Cool weather transitions

HINCHINBROOK

Ian Moody info@ianmoodyfishing.com

This year’s wet season comes to a close this month, and what an odd one it has been! We seemed to have gotten a fair bit of rain but over an extended period of time rather than those massive years. However, some holes that are further offshore still seem to flow and hold up good sized nannygai, red emperor, coral trout, and others. Finding these little honey holes in the middle of nowhere can be very rewarding.

Barra have been a bit off the tucker in the last few weeks while adjusting to cooler water temps.

Slow rolling imitation prawns into fish holding up in backwaters have been working well, along with set baits of live mullet. During stable weather there has been some great sessions of up to 20 school sized barra being caught in just a few hours of the tide. There has been stacks of grunter caught on the ledge drop off up near the

Haven in the Hinchinbrook Channel and most are up there size wise. The occasional threadfin salmon has been showing up on headlands into Missionary Bay, which is always a great surprise when chasing barra.

Sharks have still been an ever-present problem at the Lucinda sugar jetty, and it seems like it’s getting worse year by year. If you manage to hook a decent fish, there is a 90% chance of it not making it to the boat whole. Shark numbers are getting worse every year and it’s an issue that will one day get to a level that it may be pretty much impossible to fix. It is beyond me that Queensland fisheries haven’t seen this as a problem that needs addressing.

Fingermark are also making an appearance back into their usual areas after the freshwater from coastal rivers earlier in the year pushed them further out to sea. Some mainland creeks near Cardwell have produced some nice ones up around the 55cm mark caught on live baits. flooding events we used to get in years gone by.

As waters start to cool further over the month of May, the seasonal run of Spanish mackerel should start to head further inshore. Areas around the end of the Lucinda sugar jetty, near Pelorus and Eva Island are hotspots for them.

I took some researchers out to a few wonky hole marks I have inside Orpheus Island with some very expensive testing equipment to sniff out whether or not there was any freshwater flows coming out of them. Low and behold results showed that there was little if not next to no flow at all. This indicates that poor wet seasons gone by have stopped them flowing and filled them in. It makes sense that little bait schools and tuna feeding activity are dying off over the last few

If you are also able to, there have been some good prawns along the beaches of late. During my last trips while cast netting for mullet along the foreshores near Meunga Creek, I had a good number of nice sized school prawns in every cast. Although if casting anywhere along Cardwell’s foreshore be on the lookout for a resident 3.5m crocodile that has been seen cruising the coastline there very regularly. He has taken four dogs off the beach that I know of.

• We still have spots available in July, August and September this year for charters so get in quick for the end of season build up to secure your spot now. You can email us at info@ ianmoodysportfishing. com or phone us on 0402 339 459.