BNB Fishing mag | May 2020

Free digital edition

May 2020 Volume 31, Number 5

Guide to soft plastics Trolling tips for flathead Moreton Bay blackspots Fishing spots vs techniques Spinning for spaniards & GTs off the Gold Coast

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From the BNB Fishing Editor

W

OW, what a whirlwind month we have experienced.

I hope everyone is staying safe and coping with the current restrictions and self-isolation.

However, the restrictions due to COVID-19 and a drop in customers visiting our advertisers have meant we’ve made a change and produced our first digital-only edition of Bush ‘n Beach Fishing.

There will be no print edition this month, but the good news is the digital edition is free and still jam-packed full of great articles for you to get your monthly fishing fix.

At this stage we are planning on doing three free digital mags, but this may change depending on COVID-19 and the impact it has on the industry.

Our advertisers have been adversely affected by this pandemic, much like many of our readers I’m sure, so we are trying to make this period as pain-free and affordable as possible for everyone.

In fact, we have offered our current advertisers free ads to try to get them through this difficult time.

As an industry, we need to come together and support each other.

Now is the time to support those who have supported you, so I encourage everyone, whether you are buying fishing gear or a new boat (some cracking deals are out there!), buy from our advertisers and say you are a BNB Fishing reader.

I am sure if we band together, we can get through this pandemic.

If you are a current subscriber or are about to renew, do not think you are going to miss out, as we will be adding these free digital mags onto your subscription term.

www.bnbfishing.com. au

New look If you are reading this, you have obviously received the free digital copy and you may have noticed it looks a little different.

We have modified the layout to make the digital copy more reader-friendly, with larger text, smaller pages and bigger pictures.

There are also direct links to advertisers’ web pages and YouTube video links accompanying some articles (click the pics with the YouTube logo!).

Hopefully, this new format will be well received and allow us to build in additional content for future publications.

In other good news, some restrictions have been lifted for Queenslanders, starting May 2.

Boating, jet skiing and dam fishing are all allowed from this date.

You still need to practise social distancing and good hygiene and can only travel a maximum of 50km from your home, but these changes should help alleviate some cabin fever, which I’m sure has set in for a few people.

However, the recent weather has been the best we have had all year, which has seen plenty of people out and getting a feed of fish.

If you are heading out, make sure you check the current regulations for your area and abide by them, as we don’t want the restrictions to be tightened again.

Big thanks Finally, I would like to whole-heartedly thank our awesome team of writers who have this month submitted their articles for gratis.

Without their commitment to providing information to you, we would not be able to produce the quality publication we have today.

Ben Collins

OUR COVER

MITCH ZYGNERSKY ticked this solid GT off his bucket list using a West Coast Popper. Head to HEATH ZYGNERSKY’s article on Page 38 for more pelagic action.

JUNE digital edition will be available to view from May 26.

March prizewinners Congratulations to Peter Kennedy, Reesville; Parke Smith, Cecil Plains; and Jim Mischke, Arana Hills who have each won an Austackle Verto 4500 spinning reel valued at $129!

May 2020 contents Moreton Bay blackspots . . . . . . . . . . by Brian Webb . . . . . . . . . . . . . P9 Flathead trolling techniques . . . . . . . by Stephen Booth . . . . . . . . . P12 Guide to using soft plastics . . . . . . . . by Keith Stratford . . . . . . . . . P18 Messed-up times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Sean Conlon . . . . . . . . . . P20 Fishing spots vs techniques . . . . . . . by Justin Wilmer . . . . . . . . . . P24 Recipe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Melissa Frohloff . . . . . . . . P26 Boat and tackle maintenance . . . . . . . . by Sean ‘Skip’ Thompson . . . . P28

20

Nailing a quick session . . . . . . . . . . . by Sean Bekkers . . . . . . . . . . P30 Things to do while isolating . . . . . . . by Brad Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . P34 Tide Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P35 Readers’ Forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P36 Spinning for spaniards and GTs . . . by Heith Zygnerski . . . . . . . . P38 Sweet mackerel season . . . . . . . . . . . by Gavin Dobson . . . . . . . . . P40 Tips for using vibes and lures . . . . . . . by Clint Ansell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P42 Something fishy to focus on . . . . . . . . . by Brett Hyde . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P46

12

Ned rig basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Justin Willmer . . . . . . . . . P48 Treble hooks a threat . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Dominic Wiseman . . . . . . P50 Charter Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P54 Insights into boat insurance . . . . . . . by Nautilus Marine . . . . . . . . P57 Useful boat maintenance tips . . . . . . by John Crawford Marine . . P58 Outboard maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Craig Tomkinson . . . . . . . . . P60 Subscription form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P61 Hervey Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Tri Ton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P62 Simply spanish mackerel . . . . . . . . . . by Joel Johnson . . . . . . . . . . P66 Bustard Head trip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Bob Savage . . . . . . . . . . . P68 Stanage Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by John Glanford . . . . . . . . . P72 Change of the seasons . . . . . . . . . . . by John Boon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P74 Cooktown commendations . . . . . . . . . . by ‘Billabong’ Bazz Lyon . . . . . P77 Trailer project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Neil Schultz . . . . . . . . . . . P79 4WDing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P80 Caravan Chat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Paul ‘Chief’ Graveson . . . P81 Caravanning trip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Todd Eveleigh . . . . . . . . . P82 Tagatoga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P85 Trading Post . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P86 Page 4 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

66

62 Like us on Facebook (Bush’n Beach Fishing Magazine), post your photos, share in the laughs and win prizes!

Check out our YouTube channel BNBFTV for boat tests, product reviews and other interesting videos.

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Our website bnbfishing.com.au is updated several times a day with the latest news and handy fishing articles.

The Team

EDITOR: Ben Collins SUBEDITOR: Daniel Tomlinson ADVERTISING: The BNB Team PRODUCTION: Jo Hendley, Lisa Jones

Bush ‘n Beach Fishing magazine is published monthly by Collins Media Pty Ltd ABN 43 159 051 500 ACN 159 051 500 trading as Collins Media.

Phone (07) 3286 1833 Fax (07) 3821 2637 Email: ben@bnbfishing.com.au PO Box 387, Cleveland, Qld 4163 PRINTER: Spotpress DISTRIBUTION BY: Fairfax CORRESPONDENTS: Editorial contributions are welcome, as is news from clubs, associations, or individuals; and new product news from manufacturers. Entire contents copyright. Nothing may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. It is the responsibility of advertisers to ensure the correctness of their claims and statements. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher.

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A big blackspot from Bulwer.

Magnificent Moreton Bay blackspots

B

LACKSPOT tuskfish, named for the black spot found halfway down their dorsal fin, come in two col-

ours.

The small females are greenie blue, while the big males are darker blue.

These fish change sex when they grow to about 60cm.

Peel Island produces mainly green-blue tuskfish, while Rainbow and Bulwer produce the darker blue variety.

Moreton Bay blackspot tuskies predominantly come from offshore and travel into the bay in two areas during summer.

Also known as bluebone groper, blackspots can be found in Western Australia, Northern Territory and in Gulf of Carpentaria.

A prized catch for any fisher, these tuskies will battle to find a hole, snap the line and dart for freedom.

Though once caught, they produce a nice white fillet.

Over the years, I’ve learned they mainly eat crustaceans and molluscs.

I have seen under water shots of these industrious fish smashing molluscs against hard structures to get at the flesh inside.

Tuskies possess a good set of fangs at the front of the mouth, which help to break through shell and tough flesh.

Parrotfish have a row of bone structures like teeth in their mouth and gnaw on coral to feed.

Though you seldom catch parrot, occasionally they will take small crabs or squid.

Spear fishers target blackspot tuskfish

www.bnbfishing.com. au

Moreton Bay

by BRIAN WEBB

and often catch some monsters.

I saw a photo of a speared tuskie once, and without any doubt the fish would have been at least 14kg and very dark blue.

Three areas in Moreton Bay predominatly produce blackspot tuskfish – Peel Island, Rainbow and Bulwer, though Green Island and Mud Island do produce the odd one.

The bay also has a fair few venus tuskfish, which have the same mouth as a blackspot.

The venus in the bay are relatively small, compared to those offshore where you can catch a good feed of them in deeper waters.

Venus will take a variety of baits when fished offshore, however I’ve found squid to be a favorite.

This variety of tuskie does take small crabs and I have caught them on Cranka crab lures.

Most are caught near reef structure and not on sandy bottoms.

I have found the best bait for targeting blackspot tuskfish are crabs and I mainly use full sand crabs with the claws removed. * continued P10

Tuskies caught by Jayson Bond during March.

Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 9

Magnificent Moreton Bay blackspots * from P9

Robert Miles with a 65cm grassy.

How to rig sand crabs and Cranka Crab lures.

Page 10 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

You need to get your bait close to the bottom to have a chance of enticing one and you need to use heavy gear.

In fast-flowing areas, a downrigger comes in handy.

Otherwise, a single paternoster rig with 30-50lb braid and a 3m leader around 3040kg will work.

For blackspot tuskfish, Shimano TLD 20 and Shimano Baitrunner 6500 are reels generally used.

Attached is a picture and instructions on how to rig sandies using 7/0 or 8/0 circle hooks.

The way I hook the crab is to make a hole through the back of the crab near the flap, feed the line through, attach the hook and stick it in near the eyes – this makes the bait sit more natural when on the bottom.

The same three areas in the Bay hold spangled perch, so some squid onboard will help.

Grass sweetlip are also common in these areas.

While on northern Moreton Bay, Robert Miles sent me a photo of grassies he and two fishos caught off isolated structures near Moreton Island.

They came home with 10 grassies each.

Just goes to show, if you search around over time you will come across areas others don’t fish and haven’t bothered to investigate.

The differences in mouth structure of parrotfish and tuskfish.

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White spot disease found in SEQ again

W

HITE spot disease has returned to southeast Queensland more than three years since the disease was first detected.

Biosecurity Queensland undertook routine surveillance for white spot syndrome virus in Moreton Bay during March, with mangrove swimming crabs returning positive for the disease.

Subsequently, samples from two prawn farms on the Logan River in southeast Queensland also returned positive for white spot disease, which devastated seven prawn farms in 2016.

Biosecurity Queensland will review all prawn farms to ensure future on-farm biosecurity management is appropriate in dealing with this new detection.

This is the second year of production for three prawn farms but the first time white spot disease has been detected again onfarm.

Queensland was only months away from obtaining proof of freedom – two years of consecutive negative results for white spot syndrome virus.

The prawn and crab samples first tested positive at Biosecurity Sciences Laboratory in Brisbane and confirmatory testing was carried out at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness in Victoria.

Biosecurity Queensland representatives recently met with members of the Aquatic Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Disease to discuss the new detections and ongoing management options for white spot syndrome virus.

White spot disease is a highly contagious viral infection that affects crustaceans, prawns and crabs, but it is not harmful to

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White spot disease movement restrictions remain in place for raw prawns, yabbies and marine worms from Caloundra to the NSW border and west to Ipswich.

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 11

Laughing and having fun. The start of day one at the 2019 Flathead Classic and Team Wilson was already having fun.

Advanced flathead trolling techniques

I

N a competition that features the very best anglers, Team Wilson won the 2019 Gold Coast Flathead Classic by switching up techniques to trolling.

Trolling for flathead is not new and many great lures will catch flathead on the troll in the Gold Coast’s waterways.

But trolling is not always as simple as throwing a lure out the back and driving around the shallows, though this does work.

Fishing Techniques

by STEPHEN BOOTH

To make the most of trolling, you need to work at your craft, spend a lot of time on the water and know your tackle and locations intimately.

I spoke to the boys from Team Wilson about how they go about their trolling and

Scott Fleming with a solid flathead that crunched his Tango Shad in less than 1.5m of water.

Page 12 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

what pointers they could pass on to others.

This is relatively easy given I work with Kord Luckus and Scott Fleming, and Rob Payne is a good mate who has helped me out many times.

The setup Scott, Robbie and Kord have fished together a lot and have a well-structured plan for how the boat operates.

Apart from the general mayhem of fishing, the crew sets up with Robbie fishing out the right-hand (starboard) side while driving and looking at the main sounder, Kord in the centre trolling and looking at the main sounder and Scotty fishing off the front deck on the left (port) side and using the front-mounted sounder.

Everyone needs access to a sounder so they can literally drive the lures they are trolling by manipulating drop back, rod height and action.

Robbie has a very important job – keeping the boat in the right position.

It must be noted here that boat position is all about making sure the lures are in the right spot, not about the boat being in the right depth.

This is a mostly forgotten element to good trolling: you are driving the lures, not the boat.

Because of this, Robbie tends to flat troll, only adjusting the lure by dropping and lifting the rod tip for extra depth or less depth.

Kord, as the centre troller, can easily see the main sounder and accurately judge what is coming up for his lure.

Kord is probably the most active of the trollers, constantly adjusting his lure’s po* continued P14

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ESTABLISHED INFishing, 1946May 2020 – Page 13 Bush ’n Beach

A young Cade Luckus was fishing with his dad Kord and trolled up this 90cm-plus beast in 1.3m of water. Now that’s the one we are all after.

Kord was one of the key designers of the Tango Shad and with results like this in the 2019 Flathead Classic, it’s no wonder it is his favourite flathead trolling lure.

When they don’t fit in the measure trough properly, you know they are a good fish. This flathead smashed the BL Tango Shad and measured over 80cm.

Advanced monster flathead trolling techniques * from P12

sition in the water to take advantage of what the sounder is telling him.

Kord will lift the rod tip, drop it, quickly wind in a couple of metres and let the lure back a few metres, all to make sure the lure is exactly where it needs to be in relation to the bottom and the structure being fished.

Scotty has the task of being the scorer, photographer and fish processor.

When he is not doing any of these jobs, Scott uses the front sounder to manage his lure’s position. The vital information he gets on depth allows him to adjust his lure where necessary.

When he is processing the fish, his rod sits in the holder and flat trolls, letting the lure do the work.

This setup is not for everyone, but the

boys are a well-oiled machine when it comes to trolling.

They each know where their lure is sitting behind the boat and when to adjust how the lure is running to get the maximum out of each troll run.

Gear It’s not as simple as grabbing any old rod, reel and lure and throwing it out the back to catch a flathead.

Like their driving of the lures, the team is very particular about the gear used to ensure everything works to its best.

Keep in mind, this is Team Wilson so all Wilson gear is used. Across all three, their number-one trolling rod is the Aussie-built Blade N Tails Ultralight Elite.

This rod is 6’10” long with a softish action perfect for trolling lures.

It’s not always colour BL that works, but there does seem to be something about a splash of UV in the most successful flathead trolling lures.

Page 14 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

The rod has a bit of grunt down low, which helps with landing fish, but the main reason this rod is used is it is soft and doesn’t pull or straighten the fine hooks used on the lures.

Their backups include the newly released Blade N Tails RLFBT17, also a 6’10” model and the RLFBT04, a 7’ 4-8lb rod.

On the troll, flathead are often hooked through the skin rather than their lips.

The small hooks catch on the skin and a soft rod allows the lunges and runs of the fish to be absorbed without tearing the hooks out.

This is a very important point.

It’s not like fishing a jig head where you need to punch the hook through the roof of the mouth with a stronger-tipped rod.

Here you need to keep the fine hooks in the skin and the Ultralight Elite is made for this purpose.

The reel used is either an 800 or 2000 ATC Valiant Carbon Fibre reel loaded with 8lb braid.

To the braid, a leader of 8-12lb is attached, with Wilson Fluorocarbon the choice.

Robbie explained the difference in leader, saying he has a couple of rods rigged because it’s harder for him to alter the lure’s running depth than the other guys.

If he needs a little extra depth, he’ll grab the 8lb leader setup.

If he needs less depth, he’ll use a 10lb or 12lb leader setup.

It is these subtle differences that separate those who really understand their gear from other trollers.

As for lures, the number-one choice is the Zerek Tango Shad 50.

This lure, given all the manipulation the crew uses to achieve certain outcomes, can be fished from 1.2m right down to almost 2m.

It is excellent at shedding weed when the * continued P15

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Scott and Kord with a pair of trolled up flathead. Where there is one flathead, you can bet there are more. * from P14

angler gives the rod tip a sharp punch and the colour range is staggering.

Having said the colour range is staggering, one colour dominates most others for this team and that is BL. This is a dark purple/black lure with white UV highlight stripes and when the flathead are feeding on gudgeons in the weed, it produces fish after fish.

The Tango Shad 50 is attached using a size 0 or 1 Mustad Fastach clip.

This clip makes lure changes easy and allows the team to adjust very quickly if they need to alter colours or simply change a lure because it has been damaged.

Which brings us to one other extremely vital point.

If the lure is damaged in any way, be that a slightly bent hook, a hook point rounded off or a split ring bent from an oversized fish thrashing in the net, the lure will be swapped out and a new one deployed immediately.

There are no second chances and Team Wilson pays extreme attention to lures.

All the damaged lures are fixed up overnight with new rings and hooks fitted where necessary.

Again, it is the attention to the finer detail that makes the difference.

Fun game Team Wilson prides themselves on having fun and that is a key to success.

If you’re not enjoying your fishing, chances are you will not fish the best you can.

Any time you see Team Wilson on the water, they are laughing and that is a very strong take-home message.

There is no doubt the boys take tournament fishing very seriously, and the work they do before the comp is testament to this, but they do not let this serious edge take away from their desire to have a good time.

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With these key points, hopefully a few of you will improve your trolling.

It’s certainly not a dumb or easy option, rather a very technical and planned approach that puts fish in the boat.

After all, putting fish in the boat is exactly what tournament fishing is all about.

And remember, these are not just tournament fishing tips.

If you’re on the water chasing flathead at any time, a lot of these techniques should be used to make the most of your time on the water.

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 17

Streamlined plastics such as jerk shads sink quicker through the water column. This snapper was found in heavy current in the Brisbane River.

Beginner’s guide to using soft plastics

T

HE water temperature will drop rapidly during May and this will see much more action in the rivers around Brisbane.

Casting and jigging soft plastics is a very popular technique for targeting a wide range of species.

Many anglers find it difficult to choose a plastic and jig head to suit the area and conditions they are fishing, so this month I’m going to run through a few tips that might help you out.

Soft plastics come in a huge range of sizes and shapes. I’ll keep it simple and break them up into a few styles.

Paddle tails, curl tails, jerk shads and prawn imitations cover most plastics and they are all effective when rigged correctly.

Each style of plastic will have a different sink rate through the water column. Bulky

Local Luring

by KEITH STRATFORD

shad-style plastics with a big paddle tail have a lot of resistance when sinking through the water, where a streamlined jerk shad with virtually no tail has very little drag.

For example, if I was fishing these plastics next to each other in 9m of water, I would use a 1/2oz head for the paddle tail and a 3/8oz head for the jerk shad.

Choosing the correct jig head so the plastic gets to the bottom without plummeting like a lead balloon will increase your catch rate.

Each style and brand of plastic is different and will sink differently. It’s good to have a good look at the way they swim in

a pool or clean water. Make sure you have a good selection of jig heads to choose from to suit the plastics you will be using.

Plenty of different styles of jig heads exist too. These can also change the sink rate.

Long pointy heads will help a plastic sink quickly, where bulky heads like football heads create drag through the water and will sink slower.

Hook size also needs to be taken into consideration. I like to have the hook coming out of the plastic about halfway down. This gives the fish a good chance of finding the point, whether biting it from the head or tail.

Rigging the plastic straight on the jig head is where a lot of people come unstuck. This is very important to get the plastic swimming straight and looking natural.

Some plastics need to be rigged perfect* continued P19

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A range of plastics rigged and ready to go. * from P18

ly for them to swim straight and some are a bit more forgiving. It all comes down to practice, so next time you’re sitting around watching TV, grab a handful of different plastics and jig heads and start practising.

After you’ve caught a few fish on one plastic, it can get a bit chewed up and start sliding down the jig head. Super glue will stop this and can also be used to patch plastics back together.

Don’t bother with the cheap multi packs of super glue from the Reject Shop. Spend the extra dollars and get some good-quality glue.

I use Loctite and prefer this thicker geltype glue. It holds really well on all types of plastic.

Hopefully these tips help you out. It all comes down to trial, error and practice.

Phil Benfer with one of many small snapper taken on a curl tail plastic rigged on a 3/8oz, 3/0 jig head.

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Max’s early morning squire hooked on a Zerek Live Flash Minnow Wriggly.

Making the most of a messed-up time

D

UE to the crazy circumstances we are all dealing with, the fishing charter and business side of my life is rather minimal to say the least.

We have all been impacted in some way, whether it be job losses, sick family and friends who have caught this horrible little virus, and those who have lost loved ones from it.

Hopefully we will get it all under control and maybe our lives will go back to some sort of normality. It would be great if before long we can get back to doing the things we love.

Max with a nice bar-tail flathead caught drifting rubble ground.

Page 20 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

Southern Moreton Bay

by SEAN CONLON

My family and I wish everybody the best.

So if I was going to look at the situation with a glass half full instead of empty, the silver lining is I have been able to spend a bit more time out on the water with my family.

My young fella and I have tried to stick to the rules, only going boating when essential.

We live two minutes from the boat ramp, so we’ve kept it local and have headed out fishing to catch ourselves a feed.

This article is about fishing with my young fella. When fishing with my boy, I do barely anything differently to when I take a client out.

I still have a game plan and pick certain tides and tide sizes I like to fish for certain species. The main difference is I’m going to take some fish home for a change, instead of my clients taking the fish.

Young Maxy likes to get up nice and early if we’re heading out fishing, so we picked a day with a good early tide. We got up at 4am and headed to the boat ramp.

At the moment there’s a lot more boat traffic during the week than I’m used to, so a bit of patience is required when launching, but Max and I got through quite easily and before we knew it we were heading out of the harbour to chase flathead on the top of the tide.

Early morning is still the best part of the day in my opinion. We headed to our first location and tied on a couple of lures.

I chose the trusty Zerek Bulldog Crank

and Max put on one of the new Wilson Fish Art Magnus lures. We deployed the lures and began trolling along the mangrove line.

We made a few passes up and down the mangrove line until we found where the fish were sitting. After we located them, it wasn’t long before Maxy was onto a nice flathead.

After some quick pics we released the fish into the Esky and Maxy was pretty keen to get his lure back in the water.

We made another couple of passes in the same area and by this stage the tide was starting to run out, so the bait was coming back out of the mangroves and the flatties were sitting there waiting for an easy feed.

Max hooked up again, with another nice lizard jumping on the little Fish Art lure, making the score two-nil to Max. I was going to have to pick up my game.

I had faith in the little Bulldog Crank because it’s never let me down before. We released Max’s flatty into the Esky for dinner and put the lures back in the water, continuing trolling the same area.

The tide was still running out and there wasn’t much water left on the bank, so it was now or never for me to get back into the game.

Luckily enough, I felt that distinct clunk on the end of my line and sure enough another nice flathead was soon in the net and scored the same fate as the last two.

We had time for one last quick run because if you get caught on these banks you will spend a lot of time sitting in the mud waiting for the tide to come back in.

We began our run, deployed the lures and * continued P22

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Maxy got a few prawns.

Maxy with a nice flathead caught on the Fish Art Magnus lure.

Max landed some flathead for dinner for the family.

We headed to the Salt Works and started sounding around. With my dodgy back, I have to be a bit careful when casting the net, so I always make sure I have plenty of prawns showing up on the Lowrance before making a cast.

It didn’t take too long for us to snag around 3kg of prawns, which is heaps for an entrée. It was time to head home and get off the water before lunch. All in all, we had a great morning and I was able to spend quality time with my son.

A week later I was lucky enough to head out with Maxy again. This time he was keen to chase squire/snapper, so we headed to the rubble ground around the southern Moreton Bay islands to employ a technique I like that works really well for kids: bumping a few plastics around the bottom.

Just like the previous session, we got up nice and early, headed to the boat ramp and were out just on sun-up. We tied on a couple of Zerek Live Minnow Flash Wrigglys.

I used black and gold while Max had straight gold. We cast them out the back and began doing long drifts, starting in roughly 2m of water and finishing in about 8m.

I put plenty of scent on the lures for this technique. I think it’s quite important. As

Making the most of a messed-up time * from P20

trolled with the current. Just as we were getting to the end of the run, I felt that all-too-familiar clunk on the end of the line and after a few nice runs around the boat young Maxy had my second flathead safely in the net.

The old Bulldog Crank didn’t let me down and I evened the score. By this stage we had four nice fish for a feed, which is plenty for us, so we decided to see if we could get an entrée of prawns.

Tick all the boxes and catch more fish!

FISHING TUITION

* continued P23

WITH SEAN CONLON

A four-hour off-water course for up to four people covering: Target species BOOK TODAY Moon phases Weather and tides Techniques Environment Tackle tips

0432 386 307 seanconlonsfishing@hotmail.com Page 22 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

Pretty good bait schools are around. It is a case of finding the bait to find the fish.

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you probably know, I like use my Gobbleygoop, but plenty of scents are on the market.

Well it wasn’t long before Maxy was onto a nice squire, which gave him a great fight. Soon a pan size 38cm fish was in the net. We headed back and started that drift again.

On Maxy’s first cast and before the plastic got to the bottom he looked at me and said all his line was coming off really quickly, and he wondered if he had a fish.

I said yeah mate, lock the bail arm over and hold on.

Instantly the drag started screaming and he had a proper fight on his hands. After a good tussle he had a nice 46cm squire in the net.

We got the fish on ice and Max had another cast. It didn’t take long before whack, he was on again. The fish nearly pulled the rod clean out of his hands! Luckily he had a nice firm grip, otherwise it could’ve ended in tears.

With another solid fight, one more pan size squire was in the net. At this stage I still hadn’t caught a fish and was down three-zip. Luckily, on the next drift I hooked up to a nice flatty.

Long story short, Maxy went on to catch some nice dusky and bar-tail flathead as well, which made a great feed for us and as usual we headed back to the boat ramp prior to lunch.

At the moment we’re still allowed us to go fishing for those essential reasons, so hopefully if we all stick to the rules this won’t be taken away from us and we will continue to have a welcome break from the stressful situation and also put a bit of food on the table.

So please stick to the rules and hopefully as everybody is saying, we will all come

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out the other side. Let’s try to take some of the positives out of this situation and focus on them.

If you’re interested in any of my off-water tuition classes, give me a call on 0432 386 307, send me an email at seanconlonsfish ing@hotmail.com or check out the Sean Conlons Charters and Tuition Facebook page.

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Ronny loves a channel edge bite with Z-Man 3” MinnowZ and 3/8oz jig heads.

Sheri with a solid grunter from a shallow weed edge bite.

Fishing spots versus techniques

A

FTER recently discussing people’s obsession with knowing where fish were caught, rather than how they were caught, a mate Sean and I decided to shoot a video fishing a spot that we had never lure fished before, utilising some of our favoured techniques.

The result was around 10 flathead, a few bream, a couple of flounder and a trevally, all in a couple of hours.

If I had to give up all the fishing ‘spots’ I know or give up all the fishing techniques I had learnt over time, there is no doubt the spots would be gone and tomorrow I would wake up and apply the techniques I have learnt to some new water.

Fish move around and are influenced by many variables, including tides, moons, seasons, rainfall, water quality, temperature, bait in the area and any number of others we are not even aware of.

Anglers who have a good understanding

Tackle Tactics

by JUSTIN WILLMER

of a variety of fishing techniques, such as finesse plastics, deepwater plastics, blades, metals, topwater and Ned rig fishing, can more easily adapt to different environments and scenarios than those who have learnt to fish one or two spots.

I have often heard anglers say: “I could give you the exact spot, but you’re still not going to catch them,” and this comes down to how much time has been spent on the water at that spot, experimenting with different techniques.

In saying this, Sean and I didn’t just randomly select a spot by throwing a dart at a board. Spots don’t need to be GPS points that others fish, and in fact the best ‘spots’ are the ones you work out yourself because then you know exactly how and when to fish them.

So, what were Sean and I looking for when we selected an area to fish, seeing we had never fished the area before?

Spots Fish are where you find them and over the years I have caught plenty of fish in unlikely spots, however a great starting point for selecting areas to fish is Google Maps, paper charts and charts in your sounder/ chartplotter.

Our starting point was looking for available structure, appropriate water depths for our target species and areas where there should be good water movement around structure, funnelling bait through and creating eddies and ambush points.

It is often the most obvious structure that attracts anglers in any system, however these are also often the areas that experience the most fishing pressure.

Sean and I selected a large area of flats * continued P25

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Deepwater plastics produced this beautiful trout.

A move to a deeper channel edge and it was heavier heads and larger paddle tails that got the bite.

Zac’s first fish on a lure. Step one, learn the technique. Step two, get the net!

* from P24

Likewise rock walls, pontoons, channel edges, deep reef and rubble, drains, weed beds, canals, bridges, boat hulls, flats and so on.

The system that previously held one or two key pieces of structure you concentrated on is now loaded with ‘spots’ to fish and when you travel to new water, you have the arsenal of techniques to break it down and more likely have a successful session.

Techniques for the win!

See you on the water…

ranging from 0.5-2m deep with a channel down the middle, rising to a bank either side, and most importantly with plenty of broken weed beds and rubble patches to hold bait and fish.

We slow rolled plastics over the shallows, hopped plastics down the edges and picked the pockets in the weed, paying additional attention to areas holding bait.

We selected this spot because we were familiar with fishing this type of structure and knew the techniques to work it successfully.

Techniques So, you still need to select areas that should hold fish, however more importantly you need to have a few techniques to fish the area effectively.

Learn to fish mangrove edges and you have effectively unlocked any mangrove edges you encounter.

Weedless rigging is a great technique for fishing heavy structure.

Learn to fish mangrove edges and you have just created hundreds more ‘spots’ to fish.

Plenty of signs of life. Fish the edge on low tide and on top of the flat on the high.

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Sean drifted and fished the flats. No obvious structure here but plenty of bait and fish.

Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 25

BIA welcomes loosening of restrictions

A

T the time of publishing, the Boating Industry Association had just welcomed moves by Queensland and Western Australia to loosen the COVID-19 restrictions on recreational boating following encouraging signs of containment.

BIA president Darren Vaux said the announcements by the two states were good news for the boating public, businesses and jobs while maintaining a conservative approach to the protection of public health and safety.

“Recreational boating out in the fresh air and sunshine is good for mental and physical health and is a low-risk activity a family can easily do while adhering to social distancing and hygiene rules,” he said.

“Governments recognise that getting out on the water is a way of life for many Aus-

tralians and it is estimated more than 20 percent of all Australians engage in some form of boating activity annually.

“It was good to see Queensland enable households to travel 50km from home for recreational boating, especially as 85 percent of the population live within 50km of the coast.

“This adds to the existing permitted uses of fishing, paddle and sail craft in that state for exercise.

“Reactivating a low-risk activity like boating will start to repair the boating industry, which is closely aligned to tourism and is hurting, with staff lay-offs and business closures as a result of COVID-19.”

In 2018-19 the industry had a turnover of $8.65 billion, directly employed more than 28,000 people with more than 14,500 contractors.

Seventy-five percent are in small busi-

nesses, employing local workers and supporting local communities distributed around the Australian coastline.

“While the return to recreational boating is welcomed it is important for all boaters to make sure they practice social distancing and good hygiene at all times, particularly at the boat ramp or marina and when they come in contact with shared surfaces,” Vaux said.

“Wash your hands frequently and only go boating with your family or household.

“When you are out on the water, don’t raft up or land on beaches where there are already other people.

“The message is clear: practice responsible boating to keep boating.”

Vaux said the BIA was actively encouraging other states and territories to join in the measured lifting of restrictions on recreational boating.

Venison parmigiana

by MELISSA FROHLOFF

Ingredients • 500g venison rib fillet (eight steaks) • Salt and pepper, freshly ground • 3 eggs, beaten • 200g herb and garlic breadcrumbs • 1 cup plain flour • 140g pizza sauce • 140g tomato relish (Appetite 4 The Wild recipe) • 1/2 cup cooking oil • 100g mozzarella cheese, shredded • 100g Parmigiano-Reggiano

cheese, shredded • Bunch Italian parsley, finely sliced Method 1. Cut rib fillet into 1cm-thick slices. Taking one piece at a time, lay a steak between two pieces of plastic wrap and use a meat mallet to pound it out to half the thickness. This tenderises the meat.

2. In a shallow bowl, lightly beat egg. In another bowl, add flour and in a third bowl, add breadcrumbs.

3. Season steaks with salt and cracked pepper. Dust both sides

Tip: The best sauce for this parmigiana recipe is created by combining tomato paste with the author’s homemade tomato relish (appetite4thewild.com.au/recipe-items/tomato-relish) Page 26 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

of venison fillet in flour, shake off excess flour. Dip in egg wash, then coat with breadcrumbs.

4. Add oil to a large camp oven or pan over low heat and shallow fry. When meat starts to sizzle, you know you have the right temperature. Cook on both sides until crumbs are golden.

5. Mix tomato paste and tomato relish together to make the sauce. Spread tomato sauce on top of meat and cover with Parmigiano-Reggiano and mozzarella cheese. Add coals to lid of camp oven or put under the grill and cook until cheese is melted.

Garnish with Italian parsley.

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 27

Boat and tackle maintenance tips

N

EED a reason to get out of house maintenance and repairs? How about using the extra time at home on ‘essential boat and tackle maintenance’.

It’s a great excuse.

Interestingly, I recently asked my local chandlery if they had been struggling, but the reply came back “not at all!” They had sold out of trailer rollers and parts, grease for trailer hubs, and a whole bunch of boat accessories.

So, what are a few of the more obvious,

Fishing Tips

by SEAN ‘SKIP’ THOMPSON

and a couple of the less obvious, tips for giving the boat a good once over?

Boat maintenance As a starting point, check all your safety gear. I did exactly that recently, starting with the life jackets.

I gave them their annual compulsory

Various rigs wrapped and ready for use.

Page 28 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

service and even replaced a gas cylinder that had become corroded. These sell for around $25 at chandleries.

Then, I checked the use-by-date on my flares, inspected the V sheets for mould and holes, and replaced the batteries on the torch.

The signalling device received a shine up, the bilge pump was tested and worn bungs were replaced – I even bought spares for the boat.

I checked the D shackles on both bow and stern anchor chains were secure and not rusted, and I inspected the ropes and coiled them neatly.

I also pulled up the boat floor to check for electrolysis, and took the opportunity to give the boat floor a thorough clean and to reapply Duralac anti-corrosive compound to each screw-to-aluminium surface, which will help prevent electrolysis.

Then the bottom of the boat was scrutinised for any damage. Finally, the trailer was given the once-over.

The rollers were checked, oil applied to moving parts and the bearings on the trailer wheels were regreased. The tyres were pumped using a portable air compressor.

Tackle maintenance When you’re on the water and the biting is hot, the last thing you want to be doing is rummaging through your lures, untangling trebles, searching for the right colour soft plastic or hunting for the exact sized hook.

A good idea is to buy large waterproof Tupperware boxes – generally much

* continued P29

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A good idea is to sort soft plastics by colour in waterproof containers.

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7’, 8’ and 9’ spreads and 6’ for kids and kayakers.

Lure boxes sorted by type and size. * from P28

cheaper than the large waterproof tackle boxes – and place smaller tackle and boating gear in them.

A tip is to place little silica gel sachets in the boxes as well to absorb any moisture and prevent rust.

So you’re well organised for future trips, sort your lures into sizes in various boxes and your soft plastics into colour groupings in boxes for quick access.

Having a tackle box sorted according to sinker and hook size, and even writing the size on the individual compartments, can mean a quick and easy job locating exactly what you need. Particularly when you’re in a hurry to get the line back in the water.

Another relaxing bit of fishing preparation is to sit in a comfortable spot and make up a bunch of rigs. You can wrap them around pool noodles or bits of Styrofoam and put them in a waterproof tackle box, then they’re ready to go when you are.

Another thing you can do is pull out all your steel fishing accessories and apply silicon spray or oil to fishing scissors, pliers, bait knives and anything steel. It’s also a good time to clean and sharpen your filleting knives.

While you’re at it, give your yabbie pumps a clean with fresh water, oil the shaft and wing nut and check to see if the washers need replacing.

These essential boat and tackle maintenance tips may help to keep the aroundthe-house jobs at bay. Good luck and good health to your families and friends.

Plenty more of tips, or tell me some of yours, can be found on my Facebook and Instagram pages @Ontourfishingaustralia.

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Nailing a quick session Gav with a fun size trevally taken on light tackle.

L

IKE most people, I have a busy life.

With work and home commitments, I typically have one fishing session per week and am on the water for no more than three hours.

For fishing, it’s definitely a quick session.

So, how do you turn three hours on the water into a productive session?

When searching a new area to fish, it can be a roll of the dice as to whether you’ll catch fish or not, and unfortunately, it’s more often not.

Generally, a successful quick session is going to be had in an area you know really well. This comes from good research, time on the water and an understanding of what bait will likely be holding.

Pro Staff Pointers

by SEAN BEKKERS

Even more success is likely if you know not only what bait is holding but where it will be holding throughout different phases of the tide and furthermore throughout the year.

For example, most of the year I target flathead on the last two hours of a run-out to low tide, concentrating my efforts on the deeper edges running along a draining weed bed, sand bank and anywhere bait’s pushed towards.

Tackle wise I use Z-Man plastics between

There was no mistaking what Gav’s bream wanted.

Page 30 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

2” and 4” rigged on a TT Lures HeadlockZ jig heads, no more than 3/8oz. During winter, however, I switch from deeper areas to sand and weed beds and chase flathead in the shallow water.

With the boat drifting in less than a metre of water, I use either a Z-Man 3” MinnowZ or 2.5” Finesse FrogZ, rigged weedless on a TT Lures SnakelockZ jig head, with a cast pretty much hitting the dry edge.

I then slow roll the plastic just under the surface back to the boat. It’s exciting to watch a solid lizard chase down your lure and engulf it at your feet.

The reason behind opting to chase them on the flat during winter is because I find flathead seem to enjoy being in shallow water and sunning themselves.

This isn’t to say flatties can’t be found in shallow water in summer or likewise deep water in winter – they can. I enjoy the shallow water technique and style of fishing and find it very rewarding when the thermometer drops.

Recently, because we clued into the bait holding in one of our favourite spots, my good mate Gavin and I had a very successful session. We arranged to have a Sunday mid-morning barbecue breakfast with both our families.

To Gav and myself, this translated to a comfortable three hours – to hit the water, talk rubbish, drink coffee and catch fish – before our better halves woke up.

After a weather and tide review, we knew * continued P32

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 31

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Nailing a quick session in Moreton Bay * from P30

the wind was going to pick up early and that we had just under two hours of run-out to low tide.

Perfect for us to hit a couple of favourite spots, with the only variable being the amount of fresh water in the system due to recent rain.

Rocking down to the boat ramp there’s a sense of anticipation, not only to get the boat in the water but also to see what sort of bait’s holding.

Through the year my local jetty holds all sorts of bait, including small fish, squid and prawns. As we rolled the boat off the trailer, we noticed the entire boat ramp was covered in prawns.

This was a great indicator of what sort of presentation should be thrown for the day.

We ended up pushing the boat down the jetty and as far along the pontoon as possible.

Luckily, we got a couple of throws of the cast net in before any fellow anglers rocked up. While the majority of prawns were small, there were a few reasonably sized specimens. Not a bad way to kick off a quick session.

From previous trips out I knew the Z-Man 2.75” TRD BugZ worked well, and I had these rigged on a rod for each of us.

I had a Z-Man 2.5” Slim SwimZ on my other rod, while Gavin – huge fan of the

A TT NedlockZ jig head was used to nail this sweetlip.

The author with a mid-40cm flathead.

Page 32 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

Z-Man 3” MinnowZ – had his rods rigged accordingly, with a few different colours.

Once we arrived at our first spot, we dropped the electric and started working the edge.

Along the way we heard the constant flick of small baitfish hitting the surface, so naturally we both started throwing around a baitfish presentation, hoping to tempt a bite.

Though the sounder looked promising and the bait heard on the surface, we didn’t win a trick. I looked into the water to check the clarity, as do most anglers.

With recent rain, there was still a reasonable amount of fresh about, which made the water dark brown. As we crept along the edge, I changed to the BugZ rigged on a 1/10oz TT NedlockZ jig head.

This meant the plastic would sink slower, and on each pause when the plastic reached the bottom it would sit up due to the buoyancy of the Z-Man. The plastic itself will still move around being influenced by the current and water movement, which is the advantage of using a TT NedlockZ jig head.

From what I’ve seen watching this presentation in shallow water, it resembles a small crab just sitting up off the bottom.

After a quick squirt of Pro-Cure Super Gel scent I flicked the BugZ toward the bank, let it drop and settle on the bottom for a good 30 seconds before a few more hops along then another settle.

What followed was that addictive strike and screaming drag from a fish solidly inhaling.

Following a quick tussle, with some nice long runs, I landed a mid-30kg sweetlip.

I told Gavin I had a rod rigged ready to go for him. “Yeah, if you land another fish, I’ll grab it,” he said.

My next cast produced a small emperor on a 1-3kg Okuma Helios SX combination, which was a heap of fun. Gavin grabbed the other rod and sent a cast in.

He did the same thing with nice long pauses at the end of each drop and on his first cast was rewarded with a respectable mid-30kg bream.

At this point, the other rods were pushed to the side and we peppered the bank with the Z-Man 2.75” TRD BugZ. For the last hour to low tide we continued to pull fish, including a mixed bag of trevally, flounder, flathead and bream – even more sweetlip hit the deck.

The rhythm remained until low tide, and then as soon as tide switched the fish turned off.

Though we tried a couple of other spots, we didn’t hook anything of note.

With a baked breakfast to prepare and caffeine levels lowering, we called it a day at about 8am. So, the key things that made this quick session successful were

we knew which area would hold bait and where to fish for the particular tide phase, in this case the last two hours of run down to low tide.

The prawns at the boat ramp were a dead giveaway that crustacean patterns would be a safe bet. As far as choosing a presentation, a prawn pattern would have been a good option and more than likely would have worked well.

However, based on recent sessions, I was confident the Z-Man 2.75” BugZ would get the attention. When possible, tune into what bait is holding in your local system, which will more than likely vary through the year.

Nothing beats spending time on the water to create a milk-run of spots, and you do need to put the time in to build knowledge of which spots are going to work through the year. If you needed one, there’s your excuse to get on the water more.

The only thing we changed on our trip was the type of retrieve when things slowing down, and we relied on the plastic moving about in the current to get the strike, instead of working it constantly.

So, the last hot tip for a successful quick session is to make small changes. If you know the fish are there, keep cycling through your presentations and retrieves until you find one that works.

I hope you’ve been finding fish lately and if not, you may need to get out there for a quick session. In the tackle box is a list of my gear used on this quick session.

Screaming drags.

Tackle box • Rod: Okuma Helios SX 7’, 1-3kg and 2-4kg • Reel: Okuma Helios HSX-30 • Line: Platypus P8 Braid 8-10lb • Leader: Platypus Stealth FC Leader 10lb • Plastic: Z-Man 2.75” TRD BugZ (Hot Snakes & The Deal) • Jig head: TT Lures NedlockZ 1/10oz (Orange & Green Pumpkin) www.bnbfishing.com. au

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The author’s solid sweetlip.

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Things to do while isolating at home

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G

’DAY everyone, in this short article I will give you a few ideas of things to try while in home isolation.

Tip one Being able to cast accurately will certainly help you catch more fish, particularly when targeting species such as barramundi, bream and mangrove jack, which reside in heavily structured areas.

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Gold Coast Guide

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So grab the kids and put a bucket and a small plastic flower pot in the back or front yard and mix it up with baitcaster and spin outfits, seeing if you can land a lure into the bucket and then the smaller pot.

Once you cast your lure into the targets, challenge yourself and move back a metre to try to do it again and so on.

Remember to take the hooks off the lures so they don’t keep getting caught in the grass. By making it a competition and continually practising with this fun challenge you will become a great accurate caster.

Tip two Do some maintenance on your tackle box. Put your lures in order and replace old trebles.

Clean your reels by removing the handle and spool and spraying a small amount of * continued P35

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Tip three Go on the internet and Google the Suntag website. This is a fascinating site that for many years has been recording data from tagged fish species.

You will be amazed at the distances some fish have moved between originally being caught and tagged and then recaptured.

The data also shows how much the fish have grown between captures.

Tip four Buy some Atomic Trick Bitz lure paint and create new colours on your old lures.

The Trick Bitz system even allows you to buy blank, clear lures so you can artistically create your own designs from scratch.

Tip five Give your boat a great clean and detail, go through your safety equipment and check expiry dates on flares, fire extinguishers and so on, and keep your battery fully charged to ensure your motor starts when you finally hit the water again.

It also pays to connect the hose to your outboard and start it once a week because motors hate to be left not running for extended periods.

Well that should give you a few things to do to beat the boredom. I hope you and your families stay safe and well through these tricky times.

mic next to one the author painted.

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 35

Hey guys, I caught this cracking 78cm saratoga out of North Pine Dam before the restrictions.

Brendan Eustance

My mate Ray Ross fished offshore from Yeppoon and was pretty happy with this one.

Phill Kliese

Seven-year-old Hunter Pakula was thrilled to catch this 36cm whiting, his biggest-ever fish, on a freshly pumped yabby at Tallebudgera Creek.

Kristian Pakula

Max Boothey (10 years old) with his PB flatty of 76cm caught on an Orange Sunset Micro Mullet.

The fish was released after a quick photo.

Scott Boothey

Tommy Tangles with the nice grunter he caught in Moreton Bay recently.

My biggest mangrove jack yet, captured on fresh mullet in the Nerang River at the Gold Coast.

Hayley Gelhaar

To have a photo of your catch featured in Readers’ Forum, simply email ben@ bnbfishing.com.au with a good-quality picture, your name and details or hop onto our Facebook page and send us a message.

Page 36 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

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Our two grandsons Matthew and Jack Fortnum were excited about catching two hairtail off our jetty at Newport.

Trevor Fortnum

@bnbfishingmag

I hooked this longtail tuna in close off Mooloolaba.

Jake Chesterfield

PUZZLE PAGE While BNB is digital-only, there will unfortunately be no Puzzle Page.

However, don’t fret, as it’s just on pause and the fun puzzles and great prizes will be back as soon as we’re printing again! Stay tuned!

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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, May 2020 – Page 37

Mitch landed this snodger 50lb wahoo on a livie.

Surface spinning for spaniards and giant trevally

D

OES this remind you of when you were 17 – grounded and not allowed to go to the pub or club?

At least we still have fishing. After a few nervous days early on, fishing was finally declared exercise, and just in time to catch fantastic weather and fish on the chew.

The water temperature started to ebb off, signalling the change of season. While a big weather event is typical in late April to early May to kick things along, so far the long-range forecast hasn’t indicated it.

With temperatures sliding down the thermometer, water colour has changed from deep clean cobalt blue to a green and cold 22C ocean. While still holding fish, numbers will start to thin out over the next month or so.

Doggy mackerel and wahoo are sure signs of the season change, with the spotted mackerel starting to migrate north we should get a couple of good runs before the water turns cold.

Spanish mackerel will hang around well into May and possibly June depending on water temperature. Spaniards have been running hot and cold – chewing their heads

A red is a red, especially when you get it this far south. The fish was released.

Page 38 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

Gold Coast

by HEATH ZYGNERSKI

off one day and not turning a reel the next, which can be frustrating.

To add to the craziness of the times, fishos landed a red emperor south of the border, which had the whole boat flabbergasted, though it wasn’t the first time a red was caught that far south.

My young bloke Mitch has got into surface fishing for spaniards using big stick baits and poppers, which has resulted in some insane surface action and multiple air strikes from big fish.

West Coast Poppers Reef Stick and Legendre have been doing the damage with fish seemingly unable to resist them. This is a step up from what I am used to. I liken it to spinning for spotties but on steroids, with everything strengthened to cope with the hard frantic strike from an angry spaniard.

Be prepared to beef-up your gear because anything low quality will quickly be revealed and result in a lost fish, and with good quality lures costing in excess of $50, you don’t want to be losing too many.

The other advantage is you can be in for some interesting by-catch, with giant trevally and wahoo hitting surface lures. I’ve found GTs tend to like dirtier water as water temperatures begin to drop. An afternoon session proved to be the right decision for fishers, with one fish ticked off the bucket list in the shape of a few solid GTs. On the local reefs, schools of big cowanyoung have provided excellent bait to use for targeting pelagics and as fillets for snapper. This has drawn in mackerel, and wahoo and marlin, which rarely refuse such prime bait. Mitch landed an absolute

stonker of a hoo towing a livie, which pulled the scales down to 50lb.

As summer fishing comes to a close you will find the fish seem to get bigger before heading north. There have been a few snapper caught already, so fingers crossed we are in for a good winter season this year.

In rivers and creeks mangrove jack are still being caught in good numbers and flathead are starting to bite readily too.

The local bars are all in need of a good flush out. Tweed’s sand bank is starting to build out wide towards the bar, with it being 4m deep on a full tide for about 30m – it is a big bank.

Currumbin was good after the rain but recently has silted up, with a few small * continued P39

Do you love your re

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Jye had a great morning getting a feed of spotties and a superb spaniard.

A great start to the season, with Marcus landing this healthy snapper.

Hard work fishing topwater for spaniards paid off for Mitch

* from P38

gutters to get in and out on any tide, though anything under half a tide and you run the risk of running aground or not being able to get in at all. Currumbin is the worst I have seen it and is almost completely cut off on the low tide. It’s something to see.

Tally bar has claimed a number of boats recently on seemingly flat days, proving you need to keep watch of what’s happening no matter what the conditions. It’s very shallow at the entrance. The Seaway is the pick of the lot at the moment.

With all the COVID-19 restrictions, please continue to practise social distancing so we can knock this virus on its head and get back to normality. While we can still go fishing, we all need to use common sense and not push the parcel, which could land you a big fine.

Tight lines to you all.

A West Coast Popper did the deed for Brandan who popped his GT cherry.

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 39

One of many beautiful sunsets. This one taken from a Brunswick Heads local reef perspective.

Lewan with another honking mackerel for the 2020 season. Apologies for the pic – it’s not the sharpest because the author forgot the camera, but his cheap phone recorded the memory.

Short and sweet mackerel season

W

ELL times are different that’s for sure. As far as the Brunswick Heads boat ramp goes, every day is Sunday judging by the number of parked cars with boat trailers.

With fishing still being a legal isolation activity and many people out of work, a little angling certainly helps fill the time.

Mackerel season seemed to be short and sweet this year. It started late and seems to have finished early, however there’s time yet for the toothy critters to return.

May is definitely the transition month in these parts. With a reduction in the current out wide and a slight chance of mackerel in close the possibilities are vast, and if the great run of weather continues, May could possibly be the best month of the year.

As far as mackerel are concerned, late

Tweed to Byron Bay

by GAVIN DOBSON

season fish have always been bigger, so if the trend continues look out because records may fall.

2020 will go down as the year of big mackerel regardless of what happens in May and June. Most boats have caught more than one fish over 20kg this season.

Jigging bait one morning, I pulled the first little yakka out for a few minutes. It was small, so I only used a little rig on the spotted mackerel outfit.

Something soon took the bait and after half an hour of Lewan fighting the fish, I dragged another behemoth over the gunwales. It wasn’t as big as his 31kg model from a few

Jason with a hefty night-time jewfish off the reef.

Page 40 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

months ago, but it was still a cracker.

May is the pick of the months for goodsized jewfish on the close reefs. Jason and I fished the beach shallows one night recently. We only got one bite, but it was a solid 15.5kg fish. We filled in time by catching a few nice reef fish including some colourful moses perch.

The sunsets have been incredible with the recent great run of weather. Keira and I haven’t been able to stop ourselves and have gone click crazy with the camera.

Another bonus of isolation is that we have more time to enjoy the simple things, even if our bank accounts are going backwards.

For people with jobs and businesses on the line these are very uncertain times. I wish everyone the best, stay safe and well, and hopefully enjoy a little more localised fishing.

A good-eating Moses perch in the boat.

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Steph caught and released this 76cm flathead on a 40mm blade lure and 6lb line.

Mark with his personal-best 80cm flathead caught on a 70mm soft vibe.

Tips for using vibes and lures H I everyone, if you’re not lucky enough to be able to fish for a feed during this lockdown, then spend some time getting educated instead.

When restrictions are lifted you will be armed with new ideas to put into practice on the water.

Nothing’s more exciting than seeing a plan come together when catching a fish on a lure you hadn’t previously used, or catching a fish on any lure for the first time.

Autumn and winter are my favourite times to fish the Gold Coast Broadwater, so let’s discuss some lure options for the cooler months ahead.

Over the years, we have tested many different lures, and there are a few standouts for one main reason – they catch heaps of fish!

Estuary fishing tips: trolling by boat or kayak Pontoon21 CrackJack 48SP-DR 48mm

Broadwater Guide

by CLINT ANSELL

lures are great for depths from one to two metres, with the best colours being Bloody Tiger Prawn and Ghost Tiger Prawn, and also Spanish Red for dirty water.

The Savage Gear 3D shrimp 50 XDR is a great trolling lure too and get to a depth of four metres. Samaki Redic is a new range of hard-body lures that’s going to be a game changer in Australia for a big variety of fish targets, so check these out on your local tackle store’s website.

Trolling speed is as slow as possible with your motor just in gear, if you have a head or tail wind then adjust as needed.

Try to always troll with the tide and as close to the bottom as possible, a fish-

Rebecca was stoked to catch and release her first-ever mulloway.

Page 42 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

finder is very useful for this.

Have the lures about 20 metres back because the edges of channels, weed beds and sandbanks will always produce fish.

It’s super important that lures swim straight and free of weed, if they’re not tune them with long nose pliers. Remember not to grab the lure by the bib – it ruins the swimming action.

Drifting with vibes When drifting, use metal blades in a 40mm size and soft vibes in a 70mm size.

The best blades are the Ecogear ZX-40 in colours 440 and 447, the Strike Pro Cyber vibes in 1460B colour, the small Atomic Semi Hardz and Samaki Vibelicious vibes.

A very short sharp constant flick of the rod is the best jig action. Mix it up by slowing or speeding the jigging action until you get hits. * continued P44

Small lures entice all fish big and small. Duane with a 74cm mulloway caught and released straight after a quick pic.

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 43

Allan with an 81cm estuary cod caught and released on live whiting during an evening charter before COVID-19.

Soft vibes such as this Samaki Vibelicious in White Bait colour are very effective on hungry flathead.

Tips for using vibes and lures * from P42

Remember you need a drift that’s not too fast or too slow otherwise the action doesn’t work. The right wind and tide angles are essential for this setup.

In the right conditions, it’s possible to catch cricket score numbers of big and small fish, and a large range of estuary and reef species in the Broadwater in the cooler months, including heaps of squid. If you do find a patch of fish, anchor and cast then hop your lure along the bottom.

Summary We use Shimano Sonic pro rods and Shimano Sienna FE 2500 reels with Yamatoyo Famell PE Resin Sheller 0.6 10lb

braid. Its thin diameter helps get your lures deeper easily, tied with an improved Albright knot to about a metre of 10lb fluorocarbon leader.

The best fishing times are a week leading up to bigger moons especially a full moon, and after rain. Bites are more frequent when there’s a tide running and you can drift quite quickly – but not too fast.

Look for shelter from wind and out of the main tidal run if the drift is too swift. Fishing can be tough with the biggest moons, and neap tides. The drier the weather, the further up river fish will be.

If you don’t want to use lures, a cast net and yabby pump are very useful for gath-

ering fresh bait. Fresh is best, particularly when it comes to bait.

After heavy rain and flood, the fish tend to be closer to the river mouth and in deeper holes. Lure colours depend on water clarity and weather.

Generally in clear water, more natural and clear colours work best, while chartreuse works well in clear water over a muddy bottom.

In dirty water, flashy colours especially gold prove successful, and for darker water bright colours work well. Smear SAX Scent on your lures to encourage fish to attack aggressively.

The ideal fishing times are when there’s * continued P45

An 87cm flathead hooked on an Ecogear ZX40 vibe in colour 440, the author’s all-time favourite lure and colour. See video of this fish being caught and released by Jan on her birthday.

Page 44 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

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* from P44

tidal flow – no run no fun. To fish deeper holes and near estuary mouth, the best periods are slack tides for fish such as mulloway.

Weed beds, sandbanks and upriver channel edges are great feeding zones, so we love fishing these areas.

Remember: find the bait – find the fish.

If the sounder screen is clear, keep moving.

When fishing from the shore, keep moving and walking the bank until you find fish.

To book a charter or e-charter (phone or video tutorial) with myself or Brad, or to buy a pack containing all our favourite lures, braid, leader and scent SMS 0432 990 302 or email fishingwithclint@gmail.com You can also find us on Facebook by searching for Brad Smith Fishing Charters.

ASK US ANYTHING!!

Spots, tackle, lures, tides, species, estuary tactics, moons, seasons and more!

SMS 0432 990 302 and we’ll get back to you. We’ll even jump on a call or video chat and share our knowledge!

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 45

Something fishy to focus on H

ELLO and welcome to this month’s digital edition of BNB. Well with so much going on in the world over the past month, it has been difficult to focus on fishing. In coming months I will endeavour to make more of an effort to focus on fishing because this may be one small piece of normality I can cling to.

I’m sure each and every one of you has had some part of your life affected by the current pandemic. I hope all our readers stay safe and well and are able to continue to fish in the future.

For now, most states are still permitting people to fish for food-gathering purposes or as exercise, but please remember to maintain social distancing when fishing.

Please only fish with members of your immediate household or one other person.

To help stop the spread of the virus, ensure you wash your hands regularly if you need to use any items others may have come in contact with.

As far as the fishing goes, it has been pretty good. The offshore fishing has been fairly consistent, with catches of both spotted and spanish mackerel reported.

The close reefs such as Black Head and Riordans have been producing fish over

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Ballina Bait & Tackle

by BRETT HYDE

the past couple of weeks, and I am hopeful that, weather permitting, we should see them for the next month or so.

Live baits including slimy mackerel and yellowtail have tempted fish very easily.

Blue pilchards have worked too and a few fish have even shown interest in metal spinners retrieved at high speed.

As you would expect, most anglers have had to use wire trace to stop the razor gang from biting them off. I would expect as the season goes on you will have to drop to really light wire to entice a bite as the schools become more hesitant after the constant boat traffic and fishing pressure on them.

If you really don’t want to play in the crowds on the close reefs, then mahi mahi may be more to your liking. Some quality fish have been hanging around the FAD and wave rider buoy over the past few weeks.

As is usually the case, live baits have been the best, but a number of larger fish have also been taken on skirted trolled lures.

Bright colours have produced better numbers, but it may also pay to run a dark colour in the spread because a few of the larger fish have taken darker colours.

Colour choice may also be dictated by the conditions on the day, so make sure you have a few options. The current has been hovering around 1.5-2 knots of late, which has also made bottom fishing a reasonable option.

Good-quality pearl perch have been coming from the 42 and 48-fathom lines on

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baits such as squid and pilchards.

The odd kingfish has been hooked on nearby pinnacles, but the better-quality kingies are out a little wider and have been mixed in with bar cod closer to the continental shelf.

Perhaps the warmer water in close is keeping the kingfish out a little wider in the cooler water.

The 32-fathom line is seeing quality flathead and smaller snapper turn up for anglers. It has been difficult to fish individual pinnacles due to the current, but the flathead have been spread across the sand, which has made them a much easier target at present.

Back on the rock platforms, we have seen a reasonable run of tailor along with a few bonito and even tuna. The usual baits of pilchards and mullet have tempted the tailor.

Most of the bonito and the tuna have been captured using metal spinners or large poppers and stickbaits fished across the surface.

Flat Rock, Black Head, Iron Peg and the breakwalls have all been worth checking out at the usual times of sunrise and sunset, but a few fish have also been taken during the day on the tide changes.

The most important thing is to have some bait schools in close enough to the rocks to entice the predators within casting distance.

If you are going to fish the rocks, please make sure you let someone know when you are going and when you have returned.

Try to fish with a friend if you can so there is someone there to help you in case of an emergency, and if you are at all concerned about the conditions, then please don’t risk your life.

The last rain event seems to have been just the catalyst we needed in the Richmond River as well. Fishing over the past few weeks has been very encouraging, with good-quality bream showing up around the rock walls in the lower reaches.

A mix of baits and lures has worked, but the common theme is you need to keep your presentations in close to the walls because the bream do not seem comfortable to move far from structure.

Flathead, on the other hand, have been spread around the sand flats, and as the water has continued to clear we have seen them move further upriver.

A number of solid fish are still below the Burns Point Ferry, but we are seeing more fish between the ferry and Wardell Bridge.

On the run-out tide, the water still has colour in it, so stick with brighter colours for lures or oily baits such as pilchards and mullet and try to target the deeper drop-offs near the sandbanks in this part of the river.

Well that’s all from me this month.

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An 80cm flathead that ate a swimming Ned rig dropped and hopped in a sand patch among the weed.

That Orange NedlockZ is a great strike trigger for aggressive feeders.

Ned rig basics for fishing success

E

XPLODING in the US, the Ned rig is basically a stand-up presentation built around a mushroom-style jig head and a buoyant soft plastic, meaning in the water the plastic is either fleeing on the retrieve or rapidly standing up in a clawsup ‘defensive’ pose or tail-up ‘feeding’ pose on the pause.

On the pause, the buoyant plastic moves

Tackle Tactics

by JUSTIN WILLMER

around naturally with any water movement.

Effectively, this gives you a presentation that is working for you throughout the entire retrieve, both attracting fish to the lure

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Even with the most basic setup you only need to include a handful of jig heads and a few packets of plastics.

and triggering strikes.

In Australia, it has already proven dynamite on bream, grunter, flathead, trevally, sweetlip and snapper, to name a few.

The TT Lures NedlockZ jig head is a mushroom head designed specifically for fishing the Ned rig and it is available in a range of weights and colours to cover a variety of applications.

I utilise the 1/15oz for shallow mangrove edges, flats, drains and pontoons in shallow water.

The 1/10oz is a good all-rounder that allows increased casting distance and is ideal for fishing water up to a couple of metres deep, while the 1/6oz and 1/5oz come into play when fishing deeper structure and channel edges, especially when there is more current.

I team the NedlockZ with a 10X Tough Z-Man soft plastic because these plastics are pm naturally buoyant, producing the rapid standup action key to the Ned rig’s success. * continued P49

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One of the author’s favourites, the NedlockZ and TRD CrawZ combo.

Flathead are suckers for the Ned rig, especially on days when the bite is less aggressive and other presentations aren’t working.

Adding scent can attract predators and trigger more brutal and committed strikes.

* from P48

as the ‘swimming Ned rig’, which is basically a NedlockZ teamed with a Z-Man 2.5” GrubZ or Slim SwimZ – so a plastic with more tail action.

This allows me to slow roll (slow wind) over larger expanses of flats in search of fish while still having the ability to stall the retrieve and utilise the rapid stand-up of the Ned rig.

This is perfect for covering water until you come across a sand patch, rubble or other structure that you wish to fish more thoroughly using standard Ned rig retrieves.

This is basically a soft plastic finesse fishing technique, so I stick with a 7’, 1-3kg or 2-4kg spin rod and 20-30 size reel loaded with 6-10lb braid and 10lb fluorocarbon leader.

If targeting finicky feeders in clear water, you may wish to decrease your leader weight, however where I mainly fish the water is quite murky and I have found big flathead love to inhale the Ned rig, so I like the security 10lb leader provides.

If you’re keen to try a new technique in the areas you fish, check out the Ned rig and show the fish something completely different when they decide not to bite.

See you on the water…

The two main plastics I fish are the Z-Man 2.5” TRD CrawZ and 2.75” TRD BugZ, both of which make excellent crab, yabby and crustacean-style presentations.

I then fish them accordingly to match the hatch, hopping, dragging and twitching them around mangrove edges, broken weed beds, rubble patches, drop-offs and drains.

A couple of winning combinations are the Orange NedlockZ and Greasy Prawn coloured plastic as a yabby imitation across the yabby beds, as well as the Orange NedlockZ teamed with a Drew’s Craw or The Deal coloured plastic when fishing mangrove creeks where the banks are lined with fiddler crabs, which are natural/dark crabs with a bright orange claw.

Cast this combination tight to the edge, allow it to fall to the bottom, and if it doesn’t get eaten on the drop, hop it away from the edge.

I also fish another combination I refer to

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It doesn’t take much water to hold a flathead and finesse techniques can be very effective.

One of many creek bream that couldn’t resist the fiddler crab presentation.

♦

The 2.5” Z-Man Slim SwimZ teamed with a NedlockZ to roll the flats and pick the pockets produced this 80cm flathead.

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 49

Treble hooks are a triple threat F INDING the perfect lure is an almost impossible task.

On any given day any lure may outperform another, which is why I assume many anglers have tackle boxes crammed full of lures in varying sizes and designs.

In any case, choosing a lure comes down to four main factors – action, cast-ability, colour and durability.

You’re never going to throw a lure that doesn’t swim straight or look good to you.

Colour is a whole separate argument for another day.

Most fishers overlook the hooks on their lures even though hooks are the most important aspect of fish catching ability.

So what treble should you choose when upgrading lures? With so many options

Gamakatsu Magic Eye short shank treble allows quick hook changes.

An example of a standard treble hook.

available, it can be somewhat confusing trying to decide, but each has its place in a tackle box.

When it comes to smaller hooks, whether you like them or not, bream anglers know their stuff. Many will add a wide gape to the rear of surface lures and small crank style lures, leaving a wide ‘J’ on the front.

The theory is that when fish swipe at surface lures they are not very accurate. Due to its profile, the wide gape results in more hook-ups in the cheeks of fish that would otherwise be missed with a standard ‘J’ style profile.

It does work and is a change we make every time we use a surface lure. The wire on the wide gape is also very fine, again resulting in more hook-ups.

Short shank and long shank are even more interesting changes, which when used appropriately can result in more fishing time.

Fishing in snaggy territory is fraught with danger. You won’t be the first angler to experience the front hook getting snagged on submerged timber and obstacles.

Perhaps try changing the front hook to a short shank treble, leaving a longer shank on the rear. By changing to a short shank front hook there would be less hook hanging down from the lure, meaning it is less likely to get caught on structure.

This equals more active fishing time and less time de-snagging. Though there will be times when a longer shank hook could be more productive, so it’s a good idea not to apply a one size fits all solution.

Similar to a lazy fish swiping at a surface lure, sometimes fish are simply not energetic enough to chase down lures.

In this situation, anglers may try changing the rear treble on their hard body lure to a wide gape or a long shank treble.

More hook hanging off the lure will result in more hook-ups because fish will have a lazy grab at it. The wide gape is more effective as the points are more pronounced.

The long shank has more hook hanging off, therefore a fish has more chance of

Trebles are deadly on a wide variety of lures intended for countless fish species.

Page 50 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

finding it. When anglers notice fish only just pinned on lures, they may assume a colour change to be the only solution.

Though a longer or different treble might produce more fish rather than a different colour.

Bigger trebles are a different kettle of fish. The heavy-duty hooks of the treble world are 3x and 4x strong.

Most are a ‘J’ style but feature beefed-up wire and are designed for tough adversaries such as barramundi, kingfish, mangrove jack and giant trevally.

I re-learnt a valuable lesson recently. I hooked a large coral trout on a popper and after a torrid 10-minute battle over coral the line suddenly went limp.

I could still feel the lure on the end so I wound it in to discover two straightened hooks on the front treble. Devastated!

If only I’d changed to a more suitable and stronger hook, I could have caught that fish. It bugged me all day, particularly as I had spare 3x strong trebles with me at the time.

For anglers chasing the thuggish GT there is another hook selection – the GT Recorder. These massive trebles are as tough as they get and are barbless for easier release of special sportfish.

Suitable for large poppers, the GT Recorder is the pinnacle of treble hooks. Specialty hooks such as Magic Eye can also be useful and are designed around allowing anglers quick hook changes without the need of split ring pliers.

Magic Eye refers to the eye of the hook having a flattened section, which can be used to part the split ring and thread it on with ease.

These hooks are 2x strong and capable of dealing with all but the toughest fish.

Fine wire trebles are also a good investment when hook-ups are failing to convert because they will find a home easier in the jaws of fish.

What colour? I personally don’t take the colour of trebles into consideration – nickel, black and silver are the most common colour of hooks found on lures in my tackle box.

My feeling is that a fish is going for the lure, not the hook, so colour is less important than selecting the right shape and gauge.

What I always use is a high quality chemically sharpened hook because I believe these will give me the best chance of converting hook-ups to fish.

Next time you pull a lure out of your tackle box, take a moment to think about the hook and whether the standard treble is appropriate for the job.

Unfortunately, for fishers nothing compares to the utter devastation felt after losing a trophy fish due to hook failure.

Dominic Wiseman www.bnbfishing.com. au

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 51

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BOATING & marine Insights into boat insurance

Ensuring your insurance policy is up to scratch

S

pecialist marine insurers such as Nautilus Marine Insurance are the ones to be with when it comes to vessel write-offs and considering what is and what is not, ‘damage beyond economic repair’.

Why? Because specialist marine insurers know the value of boats and equally as importantly, they know today’s costs of replacing them. That’s a critical factor for the boat owner.

Consider this hypothetical scenario – eight years ago a person bought a new, brand name, 6m powerboat, motor, trailer and electronics package for $85,000.

For the past six years, the owner has taken his rig back to the authorised marine dealership from where the boat was bought, and requested a formal valuation.

The dealership has confirmed in writing, every year, that the boat package has a current market value of $80,000.

Every year the owner has provided the dealership’s documentation to the insurer, as evidence confirming the boat’s

outstanding condition and its true value.

And every year, the marine insurer has accepted $80,000 as the agreed value of that boat having regard to how the owner has kept it in immaculate condition.

Now let’s assume that during the term of the policy, something very untoward happens to the boat – it is stolen, or terminally damaged. Let’s also assume that the circumstance is clearly covered in the product disclosure document and insurance contract.

The insurer therefore is prepared to pay out the $80,000 to the owner as the agreed value. However, had the owner not continued to provide evidence of the real, current value of the rig, some policies would default from the ‘agreed sum insured’ to the ‘market value’ of the vessel.

And in this circumstance, the payout figure would be based on a typical value for a boat of that model and vintage and how it typically had been used and looked after.

Consequently, the payout figure might

drop significantly – perhaps to $60,000.

Bear in mind that eight years later, the real replacement cost for a new boat might now be very much higher than the original $85,000 purchase price.

This time let’s assume the boat was severely damaged in an accident. A non-specialist marine insurer might be inclined to write the loss off, if the estimated repair costs amounted to 70 percent of the market value.

The insured would still get the entitled amount of the payout, but would now miss out on having a 6m boat because the insurer determined it to be damaged beyond economic repair.

The owner’s boat does not get fixed and he or she knows a new replacement boat cannot be afforded. The owner is in a financial hole. Even more so, if the owner had allowed the boat to lapse into general ‘market value’ rather than its immaculate ‘agreed value’.

However, a specialist like Nautilus Marine Insurance, which is focused on boat insurance rather than trying to insure your house, pets, health and household effects, is well aware of the issue likely to be confronting the boat owner.

And with that possibly comes a solution. It may consider the boat to be an acceptable economic repair even if the repair bill represents 80 percent of agreed value depending on the type of repair required and the salvage value.

That way, the owner has the boat fully repaired – perhaps even by the original boat manufacturer if the company offers this service.

The owner is now back in a 6m boat without being trapped in the gulf between the payout figure and the now-unaffordable cost of buying a new replacement.

Being a specialist, Nautilus Marine Insurance understands the industry, its participants and the realities of the way it operates.

In the past, Nautilus has even negotiated directly with manufacturers on behalf * continued P58

Any advice contained in this article is of a general nature only and may not apply or be right for you as it does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs.

Before acting on any advice provided in this article, you should consider the appropriateness of the advice having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs.

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 57

BOATING & marine Ensuring your insurance policy is up to scratch * from P57

of insured clients to achieve a satisfactory outcome.

And that’s a key difference between dealing with an industry specialist when it comes to insurers. In the same way as a person might look for a specialist livestock insurer for a prize bull, a specialist marine insurer is the place to start looking when you want to insure your boat.

Always check your PDS thoroughly. Make yourself aware about whether it defaults to market value after a certain time.

If so and you would prefer ‘agreed value’, go to a respected marine dealer (probably the one you bought your new boat from) have them inspect it, appraise its true value and prepare a market valuation form.

Then, when you renew the premium, attach that accurate market valuation form to your policy renewal application.

You may or may not find yourself paying a few dollars more because the value of your boat is recognised as being higher, but when it all goes pear-shaped, you can expect to be paid the agreed figure, rather than a depreciated market value figure that was based on average value.

When it comes to marine insurance, always check your PDS 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 PDS. If you need further information, you can contact Nautilus Marine Insurance on 1300 780 533 for any boat insurance requirements.

Any advice contained in this article is of a general nature only and may not apply or be right for you as it does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any advice provided in this article, you should consider the appropriateness of the advice having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs.

Page 58 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

Useful boat maintenance tips from John Crawford Marine

A

FTER your day out on the water, wash down your boat with a good-quality boat wash. Don’t forget the anchor well and winch strap/wire and to remove the bung plugs.

Wash your trailer and inside the frame and under the mudguards with plenty of fresh water. Don’t forget the brakes (if applicable) and crossmembers.

Flush your motor with fresh water for at least three minutes. Refer to your manufacturer’s recommendations via their webpage, or often video demonstrations found on YouTube.

Roll, not fold your side curtains when removed because they will crease and damage the ‘clears’. Store dry and fit side curtains regularly, as they can shrink.

Use silicon spray on zips for lubrication.

Avoid CRC/WD40 etc. Place a bit of Vaseline on your canopy clips and studs to help reduce corrosion build-up and in turn make clipping on/off easier.

Spray your engine (under the cowl) with a Lanoline-based corrosion guard. Never use WD40 or CRC because these are penetrative-based oils and may damage plastics.

Fuel Think safety first when refuelling. Avoid using any ethanol-based petrol often referred to as E10. Avoid using fuel older than 12 weeks.

Trailer Trailer lights, bearings and brakes (if applicable) should be inspected/checked regularly to ensure they are all in working order.

Tyres Check tyre pressures regularly. Maxi-

mum pressure can be found on the sidewall of the tyre expressed in PSI. Follow tyre pressure recommendations from the manufacturer.

Motor We recommend an annual engine service or after every 50 hours of use, whichever comes first. Book your motor in for a service eight weeks prior to holidays to avoid the pre-holiday rush.

Storage Store your boat dry to avoid mildew and mould build-up. Store it bow high with the bung plugs removed to allow water to drain.

Batteries When storing your boat between trips, always disconnect your battery or batteries.

Your boat may have an isolation switch that can be turned to the ‘off’ position.

Tools and spares (MacGyver kit) Carry an assortment of tools and spares on board in your family’s best Tupperware container! Consider packing a small and large shifter, screwdrivers, electrical tape, WD40, spare bungs, zip ties, a couple of cotton rags, a tube of grease, some wire and a lighter.

Safety gear Set up a calendar reminder in your phone for expiry dates on flares, EPIRB, registration renewals and so on. Remember to check your safety gear before each trip for condition and compliance in the area you intended to go boating.

John Crawford Marine Queensland’s used boat specialists since 1964 www.bnbfishing.com. au

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 59

& marine BOATING

Essential outboard maintenance

H

I, Craig Tomkinson here. I hope everyone is coping well in these trying times and keeping active while isolating.

Until the last 10 days of school holidays, I was working – for 12 weeks. So when I did get time off, I came home and ate and slept for the first three to four days.

It was great because I was stuffed from working and needed a good break. After recovering, I thought I’d give our cars, four-wheel-drive, lawn mowers and gear a good going over.

I started with the 60hp Yamaha outboard on my 5m tinnie. I had a supply of oil as I’d previously bought 40 litres of Caltex Delo 400 MGX SAE 15W-40 – I’ve used Caltex oil in my motors for over 45 years.

I bought the filters from Slips AutoMate Spares in Cooroy, and because they’ve supplied me for years, they give me a great price.

Boating Maintenance

by CRAIG TOMKINSON

Now many people are daunted by the thought of servicing an outboard. Though it’s no different to your car or 4WD except the motor is horizontal – that’s it.

In fact, if you flush your motor you should change the oil and filter every 50 to 100 hours, depending on how hard it works.

You shouldn’t have to tune it or bugger around with it. Because there doesn’t seem to be any difference in oil colour after 60 to 80 hours I generally rotate between a genuine and non-genuine oil filter, both do a great job.

I tend to change my oil filter frequently as oil is cheap when compared to a rebuild.

My preference is to put a 200-litre drum, with the top cut out, under my outboard leg

The colour of the author’s gearbox oil is fine, it just needed changing. Better this colour than milky. The author used an impact driver to get the stainless steel plugs out and put them back in tight.

Using a two-litre container and funnel to pour the new oil into the motor.

Page 60 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

and fill the drum with water.

Start the motor and let it run until it warms up to around operating temp to give the motor a good flush and get the thermostat working.

Check the prop in the drum is clear of everything, and at a slow idle put it in forward gear for a short time and then in reverse.

This stirs the oil up in the gearbox, which will be changed later. Drain the water out of the drum, move it away and make sure the motor is level.

Next take the cowling off, undo the yellow fill plug in the top of the motor and take the drain bung out. Drop the oil out of the motor into a 4L container and have a rag there to wipe drips.

You could set up a frame to hold the container so you can have a refreshing beverage while it drains. Once the oil has slowed to a drip, undo the old oil filter with an oil filter strap wrench and remove it.

Where the new filter seals, wipe the surface with a clean rag. On the new filter make sure to remove the thin plastic cover and wipe a smear of new oil on the O-ring seal on the top of the filter.

Screw it back on and do it up firmly by hand, then wipe the motor bung clean and put it back in the motor. Tighten the screws but do not over-tighten otherwise you’ll strip the thread.

Four-stroke outboards are easy to overfill with oil, so ensure you read how much oil to put in yours. My motor takes 2.2 litres of oil, so I use a small funnel in the top oil fill plughole and slowly pour in a two-litre container of oil.

Check the dipstick after each litre to confirm it’s at the right level, and when full put the top fill plug back in. Put the 200-litre drum back under the leg, fill the drum with water and start the motor.

To make sure there are no leaks around the new oil filter, increase the RPM a little and after running it for a while, check the filter again.

If no leaks are visible shut the motor off and let the oil settle before checking the level again with the dipstick. If the level is low, add a little more oil. Then drain the drum and put the cowl back on.

To change the leg oil, make sure the motor is level and prepare an impact driver with a big flat screwdriver head.

With the impact driver set to turn left put in the flat-headed top screw on the gearbox and hit the back of it with a hammer a couple of times until it be* continued P61

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comes loose, then screw it out.

Wipe clean and check the fibre washer has came out and is in good nick. Do the same to the bottom stainless-steel screw and let the oil drain.

You want to see clean oil come out. You do not want to see milky oil. If you do, it means the oil has water in it and you’ll want to check the seal behind the prop in case fishing line is in there.

If the oil is a light milky colour, your stainless-steel screws may not have been tight enough or the fibre washers may need changing.

The leg oil in my motor was slightly dark so no water in it but it was due for a change.

Once again while it drains, there is time for a beverage.

Allow 15 to 20 minutes for the leg oil to drain. When it is a slow drip, ensure you have enough gearbox oil – mine holds about 700mls – to fill the leg from the bottom fill hole.

Pump or squeeze the oil in until it comes out from the top. When that happens replace the top stainless-steel screw, remove the oil filler and replace the bottom stainless screw as well.

With the impact driver, do them up tight but do not strip the threads. My motor has done hundreds of hours now and the above is all I do.

It costs me about $60 for a service. I change the spark plugs and thermostat every 500-600 hours and the water pump impeller every 200-300 hours, though if you’re working a shallow bar like Noosa, change them about every 200 hours.

My boat is used frequently for crabbing and fishing. ‘Til next month, stay happy in isolation.

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 61

A massive pre-restriction queenfish.

Moments of mayhem mess with the best

A

S a charter operator, mess and disorganisation seriously get under my skin. Now, if you know me personally I am one of the messiest people about, and the console of my boat is a clear indication.

Lures with rusty hooks stacked on top of each other and hidden underneath is a pair of line clippers that possibly could have been chucked two years ago. However, the work area of the boat is always kept free of clutter.

Fishing for speedy predators often results in battles that have us flying and scurrying around the vessel. Throw in a shark or ten

Fraser Guided Fishing

by TRI TON

and you have a recipe for rather epic moments of mayhem.

So my vessel is always free of clutter.

Everything has its place – two tool holders sit port and starboard of my console, each with pliers, knife, scissors and de-hooker.

I position tool holders in places to reduce the chance of catching clothing when someone walks past. I literally lose my mind when I reach for a tool and someone

A big longtail tuna for Frank.

Page 62 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

hasn’t put it back – I may be frantically trying to de-hook a fish to return it quickly to the water.

Other things like line spools and drinks can cause trips and slips. Put fishing tackle in boxes and stow them out of the way.

Drink holders are available in numerous quantities and designs, so get some please.

Attach drink holders in places where they won’t hinder movement.

Line is a hazard for wildlife if it’s blown or knocked overboard and being plastic, line is not biodegradable. Line can also * continued P64

Brook with a beautiful coral trout.

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 63

Frank caught this nice cobia.

Moments of mayhem mess * from P62

jam bilge pumps and other essential boat equipment, so have somewhere to stow smaller rubbish items such as line, and dispose of tags and bird’s nests responsibly.

I repurpose soft plastic lure packaging to stow smaller rubbish that would otherwise easily be lost. I wedge the clip-lock packet firmly under something to ensure it doesn’t blow away. It gets tossed out when the packet is full.

Alternatively, you could use 3cm pieces of double-sided Velcro to fix the pack to a rail or carpet. Consider how fast your

A tasty sweetlip.

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vessel can go before leaving the packaging flapping about in the wind, and obviously it should be removed when the vessel is being towed on high-speed limit roads.

Cut a slit in the welded part of the packet wide enough to slide the Velcro piece through, then wrap it around a rail or strap it to some carpet. Use two straps of Velcro if you want a more secure connection. Insert damaged soft plastics, line tags, hooks, muesli bar wrappers and bird’s nests – job done.

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www.fraserguidedfishing.com.au > 0427 230 261 Page 64 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 65

Simply spanish mackerel Leeah Bahr with a good size spanish mackerel caught fishing the bottom with a soft plastic.

W

HEN fishing offshore it’s often difficult to decide whether to target bottom fish or pelagics, but as the girl on the taco advertisement said, “why not both?”

Pelagic fish are fish that essentially do not have a home, they’re constantly moving from reef to reef and area to area. Mackerel are a pelagic fish that can be found from shallow coastal areas to the deep blue, making them a likely capture during a trip offshore. Spanish mackerel tick all

Bundaberg Offshore

by JOEL JOHNSON

the boxes for any keen sportfisho.

This species offer spectacular sport fishing and take everything from a soft plastic lure through to a surface popper. On top of that, they are fast growing and plentiful in Queensland waters, so everyone can catch a feed knowing there are many more available.

It’s worth mentioning that a pair of fillets

The author’s substantial mackie that fell victim to a well-presented floating bait.

Page 66 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

from a sizable spanish mackerel will feed a small army, which means there’s rarely a need to hit your bag limit.

Over the years I’ve experienced several insane spanish mackerel sessions – having them strike poppers from beneath and get extreme air-time, often a few meters from the boat.

Every offshore fisho must witness a human-sized fish strike a lure at a rate of knots and become airborne due to the speed of the strike – it’s an incredible thing to watch.

Though surface lure fishing for spanish mackerel is epic, it isn’t always as effective because they require particular conditions to feed off the surface.

One of the more popular methods of spanish mackerel fishing is to troll diving lures or well-rigged swimming baits, but I have success drift fishing with a good old ‘floater’ or two out the back.

Trolling certainly has its perks because you essentially find the fish as opposed to the fish finding you. However, if the mackies aren’t in the area or playing the game, you’ve used time and fuel for no real reward.

This is where drift fishing comes into its own. Drifting allows you to multitask – you can fish the structure below while a couple of rods in the holder fish the mid to top water column for cruising spaniards.

Though when the floating bait gets smashed and the rod screams off, multi* continued P67

www.bnbfishing.com. au

Jacob Dallas with his personal best 15kg spanish mackerel, which took a floating slimy mackerel. * from P66

tasking is thrown out the window. Anyone who can stay calm when a reel is screaming in the rod holder is super human.

With two or more lines out, a mess on the floor and one of the great speedsters of the ocean running you around the boat, things get tricky but who’d complain!

The chaos of having multiple lines in the water is worth the bedlam after you bag some reef fish and pelagics, and makes for a good variety of fun and food.

While the current will dictate the depth of your ‘floater’, generally spanish mackerel favour tidal movement related to bigger tides of a cycle.

In shallow water, the use of a float can be beneficial to keep your bait from sinking to the bottom, but in water depth of more than 15m the current and weight of your bait will direct where it sits in the water column.

An ideal setup is three or four-ganged hooks with about 20cm of single-strand wire trace rigged on a reel with significant line capacity for massive runs and a nice soft tipped rod to absorb erratic fish headshakes.

I could spend all day talking about bait choices, but key is to have a range of bait handy because it’s the difference between catching fish and disappointment.

Garfish are certainly on my list of go-to baits, along with slimy mackerel, grinner and bonito. The only way to find out what works best is to get out there and try your luck.

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So next time you’re fishing the bottom around your local reefs, send out a humble old floater and wait for that drag to scream!

The author’s three-gang hook setup rigged with about 20cm of single-strand wire trace proved effective on mackerel.

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What an outlook!

A Bustard Head trip with a difference

A

CAMPING and fishing trip to Queensland’s Bustard Head and Pancake Creek, about 30km north of Agnes Waters, had long been on my bucket list.

What made a six-day stay in beautiful and virtually untouched wilderness so alluring was its accessibility only by boat.

The challenge? Six of us and only one –

Reader’s Report

by BOB SAVAGE

not even 6m long – boat.

In 2012, I founded an unofficial club of six line and spearfishers named the Caloundra Cod Wallopers. The club comprised my two sons and three mates, all of

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whom have been close-knit buddies since kindergarten, and your’s truly.

I see us as a free-spirited band of beer-swilling sea gypsies. However, I’m told we’re more like a drinking club with a spearfishing problem.

Our beloved boat, aptly named the Cod Father, is 5.6m Quintrex with centre con-

* continued P69

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Page 68 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

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* from P68

sole and powered by an Evinrude E-TEC 115hp outboard. Apart from regular day trips, we make at least one annual weeklong trip away, usually to North Stradbroke Island but in April 2018 we headed for Bustard Head.

A trip to Bustard Head equals boat camping only, no roads, no amenities, no fresh water – no nothing, just plain wilderness.

To say the packing was a work of art would have been an understatement – every cubic inch was utilised to the utmost.

Fluids and containers included three Eskies; one gas fridge and freezer; six 20-litre drums of drinking water; 40 litres of ice frozen in plastic milk bottles; a 10kg block of dry ice; two 20-litre drums of spare fuel; five cartons of beer; wine casks; bottles of rum and brandy.

Camping gear consisted of table; tarps; poles; pegs; ropes; tents; mattresses (inflatables only); clothes; sleeping bags and blankets. The fishing gear comprised of rods; tackle; spearguns; wetsuits; fins; masks and weight belts. We took food, hand tools and safety gear, and the list went on.

Small wonder that once launched in Seventeen Seventy’s Round Hill Creek we resembled a boatload of asylum seekers. It was practically standing-room only, with fold-up chairs strapped to Esky tops and life jackets – evicted from their usual stor-

* continued P70

The author speared a queenfish of about 12kg.

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 69

A Bustard Head trip with a difference

* from P69

age compartment to make way for cans of baked beans – zip-tied to the bow rail. My eldest son remarked that he’d even cut his toothbrush in half.

As a battle-scarred boatie, I am only too aware that feats like this are not possible in any conditions, and was resigned to the possibility of postponement or even cancellation.

Fortunately a favourable forecast remained for the week, and as we motored out to open sea I thanked the weather gods for the steady 12-knot southerly breeze and the similarly directed lazy swell. No water speed records were set that day.

We rolled with it and three hours later motored into Pancake Creek and set up camp. By a glorious sunset we were fed and settled around the mandatory campfire with tinnies in hand.

As self-appointed captain of the outfit, I reminded the crew of the water ration, which apart from the frozen drinking water equated to one 20-litre drum each and four litres of water per person per day. To spare any for a wash meant risking dehydration.

They collectively reminded me that beer contained water, and unanimously declared to minimise weight for the journey home – by ensuring not a single drop of alcohol would be left by the end of the week. How thoughtful of them.

Pancake Creek is more like a river and is simply picture postcard perfect. Apart from a live-aboard vessel anchored in the creek and campers further up river, we virtually had the place to ourselves.

The forecast the next day was good for offshore, so we decided to hit the estuaries, which was very disappointing. Regardless of time of day or stage of tide live yabbies and other fresh bait produced nothing, not

even a tiddler and barely a nibble.

The only thing we caught was a remora, which had me wondering the whereabouts of the host. Setting crab pots overnight proved equally futile. It seemed the fish had gone on holiday and the crabs went with them.

Early next morning we headed offshore towards the areas well-known structures of Inner, Middle and Outer Rock. Conditions were good but again things seemed quiet.

No birds diving, no surface action and little on the sounder. A morning spent trolling different lures and large garfish resulted in one barely legal spanish mackerel, so we headed back in.

Previously we’d taken precautions against marauding wildlife and locked away foodstuffs. But we had become complacent and paid the price.

We returned to camp to find a mess of empty eggshells, torn flour bags and sugar splattered all over our makeshift table courtesy of one huge goanna – lesson learnt. I should have taken a photo because the table-top looked like a mad man had attempted to make a batch of scones.

Day three and we were keener than ever to ditch the rods for spearguns. We headed off toward Middle Rock where the visibility was excellent and the sounder showed promise.

We suited up and were ready to jump in when I noticed a strange purplish jelly Irukandji looking thing float by – then another, and another. Not being cognoscente of these creatures, we did a Google search and in among the lengthy Latin terminology was the word ‘Dangerous’. So before it started our spearfishing ended.

Next we headed to Inner Rock where the current was way too fast. Dangerously fast.

Once more we moved closer toward Bustard Headland and sounded around until

Getting set to board The Cod Father.

Page 70 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

we found rocky reef patches.

The visibility wasn’t as good but the current was manageable and we didn’t see any dangerous purplish jelly looking things. This area produced some nice cod, mangrove jack and other reef fish but no mackerel. Still we had more than enough to eat.

As per the forecast the sky clouded over with the promise of rain. By the time we beached the Cod Father at camp, the promise was fulfilled and it absolutely pelted down.

Now, bathing daily in seawater is bearable but it does get to you after a while, so we made the most of the deluge. We stripped off our wetsuits and stood under the tarp where rain poured down like a waterfall. It was freezing cold but still freshwater and plenty of it.

On the morning of our last full day, we headed out for a final rocky reef patch dive, where we scored a few for the Esky and turned tail to come back by mid-morning.

About 2km from the mouth of Pancake we came across a skittish school of baitfish. Something was chasing them.

Not being able to resist a last shot at a mackerel, I grabbed my gun, jumped overboard, swam toward the school and shot a nice queenfish of around 12kg.

This greedy fella had a big appetite, in its gut were five large yellow tail scads and a heap of other stuff.

The rest of the day and a good part of the night were dedicated to slow roasting a leg of lamb and veggies over a campfire, and making a serious effort to deplete all the booze we had left.

Next morning was time to head home.

After a big breakfast, we dismantled our camp, reloaded the boat and headed off.

There are no rubbish facilities at Bustard and the rightful owners must take it away.

So though our supplies were seriously depleted, our craft was loaded to the gunwale with umpteen plastic rubbish bags. We looked like a scene from Monty Python.

All week the favourable weather had been consistent and as a parting gesture the gods blessed us with a glassy sea and no wind.

Considerably lighter, I was able to open up all 115 gee gees and about 40 minutes later we were back at our departure point in Round Hill Creek.

Bustard Head has much to offer. The remoteness, natural beauty, estuary, offshore and Great Barrier Reef fishing are what define this territory as truly unique.

No record fish hauls for us but given the distance, time frame, cargo, size of the boat and the fact there were six of us, it sure was a trip with a difference. www.bnbfishing.com. au

We want your day out on the water with family and mates to be the best it can be.

So we’ve designed the Fishabout Pro around the things that are important.

Like plenty of space. Thanks to a wide beam and more distance between the dash and transom, there’s a stack of elbow room. And for even more space we’ve done away with the motor well that intruded into the rear lounge area. We’ve replaced it with a pod transom so we can mount the engine further back, with useful duckboards either side, and plenty of lounge space. Our famous Blade Hull now has a new improved Flared Bow – the stretch formed aluminium side sheets have more curve that runs further across the length of the boat to deflect more spray away from passengers.

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 71

An estuary cod from the sound caught by Will.

Stanage the last fishing frontier H ELLO and greetings from Stanage, the last fishing frontier.

Well what a difference a month has made in this world.

Normally we would have our rentals full and the shop would be buzzing with people.

However, all rentals have had to be cancelled and the shop closed due to this debacle, while we do our bit and try to keep everybody as safe as possible.

Stanage Bay

by JOHN GLANFORD

The message is very clear: stay home and stay safe.

Hopefully the pandemic will pass quickly and we can all get back to our ‘normal’ lives - and fishing - soon.

Obviously the fishing report from the

The author with nice nannygai caught on a squid bomb.

Page 72 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

guests we don’t have is a little dismal, but we did go for a quick fish recently.

Which was within our rights because we live on the water and social distancing isn’t a problem in Stanage at the moment – there is no one here.

As most of you would know, here we fish for barra in February and go reef fishing from March to October.

The crabbing season generally starts from November through to July, but we are great believers in ‘dry on land, dry on water’.

With rain late in the season this year perhaps there will be a longer catch time.

For the most part crabs are always here, and if you catch them out of season they will be full old bucks, which is what you want.

Fishing at Stanage is different to other places so don’t expect to catch full bag limits of fish on your first trip.

Quite a few guests do, though many struggle until they work out the tides and become familiar with the area.

Most become frequent guests and return to Stanage for an annual visit.

Before Stanage went in to what is essentially full lockdown mode, a few guests caught nice fish using both lures and bait.

For our fishing trip, we went bottom bashing around Hexham Island and The Percy Group areas.

We had good results catching red emper* continued P73

www.bnbfishing.com. au

Hans was happy with this sweetlip.

Quality Stanage crabs.

Anchor yourself at

Hans and his fingermark. * from P72

or, nannygai, grass sweetlip, parrotfish, trout, moses perch, hussar and trevally.

We did get cut off a couple of times and discovered spanish mackerel were the culprits because we ended up landing a couple of undersize spaniards, which were promptly returned to the water.

It is sad we don’t have more information on catches, but while the social restrictions are in place giving full reports of fishing around Stanage will be difficult.

Though finding something to talk about from this beautiful location may not be as challenging.

Until next time stay healthy, stay safe and stay home (unless for essential services).

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Monster crabs Will was excited with his first barramundi at 79cm.

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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 73

Changing of the seasons Wade Clark picked up a giant salty that went over 120cm.

W

ITH difficult months ahead, I hope everyone has a bit of ‘social distancing’ on the cards.

I reckon there’s no better way to distance ourselves than to get out on the water.

Well maybe not prawning in southeast Queensland because I have seen those crazy crowds. In all seriousness, at the time of putting this article together, dams around Queensland have been shut down, public fishing platforms are closed and recreational boating and fishing has been limited to ‘essential gathering of food and travel’.

It’s a very sensitive time we live in right now and the sooner we can control this

Capricorn Coast

by JOHN BOON

virus, the sooner we can go back to normal. Here on the Capricorn Coast, water temperatures are on the drop and anglers’ techniques should be changing with the times.

Winter clothes are starting to make an appearance on cool and crisp mornings.

The Fitzroy River is still a mess but plenty of anglers have been coming up trumps by fishing live baits around the town reaches

of the Fitzroy River and through Gavial Creek.

I did a run down the river not too long ago to have a look at what’s changed and also to have a go at fishing the run-off. I’ll be honest, I have stuck my head in the sand when the Fitzroy turns brown with freshwater run-off.

I’m at the stage now though that new challenges are accepted with open arms.

I started in town checking a few potential spots and also scanning new areas.

This method was used as I worked my way downriver. The water level was high and I wasn’t seeing much at all. I finally found a spot holding good barra numbers.

It would have been a solid four hours before I even pulled a rod out. I had a quick look around to see what sort of bait was present and spotted mullet and prawns, so I stuck with prawn imitations, paddle tails and swimbaits.

I changed through a variety of lures be* continued P76

David Borresen with a tank Fitzroy run-off barra going 124cm.

Page 74 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

One of the author’s run-off barra took a liking to the Zerek Live Mullet. Down the hatch.

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Changing of the seasons on Cap Coast * from P74

fore I finally got crunched on a Zerek Live Mullet in white and chartreuse (MM).

I was always told dark colours are better for dirty water, but on this day they weren’t. A good lesson to keep your options open.

A nice Fitzroy run-off barra of 85cm soon hit the deck. Hours and hours of searching and persistence had finally paid off. It makes it all worthwhile when you finally get that bite.

I persisted in this area for another hour or so, going through multiple lure changes.

I got back around to the same Zerek Live Mullet and it was once again crunched on the slow roll.

I think that’s why barra are so addictive – problem solving and trying to get them to bite that lure. The bite is exhilarating too, with a big thump usually rumbling down the rod.

They also jump and put up an amazing

Young Quinn Warren caught and released this nice little mangrove jack.

fight. The feeling you get when metallic chrome is laying on the deck is pure satisfaction. It’s an ongoing obsession once you land your first.

The run-off flood water is still running all the way through the Fitzroy. The Casuarina cut-through would be worth a look because it’s starting to clean up.

If we don’t get any more run-off rain, Port Alma will be a good spot too. The Connors area will clear and you should be able to secure a feed of fingermark from the rock bars using live baits such as mullet.

Vibration lures jigged on deep bommies with bait and fish holding on them will present another go-to technique. I have heard reports that Reidys and Inkermen creeks (head right from the Port Alma ramp) have had good water clarity during the neap tides.

Barra and king threadfin salmon are worthy targets through this area. Make sure you take the crab pots with you because the reports have been the best in this area out of the entire net-free zone.

If you’re chasing crab pot bait, Keppel Bay Marina and Glenmore Seafoods generally have fish frames for sale. However, if you’re a bit time poor, just grab a few whole mullet or mullet heads from the servo, as they work almost as well.

Coorooman Creek just outside Emu Park has recovered nicely from all the rain. The crabbing there has been a bit tough but the rewards are there for people who put in the time.

I spent a couple of days in Coorooman just before the movement restrictions came in. We got our boat limit of 14 muddies but it took us two days to get there.

We were getting good numbers by leaving the pots right up in the drains on the mud flats just before dark on high tide and then coming back the next morning to collect them.

The numbers dropped off doing this and

A cracker run-off barra coming in at 122cm.

Page 76 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

then we started to get them again in the main channels by running them along the shallow side in front of the drains.

It pays to move your pots around and think about where each pot is placed. By doing this, you will crack patterns a lot quicker.

Coorooman has been producing nice fish, with a variety gracing the deck of most boats. Fingermark have been caught in numbers on the rock bars.

The rock bars right beside the ramp are a good place to start. Just observe the ‘no anchoring’ signs around the pipeline. Big barra have been caught here too.

With cooling water temperatures, blue salmon will start to move in big numbers. I haven’t heard too many reports yet but they shouldn’t be far away.

In my opinion, May is one of the best months to head offshore. Going back through many years of notes shows May has been a consistent month when heading wide.

The weather for offshore hasn’t been great, as the southeasterly wind just keeps blowing. Only a few quick opportunities have enabled boaties to slip out between the high-pressure systems.

The majority of the limited reports have been really good, with most boats bringing home a cracking feed. Spanish mackerel have been in strong supply on the outer side of the Keppel Islands and also around Manifold, Flat and Perforated islands.

Large-mouth nannygai has been the most consistent species filling Eskies over the past few months. Some absolute horses among them have gone over the metre mark – they certainly have the wow factor!

In my opinion, the nannies around the 50-60cm mark are the better eating ones.

They have such sweet, white flesh. They would be up there with my favourite fish to eat at this size. * continued P77

Braden with his PB 90cm barra caught on a live mullet.

www.bnbfishing.com. au

Drew Polderman with a nice barra.

Cape crusader’s Cooktown commendations

W

ELL, g’day to you all. Congratulations to Bush ‘n Beach Fishing on their first digital edition.

Great work!

Well, at the time of writing virus news was fairly positive, and I have a sense things will start opening up sooner than many expected. How things unfold on Cape York remains to be seen.

However, given the number of Indigenous communities here it’s likely to be a staggered affair. Whatever happens, the annual post-wet season road repairs will be later than usual, which means the greater Cooktown region will be a prime destination.

Cooktown has to be one of the most

Cape York by ‘BILLABONG’ BAZZ LYON

scenic coastal towns in Australia. It offers abundant river and reef fishing, and features a host of tempting attractions.

With three caravan parks in town as well as motels, you can free camp at the racecourse. About a kilometre downstream from the boat ramp on the southern side of town, the Annan River is fairly shallow and is best navigated on the upper half of the tide.

The mouth of the Annan can be fished for barramundi, bream, queenfish, trevally,

cod and the occasional flathead.

Also on the southern side, Esk Creek features very fishy-looking country and can produce quality mangrove jack and mud crabs, as well as the usual tropical marauders.

In good weather and on a high tide, the southern side of Walker Bay is well worth fishing, especially with lures around mangroves and rocks.

Upriver from the bridge, beware a large rock bar around the first bend. Fishing the edge at the aptly named ‘Crocodile Bend’ can be productive on a flood tide because fingermark inhabit the deep hole here. * continued P78

Changing of the seasons on Cap Coast * from P76

Fresh squid bait and slow-pitch jigs have been doing most of the damage if you’re looking for a few techniques to target them with.

Inshore, fingermark have been running well, which is typical for this time of year. Bait fishers have been choosing their structure, whether it be a wreck, rubble patch or headland and setting up for the night.

Arrow squid are attracted to deck lights, and some fishos even run their own dedicated squid light. Fingermark can’t resist a live squid.

Targeting them on artificial baits will require a lot more time and patience. www.bnbfishing.com. au

Having a selection of spots to target fingermark will be an advantage.

Move to the first spot give it an hour or two wile constantly changing lures and then move on. Slow-pitch jigs work well, as do 150mm Samaki Vibelicious lures.

Another issue that has been raised with the current COVID-19 pandemic is the risk of not being rescued in the event of a breakdown.

You can get the boat in and out of the water no problem without having to talk to anyone or touch anything public, but what about the Volunteer Marine Rescue if you require assistance?

Most of the champions who volunteer at the VMR are over 50. This puts them

in a high-risk category when it comes to coronavirus.

I know a few of the VMR operations around Queensland have shut down for this reason. Just keep this in mind if you’re thinking about heading out. The rules seem to change daily, so make sure you’re up to date.

Due to the crisis, the Fitzroy Barra Bash competition has been postponed.

The new dates are October 7-9. I really hope the worst will be behind us by then because with the calibre of this competition at the right time of year, it will surely be a red-hot spectacle.

I’ll keep you up to date with information as it becomes available.

Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 77

The scenic Endeavour River in Cooktown itself.

The beautiful Walker Bay.

Cape crusader’s Cooktown commendations Barramundi are the main target species further upstream. On the northern side of Cooktown is the bigger Endeavour River, which has two main branches.

There is a great boat ramp in town for ac-

cessing the river and the reef, and another at Marton near the airport.

The latter is a great option for fishing the south or north arm of the Endeavour, being much closer and not having to tackle the ‘mad mile’ near town, which

Richard Pillans with a speared fingermark and trout, both of which were found around headlands in the Cooktown area.

Josh Lyon with a snodger giant trevally taken on a popper.

* from P77

Bird’s eye view of the mouth of the Annan River and Walker Bay.

Page 78 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

can be fairly choppy.

The north arm is one of my favourite places on the Cape – the jungle and mangroves clothing its banks look primeval – and it offers great barra and mangrove jack fishing.

With summer moving on and the dry season upon us, the northerly wind has been replaced with southeastly trade winds.

So to head to the magical reefs around Cooktown, you have to wait for a decent gap between high-pressure systems.

Better still wait for a winter low from New South Wales or southern Queensland, which will block the trade winds.

Pick a reef, any reef – the bigger ones are a half hour run from Cooktown in good weather. The reefs we always do well at are Boulder and Big Uncharted, though a mass of great country to fish lies further south at Cairns and Osterlund reefs.

It’s worthwhile to have a putter around looking for some rubble country or wonky holes for red emperor and other arm-pullers.

The headlands too offer excellent fishing for species as diverse as barra, coral trout, cod, fingermark, and at Archer Point occasionally huge trevally.

Attractions around Cooktown include the scenic Finch, Quarantine and Walker Bays, Grassy Hill lookout offers superb views, and the impressive Black Mountain 35km south of town is well worth stopping at.

Of course, not far from the national park is the iconic Lions Den Hotel, while further on great camping is available beside luxuriant rainforest and crocodile-free Wallaby Creek at Home Rule, near Rossville.

In Cooktown itself, there’s plenty of history on display and the famous Lure Shop, one of the best tackle stores in the country.

Hopefully we will see you up here soon.

It’s a cracker of a place! www.bnbfishing.com. au

C AMPING & outdoors

Using time at home for an overdue project

B

EING directed to stay within local areas and having the local dams closed to all activities translated to very limited fishing opportunities for those of us living away from the coast.

Never being one to waste daylight though, many planned projects have been undertaken, if not completed. Living on a rural property dictated many tasks included periodical maintenance of fences, revegetation plots, weed control and various other rotating chores.

A few fishing-related projects made the list to keep enthusiasm going during off water time. Most significant of those was building a kayak cradle to convert my box trailer into a slide on-slide off rig.

Several things prompted this build, not the least of which was preserving my lower vertebrae when loading and unloading the Hobie kayaks.

My tandem Hobie is a hefty vessel, which proves more difficult to get on roof racks as the years pass. I’m not sure what happened – it didn’t use to feel quite so heavy.

My previous box trailer had an installed ladder rack to carry two Hobies at once, one at waist height and the other overhead.

For secure travel the kayaks needed to be lifted and loaded upside down, which was the drawback with the ladder rack setup.

For some time I’ve been formulating a design for a rig that, as required, can be slipped onto the trailer to carry the kayak upright.

The aim was to eliminate the heavy lifting involved in manhandling the kayak into the inverted position. Ideally, the rig would

Recessing the heads of bolts is easily achieved with a spade bit.

www.bnbfishing.com. au

Trailer Project

by NEIL SCHULTZ

allow a kayak to be loaded and launched in a similar fashion to a boat trailer.

Timber was always the material of choice due to its non-abrasive nature and my long history of working with it – from cabinet making to lure carving.

Structural pine in 95 x 45mm, treated for outdoor use, was selected to give plenty of load bearing capacity and to avoid warping with prolonged exposure to sunlight and water.

Step one was to build a frame with longitudinal beams sitting within the trailer to hold the entire rig in position.

Load bearing to be borne by the cross beams resting on the side walls of the trailer, hence the use of 95 x 45mm timber, which translates to dressed 4” x 2” imperial.

Two lengths of timber skids on each side of the kayak’s keel act as beds for the hull and allow the kayak to be slid on and off.

The skids were mounted on lifting blocks

to give enough clearance for the keel of the kayak and centring the vessel while loading and during travel.

Instead of sourcing long enough bolts for the job, threaded rod cut to required lengths was used, which provided a cheap and sturdy method of construction.

Nuts and washers were recessed to give smooth bearing surfaces on the skids. The rig has been built to a usable state, however with more time in isolation I may undertake a little refinement in coming weeks.

Watch for details next month, if we are still unable to travel.

The beam inside the trailer keeps the rig in place and the rests on the sides support the weight.

A bird’s eye view of the simple drop-in rig designed to allow easy load and launch of heavy kayaks.

Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 79

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C ARAVANNING & adventure

Better understanding your equipment

H

I all, a big pat on the back to everyone who has social isolated to help slow this epidemic.

I’m so pleased the stats are improving but we’ve got a bit farther to go.

Our Australian adventure has been placed on hold until the restrictions have been lifted and it’s safe to travel, but like everything in life, you can wallow in the negatives or look for the positives.

It has been a perfect opportunity for us to set up our new Vortex caravan and suss out its stand-alone capabilities.

Having the time to understand and operate our Projecta Intelli-RV power management system has been a blessing.

It gives me all the information I require to make decisions at a glance. It also gives me accurate readings of the levels in each of the 100-litre water tanks, our grey water tank as well as charge levels of our two lithium batteries.

I can control our water pump from the monitor as well. It gives us all the knowledge needed about what we’re receiving from our three roof panels.

The master power unit has 14 built-in fused outputs, making identifying a problem simple.

If the fuse blows, the system identifies that individual fuse with an indication light.

This system has made the wiring of our van so much simpler and safer. We’ve been constantly running the fridge, using the water pump and lighting as well as the TV occasionally and this is hardly affecting

Camping in the backyard overcomes the mundane.

www.bnbfishing.com. au

Caravan Chat

by PAUL ‘CHIEF’ GRAVESON

the charge levels of our lithium batteries.

I must admit we’ve had beautiful sunny days and the van sits on a ridge away from any trees, so recharging has been optimum.

The Pojecta management system gives us peace of mind knowing if we’re pushing our resources too close to the edge we can adjust our usage by cutting back on a few of the luxuries.

As we walk through the front door, a quick glance gives us on-the-spot information.

How good is that!?

Another feature I’m really getting used to is the airbag suspension by Airbag Man. Levelling the van on site with a remote control is unbelievable and takes no time at all.

Having the use of the system’s own compressor to operate a hydraulic jack or simply put air back into the van or fourwheel-drive tyres after a run on the beach is so convenient.

We’ll be on the road for quite a while, so we wanted an easy-to-use system to get on with enjoying the adventure, not to mention increase our safety.

By the time this virus has subsided, we should all understand our equipment a little better.

Our vehicles, boats and rods and reels should be well maintained and in prime

condition ready to take on anything the outdoors can dish up.

Finally, I had to include a picture of my daughter and her husband’s escape for Easter with the kids. It might have been just the backyard, but the kids thought it was great, especially when the marshmallows made an appearance.

The tent went up and the sleeping bags were arranged and this simple change in routine made their day.

Stay positive everyone, know this will pass and make the most of every day, just like my grandkids.

Cheers, Chief.

Walk through the door and glance at the display monitor to see how you’re travelling.

The Projecta power management system tucked away in one of the van’s cupboards.

Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 81

C ARAVANNING & adventure

Basking in the beauty of Broome Driving along Cable Beach.

I

HOPE everyone is doing well in this mad time! This month’s article is all about Broome.

After quite a few months of corrugated dirt roads, bulldust, creek crossings, fourwheel-driving and fishing the Kimberley and Cape Leveque, Broome provided a welcome bit of civilisation and a place where we could clean the dust out from all the cracks and simply put our feet up and enjoy the touristy resort vibe.

The atmosphere in Broome is really laid back, which allows you to enjoy yourself and indulge in the resort life including many cafes, bars, restaurants and the beach.

Caravanning

by TODD EVELEIGH

We stayed at Cable Beach Caravan Park, which was quite nice and offered plenty of shade, great clean facilities with a nice pool and just a short walk to the iconic Cable Beach. Cable Beach is probably best known for sunset camel rides.

It’s also a great place to get that iconic photo of the camels walking across the sand with the sun setting into the water.

The colours are quite amazing.

Cable Beach is a great swimming spot too, with a bit of wind and some nice

shore breaks where the kids had a great time catching waves on bodyboards and cooling off.

A kiosk on the beach allows you to hire bodyboards, umbrellas and deck chairs.

You can also drive along the northern part of Cable Beach to get away from everyone with a little slice of paradise to yourself.

There are great spots for the adults too, with numerous bars and restaurants along the beach as well as a cracking little surf club that sold great meals and reasonably priced drinks, which was a favourite haunt of ours to watch the sunset.

Broome is well-renowned in the pearl

* continued P83

Gantheaume Point.

Page 82 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020

www.bnbfishing.com. au

C ARAVANNING & adventure

Sunset over Cable Beach. * from P82

industry, with numerous pearl outlets and a very rich history of pearling throughout the whole city.

Some interesting reading is scattered around the place, where you could immerse yourself in the good old days of a booming pearl industry and understand the hardships for the divers and workers when everything was done by hand.

Broome also had a wonderful night market at Town Beach, with numerous food vans, craft wares and assorted goods. We really enjoyed grabbing a selection of cuisines and then sitting down to share. Plenty of nice grassy areas allowed us to enjoy the entertainment.

Other points of interest include Streeters Jetty in Broome’s Chinatown, Gantheaume Point with its contrasting red dirt cliffs and rocky outcrops meeting the turquoise sea.

Broome also has an open-air cinema (Sun Pictures), which is one of the oldest cinemas on the west coast. It was an amazing feeling sitting on deck chairs on the grass watching a movie. Again, it really gives you a feel of the old days.

Quite a few dinosaur relics can be found around the area, with numerous dinosaur footprints petrified into clay bases, which the ocean is exposing as it erodes the foreshores.

On the fishing front, Broome has an amazing sailfish fishery, with great numbers being caught every year in game fishing tournaments and charter boats getting clients onto fish almost daily.

The bluewater fishing off Broome is exceptional, and the estuary can produce great threadfin and barra numbers in the warmer months as well as good mud crabbing.

Broome runs along a small inlet, so there are no huge river systems like in the top end and you are a little limited to where you can go.

www.bnbfishing.com. au

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to do much fishing while in Broome because I was immersed in the laid-back vibe and putting my feet up, having a holiday after our holiday.

When you travel Australia, you tend to be on the go all the time because you want to see as much as you can and you’re always wondering what is around the next bend.

But sometimes you must force yourself to take it easy and remember it is a holiday!

I wish everybody well in the coming weeks, months and hope everyone gets behind our Australian small businesses.

When this eventually ends, I hope everyone holidays in Australia and spends their money here because our tourism industry has been crippled by this virus.

Our Aussie tourism businesses need some really good years ahead to dig themselves out of the hole they are in. Stay safe!

Streeters Jetty.

Classic posers at Gantheaume Point.

Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 – Page 83

Tagatoga: event fishing for knowledge

F

IFTY-SIX anglers converged on Lake Borumba near Imbil for the fifth annual Tagatoga event on March 2-3 for fun, fellowship and to gain a better understanding of the resident saratoga population.

Saratoga are renowned for their willingness to take both lures and flies, and their acrobatic performances once hooked, which has made them a premier freshwater sportfish, though they possess poor eating qualities.

The prehistoric heads of saratoga have upward facing eyes making them a perfect target for surface presentations, however their hard bony mouths make hooking and landing them challenging.

Kingaroy Sportfishing Club president Shaun Manthey said, “The Tagatoga event is part of a long-term citizen-based science plan with the aim of collecting data on population, growth and growth-rate dynamics of saratoga in Lake Borumba.

“This event offers an opportunity to enjoy a social atmosphere while contributing to a greater understanding of this important fish in Queensland impoundments.”

Tagatoga focuses on capturing, tagging, data collecting, safe handling and releasing the saratoga. Before the event kicks off, a briefing is held to ensure anglers are up-todate with correct handling and recording procedures.

A non-intrusive tag is attached to the fish with a unique identifying number. If the fish is recaptured at a later date the tag can be reported online to ansaqld.com.au, providing a record of movement and growth between captures.

At Tagatoga anglers try to tag as many saratoga during three sessions over two days using lures or bait.

The team that captures and records the most saratoga are awarded the Alex ‘Flick’ Robertson memorial shield, named after the local Kingaroy identity and one of the

Team Hulme took out the event as a family, with 19 landed, tagged and released.

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founders of the Kingaroy SFC who sadly passed away a few years ago.

This year ‘Team Hulme’ proved a family approach was valuable and took out the event after tagging a total of 19 fish for a total length of 10.9mtrs. This is the most fish and longest length from any team in the history of the event.

As Tagatoga is a team event and teams can vary in size, the length is divided by the number of people in the team to calculate the length caught per person.

The longest saratoga captured during the weekend was a magnificent 750mm model caught by Noel Day on the last morning, proving that it is not over until the siren sounds. Fish of this size are very crafty, so landing a large one is testament to the angler’s ability.

Kingaroy SFC is affiliated with Queensland Sportfishers, which is made up of many like-minded clubs through Australian National Sportfishing Association.

Queensland Sportfishers president Adam Royle said, “It is extremely satisfying to see member clubs run great events that incorporate both sport, social and conservation science elements into the mix.

“Kingaroy Sportfishing Club is one of a number of our affiliated clubs that has developed a club-specific recreational fishery monitoring plan, and are now implementing fishery data collection and tagging to achieve their monitoring goals.

“Credit goes to both Kingaroy Sportfishing Club and the anglers who fished the event for having fun and contributing to a greater understanding of a highly regarded sportfish.”

The weekend was a huge success with clubs from around southern Queensland * continued P85

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Toby Hulme with one of the many caught by his family over the weekend.

* from P84

attending. The event has become extremely popular and is based on science rather than fundraising, unlike many other competitions.

The event is limited to 20 boats to ensure consistent results and to prevent putting too much pressure on the saratoga population.

Meals were provided over the weekend and the roast meal on Saturday night had over 75 attendees, which involved fancy dress to enhance the social aspect.

The fishing was very successful with a total of 104 saratoga caught, making 2020 the most successful event by far, and all the fish were released and tagged with Queensland Sportfishers’ pink tags, so we can learn more about these ancient looking creatures.

Due to the social aspect, successful methods and secret spots are shared among the teams during the event, which results in

Mikey Unverzagt with an awesome 750mm model – his second saratoga ever!

www.bnbfishing.com. au

more fish being caught and therefore more data captured.

“It’s great to see people unlocking the secrets in landing these great fish,” Shaun said.

A captured size range of 270mm to 750mm proved there was a good self-sufficient breeding process under way in the area, and confirmed living conditions were well suited to the lifestyle and general health of saratoga.

Despite there being over 180 saratoga

already tagged with Queensland Sportfishers’ tags, no tagged fish were recaptured during the event, which indicates quite a high number of resident fish.

Shaun said, “If you haven’t been to Borumba Dam, do yourself a favour – it’s a picturesque dam full of fish, thanks to the great work of the dedicated local stocking group.

“Sixty-one non-target species, predominantly Australian bass and golden perch, * continued P86

DAM LEVELS CURRENT AS OF 22/4/2020

DAMS

PERCENTAGE

NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR Atkinson 5 5 5 6 6 5 Awoonga 72 70 66 68 70 69 Bjelke-Petersen * 5 4 7 21 25 23 Boondooma * 26 25 28 34 38 37 Borumba * 83 77 64 101 100 99 Burdekin Falls * 80 73 60 103 106 98 Callide * 39 36 32 32 33 32 Cania * 63 61 57 56 56 53 Coolmunda * 3 3 2 30 33 31 Dyer/Bill Gunn * 3 3 3 9 4 3 Eungella * 97 92 85 86 90 89 Fairbairn * 13 12 9 17 18 16 Glenlyon * 3 3 3 9 14 14 Hinze 87 86 86 100 101 99 Julius 79 77 73 100 100 96 Kinchant * 69 56 47 59 77 82 Leslie * 5 5 8 12 14 14 Macdonald 86 83 87 103 104 101 Maroon * 60 55 47 61 61 60 Monduran/Fred Haigh * 69 67 61 62 63 61 Moogerah * 41 36 29 38 39 36 North Pine/Samsonvale * 61 60 58 67 69 62 Peter Faust/Proserpine * 74 71 67 68 72 70 Somerset * 68 63 64 78 83 80 Teemburra * 97 91 86 89 98 99 Tinaroo* 76 71 62 67 72 74 Toonumbar 39 33 19 62 69 69 Wivenhoe * 48 47 43 51 53 52 Wuruma * 71 67 60 64 63 62 Wyaralong 85 84 83 101 99 98 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, May 2020 – Page 85

Tagatoga event: fishing for knowledge * from P85

were also encountered, with data recorded before returning the fish back into the water, ready to fight another day.”

Shaun thanked all participants who travelled and the staff at Borumba Deer Park for the venue and hospitality.

BCF Kingaroy, Australian Freshwater Fishing Charters, Sunshine Mitre 10 Kingaroy, Camping World and Compleat Angler Maryborough, and SMAK Lures sponsored this event and made it the success it was.

With fish captures on the rise, 2021 will be the last year Tagatoga will be held at Borumba Dam because sufficient information will have been gathered, so a report indicating how the area supports the volume of saratoga can be produced.

With this in mind, Kingaroy SFC now turns it attention to setting a date for next year and securing the relevant permits. Club secretary Bob Dover said, “Along with positive feedback, we also have some ideas to make the event even more successful next year.”

The Kingaroy Sportfishing Club offers members an opportunity for mateship, education and skills development in a family-friendly environment.

To learn more about fishing in the South Burnett region or to become involved, contact Kingaroy Sportfishing Club through its Facebook page.

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Stewart Hansen with a fish fooled by a Nories Laydown Minnow.

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1776 Ipswich Motorway, Rocklea | Call 07 3875 1600 Page 90 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020 www.bnbfishing.com. au