Hinchinbrook

HINCHINBROOK Ian Moody

info@ianmoodyfishing.com It will be interesting to see how April pans out with the wet season in its final last hurrah before the cooler months of May, June and July kick in.

At the time of writing, I’d have to say it’s been a fairly dismal wet season as to what was forecasted for a promising La Nina significant weather event. So far it has appeared that most rainfall has occurred in the South East corner of the state, whereas we have experienced a few very hot months due to northerly winds in the Hinchinbrook area.

Fishing shallow flats in the Missionary and mainland areas have had temps of up to 36ºC, which in turn can make barra somewhat very difficult to bite at times. It has the same effect as during cold winters. However, catching live bait can be even more of a problem when they are dying easily when subjected to hot water temps in your bait tank. Nevertheless, they have to eat and their bite periods can be a bit shorter.

The last few weeks of March, barra seemed to like the influx of cooler waters being pushed into the shallows from out in the deep, as opposed to water being pushed from off shallow flats. I have found they have had more of a liking to imitation prawns, like the chasebait or Holt Prawns, with a 6/0 jighead being very slowly retrieved and flicked along the bottom. Around 80% of captures for March has been from these plastics.

I’d consider April the last good month of bigger tides until September to target your metre-plus barra at Hinchinbrook. When winds turn from the north to the east or southeast it will be your better periods as the water cools slightly to around their optimum temp of 28-30ºC.

Another species which has shown up lately in good numbers is the threadfin salmon in various sizes between 65-80cm, we have been having a ball chasing them in the afternoon warmer water on the flats in Ramsay and Missionary bays where they have been chasing the jelly prawns. Live baits placed in front of them did the trick, as well as a few succumbed to slow rolled hardbody lures. They are one specie that love the freshwater influences from wet seasons and it really gets them active.

It’s great to see threadfin salmon making a bit of a comeback in the channel after noticing a hiatus from most of their regular haunts over the last two years. They are also quite partial to the humble mud

Barra like April as the influx of cooler waters are pushed into the shallows from out in the deep. Kyle Noy with a fantastic 90cm barra.

herring, which you can catch really easily around the Port Hinchinbrook marina area.

Fingermark are still better off fished in areas a little further away from the coastline, like near Gould Island, Cape Richards or any areas well clear of freshwater inundation. By the end of April and into May they should return in great numbers back into the Hinchinbrook channel when salinity returns to normal levels. Greenback herring schools should be thick at this time of year and are often my go-to live bait for them.

I’d expect the threadfin salmon to continue in the shallows during April and also some good fingermark catches should start to increase. I’ll also be starting to head more often to the wonky holes once water temps drop at the end of April, large mouth nannygai should be in better numbers much closer to the coastline, especially if we get a good end to the wet season. For those visiting Cardwell, a reminder you will need at least 1.4m of tide to launch or retrieve most vessels up to about 6m in length. Bigger vessels will need a slightly bigger tide. • If you’re looking to do a barra charter with us for this years barra season, Bookings are filling up quick so now is a good time to get in and get your name down on some good dates. For bookings please email us at info@ ianmoodysportfishing.com or phone myself directly on 0402339459.