point a plan was hatched to go down to the gutter on the beach and try for jewfish, as it was a dark moon and the tide was full. A brave band of half a dozen members packed the trolley with an Esky, rods, reels and chairs and headed to the beach where they set up and waited for an elusive jewie. A few hours passed with not one bite, so the decision was made to pack it in, but a pleasant evening was had by all on the beach anyway. Sunday morning dawned and Dale and his crew were up and at it, beating all comers to
the beach again. Most of the remainder dragged themselves up not much later, as they were keen for a fish and to see if they could get on the winners’ list. The wind was supposed to be two knots, but someone forgot to tell the weather gods. The anglers fished again with mixed success, and at lunchtime the bell was rung and the winners decided. The junior and senior trophys will change hands this year, but you’ll all have to wait until trophy night to see who scored the chocolates. Everyone had a great time and it was good to finally get the families together and to socialise, which is absolutely essential in the current
environment for everyone’s mental and physical health – the extra brownie points don’t hurt either. Next meetings Please note that meetings are back to the old schedule of the first Monday of the month at 6.30pm for a 7.00pm start. The venue remains the same, so see you at The Club Manly (bowls club) at 26 Faine St, Manly. There will be no meeting in January due to the festive break, with the first of 2021 to be on Monday February 1. On behalf of the Power Boat Anglers, I’d like to wish everyone a safe and happy festive season, and thanks for your support. Until next month, safe boating.
Zoey McClurg at it again, this time in the river with a flathead. www.bnbfishing.com. au
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 27
Primed for jack and pelagics A T the time of writing, there were a few spotted mackerel caught on local reefs, along with several very under-sized spanish mackerel. The water temperature has been rising slowly and not as quickly as in previous years. As we head into hot weather, the water tem-
Gold Coast
by HEATH ZYGNERSKI
perature has teetered on 23C and if the northerly wind comes in it plummets back to 19C, with the clarity being greatly reduced and the water having that cold green look. We need a few good
It may have been small, but Sheldyn was stocked with his baby spanish mackerel.
Page 28 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
constant southerly wind systems to get the temp consistently over 23C and that cobalt blue water to move in before mackerel start chewing. For those lucky enough to be in the right spot at the right time, there were fun times to be had with spotties taking bait and lures. Plenty of small fish are available, though many are skinny and just legal, with a few bigger models mixed in. The quality and quantity will improve with water conditions. Out a bit wider, good mahi mahi have been caught on the fish aggregating devices, and black marlin are showing their faces already. On local reefs, nice snapper are available, when you get a break in the raging current. Solid kingfish are also around and are super partial to a big surface lure.
Inshore, you are in for a great time in the creeks, with substantial flathead on the chew, as well as whiting and bream. But most of all, the prized mangrove jack has awoken from its winter slumber and is starting to terrorize well-presented live bait and lures. Hitting the creeks after a storm is the perfect time to target the old red dog. They seem to really turn it on – bashing and crashing anything that moves. For something different, try targeting giant herring in creeks and skinny water. They are one of the best sportfish around, with absolute monsters on offer of over 1m long. They need to be handled carefully and returned to the water quickly to ensure a successful healthy release. They’ll take a live bait, lure or flesh bait. We’ve had a few very exciting mornings in the past pursuing this species, with well over
a dozen fish and even more runs in the space of a couple of hours. Early morning is definitely the best. The coastal bars, except for the Gold Coast Seaway, all need a good flush. The Tweed River Bar still has a buildup of sand in the mouth and 100m or so out on the outer bank. Even though the dredge is in Currumbin Creek it is still very shallow, with the best time to navigate it near the top of the tide. You really have to keep an eye on the tide, otherwise you may find yourself stuck outside. Tallebudgera Creek Bar is also very silted up and can be super dangerous in any sort of swell. The Seaway is the pick of the bunch. I hope Santa has emptied his sack full of fishing gear at your place, and I wish everyone a much happier 2021. Screaming reels to you all.
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 29
Five-year old Ollie, son of Rainbow Beach charter operator Greg Pearce, caught this big whiting on a charter with Clint.
On one of the author’s sand flat wading trips Matt, Dave and Shannon caught over 120 fish for the day.
John with his personal best 40cm whiting.
Grant and a big whiting caught on a Broadwater charter with the author.
Escaping the crowd over Christmas holidays
I
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Broadwater Guide by CLINT ANSELL
are keen to learn more, and locals wanting to enjoy a day out and catch a feed. This month, I thought I would give a few tips for people wanting to escape the crowds and noise on the water. If you get out there early in the morning or late in the afternoon, it is still possible to have a little quiet fishing time on the Gold Coast rivers and creeks. But any time after 8am at places such as the Gold Coast Broadwater and you’ll find a lot of wash and annoying sounds emanating from fun-seeking watercraft. I touched on this subject in a recent article and thought to continue it further. As mentioned previously, 6-knot zones can be a good place to hide
with the family and still catch fish, but where else? The southern Broadwater has large areas of sand flats that are all home to healthy stocks of flathead, whiting, bream, tarwhine, flounder, blue swimmer crabs and mud crabs. To keep it simple, fish these areas on top of the banks at high tide, off the edges at low tide, and in the middle in between. This is when thinking like a fish can result in a productive session. The highest point on a sand bank is out of reach to fish when the tide is low and the bank is dry. The first thing the fish do when the run-in tide laps over the shallow sand is to swim into the shallows to check what * continued P32
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 31
Neil and a pair of lovely whiting caught on a Gold Coast sand bank.
Lex did very well to wrestle this 7kg estuary cod out of a snag and then release it.
Escaping the crowd * from P30
Victor from Toowoomba reeled in this 40cm summer whiting. Vic is an absolute legend who battles leukemia, but never stops smiling.
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food they might find. This could be melon holes dug up by stingrays that have exposed yabby chambers or crustaceans and baitfish that are seeking refuge from predators. I have often caught whiting measuring over 40cm in water that is ankle to shin deep, and have seen many 80cm plus flathead. To fish these areas successfully use the local bait – yabbies. You can pump them at low tide then keep them cool ready to use later. If you are chasing flathead, try soft plastics on a 1/4oz jig head or Samaki 70mm soft vibes. Cast them with the wind then hop them along the bottom. Flathead will often feel like a snag when you lift the rod to hop, so be ready to strike and set the hook. Another spot worth
looking at during busy times on the water is in the canals of the Gold Coast. One look at Google Earth – a good way to study Broadwater sand banks too – and you’ll notice a myriad of such areas. As for the sand banks, the canals often fish well on a run-in tide. On a run-out tide, fish the mouths of these places. They can be fished well with small boats and kayaks, as can the banks.
Another species that will be very active this month is mangrove jack. During the silly season, they are best targeted at night or lower light periods, with live bait and big soft plastics cast as close as possible to heavy structure. To book on a charter with myself or Brad, or if you have any fishing related questions, SMS 0432 990 302, email f ish i ngwit hcl i nt@ gmail.com, or find us on Facebook at Brad Smith Fishing Charters.
An early season mangrove jack captured on a night charter on the Nerang River. www.bnbfishing.com. au
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Fresh live worms and good bait presentation are critical to whiting success.
Stand well back from shallow low tide gutters to avoid spooking the fish.
Low tide beach whiting
W
This is a long shallow drain on the shore with open ends and water coming over the back.
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ITH summer in full swing, what better time to chase whiting from the beach in Queensland and northern NSW. Though they can be caught year round, particularly in southeast Queensland, summer or yellowfin whiting are a great option from the beach, especially when other beach targets such as tailor and bream are in thinner numbers. Not the dart! For many anglers, including me, there is nothing worse than going to all the trouble of catching your own beach or bloodworms or paying for them only to have them snatched by bait-stealing dart! While you can’t avoid them altogether, this article focuses on catching beach whiting, while at the same time avoiding big dart. This species tend to prefer to forage for food and seek shelter in deeper gutters, the sort you might often associate tailor with. Likewise, high tide will fill a lot of smaller gutters close to shore and bring bigger dart in.
Fishing Tips by SEAN THOMPSON
These fish also don’t seem to mind the fast rush of a rising tide, while whiting prefer the calmer, cleaner gutters. For this reason, low tide can be an excellent time to chase whiting off the beach, remembering there are a number of factors at play to help ensure you get a feed. This isn’t to say you can’t catch whiting at high tide on the beach – shallow, calm shore dump gutters in a small swell are in fact a good option occasionally. But after many years of trying, I’ve come to favour low tide on the beach for whiting, particularly when the swell and sweep is too fast on a high tide. The right conditions Before we focus on the type of water you want to target at low tide, it’s worth noting the conditions that best suit fishing whiting at low tide. Wind and swell can play a big part in your success on the beach. Too much wind and
swell and your gutters can turn into a washing machine and the fish will disappear, seeking calmer water. Whiting are a small foraging fish that don’t enjoy too much wave action or stirred sand, as this pushes them around. Another consideration is weed, and infestations can shut beach fishing down completely. Sadly, red weed blooms occur in climatic cycles and can inundate southeast Queensland beaches such as Fraser Island, Rainbow and Teewah beaches when the water conditions are right. This happened again this year. North-northeast wind blow this weed in while southeast and westerly wind blow it back out. But setting aside the weed, a slight to moderate southeast wind can be great for whiting, creating enough cover for the fish in the form of ripples, yet leaving * continued P35
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Low tide beach whiting * from P34
clean water for the fish to feed in. Gutter formations So what are good low tide gutter formations? I have two favourite gutter types that I target for whiting on a low tide. The first are blind end gutters. These have a closed end right on the beach where whiting hold up. They also have a shallow gutter of up to 0.51m deep, with a back sandbank running off behind it at right angles to an entry out to deeper water. The tactic in these gutters is to stand well back from the water’s edge and cast up and
into the blind end or corner and allow your bait to sit. The other option is to cast up and onto the back sandbank and slowly retrieve your bait into the gutter and towards the shore to find where the fish are. The other great low tide gutter formation is a shallow drain or gutter running very close to shore. These are best if they still have enough water for a north and south entry and exit point, and have sufficient water washing over the rear sandbank to occasionally wash a cover of white water over the gutter. Once again, the best
way to fish these is to stand well back from the edge so you don’t spook the fish. To find the fish, a good option is to lob your bait to sit slightly behind the shore break where the fish might be feeding on dislodged pipis and worms, or cast up to the back bank and slowly retrieve your bait into the gutter before letting it sit there for cruising fish to find. Other considerations While many people associate whiting with daytime, they can also be a great target at night off the beach, and the same sort of formations as above are again good on low tide. * continued P36
The results of a short beach session with Matt from MJF Fishing Rods at Teewah Beach recently.
A low tide dead end or closed end gutter.
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 35
Low tide beach whiting * from P35
Hooked up in a low tide drain.
Another factor that can help draw fish to the gutter and keep them there is the rare art of berleying on the beach. This can be as simple as worming in front of the gutter you plan to fish with your stink bag smell and loose tidbits breaking off and attracting the fish or tossing either pre-mixed berley or old bait such as worms into a calm gutter with very little sweep.
A shallow closed end gutter is a top spot to target on low tide.
Tackle and bait When it comes to reels, there is no better or sturdier reel than the Alvey side cast for the beach. The bigger diameter also means you can cast further when required and the direct wind keeps you in contact with the fish. Likewise, the ability to wind backwards to give a timid fish a bit of line is another huge advantage of this reel. I match 5-5.5” Alveys with a 10’6” or so long, light whippy rod. One-piece rods will certainly give you a better action and bend if you have the ability to transport them to your location. I also use Platypus Super 100 monofilament line for my mainline in 6lb because of its ultrathin diameter. This not only means it’s harder for the fish to see, but is also less susceptible to drag
Long, whippy one-piece rods like the MJF Inskip have plenty of flex to wash your fish up out of the waves. Page 36 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
compared to heavier, thicker lines. I will then run 1m of 6lb fluorocarbon trace to a size 4 Tru-Turn 860 Blue Aberdeen hook for its unique offset cam, designed to force the point of the hook up to grab a solid hold in the fish’s mouth. A short length of red bead or tubing in front of the hook also attracts fish to the bait. When using an Alvey reel, be sure to run a swivel around size 12 as the last item in your rig to avoid line twist. This means you want to run your sinker between two swivels, with a soft green bead above the bottom swivel to avoid the sinker breaking the knot during casting. When it comes to bait, live beachworms or bloodworms are the best, followed by yabbies and pipis. Finally, particularly if you berley the gutter or are worming in front of it, keep an eye out for the black shadows of fish patrolling the edge of the gutter or following the waves up the beach. You can then try and sight cast to them, though this is easier said than done! I hope these tips and the attached videos help you land a few whiting from low tide gutters at your favourite beach this summer. For more tips and tricks, please jump on and like my Facebook page Ontour Fishing Australia.
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 39
Manny used surface lures and caught a huge number of whiting holding in 300mm of water.
Topwater fishing tactics
G
Watching a nice flathead take a surface lure will always put a big smile on your face.
Bradh's Smited Guiding Fishs Tour
’DAY everyone, I hope you all had a great Christmas, with Santa putting a bit of fishing gear under the tree for you. This month, I’d like to give you a few tips on one of my favourite techniques – fishing with surface lures. For those anglers who have never tried surface fishing but have witnessed the thrill and rush as fish rise from the bottom to smash the lure – you have to give it a go.
GOLD ST COA
Gold Coast Guide by BRAD SMITH
The best locations in our local rivers and creeks to fish topwater are over the very shallow sand flats that hold yabby colonies and shallow areas around seagrass beds, as seagrasses have small fish and prawns hiding in them. If you find a location that has both yabby beds and seagrass on the same flat, you have found the ultimate area to fish topwater. Once you have located your chosen ground to fish, it is of utmost importance that you choose the right depth of water. I always emphasise to my clients that you can fish too deep, but you can never fish too shallow with this technique. As a bit of a guideline,
I try to fish in 600mm of water or less, with my most consistent results coming from around the 200-300mm depth range. Another vital factor for success is that you need a slight wind blowing to break the surface tension of the water, as most fish are reluctant to rise in glassy conditions. Of course, technique is vital for success and this comes from a continuous slow to medium retrieve, while at the same time using a short left to right twitching of the rod tip. This can take a bit of practice because it takes a degree of coordination to bring the left and right hands together to work – one of * continued P41
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Double hook-ups of quality whiting on MMD Splash Prawns are common when you find the perfect spot. www.bnbfishing.com. au
Topwater fishing tactics * from P40
my clients once said it was similar to patting your head and rubbing your belly at the same time. Once you have mastered the technique, your lure should come across the top with a tight left to right action, while spitting jets of water from the front of the lure. I believe that the spitting of water from the front of the lure is a major influence in attracting the fish and making them rise from the bottom to strike. Whiting, bream and flathead are the main players when fishing the flats. For whiting, keep the lure moving at all times, even if they are hitting and missing it, because with this spe-
cies if you pause, they usually go straight back to the bottom. With bream however, you can try a pausestart-pause approach to induce a strike. Flatties, well they are pigs and will explode from the bottom at any time and use their bucket-like mouths to suck down the surface lure. Another thing I do is always stop the lure just short of the boat on every retrieve, as a lot of fish follow the lure to the boat and have last minute strike at it. These strikes right beside the boat are common and provide the ultimate rush. More positives that come from surface fishing – apart from the fact that it catches a lot of fish – are that your lures do not snag, you
can fish areas without fouling the lure with weed and you do not need a boat to try the technique. The better areas to fish topwater are best walked, with a stealthy approach along the shallow parts of our rivers and creeks. You don’t need fancy equipment either – any light 7’ spin outfit loaded with light braid and a light fluorocarbon leader will do the trick. There are heaps of surface lures on the market that are perfect for topwater fishing, but my favourite go-to lures are the 70mm Bassday Sugapen and locally produced MMD Splash Prawns. Well, everyone that’s all for this month. I would like to wish you and your families a very happy new year.
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Robbo with one of the many whiting he caught on surface lures in the Tweed River.
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 41
Summer has fired up the trevally in the river as evidenced with Sean’s score.
Flat out fishing for flathead n Whiting on surface lures
Scott with a 97cm cracker caught while trolling. The fish was released.
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W
ELL, first of all I would like to say happy new year to all of you. I’m looking forward to a great year ahead. I hope you have all had a safe and happy holiday period, and I’m sure your loved ones spoilt you at Christmas.
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Ballina Bait & Tackle by BRETT HYDE
After such a turbulent 2020 for all of us, let’s keep our fingers crossed that 2021 is a little more ‘normal’ and we can get plenty of fishing done. At least summer has been a little more typical, with warm weather and a few storms so far this season. The warm weather has fired up a few of the usual species and I do think we are in for a cracker of a season, if we don’t get floods. As we all know, summer on the North Coast is well known for flooding, so don’t be surprised if there’s one in the next few months. For now, flathead have been kicking along very nicely, with a cou-
ple of great fish caught already. A real mix of techniques have worked over the past couple of months – it comes back to how you’d like to target the fish. We’ve had quality models taking live bait being drifted slowly along the rock walls and also along the sand flat drop-offs. We’ve also had plenty of fish grabbing soft plastics in the 70100mm range, as per normal. Colour choice has been all over the place, with light conditions being the deciding factor on most days. The majority of the plastics have been * continued P43
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Flat out fishing for flathead – whiting on surface lures * from P42
paddle tails but a few of the curly tails have worked too on colder days, particularly over the top of the sand flats in North Creek and Mobbs Bay. Large swimbaits and glide baits slow rolled over sand flats have also tempted big female flathead over the past month. This will be a technique to continue using over summer, with plenty of mullet and whiting cruising over the flats in line of sight of flatties. Whiting and mangrove jack have been enjoying the warm weather, with good numbers of whiting on most of the sand flats from the mouth of the Richmond River to Pimlico Island. The usual bait, such as worms and yabbies, have been working well on a larger run-up tide, as have more natural or clearer colours when using surface lures over sand flats. Stickbaits and poppers have both tasted success, and if you don’t have any in your tackle box yet, grab yourself a Bassday Sugapen, Bassday Backfire 65mm Popper, Daiwa Silver Wolf Slippery Dog, Atomic Hardz Pop 50 or an Atomic Hardz K9 Bulldog – to name a few. Get out there, throw a few around your favourite sand flat and have a bit of fun. As is usually the case, jack have been hanging around most of the
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rock walls from the ferry to Broadwater. Cut mullet bait and live bait have been working well for bait fishers at night, while the 4-5” soft plastics in darker colours have had the most success for the lure brigade. A few fish have also been taken on surface walkers and poppers, but this seems to be a better proposition for early morning during a run-out tide. Offshore the current is continuing to make life a little difficult, with most anglers needing a truckload of lead to hold bottom, even on the 32-fathom line. Our only saving grace is that the current
brings plenty of pelagic species with it, and the mahi mahi have been fairly solid so far this season. The smaller models still seem to be haunting the fish aggregating devices and the wave rider buoy, while the larger fish are hanging out a little wider and seem much more interested in small to medium skirted lures being trolled around. The more natural colours have worked most days, but it will always pay to have a pink or a luminous-coloured skirt on board, just in case. The heavy current is also a good thing for amberjack and kingfish. The current is still
keeping schools of baitfish fairly concentrated and this is making it easier for predatory species to hunt them down. It is however, making it hard for us to get a live bait or knife jig in the right area to tempt these powerful brutes, but if you can get your angle of delivery spoton, you could be in for one hell of a workout. The north 48-fathom line has been a little more productive recently, and as by-catch there have been a few larger pearl perch taking live bait intended for kingfish and amberjack. Any tick of the clock now, we are going to see mackerel show up again – as is usually the
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 43
Toby tangled with this jack and won, which is never easy with these tough river fish.
Mud crabs are beginning to move just in time for Christmas.
Open borders bring town back to life
H
EAT, humidity, mosquitoes biting, cicadas singing – this spells the beginning of the mangrove jack and mud crab season to me. There are a few mud crabs on the move now and the numbers will only improve as summer progresses. They are in varying degrees of fullness at the moment, with big rusty ones being caught and green empty ones as well. Chuck the lightweight green ones back and catch them again in a few months when they have filled out. With travel bans lifted and the Queensland border fully opened, I reckon the place is going to go gangbusters these holidays. One thing that always amazes me is how boat traffic doesn’t seem to negatively affect the fishing too much. Up in the shallows can be a different story, particularly at night
Tweed to Byron Bay by GAVIN DOBSON
and especially on a full moon when whiting and flathead get spooked easily. By and large though, the deeper sections of the river will still hold good numbers of whiting this month. Mangrove jack have been hooked in excellent numbers throughout the rivers recently. I’ve never caught too many jack by accident, over the years, they have usually been targeted catches. Though we did score one up at Condong out over the sand while looking for whiting. As you can see in the picture, Toby was into them again and caught several nice trevally and a good jack. During the day a live bait is often a good option for jack, but at night they will readily take a fresh cut bait or a good quality pilchard.
Page 44 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
Offshore the talk is all about mackerel. The rumour mill has been in overdrive since early November, with catches being reported at Palm Beach to the north and Woody Head to the south. Here in the middle though, there have only been a few little school mackerel. It’s been an amazing year for school mackerel, with fish being caught in the river mouths and as far up as Chinderah in the Tweed. By the time this article reaches you, it would be nice if a few spotted mackerel show up from the Brunswick to Black Rock – later in January is a better bet though. Little black marlin are in the blue water out a little wider where the current has been raging. Bottom fishing has
been all but impossible over the past few weeks, with the current rarely dropping below two knots, however this is what brings in our pelagic species. As soon as the current starts to lick in a little closer, the mackerel will begin to appear. Out wider around the 24-50 fathom range wahoo, tuna, mahi mahi and marlin will be travelling with the flow, so it might be worth trolling out there. With domestic travel high on everyone’s list these holidays, local fishing towns will receive a much-needed economic boost. Here in Brunswick Heads, you can call in and visit our tackle store right in the middle of town opposite the bakery. They’ve got you covered for all your bait and tackle requirements, as well as beach gear and more. A short drive over the
river to Billinudgel, you’ll find North Coast Yamaha for chandlery and boat bits and pieces that you may have forgotten to pack. They’ve also got a great array of lures. As far as bait goes, fresh is best, but remember if you are coming down from Queensland that cast nets are illegal in NSW. The tackle shop in town has vacuum-packaged whole mullet and fillets, Ballina prawns, Tweed Bait and live beachworms. In the river, yabbies are going to be hard to find but you’ll still find enough for a good session on the reliable sand banks. Beachworms have been in good numbers on both the north and south side of town if you are handy at catching these yourself. Merry Christmas, happy new year and I hope you catch the fish you’ve been dreaming of these holidays. www.bnbfishing.com. au
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 45
Mischa Porter landed this flathead at night on a 14cm hard-bodied lure meant for a school jewfish.
Grahame Dowsett of Gulmarrad scored this quality jewfish from the ocean side of the Yamba breakwall using live yellowtail as bait.
Headland action heats up, offshore set to fire
Rebekah Ellis with a midnight flathead taken on a soft plastic lure.
No, not a bunch of freshly dug garden worms. They are in fact a huge ball of worms found in the stomach of Grahame Dowsett’s jewfish. Page 46 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
A
NYONE who has caught a jewfish will almost certainly have encountered worms inside the fish. Be it live wriggling reddish nematodes – or roundworms – in the gut cavity or the smaller white spaghetti flatworm trypanorhyncha, both are believed to use jewfish as a host before moving on to another species. While the sight of either of these worms in a fish may be somewhat off-putting, the fact is that neither of them are directly harmful to humans. The worms in the flesh are easily removed, though if you have any doubt and fear being harmed by eating the flesh, you can either freeze the meat for two
Just Jew by TYE PORTER
weeks at minus 20C or simply cook the meat well before eating. Jewfish are not the only species affected by these worms. Both kingfish and cobia also carry them, along with other species – I have cleaned the odd luderick and turrum with spaghetti worm in its flesh. At last count a few years ago, my tally on jew was around the 5000 mark, so needless to say I have seen my fair share of worms in fish, but I have never seen as many worms in one fish as the massive bunch that was in the stomach of the jew caught by Grahame
Dowsett of Gulmarrad. When his lovely wife Fran first sent me the picture, I thought she must have dug up a heap of bloodworms out of her garden for freshwater fishing, but that was not the case. Speaking of Fran and Grahame, they recently had a ball night fishing the Yamba breakwall using live yellowtail during the rising tide, and they hooked five very sizeable jewfish in one session. Unfortunately for Fran, Grahame was the only one to put a fish on the rocks. However, she was over the moon at being stretched big time by
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Headland action heats up, offshore set to fire * from P46
a huge fish that eventually broke off along the rocks, which goes to show you can still have a great night angling without actually landing a fish. Fishers have taken similar sized fish on the Iluka breakwall using fresh squid, as well as at the southern end of the bluff on minnow lures. I haven’t picked up a rod for the past two months, however I have tagged along with my son Mischa and his girlfriend Rebekah when they chased a feed of flathead at night on lures. Tailor have been messing around recently – one day at the Iluka Bluff you almost get tired of catching them on metal slugs, then for the next week or so you can barely scratch up a feed regardless of what lure you throw. Inside the mighty Clarence River, whiting and flathead continue to dominate catches, which is to be expected during summer, with both species being taken from most vantage points. I know I may sound like a cracked record, but I much prefer to fish for whiting at night. I’ve found a much better class of fish plus both boat traffic and angler numbers diminish dramatically, which makes for better fishing. Quite a few large bream can be had by floating a white pilchard or prawn around the wash off the headlands when sea conditions allow, however while they’ve been long www.bnbfishing.com.au
in length, many are in very poor condition. I have found this to be common during summer, as the fish are in a recovery mode after spawning during winter, and more often than not on gutting the fish, they are full of shell grit and crushed barnacles, and smell like no tomorrow if you accidently puncture the gut. Luderick are another species that move back out of the estuaries to around the breakwalls and headlands during summer, and hordes of these bronzed critters can often be seen in the waves around the rocks. During the last week of November, the first handful of spotted mackerel were boated in the warm shallow water off Woody Head by those who went looking for them, but I must point out that there were only a handful. Having said that, the run will be in full swing at the end of December and early January, which is news I love to hear because it means we’re only a month or so from the start of the land-based season, when nice longtail tuna and spanish mackerel are taken off our headlands and breakwall. Those wanting a head start, can get in early and fish for spaniard off the south wall at Ballina during the Australia Day long weekend – when the first fish of the season was almost always taken in the 1980s. In early February, the rocks around 12m at Evans Head will come alive, and by the end of February the first fish
will be taken here at Iluka – as long as La Niña holds off and we aren’t in flood by then. The upside to flooding is that the pelagic species will go off the bite only for a short period, but jewfish fishing will be great. If I had a choice, I would take a good dry pelagic season because it only lasts for four months of the year on the far north coast of NSW, while jew can be taken year-round. Having said that, the
first thing I have to do is get my ‘tuck n roll’ down pat, so I can find my way off the lounge and finally go fishing – oh decisions, decisions. In a nutshell, January should see great offshore fishing for snapper, jewfish and spotted mackerel, while jew, tailor and turrum will be taken from the headlands on lures. Inside the rivers, whiting and flathead will continue to dominate catches, along with the occasional school jew,
and if you enjoy a feed of crab there should be a few blue swimmer crabs around as well. Along the breakwalls, use octopus during the day on a high tide and live yakka or mullet at night – or even a nice whole or stripped squid for the jew of your dreams. Surely 2021 has to be an improvement on 2020, so do your darnedest, get out there and make it happen. Until next month, safe fishing.
Yamba boatie Guy Hemers travelled 40km offshore and landed his nice marlin. Guy was over the moon to finally land the fish of his dreams.
find us on facebook • Win prizes • Post your brag • Chat to readers shots and writers • Join in on the fun • See who’s catching banter what • Have a laugh
www.facebook.com/bnbfishing Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 47
Team Cruise Craft Tannum Sands sortie
F
OR many years, Team Cruise Craft has been attending the annual Boyne Tannum HookUp fishing competition each April. Unfortunately, this year we were unable to attend due to COVID-19 restrictions.
So, after discussions with a group of ‘new’ Team Cruise Craft members and getting the go ahead in early October, we set the dates for the trip as November 3-7. With only a couple weeks to plan, the next step was to get a crew
A mix of nice reef fish were caught including this cobia.
Peter Clark winner of the Best Fish Photo trophy.
of TCC members together, and as it was late notice for everyone, I wasn’t sure we’d be able to do it. However, after only seven phone calls, we had five confirmed members with crew! The TCC members were Terry Donohue – Explorer 720HT, Brad Briggs – Explorer 720HT, Hoa Cheng – Explorer 720HT, Peter Clark – Explorer 720ST, Glenn Gretton – Outsider 635HT, and Nathan Nagy and myself in Wynnum’s DEMO Explorer 720HT. We headed off on Tuesday morning and arrived at the Tannum Sands Holiday and Caravan Park later that day. The vibe was great, with all TCC members meeting each other for the first time. That night, Nathan and I put on a barbecue for the members and crew, so we could chat, share ideas and let everyone know of the planned fishing itinerary. For the first time, we decided to run a friendly little fishing ‘Best
We decided to head for home after driving past each crew and taking a quick photo of their best fish. Page 48 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
Fish Photo’ competition, and showed off the soon to be winner’s trophy, explaining that the winning photo would be displayed for six months on Team Cruise Craft’s Facebook page. With the weather predicted to be average, we launched at 8am on Wednesday and steamed out to a patch of reef called the Peanut, slightly south of North West Island and about 70km from Tannum. While the weather continued to get better and better as the day went on, the fishing was a little tough, though each boat managed a few nice species. We headed home before sundown, stopping off at the Rock Cod Shoals for a quick sunset session before heading back to the ramp. On Thursday morning, we had everyone launch at 2.30am because we wanted to be at the fishing grounds on sunup to get the morning bite. A 10-15 knot northerly wind was predicted, strengthening around mid-morning. To be protected from the wind, we decided to fish the southern side of Fitzroy Reef – around 90km from Boyne Tannum. Getting out was quite slow, but well worth the long and uncomfortable trip because the fishing was fantastic! Though we had no marks to fish from, our Garmin sounder showed plenty of fish, so everyone spread out and drifted around. On the first drop, Nathan and I had a monster trout and a nice tuskfish, and after
fishing for about four hours, we managed a nice haul of reef fish. With conditions forecast to worsen, we decided to head for home at 11am, after driving past each crew and taking a quick photo of their best fish. Heading back from Fitzroy Reef took about 3.5 hours as conditions were very average, particularly the shallower areas about 30km from base. The best way to describe it was a washing machine, though nothing our Cruise Crafts couldn’t handle. When chatting to the members and crew, those who hadn’t driven in conditions that rough before were impressed with their boats, and it was great that they were able to test them. On Friday morning, everyone recovered from the previous day and the TCC members gathered in the park for a big filleting session. It was a great chance for everyone to tell their stories about the fishing over the previous two days, and to have a laugh. We also presented the ‘Best Fish Photo’ trophy to the winner, Peter Clark – skipper of his Explorer 720ST Seagem – for the photo of him holding a very nice redthroat emperor. We had great feedback from all the members, and I’m almost certain everyone has booked cabins for next year’s Boyne Tannum HookUp in April 2021. Check out bnbfishing. com.au for more photos of the trip. Brent Ferguson
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 51
A nice bream landed from a rubbly drain between two flats.
Sheri with a bream landed fishing from the stand-up paddle board.
Fishing plastics around natural structure for bream
I
AM happy to target any species that will eat my lures, and bream on light spin gear can be both fun and challenging. When a big bream eats your soft plastic and switches on the afterburners, it’s cool to watch the line cut through the water and feel your inner ninja switch on as you employ crazy rod work to keep the fish away
Tackle Tactics by JUSTIN WILLMER
from line destroying structure. Here are a few natural structure types I like to target bream around and successful techniques for fishing each type of structure. Weed flats My favourite bream fishing generally re-
A cast to a skipping prawn and this fish was on. Page 52 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
volves around weed flats covered by a high tide with 1m or more of water. I will primarily target the last hour or two of a run-in tide and the first hour of a run-out, as I find this is when fish are actively trying to make the most of
this high tide feeding ground. If the conditions are windy, use the wind to move across the flat and make long casts with it. If there is little or no wind, use a tidal drift and fan casts around the boat. Always keep an eye out for bait flicking and if you do see bait, try to make a cast to it. It’s important to mix
the retrieve up a little until you find out what the fish want. I usually kick things off with a long cast, followed by a couple of hops before the lure buries in the weed and then I slowly roll it above the weed. You can break up the retrieve with an occasional short pause or twitch of the rod. My go-to presentation * continued P53
They’re not all monsters but they’re all good fun on light line when fishing shallow flats. www.bnbfishing.com. au
Fishing plastics around natural structure for bream * from P52
is either a Z-Man 2.5” Slim SwimZ or GrubZ, rigged on a 1/4oz 1/0 TT Lures DemonZ jig head. Mangrove edges Bream love feeding around mangrove edges on high tide and you can often combine a weed flat and its surrounding mangrove edges into one session. I typically work the same tides as the weed flats, however on very large tides bream can disappear back into the mangroves and out of casting reach, so it’s worth working the edges a little earlier on a run-in tide and even a little later on a run-out. Many systems have acres of mangrove edges, so look for standout features such as points, breaks in the mangroves, laydown timber, drains and sections where the green mangrove leaves are in the water as these may pay dividends. It is also important to pay extra attention to areas that have active bait, and where the wind blows onto the mangroves, stirring and oxygenating the water, offering cover for fish and allowing long casts. When fishing mangrove edges, the aim is to get the plastic in tight to structure, hop, twitch and roll it to avoid snagging on mangrove root spikes. Once clear of the spikes, you can mix up the retrieve between the previously mentioned technique for flats and a hopping and pausing
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on the bottom. I will fish the above plastics on a lighter 1/12-1/8oz TT Lures HeadlockZ Finesse jig head, or alternatively throw my go-to ZMan 2.5” TRD BugZ or TRD CrawZ on a 1/10oz TT Lures NedlockZ EWG. This NedlockZ rig presentation is dynamite – resembling a crab or other crustacean, it can be hopped and shaken around mangrove edges and then allowed to fall to the bottom where the buoyant claws will stand up in a defensive pose, attracting fish and triggering strikes. Drop-offs When my local waterways get busy with boats and jet skis, bream are often spooked off the shallow flats and mangrove edges. If I can’t find fish in these areas, I will seek out drop-offs and edges that fall to 2-3m deep. If these drop-offs have structure such as weed, rock and rubble, even better. Combine this with water movement and breaks and eddies created by the structure, and you are onto a winner. This type of area is excellent for bream, while also potentially putting you onto snapper, trevally, tailor and a variety of other species. When approaching these areas, try not to drive through where you want to fish. Even though it is deeper, the fish will still spook and this is
especially true for big bream or any snapper that may be holding in the area. Make casts up onto the shallow side of the drop-off and then work your soft plastic down the edge. If it isn’t too snaggy you may wish to stay in contact with the bottom, otherwise try and keep the lure as close to the structure as possible. It is also important to fish the bottom edge of the drop-off, as there may be a basin and break from the current
where fish will school. At times you might want to fish as light as 1/16 or 1/12oz to make the most of a slow fall and give the fish plenty of time to see the lure coming, especially when there is less tidal flow. My presentations for flats will generally be fished fast, looking for actively feeding species, rather than working hard to switch on fish that don’t want to play. At times though, the ‘go light to get the bite’ scenario may be your only option.
That’s a quick look at targeting bream around natural structure on soft plastics, and while this is a simplified look at what could be a monster volume written on bream, I am confident that these plastics and techniques will work throughout Australia, having been lucky enough to have caught bream in most states. Get out there, hit your local rivers and estuaries and get ready for a lot of ninja rod work battling bream around structure. See you on the water…
This solid bream had big blue lips.
Sheri with a bream landed fishing from the stand-up paddle board. Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 53
A nice dinner-plate sized mud crab ready for the table.
The author with good-sized Lake Cootharaba crabs.
Crabbing after Christmas W
ISHING a merry Christmas and happy new year to Ben, his family, the team at BNB and the readers of this great mag and e-mag. What can we expect fishing-wise this month, with January knocking on the door? Well, tuna and mackerel should be around in better numbers, so too sweetlip and mud crabs, sand crabs and spanner crabs – all are worth trying for. From Noosa, one of the things I used to love doing on days I went offshore, was to take out a few spanner crab flat traps and drop them in not far from where I was fishing. Between 30-40m off Noosa was good. Once the spanner crab pots were out, I’d slip back to a bit of reef and have a fish for 30-40 minutes, then go back and check the pots. There’s nothing like working your backside off to pull the pots up by hand and looking
Noosa to Fraser Coast by CRAIG TOMKINSON
over the side of the boat to see the red glow of spanner crabs bogged on the net – just look after the undersized crabs, and try not to break any legs off when getting them out of the net. Hopefully, we’ll start to get wet season rain by January, and if we do and the weather is not too bad, I will slip off Noosa a bit more and chase sweetlip and tuskfish in close. Fishing-wise, I’m a dud. I have not wet a line in my own boat for weeks, if not months – since I came back from the Cape trip. I had such a great time up north this year and the fishing was so mind blowing, I just haven’t wanted to go. But I’ve been doing a bit of crabbing off and on for weeks. Occasionally I’ll get one or two a day and then none, but I find
Page 54 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
crabbing so mindcalming. The 20-minute drive towing the boat to Lake Cootharaba, putting the boat in the water, the boat ride to the pots and back to the ramp – it’s so relaxing, I love it. I’ve been using chicken carcasses from the local supermarket for bait. While the crabbing hasn’t been earth-shattering, I’ve had worse. So as long as I am getting the odd crab for my lovely wife Donna, I am happier than a pig in you know what. My old 60hp fourstroke is getting on. It’s a 2005 model, so I thought it was time to check the anodes in the block again. Lucky I did, as there wasn’t much left of them after many hours of use. I would say how many hours, but it’s never been hooked to a diagnostic machine in the
six or seven years I’ve owned it, so I would only be guessing. Anyway, I took the five out of the motor and, before I drove to my local dealer, I looked them up online – it said they were all the same sized anodes, for 20hp right up to the 70hp motors. I got to the dealer and they said they had one and would have to order the rest in for me. They also said it’s a special type that only fits that particular motor and they would take a while to come – a week or two – and are not cheap. I thought stuff that. I drove home and ordered online, and they arrived in a few days for half the money. I have to say, I am getting sick of being ripped off by local businesses. Anyway, I fitted the new anodes and gave the motor a run to see if it was leaking water, but it was all good. The next day I put my pots back in the lake and have been getting
one or two crabs most days since. I buy heaps of gear online now, all are Aussie companies and are based in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane. The other day I went to local parts place, who had always given me a good deal. I was after four genuine Anderson plugs for solar gear I was wiring up. I drove there and they had one for about $13. I came home, looked online, ordered and got 10 genuine Anderson plugs for $28, delivered to my door. Moral of the story – I will never buy them locally again either. I have been looking at buying another 80100L upright fridge for the back of the Toyota LandCruiser 80 series – I don’t have to worry about buying a fridge slide, just more concerned about the weight in the old girl. I have a 55L Mitsubishi upright fridge * continued P55
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Crabbing after Christmas * from P54
which has been great, but the freezer part was not quite big enough for when the six of us travel. While I’ve been looking for a good secondhand one, I seem to always miss out as they’re sold before I can get to them. I came across Gecko fridges online – a 95L model featured a 27L freezer and 68L fridge, both with separate doors and they lock shut. I bought one to try – $523.04 delivered to my door. My son Gavin ordered it on a Sunday, and it turned up the following Wednesday – three days later. The first thing I do to these cheaper fridges is get rid of the 12V cigarette lighter connections and rewire it
from a soldered 50amp Anderson plug, with 6mm tinned marine wire and a good fuse, to the fridge motor. I know this voids my warranty, but I have seen so much trouble caused from the inadequate contact from the cigarette lighter plugs, and doing this gives them good 12V power. I also had to do this to my 55L Mitsubishi fridge, as I would pull up to get a cold drink and find the fridge had not been running successfully for a long time, due to the plugs not making proper contact. A friend had their whole cigarette connection melt all the contacts. When the back is off the fridge, I check to see if any of the gas pipes are touching and are properly secured.
If touching, I use Marine Sika and put it around and between all of the bits – to hold them apart so they cannot move and break off on rough dirt roads. I take any screws or bolts out and put a little Sika on then screw and bolt them back in, which stops them rattling to bits. I’ve had the fridge going in my 6x6m shed on a few hot days – it must be well over 40C in there – and it’s working just great. Its 72W motor is drawing around the same amps as my 100L Trailblaza and is running, so I am happy with that. Time will tell how good the new fridge is. Until next month, be safe on the water and travelling.
The new 95L upright fridge.
This is where the anodes are.
Safe disposal of frames
T
HERE’S been a noticeable increase in fishers throwing fish frames back in the water near several popular swimming spots. In addition to kids and swimmers standing on fish spikes, discarded fish frames can also attract sharks and crocodiles. While it’s not an offence under fisheries legislation, everyone is encouraged to think of others when disposing of frames. Here are some ways you can safely dispose them: • Use them for crab pot bait • Dispose of them at
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nearby council bins • Keep them for fish soup or stock • Freeze them and put them in your garbage bin on rubbish day or dispose of them at sea on your next fishing trip In relation to coral reef fin fish, a recreational fisher: • Must not possess on board a boat a fish other than in any of the following forms – whole, gilled, gutted or filleted • May possess on board a boat a fillet of a fish – other than a blue spotted coral trout – as long as the length of the fillet is at least 40cm and the
skin and scales are attached • Must not return fish to a boat that have been taken ashore from a boat and filleted, unless the length of the fillet is at least 40cm and the skin and scales is attached, or • Must not possess a live coral reef fin fish unless the person or fisher intends to immediately return the fish to the sea or to display the fish in an aquarium. For information that may apply to recreational fishers on a commercial fishing tour, consult the Fisheries Regulation 2008 and relevant management plan.
Fish frames are being thrown back in the water near popular swimming spots. Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 55
Spanish mackerel will be out in force over January. Photos: fishingnoosa.com.au
Gabriela Soos also got stuck into the trout recently and landed this Jurassic model.
Hot holiday action on the Sunshine Coast
W
HAT a great time to go fishing in the Sunshine Coast and Fraser region. It is often the case of who can get up the earliest to beat the boat ramp traffic. For offshore anglers our pelagic season is in full swing, with spotted and spanish mackerel, juvenile black marlin, tuna and cobia all within easy reach. These species can be caught using a variety of different methods. Trolling has to be one of the most popular and it is a great way to find new ground. Whole fish baits work best and when downrigged they work even better. Lures can also be fished on a downrigger. If using bait, TT Lures Bait Trolling Rigs do a great job. With deep-diving lures, the larger models may deter fish, so try
Sunshine Coast by GRANT BUDD
smaller Nomad DTX Minnows. A downrigger will let you troll anything at any depth and works exceptionally well on reef fish such as snapper and other pelagic species. You can use small barrel sinkers a few metres from your lure to help keep them down, or alternatively you can use a paravane. If you are a bait angler, then you should be using floated pilchard bound with bait wrap at any time of year. The wrap keeps your bait in the best possible condition during casting and copes with small fish pecking at it. Be sure to have a look around Sunshine Reef, North Reef, Chardons Reef and down toward Castaways Beach if
Page 56 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
launching from Noosa. The coffee rocks, Barwon Banks, Arkwright Shoal, the blinker, Old Woman Island and Point Cartwright heading south also hold their fair share of fish, with Mooloolaba a safer crossing for the inexperienced. Don’t forget to check out the fish aggregating devices, as they have been holding mahi mahi for months, along with cobia, which frequent this spot. On occasion, mackerel can be found down deeper on the FADs. Snapper, pearl perch, cobia and amberjack have been coming from the banks, while the Hards are fishing well for snapper, tuskfish, pearlies and other mixed reefies. Summer is also the
time for coral trout, so use big ball sinkers and gang hooks or wide profile jigs such as the Hot Bite Raptor with 50-60lb leaders to get stuck into these hardfighting brutes of the reef! Lastly, don’t forget to have at least one rod rigged with a metal slug – an Arma Brass Twist in 30g size will do for the tuna and mackerel should they suddenly show up. Off the beaches, whiting, dart, bream and flathead can be found along the coast and around the many river mouths. Noosa North Shore beach gutters and heading north to Teewah have been holding nice whiting, bream, dart, jewfish, queenfish and the odd mackerel. For those anglers after bigger pelagic fish from the land, slide baiting results in monster sharks, spanish macker-
el and even giant trevally being caught, especially around Fraser Island. This method of fishing will let you cast up to and even over 150m with the right reel and rod. For spin anglers, the Shimano Speedmaster 14000 XTB is a great option when used in ‘baitrunner’ mode. An important side note if rock fishing is to always fish in pairs and watch the swell, as random larger sets do roll through from time to time. Check out our range of self or auto-inflate lifejackets to help protect you should you fall in. The Noosa River often fishes really well during this time of year, as things are heating up. Daytime anglers can go out and get a good feed of whiting or tangle with flathead and trevally. * continued P57
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Hot holiday action on the Sunshine Coast * from P56
Early morning anglers will find jewfish and mangrove jack, and throwing a pot or two for crabs is also worth a try. The most popular areas to fish are the mouth of the river, the dog beach, Gympie Terrace and around the marina. Simple running sinker rigs are all that are needed for most species if using bait. We always have a good supply of live beachworms, so be sure to come and pick these up when in the store. If you are not bait fishing, then my favourite method of fishing Gympie Terrace, Woods Bay, Noosa Sound and the dog beach is with surface lures. First light is a great time to catch a trevally, especially before the heat kicks in, and flicking a Bassday Sugapen 70mm on 6lb gear is the most fun you can have. Once the sun comes up, you can wade out into waste deep water and flick the sand banks around Gympie Terrace for whiting. If you have a boat, then the Frying Pan estuary has awesome fishing opportunities too! If you are looking to get into kayak fishing, we hold a range of Viking kayaks instore and these are built to last with a 30-year warranty. If you own a kayak,
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then head to Noosa Everglades for magical scenery and fishing for wild bass. Be sure to use small frogs, surface lures and unweighted soft plastics. The MMD Splash Prawn would be great for working the tight overhanging areas that litter this area as well. Finally, don’t forget to take a trip out to Lake MacDonald and Borumba Dam. The summer months can provide the most explosive surface fishing you will ever experience. The saratoga and bass will be feeding, but stealth is the name of the game. Working the edges can see you land either of these fish, so be prepared. Having a bigger landing net is important, and the Berkley Catch N Release Silicone Landing Net is a personal favourite, as they protect the fish and hooks don’t get stuck. If you catch a saratoga, please keep it in the
net to recover and calm down upon capture. After a minute they relax and can be removed from the water for an easy photo and then released. Be sure to have your stocked impoundment permit with you and remember to use the wash
down facilities at Lake MacDonald to prevent the spread of any problem weed. Now for all the latest information log onto www.fishingnoosa.com. au for up to date bar and fishing reports, and don’t forget to drop into Davo’s Tackle World,
Davo’s Boating and Outdoors in Noosa and Davo’s Northshore Bait & Tackle at Marcoola for all the right equipment, bait and advice to get you catching. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, and remember, tight lines and bent spines!
Dean Dibeler holds up a lovely coral trout.
Liam Coppleman with a nice jack from the Maroochy River. Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 57
Jarrod caught this fine flathead on a Zerek Tango Shad.
Caught this mangrove jack while kayaking in the Coomera River on the Gold Coast while flicking a surface prawn. Jacko Miller
Montanna with her best bass to date out of Somerset Dam. Cast and retrieving tail spinners in maggot colour. Aidan Richters
Steve Frost caught this dogtooth tuna from the Coral Sea off Gladstone. The deckie estimated it at 60kg plus. Pete Gardner
I caught this mangrove jack in my kayak on the Gold Coast on a live bait. Jonathon Roberts
To have a photo of your catch featured in Readers’ Forum, simply email ben@collins.media with a good-quality picture, your name and details or hop onto our Facebook page and send us a message. Page 58 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
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Perfect all-round fishing rig to chase everything from bream to marlin!
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Jed Lee with his nice 50cm mangrove jack.
A good model tuskfish caught by Neil Moy.
Tin Can Bay attracts a decent variety of species
IYour
HOPE you’ve all been out having a play in this little slice of paradise we call home. And to anyone here on holidays, welcome to Tin Can Bay! Let’s have a look at what’s been caught around the place over the past month in the
Your
loc
tackle Store
loc
tackle Store
Tin Can Bay
by CHRIS RIPPON
lead up to the silly season. If you haven’t noticed yet, the old mercury has been on the rise these past few weeks, helping a few ripper afternoon
Ÿ Ice, Bait & Tackle Ÿ Fuel & LPG Bottles
storms along. This is a sure-fire sign that mangrove jack are going to be on the chew in our local waterways. Anglers who have been fishing the high
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Page – Bush ’nPaints Beach Fishing, JanuaryProducts 2021 Ÿ 60Marine & Cleaning
tide at night with fresh flesh bait and small live bait have been doing well. Best for getting the bite are 4/0-7/0 hooks and lightly weighted leads. The lure and fly fishos have also been seeing their share of red fish, going out in the last couple of hours of a run-out tide and working the lure hard in the snags. Like an old friend of mine said, “There is no point in rattling the letterbox when you need to be knocking on the back door!” And that’s what you need to do, get those lures to the back of the snags – this will increase your catch rate tenfold. Barramundi have also been showing up in creeks as a welcome by-catch for fishers casting for jack. They definitely break up the bream and cod by-catch! We have seen a hand-
ful of good fish over the past couple of weeks, with all eating soft and hard lures, and all of them caught by tourists. While they haven’t been big fish by barramundi standards, most have measured around 600-650mm. The astonishment of the anglers has been pretty cool and hearing the stories of the unexpected captures has been awesome. “Barra down here – I could not believe my eyes!” All reports were that the fish were released very soon after a quick picture was snapped. Remember barra are a no-take no-target species from 12pm November 1 – the season reopens at 12pm on February 1, 2021. Speaking of photos, don’t forget to upload your pics to our Facebook page, to be featured and go in the running for our monthly
One-Stop One-Stop
Your for Boa
Your for Boa
* continued P61
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Tin Can Bay attracts a decent variety of species * from P60
$100 in store voucher. A few nice-sized grunter have been caught in local creeks recently. Using soft vibes to target this species in deeper holes on a runin tide has been producing a number of wellsized fish. Fresh strips of squid have also been working well for these tasty piscatorial treats. Whiting are still being caught in good quantities and various sizes, with fish in the high 300mm range captured consistently. Again, fresh yabbies and worms are a must to snag a feed. Flathead catches have tapered off a little recently for whatever reason. Though fishers putting the effort in and targeting drop-offs with 3-5” plastics for school-sized fish have been scratching up a feed with a little effort. The Biwaa Duce in Ice Pink has been a proven winner on these fish. Offshore reports have been great for the past month. Quality catches of red emperor have been coming thick and fast. Using a mixture of live bait and fresh fillets to target the bigger models in deeper water is a mainstay for many fishos. We have been seeing plenty of anglers opting to use slow pitch metals and plastics, leaving the bait at home. A good rule of thumb when choosing jig weight is 1g of weight
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per 1m of water. In saying that, you will need to account for tide and drift speed. I tend to go a little heavier on my weights because I like to get down to the strike zone quickly, especially in deep water offshore. Trout have been around in good numbers and the very pretty coronation trout have been in decent supply too. Solid nannygai, hussar and tuskfish have all been helping to keep rods bent. The fish aggregating devices are worth a look, with good sized mahi mahi hanging off them. Stickbaits, larger flies and unweighted live bait have been working well. If that doesn’t work for you, try hanging upcurrent from the FADs, pump a berley trail and
fish unweighted bait back to it, and if dollies are playing that day, you should bag a feed. As we wrap up 2020 – the craziest year ever – I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has helped not only us but all the
businesses in town by shopping locally. Your support has not gone unnoticed, and we thank you whole-heartedly for the ongoing encouragement you have shown our little town. Well, that’s about it for me this month.
Stay safe this holiday season and we hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. The Chandlery Bait and Tackle has all your boating and fishing needs. Cheers and tight lines.
Ron Cox’s beautiful Queensland grouper by-catch. Caught when mangrove jack fishing and released unharmed after being photographed.
Lester Cross and a very nice mahi mahi from the fish aggregating devices. Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 61
A largish black marlin from inshore Fraser Island. Brodie was pretty happy to land it as his first.
Basking in bait ball action
W
Small man, little snapper. Great fish Dylann.
> Hervey Bay > Fraser Island > Sandy Strait
ELL, it’s that time of the month again – where I whinge about the weather and how tough the fishing has been! Yes, the weather has been rough that’s for sure, and from most reports it’s the same up and down the coast. I find spring is often quite volatile. Heavy from the north as the temperature rises and then moderate to heavy sea breezes from the east, as it
Get into the best fishing action!
Fraser Guided Fishing by TRI TON
tries to stabilise. Not always equating to good weather for boating. Not good weather for Kgari also, as the wind keeps pushing wildfires into fresh fuel every few days. However, the fishing here has started to pick up. Finally, we’ve had a little bait ball action, which has been very nice – with spotted mackerel and tuna carving it up. Even in shallow water, which makes the action more epic. What we witnessed over the past few days
is hopefully a sign of things to come. The prevalence of shallow-dwelling food has predators such as tuna, trevally, queenfish and mackerel prowling in the super clear water, even when they’re not feeding. This can make for heart-stopping action, particularly with the chance of a 10-20kg tuna very much on the cards. Soft plastics have been the slayers in this domain. All you need is a keen eye, accurate cast and a rod with a decent backbone. * continued P63
Full and half day tours All levels of experience Experienced guide
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Reuben getting into a bit of tuna sight casting. www.bnbfishing.com. au
Get ready to be on the water
B Jacko scored a beast of a longtail tuna for his new personal best.
Basking in bait ball action * from P62
They will eat fast retrieves or a variety of twitch-pause style actions too – just figure it out on the day. I do find twitch actions work better with lures that have a slower sink rate. The great thing about shallow water tuna fishing is they can’t be as stubborn, and the forces they exert on an angler are nowhere near as brutal. I am not going to lie –
this isn’t the most productive way to fish. If you’re after sheer numbers, I would recommend sticking to casting and bait balls. The fish aren’t in large quantities in shallow water, unless a bait ball is present nearby. Plus, they aren’t always in the shallows each and every tide. You can definitely expect it to change from day to day. You can even assume it won’t happen at all! As for catching the
bait ball and surface feeders, try sticking to the basics. Fast actions in a straight line are my goto. Plastics track faster without tumbling on the surface. Metal slugs match the hatch but may require a little time to sink – to prevent the lure from hitting the surface and then tumbling. Though tumbling on the surface won’t matter if the mackerel and tuna are on!
This golden was a personal best beast for Brodie. www.bnbfishing.com.au
EFORE heading out on the water, ensure your boat and trailer are ready for the trip. As skipper, as well as wanting every sortie in your boat to be safe and enjoyable, you have a legal obligation to ensure your vessel is in fit condition for the journey it is about to undertake. With that in mind, here are some useful tips: • Make sure vehicle registrations are up to date • Check over the hull and attend to fittings ensuring parts are not damaged or defective • Regularly service your boat’s engine, and if you service it yourself and find a problem, get it repaired before heading out • Inspect your safety equipment – make sure it is ‘in date’, complies with the latest requirements, is stored dry, protected from heat and UV radiation, and replace any out of date • Check your boat’s electrical system – ensure your battery is charged and in good condition, check wiring, switches, fuses and navigation lights are working • Consider your fuel – unleaded petrol degrades over time, so storing fuel for extended periods in your boat’s fuel tank and using old fuel can lead to reduced engine performance, difficulty starting your motor, fuel contamination and
breakdowns at sea • Check your fuel system filters – any inline filter or water trap between the fuel tank, engine and the on-engine filter – clean or replace any that are clogged or defective, and inspect your fuel line connection fittings, as impurities can build up there and block fuel flow • Inspect your trailer by checking its brake lights and indicators, servicing suspension and wheel bearings, replacing any worn tyres, inspecting the winch, wire and rollers, and treating any corrosion • Plan your trip by checking marine weather forecasts, tidal and bar conditions, confirm your boat design and size are suitable for the trip and the number of people, make sure there’s enough fuel to get out and back with one-third extra, ensure enough lifejackets are on board and are the right sizes for yourself and your passengers • Tell someone where you are going and the approximate time you are planning to come back • If you have a VHF radio fitted check its connections before setting out, log on with your local marine rescue organisation and verify it is working correctly. That done, you’ve prepared as best you can to enjoy a great return to the waterways.
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 63
Fines for mangrove destruction
T by MELISSA FROHLOFF
Ingredients
Ratatouille
• 2 red onions • 4 cloves of garlic, crushed • 1 green zucchini • 1 yellow zucchini • 1 eggplant • 2 red peppers • 6 fresh basil leaves • Olive oil • 3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley • 5 00g yellow cherry tomatoes • 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar • Juice of 1 lemon • 2 tbsp capers • ½ cup mixed sliced olives • 1 tbsp brown sugar Method 1. Roughly chop eggplant, sprinkle with salt and allow to stand for 1 hour to draw the excess water from the eggplant, pat dry. 2. Peel and slice the onions into wedges and crush the garlic, trim the zucchini, deseed the peppers and chop into 2.5cm chunks.
3. Chop the cherry tomatoes in half and slice the basil leaves. 4. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large casserole dish over a medium heat, add the chopped zucchini, onion and peppers – you may need to do this in batches – and fry for around 5 minutes, or until golden and softened, but not cooked through, spoon the cooked vegetables into a large bowl. 5. Add the cherry tomatoes, garlic, basil and parsley with another drizzle of oil, if needed, fry for 10 to 15 minutes until softened and golden. 6. Return the cooked vegetables to the pan and stir in the balsamic vinegar, capers, brown sugar, olives, lemon juice and a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper. 7. Mix well, breaking up the tomatoes with the back of a spoon, cover the pan and simmer over a low heat for 20 minutes, or until reduced, sticky and sweet.
WO Russell Island residents caught illegally cutting up and burning protected marine plants have been fined $2,668. Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol district officer Chris Watts said fisheries officers caught the offenders red-handed in a rapid response to a complaint to the Fishwatch hotline. “Fisheries inspectors observed them cutting mangroves with a chainsaw and throwing them onto a fire, with up to 25sq m of marine plants affected,” Mr Watts said. “All marine plants, including mangroves are protected by law in Queensland and a permit is required for operational works involving their removal, damage or destruction. “In this case, there was no permit to carry out assessable development under the Planning Act 2016. “Fisheries Infringement Notices were issued to the two residents, with fines of $1,334 each.”
Mr Watts said illegally damaging or destroying marine plants can have a lasting impact on Queensland’s fisheries resources. “Healthy tidal fish habitats are important for the animals that live there, and any loss of mangroves will have a flow-on effect to fish and crab populations,” he said. “Even minor disturbance to marine plants can have a cumulative effect, leading to a long-term decline in local fish production and general aquatic health.” Mr Watts said Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol can issue on-the-spot fines of $1,334 for damaging marine plants and habitats, and penalties of up to $598,500 may apply in cases prosecuted in court. Everyone is encouraged to help protect marine plants and report any damage to the 24-hour, toll-free Fishwatch hotline 1800 017 116. Follow Fisheries Queensland on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – @DAFQld
8. This dish is great served hot or cold and is nice accompanied with pieces of broken bread for dipping.
Tip: Ratatouille is a vegetarian dish that can be served hot or cold. Prep time: 90 min | Cooking time: 40 min | Serves 4-6 Page 64 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
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Grunter and flathead have featured in the Burnett
A
S for many parts of Q u e en sla nd, our region craves rain, though the fishing hasn’t been too bad for anglers who have had the time and opportunity to hit their favourite spots. Fabulous flathead Flathead have been prevalent, especially in the mid-sections of the Burnett River around Strathdees boat ramp and upstream. As well as live and fresh bait, they have been taking lures and seem to have a penchant for soft plastics. Two keen anglers, Risk and Tony have experienced success with this species recently including a few sizeable specimens. When targeting flathead, keep uppermost in your mind the fact that they are an ambush predator. They will most likely be camouflaged on sand and mud, semiburied in an area where their prey is likely to swim unaware of the impending danger and ambush. Hence, best places to target flatties are along the edges of sand banks and drop-offs and little alleys, where a rising or falling tidal stream will see baitfish pass by. If using live and fresh bait, it makes sense to ensure your bait moves through the water as either a live, injured or recently deceased baitfish would – which means not anchored to the bottom with a large lead sinker.
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Bundaberg Region by BRAD YOUNG
I have enjoyed many successes walking along a drop-off with my bait suspended beneath a float. The float enables the bait to move naturally with the current and the float usually provides a little ‘jiggling’ attention, as it bobs on the wavelets. Greater success is likely with an unweighted or lightly weighted bait, or a bait set under a float that can move with the tidal stream. I have enjoyed many successes walking along a drop-off with my bait suspended beneath a float. The float enables the bait to move naturally with the current and the float usually provides a little ‘jiggling’ attention, as it bobs on the wavelets. This approach provides the opportunity to cover a lot of likely country, as well as providing an exciting visual as your float disappears under the surface and your line takes off to the left or right. Bream are sometimes a by-catch of this technique as well. Hard fighting grunter Grunter – or spotted javelin fish – have also been prevalent recently, chiefly near the mouth of the river. Grunter is a species
with many keen followers, especially as grunter are both excellent sportfish – putting up a great fight – and have excellent eating qualities. Many anglers make the trip northward to Weipa every year to target barred grunter. My preferred times to target this species are around the top and bottom of the full and new moon spring tide using fresh bait. Many anglers have their favourite ‘grunter spots’ – often a deep hole or channel where this fish congregate. Other anglers successfully target them offshore. The best bait to use would be fresh live prawns and flesh strip bait. Yabbies also account for their share of grunter, as they move along flats in search of a feed. If you are successful in catching one grunter, there are likely more around. Take the time to know
and understand how to identify the two species of grunter because they have different minimum size limits. Spotted grunter have a legal minimum size limit of 30cm and barred grunter have a legal minimum size limit of 40cm. Make the time to go fishing this Christmas As we approach the end of this extraordinary year, when many of us were forced to spend additional time away from work and outdoor recreational activities, make sure you make the most of any time you have away from work and with family over Christmas. Fishing is a sporting and recreational activity that spans generations, providing grandparents, parents and children the opportunity to have fun and spend quality time to-
gether, often with the added bonus of a feed of fish at the end of the day. Visit the team at your local tackle store and hit them up for advice about how to get started targeting a local readily available species, or maybe the ‘secrets’ to targeting the one species you have always dreamed of adding to your bucket list. Everyone loves fishing and can enjoy equal success. I hope this information helps you get a feed. Enjoy great family time over the Christmas period, and let’s hope for good rain before the end of summer. As always, I can be contacted via email at f ish nboat@big pond. com or via mail at PO Box 5812, Bundaberg West Queensland 4670. Until next month…
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Grunter are around in numbers. Sam caught his in the harbour on a 2” Samaki Spider Prawn.
Mangrove jack are on the chew and the author’s dad caught his on a live mullet fished around fallen timber.
Adjusting for water temperature changes
H
APPY new year! What a year 2020 was – bring on 2021. Hopefully we have seen the worst and the world will start to slowly return to normal. The whole COVID-19 saga has affected people in different ways. Tourism was an industry hardest hit and this has had a flow-on
Gladstone Region by GARY CHURCHWARD
effect, with many small businesses feeling the pressure. Now that restrictions are lifting and the holiday season is here, there should be an increase in people travelling this great country, who will spend time and money
in places that have been affected. People will be out and about trying the goodies they got for Christmas, and this will result in an increase of people on the water. To avoid the crowds, either take the time to
Phil with a nice blue salmon from deep water on a vibe. Page 66 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
travel to less-accessible locations or be prepared to fish early morning and late afternoon into the night. Less boat noise can also impact fish movement and usually they will be more willing and aggressive to attack a lure or bait. If you are fishing during high boat movement, be a little more patient and spend an extra 10 minutes in one location and wait for a reaction bite. You will typically find fish schooled in deep water during the day, avoiding both the noise and increased water temperature. Fish will move with higher water temperature – typically spending cooler low-light periods of early morning and late afternoon patrolling the shallower water then moving deeper as the temperature rises. Normally we spend our time chasing slightly warmer water during
cool months, but with higher water temps it can be the opposite, and a degree or two colder can be a trigger for a bite. This can be more obvious on dams where tidal flow doesn’t affect water movement, but wind direction and strength can change the water temperature and where it is located. Awoonga Dam has been firing recently with multiple fish being caught during sessions, and the average size is on the rise, with fish over 1m starting to be common again. The Calliope River boat ramp carpark upgrade was completed at the start of December and will get a workout over the next few months. Mangrove jack will be a popular target during summer, with the raised water temperature firing them up. Using surface lures early morning and late afternoon will be ex* continued P67
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Adjusting for water temperature changes * from P66
tremely effective as the sun gets higher, and fishing deeper with hardbodies and weedless plastics will get results. If you’re keen and brave enough to be on the water just before or after an afternoon storm, you will find jack can be extremely aggressive and willing to hit almost anything offered. Don’t rule out the use of pillie for bait – at times they can out-fish a live bait or a wellpresented lure. Flathead will be around in good numbers on most sand banks and at creek mouths, and the last hour or two of a runout tide will be the best
time to chase them. Whiting are not a common target fish around the region but can be found in good numbers and make for a great feed. Grunter will still be around in quantities throughout the harbour and around the shipping marker pylons. These same pylons will hold plenty of queenfish, with the odd trevally mixed in – the trouble could be finding which of the many pylons are holding fish. A school or two of blue salmon will be appearing in the harbour and deeper sections of the rivers. Also, threadfin salmon
will be an option in the Fitzroy River and Port Alma, while barramundi are still off limits. If we get a bit of rain, mud crabs will start to
move – they have been around in low numbers, though you will need to work your pots and keep moving them until you find a couple.
Hopefully everyone has a great start to the new year. Cheers and happy fishing from Gladstone.
Blue salmon will be around, particularly in the harbour. This one ate a soft plastic on the flats.
80-year-old midnight snapper found in WA
A
N 81-yearold midnight snapper caught off the coast of Western Australia has taken the title of the oldest tropical reef fish recorded anywhere in the world. The octogenarian fish was found at Rowley Shoals about 300km west of Broome, and was part of a study that has revised what we know about the longevity of tropical fish. The research identified 11 individual fish that were more than 60 years old, including a 79-year-old red bass also caught at Rowley Shoals. Australian Institute of Marine Science fish biologist Dr Brett Taylor, who led the study, said the midnight snapper beat the previous record holder
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by two decades. “Until now, the oldest fish we’ve found in shallow, tropical water have been around 60 years old,” Dr Taylor said. “We’ve identified two different species here that are becoming octogenarians, and probably older.” Dr Taylor said the research will help us understand how fish length and age will be affected by climate change. “We’re observing fish at different latitudes with varying water temperature to better understand how they might react when temperatures warm everywhere,” he said. The study involved four locations along the Western Australia coast, as well as the protected Chagos Archipelago in the cen-
tral Indian Ocean. It looked at three species not targeted by fishing in the state; the red bass, midnight snapper and black and white snapper. Co-author Dr Stephen Newman from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development said longlived fish were generally considered more vulnerable to fishing pressure. “Snappers make up a large component of commercial fisheries in tropical Australia and they’re also a key target for recreational fishers,” he said. “So, it’s important that we manage them well.” Marine scientists are able to accurately determine the age of a fish by studying their ear bones or otoliths.
Fish otoliths contain annual growth bands that can be counted in much the same way as tree rings. Dr Taylor said the oldest red bass was born during World War I. “It survived the Great Depression and World War II,” he said. “It saw the Beatles take over the world, and it was collected in
a fisheries survey after Nirvana came and went. “It’s just incredible for a fish to live on a coral reef for 80 years.” The research is published in the journal Coral Reefs. Funding was provided by the Bertarelli Foundation and contributed to the Bertarelli Programme in Marine Science.
Photo: Brett Taylor, AIMS. Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 67
There’s plenty going on in this Google Earth shot: a long rock bar that could funnel fish, current lines and clean water. Definitely well worth inspection.
Cash in on new year resolutions
T
HERE comes a time in your angling career when you’ve got to say no to doing the same things over and over again, and expecting a different outcome. There’s an old saying by Albert Einstein that explains the definition of insanity. Speaking of madness, 2020 was rocked by that dirty little virus we’ve all had a gutful of, so it’s time to put the
Capricorn Coast by JOHN BOON
past year in the review mirror and concentrate on what you’re looking to achieve in 2021. Statistics say that around 85 percent of new year resolutions fail, so what you need to do is prop yourself up in that top 15 percent of motivated achievers. Have a good think about what you want
to do – it could be a new species, catching particular fish using certain techniques or even putting fish on the table for the family a lot more often. The biggest key is to set reasonable goals for yourself. You could even go as far as giving yourself a reward every time you
Dan Baker with a solid red emperor on jig. This is one of the goals he set recently and clearly he got the reward. A lot of research and time went into making it happen. Page 68 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
reach a milestone, such as buying a new rod for tagging 20 flathead and a new reel for tagging 50. Whichever goal you set yourself, it all begins with research. It seems that we live in a time of wanting to skip the small steps and go straight to the reward, but don’t try to walk before you can crawl. YouTube and Google are two of the most
powerful tools. Simply type in your species or technique and start browsing – I guarantee you will find more than you need if you look in the right place. I wanted to get better at targeting mangrove jack and also improve my skip casting. There were so many YouTube videos dedicated to this topic, so from there I went out * continued P69
Saltwater barramundi are now a regular capture for the author, but only after investing time into that particular species. www.bnbfishing.com. au
Cash in on new year resolutions * from P68
and applied the tips I learned to my local area. More great research tools are informative articles and podcasts. I did a podcast on catching king threadfin with Greg from Doc Lures and I constantly get messages about techniques I outlined. Google Earth is another great research tool. So many people overlook the fact that sussing out your local area from the sky is really important. What kind of things should you be looking for? In my case it’s timbered banks, rock bars, current lines and pockets of clean water. You can even go and map distances to find out how much fuel you may need. Once your research is on the right track it’s time to invest in the correct electronics. An electric motor should be your first priority, followed by a good quality side imaging sounder. If you get the electric motor first you can still get out on the water and work timbered banks or rock bars and catch fish. It allows you to move into a spot, hold that position and work on getting the lures in the right areas. I’ve been using Minn Kota electric motors for a long time now and would highly recommend them. The ‘spot-lock’ fea-
www.bnbfishing.com.au
ture is very precise and there are a host of other functions you can use once you read carefully through the manual. When looking at purchasing a side imaging unit, make sure to do your research. If estuary fishing is your primary goal, I would highly recommend the Humminbird Helix series. Mega imaging plus an easy menu to navigate and the unbelievable clarity are features of this great unit. It doesn’t matter which sounder you buy so long as you use it correctly. Knowing that you are casting at fish will quicken the learning process, and you will quickly figure out the techniques and lures they respond to at different times. Don’t forget that there are dedicated businesses out there to show you how to get the best out of your electronics. If you’ve read the manual and are still lacking a bit of confidence, then professional advice might be a great idea. In this day and age there’s no excuse for not being prepared. If you’re a bit time poor, then you may need to schedule even half an hour a day or every second day for research and development. If you want to succeed at those new year goals, you will have to dedicate time to the cause, no ifs, buts or maybes. Now, it’s time to get cracking!
A quality sounder and an understanding of how to use it is very important. Many people would mistake these barramundi for gravel or rocks.
FISHING EVENTS COMPETITION
DATE
LOCATION
2021 Shimano King Feb 5-7 of Kings
Australia-wide www.kingofkings.live
Moura Muddy Water Apr 3-4 Family Fishing Comp
Dawson River, Moura – Zelma 0428 971 932 E: m.a.f.s.g@bigpond.com
Boyne Tannum Hookup
Gladstone region www.boynetannumhookup.com.au
Apr 30- May 2
Greenback Fishing Jun 12-13 Pottsville, NSW – Comp www.lionsgreenback.com National 4x4 Mar 19-21 Brisbane Showgrounds Outdoors Show and www.4x4show.com.au Fishing & Boating Expo Evans Head Fishing Classic
Jun 25- Jul 2
Evans Head – www.evansheadfishingclassic.com.au
To have your competition listed in the calendar please phone (07) 3286 1833 or email design@collins.media Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 69
A pair of quality spanish mackerel taken during the event.
The volunteer committee did a fantastic job redesigning the Weipa Fishing Classic to suit COVID-19 restrictions and still managed to put on an amazing event.
2020 Weipa Fishing Classic – a lesson in COVID innovation
S
MALL outback communities rely on their major community events for many reasons – for the social interaction, to raise money and to enjoy the unique lifestyle their particular location provides. In the small Cape York Peninsula outpost of Weipa, the major events of the year include the Fishing Classic and the Bullride, weekends keenly awaited by a town situated in the heart of arguably the best country in Australia for both activities. But in the ‘year of the pandemic’, it seemed
Competition Roundup by DAVE DONALD
our beloved Weipa Fishing Classic, usually staged over the June long weekend, would have to be abandoned. Apart from the enjoyment it provides for a town with more boats per head than any other in the state, there’s the injection of over a million dollars into local business that the event brings, a prize pool of around $130,000 distributed, and tens of thousands of dollars in profit are donated back
to community organisations by the voluntary Fishing Classic committee each year. However, in August, with many other community events canned or heavily modified, the new Fishing Classic committee decided Weipa couldn’t afford not to run its biggest weekend. A couple of the more tech savvy members thought they could come up with a COVID-safe format, but were concerned they
The larger of two boat/motor/trailer packages that were up for grabs at the event. Page 70 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
had no precedent or that no one would turn up, so they ran a community survey on the local ‘Secrets of Weipa’ Facebook page. The response was overwhelmingly positive! So, off they went into the unknown with plenty of enthusiasm and ideas! The 2020 Weipa Fishing Classic exceeded all expectations, confirming that the vision of a small but dedicated group could be realised if you get out there and have a go! I had a chat with the Classic committee president Aaron Schleich to get a handle on how it came together. DD: G’day Aaron, first up, tell us a bit about yourself? AS: Well, Dave I’ve lived in Weipa for the past 13 years and have been a homeowner here since 2009. My wife Janine and I came up here with the intention of working with Rio Tinto for two to three years, but loved the re-
gion and the community and ended up having three boys along the way. We really enjoy our camping, fishing and exploring the Cape and now we are introducing our boys to the lifestyle and they are thriving! We truly love the region and want a prosperous future, which is why we remain active in keeping the community spirit alive and well. DD: How did the concept for this year’s Fishing Classic come together? AS: The committee started by reviewing the economics of our usual proceedings. In past years, we’ve relied heavily on the involvement of the ‘Creek to Coast’ program to handle the media and promotional side of things but this came at considerable expense. So, with the likelihood of a much-reduced event, we asked ourselves how we could better deliver product data transparency for our sponsors * continued P71
www.bnbfishing.com. au
2020 Weipa Fishing Classic – a lesson in COVID innovation * from P70
and increase their promotion, yet still make a profit. We had already been playing around with a few ideas of using our own presenters, doing our own video then stitching something together at the end. We had a bit of a chat around options we’d been discussing individually around still holding the fishing event but, given the COVID-19 restrictions, felt we wouldn’t need to worry about any of the event management and all that sort of stuff, just host the fishing side of things. DD: So you took the opportunity to redesign the entire event! That’s a massive undertaking. What was your time frame? AS: We rescheduled the Classic for the weekend of October 30 to November 1, which gave us just over two months. There was an environmental scientist in town, Khory Hancock, who had a large media following via his website and Instagram – we approached him about being MC. He was so enthusiastic, he joined the committee. Initially, we were going to use our phones and Facebook to stream the event but when we were arranging to get our competition shirts printed in Cairns, our contact Scotty mentioned he was now involved in video streaming, which prompted a very excited conversation around how we might be able to do things on a more commercial platform. From there, a team was put together that included
www.bnbfishing.com.au
our usual media and entertainment specialists the Beserk Brothers, James the digital hardware expert, and Khory to front the show. DD: The major appeal of the Classic is usually centred around 30 prize draws over three nights that attract over 2000 ticket sales. Did you stick with that scale of things this year? AS: We normally get a lot of out of town visitors who come up especially for the event, but realised this was not going to happen and that it would be a majority of community members only. Therefore, the committee opted to reduce the draws to 15 in the hope of selling around 1500 tickets. There would still be the major prize of a boat package and we managed to get a smaller rig for the runner up. Plus, a $10,000 cash prize for the first time ever. DD: And how did this pan out? AS: In the end we sold around 1600 tickets, distributed 84 prizes in the prize draw and random giveaways, plus 72 rod and reel packages for the species category winners, ran a monster raffle, in total over $130,000 worth. DD: Wow, that’s fantastic! How did the live streaming of the weighins, draws and presentations work out? AS: Even with the expertise we had assembled, it was still a seat of the pants setup! We did originally consider pre-recording the opening, the introduction to country for instance, but in the end we developed a loose
production sequence that would cut between picking the draw numbers and promoting our sponsors, then chatting with the winners when they phoned in to follow up with their tickets. We learned a lot from Friday night and by Sunday, were pacing the proceedings much more efficiently. There were two outlets for our streaming, via our Facebook page for those watching at home and a commercial feed to places such as the Albatross Bay Resort, and bowls and golf clubs where they had the event on a big screen. So the promotion went many ways, the pub and clubs
were busy, the community still spent money on food and refreshments and our sponsors were given heaps of air time. We had over 500 groups watching on Facebook on Friday night with one group reportedly in Singapore! DD: Sounds like the 2020 Weipa Fishing Classic exceeded all expectations! AS: It sure did Dave and we will be contributing most of the money raised to improving our showground, which is a site we used for the first time this year. Huge congratulations must go to the small voluntary committee that ultimately came up with this remarkable
event in these far from normal times. There’s obviously a blueprint here for other community fishing competitions to follow. It’s a wonderful example of how important being able to engage in recreational fishing is to our communities, particularly those outside of the big cities – and the resourcefulness of the people who love to wet a line. In these days of growing mental health concerns, events such as these inject massive amounts of positivity into the mix. Recreational fishing, it seems, is more than just trying to catch a fish!
The smaller boat/motor/trailer prize will be enjoyed by its new owner.
The Classic always sees kids getting involved and making use of the great fishing the area has to offer. Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 71
Helaine with a barramundi cod that was quickly photographed and released.
Paul ‘Duckface’ Dawson and his trout.
After electrical issues, Helaine ‘H’ Wilesmith got out and nailed a few nice trout.
1770 Bush ‘n Beach Trophy wrap-up
T
HIS year’s Seventeen Seventy competition was nearly a non-event – it seemed the weather forecast worsened every time someone looked – it was never going to be a good outcome. The uncertainty in the weather caused boats to drop out daily, with a strong field of 16 dwindling away to only six. Though the conditions for the week looked doubtful, several boats decided to get out on Monday – just to burn off steam. Conditions were extremely poor, but Rob Schomberg lied anyway, telling Helaine back in Brisbane that things were great, and she’d be disappointed
Power Boat Anglers by MICK CLUTTERBUCK
if she missed the opportunity. H promptly packed the boat and headed up, albeit under false pretenses, and arrived late Monday afternoon. Out on the water and feeling quite smug, Salty elected to stay close and fish the Nine Mile Reef. Rob’s deckhand showed him how it was done by landing a nice snapper, quickly following it up with a nice 23kg cod. They had intended to release the cod, but as it didn’t recover, it ended up in the Esky for the trip home.
Scotty Williams with his 8kg red emperor. Page 72 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
Ocean Pearl and SeeYa opted to punch out to Fitzroy Reef and were met with less than ordinary conditions between Fitzroy and Llewellyn reefs. They elected to fish in the lee of Fitzroy and managed a good bag of redthroat emperor and a nice assortment of other reef fish. Tuesday was a blowout and most crews spent the day wandering between houses, working out super-secret plans and pinching marks to use for the week – as well as checking the forecast every hour. After much discussion, a plan was floated for a late start on Wednesday, as conditions were looking to calm down. An overnighter at Fitzroy seemed a popular choice, as it allowed crews to capitalise on the good forecast for Thursday. All boats were on the water by mid-morning on Wednesday – the
last one through the bar was H on Amity, after having to sort out a few pesky electrical issues that had waylaid them in the river. Once underway, it was a reasonably jiggly journey out to the reef. On arrival, boats went their separate ways to make the most of the remainder of the day before returning to Fitzroy in the afternoon and settling in for an overnighter before dark. After a bumpy night’s sleep in the lagoon, all crews were up early and out searching for that lucky honey hole. Conditions were better than Wednesday but still not as good as the forecast had predicted. A couple of boats elected to stay close to the reef until the weather backed out a bit, just to be on the safe side. Amity got among good coral trout in the shallows, while the seemingly ever-present sharks were keeping Salty amused. As the day progressed, the weather got better, and everyone seemed to be getting fish. Salty’s radio gave up
the ghost, so the rest of the fleet couldn’t hear him. This was probably a good thing as Scotty on Salty had bagged a nice 8kg red, and with a broken radio the rest of them didn’t have to listen to all the yahooing for once. With the Friday forecast a blow-out, leaving no chance of another overnighter, this was the last hurrah for the week. All boats fished into the afternoon and were safely back across the bar by 5.30pm. In the wash-up, while the weather hadn’t been perfect, the boats had been out and managed a good feed. Scotty had fished well, showing skipper Rob how it was done, and took out the Seventeen Seventy BNB Trophy for 2020. Also, H didn’t seem too worried about the porky pie Rob had told to get her up there, so he lives to travel another day. Here’s hoping next year the weather gods will go a bit easier and if not, there’s always the year after that. www.bnbfishing.com. au
Rhino-Racks new Stow It utility holder
WHETHER you’re heading on a fishing or camping trip, a utility holder is crucial to carry all the essentials, while maximising space inside your vehicle for much needed legroom. As such, leading creators of world class durable easy-to-use roof racks, RhinoRack are pleased to announce the release of their brand-new carrying solution, the ‘Stow It’ – making packing, lugging and securing your gear a breeze on your next adventure. The Stow It has been crafted as one of Rhino-Rack’s most versatile utility holders, integrating four popular products into one innovative design. With an integration of multiple RhinoRack features, this new holder is perfect to secure all your axes, spades, rods and paddles for your next escapade. The Stow It has been designed to provide excellence in strength and longevity. Moulded from lightweight cast aluminium coated with premium quality powder, the Stow It offers an impressive load capacity of 8kg and has been purposely designed for both on and off-road use. Whether dirt tracks or beaches are your destination, the durability of the Stow It means that your gear will be secure no matter the conditions. As a universal product, the Stow It is also compatible with popular Rhino Rack systems – the Pioneer Platforms, Vortex and heavy-duty crossbars. Additionally, the Stow It is lightweight and easy to handle, with a simple single person installation. The additional spring-loaded quick release ratchet mechanism and key locking feature allow you to access and secure your equipment without any fuss. If you’re in a rush to catch the sunset or escape the rain, the Stow It offers the perfect means to quickly secure your
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equipment and get going. Rhino-Rack knows how important it is to create universal products that adapt to a multitude of environments and adventure lifestyles. The new Stow It is a revamped utility holder to secure whatever you need, to whichever popular Rhino-Rack system you already have. As the most secure load carrying solution, the Stow It makes stashing your gear and adventuring that much easier. Rhino-Rack Stow It is available in Australia from a recommended retail price of $109. For further information or to find your nearest Rhino-Rack dealer, visit rhino rack.com
Toadfish Outfitters Non-Tipping Can Cooler
CHECK out the coolest cooler! The amazing Toadfish Non-Tipping Can Cooler is the first un-spillable beverage cooler of its kind. The innovative SmartGrip technology allows the Can Cooler to stick to any smooth surface. From a lack of cup holders on a rocking boat to wagging dog tails, this product will keep your drink upright, accidentfree and icy cold. To use simply place the Can Cooler on any smooth surface and it will keep your drink in place and securely upright. Patented SmartGrip technology makes it hard to tip but easy to lift. Double wall vacuum insulation keeps your drinks cold until the last sip.
The Can Cooler is made with high grade stainless steel, making them puncture and rust resistant. The removable rubber gasket keep your can securely locked in. The Can Cooler fits regular cans, slim cans and bottles with the included adapter accessory. Available in teal, white, red, orange, graphite and pink from early December 2020. Standard retail price is $39.90 each. Check out the coolest Christmas gift this year at tackletactics.com.au/Toadfish-Outfitters
Egilicious squid jigs from Fish Inc
THE popular Egilicious range of squid jigs from Fish Inc. has expanded to include new 2.0 and 2.5 sizes, which are ideal for fishing slack tide, tough bites and when fishing land based, particularly in shallow water. The jigs are constructed from high quality materials, expertly designed and rigorously tested, with a buoyant 'tail up' design that increases the hook-up rate, while minimising snagging. In fact, the Egilicious tail is designed a few degrees higher than standard jigs to further reduce snagging and fouling. Egilicious jigs are fitted with quality Owner Draw 4 squid jig hooks that are finer than standard hooks to increase the hook up rate – and also allow the hooks to be straightened under pressure to retrieve the jig when snagged, and then simply bent back into position to continue fishing. Additional strike triggers include realistic 3D eyes and feather fins, along with a unique range of proven colours. Egilicious 2.0 and 2.5 are available in eight colours at a suggested retail price of $11.95. For more information, visit tackletac tics.com.au Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 73
Cameron Wellsteed won Biggest Threadfin Salmon with his 134cm beast.
Benn Durkin won Biggest Barramundi with 98cm.
Fitzroy River Barra Bash two-day competition results
Craig Griffiths presented Benn Durkin with his prize.
Cameron Wellsteed with Peter Herbst of EJ Todd.
A
MASSIVE thank you to all for your support of the 2020 Fitzroy River Barra Bash. This year’s event saw significant growth in competitor numbers, and our biggest field of teams hit the waters of the Central Queensland Net Free Zones. The two days of competition saw a record of 240 catches recorded. Congratulations go to our major prize winners. In what has been a challenging year to say
the least, the unwavering support of our sponsors enabled us to deliver a fantastic and COVID-safe event. Moving forward, the Fitzroy River Barra Bash dates for 2021 have been finalised, and the competition will be held from October 27-31, 2021. We are excited to be adding a Charity Challenge Shootout to our event next year, which will feature our local gun anglers and charter operators in a half day
Barra Challenge, with proceeds donated to our local charity partners. Sponsorship packages will be launched in February 2021, to coincide with the opening of the barramundi season, and with the official event launch scheduled for May. Again, we thank you for your support of the 2020 Fitzroy River Barra Bash and look forward to partnering again to provide an even bigger and better event in 2021.
Barra Bash Winners Most Metres Barramundi (team total)
Team Edge Rods: Craig Griffith and Karim De Ridder, winner of Most Metres Barramundi (team total).
1st
Team Edge Rods: Craig Griffith and Karim De Ridder
2nd
Beer n Bundy Boys: Aaron Dial and Quintin Maclean
3rd
Team Renegade: Tim Guy and Nathan Hootan
4th
Gone Nuts: Mark Boss and Steve Nuttall
5th
Tackle Happy: Andrew Harris and Mark Buckby
Biggest Barramundi (individual) 1st
Benn Durkin (Barra Freaks)
Biggest Threadfin Salmon (individual) 1st
Cameron Wellsteed (Coopers)
Most Metres Threadfin Salmon (team total) Meegan Armstrong, Livingstone Shire Council with Matthew Hutt and Challan Gilley. Page 74 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
1st
Team Hi-Vis: Matthew Hutt and Challan Gilley
2nd
Gone Nuts: Mark Boss and Steve Nuttall www.bnbfishing.com. au
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 75
BOATING & marine
Lowrance announces new Elite Fishing System in fishfinder series
L
OW RANCE recently announced the most powerful Elite series fishfinder chartplotter available – the new Elite Fishing System. The Elite Fishing System combines a full line-up of fishfinding tools, with a display that is easy to use and easy to install. Elite FS offers anglers all the tools needed to find and catch more fish. Target fish live with new ActiveTarget live sonar Watch high-resolution images of fish move-
ments – tracking them as they swim in and around cover with ActiveTarget live sonar. An additional transducer and module, this innovation allows users to see how fish are positioned in structure and how they respond to a lure presentation. With this view, anglers will know if their technique is working or if it’s time to make an adjustment. Find more fish with Active Imaging Active Imaging 3-in-1 sonar featuring CHIRP sonar, SideScan and DownScan Imaging with FishReveal shows
structure and cover to a new level of detail and at a range unmatched by any other structure imaging technology. Get the best of CHIRP sonar and DownScan Imaging on one screen with FishReveal – a Lowrance exclusive that helps anglers easily recognise fish from structure and cover on high-detailed DownScan images. Build the complete Elite Fishing System Full networking capability with integrated wireless, NMEA 2000 and Ethernet connectivity allows you to create the complete system.
Add Halo Dome Radar, Outboard Pilot or share sonar, charting, waypoints and other user data between multiple displays via Ethernet. Available in December from authorised resellers, the new Elite FS series with 7” and
9” displays, includes a variety of model options with and without Active Imaging, as well as ActiveTarget live sonar transducer solutions (sold separately). For more information on the Lowrance range, visit lowrance.com
Merry Christmas from John Crawford Marine We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for your ongoing support throughout 2020. What a year 2020 has been for us all, and we here at JCM could not have done it without our amazing and loyal customers. Wishing you and your families a safe and happy festive season, enjoying everything that our beautiful waterways have to offer.
Happy Holidays from the JCM Team
www.johncrawfordmarine.com.au
Page 76 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
www.bnbfishing.com. au
BOATING & marine Insights into boat insurance
Certified professionals are wired for good times
I
N the past, people thought in terms of purchasing a boat, motor and trailer. Today, it’s often boat, motor, trailer, electronics, networking system and possibly other equipment, such as self-deploying electric thrust motors. And every one of those items has its own electrical circuits. An outboard technician could plug into your motor today and download a raft of information about how many hours it has been used, the maximum revs achieved since its last service, any warning or problem codes that have been activated, and other information. We’ve moved beyond the days of a block-style sounder
and a GPS destination point on a black and white screen. Also, somewhere on your boat – often behind the helm – you’ll find a myriad of wires that might be managing a sounder, plotter, radar system, heading sensor compass, sound system, cabin cockpit and navigation lighting, bilge pump, electric anchor winch, live bait tank and deck wash, not to mention the outboard itself, as well as an electronics backbone that allows various pieces of equipment to talk seamlessly to each other. So, when you start fiddling with your electrics, you could in fact be fiddling with tens of thousands of dollars of very expensive and
Shane Beardmore’s beautifully restored CruiseCraft Rapide with electrical rewiring undertaken to a high professional standard.
elaborate equipment. It’s probably not the place to go poking around – unless you have the expertise or are looking for a simple fault such as a blown safety fuse, or a short resulting from a wire that has rubbed against another one. Specialists similar to Nautilus Marine Insurance will tell you likewise. When you decide to undertake wiring works without formal training or certification, you could be jeopardising your marine insurance policy. Ordinarily marine insurance policies require all technical work – such as boat repairs, electrical, gas and fuel systems – to be undertaken by certified professionals. The reasons are fairly obvious. If a would-be homehandyperson decides it’s time to rig the boat for ship to shore power and makes a rookie mistake in the setup that results in a fire, the ensuing legal and financial exposure could be horrendous. If the work should have been executed by an authorised professional but wasn’t, any
subsequent insurance claim for damage to your boat, to other vessels sitting nearby when things went pear-shaped, to people and to infrastructure, could become your personal liability. Only competent professionals such as marine electricians are recognised as knowing the right type and gauge for a certain wire carrying a certain load over a given distance – knowing whether the way something is wired will interfere with the performance or operational safety of another piece of equipment and similar factors. They’re trained in how to lay out wires, which wires can be bundled, and which ones need to be separated, as well as what and where things need to grounded or terminated. They know whether things should be run directly from the battery, via a switch or a bus bar, where fuses are required and the correct specifications of those fuses, and they know where there should be emergency cut-offs and how they should operate.
The bottom line is that their qualifications should make them knowledgeable about the right way to make the wiring work and the right way for it to interface with onboard systems. They know how to foreshadow and prevent problems, and most importantly they have seen where and how things go expensively wrong. They know whether that strange smell in the bilge is a pillie that found its way there when you were baiting up, or whether it’s a wire that is about to cook itself into flames. When it comes to marine insurance, always check your Product Disclosure Statement and if you have a query, ask your insurer for clarification. Any special conditions and excesses should always be explained clearly in your insurance policy’s Product Disclosure Statement. If you need further information, you can contact Nautilus Marine Insurance on 1300 780 533 for any boat insurance requirements.
Advice in this article is general and might not apply or be right for you. Before acting on it, consider its appropriateness having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. Nautilus Marine Insurance is a business name of NM Insurance Pty Ltd ABN 34 100 633 038 AFSL 227 186 (NM Insurance), the issuer of Nautilus Marine Boat Insurance. Consider the Product Disclosure Statement at nautilusinsurance.com.au before deciding whether to purchase a policy.
www.bnbfishing.com.au
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 77
BOATING & marine
Bravo 1 FS prop makes pro fisher faster and higher
N
O R T H Queensland barramundi specialist, Craig Griffiths’ new Mercury Bravo 1 FS prop has not only given him more top speed, it’s delivered a smoother ride, a more balanced boat and an incredible hole shot – all highly valuable advantages when it comes to competition fishing. Craig’s 19’ Skeeter ZX190 bass boat was quick, but now it’s even quicker. “I had a three-blade prop on a 21-pitch, but I was getting chine walk at about 100km/h,” Craig said. “I was talking to a few
people and they tipped me off to the Bravo 1 FS.” A four-blade 23-pitch prop, the Mercury Bravo 1 FS has changed Craig’s boat for the better. “I had to lift the engine about 125mm, which made a world of difference and has actually improved the balance of the boat,” he said. “The overall ride is smoother too, changing from three blades to four.” Craig’s careful testing has shown a speed pick up across the rev range, including being an impressive 14km/h quicker at 4000rpm and
6km/h faster at the top end. “The prop really delivers the four-stroke’s low end torque,” Craig said. “It used to take me 50m to get up on plane. “Now I’m up in a boat length – one and a half at most! “With the Bravo I can drive the engine right out to full RPM at 6000 up to 106km/h and it’s a great ride, with a brilliant hole shot.” To make sure you’re getting the most out of your boat, visit the Mercury Propeller Selector. Mercury Marine offers an incredibly large
range of propellers, with the ideal prop for virtually every application and options covering materials – stainless steel, aluminium, Mercalloy and Mercury’s unique X7 Alloy
– pitch, rotation, finish, venting and boat type. Simply visit mercury marine.com/en-gb/au/ propellers/selector to make sure you have the best prop for your individual needs.
The Mercury Bravo 1 FS four-blade 23-pitch propeller.
Latest Simrad VHF Radio and Class-B AIS Systems
N
AVICO are pleased to announce the arrival of its premium multi-station black box marine radio systems, the SIMRAD RS100 and RS100-B, the latter integrated with a ClassB AIS transceiver and GPS. These systems are expandable and customisable to suit any boat
and on-water communication needs. The RS100 and RS100-B are modular VHF systems that are expandable up to eight handsets (four wired and four wireless) and four external speakers, and are ideal as an on-board intercom on larger boats. The wireless handsets with inductive cordless
Page 78 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
charging, duplicate the radio display and controls on easy-to-read screens, viewable under all lighting conditions even bright sunlight. All primary functions are accessible from the handset with channel scan and favourites, alphanumeric keypad, clear audio, handset station naming and 60-second audio rewind. Navico Group’s Mike Fargo said, “Our new VHF systems offer customers even more flexibility and better communications while out on the water.” “With seamless integration across Simrad systems plus a built-in
Class-B AIS transceiver in the top-ofthe-range RS100-B, our VHF radios help make boating safer than ever before.” The RS100-B system features a Class-B AIS receiver and transmitter, allowing users to see and be seen by other vessels with AIS equipment. It monitors the location of all nearby AISenabled vessels, providing real-time information in any weather condition, night and day. The Class D DSC approved radio can make and receive DSC distress signals including
current position, and supports direct calling to other DSC-equipped radios. A dual-channel watch enables monitoring of the current channel and emergency channel 16. A record and replay feature ensures important calls are never missed. The system includes one external speaker with additional outputs for up to four speakers and one optional loudhailer foghorn. For more information on either the Simrad RS100 or RS100-B packaged system, visit www.simrad-yachting. com www.bnbfishing.com. au
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A young budding fisho enjoying a day’s charter with Arrow’s Fishing Charter off Evans Head.
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 79
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0428 753 293 Page 80 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
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seanconlonsfishing@hotmail.com Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 81
4WDING & off - road A workhorse with style and comfort. The all-new Isuzu D-Max was at home both in the bush and on the beach.
Isuzu D-Max goes bush ‘n beach
S
M A R T E R , tougher and safer is one of the tag lines Isuzu use for the all-new D-Max, and it has proved worthy. The reborn workhorse has an all-new 3-litre turbo-charged engine that produces around 140kW of power and 450Nm of torque. And it doesn’t stop with the engine – the whole car has been reimagined, re-defined and re-styled to set it apart in the competitive utility market. I recently had the opportunity to test drive the new LS-M crew cab
4WD Review by BEN COLLINS
model in a variety of situations and was very impressed. The first thing I noticed when driving the all-new D-Max, in comparison to the older model, was the soft steering and less engine and road noise. While not a car, it did have that feeling and was easier to drive, which was something I noticed particularly when towing the big Cruise Craft around the suburbs.
With a 3.5t towing capacity, it is going to tick the tow-vehicle box for many people. Combine this with a 4x4 Terrain Command and a Rear Diff-Lock, which is standard on all 4x4 models, you have a vehicle that will be able to take you almost anywhere. To truly test this vehicle, I spent three days on Moreton Island – touring around through soft sand and pulling bogged schoolies out.
All of which the DMax did with ease. Though not tested on this trip, it’s worth noting the wading depth is a class-leading 800mm, which means you’re equipped to handle even more extreme action than that experienced on the island. Safety In addition to the new power plant and exterior styling, Isuzu has taken it up a few notches in terms of safety and features. With eight airbags including dual front, curtain, side, driver’s knee and far side airbags
Light steering and low down torque made towing a breeze.
Page 82 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
the D-Max receives a 5-star ANCAP rating. Other safety features include Adaptive Cruise Control, Antiskid Brake System, Autonomous Emergency Braking, Blind Spot Monitoring and the list goes on with a whole host of acronyms that can be found at isuzuute.com.au In summary, this car can almost drive itself – though I don’t suggest that. A feature I liked and one that assisted me was the Traffic Sign Recognition function, which basically showed the relevant speed limit on the dash. It’s hard enough to keep an eye on all the cars on the road and see every speed sign, so it was reassuring to have the speed limit displayed. Interior The Isuzu design team certainly need to give themselves a pat on the back because the functionality and look of the new D-Max is next level.
* continued P83
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4WDING & off - road
Isuzu D-Max goes bush ‘n beach * from P82
The 7” touch-screen display in the LS-M model was easy to use and can be coupled with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto plus voice recognition, making playing music and navigation so much easier. Combine this with a six-speaker sound system and you really do start to enjoy the ride. Features Standout features of the D-Max LS-M include four cargo tie-down hooks inside the tub that were perfect for securing the load and ensuring things didn’t move around on bumpy tracks. Colour-coded door handles and colourcoded front bumper with Bi-LED projector headlights that autolevel are standard on the LS-M model. Back seat rear vents and the USB charging port came in very handy keeping the kids cool and fully charged. It was also great to have eight cup holders, four in the front and four in the back – you can never have too many. Performance In terms of performance, the 140kW turbo-charged diesel engine delivered smooth power through its sixspeed transmission, though in this model you can also opt for a six-speed manual transmission if preferred. Additionally, the lowdown torque enables smooth towing of large loads.
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Economically, Isuzu quotes a fuel consumption of a combined 7.7L/100km, which is plausible though with towing and beach driving expect more. The display option indicating real-time litres per 100km and throttle percentage is another feature of the Isuzu D-Max LS-M, allowing you to manage fuel economy with your driving style. Growing in popularity Isuzu is climbing the utility market ladder, which is not surprising given they have been engineering quality engines for over 100 years. Though now it’s not only their trucks that people are associating with quality. Over the two weeks I had the test vehicle, about four people approached me to talk about the D-Max. They either had one or had a friend with one, and the feedback was all the same and very positive. Guess that’s the best type of endorsement you can get – when owners or friends of owners are rating the car and wanting to talk to you about them. Overall The all new D-Max has certainly been reborn and is sure to impress. With its new look inside and out, including 17” alloy wheels, front coil suspension, heavyduty brakes and heavy-
duty rear leaf suspension, the LS-M is a great mix of workhorse and style. For more information on the full range of Isuzu D-Max Utes or to find your local dealer, go to isuzuute. com.au
Digital displays and steering wheel controls meant everything was at your fingertips.
The interior was very stylish and modern.
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C ARAVANNING & adventure
Stressfree airbag system
T
This airbag system has been a godsend.
You can see the environment encountered under your van.
The author’s independent airbag suspension. Page 84 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
HE end of 2020 will be remembered for the boom in caravan and RV sales, as many adventurers unable to travel the world took to the road to discover their own pieces of paradise. It’s a fantastic way to explore and it’s up to you to decide where you wish to go and how hard you wish to push it. Design and reliability are two important factors required to really enjoy the experience. Jennifer Mifsud is the interior designer responsible for On The Move range of caravans and her personal touch has taken the use of space and style to a level not seen in other caravans in today’s marketplace. So why am I so passionate about my van? First, when travelling it’s hard to avoid talking with a wide variety of personalities and nomads of all ages. It’s easy to see tension building between couples and that they’re trying to live in a badly designed van is a common reason. Compromise is a word I hear when people describe caravans, but it doesn’t have to be so. Good design makes for a very happy travelling experience. Take your time when searching for your personal van. Simple actions such as moving a table slightly to access a seating position or restricted movement when carrying out daily activities
Outdoors by PAUL ‘CHIEF’ GRAVESON
eventually gets on your nerves. Add to the mix a stinking hot day, changing a flat tyre or negotiating a challenging section of track and that simple seating arrangement could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. My job in our adventures is to get us to our destination in one piece – I’m responsible for the quality of our trip, managing how we get there without stress and avoiding mishaps. So how does our Vortex Black Edition help me achieve this? The van’s standard setup of airbag suspension and total air system is an important component. The system provides more than a safe, efficient suspension for travel, it allows me to alter the van’s characteristics by varying the running pressure in each independent airbag. Weight distribution is always a consideration in the science of towing, but with a bit of fine-tuning in my suspension I can create a safe driving experience. Clearing ruts and obstacles is assisted by inflating the airbags to increase my van’s clearance. This is engaged simply by the use of a tiny remote control. Once an obstacle is
overcome, you can easily and quickly deflate to normal running pressure again with the use of the remote. Believe me, scenarios will arise and you’ll thank goodness for this feature. When driving off-road, finding a flat campsite is not always as easy as you’d think, so the airbag system eliminates time wasted setting up wheel ramps to raise one side of the van in a sometimes doomed attempt to level. Even on a slope, place the spirit level on the floor and adjust left and right bags using the remote to come up with the perfect level floor in seconds. When travelling fulltime, this can mean better sleeping, better general operation of your van and, if you’re lucky enough to have a washing machine, no problems with the balance of the unit. Having access to our own washing machine has improved the quality of our travels, especially as it’s a 3.2kg top loader. There have been times when we’ve stayed in a bush or beach camp for up to three weeks at a time with no available facilities, so having the opportunity to wash our shorts and shirts is a real pleasure. I mentioned camp* continued P85
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C ARAVANNING & adventure
A well-earned break after a tough track near Camooweal.
Stressfree airbag system * from P84
ing at the beach, so I’ll point out another huge advantage of our airbag system. The system allows me to have a powerful compressor at my fingertips as a part of the caravan setup. A control panel on the side of the van shows digital readings of the independent airbag pressure, but also offers an air outlet to use in conjunction with an air hose. I can quickly inflate my truck tyres to suit beach or highway travel. I’m not joking when I say I can adjust the tyre pressure of both vehicles in a few minutes. I can camp at an isolated location for three weeks and have access to check all the tyre pressures, without dragging out any equipment and wasting time using an underpowered, cumbersome portable compressor. The whole system has been supplied by Brisbane-based company
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Airbag Man. This product is only one of the attention-todetail items that have taken our quality of travelling and comfort to an extreme level. Recently, in the space of a week, we had five different couples ask to have a look over our van and a rundown of its features. I will share more of this van as we continue to move around, but in conclusion, and after seven months driving over a variety of landscapes, I rate our Vortex Black Edition caravan highly. We have the ultimate example of off-road equipment that continues to provide a high level of comfort and luxury. You really need to check out the range of quality vans at ont hemoveca rava ns. com.au On a completely different note, on our travels and especially in isolated areas, I tend to finish the night drawing
a few simple pen and ink illustrations. I was so pleased when Kenoath Clothing Co. asked to print one of my simple art pieces on a shirt. Kenoath offers a whole range of products that explore our Australian culture, including stickers and clothing that capture a history of wheels, waves and our fascination with beach life. Like myself, Des Hughes has a strong background of living the coastal dream, fishing its beaches, playing on its waves and enjoying those classic vehicles associated with our culture and past – a time when things were more classic than plastic. Check out kenoath. com.au and see why I’m so pleased to be associated with this brand. Happy new year to all and, I hope you’re enjoying family time and celebrating how lucky we are to live where we do.
One of the author’s drawings on a Kenoath shirt.
Another one of Kenoath’s typical beach inspired designs. Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 85
A healthy bass taken on a 1/2oz Bassman Spinnerbait cast at the bank in the Boyne River arm.
Trent Collins with a cracking yellowbelly from the edge at Lake Boondooma.
Summer patterns in full swing on South Burnett dams
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HIS time of year is certainly popular for getting out on the water. The weather is hot and the water is the place to be. Whether you’re a fisher, into your skiing, kayaking or camping, Lake Boondooma and Bjelke-Petersen Dam
Freshwater Impoundments by MATTHEW LANGFORD
are two places that will be busy until it starts to cool down again. The fishing over summer is usually fantastic, with both dams having the potential to keep you very entertained.
If you like to troll, use bait or are an avid caster, the fishing potential is there for everyone. Lake Boondooma Summer fishing at Lake Boondooma is very exciting, purely
y G u id e d b g f o rd M at t L a n
Australian Freshwater Fishing Charters 0408 658 592 | australianfreshwaterfishing.com Page 86 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
because you have so many different options available. If you’re a troller, now is the time to be doing it. The fish sit high up in the thermocline and are easier to target. I’d suggest a 1/2oz spinnerbait, lipless crank bait or a deep diving hard-body if you want to troll, and I’d be doing this around the front of the dam in the deep water, as this is where fish in the thermocline commonly like to hang out. I do a lot of guiding on the dam and I teach my clients how to cast and retrieve. With this method, you have a few different alternatives when it comes to targeting fish in the lake. I’d start the day by searching the edges of the lake and using 1/2oz spinnerbaits and lipless crankbaits. Look for steeper rocky edges and cast
tight into the bank. Let your bait sink down the wall and when it hits the bottom, start a steady retrieve back to the boat. Repeat this process all the way along the bank until you get a bite or a fish. If you fish for more than an hour without any luck, change banks. If the banks don’t fire, another alternative is to look for fish in the thermocline. And if that doesn’t work, change tactics. Use your sounder to locate any fish sitting in 6m, as at this time of year this is where they are commonly found sitting. A good sounder will make your job a lot easier in this situation. Search around until you find scattered fish sitting around the thermocline and begin casting 1/2oz jig heads rigged with 3” soft plastics or 20g spoons. * continued P87
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Summer patterns in full swing on South Burnett dams * from P86
Common plastics I use are Ecogear Power Shads in Eel or Rainbow Trout colour and Charlie Brewer Slider Grubs in Baby Bass or Smoke Yellow Core. The technique to use is to cast your bait out and let it sink for 10 seconds, this will allow the bait to get down to fish sitting at 6m. Then start a steady and slow retrieve back to the boat. I’d usually use this technique later in the day as the water temperature rises, but with summer fishing that can be at any time during the day. It’s all about spending time to locate the fish first. Bait fishers have been catching decent yellowbelly and bass up in the Boyne River timber. The best bait has been live shrimp, and these can be caught in the dam along the weed edges. Red claw are out there but you’ll have to work for them. Bjelke-Petersen Dam BP has started to wake up, as the dam had been fishing very slow for most of the year. The dam level was at 11 percent at the time of writing but the warm water has brought fish up into the thermocline, were they are feeding well. BP is a little different to Boondooma in that the thermocline is higher in the water column. This is due to the dam being a lot shallower. Both dams hold a lot
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of bait – predominantly bony bream – and it will pay to imitate the bait that exists in the dam, as this is usually the best way of tricking a fish into biting. Trollers are catching bass using hard-bodies that dive to 3m, as are the casters. With the thermocline is sitting at 3m, anything swimming in that zone is likely to get attention. When I fish the dam, I commonly start on the steeper rocky edges casting 1/2oz jig heads rigged with a 3” plastic. I cast in tight, let it hit the bottom and then slowly roll it back to the boat. When fishing a plastic, it pays to be patient because the fish will generally tap at the lure first before eating it whole. I’d recommend not striking when you get a bite, instead lean into the fish with the rod only when you feel the weight of the fish. Occasionally they tap the lure a dozen times before eating it. My next approach would be to move out deeper if the steep edges don’t produce. Following the submerged creek bed is a likely area for fish to be moving through, so I’d use the same bait as I mentioned above. Same as Boondooma, use your sounder to locate fish in the thermocline and cast your plastic at them with a five second count to let it sink.
Fishing Charters Don’t forget that you can book a fishing charter with me on BP Dam, Lake Boondooma and many other dams in Queensland. If you’d like a great
day out plus all the information and knowledge to catch bass, yellowbelly or saratoga in our great dams, make sure you give me a call on 0408 658 592 and I’ll be happy to take
you out for a great day of fishing. You can also check out our website on aus tralianfreshwaterfish ing.com Until next time, tight lines and bent rods.
Get the kids out over the holidays and enjoy what Bjelke-Petersen Dam and Lake Boondooma have to offer.
DAM LEVELS CURRENT AS OF 7/12/2020
DAMS
PERCENTAGE
AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC Atkinson 13 5 5 5 5 Awoonga 64 63 61 61 60 Bjelke-Petersen * 16 14 12 12 11 Boondooma * 34 32 31 30 30 Borumba * 92 82 84 82 78 Burdekin Falls * 90 84 79 73 65 Callide * 27 25 24 24 23 Cania * 50 49 45 43 40 Coolmunda * 29 32 29 29 25 Dyer/Bill Gunn * 3 3 3 3 3 Eungella * 87 86 85 83 78 Fairbairn * 11 10 10 9 8 Glenlyon * 14 15 15 14 14 Hinze* 93 91 89 87 85 Julius 87 85 82 80 77 Kinchant * 84 80 76 71 66 Leslie * 13 13 12 12 12 Macdonald* 102 101 94 94 87 Maroon * 56 54 51 42 46 Monduran/Fred Haigh * 57 55 54 52 49 Moogerah * 26 24 21 20 17 North Pine/Samsonvale * 59 57 54 53 51 Peter Faust/Proserpine * 66 65 63 61 58 Somerset * 78 77 76 75 74 Teemburra * 99 98 97 95 94 Tinaroo* 69 65 61 57 50 Toonumbar 68 67 63 61 54 Wivenhoe * 46 45 43 42 40 Wuruma * 58 57 53 50 45 Wyaralong* 95 94 93 93 91 For updates on dams, visit sunwater.com.au or seqwater.com.au *This symbol indicates that a Stocked Impoundment Permit is required to fish these dams.
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 87
New year, exciting new lures W E are so glad to see the back of the year that was and plunge headfirst into 2021, in anticipation of good things to come. Kicking off angling forays in the new year, I am carrying a few new lures in my tackle box. I’ve been excitedly awaiting the release of the latest Predatek surface paddlers and their species-specific cod lure, the 90mm Cod Bug. We’ve already looked at the smaller siblings of these: the Bass Bug in the September edition of Bush ‘n Beach, and the smallest of the family, the tiny 45mm Kricket in the November issue. The anticipation has been worthwhile, with the 90mm Cod Bug proving to be yet another superbly designed top-water lure from the team at Predatek. There are two vari-
Fishing for Sport
by NEIL SCHULTZ
ants of the Cod Bug, the CB90 one-piece bodied version and the CR90 articulated model. Surprisingly, the two models exhibit noticeably different swimming styles and generate differing sound waves as well. Both display the same desirable features of the smaller bugs, with good casting qualities, attention grabbing acoustics and an enticing paddling action. Akin to the other bugs in the range, the Cod Bugs start a seductive paddling with the slightest movement at the commencement of the retrieve. During the first outing in my kayak with these lures, I fished waters that had been subjected to quite heavy angling pressure for a few days
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immediately prior to my visit – as I discovered later when chatting to the anglers involved. Even fishing during the heat of the day, on the first afternoon the Cod Bug managed to lure three average-sized river fish, despite their having seen several lure types the previous day. All three fish boiled under the lure, cautiously investigating the intruder before turning to deliver the killer strike seconds later. Turning lookers into takers after drawing them from the depths is the hallmark of a truly effective surface lure. Sunburned but vastly satisfied, I dragged the Hobie from the river and lashed it to the trailer to be back at camp before dark for a prearranged meeting. Next morning, as the first kookaburra joined the dawn chorus, I ignored sleep deprivation – a long story – to head to a different launching point, which involved wheeling the Hobie along a track for 100m or so, then down a steep bank to reach the water. On the water before the fiery ball peeped over the eastern horizon, this old angler was quietly confident of scoring a fish in short order. An hour later and with waning confidence, I was in autopilot mode and casting mechanically while enjoying the sights and sounds of the morning on the river. The resident platypus was happy to bob along
beside me as I watched kestrels take prey items to their pair of hungry chicks in a hollow branch of an overhanging river gum. Kingfishers splashed into the river to catch their breakfast, and dollar birds and rainbow bee-eaters performed impressive aerial manoeuvres above in the same pursuit. A loud pop followed by a sizeable detonation on the river where my lure had previously been quickly brought me back to the task at hand. Another typically well-coloured river fish was brought close to be photographed in the water and released without being touched by human hands. When chatting to a couple of fishers with kayaks back at camp,
I discovered that my slow results were due to their having given that stretch of river a thorough scouring with lures over the previous two days. An unrelated learning – I discovered that using the new phone instead of a camera was a bad idea – I couldn’t see the image on the screen at all in the sunlight, so ended up shooting blind, with obvious results. My USB card holds plenty of images of fish tails, weed beds, my ankles and such. But on the bright side, it gives me an excuse for a return trip very soon. Early results with the new Cod Bug have been so promising that I’m very optimistic about scores in both rivers and lakes in coming months.
In spite of fishing at noon on a hot day, the cod couldn’t resist the action of the Cod Bug.
A Cod Bug in Mango Frog colour brought this cod from its snag during early morning, prime time for using a surface lure. www.bnbfishing.com. au
Murray-Darling Basin Authority and BoM update
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HE 2020 Basin Plan Evaluation, assessing the outcomes of the Basin Plan and the process to implement it, was released in December 2020. The evaluation provided an opportunity to take stock of what had been achieved and apply the lessons learned to the future. The Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council, which includes the water ministers of every Basin state and the Australian Government, considered the findings of the evaluation when it met in late November. Across the Basin,
we experienced good rainfall in spring. The wet weather is likely to continue through summer and there is a high chance of flooding in several Basin states, according to the Bureau of Meteorology’s severe weather outlook. To help prepare for flooding, our River Operations team has been participating in training exercises designed to stimulate flash flooding and very high inflows into Hume Dam and Yarrawonga Weir. Floods are a natural part of Australia’s water cycle and are crucial in providing water
to floodplains. However, they can be damaging and present challenges to community and environment. The use of flooding information on the mdba.gov.au website is encouraged, which includes key contacts and expected water quality issues that may occur. As the BoM’s latest severe weather outlook predicts an increased risk of flooding and cyclones in Basin states, it may be time to batten down the hatches. The outlook for October 2020 to April 2021 is a stark contrast to a year ago,
when many Basin communities experienced poor rainfall and suffered through prolonged drought. The current La Niña means we are likely to see more rain in eastern and northern Australia, and several drought-affected areas have already had an increase in rain, leading to higher water storage levels. October through to April is considered the peak period for bushfires, thunderstorms, heatwaves and tropical cyclones. The predicted higher rainfall and humidity means long-running bushfires and extreme
heat days are less likely, but this does not mean bushfires are not a possibility. With more rain comes an increase in foliage growth, which could dry over summer and a few hot, windy days could spark bushfires. South Australia, NSW and Victoria are likely to experience heatwaves that last longer and are more humid. Stay up to date with the heatwaves in your area by monitoring BoM’s heatwave service, or to watch regular climate and water updates, subscribe to BoM webinars bom. gov.au/webinars
Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Stocking Group update
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HIS update covers a range of topics of interest. Stocking season With stocking well underway across most of the state, this is a timely reminder to let your local Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol office know 48 hours before a stocking event is scheduled to occur. This allows QBFP to field any calls from the general public and attend the stocking. Also feel free to call me on 07 3087 8131 or send an email thomas. ha r t@da f.qld.gov.au and I will try to attend where practical. Regulation amendments announced Changes to fisheries regulations were announced on 30 September 2020 to ensure the sustainability of Queensland’s commer-
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cial fishing industry. No major changes to recreational and charter sector regulations have been made in this round of reforms – only minor administrative amendments to provide consistency across all fishing sectors. For more information, visit daf.qld.gov. au/business-priorities/ fisheries/sustainable/ fisheries-reforms New Queensland recreational boating and fishing guides With the passing of reforms, we have now received a fresh print run of the Queensland Recreational Boating and Fishing Guides. FFSAQ will be provided with copies for distribution or you can contact me for copies. Qld Fishing 2.0 App A new version of our recreational fishing app ‘Qld Fishing 2.0’ has
been released. This new app will allow you to: • Identify catch by submitting a photo and leveraging the app’s fish recognition functionality, which uses artificial intelligence to identify a limited number of common fish species, and you can help improve the fish recognition functionality by submitting your fish photos to help train our fish recognition tool • Understand the fishing rules that apply in your current location by using the ‘Can I Fish Here?’ functionality • Receive Fisheries Queensland notifications, including reminders about upcoming closures • Purchase a permit to fish in one of our 63 stocked dams or weirs, via a link to the Australia Post SIPS sales platform
• Learn more about your catch, such as the approximate age of a fish based on the size you enter in the app • Contact Fisheries Queensland to submit information or make an enquiry or complaint. The new recreational fishing app can be used in remote locations or in locations with limited mobile signal reception. The app uses cached species information and simplified mapping information as part of its
offline functionality. Photos of fish are only used to help train the app’s artificial intelligence. The new recreational fishing app does not collect or store personal information about the user or where they are fishing. You can download the app for free by searching for ‘Qld Fishing 2.0’ in the App Store and via Google Play. Thomas Hart – Fisheries Officer
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 89
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Lake Glenlyon golden perch update
HE following dashboard provides a summary of golden perch data from Lake Glenlyon covering the past 10 years, from 20112020. As at November 18, the Glenlyon Dam level was at 14 percent. There were 1.1 million fingerlings stocked from 20112018, with 0 in 2017 and 2018. The average catch rate over the 10 years was 2.9 fish per fisher per day, and reached a low of 1.3 in 2015 and a high of 5.5 in 2016, with insufficient data for 2020. The average length of golden perch in
2019 was 376mm and ranged from a low of 313mm in 2017 to a high of 440mm in 2012. There have been eight trophy length fish of over 500mm caught over the 10 years, with the largest at 610mm in 2012. Tagged fish were dominated by legal sized fish ranging from 47.5 percent in 2017 to 98.2 percent in 2013. There have been 622 fish tagged for 19 recaptures, with a low recapture rate of 3.1 percent over the past 10 years. During this period, fish have been tagged in length of growth
Page 90 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
period map grids M14 with 237 fish, M18 with 56, L17 with 41 and L14 with 39. There have been insufficient recaptures to calculate a growth rate.
Of the 19 fish recaptured over the past 10 years, none have been recaptured outside the impoundment. Most recaptures
were by fishers from postcodes: 2478 with two fishers from the Ballina area in NSW and 4207 with two fishers from the Beenleigh area.
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HE following dashboard provides a summary of Murray cod data from Lake Glenlyon covering the past 10 years, from 20112020. As at November 18, the Glenlyon Dam level was at 14 percent. There were 45,000 fingerlings stocked from 2011-2018, with 0 in 2017 and 2018. The average catch rate over the 10 years was 1.4 fish per fisher per day, and reached a low of 1.2 in 2011 and a high of 1.6 in 2017, with insufficient data for 2020. The average length of Murray cod has been steadily increasing – from 430mm in 2011 to 566mm in
www.bnbfishing.com.au
Lake Glenlyon Murray cod update 2019, with a peak of 621mm in 2015. The first trophy fish tagged over 1m was in 2015 at 1200mm and there have been a further three trophy fish tagged since then. Tagged fish were dominated by undersized fish, with only 5.2 percent legal fish in 2012, while for the other years, legal fish have been less than 20 percent – except 2015 when it was 47.1 percent. There have been 479 fish tagged for 104 recaptures, with a high recapture rate of 21.7 percent over the past 10 years. During this period, fish have been tagged in length of growth period map grids M14 with 130 fish, K17
with 44, M18 with 43, M15 with 38 and L17 with 35. Annual growth calculated from tag recaptures at the end of year one was 145mm and at the end of year five was 340mm. Of the 109 fish recaptured over the past 10 years, none have been recaptured out-
side the impoundment. The lake was at 0 percent for 27 days in May-Jun 2019, however 11 fish tagged prior to that time have been recaptured since, suggesting a high survival rate even at very low water levels. From postcodes of fishers recapturing fish, 65 percent were
from Queensland and 35 percent from NSW. Most recaptures were by fishers from postcodes: 2478 from around the Ballina area in NSW with 10 fishers, 4305 around the Ipswich area with nine fishers, and 4207 around the Beenleigh area with five fishers.
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 91
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HE following dashboard provides a summary of Australian bass data from Lake Borumba covering the past 10 years, from 2011-2020. As at November 20, the Borumba Dam level was at 80 percent. The catch rate for 2020 was 8.4, which was above the 10-year average historic catch rate of 5.6 fish per fisher per day. The average length of Australian bass in 2020 was 312mm and ranged from 200470mm. The percentage of legal fish in 2002 was 59.6 percent, with 0 percent of trophy fish 500mm and over. There have been
Lake Borumba bass update 2629 fish tagged for 208 recaptures, with a recapture rate of 7.9 percent over the past 10 years. The longest time out for a tagged bass is 11.5 years, but that is expected to be longer as tagging has only been significant since 2008. Annual growth calculated from tag recaptures at the end of year one was 32mm and at the end of year five was 89mm. During the 10-year period, fish have been tagged in length of growth period map grids E34 with 782 fish, D34 with 299, F34 with 231, G33 with 208 and G34 with 200. Of the 208 fish recaptured over the past
Page 92 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
10 years, 22 have been recaptured below the dam, with 11 caught in Yabba Creek and 10 in the Mary River. Most recaptures were by fishers from postcodes: 4570 from
Gympie with 37 fishers, 4014 from Virginia with six fishers, 4505 from Burpengary with six fishers, and 4305 around the Ipswich area with five fishers.
There have been six fish recaptures by fishers with postcodes outside of Queensland, with four from NSW, one from Victoria and one from Western Australia.
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HE following dashboard provides a summary of Australian bass data from Lake Boondooma covering the past 10 years, from 2011-2020. As at the end of October 2020, the Boondooma Dam level was at 31 percent. There was no catch data for 2020, while the 10-year average historic catch rate was 4.2 fish per fisher per day. The average length of Australian bass in 2019 was 264mm and ranged from 155445mm. The percentage of legal fish in 2019 was 25.5 percent, with 0 percent of trophy fish 500mm and over. From 2011 to No-
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Lake Boondooma bass update vember 2020, there have been 715 fish tagged for 76 recaptures, with a recapture rate of 10.6 percent over the past 10 years. Annual growth calculated from tag recaptures at the end of year one was 46mm and at the end of year five was 120mm. The longest time out for a tagged bass was around 15 years, however one fish was recaptured after 18.9 years. During the 10-year period, fish have been tagged in length of growth period map grids E15 with 82 fish, F15 with 73, G15 with 53, I12 with 47 and H21 with 46. Of the 118 fish recaptured over the past 10 years, one has been
recaptured above the lake and eight went over the same wall and were recaptured downstream. Two fish were recaptured in Splitters Creek near Bundaberg, 340km below the dam and after going over two dam walls and four weirs.
Over the past 10 years, most postcodes of fishers recapturing fish were 4610 Kingaroy with 12 fishers, 4405 Dalby with 12 fishers and 4606 Wondai with 11 fishers. Five recaptures were by fishers with NSW postcodes and two from Victoria.
Catch rates in Fishing Freshwater competitions from 20182020 ranged from 1.8 in 2019 to 2.7 fish per fisher per day in 2018. Only legal fish were submitted to the competitions, with average lengths ranging from 346mm in 2020 to 351mm in 2019.
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 93
That’s 2020
A
Kevin Sharman caught this 93cm Murray cod on his first day fishing.
s we head into the 2021 summer season, at the time of writing the storage at Glenlyon Dam was sitting at 15 percent capacity. Hopefully a rise of water level will take place at Leslie, Coolmunda, Connolly, Storm King and Glenlyon dams over the coming weeks. It has been a tough 12 months for all during 2020 – for our locals along with visitors to this neck of the woods, with low water levels in our rivers and dams. We saw Glenlyon rise from 4 percent capacity to 15 percent during March last year, thanks to a rain event. There was a downside though – with a fish kill in the Dumaresq River for about 20km, from Reedy Creek down to
Glenlyon Dam by BRIAN DARE
the Beardy River junction. There is however a little recovery taking place in that section at the moment – though we need rain. COVID-19 was and still is a major world event, killing many around the world – putting tension on countless people that will be felt for many years. To come out the other side of this callous lifetaking event will be beneficial to everyone around the world. Winter proved to be an eye-opener for quite a few anglers as borders shut and Glenlyon Dam became the only option for many fishers. The best times to
GLENLYON DAM TOURIST PARK A great place to fish! • Powered and Unpowered Sites • No Domestic Pets or Generators • Kiosk • Ice • Gas • Petrol • Amenities Blocks and Laundry • BBQs • Hire Boats • EFTPOS • Fishing Permits
14 CABINS bookings necessary
GLENLYON DAM TOURIST PARK via STANTHORPE 4380 Contact Debbie or Brian Dare for more information or for bookings
Ph: 02 6737 5266 E: glenlyondamtouristp@bigpond.com Page 94 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
fish were from 5.20am through to 9.30am and then 4.30pm through to 7.45pm, before returning back to base. YouTube, Facebook, cameras, phone calls and the adrenaline rush to the body was the order of the day. Quite a few anglers saw for the first-time egg sites of Murray cod, with dad looking after the 100-170,000 eggs. Dad had a job to do and he stuck to it, ignoring everything that was on offer. Not all cod had sites to look after and good numbers of big cod were caught. I spoke to Dr Stuart Rowland about the above event as well as the low water levels in dams and rivers. Stuart said with a little luck we may see rainfall during this summer and see the yellowbelly and silver perch head upstream to breed. We have about $60,000 to spend on golden perch, silver perch and the odd cod into 2021. While mentioning Dr Stuart Rowland, both Debbie and I will have on sale at the kiosk his book called The Codfather, recently released for Christmas and with about 620 pages on cod. It covers Stuart’s experiences while he worked in NSW fisheries on freshwater Australian species. The book covers his
* continued P95
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The Codfather by Stuart Rowland
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HIS book is the story of Stuart Rowland’s life and career, and is dedicated to the study and conservation of Australian freshwater fish. He was born into a wonderful Australian family, with inextricable links to Murray cod and freshwater rivers. In the early 1900s, the Rowlands owned farms on the Peel River, downstream from Tamworth and close to where in 1931 the
explorer Major Mitchell had named Murray cod, or maccullochella peelii. In 1985 and over 150 years later, Stuart named the endangered eastern freshwater cod maccullochella ikei, after his grandfather Ike Rowland, an expert at fishing for cod. Stuart was a scientist with NSW Fisheries for over 33 years, commencing in 1978, and studied native fish in the Murray-Darling and
Clarence River systems. He developed hatchery techniques, described the biology of Murray cod, identified, described and named eastern freshwater cod and Mary River cod, ran one of Australia’s first conservation projects, identified infectious diseases of native fish and developed farming techniques for silver perch. The subject matter includes Aboriginal culture and fishing,
That’s 2020 – a tough 12 months * from P94
work on Murray cod, trout cod, Mary River cod and the eastern coast cod of the Clarence River, which he named after his granddad ‘Ikie’. He mentions the many special people with whom he worked on his projects. You will find – regardless of how far your education took you, like my seat of the pants stuff having left school early
because the principal and I didn’t get on – Stuart has the ability to relate to everyone, whatever their level of education, and get his knowledge across. This book is and will be a must-have for all Australian recreational freshwater anglers. The parents who read this book will have a better understanding of the future of our fishing style and our river uses.
It’s the story of a man who dedicated his life to everything freshwater, with his wife Lyn standing alongside him throughout his career – the last chapter is a must-read! In closing for 2020, both Debbie and I would like to wish readers of Bush ‘n Beach a very good Christmas and may the new year be even better to you all. Keep well.
explorers and early settlers, NSW Fisheries, scientists, research techniques and facilities, old friends and characters, the MurrayDarling River system, the Clarence River system, hatchery production and stocking, fish diseases, the history, biology and conservation of Murray cod, eastern freshwater cod, Mary River cod, trout cod, silver perch and golden perch, extinct cod, and contains commentary on the environmental degradation, mismanagement and over-allocation of water leading to an unprecedented ecological disaster in
the Darling River in 2018–2020. This book is a plea for our precious native fish and rivers. Management must improve or they will be lost forever. For further information, email stuthecodfa ther@gmail.com
Stuart Rowland
The Codfather book cover.
Stuart Rowland, author of The Codfather, enjoyed being out on the river.
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 95
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 97
MERCURY
NO SACRIFICES NO COMPROMISES NO APOLOGIES
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*Based on testing done by Mercury Marine’s Product Research & Development team. Torque data collected on a Dynamometer at cruise speed, an average of 3500-4500 rpm. Fuel economy testing done using a 23 foot Centre Console boat for both 200hp engines, while a 21 foot Bass boat was used for the 250hp testing.
Go online or contact your nearest Mercury Dealer to find out more about the Mercury V6 / V8 range, taking performance, efficiency and reliability to the next level.
Page 98 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 MM0725 V6_V8_BnBFishing_210x297_v3.indd 1
www.bnbfishing.com. au 18/8/20 2:07 pm
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AIRLIE BEACH Whitsunday Outboard Centre 17 William Murray Dr, Cannonvale Q 4802 P: 07 4946 7286 E: woc@whitsundayoutboardcentre.com.au www.whitsundayoutboardcentre.com.au
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BRISBANE Karee Marine 1776 Ipswich Motorway, Rocklea Q 4106 P: 07 3875 1600 E: sales@kareemarine.com.au www.kareemarine.com.au
GLADSTONE Ship & Sale Gladstone Gladstone Marine Centre, Gladstone Q 4680 P: 07 4972 7111 E: sales@shipandsail.com.au www.shipandsail.com.au
ROCKHAMPTON Rifen Boats 6 Dooley St, North Rockhampton Q 4701 P: 07 4927 9150 E: rifen.boats@bigpond.com www.rifenmarine.com.au
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 99
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Page 100 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
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