Queensland Fishing Monthly - January 2015

HOLIDAY FUN IN THE SUN

Tried and Tested

Zerek Flat Shad • Omoto Severo 5000H • Karee Marine’s Nitro Z6 • Bluefin’s Wrangler 620 • Viking Profish GT Kayak • Bli Bli Barra Park

How-To

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How-to: bimini twist • Select the right sounder • Waterproof wiring connection •

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Features

Catch a Moreton Bay smorgasbord • Taking kids fishing • Stock up on sun protection • Exceptional fishing with a capital E •

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January 2015, Vol. 29 No. 3

Contents SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND Tweed Heads 28 Southern Gold Coast 29 Gold Coast Canals 32 Gold Coast 34 Jumpinpin 36 Southern Bay 38 Brisbane Offshore 40 Brisbane 42 Northern Bay 44 Southern Pumicestone 46 Caloundra 48 Noosa 50 CENTRAL QUEENSLAND Rainbow Beach 52 Hervey Bay 52 Fraser Coast 54 Bundaberg 55 Lake Monduran 56 Stanage Bay 59 Rockhampton 60 Yeppoon 61 Mackay 62 TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND Whitsundays 64 Ayr 66 Bowen 65 Townsville 67 Lucinda 68 Hinchinbrook 68 Cairns 70 Port Douglas 71 The Cape 72 Karumba 73

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From the Editor’s Desk...

Another bumper summer issue of QFM has a few changes this month. We say goodbye to a couple of longterm QFM contributors: Nick Stock and Josh Lyons.

Nick Stock from Cooktown has finished up with his monthly report.

We thank Nick for all of his monthly reports he’s contributed over the years and for the awesome Twin Rivers lures that we used as a subscription promotion at the Australian Lure and Fly Expo a couple of years ago.

Josh Lyon’s been an even longer contributor to the magazine and the finish of his monthly column coincides with a pause (and maybe the end of?) his guiding days.

You might see a feature or two from Josh in the future. We know there’ll be a lot of readers who will miss his reports and definitely thousands of customers over

the years that will have happy memories of Josh putting them onto a fish of a lifetime.

Thank you to both of these contributors.

Dan Kagellis has been an industrious contributor from Bowen, but he’s moving to Cairns. You haven’t seen the last of Dan, but maybe the last of him from his old home town.

ARE YOU A TACKLE JUNKIE? It’s been a few months now since we launched our www.tacklejunkie.fish website and it’s steaming along very nicely. Basically, all of the new products and reviews that you see in the magazine are accessible as we get them via this website.

So now, you can hear about all the new products that come out at the same time that we do.

And if you want to be notified of the stories as

they come up, “Like” the tacklejunkie.fish Facebook page for daily updates.

END OF SEASON There’s plenty of Tournament content in this magazine. Grand Final events were happening all over the place and QFM has detailed reports from all of the event with all of the winners’ tackle and techniques.

What other magazine takes the effort to chase down all of the hot techniques for you to catch more fish on in the 2015 season?

And just to let the cat out of the bag, the 2015 ABT Tournament Angler Guide will be supplied – for free – in the February edition of Fishing Monthly (February 2015).

TOO MANY LOGOS! Thanks to all of the readers who contacted us to let us know that there was one too many VMC logos in

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the December issue of the magazine. Lucky for us, it was one too many and not one too few. We’ve done that once before and took the calls from all of the readers who couldn’t find the final logo!

There’s still months and months to go with the current VMC competition. Get searching!

ISUBSCRIBE FOR CHRISTMAS Thanks to the army of new subscribers we picked up over the pre-Christmas period – especially those who took advantage of our listing on iSubscribe to do the whole sign-up process on-line.

Remember that all current subscribers are in the draw for the monthly subscriber prizes.

This month it’s sunglasses from Tonic and we already have a list as long as your arm of prizes that we’ll be distributing to subscribers throughout the year.

NORTHERN NEW SOUTH WALES

Publishers: Steve Morgan Matthew Drinkall

Subscriptions: Kym Rowbotham

Queensland Fishing Monthly magazine goes on sale the first week of each month (latest sale date 7th of the month).

Office Manager: Marie Dykstra

Qld Fishing Monthly Pty Ltd ABN 72-010-542-195 All material is © copyright, and cannot be reproduced in part or in full, by any means, without written permission of the Managing Editor. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher.

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Naomi Kettels landed her first fish from a kayak in Glenlyon Dam. The Murray cod ate a Z-Man Swimmerz on a 3/8 Headlock head with a Jig Spinner.

A Gordon Macdonald image.

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11

Catching a smorgasbord in Moreton Bay BRISBANE

Sean Thompson

Moreton Bay is well known for producing a wide variety of fish and despite its proximity to one of Australia’s largest cities, it still holds a number of piscatorial secrets. One of those secrets is the ability of the bay to produce a whole smorgasbord of seafood, with no boat required!

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE At some stage of our lives, many of us move town or city and, as keen anglers, have to build up our local knowledge from scratch again. To help with

this process we are blessed in this information age to have access to tools such as Google Earth, online fishing forums, fishing and weather apps and localised reports from magazines.

But nothing beats time on the water – that, and shared local knowledge by joining local fishing clubs, or politely introducing yourself to locals on the water. Don’t expect instant ‘download’ of all the locals’ secrets, but if you build up trust and share some of your own experiences such locals may turn over some great secrets, which happened to me in Moreton Bay nearly 10 years ago.

As an ex-Canberran, I

A couple of mud crabs caught while wading.

have fond memories from the 1990s and 2000s, wading the shallow entrances of southern New South Wales (NSW) estuaries such as Tuross, Brou Lake, Durras, and Dalmeny chasing a nice feed of prawns. We waded the shallows using prawn dip or scoop nets, an underwater light and towed behind us an overinflated car tyre tube with a plasterers’ bucket inside it to store the prawns. It was great fun and very productive, but the season was limited to late October to mid-April, and only around the new moons.

During these warm months of the year, many of these small coastal town estuaries looked like a Christmas tree on some weekend nights as families waded to and fro chasing a feed of prawns as they ‘ran’ with the outgoing tide.

Not long after moving to Brisbane’s bayside, I was surprised to learn that ‘prawning’ around Moreton Bay and surrounds was considered a ‘cast net from boats only’ option. While I had a boat, this didn’t sound as much fun to me, particularly the reports of wall-to-wall boats and

A decent haul of Moreton Bay tiger prawns caught wading. ‘cast net rage’ at the more popular spots.

So it was with some surprise that one night as I was driving home when I spotted what looked like a couple of lights bobbing around in the shallows of the bay. My mind instantly turned to prawning, and so I ventured down to the water.

sand or muddy bottoms.

Another surprise was the prawns often sit in water, between little more than ankle to not much more than thigh deep. This means it is best to seek prawns at low tide in Moreton Bay. On high tide, the water is too deep, especially around bayside locations where the

up relatively deeper water in smaller areas, are largely ineffective.

Therefore, headlamps are the best option, to search around in the dark for the telltale sign of two red eyes.

Sometimes, you get lucky and the bottom is lit up like a Christmas tree, but this is more the exception than the rule.

While some of the better headlamps on the market now, like the 10w Korr LED headlamps would be effective in this situation, they do chew through batteries left on for several hours. Therefore the best design is a DIY headlamp built into a cap and connected to a 12V battery.

These headlamps are run from 12V 12Amp batteries that we carry around in a small backpack, along with a screwdriver and battery operated headlamp for any running repairs.

Other pieces of equipment you’ll need for prawning are two prawn

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Luckily enough I arrived just as the two gentlemen were returning from the water. There in their long prawn nets, were a couple of kilos of freshly caught prawns and some very big squid!

CONDITIONS Fortunately for me, both gentlemen were in a generous mood and soon shared the how, what, where and when of prawning.

It turns out one of them had been doing it for 20 years! I soon learnt the conditions for prawning in the Moreton Bay shallows are somewhat different to what I had been use to.

Instead of waiting for the prawns to come to you in waist deep water on the run-out tide like the south coast of NSW, these local bay and tiger prawns are much more dispersed and less active.

Often these prawns can be caught sitting on the bottom around weedy areas, with

high tide comes right up to the rock walls.

GEARING UP As prawns in the Moreton Bay shallows can

scoop nets (available from tackle stores), thick-soled shoes, and a soft zip top esky to carry your prawns in. Waders are not necessary

A big tiger squid caught on a jig. be found in concentrations or patches, sometimes this means wading several hundred metres in one night.

As a result underwater lights, designed for lighting

in summer and, in fact, the heavy soles from waders tend to stir the muddy bottom up, making it hard to see the prawns.

The Alvey dry pack is

also a handy addition to carry any keys, phone etc, zipped up secure in your backpack, in case you need to place your backpack on the wet ground when changing batteries at any stage.

CATCHING PRAWNS The trick with this method of prawning is using the two nets in tandem to maximise your success rate.

[Note: Both Queensland

means, based on the rule of twelfths for tides, you would be prawning in a maximum of 3/12 or 1/4 of the tide’s height. At this time the prawns are in the shallows and easily accessible.

PRAWN LOCATIONS Any of the shallow sand/mud flats with weed interspersed are worth a try, from Victoria Point to Wynnum North. This may

You don’t need to spend a lot of money on fancy head lamps, this is an easy DIY prawning headlamp and batteries.

Fisheries and Parks and Wildlife confirmed it is legal to use two scoop nets.

The nets just need to be in your control, not staked, and their size must conform to the current regulations].

For prawns sitting on the bottom, this might come as some surprise, but the most successful technique is not to go head to tail, but rather, go at the prawn at a 90º angle. In other words, place the nets side on to the prawns’ body. The trick is to make sure you get close to the prawn and bring the nets together on the bottom quickly, and you will catch it in either net! Given the length of the scoop net you can then carry around a few caught prawns in the bottom of the net until you transfer them over to your cooler bag or esky you carry on your shoulder.

TIMING Best prawning times are from late November to the end of March in Moreton Bay. The key factors for a successful night are a hot day and still night so the water is not clouded by wind chop to see the prawns. A great guide for such conditions is www.seabreeze.com.au, which gives you up to date wind readings from a variety of locations is Moreton Bay. The other great thing about prawning the Moreton Bay shallows is it is not moon dependent. The prawns will be there, full or new moon.

Best time of tide is from about 2 hours before low to 2 hours after low. This

prawns, which move out to the deeper water in winter, mainland-based squidding is available in the cooler months, from late March to early November. In the warmer months, squid move out to the eastern bay in Moreton Bay as the northerlies regularly stir up the water. They can then be targeted on shore or by boat around the eastern bay islands like Straddie, Peel and Moreton.

While squid can be caught wading with headlamp and prawning gear as outlined above, more targeted techniques will deliver better results.

The good news for those wanting to hasten their learning curve on catching squid is Aaron and Paul from the Moreton Bay Squid Club, offer guided tours in the cooler months.

The boys are a wealth of advice and suggest that squidding is best done from dawn to dusk, with best results as the high tide turns and starts to run-out, as long as the water is nice and clean, high visibility and not choppy, therefore the less wind the better.

The type of locations you want to look for squid are the edge of ribbon weed and sand. In terms of squid

All the equipment you will need for prawning or crabbing on foot. be worth a try further north or south too.

SQUID Squid are another tasty seafood target accessible by wading the Moreton Bay shallows at night. Both tiger squid (northern calamari) and loligo squid (commonly known as arrows or pencil squid) are available. Tigers are known to grow to 1.5kg, while arrows reach around 100-200g each but are in much larger numbers and make for some awesome fresh mulloway or snapper bait or a fast feed.

Squid tend to gather around bottom structure during the day and spread out at night, coming to the surface to feed. Squid also like clear water, but unlike

jigs, reputable quality jigs are proven to work better, with brands such as Yozuri and Diawa Nude Jigs in 3.5” in about 30-80cm of water.

The boys sight cast for squid along the waterfront using headlamps (anywhere where there is structure).

They might also blind cast, with a simple technique: That is cast, let it sink, then 2 or 3 aggressive flicks, let it sink again, wait 20-30 seconds and repeat!

MUD CRAB One of the tastiest surprises wading the flats for prawns over summer is to come across a mud crab either sitting outside its rocky or muddy burrow or paddling or ‘walking’ To page 14

JANUARY 2015

13

From page 13

along the flats looking for food. You will be surprised by how many you might see. On one night alone I captured three legal bucks!

To capture the crab, again you can use one net to entice it into the other net. Another option is to place the butt on top of the crab and pick it up with your hands or spear it with sharp end of your prawn net, but you must be 100% it is a buck and legal first and I don’t recommend ‘crab wrangling’ to anyone not experienced in the art!

Before you go to the trouble of netting one though, you want to make sure you have a buck.

Apart from the V-shape on the underside of their carapace, bucks have much larger claws. Once you’ve established it’s a buck, use your crab measure to ensure it is at least 15cm from point to point (in Queensland).

Likewise to ensure the crab has plenty of meat and not an empty shell, there are a few things you can look for. Don’t take a crab that has:

The best way to catch prawns off the bottom

STA15856HP-FM_Layout 1 20/10/14 1:52 PM is with two scoop nets either side.Page 1

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JANUARY 2015

• A clean shell (i.e. free of growth or barnicles) and sharp ‘teeth’ on the claws; • Any movement when you gently press the top of the shell; • Any movement when you press the underside next to the second leg on either side of the body.

Another place to search for crabs is at the entrance to their rocky burrows. If you are lucky, you will spot one outside its burrow, and if quick enough with a net behind it, can scoop it up and measure it!

OOGLIES IN THE DARK! Wading around in the dark at night on your own means safety should also be a consideration. I’ve seen small sharks in the shallows, 2ft long at most, but have no intention to find out what might be lurking deeper than thigh deep! No prawn, mud crab, or squid is worth you being on the menu!

What’s more, make sure you wear thick rubber soled shoes, to avoid cuts from shells, oyster encrusted rocks, sticks or, worst still, glass fragments! Likewise, you will see a variety of rays, just give them their space and make sure you do not stand on one. A few other things will go bump against your leg in

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The tell-tale sign of two red prawn eyes. the night, they can give you a little fright but it is often nothing more than big whiting and bream.

Expect the odd splash from a garfish on dead calm nights as well!

CONCLUSION Anglers without a boat have plenty of choices for catching yummy seafood in Moreton Bay. What’s more, the availability of these tasty morsels is spread across the whole year! If that is not enough, as an added bonus you get great exercise wading the sand and mudflats while catching such a feast!

So whether you choose

to wade the shallows in a beanie and jumper in winter or singlet in summer, there is a smorgasbord of seafood available at night right on Brisbane’s doorstep!

• If you’d like to read more unique fishing tips

and reports from all around Australia, check out my family friendly virtual fishing club page w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m . a u / onourfishingclub. Until next time, bag your mates – not your limit!

MORETON BAY SQUID CLUB Aaron operates out of Sandgate and fishes for squid around the Redcliffe Penninsula, while Paul operates out of Manly and fishes around Manly and Cleveland.

You can contact Aaron on 0411 644 214 or Paul on 0431 978 015 or their Facebook page www.facebook. com.au/Squidclub. A night with these lads is highly recommended and incredible value for money. The boys show you how, where and when to squid, and also how to clean and cook this yummy piscatorial delight!

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JANUARY 2015 15

Taking kids fishing HERVEY BAY

Mark Bargenquast

It was Saturday 1 November 2014, 9am, only 3 hours before the east coast barramundi fishing closure, so I thought it would be a last chance shot at a barra.

Two hours earlier, my 12 year old son was still in bed and I was having trouble getting him up to go fishing, now he’s glad he did!

Due to the terrible northerly wind forecast, I decided to fish the Mary River for barra and threadfin, not the most exciting thing for a child as due to their short attention

span, hours between fish drives them crazy and can quickly put them off, but it was the best plan B I could think of.

The day started with a 115cm thready on the first run, this got his attention going, the next 50 minutes was another 2 threadies, 74 and 104cm, as well as dropping 3 more, great! The day was already a success, we were both happy, keeping the smaller one for a meal and releasing the other two larger fish.

Another two trolls were uneventful and on the third I was thinking of heading for home when Jacko yelled “I got one”. I dropped into neutral and cranked my lure in, meanwhile his fish

pulled off some serious line and then arced back up current, I knew this was a good one!

A solid 20 minutes later I was thinking this thing must be foul hooked as it kept powering on, but slowly Jackson worked it to the top, me still thinking it was a foul hooked thready.

I saw a bit of colour but still not enough to identify it, then it jumped clear of the water, big barra!

Finally we landed the brute and it measured 132cm, not bad for a 12 year old’s first barra. This was a wild salty and not a stocked fish, and on 20lb line too! After we released it (Jacko swam it) he said his legs were like jelly.

The determined 12 year old Jackson Bargenquast hugging the fish of a lifetime, 132cm wild barra!

Bass in freshwater are easily caught trolling or bait fishing, great to get kids started.

Best feeling in the world for a dad, I can tell you.

Taking kids fishing can be one of the most rewarding things a parent can do with children, the fish don’t have to be big, kids just want action, especially the younger kids. When I was operating a guiding business here in Hervey Bay for 9 years, on days off I just didn’t want to be out on the water so naturally my kids didn’t get to fish much, when we did I was pretty focused on fish, this is the last thing you need to do when fishing with

kids. Be warned, you can quickly turn kids away from the sport by pushing them too hard.

Time should be fun for the kids, small fish and lots of them, winter whiting, small bream even toad fish to keep them going and when things get slow or attention starts to decline take them to the bank for a walk, look for hermit crabs, flathead lies… anything that keeps interest and not just sitting in the sun waiting.

One good trick I have found is to take plenty of food and drink, it’s a good idea to have a tasty snack to surprise them, my kids like chocolate (like me) and a mars bar or something similar is a great way to To page 18

Tuna are possibly the best species to get a young angler onto a big fish.

scuba // spearfishing // swimming // lifejackets // snorkelling // wetsuits // towables

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JANUARY 2015

17

From page 16

have a break while fishing.

Remember, kids like variety. I remember taking my children crabbing, getting them to pull pots and hearing their screams when a big buck came up in a pot. Squidding and cast netting prawns is another good trick, all sorts of goodies come over the side and it’s a good starter to teach them the ethics of catch and release. Jacko is really keen to release his fish and although I like the occasional fresh fish, it doesn’t bother me at all to release everything.

Quality tackle is a must, the last thing a child needs is for tackle failure to ruin a day, and it just frustrates them and can turn them away. I don’t mean $500 Certates or the like, just good mid-range reels on suitable rods, most manufacturers make good stuff for $150-$200, kids can be rough dropping gear so that’s another good reason to have moderately priced gear.

Don’t over gun them either, 2500 sized reels are a perfect starter, Jacko is now 12 and can use a 4500 with 30lb braid while 2 years before it was just too hard. Remember, it’s always a good plan to have some calm water spots or

Introducing

at turtles and dugongs and when she’s out there she grabs a rod and has a cast, loving every minute of it.

A good trick is to keep trips short, with younger kids up to 8-10 a few hours is ample; I purposely purchased a 3.7m Sea Jay Nomad with a 15hp just to throw into the river with the kids. This is easy to do with a little boat and the few thousand dollars it cost has paid dividends already just in those short 2-3 hour trips early before it gets too hot. I also let the kids

land-based areas up your sleeve for those windy days. While some kids love a bumpy boat ride, some just don’t and can be frightened and never want to go boating again, it can take a long time to regain their confidence.

Always give them plenty of praise whatever happens, my kids have had a few good fish lost boat side due to angler error but I have never scalded them for it, just reassure them and say it happens and we will go get another, yelling doesn’t help. Remember the day is all about the

kids, don’t brush them aside to get to a fish first, make it enjoyable and they will be hooked for life and as the first few paragraphs read in this article, that one good fish will sow the seeds for their future.

The one thing I really look forward to in the next 5-10 years is spending some time on the water with my 2 kids fishing, telling tales and camping out. My little girl is a horse nut, we live on acreage with a couple of ponies, but she will jump into the boat if I tell her we are going onto the flats to look

8

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gets them started).

Most importantly, take plenty of pictures! I have an couple of SD cards full of the kids fishing pics, like their first fish, Georgie’s was a dart and I think Jackson’s was a whiting.

Now 8 years on they’re catching fish that any adult would die for, like a 52cm jack, 110cm queenfish, snapper to 7kg, longtail tuna, marlin and the fish that started this article, 132cm of salty barra. These are all memories that last a lifetime.

Try to involve kids, let them wind in your fish and participate in picture time!

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I show them fish on the depth sounder, teach them how to pump yabbies, throw a cast net and tie on a hook, make it fun and they will always come back for more.

Even when you get home after a trip, assign them duties, however small, like washing rods, tackle or even hosing the boat (they will miss most of it but it

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Sun Protection

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“Protect yourself from the elements and you’ll ensure that skin cancer doesn’t shorten your fishing career”

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HATS Traditionally, a broad-brimmed hat was the only way to keep you out of the sun, but modern anglers are combining caps and neck socks to achieve the same results. The bread brimmed hat is cooler to wear, but the neck sock stops your hap flying off at high speed. Which option is better for you?

SUNGLASSES Undoubtedly, your eyes are your most important organ to protect.

When you’re fishing and boating, you’re subject to direct sunlight as well as light reflected off the water.

Your sunglasses work in one of the worst environments – saltwater mixed with sunscreens and insect repellents.

If your sunnies protect you from the glare and survive the punishment, then you’re good to go.

GLOVES Anglers often shun wearing gloves.

Some think they reduce feel while

20

JANUARY 2015

others say that hooks get caught in the fabric too easily. Whatever your excuse, there’s no better way to keep the back of your hands in good condition than covering them up. And sun gloves do this just fine.

PANTS Although we all like reppin’ the shortest pair of rugby shorts in the cupboard, there’s no substitute for length when it comes to protection.

There’s a variety of long-legged, quick-drying pants around to keep your pins looking mint well into your later years. You should wear them.

NECK SOCK This practical bit of sun protection gear is as trendy today as the scarf was when Harro was shearing sheep. Clever users make sure that the shirt collar is tucked in and the buttons are done up – unlike our intrepid model above, who’s busily working on a red, lower neck triangle. These things will also keep your cap on in a gale.

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SHIRT We all know by now that the best protection for your arms from the sun is a long sleeved shirt, but did you know that not all shirt fabrics are the same? Read on to make sure that your sun protection shirts are what they say they are.

SUNSCREEN This is the stuff that you smear on to any of the bits that the rest of your outfit misses. If you’re doing it right, you shouldn’t be using much. Make sure you put it on at home before you go out on the water – it takes a while to soak in properly.

Another tip is to apply it with the back of your hands so that you don’t transfer as much smell to your rods, lines and baits.

Season

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Bigfish Cod Shirts SRP $89.95 

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Sunglasses are known for falling off at the worst possible times. If this has happened to you, it would be worth your while to take a look at the Bomber range of floating polarised sunglasses.

Specifically designed for an active lifestyle, Bomber Eyewear is comfortable and light to wear with patented foam linings, ensuring they are guaranteed to float. This allows you to focus on your fishing or any other activities.

Benefits not only include the fact they float, the foam lining also provides extra comfort and a snug fit, reducing the chances of them blowing off and prevents glare from entering around the sides of the lenses. Bomber frames are made from polycarbonate – an element of bulletproof glass – to enhance your eye protection and peace of mind.

To stock these glasses and for wholesale enquiries, email sales@dizzyscent.com.au for trade pricing.

The intricate patterns and colours of our native freshwater cod make for a stunning combination.

We have captured this pattern in our new Bigfish “Cod Skin” shirt.

This skin pattern combined with the underwater logs and reeds makes for a remarkable shirt to wear whilst chasing cod this summer.

Cod, also known as “Greenfish”, are an ambush predator and often emerge from deep in cover to engulf hapless prey.

This shirt is designed to replicate the instinctive cod behaviour materialising out of the depths to inhale a spinnerbait.

The overall colours and camouflage patterns of the Cod, make two great shirts to keep you cool and protected from the sun whilst chasing our greenfish from the shore, boat or hidden rock pool.

They mightn’t catch you more fish, but you’ll definitely look the part! – Bigfish.

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Sun Protection  Costa’s Hamlin SRPF

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Costa Sunglasses released the Hamlin style frames after American Capt. Ron Hamlin, the legendary angler who’s released more than 27,000 billfish throughout his career and helped revolutionize sport fishing through his early adoption of circle hooks.

Costa’s Hamlin style features tough, durable features, including co-injected nylon moulded frames, sturdy integral hinges and no-slip Hydrolite™ nose pads and temple tips. The extra-large fit features a wrap shape to protect against incoming glare. Frame colours available now include tortoise, matte black, blackout, white, and in late spring, Realtree® Xtra® Camo.

Costa’s Hamlin is available in its patented 580™ lens technology, which blocks yellow light from entering the eye, creating razor sharp colour enhancement and achieves the highest polarization level possible.

Available in 580G (glass) or 580P (plastic), lens colours include gray, amber, copper, blue mirror, green mirror and silver mirror. It’s also available in Costa’s specialty sunrise lens colour, ideal for low light situations, such as fishing at dusk or dawn.

Costa sunglasses are custom built and hand assembled in Florida, USA and come with a lifetime warranty against manufacturer’s defect.

Hamlin is also available in Costa’s Rx sun lenses, which offer a one-year warranty.

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Sun2Sea 8 years of Certification

Ideal for the middle of Summer, its hard to go past Sun2Sea UV Protections range of wet-n-dry shirts. They’re a must for all the boaties, fisherman and campers.

Sun2Sea UV protection are again keeping us protected from the sun and out on the water longer with their range of Australian made, fishing and boating shirts.

For 8 years running now, Sun2Sea UV protections’ range of 50+ UPF Wet-n-Dry Sun Protection Boating, Fishing and Leisure Products have been awarded the ARPANSA (Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Assoc) 50+ UPF certification the highest UPF available.

They are they only Australian made and manufactured clothing to achieve the 50+ UPF certification.

“Every colour and roll of our fabric is tested for UPF before manufacture through ARPANSA, that way the customer can be assured the highest sun protection available. In individual testing some of our colours go up to 100UPF, but still maintain the same aeration and coolness our shirts are known for especially in the tropics,” Sun2Sea’s Robbie Wells said.

“It’s easy to imitate but hard to innovate, so

Gloryfy Sunglasses SRPF $250.00 4

always look for the ARPANSA Certified 50+ UPF tag and burn line, not skin on your next adventure,” Rob continued.

Price: Kids shirts from $45.00, adult shirts from $69.95. www.sun2seauvprotection.com.au

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Mako G2H5 Lens

Mako Eyewear, manufacturers of Australia’s highest performing polarised sunglasses has just released another new lens option perfectly timed for summer.

The introduction of the new Rose lens with a Green Mirror (G2H5) and the Mako High Definition Filter builds on the previous top selling Copper and Blue Mirror combination currently available in the Blade frame.

Initially available in the GT frame, The G2H5 lens is exceptionally comfortable as a result of the ultra lightweight crown glass used in its construction. The internal Green mirror also offers scratch resistance and durability for those operating in salty environments.

The Mako High Definition Filter further enhances your view by removing some yellow and orange wavelengths of light that cause blurring, especially at distance. This results in a clearer view at a greater distance than what is available with the naked eye.

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Unbreakable Sunglasses

When it comes to fully protecting your eyes this summer it’s hard to go past a pair of Gloryfy sunglasses. These glasses hit the fishing market by storm this year by taking out the runner up prize for the most innovative product at the 2014 AFTA Awards.

Gloryfy sunglasses are based on maximum protection for the eyes, highest functionality and minimised risk of injuries.

This is all possible because of the intelligent materials and innovative technologies from this Austrian eyewear company.

The patented technology used to make the frames and lenses (G-flex and I-Flex) make the lenses and frames extremely flexible and always return to their original shape. Check out the YouTube clip showing how strong and unbreakable this product is by scanning the QR code hereby.

Gloryfy lenses have the highest quality ratings and come in polarised and non-polarised versions. Prescription lenses are also available.

If you have problems with breaking sunglasses, then these are the ones for you!

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Sun Protection protection designed specifically for our harsh unforgiving Australian sun.

The Respect Snapnack is an elegantly designed khaki coloured snapback with large front 3D embroidery of an alternate ‘Tide Apparel’ logo and flat-embroided ‘Respect Our Waterways’ on the back.

The Classic Anchor is a smart and timeless design that comes in charcoal/ black or charcoal/burgundy with an anchor logo 3D embroided in white.

These new caps are from Tide’s spring collection and are of the highest quality and make, just as you would expect.

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Lava Lures headwear SRP $16.95 3

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FUGLIES Strikers

The newest additions to the Fuglies sunglasses range are the Fuglies Strikers, a high-coverage wraparound frame with a generous lens area for good peripheral vision and wide side-arms to block

peripheral light.

Thanks to the lightweight polycarbonate frame and low curvature side-arms you can wear your Strikers all day with no rubbing or pinching, and soft rubber nose pads and a snug fit help to keep them in place. For increased wind and dust protection, Fuglies Strikers also have a removable foam gasket.

Lens choices are colour-neutral shatterproof polarised smoke-grey (for excellent in-water visibility) or shatterproof polarised grey-green (for enhanced shadow penetration) both with maximum Category 3 UV protection. The lenses also have a hydrophobic coating to reduce fogging and provide a layer of defense against oily fingerprints, saltwater sprays and sunscreen residue, and a Revo Red or Gold mirror finish for that extra bit of added glare reduction.

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KAF Straw Hats

Stay sun safe this summer and support the fishing rights of recreational fishers across Australia at the same time.

Keep Australia Fishing has released a line of official ‘Keep Australia Fishing Hats’ available now through selected BCF, Tackle World and independent tackle stores.

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You can keep cool and be sun-smart this summer with the two new Tide Apparel Snapback designer caps – the ‘Respect’ and the ‘Classic Anchor’.

Tide Apparel is a brand that provides quality products to people who share a passion for fishing, or just being on the water. Be sun-smart this holiday period and ensure you are wearing quality

JANUARY 2015

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A little rain should add to the fishing options ILUKA

Ben Pilch bjpcdh@gmail.com

Come January, our run of pelagics is in full swing.

With a lack of rain leaving nice clean water for the annual arrival of the spotted mackerel, the usual spotty grounds like Shark Bay and Angourie should see a fair few fish over the coming months.

The good old Clarence favourite, a 6” pink squid, will be getting a lot of use, but if running around trolling seems

The author with a Croaker-crunching upper Clarence bass. like a bit too much work, there is always the bait option. First, set up a good berley trail with

pillies and tuna oil. Once you have that sorted, rig some ganged pillies under floats,

For the mulloway chasers out there, it’s still worth throwing a lure about off the stones. Kaleum Gannon holding up 26.5kg of a golden lure-munching dream fish.

let them drift out varying distances from the boat, put the ratchet on and sit the rod in a holder. All you have to do now is keep a steady trail going and wait for the action to begin.

In the river, we are seeing large breeding flathead moving down to the mouth. As stated in last month’s column, don’t forget that while they are a fun sportfish, these are also our female breeders and deserve to be released to keep the population healthy for years to come.

If it remains dry, good eating size flathead might be a bit more spread out along the river. Any of the favourite flattie spots from the mouth to Maclean will be worth hitting, with North Arm, Oyster Channel, Browns Rocks, Harwood and the Back Channel holding quality fish from legal size up to 50cm or so.

Soft plastics and blades are the way to go if chasing up a feed; just hop them along the bottom over sandy dropoffs adjacent to weed beds, or near structure like rock bars, jetty and bridge pylons.

This season has been just as good as the last on the crab front, with both blue swimmers and muddies plentiful. Again, the usual

spots like the North and South Arms and the Broadwater are producing good numbers of crabs, but you do have to watch out for people who like to check your pots as well as their own. To try and keep the crab thieving down, stay nearby and have a fish so you can keep an eye out.

The mighty Clarence and all her tributaries have been firing on the bass front of late. I must say I’ve really been enjoying the bass fishing

Surface Paddler, and it’s the first lure I’m tying on as soon as there’s a whisper of a bass trip. It has been a gun in those prime surface bite times of late afternoon and early mornings, but during the day Beetle Spins rolled through the snags are still the best producers. It pays to up the gear weight a little when working so close to snags, as it saves on losing lures if you get bricked.

With cod season opening

The author’s favourite surface bass lure, the Croaker Paddler. recently, and find myself shooting up the river whenever a spare moment pops up.

With the surface action being so hot, the standout lure has been the Croaker

last month, the top of the Clarence has been fishing well, with the maker of Croaker Lures, Steve Patti, showing the quality of fish on offer if you’re willing to put the work in.

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25

Tropical speedsters invade Ballina BALLINA

Tristan Sloan tris.sloan@gmail.com

I’m hoping everyone reading this has had an enjoyable and relaxing holiday, with the added bonus of some well-deserved time off spent fishing!

As predicted in last month’s column, the warm water really fired up many of the Richmond River’s fish species, with mangrove jacks, giant trevally and some big estuary cod featuring in catches. This time of year is great to target these more tropical types, although they do require a different approach to your average line dangler looking to score a feed of whiting or flathead.

Fishing prime times and tides early in the morning (the crack of dawn), or late at night will dramatically improve your chances, as they seem to react badly to excessive boat traffic. Live bait is generally the go, as it is a more effective and cheaper option than lures, especially around the oystercovered rock walls and bridge pylons. Mind you, I have had some success sneaking up North and Emigrant creeks owrance lately, Sounder throwing lures into any timber and bankside r fromdrowned Berkley and

cover that I can find.

The timber seems to be slightly more forgiving than the rock walls and I while I can’t seem to extract a decent jack, despite some monumental bustoffs I have managed to catch several thumping cod and quite a few good-sized trevally.

The best lures so far for have been soft plastics such as the TT Lures’ Snake Head, or the new Prawnstar. Both are remarkably snag resistant, allowing them to be cast right into heavy cover. I start by working the outside of the snag with a couple of casts, before working up enough courage to pitch one right into the danger zone.

Providing I don’t get snagged on the first couple of exploratory casts, that throw into the deepest part of the snag will often get crunched as soon as I start my retrieve. From then on it’s simply a brutal tug-a-war to decide who wins. There is no finesse in this style of fishing and the drag-’em-out fights and monumental clean-ups is what makes it so addictive.

I use an almost totally screwed up drag, a 6-8kg rod with 20lb braid and 40-50lb fluorocarbon leader. Knots must be perfect, as they will definitely be put to the test. A 12-turn Bimini with a Bristol

Knot connects the braid to the leader. These can be tied quite quickly and give almost 100% knot strength, while a drop of Loons Knot Sense is used on every connection to ensure there are no weaknesses for a fish to exploit.

If just looking for a feed of fish, the Richmond River has been crawling with plenty of tasty whiting and flathead.

While I haven’t seen a decent bream in a while, I’m not really complaining as nothing beats a feed of the first two species.

I prefer to fish the first couple of hours of the outgoing tide as they congregate around the dropoffs and channels.

Most people don’t think of whiting as voracious predators, but they can be very aggressive at this time of year when the prawns are running.

An excellent way to fish for them is to use poppers or small stickbaits on the runout tide, working them quite forcefully and quickly. A bit of wind chop on the water always seems to help, and if you see a whiting following the popper, don’t stop moving it; in fact, try to speed it up a little.

This method will often produce big flathead in shallow water, so it pays to use a fairly heavy monofilament leader of about 6kg. Don’t worry about

the thickness scaring fish off, it won’t. In fact, a thick, stiff leader helps add movement to the popper. Good choices include those produced by Atomic and Rebel, while in stickbaits I have had success with the Berkley Scumdog.

Clear and natural colours seem to work best.

The estuary beaches have been providing some good catches of whiting, dart and bream for those using fresh worms or nippers. The trick is to get up early and fish the shallow gutters as the tide rises.

A bit of white water provides cover for the fish to feed under, as they become wary as the suns climbs into the sky. Crowds of people don’t help either.

Having your feet in the sand as the sun rises and hauling in a feed of tasty whiting is a very relaxing way to start the day. A light outfit will get the most out of these tasty scrappers and I commonly use a 9’ 3-6kg stick with a small 2000-sized spin reel. Filled with 6lb braid, this outfit will throw a light ball sinker a long way out, though big casts are rarely needed as the fish are often feeding just behind the shore break.

A typical rig involves a small ball sinker running down to a swivel, 30cm of 8lb fluorocarbon leader, and a

Patrick Sloan with a thumper kingfish jigged up off Ballina. size 6-4 longshank hook with a bit of red tubing above it for attraction.

For the offshore fishos, by the time you read this there should be some mackerel making their presence felt on the close reefs. Traditionally we don’t see any Spanish until well after Christmas, however, by now the warm water should be lapping right next to the coast, bringing with it the all-important bait schools of slimy mackerel, chopper tailor and bonito. The presence of these baitfish is very important and even if the water is green and a bit on the cold side below 22°, there will be mackerel about.

The best method I have found is to be on your chosen grounds as early as possible, ideally just as the sun is rising. I then put out some small lures to troll up a tailor or bonito. Once an ideal live bait is secured, it is then rigged on a 15cm trace of 44lb single strand wire, a 5/0

octopus hook in the nose, and a 3/0 stinger treble in the tail.

The live bait is then slow trolled around the bait schools at a slow walking pace, while another angler throws metal lures from up the front of the boat, trying to spin up another livie. It’s normally only a matter of minutes before it is eaten, and the high-speed spin man often catches mackerel too.

There have also been plenty of kingfish, pearl perch and snapper out wider on the 42 and 48 fathoms reefs, though the current can be racing some days. If you find yourself in this situation, don’t turn tail and head for home. Instead, put out a spread of lures and troll around the reef structure and current lines, as there are plenty of desirable game species in the blue water out wide now. A poor day’s bottom fishing can easily be spiced up by a few wahoo, mahimahi or even a small black marlin.

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A great time for an adventure arriving at the back of the Mullumbimby Football Club.

It was a great trip with many flathead caught on the way.

A secret little spot of mine, which is not too well known, is the two little tributaries that are in the valley between Bilambil Heights and Terranora. To get there you have to cross Terranora flats, which on a low tide is almost impossible, so head up on the high tide so you can get a couple of hours in. Deep diving hardbodies in a red colour have been enticing the jacks out of the snags in there, but you’d better have quick reflexes, as they are bloody quick!

THE TWEED

David Solano

Happy New Year, it’s that festive time so first up I’m going to mention some of the great family fishing spots around the Tweed.

A couple of weeks ago, I hired a paddle board down at Kingscliff Creek and what a beautiful spot it is with plenty of places to fish from along with shaded tables and if you’d prefer the beach, it’s only 5 minutes walk away.

Lately I’ve been targeting whiting with lures and live worms and have been having limited success in the Tweed River next to the Rowing Club, but as I paddled away staring into the water with my polarised Spotters sunnies, I noticed a lot of elbow-sized whiting hanging around the weed beds and there were heaps of them, I almost felt like I could get out and walk on water as they were that thick.

A mate with our group had brought along his fishing rod with some chicken for bait. The fish didn’t like the chicken, in fact they took off, it got me thinking if they’d take lures. Early next morning I gave it a go, I did

This estuary cod put up a good fight and was released after being photographed.

WHAT’S BITING? A lot has been biting as the river is full of little prawns and the odd jellyfish, but the prawns should make the bite happen.

Bream, tailor and small

yellowtail kingfish are being caught off both rock walls and around Jack Evans Boat Harbour.

Fingal boat ramp and down to Tumbulgum Bridge are two of the hot spots for chasing GTs at night.

It’s turning into a fantastic Jack season with some cracker fish being taken off the structure down at the Condon sugar mill and the little bridge just near it.

Tumbulgum and Boyds Bay Bridge are also worth a try.

I would say Murwillumbah Bridge, but I can’t seem to get anything but bass so if you want to try for bass try all the creeks and little rivers in the area. I do a lot of creek walking and have noticed a lot more snake action so keep your eyes open when walking the banks for Aussie bass.

Sue with a nice flatty caught in Terranora flats. take a couple of live worms as well. The sun hadn’t come up so it was a perfect time to skip a lure across the surface.

I got a little bit of interest, but no strikes. Worms? They smashed them. Lesson learnt, take the lures for sure, but grab some lives worms to guarantee a feed.

Hastings Point,

Brunswick Heads and Potsville all make for family friendly fishing and picnic spots and if you are up for an adventure, all these rivers make for exciting kayak exploring. A little trip I did a while ago involved launching from the Brunswick Heads boat ramp then heading up river and eventually

Surprise! The author took this bass all the way up at Fingal!

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Get your game on for summer end of the run-out tide. If you can time those tides with either first or last light, then you will be very likely to come across a jack.

This is my favourite month of the year to chase big river whiting. The Nerang and Tweed are my favourites but Currumbin

STH GOLD COAST

Ben Job

In January, pelagics will be in full swing and the rivers will be firing. Anglers will be able to target a heap of different species both inshore and offshore.

INSHORE Over the last few summers, mangrove jack have been on plenty of angler’s catch list and this summer so far has been no different. A big thing I find in January is that the fish have seen plenty of lures by now so it pays to mix it up a bit.

A lot of fishos are catching mangrove jack these days by rolling soft plastic lures. There is no doubt this is a really good way to catch these fish!

But I find come late season (January) it pays to broaden your horizons a little bit. I’m a huge fan of casting small floating hardbodies for jacks.

Something around 70-90mm is prime jack size and a lure that dives around 10ft will suit most applications, especially when fishing bridges and pontoons.

I don’t worry too much about tides but I find upper reaches of the river fishes better on higher stages and sections of the river closer to the mouth tend to fish better towards the

to come by. So when you can’t get hold of any worms I use small black soldier crabs. The bigger blue ones mixed with sand are good berley but the small ones are much better bait. I’ll use anywhere up to a 5 ball when targeting whiting and downsizing when the current slows. A long trace of

Jacks are on every angler’s mind in January. and Tallebudgera creeks hold plenty as well. As always the Council Chambers and around Sorrento in the Nerang River is a great spot to start the whiting onslaught. And in the Tweed around the Piggery is a very productive area.

Blood worms are in my mind the best bait for river whiting, but are not very easy

light 6lb fluorocarbon seems to work best and finished off with a hook around size 6, this has proven a deadly set up.

There should be good numbers of bass lurking in January in the upper, brackish reaches of all of our rivers. The TN50 Jackalls and Ecogear VT55SP are good lures when the sun is still high and any

small poppers in low light conditions work well.

The Hinze dam should be firing. Spinnerbaits are always a very effective way of catching impoundment bass this time of year. I use 5/8oz Bassman spinnerbaits and colour selection varies trip to trip, but purple and natural olive colours seem to be about the best.

When using spinnerbaits try the more prominent points around the dam, these protruding areas will most times hold more and often larger fish.

OFFSHORE The blue marlin will be savage out wide in January.

Put your lures in at around the 150m line and head out. A lot of the fish around this time of year will be in 200-300m of water.

Keep an eye out for any birds or bait because a sign as simple as a couple of birds in a small area can mean predatory fish.

Leave the light gear at home when you’re fishing out here, 24kg is absolute minimum and 37kg and up is recommended. Lures 9-14” are standard and by mixing up your spread with a variety of colour and size you will have the best chance of matching what the fish are keen on during that particular day.

The small black marlin will still be in numbers this month

If you are keen to play with the heavy gear there have been a few large specimens on offer, like this mahimahi. but may be a bit wider than previous weeks. Start searching around the back of the 36s and the 50s for big bait balls consisting of yakkas and slimy mackerel. Slow trolling live baits around the congregating schools will rarely be turned down by a passing marlin.

These fish may not be as small as they were last month with some hefty specimens around the 100kg mark being quite a common contender. While trying to find these schools of

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bait, it’s a good idea to troll some small to medium sized skirted lures such as Black Snacks and Pula Kais, and anything around 7-9” will do the trick nicely. It’s probably not a bad idea to start bringing out the 15kg rods to try and avoid marathon style fights.

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Bring on the afternoon action GOLD COAST CANALS

Josh Dunn www.tackletactics.com.au

With the fish firing it’s about time to head into the canals and fish for the

you some action. I have been getting a lot of fish at 4-5pm around pontoons.

Solid GT are plentiful at the moment with most caught around bridges; sounding up the bait will improve your chances.

best option, as it represents a baitfish. The standout lure has been the Z-Man 2.5” Slim SwimZ in blue steel, but plenty of other models and colours will work.

The canals at Coomera River, Runaway Bay,

Jarrod Nobrega with his PB mangrove jack taken far up Tallebudgera Creek while fishing a rock wall! summer species; mangrove jack in particular, along with GT, bream and flathead.

A late afternoon fish in the canals should bring

I’ve been searching for bait on the sounder and finding the GT with the big-eye trevally not far away.

Bright and natural coloured 2.5” plastics have been the

Tallebudgera, Tweed River and throughout the broadwater have been producing some quality fish.

There hasn’t been as many queenfish around, although

my mate tells me there are a few hanging around with the trevally down in Tallebudgera. There was a report mentioned in Tackle World recently that a guy landed a 1m queenfish right up in a Coomera River canal, which is very rare!

Tallebudgera Creek has been producing plenty of decent fish such as mangrove jack and trevally. There are a fair few pups around with the odd red dog about, fishing hard and putting the hours in will show the results. Most fish caught are right up the creek, about a 15-minute boat drive from the canals.

Target around the mangroves and rock walls where a lot of fish have been caught. Early morning with a high tide fishing with a minnow type lure around 3-4” in natural colours rigged onto 1/4oz jighead is a good rig to test the waters.

With the hot weather setting in we should see more afternoon storms, this will be great for the fish and give the canals a flush out.

I have heard the jacks fire up the day after storms. The water temps will also rise and will be a good chance to throw around some surface lures for the surface feeders.

A 40cm+ GT caught in Runaway Bay canal on a Z-Man 2.5” Slim SwimZ fished close against a pontoon.

I have seen more bream getting around and caught.

Small plastics cast up against a pontoon with a slow retrieve is pretty fun, especially seeing your line tightening before setting the hook! If you’re into your bait fishing, try chopped up tailor, pilchards, prawns and mullet around bridges and rock walls at night. You should get into some bream, Moses

perch and mangrove jack.

We should start to see the odd prawn getting around.

Coombabah is a spot where you will get quite a few, not to mention Jacobs Well and Pimpama River!

January is set to be a cracker month, mid-January last year I caught my first jack on plastics. So get out there, catch a few fish and have a great month!

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Black are back for marlin mayhem Lure trolling is probably the most popular method but has a lower hook up rate than bait fishing. Good lures to troll include small Pakulas, Meridians and the locally made Black Snacks that are deadly on these fish.

The small Hotlips by Black Snacks has been getting great results this season. I find the best hooks to use on small marlin are 10/0 Gamakatsu saltwater fly hooks in a double hook rig with the back hook rigged on wire in case of wahoo or mackerel. We troll these lures on 8-10kg tackle.

The key to consistently catching small black marlin is to find bait schools. When there are big aggregations of slimies and pilchards around, the marlin won’t be far away. In these situations a slowly trolled live bait generally out-fishes lures.

Use circle hooks when live baiting. It gives a more secure hook-up and is less damaging to the fish.

I expect catches of up to 10 or more small black marlin in a day to be quite common this month and it looks like we are in for a great season.

Out wider there have been plenty of decent blue marlin turning up

GOLD COAST

David Green

This month should be a sensational one for chasing small black marlin on the inshore grounds off the Gold Coast. With earlier great fishing around Hervey Bay, the southern push of the East Australian Current will see huge numbers of 15-40kg black marlin arrive on the Gold Coast this month.

If the water stays warm these little blacks should be easily accessible in depths from as close as the 12 fathom line this month. If you haven’t caught a marlin before, this is the time to get out there and catch your first one. Good areas to try include the area just north of Jumpinpin Bar, Sullies, Point Lookout, the artificial reefs just north of the Seaway and the Gravel Patch east of Burleigh Heads.

There are many ways to catch these fish. It can be as simple as drifting a live bait out the back just off the Seaway through to trolling teasers and pitching a rigged bait to a fish that has been attracted to the teaser.

The best areas to work for whiting are any shallow flats where there is soft sand and plenty of yabby and worm holes.

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to load up, and the upper end of Coombabah Creek has been a good spot for big whiting with quite a few between 35 and 40cm turning up in this area on

poppers. Three or four good whiting and half a dozen muddies and sandies makes a great meal for a family for relatively little effort.

There have been plenty

of good mangrove jack around and most are being caught working soft plastics and hardbodied minnows around the thousands of floating pontoons in the Gold Coast canals. Quite a few fish over 50cm have been caught in the last month and these should continue throughout January. When there is an afternoon build-up of cloud and the humidity is high, the jacks become more active. The Coomera system has been the most productive area this season.

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in the Jumpinpin entrance and in the Seaway should produce mulloway, trevally and the odd flathead this month. Most of the mulloway in summer tend to be smaller fish with only a few bigger than the 75cm minimum size limit.

There have been quite a few decent yellowtail kings in this area as well.

Overall, January looks like it will be a great month off the Gold Coast for black marlin and if the weather patterns are stable we should enjoy great fishing this month. Have a happy New Year and tight lines!

the

up on the wider grounds.

RIVERS AND ESTUARIES

As the water temperature in the Broadwater is generally over 25ºC this month most of the better fishing takes place early in the morning or at dusk and into the night. Target species this month include whiting, mangrove jack, mulloway and trevally. The crabbing should also be good and there have been plenty of big sand crabs throughout the entire Broadwater over the past 2 months.

I like chasing big whiting on poppers in January. The best areas to work are any shallow flats where there is soft sand and plenty of yabby and worm holes. It is amazing how aggressive a whiting can be when it comes to chasing a surface lure. The key is to make the lure imitate a fleeing prawn, and the retrieve needs to be fast.

Ideally the lures should spit beads of water in front of it as you work it. Never slow the retrieve down.

I use a mix of stick baits and poppers. My favourite is the Bass Day Sugarpen, an expensive but very effective whiting lure.

I usually do my whiting fishing on lures while I’m waiting for my crab pots

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and most boats have been getting between 1-5 bites in a session averaging around 150kg. These fish have been biting well on the 200-250m line between latitudes 2740 and 2800.

There have been plenty of big mahimahi on the wide grounds as well and a lot of flying fish.

The mackerel should also turn up this month although it is rare to have a season where both Spanish mackerel and marlin are common. The spotted mackerel generally show up on Palm Beach Reef in time for the school holidays and as the month goes on there should be more Spanish mackerel showing in the same area. Small marlin also like to visit Palm Beach Reef so don’t be too surprised when your pilchard takes off and you find yourself connected to a leaping billfish.

As the current is generally strong, bottom fishing will be difficult this month, but recently there was a late run of snapper on the 36 fathom line and the 50 Fathom Reef has been producing plenty of big kingfish and a few amberjack. For the trolling angler this area produces quite a few wahoo in January with the odd monster over 25kg turning

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The reds are firing up JUMPINPIN

Mick Morris gembait@tpg.com

I hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year’s and is ready and raring to get stuck into what should be another cracking year of fishing the Pin. There are going to be plenty of boats heading out over this school holiday period chasing a feed of bream, whiting or flathead and they should all be around in good numbers right throughout January.

The hot and humid weather will also fire up the

mangrove jack, which are one of the best eating fish you can get and put up a brutal fight usually resulting in the fish winning. If you’d like to take on one of these brutes then you need to target structures like rock walls, jetties, pylons, bridges or sunken snags. They use these structures for cover to ambush their prey and quickly return to it with their meal.

Any live bait drifted in front of these structures usually proves irresistible to a hungry jack or you could try casting larger plastics at these structures and twitch

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them away from the snag imitating a wounded fish.

Trolling lures close to these snags also works well but be prepared for an explosive strike when they hit, and try to pull them away from the snag as quickly as possible because if they get you in they usually win.

If you’re trying for a big bream, most of them are caught at night near the top of the tide near rock walls or areas, which are covered heavily in snags.

Using a little heavier line is recommended as they can snag you up real quick.

Berleying up is definitely beneficial and larger baits such as half pillies, heaped mullet or chook gut or large flesh baits will definitely entice the bigger fish in.

For a big bream try around Kalinga Bank, the dead trees at the bottom of North Straddie, the point of Short Island, the Stockyards and, as I said, any rock wall or deep snag you can find.

Now is the perfect time to be chasing 40cm+ elbow-

Jason Pivott with some quality Jumpinpin whiting. slapping whiting at the Pin. They love bloodworms, beach worms, yabbies, squid, prawns, small soft plastics and shallow diving lures and there has been a few fishos chasing them on small poppers in shallow water. Surprisingly they will actually rise to the surface and hit a lure.

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Cracking jacks like this brute put up a tough fight.

Some of the pick whiting spots to try are Ageston Sands and the Junction in the Logan, Slipping Sands, the Pig Styes, top of Crusoe Island, the Gold and Green Banks, Pandannus Bank and the Never Fail Islands.

Flathead will be continuing to make up the bulk of the catches as they will still be around in large numbers after their breeding run so if you’re after a feed of flatty then now is the time to get out there and hit the water. Aim to fish at the first of the run-out tide as this is the time when lizards become more active and feed. Being an ambush predator they will be lying in wait behind snags, holes, drop-offs and where the sand meets rock walls.

Flathead will take a variety of baits such as prawns, pillies, yabbies, herring, and mullet but another great bait to try if you haven’t already is whitebait.

Flathead love them and I’ve found that they work better than most bait most of the time. You can either use a

small 2 ganged rig using 1/0 or 2/0 hooks or a single hook threaded through the eye and then turning the hook out. Plastics and diving lures are all the rage as you can cover more area searching for the fish.

Flathead tend to congregate in small schools so if you catch one there is almost certainly more. The better spots to try around the Pin are the bottom of Kangaroo Island, Whalleys Gutter, the top of Crusoe Island, the deep water off Swan Bay, the Stockyards, Cobby Passage and the mouth of the Logan River.

So good luck in the new year of fishing, I hope it is a prosperous one with great fishing. Keep gathering knowledge on how to catch the fish you’re after and soon it will become second nature and they’ll become easier to catch. Hope a few of these tips help • If you would like any up to date info on local conditions give me a call at Gem Bait & Tackle on 32873868 or email gembait@tpg.com.au.

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Early anglers make the catches SOUTHERN BAY

Nabeel Issa

Summer has well and truly settled in, and the fishing has certainly followed suit.

December has always been a mixed month for me, the fishing fires but contending with the extra boat traffic from holiday-makers always makes things a little tricky.

Anglers having the most success have been getting out on the water early before the crowds get in.

Snapper have been a common catch throughout the bay. Fishing the reef edges around Peel and Coochiemudlo islands have been the most consistent way to get a feed of snapper, with the chance of other tasty reef dwellers. When it comes to fishing the reef edge, look to

position your boat in about 15ft of water and make casts towards the reef.

Lightly weighted soft plastics have been highly successful on the snapper.

They like to take the lure on the drop so make sure once you make a cast, to give the lure plenty of time to sink.

Most of the time they will hit the lure on the initial drop, so get ready to get stuck into them and keep them off the reef!

I have been doing well on the new Z-Man Slim SwimZ recently. They are a small lure but the snapper seem to love them. When selecting jighead weights for these areas, I like to range between 1/12 and 1/4oz depending on the amount of current and wind. If you do plan on fishing the reef edges make sure you are aware of the green zones, there are hefty fines for fishing in these areas.

West Peel and Harry Atkinson’s artificial reefs have been fishing well, with reports of big schools of mulloway showing up over the last few months. The only problem is that the sharks have moved in too! Soft plastics and micro jigs have been doing the damage on the mulloway.

Using your sounder to locate the schools is the key.

The mulloway will move around, so once you find them try and get your lures straight down to them and when you

yet but I suspect they won’t be far behind if the last few years were anything to go by.

Throwing metal lures in the 20-50g range is the best way to target the Mackerel, keep your distance and use long casts to get close to the schools. They have been sporadic so keep your eyes peeled for the birds and they won’t be far off.

In the coming month, look for more of the same.

We should see more pelagic activity with plenty more surface action! Snapper should

Snapper like this 50cm model have been a common catch in the shallows. still be in good numbers in the shallows and will be a great early morning or late afternoon option. Mulloway will start to taper off as the New Year rolls in, so get into them while you can. If you are having trouble with the extra boat traffic, the best thing to do is move away from the crowds. The fish hate the traffic just as much as us so fishing a little wider of everyone else or looking for new ground can make a big difference.

Another option is to head into the Raby Bay canals and chase some of the bream and mangrove jack that have been getting around recently.

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hook one, get it up as quick as you can, the sharks love an easy feed! When they aren’t schooled up, drifting through the reef is a good option as you can cover a lot of ground and you are always within a chance of picking up some snapper. Live baits and fresh dead baits are a good option here, especially at night with some reports of large snapper around.

Pelagic species have started to make their presence felt too. Most Moreton Bay anglers will be waiting on edge for the mackerel and tuna to start showing up. Small schools of mackerel have been showing up towards Amity in the Rainbow Channel, as well as mack tuna. No consistent reports of longtail tuna of

Jesse Gough with a cracker mangrove jack caught as by-catch while chasing bream.

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The snapper will keep you busy OFFSHORE

John Gooding

The weather pattern over the past month or so has been average to say the least with strong northerlies dominating.

As I mentioned last month we’ve still been

The yellowtail kingfish and amberjack have definitely slowed, but when we have found them on the chew, the sharks have been driving us mad! We have had a few good sessions at Shallow Tempest on the right moon phase and we’ve boated some quality snapper, spangled emperor

long this line of reef.

Spanish mackerel and wahoo are being caught in the Cape Moreton and Point Lookout areas and their numbers should increase during the next couple of months, and if we get a more southerly weather pattern, we should see some good catches recorded.

Not a bad by-catch. This cobia was caught floatlining for snapper. working the wider grounds and on most trips the fishing has been consistent with good snapper keeping us busy.

and the odd mulloway.

There’s been lots of bait in the area, so it won’t surprise me if small black marlin start showing up shortly a

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Spotted mackerel schools shouldn’t be far away either, but so far they haven’t showed up as yet.

They’ll normally push along

the front of Bribie Island following bait schools and Moreton Bay and some will break off and push down the outside of Moreton Island.

The spotties don’t seem to hold for any length of time on the coffee rock reefs on the ocean side of Moreton Island but if you are there chasing Spanish mackerel it pays to have a spin stick ready to go, just in case they are up working bait schools on the surface.

School mackerel do hold on the coffee rock and at times can be that thick you won’t be able to get a bait past them to find a Spaniard.

That’s not all bad, as they are good on the chew and they give a fair account of themselves on light tackle.

If you’re keen to target schoolies rolling a weighted pilly, spinning metal slugs or trolling small barra spoons behind a paravane will account for their fair share of fish.

Until next month enjoy your fishing, take care on the coastal bars.

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A quality juvenile snapper caught on the 35s.

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Get prepared for the Moreton Bay pelagics BRISBANE

Gordon Macdonald masterbaitertackle@hotmail.com

With the festive season all but over and the kids now back at school there will now be a lot more space between boats out on the water. The chaos of the holiday period can at times quieten the fishing action due to the extra boating traffic including fishers, sailors, jet skiers and other boating enthusiasts.

and the estuaries and river systems have plenty of fish and crustaceans on offer for those hitting the water during January.

MORETON BAY Plenty of pelagics have been taken in recent months yet January often offers some of the best fishing for mackerel and the lesser tunas and bonito.

Bait schools are generally common throughout Moreton Bay and this is what attracts the numerous pelagic species. This baitfish

poppers, jerk shad plastics, swimming minnows and numerous others. Most of these generally need to be retrieved fast to excite the pelagics and solicit a strike, therefore reels which will retrieve around a metre of line per turn of the handle are advisable.

After a drought of reasonably priced highspeed reels in recent years, there are now several moderately priced reels available on the market that will do the job. Many

Deep diving and suspending lures are great offerings for jacks as they get down into the strike zone and entice them to strike.

As everything returns back to normal, anglers will start to see an increase in the quality of the fishing, especially around heavily populated inshore areas.

The summer run of pelagics should be in full swing

are generally a decent size, often up over 10cm in length, by this time of the year, which makes imitating the bait that much easier.

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anglers now opt for smaller reels than those once used such as the now archaic Shimano TSS-4, as reel technology has come a long way and the thinness of braided line means that spools do not need to be as large. Match these reels with a high-modulus graphite rod, which is a powerful casting and fish fighting tool and you have a great quality spin outfit which is light, yet has all the attributes to get the job done.

MACKEREL Schools of mackerel can be located anywhere at any time throughout Moreton Bay so it pays to have a highspeed spin rod rigged and ready to cast whenever you are traveling throughout this area. Using fluorocarbon leaders, casting to the edges of the school and beginning your retrieve before your lure lands will go a long way in decreasing bite offs and increasing your catch rate when targeting surface feeding schools.

When jigging chromed offerings around the shipping channel beacons, use slugs and slices that will sink vertically and plummet into the strike zone quickly.

This limits bite-offs while the lure sinks, as is often the case with many lures that flutter. Wire leaders are generally not advisable as they will virtually halt your strike rate.

Other techniques around the beacons and artificial

reefs included drifting out pilchards, often under a float, while berleying with small slices of pilchard.

The Measured Mile area is generally a popular place for this pursuit, especially on the early morning rising tides.

TUNA AND BONITO While most anglers hope to encounter, hook and land the prized longtail tuna, it is more likely that their quarry will be a mac tuna, frigate tuna, Watson bonito or Australian bonito during January, as these are a lot more common throughout Moreton Bay during the summer months.

The best of the longtail tuna action is generally between March and June, but there will still be a few around to target this month, generally larger individual specimens.

These are sometimes seen surface feeding but are generally more commonly encountered by anglers using live baits, especially yakkas and slimy mackerel.

The other tuna and bonito species are also taken on live baits at times but due to their tendency to hunt in larger schools and surface feed on bait schools, anglers commonly cast small chromed slugs and slices, jerk shad plastics and baitfish profiled flies when in pursuit of them.

they will commonly slurp up the wounded and injured baitfish left from the feeding melee.

A small jerk shad plastic allowed to sink underneath the feeding pelagics will often be slurped up by a quality snapper. Often snapper will even chase this bait into quite shallow water and are often seen surface feeding on hardiheads, gar and other baitfish around the edges of the bay islands (Peel, Green, Mud etc.).

At Peel, the edges of the reef on the falling tide and the tops of the reef on the high tide will commonly hold quality snapper, however, be aware of the green zone restrictions in force around many areas of Peel. In addition to snapper, numerous other species including sweetlip, tuskfish, morwong, yellowtail kingfish and mackerel will be hooked around the reef edges.

ESTUARIES The numerous estuarine, river and creek systems are also well worthwhile probing during the warmer months with bream, mangrove jack, trevally, estuary cod, tarpon, flathead and an array of others on offer.

Mangrove jack are a real prize for many serious estuarine anglers due to their aggressiveness and powerful strikes. Many anglers will

Some lures are easier to present well in certain situations than others.

Suspending minnow lures account for a lot of jacks with the strike often coming as the lure is paused. These are great for working around structure such as bridge pylons and pontoons.

Soft plastics offer a relatively cheap and effective offering for jacks and can be rigged in a weedless manner to allow them to be fished through heavy structure without fouling. Poppers can really lure jacks out away from their structure, especially around the extremities of the day, low light situations and when the barometer is rising, which increases their aggressiveness. Live baits offer a relaxed approach to jack fishing, whether landbased or working from a boat. Mullet, larger prawns, herring and numerous others will produce.

Live baits are also good offerings for a host of other estuarine species including estuary cod, trevally, flathead, threadfin salmon, large bream and others. All these species can be taken throughout our waterways during January and offer some great fun no matter whether you are chasing a feed or just sportfishing.

Again, there are a host of lures that will produce the

A big succulent mud crab can definitely make the effort of setting a few safety pots worthwhile.

DEMERSALS Snapper numbers should still be fairly good throughout January due to the influx of baitfish species that are commonly within the bay at this time of the year.

Apart from being found in the usual places such as the artificial reefs, wrecks and around the grounds fringing the bay islands, snapper are sometimes found out in open water underneath the feeding frenzy of mackerel and tuna. In this situation

lose the first few that they hook, which just seems to heighten their appeal and worthiness as a sportfishing target. An array of lures and live baits will work on these crimson assailants with most anglers having their personal favourites, based on previous success or the recommendations of others.

However many different types and brands of lures will work well in the hands of anglers who fish them correctly.

goods on these species.

Working the edges of major bank systems on the falling tide is likely to produce a few flathead.

Estuary cod will be taken in many of the same areas as mangrove jack yet have a real preference for rocks walls, especially those sporting a healthy crab population. Trevally can be taken in a variety of areas, often in open water situations when baitfish are present along the edges of

current lines and around current altering structure.

Bream can be taken almost anywhere, from the sandy shallows to deep channels to the brackish upriver reaches.

Canals and harbours offer plenty of structure for baitfish and other species and are good places for those with kayaks and small craft, especially when the more open water conditions are not favourable. However, be aware that many have limitations on access and fishing.

BRISBANE RIVER The Brissie River has plenty of options for keen anglers, no matter whether you are fishing from the shore or watercraft. Landbased anglers commonly use live baits to target threadfin during the warmer months however they also encounter plenty of sharks, rays, catfish, pike eels and other undesirables. Occasionally however they will also catch a quality snapper, mulloway, estuary cod or flathead to add a little variety.

In some areas, lures can be used by anglers fishing from the shore. This is especially productive around bridges, pontoons, jetties and other areas that are lit at night however for results you will generally need to put in the kilometres and casts. Down towards the

mouth is a popular area due to the good results that can be obtained and its close proximity to the ramps at Boat Passage and Pinkenba.

Anglers commonly work lures or soak live and dead baits around areas such as Claras Rocks, the Oil Pipeline, the retaining wall of the southern bank at the river mouth, the Gateway Bridge and out from the numerous jetties (be aware of the restrictions).

During periods of heavy boat traffic the action often slows a little, however the activity of the large ships can often fire things up due to the enormous amount of water and bottom sediment that their large propellers can disturb. This dislodges worms and other food sources and can really create some hot fishing.

CRUSTACEANS January offers some excellent opportunity to secure a feed of crabs. Both sand and mud crabs can be caught in safety pots and pick-up dillies (witches hat dillies have been illegal for several years now). Baiting these with baits such as chicken carcasses, fish frames, whole mullet and similar baits then setting them in likely spots is the key to success.

For muddies, try the upper reaches of the creeks

and rivers. Hard to access drains and small creeks often produces some of the better quality bucks.

Generally after heavy rain, the mud crabs can be found

relating to these, and your crabbing apparatus, before setting out.

Prawns can sometimes show up in better numbers during January however the

Spotted mackerel numbers should be on the rise during January and hopefully they will hang around until late May like they did last year. in better numbers in the main basin of the river. After the floods of recent years, many experience good mud crab catches as far out as Mud Island.

Generally however, these waters are the go for sand and blue swimmer

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crabs. Setting your crabbing apparatus along the ledges and contours wide of the bay islands and in the channels separating them is generally a recipe for success. Look

at the kind of spots where commercial crabbers set their pots and go and find your own area, which has similar attributes. Both sand and mud crabs have different size limits, ways of measuring and bag limits so check the regulations

best run of banana prawns is generally from late February to May. Anglers may still be able to secure a decent feed of these succulent morsels during January by working the deeper holes in systems such as the Logan River, Caboolture River,

Burpengary Creek, Pine River and Brisbane River.

Regardless there should be plenty of the smaller greasy prawns on offer and these make excellent baits for virtually every estuarine species and many bay demersals.

CONCLUSION The conditions during January are often boiling hot and we generally receive some pretty awesome storms. This can really stir up the piscatorial action in many systems, especially during the build up to the storms when barometers are generally rising. The effects of the heat can take its toll quickly so ensure you take the relevant measures to avoid sunburn and dehydration.

With plenty of pelagics on offer throughout Moreton Bay and some awesome estuary dwellers such as jacks, flathead and threadfin on offer, you shouldn’t have too much trouble getting into some action. If a slower pace is more your thing then soak a few crab pots and take it easy. A cooling swim is sometimes a great way to break up the day. We are lucky to live in such a great part of the world with so much aquatic action on offer so get out there and make the most of it.

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43

Redcliffe ramps up the species NORTHERN BAY

Grayson Fong graysonfong@bigpond.com

With the current weather patterns, it’s all guns blazing in the northern bay on the fishing front. Many anglers have enjoying the good weather over the last month giving them ample opportunities to christen their newly acquired Christmas presents. It’s not that anglers ever need an excuse to hit the water but heading out with new artillery in your possession always puts a spring in your cast!

Constant northeries have played a little havoc for smaller boated anglers heading out to their favourite inshore spots but this hasn’t deterred them from hitting their ‘Plan B’ spots in our many estuaries. With the few afternoon storms we have had of late, many of these estuarine anglers have taken advantage of the flushing ebb tides to nab some good mud crabs, especially in the upper reaches of the Pine River and the Pumicestone Passage.

Along with the muddies, nice sand crabs have also been picked up in Bramble

Bay and the southern end of Deception Bay making the day out on the water a complete success.

and summer whiting hitting the decks. Bream have been in their normal summer bite patterns roaming in small

There are plenty of solid bream in the northern bay and they have been in their normal bite pattern.

REDCLIFFE PENINSULA Reddy has been fishing pretty well of late with a good mix of bream, juvenile snapper, flathead

packs hunting for their next feed giving anglers multiple catches in quick succession.

For the lure assassins, topwater lures have been working well along with

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deeper cranks along the edges during the flooding tides. Also during these tides good flathead have

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been picked up in the shallows and outside creek mouths with soft plastics and lightly weighted fresh baits.

Lately we have had a good summer bite of juvenile snapper, which is a nice treat with these hard fighting species giving fishos a run for their money amongst the gaggle of bommies that occupy the peninsula. Fresh mullet, lightly weighted hardiheads and squid strips have been amongst the preferred baits with soft plastics like Z-Man GrubZ, Atomic Jerk Minnows and Shads Lures Ribbed Candys collecting a few casualties.

PINE RIVER The Pine has had its ups and downs of late but the estuary has always been influenced by rainfall activity, which has known to give it a good cleaning.

As per usual the bulk of the activity has been down the mouth with fish seeking more saline waters during times of the wet.

Dohles Rocks, mouth of Bald Hills Creek and the fishing platform on the Ted Smout Bridge have been productive during the warm months with bream and flathead being the menu favourites. Hays Inlet has also been good on the full tides with The Wells keeping pretty quiet.

On the southern side of Bramble Bay keen landbased anglers have been pulling nice legal bream and whiting off the walls of Eventide and Shorncliffe and amongst the trawlers in Cabbage Tree Creek.

Mangrove jack have been far and few between up the

Jesse Gough with a nice Redcliffe flathead. They have been scattered throughout the passage.

Pine with only a few bust offs to report.

PUMICESTONE PASSGAGE Bream, bream and more bream have been the flavour of the month up there with the hot spots being Cooks Rocks, Tiger Rocks, Bongaree Jetty, Ningi flats and the Pacific Harbour Canals with the rising tide being the recipe for success. Mid diving

that direction. Flathead have also been littered throughout the passage with Glasshouse Creek and the 112s reporting well along with the weed flats outside Bells Creek during the lower lighted hours.

MONTHLY TIP With the blistering sun beating down on us of late, we all keep a close eye on sun protection for our delicate skin. But also

Lately there has been a good summer bite of juvenile snapper, which is a nice treat for anglers who like a hard fighting species. cranks, like Cranka Cranks, Jackall Chubbies, Atomic Crank 38s and Ecogear SX40s have been on the hit list with Pontoon 21 Greedy Guts 55SP also working a treat.

Northerly winds tend to push bait into the passage making it a great area to fish for bream during extended periods of wind from

remember to do the same for your gear, as the heat can accelerate the aging of your gear ten-fold. Sinkers, swivel and hooks are less of concern but precious expensive lures and soft plastics can often melt in their containers when left in the sun too long. So the golden rule is ‘if you aren’t using it, store it’!

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Jason Wallis

All reports have been hot and cold with some great catches one week then barely a fish taken the next!

possible – live worms, or fresh pumped yabbies. Fish with super light tactics and go into your target zone nice and easy; slow and steady wins the race here as they can be spooked very easily. This means no rattling anchor chains over

Targeting mangrove jack can take a lot of time and patience, but when you catch specimens like this, it’s all worth it.

There are some good hauls of whiting coming from most parts of the passage and all of its creek inflows from Ningi Creek north up to Bells Creek.

They are the number one target for most anglers hitting the passage this time of year, without a doubt.

If you are targeting whiting, give yourself the best chance possible which is to get the best bait

23-25 Snook Street

the side of your vessels hull – if I had $1 for every time I have seen this happen I would be a very rich man – and no thumping around on the floor of your vessel. All these sounds travel along way under water alarming fish of your presence and chasing them for miles.

There’s been some nice flathead around in scattered patches. If you find a couple of these guys,

chances are you will find more closeby, as they love to hang in numbers. Sizes have ranged from 30-60cm and all are great fun on light gear and 3-4” plastics, colour doesn’t seem to make a lot of difference.

Gulps perform really well, along with Atomic Plazos and Z-Mans.

The deeper sections and holes in most creeks have been holding fish, and the mouth of Caboolture River is producing results as well.

If jacks are your cuppa tea there’s been a few popping up and pulling line with sizes ranging from 45cm up to the high 50cm+.

Targeting them can take a lot of time and patience, but when you come up tight, it’s all worth it. Target any snag big or small and target it hard. Your canal systems are great with most pontoons, pylons, rock/ concrete walls and boats holding fish at some stage of the tide.

Pelican Waters and Pacific Harbour are both great areas to have a flick.

If sinking live bait is your thing, any of the bridge pylons hold fish or try hitting the mangrove fringes of the creeks. Bullock,

Jarad with his PB 58cm jack taken on a well presented plastic.

He has got the goods – time, patience, energy and he never takes his eye off the ball. This all equals results!

Glassy and Coochin Creeks are great targets.

Bream and grunter bream have been widely present for anyone using

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Expect pelagic pandemonium for the New Year CALOUNDRA

Brad McKendrick fishingcaloundra@yahoo.com.au

If you had any doubts that summer was going to be quiet then I am sure your opinion has changed.

bet is to get some live yakkas or slimey mackerel to rig up on a slow troll or set a spread of lures and speed it up a bit.

I enjoy either method but the old lures sure come in handy when live bait are difficult to find. The change of the tides is one of the best

Tuna schools have kept anglers busy on the inner reef systems.

Mackerel and tuna are everywhere at the moment along with a large range of pelagics making every angler anxious to get out on the water. From the first day of summer, we just knew we were in for something special this season and so far each trip just confirms just how good things will be.

Caloundra Wide has been the hot spot with any number of small marlin, mackerel, mahimahi and wahoo attacking baits or hardbodied lures. Best

times to target the species and remember, when there is run the fish will also be active.

Tuna schools have kept anglers busy on the inner reef systems with the Gneerings being one of the most outstanding. As the sun comes up the action really turns hot and the birds begin targeting the bait schools and the tuna come on bringing the larger predators into play. Flocks of working birds are a great way to find mackerel and other species and the way to do this

is to work ahead of the birds, not through them. There is truly nothing more annoying than anglers who come flying into a feeding mass and send them all deep. Remember to judge which way the school is heading, get in front of it and wait for it to come to you. This is where electric motors come into their own.

The early morning tide changes are proving productive and the same can be said for the evening changes close to sunset. These times really bring on the fish and the good news is there is no need to travel too far out to get amongst the many varieties of reef species.

Pearl perch and tuskfish have been the most sort after species around the pinnacles and drop offs and between the launch area out from Mooloolaba through to the 9-mile buoy, there would be at least 10 areas where you can catch reef fish in good numbers. Most of these would be within 5km of the harbour.

The wider areas offshore like the Baron Banks offer any number of opportunities for anglers. Shallow areas through to deeper spots around the 60-85m bring into play large kingfish, amberjack and other hard-pulling pelagics. The Three Sisters has mackerel, mahimahi and other species around the area and these include some nice snapper and big pearlies.

So offshore is running hot and if you have brought your boat up for a holiday fishing session you will not go home disappointed. There are also plenty of areas north of Old Women Island like Sunshine Reef and further up to the areas around Noosa that can be worth fishing. So spend some time looking around this summer.

The estuaries have been hot and cold but that

is normally due to the noisy traffic throughout the day. It is best to plan your fishing trip around those times or plan to work the areas that are well out of the way. Believe me, the fish don’t get up and leave because of the noise; they will just find a nice deep hole away from the area so they don’t get bothered by it. So we have to be smarter and work out where they would move to and fish those areas productively. You may need to try 2-3 different lures or 3-4 different colours to make them bite. Whether you are fishing for flathead or bream, if something isn’t working, try another idea.

Military Jetty and Pelican Waters canal areas have bream and most of those are around the pontoon areas. Blades and small grubs on light 1/16 or 1/32oz jigheads present the best and offer a nice natural drop holding in the target zone for longer. Remember, you don’t have to wind away from the strike zone in the first few seconds. Let your lure work the area for as long as possible.

The channel areas around the Blue Hole and through to the Caloundra Bar are worth working for queenfish and trevally. Big poppers in the early mornings and last light can be productive as can smaller poppers before first light for whiting and bream.

The flats along the Golden Beach Strip are always worth fishing for whiting and bait like yabbies and worms will work the best around there. There are also plenty of areas where you can get live herring in a cast net. The bridges and pontoons around the Pumicetone Passage are all good target areas for them.

Pike are congregating around the Boardwalk at the moment and apart from being terrific bait they are great fun to catch for the kids. Use a small hook and no weight for best results

just a small strip of fish like herring or mullet.

There are plenty of options for the estuary angler but the best up to date advice can always be found at your local tackle store. Be patient and courteous this summer and plan your trip carefully. Plenty of water and lots of sunscreen is the order of the day on the Sunshine Coast.

Work the offshore reefs in the early mornings and late afternoons for best results on

the reef species. The pelagics are best sort after a little later in the morning as the sun rises and use the working birds to guide you on to them. Troll the areas around the Gneerings, Murphys, Currimundi and other reefs for best results. The estuaries have plenty of options and the bread and butter species like whiting, flathead and bream are all biting.

Enjoy the New Year and get some fish in your esky. Have fun!

Mark Eftim caught this cracker mahimahi out from Townsville on a trip with Northern Conquest Charters.

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Jack or mack on the menu NOOSA

Peter Wells

With the start of the New Year and most anglers enjoying annual holidays there has never been a better time to fish the beautiful Sunshine Coast. With quality mangrove jack, threadfin and mulloway all present in the Noosa River, anglers are spoilt for choice.

Trolling hardbodies has been the key to getting stuck into the notorious mangrove jack. There are some great lures on the market but one of the standouts is the Maria MJ Twitch in the 70mm, this is a suspending lure that will dive to 2m, which is perfect for trolling.

Fishing the top of the rock bars from Johns Landing to the mouth of Cootharaba has been well worth the effort.

Try casting the new Zerek Hot Legs into snags as you work your way up and down the river, this has also claimed some trophy fish.

From the ski run up to the mouth of Lake Cooroibah,

soft plastics have been working a treat. Z-Mans have been working well, with the redbone and pinfish a couple of my favourite colours. Good sized flathead and school mulloway

pots, make sure you have your details on your floats or if you are tying off to a tree make sure your details are above the water line. Remember to only keep the males and only four

Local angler Kellie Blain tempted her 36cm elbow-slapper whiting with a live worm bait. have been cruising the bottom so make sure you have a heavy enough jighead to keep you on the bottom. Set yourself up on the outgoing tide and start from up near the lake and simply drift your way back on the tide.

While you are up there, try dropping in a few crab

crab pots per person. For more details on where the crabs are walking drop in and have a chat with the Davo’s team.

Woods Bays has been a go-to area for most anglers early in the morning, with good size trevally on surface poppers. The Lucky Craft

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G-Splash has been one of the standout lures, bagging some nice giant and diamond trevally. As the day progresses give the specially rigged Davo’s Gladiator Prawn a go, slow rolled across the bottom, these plastics have definitely got the runs on the board.

The stretch of the river from Gympie Terrace, Munna Point and up into the Frying Pan has been producing good numbers of whiting. Live worms, pealed prawn and yabbies have been the favoured baits. Also casting over the flats with the River2sea Skinny Dog surface lures with the walk-the-dog technique has been a great way to bag an elbow-slapper or two.

The Maroochy River has also been outstanding. Anglers are seeing good size jacks up around the Dunethin Rock area. Trevally are also in good numbers along with mulloway.

The deeper holes seem to hold the mulloway with the River2sea Jack Hammer soft vibes a real slayer when it comes to chasing these fish.

Working your way back down the river, the hole at the mouth of Coolum Creek is a particular favourite of mine.

You may find yourself hooking in to a few flathead, jacks or even a stonker threadfin salmon. Try the larger size Live Target prawn or Wild Prawn from River2sea, these are rigged with a stinger hook at the base of the tail and will pick up fish when they are having a tentative inquiry.

While you are up that way don’t forget the crab pots. The Maroochy has some monster bucks that are full and sweet.

Now the good news is if you live down Maroochy way our store at Marcoola has a great range and the team down there fish the local area and are more than happy to point you in the right direction.

On the beach we are seeing some nice flathead, the females are offshore spawning at the moment so the odd large flatty has graced the beach, remember your size limits and don’t forget to grab a pic of that big old girl before

Matt Winter from Carters Ridge won the $50 Davo’s Fish of the Week prize with the 87cm cobia he caught near Munna Point. you return her to the waves.

Fishing the gutters and deeper holes have seen quality sized dart and whiting using live beach worms. Big strip baits have been working well for mulloway; we have seen some sensational fish landed over the past couple of months.

Fishing around the headlands, you can pretty much expect anything at this time of the year, from mulloway, small squire, sweetlip and maybe the odd spotted mackerel.

Offshore the pelagics have been all the rage. We have seen some great seasons in the past and this one is shaping up to be a cracker as well.

With these ferocious feeders taking a liking to slow trolled pilchards, as well as metal slugs and diving lures trolled

baits, it is an angler’s dream!

The trick is to be crossing those bars just on first light with the action starting as soon as the sun comes up over the horizon.

Even though the pelagics are on the chew, the bottom is also very rewarding. Trout and nice sized sweetlip have been on the chew in and around the bommies and pinnacles of Sunshine Reef, while quality cobia seem to be on most of the closer reefs. Trolling skipping gars wide of North Reef and around Chardons may see you tangle with some great billfish.

• For any more info regarding outside fishing and a bar report please drop in and see the team at Davo’s Tackle World in Noosa or head into Davo’s

Rod McCarey from Point Arkright boated this quality snapper while on a Cougar One charter to the Barwon Banks. at speed.

Casting into the erupting bait schools is another exciting way to bag a mackerel or yellowfin tuna, with wahoo also crashing into lures and

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FishingNoosa.com.au for the latest bar reports and photos and remember, Tight Lines and Bent Spines!

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You can still have a belter on the blacks!

HERVEY BAY

Scott Bradley marlin81@bigpond.com

Now that the silly season is in the rear view mirror, hopefully we get some decent weather for the remaining few months of summer and get out and do more fishing!

Even if the weather is average you can always shoot up a creek and chase a few threadies or drop a couple of pots in for a mud crab or two.

The many sheltered local reefs inside Fraser Island hold a good variety of estuary and reef fish and in the hotter months night fishing can help improve success. Many

species of fish feed better at night and it’s a lot more comfortable than being out in the hot sun all day. Cod, coral bream, blackall, flathead, whiting and grunter to name a few are prime targets for night fishing the small patches of reef that grow just off the sand ledges that make up the Sandy Straits.

PLATYPUS BAY The bay is still full of black marlin and there have been a heap of boats most out there on fishable weekends trolling the Wathumba/Rooneys run in search of them. Like any style of fishing, you have your quiet days and there have been a few but the good days make up for it and we still have a few months left before they are gone for another year.

Spotties, schoolies, Spaniards, mac tuna, longtails, queenfish and trevally make up the bulk of what else is

available to anglers sightcasting the shallows or working the bait schools.

It’s hard to beat a day on the pelagics!

THE URANGAN PIER The Pier copped a battering from the northerlies last month making many days virtually unfishable. On the better days there have been plenty of school mackerel, a few queenies on the surface and flathead pouncing on live herring and lures around the pylons.

Whiting numbers and size

were improving just before Christmas, so fishing the bigger tides this month with yabbies or worms should be the go and a few squid have been about so don’t forget the jigs.

If we get some decent weather there should be a few longtails around the next few months and every year there are some monsters caught from the pier. Highspeed spinning and live baiting are the best ways to tempt a longtail, just make sure you have plenty of line!

Red shines on Rainbow RAINBOW BEACH

Ed Falconer

Paul Rosman with one of the many juvenile Hervey Bay blacks that have invaded Platypus Bay this year!

Our fantastic run of weather has continued, allowing for many successful fishing trips offshore.

OFFSHORE We’ve had another big run of snapper, bagging out on them on quite a few occasions. The bigger models were coming onboard on the soft plastics, particularly Z-Mans.

Pearl perch have been on the chew as well and the bigger models in this variety were guaranteed on the soft plastics.

Other fish that have been biting well are parrot, Moses perch and some big red emperor.

On the pelagic scene, we’ve had a pretty good time on the mahimahi and both Spanish and spotted mackerel have graced us with their hard fighting presence.

Amberjack are rife on our northern grounds and appear to be starving hungry.

They are an easy target on knife jigs.

GREAT SANDY STRAITS Mangrove jack are as thick as thieves in the straits where a lot of 50cm fish are being caught. Kauri Creek has been one of the hot spots.

I have had some reports

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of metre-plus barramundi being caught and although I am not privy to the exact location, Gary’s Anchorage might be a good place to start looking.

There have been plenty of bream around Carlo Creek with sundown being the best time to catch a few of them.

January is when the mackerel really fire up and signs are looking good that it is shaping up to be a repeat of the bumper season we scored last year.

Get those reels serviced and well greased because last year there were burnt drags, flying springs and broken ratchets everywhere – but not on my gear! I’ve just equipped the boat with all brand new Shimano gear that are ready for a punishing.

Take care on the water, make sure your safety gear is in top order along with your fishing gear and all the best to everyone for the New Year.

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52

JANUARY 2015

Fishing Fill-its

Bli Bli Barra Park – it’s so worth the effort FMG

Steve Morgan s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au

If you’re old enough to remember the Sitch/ Gleisner series A River Somewhere, you’d remember an episode where the guys fished in a trout farm in Italy to catch their target species.

They implied that it was a cop-out to fish in an environment so artificial when natural troutcontaining streams were so closeby.

In a way, they were right. That episode saw them shoot a trout in a barrel and the fishing wasn’t really a challenge. That stuck in the back of my mind when I

If not for this place, I’d have to travel at least another four hours up the road and test the limitedpatience of these aspiring anglers on some waters that are pretty unforgiving at the best of times.

Did the boys catch a barra? Yep. Was it shooting fish in a barrel? Nope.

Was it a lot of fun? Most definitely!

Given that most of the boys’ fishing has consisted

Although you can bring your own gear into the park, the supplied outfits and 6lb mono line are entirely ample for hooking and landing most of the fish you’ll encounter.

Fishing for bream on bread, you soon find out that if there’s something imperfect about your presentation, the fish won’t eat it. If you let the line drag the bait away from its natural drift, use too big a hook or leave a big tag

COSTS A three hour session at the Barra Park costs $30 for an adult and $20 for a child – all gear supplied.

Exclusive before- and after-hours guided tours are available from as little as $75 per person. If you add up the costs, it may just be the cheapest way for a South East Queenslander to catch a barra!

The Bli Bli Barra Park is a great place to get your kids onto their first barra. Just quietly, dad didn’t mind the fishing, either.

Small #10 hooks make for an easy release. took the family to the Bli Bli Barra Park with the aim of connecting my 5 and 6 year olds to their first barra.

of casting bread on a #10 hook at bream berleyed up on old crusts, the fishing wasn’t a big step for them.

end on your line, bream will flat out reject what you’re offering, and the Barra Park is the same.

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That said, if you get it all right and get your pellet into the right, place, it’s not too long until a familiar ‘BOOF’ implodes under your bait and you’re fighting a Sunshine Coast barra. And on the gear supplied, they go pretty hard!

Head guide, Angus Collins, is pretty open about what techniques work the best, but walking around the park, you see that not everyone gets it right all of the time.

“The best thing you can do is stay in the one spot and get your drift just right,” Angus explained, “start running around casting one cast here and one cast there is a recipe for disaster.”

And the fish are definitely there to catch. There’s been a fresh batch of 40-45cm barra recently introduced to the ponds and you see these fish boofing your pellets off the surface. But there are bigger swirls below, too, and barra

to 120cm+ are stocked into the “Big Boys Pond”.

“As well as the barra, there are bream that average 40cm, some estuary cod, milkfish and giant herring

in the ponds, but nobody has worked out a real pattern for the exotics…. yet,” Angus concluded.

Maybe you could be the first?

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53

Out roll the species list FRASER COAST

Phil James p_j_james@bigpond.com

With the New Year comes the first of five months when the shallow reefs of Hervey Bay can be relied upon to produce excellent catches of a variety of species. This month we will look at some of them, the members of the genus Lethrinus.

Grass sweetlip, Lethrinus laticaudis, is one of Hervey Bay’s favourites.

Locally known as coral bream, it also answers to red-finned emperor, grey sweetlip and simply sweetlip in other coastal waters. Our local name is certainly misleading as it is not closely related to

the warmer water invades the shallows. I have never been too enthusiastic about fishing the shallows until December, but from January through to April and early May, anglers can expect to do well. Here, reliable catches of coralies up to 1.2kg are made with fish over 2kg being the exception. Of course in some of our offshore grounds like the Southern, Northern and African gutters, our bay fish would be regarded as tiddlers compared with their frequent catches of 5kg+.

The recreational fishery for grass sweetlip is one of many that has reacted to, and adapted well to the use of a wide variety of artificial lures. It would take much more than this

Bait fishing for coralies continues to be the most popular approach. With much of the successful fishing happening in or close to dark, bait tends to take over. Coral bream are not difficult to please when it comes to bait. However there are some that stand out for different reasons.

Large hardiheads are right at the top of my list. They are natural food sources that resist the attention of small fish that might try to tear them apart. The smaller hardies tend to be too soft.

Half-pilchards are worth their place in the bait cooler. They are particularly effective when used at the start of a fishing session. They work like super magnets for coral bream as the oils and

FISH LIMITS Size.................................................................cm.................. bag..................other Grass sweetlip (coral bream)........................... 30.................... 10 Spangled emperor (yellow sweetlip)................ 45..................... 5....................CRFF Lancer............................................................. 25..................... 5....................CRFF Note: CRFF Coral Reef Fin Fish total combined limit 20 the common bream. This is just another example of how the variety of names for a species can be most misleading. For the purpose of this article and with respect to our locals, you will also see me refer to them as coralies.

The coral bream has a

column permits to list every one that has caught a coral bream in Hervey Bay. Suffice to mention that there are plastics and hardbodies that are particularly suited to working over shallow and snaggy country. Of course there are other reef species to be dealt with

GREEN ZONES Green Zones...........Latitude...................Longitude Eastern.................. 25° 16.1’ S............... 152° 56.4’ E Southern.............. 25° 16.683’ S ....... 152° 55.666’ E Western................. 25° 16.0’ S............... 152° 55.6’ E mottled yellowish brown colour, a pointed snout and bright blue lines radiating from the eye. They are likely to be found in just about every piece of reefy country throughout the bay. This also includes the deeper spots like Boges Hole, Mickys and Moon Ledge, places that tend to fish well before

in later columns, which are particularly suited to artificials. The accepted procedure of cast, drop and lift can be difficult in the snaggy country. Using plastics on extremely light jigheads and working them through the upper waters is the way most of the successful anglers are doing it.

titbits are released into the water when they are being attacked. In their own right they make excellent baits, but once fish have gathered around, it’s time to change to hardiheads or other baits.

The herring is my next pick. Used whole they really do seek out the larger fish. As a cutlet, the retained bone helps to keep the bait in tact but I cannot get too enthusiastic about herring fillets as they are quickly destroyed by small fish. Squid and cuttlefish strips are also excellent grass sweetlip baits. Usually firm enough to withstand the attention of bait pickers, they are also particularly attractive to blackall.

The list of other effective baits is a long one. Just a few are cut baits of mullet, yellowtail pike and small unregulated fish like rainbows (whiptail).

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Grass sweetlip has a mottled yellowish brown colour, a pointed snout and bright blue lines radiating from the eye. They are likely to be found in just about every piece of reefy country throughout the bay.

Prawns, crabs and yabbies work well but are probably best reserved when targeting blackall and crabs for black spot tuskfish.

In Hervey Bay the most productive shallow reefs fringe the foreshores of Gatakers Bay, Point Vernon and Pialba as well as a short distance off Scarness, around the northern and eastern shores of Round Island and Woody Island, and along the eastern edges of the Picnic islands.

Unfortunately, the once popular western shores of Little Woody Island are now out of bounds being part of a green zone. The shallows around the red beacon south of Little Woody Island are also within that green zone.

It is still possible to fish the very northern end of Little Woody as the green zone boundary runs due south from the red beacon at the northern end of the island. I also need to remind fishermen that there is a triangular green zone to the north west of Woody Island. Although this zone covers a wide area of reef, there remains plenty of good country. See insert for boundary marks.

Now for a few ideas towards successful grass sweetlip fishing in Hervey Bay. It is really just a matter of getting together as many positive variables as possible. There is little doubt that the hot feeding periods are early morning, up to about 8am, late afternoon and early evening. Throughout the remaining daylight hours you might score a few good fish but you will also land plenty of small ones.

It seems to me that these small fish actually prefer the bright part of the day.

During the remainder of night hours, coral bream are not always as active as some of the other reef species. So a planning to include dusk or dawn is a good idea.

When considering tides, I like to avoid the very biggest spring tides as well as the very smallest.

Depending on the chosen location, you might have to contend with fast running

water and turbulence on those very big tides. On the other hand the neaps see very little run in the water, not enough to motivate the fish into feeding freely.

The preferred stage of the tide also depends on the location, but for most I like to start fishing at mid-flood, when there is enough run to get the bait working. Having said that, some areas that fish well on the flood, also do so on the ebb. There is no easy prescription here.

This is one of those areas where experience comes to the fore.

Just as important, even more so than factors that have already been mentioned, are the equipment and fishing methods that are used.

Having said something about use of artificials, I will now concentrate on bait fishing. Of course it is important that the angler is comfortable with his choice of rod, reel and line, for this type of fishing. My own shallow reef outfit is a well broken in eight foot Ugli Stik with a 6” Alvey and 10-15kg mono.

Terminal gear doesn’t need to be fancy, just a ball sinker right on the hook. I use a metre of mono trace connected to the main line by a good quality swivel, so as to reduce the line twist associated with the Alvey.

I would also recommend a good length of mono trace if using braid as it is easier to repair such a trace in the case of inevitable snagging. Hook patterns and sizes are very much a matter of preference. I use Mustad 540 or 542 size 2/0. If using particularly large hardiheads or large herrings I will go to 3/0.

Sinker size should be the absolute minimum for the conditions.

One of the most common mistakes is to cast across the run of the tide. The current invariably washes the terminal gear into a snag. Unfortunately this often happens when there are too many anglers in the boat and with the need not to get into other people’s way, casts are

made in all directions.

Overriding this is the importance to cast directly down tide, not just to reduce the opportunity of snagging, but to attract fish into this bait-rich water.

I have already mentioned how I like to use a selfberleying bait like half pilchards, just to let the fish know where the action is. Some fishermen use other methods of berleying and these are fine as long as over-use in fast running water doesn’t take fish right out of the zone. Coral bream rarely exhibit a lot of finesse when it comes to taking a bait. At times they can be a little timid and the angler might have to give the fish a little time particularly when using larger baits like whole herrings.

Apart from grass sweetlip, there are many closely related species of the genus Lethrinus. Two of these should be mentioned here.

The spangled emperor, or yellow sweetlip, L.nebulosis, is a well known and much loved sportfish throughout tropical waters. They bear a superficial resemblance to grass sweetlip but can be set aside by the lines of bright blue spots along its upper body. Spangles are frequently taken in the company of coral bream.

For their size they put up an amazing battle when hooked. For the unwary angler, the problem lies in the much longer legal length.

Another member of the family, the lancer, L.genivittatus, is common in Hervey Bay where it is known as the paddy.

It can be mistaken for a coral bream, but its long filamentous second dorsal fin makes it easy to identify. I mention this fish here as in Hervey Bay, it rarely reaches its minimum legal length.

This column has been devoted mostly to the coral bream. In future months we will check out some of the reef dwellers such as blackall, black-spot tusk fish, Moses perch, stripeys, cod and coral trout.

January to follow fishing pattern BUNDABERG

Jason Medcalf topwater@bigpond.com

The hot wet weather has really set in and the fishing has fired up. December saw some ordinary weather but some great fishing and January will most likely follow suit.

The Burnett River has just kept producing, the lure fishers have been catching salmon, mangrove jack, cod and big grunter and the bait fishers have been getting amongst some

quality grunter and bream. With the influx of travelling anglers over January the earlier you are on the river, the better chance you will have at getting to the fish before the crowds.

The deeper water over January is where it happens and if the river gets a fresh run in it, live baits and bright sinking lures jigged around these deeper holes should produce the goods. If the weather is kind the mouth will produce some great pelagic fishing with plenty of mac tuna, mackerel and the odd queenfish. Trolling around the north wall as the

sun comes is a great way to get into some of the action and my favourite lure is a purple chrome Halco Scorpion running around 1m down. If you see the birds diving it’s time to get the metal slices out and start high speed spinning.

BAFFLE CREEK The Baffle had a good fresh run through it in December, which should fire up the mouth over January.

All the usual species have been on the chew with the flathead, bream and whiting all biting well on fresh prawn and live yabbies.

There have been some decent grunter around, which can be caught on lure or bait.

Lure fishers will find a few mangrove jack, cod and trevally hanging around the rock bars.

You may well encounter a few barramundi but remember you must not take them out of the water just release them at the side of the boat.

There have been some nice grunter and salmon being caught as well, but they have been scattered and only small numbers when you do find them. The upper reaches will be very fresh now for a few months but it will still hold a few fish and will be worth a look if you’re keen.

WOODGATE A wonderful holiday destination Woodgate is also a great spot to have a fish. There are several options if you stay at Woodgate; there is Theodolite Creek, which is a good high tide creek in a boat and an awesome low tide creek in a kayak. You can also drop the boat in at Walkers Point, which gives you access to the Burrum River system and access to heading out into Hervey Bay. Of course there are also miles of beautiful beach to walk and fish, which is just so soothing to the soul.

Enjoy your January holidays and please keep in mind it’s a very hot month so keep plenty of water in the boat.

Callum Hearn-Matthews nailed this monstrous red emperor off Mackay in 50m of water, one of many fish landed for the day on gulp plastics and squid bait.

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55

Schooling fish yet to arrive LAKE MONDURAN

In the absence of Rob Howell, John Fox from Foxies Barra Havoc ( w w w. b a r r a t a c k l e . com.au) has stepped in to fill the gap. Anyone heading north to chase barra should drop in at his shop in Gin Gin for all the best advice on what the barra are doing in Monduran Dam and beyond.

John said that this year’s been a little atypical,

in that the big barra that usually school around the lower basin areas aren’t behaving as usual. At least at the time of writing, that was the case.

“By December, there’s usually plenty of schooled fish milling around the lower parts of the lake and willing to take a trolled lure,” John said, “but this year, although you can see quite a few on the side image sounders, they’re not that inclined to bite.”

Baits that have been

producing the goods when the barra have come out to place include the bananafish coloured Halco Poltergeist trolled around 8m back from the transom.

The positives, though,

gets too hot.

“I always tell my customers that when that surface temperature gets up around 30°C, that’s when it gets uncomfortable. And if

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are that the weed growth is really coming back in the lake and by the end of summer it should really be getting back to healthy levels.

Although the lure of choice for most successful Monduran anglers in the past few months has been any of the medium sized suspending jerkbaits (Rapala, Jackall, Storm etc.), Foxy says that with the recent heat, there’s been a bit of a frog bite going on – especially just each side of dawn and dusk.

Also, with some of the substantial storms around the place, there have been a few of the inflow creeks running, and these have been a prime place to catch a barra or two in the day after the rain.

Like most summertime barra patterns, John says that it’s worth fishing shallow on the weedy points early and late, but to drop back into deeper water as soon as that surface temperature

Everyone remembers the Monduran of old – before the 2011 floods. How long will it take to get back to a big barra Mecca?

Kim Empson travelled to Cape Your without catching a barra. But he landed one in Monduran. it’s uncomfortable for you, then it’ll be uncomfortable for the fish. That’s why they drop back into cooler, deeper water,” John explained.

For January, John recommends the lower lake and Bird Bay. Standard barra tactics apply – fish the warmer bays where the predominant wind has been

blowing into and position yourself on the points and places where barra will travel past they move from ‘holding’ to ‘feeding’ areas. – FMG

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STANAGE BAY

Von Ireland

The road into Stanage Bay is extremely good, however the rain has started, so it’s anyone’s guess as to what it will look like in the next few weeks.

REEF AND THE ESTUARY Most of the fishers coming to the bay are focusing on muddies and black jews, which have been on the chew since the beginning of the month.

This has given the reef a rest and a recharge.

Some colossal sized black jew have also been around There’s still a lot of empty muddies, and it’s best to throw these ones back and wait for some full ones. To find out whether your muddies are empty of full, feel beside the flap under the claws on the carapace (body) of the muddy for hardness. If the shell is firm with no give, then the muddy should be super full.

THE BAIT Please do me a favour and don’t bring your own bait to Stanage. Stanage Bay Marine & Accommodation

buys all type of bait in bulk.

I sell in smaller amounts as well as bulk amounts and can match any advertised or written quote prices you can throw at me. By doing this, you can keep Stanage Bay Marine & Accommodation in business for yourself and others, for now and the future, which is in your hands.

Remember the fishing reports are on www. fishingmonthly.com. For any queries on Stanage Bay’s fishing, visit www. stanagebay.com or phone me on (07) 4937 3145.

Until next time, tight lines!

GYMPIE

RAY SCHOLES MARINE

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BOWEN

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Shaking the Zerek Flat Shad The Zerek Flat Shad is a fairly new addition to the well-received Zerek line of very effective fishing lures.

It’s made from a very easily stretched but ruggedly strong plastic material, comes in several colours and sizes and is designed to be a totally weedless lure for work around hard cover like weed and timber.

The Flat Shad features a body that, although giving the appearance of being quite solid, is actually hollow and has deep slots along it to allow the lure to collapse the instant a fish grabs it so the hook can come into play.

The very sharp worm style hook features a weight on it that acts as a keel to ensure the Flat Shad runs perfectly straight at all times.

With weight slung under the belly, the hook’s point sitting quite flat along the back of the Shad in a weedless manner this lure can be cast in places where not even the renowned Zerek Hot Legs could be assured of being snag free during a retrieve.

The patented Flat Shad comes in three sizes, 5, 7 and 9” and a variety of colours.

For fish like barra, jacks, jew, threadies and flathead, these Shads are going to be very hard to beat.

In my personal trials of the 5 and 7” models I’ve been

so it randomly touched the bottom in around 5m of water.

Note that the Flat Shad can also be set up with a conventional jighead instead

This fat Kinchant Dam barra took a liking to a Zerek Flat Shad when fishing was very tough going. very impressed with their effectiveness on Kinchant Dam’s barra that were being very uncooperative recently on most lures due to changes in weather, plus a lift in the dam level which submerged a lot of the dam’s weed beds.

That said, a very fat fish took a liking to the 5” Flat Shad worked in a very slow roll

of the hook provided for work around faster water, rock bars and the like.

This great plastic is distributed by Wilson’s Tackle. For enquiries regarding your nearest retailer check out their website onwww. wilsontackle.com.au.

- Wayne Kampe JANUARY 2015

59

A new year, a new fish ROCKHAMPTON

Clayton Nicholls clay94_fishing@live.com.au

After an eventful and enjoyable Christmas of stuffing ourselves with seafood, chocolate and other Christmas treats, it’s time to hit the water again and catch the first fish for the year. Why not make use of the after Christmas sales? Grab some new gear and set out to catch a fish you haven’t caught before!

FITZROY AND THE NARROWS Closed season for our dominant sports fish is still in action but there have been reports of plenty of threadies, blue salmon and golden snapper (fingermark) around the river, predominantly towards the mouth with all the islands and narrow branching creek systems.

The salmon have been going well on lightly weighted plastics, particularly prawn-like patterns.

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There have been numerous mangrove jacks caught around the area recently, most of them being taken on soft plastics and the Z-Man DieZel minnow in ayu seems to be the lure doing the job time and time again.

There are plenty of small mullet around the ramps as of late and all around that 10cm mark, making them perfect predator lollies, especially for the big bull sharks in the river of late.

RIVERS, CREEKS AND THE BEACHES In the creeks and beaches it has been reported that large bream and flathead are in the deeper parts, however the flathead are becoming somewhat harder to find.

The bream on the other hand, especially the pikey bream, have been a very common catch for people heading down to places like Wild Cattle and South Trees, along with Moses perch and the odd grunter.

I am predicting that when barra season opens up in February after only a little rain so far the fish will be going off and it will be a cracker season targeting them. The lack of serious downpours and flooding (so far) means the water will be very salty and teeming with baitfish like mullet.

FRESHWATER LAGOONS The combination of summer heat, light rain and storms and abundance of small baitfish has turned the fresh right up. The best areas are around the lilies or tree lines. Small curltail plastics such as the 3” banana prawn Swimming Mullet make any fish in the freshwater lagoons come out and play!

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Andrew Ramm with a nice jack taken from the river. of summer and continuing with the occasional rain, the freshwater areas should be filled full of sportfish to target on grubs, hardbodies and for whoever wants to take up a challenge with the smaller baitfish floating around casting a fly around the lillies.

CRABBING The crabs at this time of the year are extremely active and full to the top of meat and with all the summer sales crab pots are cheap as ever, making it an affordable day on the water for anyone to give it a go! Crabbing can be heaps of fun, especially when you’re trying to grab a big buck to put him in the cooler, just read up on your local rules and regulations or ask when you come in to buy some pots.

Time to make that New Year’s resolution to target a species you haven’t targeted before!

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JANUARY 2015

Small poppers, curl-tail grubs and other smaller lures will get any freshwater species from the lagoons, including tarpon.

Perfect to get out wide YEPPOON

Scott Lynch ifishcq2@bigpond.com

The holiday season has been fantastic for the majority of fish species in the area. Usually estuaries start to slow a little as we get smashed by a few of the hotter windless days.

The end of last year was a bit different to normal as reports of quality fish just keep coming. There are so many techniques that one or another is going to produce at some stage. As I learn more about plastics my fishing style has evolved and I now use parts of the system that were near impossible to work with old bibbed lures or very hard to fish with baits due to structure or current.

Part of the evolution is the use of better quality fish finding equipment that you know are telling the truth, something you were never sure of before the structure scan technology became available. The ability to see fish either side of the boat and the type of structure holding them makes it much easier to find other spots that should work, even if it is at different stages in the tides or moon phases. Time spent watching the fish finder as you poke along in the estuaries or offshore is never wasted.

We have had lots of storms leading into January without huge volumes of rain. This has meant that The Fitzroy hasn’t had a big fresh flow and has left the bay in top shape. The water clarity and salinity levels have been perfect for the schools of bait and the stacks of pelagics following them. The mackerel have been in some quantity every time the conditions are right.

The closer spots are worth a shot on the foggy morning before the northeasters get up. Pillies are always the top bait but lures will out fish them when a solid bite is happening.

In recent weeks there have been quite a few extra large golden snapper (fingermark) taken in local waters. Most of the guys returning with a feed have worked out how to jig plastics around large structures like wrecks in depths of water between 14-22m. A couple of the big fingermark caught have topped 800mm easily.

These are a very slow growing fish that take many years to even get to legal let alone trophy size. It has been proven that almost all fingermark caught and released in water more than 10m will die. The saving grace is that it is very

hard to catch them in any numbers and you won’t find a throwback fingermark in offshore waters in this area.

The go is to catch a couple then move away and target something else.

When you plan on bait fishing, don’t leave home without your berley.

The majority of fish are attracted to berley in one way or another. Some fish

a long trace is optimal and often they will grab baits meant for whiting.

Dart will take small lures and flashas readily if you don’t have bait. You don’t get a lot of meat off a dart, although it is pretty tasty. Dart are a great fish for kids for a couple of reasons. They are easy to catch when they are around and they fight very well

Shaz caught this little black marlin out from Yeppoon.

Graham Edmunds with a shallow water red emperor. such as mackerel, bream etc. get the senses going with the scent of blood or fresh chopped victim, while others are like barramundi are drawn in by the baitfish and activity attracted by the smells and tastes. The prime example of this is the growing use of coloured lights as night fads. Nothing eats the light, but baitfish and squid are attracted strongly to the light and all the things you want to catch come in looking for an easy meal.

There are a few flathead, bream, whiting, salmon and queenies around the local estuaries at present. The majority of the queenfish have been quite small in places like Corio Bay but the fish around the islands and the headlands have been fairly big to around 5-6kg.

One of the locals casting poppers at Corio Heads landed a 1.2m queeny, which weighed 12kg and his trophy fish photo didn’t turn out. He did release the queeny after the brilliant fight because “it was such a good fight [he] wouldn’t mind catching it again”.

Swallowtail dart, another skinny fish have increased in numbers along the beaches over the school holidays. Reports came in from plenty of the beach fishers of midsize dart at most of the frothy gutter edges heading up Farnborough Beach. Dart will take plenty of different baits from prawn to beach worms and yabbies. A lightly weighted rig with

for their size. Due to the locations they are caught, they have little choice but to be clean fighters and you won’t lose any tackle under normal circumstances.

A young local angler, Deakin Smithwick, caught what appears to be a great pompano at Farnborough Beach. His Dad Jason thinking it was a bit different to permit (snub-nosed dart) that he had caught before decided to look it up on the net. He came to the conclusion that the fish was a great or Florida pompano, not a permit. These two fish are very similar and you could be forgiven for getting the ID wrong.

The main difference is the length of the dorsal and anal fins, which are much longer on a permit. The body is also deeper for length ratio on a permit. There are other small differences such as colours near the anal fin but the first identification points are good enough for me. On going through a number of permit photos over the years it seems there could be two different fish both called permit and snubnosed dart. If anyone has a thought on this please send me an email to ifishcq2@ bigpond.com.

This bit of rain has helped the prawn fry develop over the month and some of the local prawn spots are worth taking the cast net down for a throw. Though they haven’t reached any decent size for eating they are bait size for whiting and bream. If

you are targeting something bigger, try threading 3-4 pinned sideways through the body on the second joint from the tail. This gives them the appearance of movement even after they are long dead.

I have mentioned small marlin quite a few times over the last year and they continue to be present. One of the local charter companies has been targeting them for a while now with plenty of success. Although we haven’t seen the big fish at the well-known marlin

hotspots we just might have a developing fishery for the average angler to score a marlin without all the expense of doing a fullblown marlin trip. These small marlin have been taking pilchards and fast trolled skirts.

Reef fish have been in good form in recent weeks with catches in very close.

Several locals have been landing reasonable red emperor in as little as 24m.

The average fisher thinks that reds and nannies hang around the big structures and because of this they often

miss out on the quality fish.

Red fish prefer the rubble and fern patches away from the main structure. Many times over the years we have hooked our biggest reds with very little showing on the sounder. Look for bait schools too, because the big predators won’t be very far away.

Coral trout, red-throat emperor, parrot, hussar, nannies and jobfish are all available at the moment in surprisingly shallow water.

I hope you had a great Christmas and all the best for the New Year.

JANUARY 2015

61

Here’s to another year fishing in Paradise!

MACKAY

Keith Day habdays@bigpond.net.au

January can be a very unpredictable month in our area, as our wet season heavy rains usually don’t hit until late in the month or early February, however, I have no doubt that January will have pouring rain!

Lead times over Christmas being what they are, this report will be a bit of a mixed bag with plenty of ‘ifs or buts’ but that is the problem when so many of our fishing opportunities rely on weather patterns that are notoriously unpredictable.

As of mid December there had not been widespread rain, but a few showers and small storm cells. These did not generate a lot of activity although there has been a small run of prawns. Those prawns sure stirred up the creek scene a bit, but we really need a widespread downpour to get the creeks flushing and promote prawn activity. Once the

prawns are in abundance then the fish will be there, gorging on them.

The very hot and humid weather has got the mangrove jack on the chew and good catches can be expected through January, and the jacks will continue to bite even if there is no prawn run. Some of our creeks seem to hold good numbers of jacks while others have much fewer numbers. North of the city, places like Constant, Victor, Murray and the creeks around St Helens all seem to have reasonable numbers, while to the south Rocky Dam creeks is probably the best pick.

Fishing the incoming tide onto rock bars, prominent snags and freshly downed mangroves with cut baits or livies drifted with the tide will soon have any jack in residence interested.

Plastics rigged weedless can also be drifted with the tide right into the snags where hardbodied lures just don’t cut it, but on the bigger tides some extra weight may be needed to get the plastics down deep

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enough to interest the fish.

Any of the betterknown plastics in either paddle-tail or curly-tail will work but rig them weedless on a decent worm hook or you will lose lots of lures.

Squidgies, Tropic Angler, Reidys, Z-Mans, and Tsunamis all find a place in my plastics collection and any lure with some red seems to appeal. For the prawn style lures, use Prawnstars, Smash Baits, Zereks and similar offerings that can be either cast onto or drifted into the snags.

There should also be reasonable numbers of grunter around during January and if fishing the bigger tides, get right up on the mud or sand banks at the very top of the tide as they will forage up there for yabbies, small crabs and fish. Use yabbies, prawns, strip baits or small livies for the grunter and if fishing the smaller neaps chase them on any gravel bed on the incoming tide.

Grunter will also hunt over the top of rock bars for small crabs near high tide.

But if we have heaps of rain, grunter will be scarce, as they don’t like the really muddy freshwater inflow.

While they have traditionally been considered a bait-only fish, many more grunter are now being caught on lures as anglers start experimenting.

Soft plastics work a treat on them as do the smaller blades and the vibe baits that are catching just about everything these days.

They key as always is to be

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lure fishing where the fish are feeding and the results will come.

Depending on the water clarity, the creeks will also produce a good run of flathead, while whiting and bream will be more of an incidental catch. Pikey

bream will smack baits or lures drifted into snags aiming for jacks, and a decent pikey puts up a good fight and tastes great on the plate too.

The hot and humid weather has got the

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failures – such is the life of a hatchery operator.

Close offshore waters will be again very rain dependant during January and if the calm northerly hot humid weather continues without rain, the pelagics will still be hanging around

Simon Frazer loves catching jacks. A well-presented X-Rap worked right among the timber in the background resulted in a savage hit and a typical brutal ‘locked drag’ tussle, and this time Simon was the winner.

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barra firing in the dams and competition is fierce in the trees between the sooties and barra. The more open and weedy areas of Kinchant Dam continue to give up truly massive barra and it seems bragging rights now belong to the

over 120cm barra class.

What a fishery when a mere 1m fish is considered a bit ‘ho-hum’! Kinchant is attracting more and more southern anglers as the word spreads about the massive barra that call it home.

Look for the barra around the weedy points either directly across from the resort or along the southwestern side and up towards the top of the dam, and on full moon be prepared for a queue up at the boat ramp. Soft plastics are probably the most used lure and black and gold Slick Rigs are a must have.

I like surface fishing at Kinchant either with large Z-Man Popfrogz or the ever-deadly Tango Dancer around the weedy ‘islands’, great fun!

Teemburra is still fishing a little hot and cold but persistence will pay off with plenty of fish now well over a metre long in the dam. Top ups will be made by MAFSA at the dams during the summer depending on fingerling supply which has this summer been not as reliable as in the past few years. MAFSA members can appreciate this though as the success in a hatchery almost always seems to be mirrored by

all the usual haunts. The local tackle shop staff will know what’s on and where so drop in buy some gear (remember you can never have too much) and get the good oil. There is also a chance to spend up on any of those vouchers you may have got from Santa.

If the rain holds off until February, then the close islands will continue to give up good numbers of fish with plenty of blueys on the chew leading up to Christmas. Good numbers of grassy lippers, cod, big Moses perch and stripeys have been coming in around Seaforth as well as the odd trout in close.

The odd golden snapper has also been caught in the rugged rocky areas, but the ratio of hooked to landed fish isn’t great. Dirty water however will see this bite shut down pretty quickly so get out there while the conditions are good.

For January, I suggest all local anglers make a New Year resolution to get out on the water more and enjoy the great lifestyle and fishing that we have here in Paradise. I am resolving to do more beach fishing with a light spin stick and some small vibes and blades for some laid back fun in the sun.

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Mack muscle in on the sailfish The estuaries are a fantastic part of the tropics and have been producing quality numbers of mangrove jack, with some big fish being landed. They are falling to live mullet and prawn, and also on the artificial prawns and plastics. Mangrove jack are awesome fighting fish and are great on the pallet if you intend on keeping one for a feed. With the recent rain the mud crabs have been on the move as well. We should see better numbers this month, and the crabs being more full of meat. When the crabs do run we often see massive numbers with 5-10 crabs per

WHITSUNDAYS

Luke Griffiths

The silly season has been and gone and if you are like me, you would have over-indulged in food and a few bottles of festive cheer. The weather has been kind to us up here over the last month with fair seas and some much needed rain brought on by storms. The New Year should bring some more rain and hot temperatures, perfect for getting out there on the water and enjoying the tropics.

pot a regular occurrence. This does not mean you have to keep every crab you get. Just keep what you need for a feed, and don’t take a stupid amount of crabs that you will just waste. There are plenty of tasty crustaceans for everyone.

The islands have been producing large numbers of tasty nannygai and red emperor, and this should continue into the New Year.

These elusive reds are best fished on the running tide.

Flesh baits are the go rigged paternoster style, however the old frog in the sock (pillie inside a squid tube) will also suffice.

If you are lucky enough to catch a small legal hussar or fusilier, try dropping these down live for an excellent reward. Be ready though to crank overtime to get the fish to the surface, as now the water temperatures are heating up, and so are the shark’s appetite.

Shark activity increases as the water temperature does. So if you find yourself losing fish after fish to sharks,

it is a good idea to move and find a new location.

One fish that is often mistaken for a shark is the cobia, which we have been seeing huge numbers of throughout the islands. Make sure to double check when you are raising a fish from the bottom you may think is a shark! A dead give away that you have a cobia on your line, is when you nearly have the fish to the top, they head to the surface wide of your boat. Cobia make for an excellent table fish, and have a great yield. They can be found around the islands, and shoals wide of the islands, and targeting the bait schools that hang around these areas.

Also amongst these bait schools we have been raising good numbers of sailfish with some nice sized specimens being landed. A diverse spread of lures and baits have been nailing these impressive unicorns (as we like to call them) with our Pakula skirts doing the

Skipper Luke Griffiths with a 15kg Spanish mackerel caught on a swimming gar.

For the Spanish we like to run swimming gar on wire on our riggers and a skip gar run as a shotgun. Although, if you can not run a shotgun rig, running a skip gar on a rigger is another alternative, or even out of your rocket launcher. You will find the toothy speedsters on any pressure face (the place where the tidal current hits an island/rock) of an island or rocky outcrop. The clearer the

We have been receiving reports of these larger Spanish mackerel containing ciguatera poison, so it would be a smart idea to release larger fish and stick with keeping the smaller ones if you intend on eating them.

Hopefully the next few weeks we receive some much needed rainfall, and we see some calm seas so we can all get out there and enjoy what

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Kye with a largemouth nannygai caught on a deep shoal on flesh bait.

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damage. Frustratingly though, when targeting these ‘sailies’ we have been harassed by Spanish mackerel, which have been showing up in numbers snipping off our billfish rigs (good problem to have), which has led us to target them once again. This should still be on offer through January.

water the better. A good idea is to wait until the tide has been making on these pressure faces for an hour or so, as this gives time for the baitfish to build up in these pressure points, therefore more predators will be lurking. A nice slow troll over these bait schools should entice a bite.

this magnificent country has to offer. Good luck and see you out on the water.

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Monsoon madness in Bowen BOWEN

Dan Kaggelis dkaggelis@gmail.com

Knee deep into monsoon season, anglers in January will have to work around the rain and run-off to find success. With January being probably the second wettest month of the year, all Bowen creek systems will be heavily affected by the fresh.

This run-off will have a major effect on water clarity, as the usual clear waters will become a murky brown, which will make the lure fishing more challenging. Depending on the behaviour of the

The increase in fresh water in the estuaries and big summer tides tend to flush the jelly prawns out of the mangroves in big numbers.

The added fresh also sees them shed their exoskeleton and grow quite quickly and all this equals a massive added food source for the fish to feed on.

Bowen anglers need to capitalise on this and the best way to do that is to fish prawn style pattern lures, in particular soft plastics.

It’s important to match the hatch when the prawns are this way and if they are larger than a couple of inches it’s hard to go past presentations such as the Live Target Shrimp to

Next month, big saltwater barra like these ones will be high on the target list. catchments, most systems will also have a decent flow in them as well which, can also create added turbidity and further destabilisation.

While these conditions can be quite challenging, they also open up plenty of opportunities for anglers.

The key to overcoming this instability is to find where the fish are holding and the best way to do this is to locate where the cleaner water is as this will tend to attract the baitfish.

Baitfish like mullet will typically move to more stable areas within systems and in turn attract the larger predatory fish.

When targeting jacks, small eddies and backwaters at the rear of snags out of the current will be the prime spot to target with lures.

Jacks love these areas as they serve as excellent ambush spots to snare baitfish, which are caught in the run-off or tidal flow.

One bait source that is prevalent this time of year is the jelly prawn.

entice those big jacks. If the prawns are still small then using smaller soft plastic prawn imitations are the way to go. One of my favourite all round prawn soft plastics is the Zerek Shrimp. This softy has a wicked action and also allows the angler to fish it quite slowly, which means more time for the fish to see the lure when the water is quite dirty.

To enhance this it is best to fish as lightweight as possible to allow the plastic to sink as slowly as possible. Mangrove jacks in particular love to hammer these lures on the drop and often hit them on the first fall of the cast so be ready with a tight drag and heavy rod work to get them out of the timber.

The creeks will not be the only waterway affected by the run-off. The inshore reefs and shoals often no more than a hundred metres offshore will also see some excellent fishing opportunities caused by

the monsoon. The reason for this is simple, as a lot of bait will typically be pushed out river mouths during large run-off events and big summer tides and much of it will reside up on these inshore reefs and shoals for protection.

Also the water will be much cleaner and less fresh affected out this way so much of this bait will remain where conditions are more stable. It doesn’t take long for predatory fish like bar cheek coral trout and golden snapper to capitalise on this situation and move in onto these reefs where the food is plentiful. The secret to fishing these spots is to get fresh bait, either mullet or herring, butterfly them and them fish them as close to the bigger coral bommies as possible.

If you couldn’t be bothered with bait (like myself) than a big grub or jerk shad soft plastic is just as good. The best structures to fish will be those holding the best bait so take your time to find the more condensed schools and you will get the best results.

Some of the better spots include, Bradys Reef off the mouth of the Gregory River, Southern Cross Reef off the beach at Rose Bay and the Euri Shoals off the mouth of Meatworks Creek. Spews Reef off the mouth of the Elliot River around Camp Island will also be prime for targeting big inshore trout.

It is not a bad idea to use some heavy leader for this type of work as 50cm trout have plenty of ability to put you in the reef. I like to use at least 40lb FC100 Sunline Fluorocarbon as even if they get you in the sharp stuff, the Sunline will still take a bit of a beating before parting.

It’s a good idea to red line your drag for the initial hit as once you have them turned they come up pretty easily. Another fish you will encounter in these areas is the mighty black spot tusk fish. Otherwise known as blueys, these fish love to haunt shallow reefs and island mangroves during the rising king tides.

With a bit of patience you can even sight cast to these fish using crab style soft plastics or crab baits if you are keen enough to collect them. These fish are absolute brutes and need a different style approach to most fish. Blueys are a bit like dogtooth tuna – the more hurt you put on them, the more hurt they give back so once hooked it’s best to go ‘softly softly’ until you have coerced them out to deeper water

and away from structure.

If you lock up and go hard early they will just bury you in the reef. Fish over 4kg have insane power and will pull 12kg of drag with ease.

Further offshore the scenario is also quite similar on the red fish.

While I’m not entirely sure why, but the large and small mouth nannygai and red emperor seem to move a lot closer to shore in the summer months and deep water shoal anglers don’t have to run a long way from Holbourne Island to find the quality fish.

Fishing around the neap tides is best in these deep water spots, however if the weather is good and the tides are crap then concentrate efforts around the top and bottom of the tide when it is the slackest.

Next month will see monsoonal conditions to build with February being the wettest month of the year in Bowen waters.

This above information will only be more useful in these conditions, especially if the catchments are in full flow. The other news is that barra will be on the target list again, which is terrific.

Prawn style soft plastics are a great option, especially during the summer months when the jelly and creek prawns are thick.

Targeting these fish will all depend on the weather and if the monsoon is in

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65

Persistence needed for fishing erratic weather AYR

Steve Farmer

Actually, grunter have fished exceptionally well over the past 12 months with good numbers of larger fish taken in the bays.

Flathead have been one of the more frustrating estuary species lately, fishing well one weekend and seemingly dropping off the face of the earth the next. Their low-tide hideout

the top of the tide (especially a large tide) but I find it difficult to lure one up as the water disappears. Anyway, if you’ve been lucky or smart enough to pick the right weekend you will have enjoyed some great fishing with the fish plentiful and the better lizards measuring around the 65cm mark.

Weed has been a

Hot northwesterly winds had put a bit of a dampener on Burdekin fishing during late November and early December. Few bluewater fishers like this wind and even estuary anglers have found the fishing quiet and the temperatures uncomfortable at best.

However, persistent anglers are still taking home a feed of some of the more desirable estuary species.

Grunter numbers are definitely thinning out but a few quality fish in the 60-70cm range are still being taken in Upstart and Bowling Green bays, as well as the Burdekin River, Groper and Ocean creeks.

However, most grunter caught in the estuaries are much smaller, with many being barely legal size.

In fact, one crew fishing Plantation Creek reported Aimee Farmer with a quality Ocean Creek catching dozens of grunter red terror. Mangrove jack will be very active during a two hour fishing if the creeks stay clean this month. session, but not one was legal. On the positive side, large numbers of juvenile is also a bit of a mystery to problem for anglers fish must be a promising me. I’ve usually got a fair spinning for lizards lately STA13434Dealer1-2_STA11838NewCamp Pageslimy, 1 omen for future years. chance of locating 18/07/12 them on 10:37 with AM a short, green

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66

JANUARY 2015

weed growing in or washing through, prime flathead grounds. Lure trebles end up draped in the stuff and the only solution is to search out clear country.

Mangrove jack are the classic summer catch in North Queensland and most Burdekin estuaries are fishing well for this red terror. Whether you’re luring or bait fishing, the best approach is to target gutters, side creek junctions and prominent snags from the bottom of the tide up.

The most productive time during the rising tide will depend on the creek you are fishing. If the water goes over the bank towards the top of the tide, the fish will leave the main creek and feed amongst the mangrove roots, making them difficult to catch. The best time to fish this type of creek is early in the make.

The opposite extreme is creeks, which have much of their snag cover high and dry for the first half of the making tide. These creeks will often fish better towards the top of the tide as the snags are inundated with water and baitfish seeking shelter from feeding jacks.

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I fished a making tide at Ocean Creek recently and came home with 2 jacks – twins at 44cm. Both came from the same gutter, hitting the 100mm hardbody lure like the proverbial steam train and requiring a judiciously applied thumblock to hold them out of the timber. The second fish did momentarily reach the snags but swam free before it could bust me off. Aimee did a great job on the electric motor, powering us into midstream as soon as the jacks hit. It was interesting that that gutter was the only spot where we found action, despite the creek featuring plenty of ‘fishy looking’ jack country. Anyway, our 2 provided a nice finish to what had been a fruitless flathead mission.

The other highlight on the Burdekin fishing scene has been the run of prawns across most Burdekin estuaries. Cast-netters report most are a little small for eating, but are an ideal size for bait. A little careful sorting should give you enough for a feed and a couple of packets of frozen prawns for your next fishing trip. Remember that there is a take and possession limit

of 10L per angler for prawns.

JANUARY TIPS January fishing is always difficult to predict, thanks to the vagaries of North Queensland weather at this time of the year. If the wet season is late we can expect January fishing to be similar to December, with the most prominent estuary species being mangrove jack, golden snapper (fingermark), grunter, salmon and possibly a few flathead. The cleaner estuaries will also attract trevally and small queenfish.

Of course, if we get a wet season and the river floods then all bets are off.

In a major flood event it could be a matter of heading further afield to places such as Cape Upstart or Bowen to escape the muddy fresh.

Hopefully by January our winds will have a little less westerly in them and we can enjoy a few hours of calm weather in the morning before the sea breeze kicks in after lunch. At this time of the year short trips in the early morning will suit the prevailing winds and allow you to avoid the worst of the summer heat. Fortunately, it’s also the most productive time to fish.

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Jumping at January jacks TOWNSVILLE

Dave Hodge

Some really big grunter have been taken over the last couple of weeks and should be around for a while. With mixed reports on numbers and locations, the deeper drains are the best by all reports on a half out tide.

People with much more experience than me on the

squid and the California squid. Rigging the bigger squid on snelled 6/0s is the best method for securing these bigger fish. Big bait prawns peeled and as lightly weighted as possible, but still staying on the bottom are also worth a go and plenty of other fish get involved with the prawn baits as well.

Mackerel of all descriptions are being taken, the spotties in the

Top: Salmon are a very common by-catch at this time of year. Bottom: Grunter are on the chew and even though they are sometimes hitting lures, a squid bait or a gar fillet is the go. grunter tell me the good old gar fillets are a great bait for the night stuff, and a strip of gar a few inches long rigged on around a 10kg leader and a single 4/0-5/0 Gamakatsu Suicide hook is a fun technique.

Other options include squid baits, in both the bottle

XOS size range are thick and snipping plenty of plastics off when anglers are chasing reef and shoal species such as golden snapper (fingermark).

Spaniards are smashing trolled lures and baits, and the 190 Laser Pro is a standout in the pilchard

colour. Sharks are a massive problem when you hit a school and heavy gear needs to be swung into action to get the macks in before they get eaten.

Reef fish are stacked up thick on any structure available, and some stonker large mouth nannygai are coming over the gunnels for the guys jigging softies.

All manner of hard-hitting big mouthed cod are getting on the mix, and don’t be surprised if your trout or sweetie all of a sudden turns into an unstoppable freight train destined for the bottom. It’s not always sharks that eat your catch, and you can be sure that the encouragement from your mates will be hilarious.

The high numbers of mac tuna around will not only stretch your arms, but also supply about the best bottom baits around, so there’s a bit of a bonus for those who want to get their slugs out. Tiny 15-30g slices like a Halco Twisty or Outcast will get eaten really quickly and it may be worth removing the trebles and putting a solid single swinger on the back to get a better hold. Salting the fillets with rock salt before freezing them will toughen them right up for the next bottom session too.

The flats and muddy holes have been the scene of many a salmon frenzy, and a half pillie, prawn baits or slowly worked paddletail or soft vibe should get the reel screaming. Soft rods are pretty important to use with any leaping fish, but the salmon are particularly prone to either throwing a lure or rubbing through a leader. Speaking personally, they aren’t that good of a table fish and viewed as a spectacular sporting species on our boat. It’s more the worms in the flesh that put me off, and if you do decide to try one, I’d be cooking it thoroughly.

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The jacks are just going off, and small hardbodied divers, poppers, paddletailed plastics, prawn imitations and all other manner of lures are producing jacks in good numbers. Trying to avoid the barra at the moment is the hardest thing. The jacks are averaging 40cm, so while they aren’t big fish they will keep you in your toes on a lighter bait caster or spin outfit. If I had to pick one hardbody and one plastic to use at the moment for jacks, it would be a large Atomic Prong on a weedless hook, or a Halco Hamma in the 85mm size.

Bottom of the tide generally exposes more horizontal timber lying on the bottom, and this is Hamma time, as the lure is slowly twitched and paused as it is worked over the top of the snag.

Rigged weedless, the Prongs can be slid over the structure and allowed to flutter down the side of the snag to the deeper pockets, out of reach of the divers. When it’s windy or the tides are a bit much, and the water becomes muddy, the addition of the Bassman Beetle spin arm is definitely worth having on hand to give a whirl.

Failing that, a live herring or small mullet sat close to the snags is going to get eaten for the bait fishers.

Finding the snags is obviously the most important bit, and deeper submerged snags are for me, almost a guarantee to have good fish holding. I suppose it’s like Holden and Ford when it comes to Sunnies brands, but I have a definite preference for the Tonics in the copper or brown lens for the finding snags. The electric motor is an incredibly important tool for this type of lure fishing, and as the tide nears the bottom, I’ll work my way into the drains until the electric starts to bottom

Another Prong victim, colour doesn’t really seem to make a difference at the moment. out. Paying attention to any big logs, rock bars or structure that may block your path when retreating with the tide is advised.

Getting stuck in a sandfly infested creek isn’t a nice experience, so it’s worth watching out for.

It’s cyclone season, and that makes the weather harder to predict at the moment, but needless to say it will be a daily chore to keep up with if you are trying to plan a few days on the water. Apart from proper cyclones, relatively small scuds that just come out of nowhere are a real

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risk, and if you plan on going offshore but you find yourself cocking your head on the side as you read the weather report and saying things like, “Ahh, we’ll risk it”, please don’t. You can also check the weekly report on the Akwa Marine Facebook page, Akwa Marine Fishing Boating Yachting, as we post things as soon as we hear them, so that will be a more up to date source of info for ‘out of towners’ as we get closer to the holidays.

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67

A whole year to fish hard LUCINDA

Jeff Wilton jeffwilton83@hotmail.com

Happy New Year to all! I’m excited to be at the start of another year with so much fishing ahead of me. I have so many plans that I’m writing them all down and filling pages, otherwise I’d forget!

Every year as the clock counts down people all over the world start making their New Year resolutions and I definitely join in. My resolutions are always fishing based and I normally set out rules and boundaries for the coming year. It may seem strange to put restrictions on where I can fish and what type of fishing I can do, but by the end of the year I have loads more awesome GPS marks and I have improved in certain aspects of my fishing skills.

A quick example for the year that passed was that I banned myself from fishing Bramble reef (the closest), which made me put more effort in working out its neighbour, Britomart reef. I also made a rule that every 3rd trip I had to try somewhere completely new which had me covering ground and fishing different techniques, expanding my

skills in working plastics and jigs. Trust me when I say it takes mass will power to not go to your favourite insane fishfilled marks when you have limited time and just want to bend a rod. But because of this rule, I found great bait grounds which held 9 black marlin and a sailfish for the season. Worth it? You bet! So once again I have set my resolutions for 2015 – Bring it on.

HINCHINBROOK CHANNEL Fishing in the channel can be tough this time of year as it can be hot, humid and if we have had plenty of rain the channel will be dirty. If this is the case it will be worth the extra travel time and fuel to head further up the channel until better water is found.

Golden grunter are a great species to target over summer as they seem to call the channel and creeks home before getting back to travelling up and down the coast. Grunter will hang in creeks throughout the channel and sounding out a good hole, setting the anchor and getting some fresh baits out for the incoming tide should see you with a bent rod or two and some tasty fillets for dinner.

Keep your hook size no bigger than a 3/0 as they have smaller mouths and allow

them to move off with the bait before striking. Baitrunner style reels are worth looking into if you want to make fishing for grunter (and plenty of other species) easier. Baits can be as simple as live herring and prawns to fresh herring, sardines or squid. Keep weight to a minimum but make sure your bait is on the bottom as grunter are mainly bottom feeders.

The trusty red devil, mangrove jack, will be hungry and they don’t mind lots of fresh water. Jacks will eat when something is in there face even if they aren’t hungry; it’s this territorial nature they have that makes them the awesome fish they are. Jacks are on top of plenty of anglers’ hit lists as once they get to a certain size they can be near unstoppable on light to medium gear in the snags. Find good structure with baitfish in the area and fish it with lures or live baits and hang on. A ‘jack attack’ can and will leave you standing there gasping for air and wondering what the hell just happened.

JETTY, ISLANDS AND REEF Watch the weather during summer as nasty storms can brew up very quickly and make things quite uncomfortable and

if you’re unlucky, dangerous.

These storms normally build during the afternoon and into the evening so it is hard to keep an eye on them when darkness approaches.

Just keep it in mind that you may need to get a good anchor in or shelter in the lee of reefs or islands until it passes.

Also double check your bilge pump is working as the wet season down pours can really drop a lot of water quickly.

As a rule, I like to fish deeper in the summer heat for pretty much all species. I’m definitely no trout master but I find that starting in the 28m range and working slowly deeper normally works well in summer. And if it’s a glassy day, I’ll probably look at 35m or more, this goes for reds as well. Reds should be targeted in the late afternoon leading into darkness and if you can time this with a good tide change, then you should be in for a show. As with most species, using good fresh bait will out fish store bought squid and fish anytime.

For the sporting types, cobia will be holding on the wrecks and reef points and berley can bring them right up to the back of the boat where a plastic or unweighted bait can be fed into its mouth.

Jacking in the rain, tropical style!

Watching a big cobia eat your offering and then scream away is plenty of fun, and where you find one you will nearly always find more.

But for me, I have one fish that I want to catch more than anything and that’s a dogtooth tuna. From the research I’ve done, January is the month

to be getting into them and every opportunity I get I’ll be out jigging like mad and trolling like a man possessed until I finally beat one. So far I have witnessed their power a few times and really didn’t give them anything to worry about… but this year things will change!

Thick with threadies HINCHINBROOK

Ryan Moody www.hookedonhinchinbrook.com

Hope you all had a safe and fun break on the water with a few good fish thrown in. It has certainly been a hot one up here, as we seem to be back in the dry and hot pattern of the el-nino system.

This means northern Australia could be in for a late wet around March/ April and most likely won’t be heaps of rain, but enough to inspire a spawn from the barramundi.

During these kind of years, it would be good to see QLD Fisheries delay the closure and opening of the barra season by one month because if my predictions are right, come 1 February there will still be a lot of barra that have not spawned and will be at the mercy of the barra nets as well as shamateur fishos and any other recreational anglers that don’t practice responsible fishing. This could all lead to smaller numbers of larvae, which will delay any recovery in the years to follow. I hope I am wrong and it buckets down before 1 February.

To be honest, I am not too sure of what has been going on in December as 68

JANUARY 2015

I have been on holidays and refitting our boat but after talking to a few mates it sounds like some nice golden snapper (fingermark) and big grunter were caught around the deeper seaward headlands as well as a good run of grey mackerel and northern bluefin tuna.

Both those species are usually found around the inner islands and are often in together. The easy giveaway for them is to look for the big flocks of small terns that feed on the smaller baitfish that the greys and tuna feed on. Simply cast small metal slices into the schools, especially when they break the surface during

more the bread and butter fishos is to tow 3-4”spoons on heavy cord lines, which has been a popular method for decades.

I did hear of an unusual occurrence that happened around early December. A massive school of tripletail, otherwise known as jumping cod, made its way along the foreshore at Cardwell and when it reached the jetty the herring schools just exploded. They kept on moving up the channel eventually disappearing. I have never seen this myself and I presume they might have been spawning and, now that I think about it, I have seen quite a lot of

Lex nailed this massive GT on a sunken wreck. the feeding frenzy. Other methods that work well for the greys and would suit

them individually during November. None the less, it’s great to see.

Steve with one of the many big threadies that have been getting around recently.

Before I went on holidays we had a great run on the big threadfin salmon, the best I have seen for a while and hopefully that may continue into January.

It’s a good chance they will as monsoonal rain is highly unlikely this year and that’s about all that will upset them from their usual traits.

In January, which will be a scorcher, I expect the best fishing for most species to be during the evening hours, particularly out the reef.

Sometimes during hot northerlies or dead still conditions, otherwise known

as the doldrums, daytime fishing can be a waste of time but the evenings can still turn it on and is a great time to run into the big mangrove jacks that inhabit reef waters.

Some can exceed 10kg and are a spectacular looking fish. Jacks should also thrive inshore too and will be one of the best species to target this month along with the threadies, fingers crossed!

We hope to be releasing our threadfin e-course in the next couple of months, so those interested can keep an eye out on our Ryan Moody Fishing Facebook page for details.

If you would like to come up for a charter, unfortunately February to May is fully booked but I still have a few gaps in September and October. Some good days are still available in the winter too, especially for fingermark trips.

• If you would like to book a charter or join our fishing community for some great fishing competitions etc. head on over to www. ryanmoodyfishing.com.

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Work around the weather for better results CAIRNS

Garry Smith garrysmith@fishingmonthly.com.au

While the weather has been brilliant a lot of the time, with the odd exception, the fishing hasn’t been that great.

Overnighting at the reef and chasing pelagics out wide have been the bright spots, while inshore, estuary and day fishing the reef have been hard going most of the time.

Largemouth nannygai and red emperor have been biting well in the deep water

at night for those prepared to stay the distance. There have also been a few quality reef jacks, spangled emperor and trevally to mix up the bag. Trout have been patchy during the day, with the best bet being to chase pelagics during daylight hours. It has been a great black marlin season and the odd fish is still around, with plenty of wahoo, mahimahi, Spanish mackerel and yellowfin tuna to keep the sportsfishos busy.

The estuaries have been scratchy, with the odd mangrove jack, grunter and golden snapper on the

bite. This situation won’t change greatly until there is a big dump of rain.

Another trigger apart from rain will be the arrival of massive schools of sprats, but I’m not holding my breath as it has been very dry in previous months and this could impact on their spawning cycle. If the bait does arrive, so will the trevally and queenfish, and things will liven up in the estuaries as the bait pushes into the streams.

Here’s hoping!

January can be feast or famine when it comes to rain. Fingers crossed it’s a

feast, as the land and sea have been parched in recent times, after months on end of way below average rainfall. The other big advantage of rain though,

heat and humidity of the coast, as well as be in with a chance of tangling with a monster barra.

Fishing the freshwater streams for sooties, jungle

will be the main players on the trophy side, but you can expect an oversupply of small sharks if bait fishing.

Half a pilchard or a strip of squid are as good a bait as

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Col Winter, who has retired to Cairns from western NSW, caught this 84cm barra on a good old Nilsmaster Invincible in Lake Tinaroo. is it reduces the searing daytime temperatures.

The upside is if there are no cyclones whirling around the Coral Sea, then there are extended periods of flat seas, albeit a touch hot in the middle of the day. The best summertime strategy is to fish at night or, at the very least, leave home or come home in the dark.

Avoid being on the water between 8.00am-4.00pm and fishing conditions can be surprisingly pleasant in January.

For those suffering a severe case of barra trauma, Tinaroo Dam offers a welcome reprieve. Large soft plastics have been the lure of choice in recent times, with trolling behind a kayak at night the most productive plan of attack.

The traditional method of trolling hardbodies behind a tinnie still works, but more refined techniques are needed to get any consistency in catches.

Make sure you have a current SIP (Stocked Impoundment Permit) before wetting a line in Tinaroo. They can be obtained online at https:// w w w. s m a r t s e r v i c e . q l d . gov.au/services/permits/ fishing/apply and cost $8 for a week or $40 for a year.

Make sure you tick Tinaroo Falls Dam, Atherton, on the Restocking Preferences, so your licence fees go towards the restocking of Tinaroo.

It is a great place to take the family and escape the

perch and jacks is another option if the skies haven’t opened up yet. Stick to the main streams, as many minor streams are suffering from very low water levels.

The upside is that fish have been concentrated in the larger waterways due to falling water levels. Use small minnows, poppers, soft plastics, prawn imitations and spinner blades at the tops of holes and in any deep sections that contain logs or rocks.

Stealth is crucial, as the water is very clear and fish have amazing eyesight.

Approach any waterway from cover and cast from behind a screen of rocks or bushes. Once spooked, the fish will go to ground in low, clear water conditions.

If there is fresh in the stream and the water is murky/cloudy, there is a lot more scope to move around undetected.

Productive estuary fishing will be restricted to low light periods that coincide with tide changes.

If water temperatures are high, then stick to the deeper sections. Fish are like humans when it comes to feeling the heat. If you are all hot and bothered and pretty lethargic, you can bet the inhabitants below the surface are feeling just the same. Showers, storms and tidal changes can be just the trigger to get things moving again.

Mangrove jack, grunter, golden snapper and trevally

any at this time. Pilchards are especially good if the water is dirty, as they put out a strong scent. The incoming tides will be best, though jacks often bite better on the falling tide.

When the rains arrive, the sharks will be joined by rays and catfish, with vermin city taking an upper hand. Lure fishing will avoid most of these mongrels, but sharks and especially catties are still partial to a lure.

Once the rivers run, mud crabs will be on the move and it always pays to drop a few pots in once the heavy rain arrives. There can be the odd crab taken on the lead up to the full moon, especially out on the flats and in low lying mangrove areas.

Sport fishos can find plenty of action close inshore if the bait schools arrive off the coast; otherwise it will be happening way out wide.

Mahimahi, wahoo, Spanish mackerel, yellowfin tuna and the odd billfish are likely to be working the cobalt blue waters. The birds will be the most important sign; if you can find them working, then the action will follow.

The most important factor for enjoyable fishing in January is to work around the weather conditions.

Avoid the worst of the heat, be on the outlook for storms, and stay tuned to weather forecasts in case of cyclones.

A great year and more to come PORT DOUGLAS

Lynton Heffer

As we look back over the course of 2014, there are a few categories that tell us it was a very productive year.

On the reef the largemouth nannygai had a very steady run across the board, while the Spanish mackerel fishing during the cooler months was definitely the best in many a year.

The small black marlin spell from July to September was very handy, which ran into the best heavy tackle big black marlin season from October to early December since 2005.

Leading into this New Year period, the signs are still healthy that there is some quality fishing to be had until the wet season takes a grip on the tropical north.

The reef has had some patchy days for bottom fishing, but there have been some blowout sessions as well when the fish have fed at fever pitch.

On these days we have seen all the prime species

at full tilt, including red emperor, largemouth nannygai, and coral and bar cheek trout. Specific charters are coming back to the docks with an absolute swag of fish, something you would only expect to see during the cooler months.

The common factors which have contributed to these bursts of activity have included days leading into the full and new moon, wind and current running in the same direction, a change of tide around midday and nice calm conditions.

Keep this checklist in mind and plan your next trip based on these points that have produced the goods in the warmer months to date.

There’s been a few resident Spanish mackerel hunting around in packs, and now we are also starting to see those big loners who patrol the oceans as if they own it. The biggest from the area came aboard Reef Connections, which saw their client and local Port Douglas deckhand Ben Wykstra land a 44.2kg mega mack.

The heavy tackle scene has come to a close, with

black marlin biting until mid December. It was a big season in all regards, with captures of big fish easily exceeding recent years.

Operations are reporting good numbers of blue marlin wide of the continental shelf.

Charters tend to follow the yellowfin tuna congregations, and in tow are the predatory blues. It is hard-core fishing and a lot of travelling is involved, it can be up to 100 miles offshore at times.

Back on the reef edge, we’ve seen quite a few sailfish, there’s been patches of yellowfin tuna, and healthy numbers of mahimahi and wahoo.

January usually dishes up some really nice calm days, so you would expect to see these species remain in the area for a little while to come.

The inshore fishing should also continue to provide solid action, with wrecks holding varieties of trevally and largemouth nannygai.

Localised wonky holes will have the odd big, bruising gold spot cod and largemouth, and the beaches normally have a

few nice queenfish and blue salmon cruising around, along with masses of small black tip reef sharks and shovelnose rays.

The rivers and creeks will be witness to plenty of mangrove jack activity this month, with sufficient run in the tide being a key factor.

A lightly weighted pilchard thrown in under the shade of overhanging mangroves where there is a distinct pressure point will receive plenty of attention.

It can be hot, hard work, but the results can be defining.

The fingermark in the deeper holes will be most active under the cover of darkness, with live squid being the superior bait.

We’ll see mid sized trevally and queenfish make a move on those clean incoming tides, and some of our rainforest rivers will hold the bigger queenfish at the entrances.

January can be one of those hot, still months which still allows for ample fishing opportunities, or the heavens decide to open up and begin the start of the wet season. It can be a bit of a lucky dip, but with a lot of good surprises.

Now that’s a mackerel! Ben Wykstra with the 44.2kg Spanish he caught aboard Reef Connections.

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Find the birds, find the bait, find the fish CAPE YORK

Tim O’Reilly aggott88@gmail.com

What is the best aspect of January up in Cape York?

This is a month where you can be guaranteed a fair share of breathless, glassy conditions offshore.

Periods of calm lasting days on end will be interspersed with rolling thunderstorms and dreary looking skies.

With polarised sunnies it is possible to see flocks of gulls, terms, boobies and frigate birds from a mile away if the conditions are super slick. With intermittent sunlight and the ever-present chance of rain thrown at you, January

Large fingermark can be caught jigging around bait schools at this time of year. conditions are made even better for seeing birds illuminated on the horizon.

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The ever-present giant trevally and queenfish are

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A nice trout jigged up in 40’ of water. first on the list, and anglers might be impressed at how many more they can catch using sub-surface jigging techniques rather than trolling or casting poppers.

We are blessed with a range of trevally species up here in the tropics, and some of those sent to stretch the arms of anglers will be the giant, golden, goldspot, bigeye, bludger, diamond and cale cale. All of them pull hard, and good quality spin tackle with smooth drags is a requirement of remaining attached with gear intact.

A few fish that add a bit of colour to the esky and are quite plentiful around reefs, wrecks and rubbly patches are fingermark, largemouth and smallmouth nannygai.

Coral trout, emperors, snappers and a range of cod species are suckers for a jig or a plastic fished adjacent to baitfish holding around structure.

Up at Cape York we have a couple of bruisers that don’t make it onto the edible species list, but they sure do fight. Red bass and Chinaman fish caught in shallow water with structure nearby are sure to leave any angler a bit trembly and weak in the arms.

Cobia or black kingfish are another species that patrols open water patches and reefs, and occur throughout the water column adjacent to structure. They can be caught near surface and near bottom when jigging, and it always pays to have a second rod rigged up with something that might entice a cobe if they follow hooked fish to the boat or are swimming near the surface.

Drifting through a likely bit of ground anywhere from 15-80’ deep, the array of modern day plastics and jigheads

to get anglers using light line amongst fish holding deep in the water column is a real revolution in fishing. Thinner diameter lines that sink quickly and keep anglers in touch with their presentations for longer is the key. Those meeting with success are precisely aware of what their jig or plastic are doing throughout the retrieve, and are always focused on the rod tip and slack line created after a twitch or bounce. Fish will often hit as the lure is sinking or

fluttering back down after a lift. Having a good idea of sink rate and water depth gives anglers the chance to fish the bottom 1-2m of water where many of the strikes take place.

You don’t need a big boat in January to get wide enough to see birds fluttering over bait schools.

It is happening right along the Cape York coastline, and every day that miracle fishing scenario is taking place, where many predators are gathering at the table to eat together.

Queenfish are quick to smash jigs twitched up quickly from the bottom.

Golden trevally will gobble anything when schooled up, and then the race is on.

Anticipating a good wet KARUMBA

Alan Gurney awes0me@bigpond.net.au

The last half of last year was very windy and made fishing a lot tougher than it needed to be. Some good catches were had for those willing to work hard, but for most it was not what they were expecting. We can only hope for a calmer year this time with a good wet season. Storms are usually a given in January, so always be wary when on the water.

Despite the wind, local guide Groover caught more than 40 barramundi over the magic 1m mark for his clients, and that was an awesome effort.

Out along the fairway markers and on the rubble patches is a good place to start looking for golden snapper. Bait can work, but sometimes lures and soft plastics produce the best results. I took the new Prawnstar Gold in a tiger colour out for a swim recently and had some awesome hookups that TOH147 made my day.

WhileFishing it was remiss of me not taking the camera, I will be going back

The author with a tasty red emperor caught at Sweers Island.

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David with the end result of a double hookup on golden snapper.

so stay tuned and I will show you how good these soft plastics are. It was so good that I left a Prawnstar attached to my rod sit on the bottom while having lunch and it got hammered by a nice black jew, so when your luck is in then anything can happen.

There will be some handsome giant trevally around out the front as well and they will show up any weaknesses in your gear, from knots to reels. I use

an 80lb outfit that has 50lb of drag pressure and can comfortably get them up and released in a short period of time. You don’t need this, but it can take some time to get them in on lighter gear.

Most baits will work, but as usual I like to troll lures to cover ground. Once you have a hookup, then poppers are an awesome way to play. If it’s a big school, then take the hooks off and cast for some entertainment. See how

many different fish will take and release the popper before you get it back to the boat. My best is 10!

There will be mud crabs out the front and they are usually full, so don’t forget to bring the crab pots. Just remember that we have bigger tides now and if you don’t have enough rope out they will wander off. We get high humidity up here too, so always take plenty of water and shade even if it’s just a brolly.

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Beating the holiday blues NSW STH COAST

Steve Starling www.starlofishing.com

Everyone loves the summer holidays, but if you’re a keen angler, this can be a rather trying time of year!

wonderful time of year, and we all look forward with eager enthusiasm to our annual holidays. Somewhere between Christmas Eve and Australia Day, most Aussies will take a chunk of time off work to spend with their families, kick back and —

Taking the time to collect your own bait then using it alive or at least fresh can make a world of difference to your results at this time of year.

Starlo offers some very timely tips to help beat the crowds and catch a few fish.

“Summer time and the livin’ is easy, fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high.” So goes the delightful old Ella Fitzgerald jazz number.

And it’s true. Summer is a

in many instances — wet a line in the hope of catching some of those jumpin’ fish Ella sung so lyrically about!

Unfortunately, the reality of this situation also means that our more popular waterways will be placed under immense people-

pressure as hordes of holidaymakers escape the summer heat for some welcome aquatic relief. Laughing kids, splashing dogs, noisy ski boats and a flotilla of other craft from tiny kayaks to floating gin palaces will all fill our estuaries, bays, lakes and rivers over the coming weeks, transforming even normally placid and largely deserted backwaters into busy, bustling hives of frantic activity. Long queues will form at launching ramps and tempers may fray as those once-a-year boaties struggle with the basics of fitting bungs, undoing tie-downs and coaxing neglected outboards into spluttering, coughing life. It can be a trying time…

Not surprisingly, fish often tend to hunker down or make themselves scarce when this annual migration run of excited humanity hits the coastline and inland waterways. Catching a feed can become nigh on impossible at the height of the summer time insanity…

They don’t call it this the silly season for nothing!

Fortunately, there are some tricks for avoiding the worst excesses of the ‘human hatch’ and still being able to

The summer holiday crowds can make it harder to find and catch fish, especially at popular locations. It’s time to fish smarter, not harder! hook the odd good fish. Here are my five favourites: 1. Avoid the busiest hours of the day. Try to do the bulk of your January fishing very early in the morning

a rest. Instead use the best and freshest bait you can lay your hands on. Typically, this means catching or gathering it yourself. Beach, blood, sand and squirt worms, pink

of hundred metres along the beach or around the headland to get away from the worst of the holiday crowds. People tend to be rather lazy these days, and making a small

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A tub of lively pink nippers, Bass yabbies or ‘one-armed bandits’, ready to be converted into a meal of succulent fresh fish! (also a good way to beat those incessant summer sea breezes), late in the evening, or even at night. Remember, the days are extra long right now, so save the middle parts of them for family activities or watching the cricket, and do your fishing before or after.

2. Consider giving the lures

nippers (Bass yabbies), pipis and cunjevoi (sea squirt) flesh are all good, but my absolute favourite offering at this time of year is a live prawn lightly skewered by the tail on a small, sharp hook… Deadly!

3. Go the extra kilometre.

Travel upstream a few more bends, or walk another couple

extra investment of effort and time can really pay off handsomely.

4. Use even more finesse in your fishing than usual.

More than at any other time of the year, the use of minimal sinker weight (or no sinker at all) and the lightest, finest lines and leaders you can possibly get away with will pay huge dividends in terms of extra bites and more fish hooked… Fish smarter, not harder!

5. Finally, be extra cautious around the water. There are lots of very occasional boaters out there now and accidents will happen. Make sure they don’t impact on you! It should also go without saying that this is the most critical time of year when it comes to avoiding skin damage from our harsh sun. Make sure you slip, slop and slap!

Until next time, I wish you all safe, productive summer fishing and a happy, healthy New Year. Tight Lines!

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Racks and yaks BRISBANE

Justin Willmer

With most of our kayak fishing taking place within an hour or so of home we have always transported our kayaks using soft racks or simply loaded them into the tray of the ute. However, with a couple of long-range adventures on the cards,

kayaks and store them inside the vehicle when we’re out on the water. These ‘J’ Racks also come with a set of straps for securing your kayak; including two for securing the hull of the kayak to the racks, one for each ‘J’ rack, along with a strap for securing the nose and tail of the kayak to the vehicle.

I am a little old fashioned when it comes

Sheri with a chunk of sooty on a Z-Man 2.5” GrubZ and TT Jig Spinner. the time had come to look into a more permanent and sturdy option.

The decision was made to take our little Rav4, rather than the crusty old beach truck, as it gave us the luxury of a comfortable ride, air conditioning and the ability to lock all of our gear inside the vehicle when unattended. The downside of the smaller vehicle is that narrower roof racks wouldn’t allow my sit inside and Sheri, my wife’s sit on top to lay side-by-side.

The solution was laying my kayak flat on the racks, and attaching a set of ‘J’ racks for Sheri’s narrower, more aerodynamic yak to be mounted upright on its side.

There are several quality roof rack brands available and we settled on a set of Whispbars from Prorack, due to their aerodynamic design, that ensures they create less noise and vibration, as well as their reputation and positive reviews. Racks, mounting kit to suit the vehicle, ‘J’ racks and basic tools and I was ready to go. Opening the box I thought ‘what have I got myself into’, but on closer inspection the instructions were pretty good and within an hour, and with minimal cursing, the racks were on.

The Prorack ‘J’ racks are designed so that they can be attached and detached in a few minutes, allowing them to be quickly removed when not in use. The downside is that they can also be easily removed when left unattended on your vehicle.

For this reason we remove them after unloading the 76

JANUARY 2015

to tying down the kayaks, preferring ropes rather than straps. Ropes allow for the security of good knots and a feel for the amount of tension you’re applying.

If your knots aren’t great though, straps are a good option. It’s a good idea to do a test run or two for the new racks, with a couple of short range adventures first.

We travelled plenty of kilometres, checked our load regularly, tightened or retied a few times and returned home without incident. The roof racks and ‘J’ racks made life easy and in hindsight it would have been great to have these fitted years ago. If you’re thinking about adding some roof racks to your vehicle, don’t delay.

THE FISHING Our journey took us in search of a new species, sooty grunter. We did our research and went armed with spinnerbaits, jig spinners, soft plastics and chatter baits. Sooties, as they are affectionately known, are a perfect target

TIPS FOR TRANSPORTING YOUR KAYAKS • If your vehicle is too short to attach a nose and tail rope to the front and rear of the vehicle (like our Rav4), attach a rope from the nose and tail back to the racks to stop the kayak from shifting forward or backward.

• If your kayak protrudes beyond the rear of the vehicle attach a bright coloured cloth, or pick up a kayak flag from your local kayak retailer.

• Take your time tying down the yaks. An extra 15 minutes at the start could save you a lot of time and heartbreak further down the road.

• If it doesn’t look and feel right, retie or add another strap or rope. This will give you peace of mind when travelling.

• Stop early in your trip to check and tighten the ‘J’ racks, as well as any ropes or straps once the kayaks have settled.

• Take advantage of fuel, food and toilet stops to again check the ropes and straps.

The ‘J’ racks allow two yaks to be carried comfortably on a smaller vehicle. for kayak anglers, inhabiting impoundments, creeks and rivers from around the Mary River near Maryborough through to northern Queensland. They love lures, pull hard, photograph well and take some stopping when they decide to head for the snags they call home.

Casting deep into snag piles and positioning the kayak to cast into the ‘V’ created by intersecting laydown timber soon saw us cheering as rods bent and drags screamed. It wasn’t long before I had landed my first sooty, quickly followed

The rig that did most of the damage!

by a few more and I was impressed with their power and the speed of their initial run for structure. Sheri put a perfect cast into a snag pile and within a few turns of the handle was squealing as she was dragged rapidly toward the structure. Some fancy rod work and I slid her first sooty into the net, a solid fish of around 40cm.

We landed a couple dozen sooty grunter for the two sessions, including a few solid 40cm fish, with the standout lure being a 2 1/2” curl tail plastic, rigged on a 1/4oz 1/0 jighead, with a jig spinner attached for added flash and vibration. The most effective retrieve was a cast as close as possible to structure, followed by a medium speed retrieve, with the occasional pause to allow the lure to bump the timber; a knock on wood to let the fish know it was there. We also landed a 65cm saratoga on the same set up, along with a similar sized toga and a few sooties on a 1/4oz chatter bait in

This saratoga couldn’t resist the noise and vibration of a Z-Man ChatterBait.

Sooties are a perfect target for kayak anglers, as they inhabit impoundments, creeks and rivers.

green pumpkin colour.

If you’ve been thinking about a long range adventure or targeting a new species for a while, it’s time to lock it into the calendar, do some research, fit the racks, sort the fishing gear and load the yaks… there’s plenty of roads and even more waterways just waiting to be explored.

See you on the water…

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Profish GT kayak offers more FMG

Greg Livingstone

Viking Kayaks Australia have just released three new models to their fishing kayak range, Viking Profish Reload, Viking Profish 400 and the Profish GT. I was lucky enough to have the Profish GT for a month, which allowed me to

we had a drop-off point and took another vehicle about 3km downstream for the return trip to where we launched, to save paddling against the fast flowing water.

I have a Nissan Patrol that sits 3” higher than standard, so most kayaks and canoes aren’t the easiest things to get on top of its racks. The GT weighs 24kg, which

FLATS Mako recommends a copper base with a blue mirror and high definition filter. Copper have been a favourite of fisherman for many years as it highlights colours well. When visibility is poor due to cloudy, or murky water, overcast skies or flat light these coloured lenses will really come into their own. They will highlight dull colours making fish more visible.

The high definition filter is added to the lens to filter our yellow and orange wavelengths increasing contrast and clarity.

Viking’s Profish GT is a kayak designed for anglers.

SPECIFICATIONS The Profish GT is a single person kayak, 3.6m in length and weighs in at about 24kg. The hull at its widest point is 82cm, which makes it very stable at rest and while paddling around. It has a payload of up to 175kg, so loading it up with camping gear and extra gear for extended adventures is not an issue.

The kayak as tested came with a couple of factory upgrade options such as the Chili Pod™, Anchor system, Depth sounder and Extra rod holders and there are so many other upgrades in store for you to choose from.

Standard features include: • Propelz Speed fibreglass paddle • Deluxe Fisherman Seat • Removable Tackle Pod™ • 1 hatch with bucket • Footrests, 4 rod holders • Side carry handles (moulded in) • Paddle park • Fish stringer park • Inserts for accessories • Large oval hatch fitted on foredeck

really put this fishing kayak through its paces in both salt and freshwater.

My first trip was an afternoon paddle in the freshwater reaches of the Brisbane River. I had a couple of mates join me and

is not much lighter than most kayaks I’ve been in, but having a large handle moulded in the centre of the hull spreads the weight easily and I was able to put the kayak on and off the roof rack by myself.

KAYAK FISHING TOURS Southern Bay • Gold Coast

HALF AND FULL DAY TOURS • Hobie kayak and fishing gear supplied www.kayakfishingtours.com.au Phone for bookings

0439 714 345 78

JANUARY 2015

SETUP The Profish GT is a single blow-moulded kayak designed for fishing. My first impressions were that this was built and designed by a serious kayak angler.

The standard features and ease of use has everything a fisher would need for day on the water.

The GT comes standard with a new concept called the Tackle Pod™. This is a smart little storage compartment designed to protect your gear while giving you easy access. It sits right in front of the seating position and is completely removable. The Pod clips in at the front of a recess in the hull and is then locked in by a pin in the rear of the box. The best part about the Pod is that it has an inbuilt transducer compartment that fills the recess in the kayak’s hull that seals and prevents water from entering the top of the kayak. The transducer sits just up inside of the bottom of the hull so running across rocks and logs won’t see it being ripped off or damaged.

The Pod is a great feature for anglers. I was able to pre pack all my gear the night before and load quickly into the kayak when ready to launch. While on the water I usually have a bag behind me for all my tackle and it works fine, but the Pod sitting directly in front of me adds an extra dimension of ease and

simplicity.

On the top of the Pod sits a Lowrance Elite 3x – having a sounder on a fishing kayak is a must. It gives you an understanding of what depth you are fishing and if there are any concentrated bait that can turn an average day into a trip of a lifetime. There is a small sealed deep cycle battery that straps inside and has a small recessed area that keeps it away and secure; it’s not the biggest or the most expensive sounder but perfect for the job.

In front of the pod sits 2 Rail Blazer rod holders, these are setup perfectly for trolling as they are in direct sight. They are also very handy to use while re-rigging or landing fish.

The GT comes standard with the new Tackle Pod™ – a smart storage compartment designed to protect your gear while giving you easy access and is completely removable.

SEATING Comfort is a major priority for me; I suffer from a sore back so I really appreciate support on the water (I’m getting old…).

The Profish GT comes standard with a deluxe fisher’s seat and after fishing for 5 hours my lower back was fine, although my backside was quite sore

and numb (but recovered quickly). I would probably look at some upgrade to the base of the seat in the form of an inflatable cushion to make longer trips more comfortable.

Foot rests play a big part in comfort levels as they help to keep you sitting up straight and help considerably when

Storage is not a problem on the GT. In the front of the hull there is a large hatch that is perfect for storing larger gear.

The optional insulated Chill Pod™ will keep ice and fish cold for hours. navigating down fast flowing water. The Profish GT has adjustable footrests fitted standard, so whether you are short or tall you will find it comfortable and supportive.

STORAGE When choosing a

kayak, storage options should be taken seriously.

It is essential to be able to store your gear in a dry and safe place. The Profish GT has plenty of large dry storage, which is ideal for extended fishing trip. In the front of the hull there is

Above: The Profish GT comes standard with a deluxe fisher’s seat.

Above Right: Adjustable footrests are fitted standard to give optimum comfort and support.

Right: The transducer sits just up inside of the bottom of the hull for protection.

a large hatch that is perfect for storing larger gear, like tents, tarps, clothes, etc. Moving back from the front sits the Tackle Pod™ and just behind is a small sealed hatch that is ideal for wallet, phone and keys.

The rear of the kayak has another new product known as the Chill Pod™ that fits neatly into the rear of the hull. The top opening vacuum formed lid gives easy access for left or right-handed people. The low profile shape creates little windage and a screw type bung fitted into the base makes draining easy.

The Chill Pod™ will keep ice and fish cold for hours, as it is insulated, meaning your fish will stay in perfect condition even on hot days.

I used this to house my camera box and a couple of frozen bottles of water.

It’s great for fish but again

The Profish GT is a perfect size for fishing rivers, dams and canal systems. a simple handy storage solution within easy reach of the seating position.

At the end of your day’s fishing, simply lift the Chill Pod™ out of your kayak and into your vehicle – very clean and tidy! Both

can’t take my boat a kayak is ideal, and the Profish GT ticks all my boxes in regards to weight length and ease of transportation.

The hull has plenty of bow lift, turned down edges and is quite broad.

Pods make setting up and packing up very simple.

PERFORMANCE The Profish GT is 3.6m long, which is a perfect size for fishing rivers, dams and canal systems, and if you are a keen and strong paddler heading offshore would not be a problem.

My take on kayaks is pretty simple, as I am a boat owner, wherever I

We headed into a strong northerly wind in the canals and I stayed very dry, even when boats thought it was funny to go past me at about 12 knots in a 6 knot zone!

The Profish tracks very true and is a fairly quick kayak. Even in wind, the yak stayed on track, but a couple of the bass did pull me around and had me

Fishing Packages from $699

back peddling out of the tangled trees!

There were a couple of great fishing-friendly features that I really liked.

The paddle straps on the side of the hull is great when landing fish or when launching and retrieving.

On the starboard side of the kayak is an anchoring rope system that is a must when fishing flowing water; this is quite a simple rig, it consists of a stainless steel pulley front and rear and a clip to attach your anchor in the middle. I am 100% sure this will help improve your catch rate as you can spend more time working areas of interest while not having to worry about trying to keep the kayak in position with the paddle.

Having rod holders is a pretty important subject for any kayak angler. I use high-end gear so keeping these out of the water is a no brainer. The Profish that I tested not only had the 2 Rail Blazers on the Pod, it was also fitted with 4 flush mounted rod holders, 2 beside the seat and 2 just behind, again all within easy reach from the seat.

The new Profish GT comes in an array of different colours, to check out these new fishing machines simply visit your local Viking dealer by jumping on their website at www.vikingkayaks.com.au or give Jason and the crew a call on 1800 004 240.

Quality Australian-made kayaks

NEW

season fishing kayaks in store NOW!

vikingkayaks.com.au

• Profish Reload • Profish 400 • Profish GT

Freecall 1800 00 42 40 JANUARY 2015

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What’s New FISHING

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ECOODA MINI CRANK

If you’re a dedicated lure angler, you can’t pass up the Ecooda Mini Crank.

This lure is nailing some of the fattest, thickest, meanest species in the water.

Not only are the colours insane, the zipping and darting action will pull the most elusive fish out of the shadows.

Ecooda Mini Crank has been created in two models. Mini Crank S dives from 1-3ft whilst Mini Crank M dives 3-6ft, each with a length of only 38mm, a weight of 4g and are built tough!

The Ecooda Mini Crank has turned into the favourite go to lure, with sponsored anglers using it as their first option whilst fishing the Hobie Tournaments, you should keep one tucked into your tackle box.

Don’t miss out on the new release of Mini Cranks. From the hot bite with Brown Prawn, Green Prawn, Whitebait and Ghostbait to the most chased after colours, Pearl Shrimp, Olive Shrimp, Pink Shrimp and Red Shiraz.

Price: RRP from $12.99 www.ecooda.com.au

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OCEA FLUORO LEADER

Fluorocarbon leader material like Shimano’s new EX Fluoro Ocea Leader provides a number of advantages to discerning anglers dealing with wary fish under difficult fishing conditions.

It’s thinner than equivalent breaking strain nylon, highly abrasion resistant, doesn’t absorb water so it sinks faster, is clear in colour and, with its refractive index being pretty close to that of water, is therefore less visible to fish.

Ocea Leader structure is quite different too, in that it has a soft fluoro core for knot strength, a hard outer shell for abrasion resistance, and then a fluorine coating over this to provide a smooth surface finish.

It comes in 50m dispenser spools with a line retainer in 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 80 and 100lb breaking strains — perfect for everything from estuary bream up to live baiting for small black marlin and cubing for yellowfin tuna.

Price: N/A www.shimanofish.com.au

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5 IN ONE FOR BBQ FUN

Man-Law’s 5 in One Multi-Functional BBQ Grill Topper allows you to grill, roast or smoke like a pro, all in the convenience of one unit. The 5 in One is perfect for both the BBQ novice and the seasoned veteran and turns any grill into a clean work surface. It’s also very easy to assemble.

Whether it’s the countless cylinders to roast your jalapeños, the grilling rack for homemade kebobs, or the smoking tray to infuse your meat, the 5 in One has it all.

Perfect for cooking any type of meat, the Grill Topper can be used for anything from making beer can chicken to smoking a fillet of the finest Atlantic salmon. And of course, the option to char grill over an open flame is one not to be overlooked.

The 5 in One is made of stainless steel, making the cleaning process a breeze, and when you’re finished it packs away neatly.

Price: RRP: $110 www.manlaw-bbq.com.au

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TURBO LITE 450 CABIN TENT

The Turbo Lite 450 is a spacious 11-person tent with a ‘rapid pitch frame’, which means it can be erected in minutes.

The inside cabin measures 4.5mx3m but can be sectioned off into two smaller rooms thanks to dividers. With the dividers in use and two separate front doors, the Turbo Lite effectively transforms into two tents.

Large gusseted windows help keep the temperature inside the cabin in check, while added roof vents maintain consistent airflow.

For even more space there is the Extenda Awning available as an optional accessory.

This huge front awning has a 4.5m wide front, providing plenty of covered space.

The Extenda Awning can also be enclosed with an optional front panel and versatile Deluxe Side Panels with gusseted windows that can be rolled up in fine weather, guyed out for ventilation in rainy weather or zipped closed. There’s also an additional bug-proof awning screen room.

Price: approx. $1600 ($349 for optional awning) www.blackwolf.com.au

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Black Magic has added two fillet knives to their Wasabi range, and both new models provide an excellent combination of quality and value.

The blades are crafted in premium grade German stainless steel, giving excellent strength and flexibility with an easily sharpened cutting edge. The ergonomically designed handle is non-slip and easy to hold.

Wasabi fillet knives are available in either 15cm or 20cm blades and come complete with a clip-on protective sheath. Keep an eye out for them at your favourite tackle store.

Price: RRP $19.95 www.blackmagictackle.com

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JANUARY 2015

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WASABI FILLET KNIFE

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DAIWA LEGALIS

Proving that gold medal performance doesn’t have to cost the world the Legalis spin reel combines advanced design, with value and reliability to offer anglers a reel that is outstanding in a multitude of ways.

Loaded with many of Daiwa’s latest designs and features including Digigear and Air Rotor the Legalis performs as good as it looks, and its priced as well as performs to be one of the standout reels in the Daiwa range.

Draped in black and gold the Legalis’ impressive design and performance begins with Daiwa’s legendary Digigear gear technology. Its top features also include ABS spool, Air Rotor and Twist Buster II. Blending good looks with class and price, and unleashing latest technology at a truly affordable price the new Legalis is your gold medal to spin reel excellence and unmatched Daiwa performance.

Price: n/a www.daiwafishing.com.au

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FISHING PRODUCT GUIDE

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FISHING PRODUCT GUIDE

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ATOMIC HARDZ SHINER 100

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MAKO G3H9 LENS

The Shiner range of lures in 45, 60, 75 and 85mm lengths has been well received since it launched several months ago with anglers chasing everything from bass through to barra finding a home for them in their tackle boxes.

For anglers looking for a larger profile, we have now introduced a 100mm version in both mid and deep diving depths. The mid will dive to 2m while the deep will dive down to 3m. This tough lure casts well and will be perfect for barra and mulloway. It’s been designed to be used quite simply with a cast and retrieve action.

Both models feature an extremely loud knocking rattle, which will attract fish in the muddiest of water. They are available in the standard Atomic colour palette and the newly introduced Blood Red colour. All Atomic lures have been made specifically to be easy to use so you catch more fish and spend less time working out how to use the lure.

Price: RRP $17.95 www.atomiclures.com.au

The revolutionary Water Wolf HD video camera is now available in Australia at BCF! Unlike many of the underwater HD cameras on the market, the Water Wolf HD has been specifically designed for fishing; allowing anglers to easily capture the moment when a predatory fish attacks a bait or lure.

Designed and engineered in Denmark, the Water Wolf HD is waterproof to 100m and has the capacity to capture 4 hours recording time with the inbuilt, rechargeable li-ion battery. Also featuring an inbuilt microphone, the Water Wolf HD records 720p HD video with its 120 x 90° wide-angle lens captured on a micro SD card (not included).

Each Water Wolf HD camera comes with a protective pouch, EVA float, brass weight kit and USB and a detailed instruction manual.

A mount kit is also available (sold separately) and is perfect for those looking to capture all the action above the water!

Price: RRP $199 (Water Wolf HD Camera), $69.99 (Water Wold HD Mount Kit) www.facebook.com/waterwolfhd

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JIGGING LEADER POWERGAME

Mako has just introduced the new G3H9 copper base, silver mirror decentred crown glass lens.

Available only in the Blade, our highest selling frame, this new lens features a specially formulated copper lens base with a silver flash mirror making it perfectly suited to all outdoor activities such as bushwalking, kayaking and fishing.

Anglers in particular will find the lens combination perfectly suited to sight fishing due to the high contrast capabilities of the copper base formulation.

Copper has traditionally been the benchmark for the majority of sight fishing lenses due to its ability to highlight the differences in colour between objects and their background, making them appear more clearly to the wearer in a wide range of light conditions.

General wearers will also benefit from the unbelievable clarity with the lens able to effectively reduce brightness to a comfortable level without making everything so dark that it’s impossible to pick up any detail, perfect for driving too.

Price: RRP $289.95 www.makoeyewear.com.au

The new Jigging Leader Powergame from Toray is a new age fluorocarbon leader material that possesses a lot of stretch, which gives you excellent impact stretch when jigging.

This ultra hard Jigging Leader material is extremely abrasion resistant and can be fished around heavy structure with confidence. Because it is designed for jigging, it can stand up to even some of the dirtiest fighters of the deep.

The Jigging Leader Powergame is a perfect match for the Jigging PE Braid also from Toray and will provide the invisibility that you need on the end of your jigging rig.

The Jigging Leader Powergame is a perfect all round fluorocarbon leader for a host of different situations you might come across in your day to day fishing.

It is available from all good tackle outlets in 30m lengths and breaking strains of 20, 25, 30, 40, 50 and 60lb.

Price: RRP $29.95 www.fish-tecsolutions.com

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HYBRID SHRIMP

Based on the overwhelming positive response to the Rigged Shrimp released in 2014, the new Hybrid Shrimp is a natural compliment to the Shrimp family.

This bait earned its name by merging a hard-lure with soft-lure attributes built into a single design. The Hybrid Shrimp generates additional swimming action through the soft legs that wiggle and vibrate on the retrieve.

Ideally used with a super slow retrieve and horizontal drop pattern, this bait will become a go-to lure for all in-shore species. A custom belly hook features a unique dual-prong shank that is designed to minimise snags on grass and shellbeds.

Each Shrimp is packaged individually and comes in 2 sizes: 3.5” (90mm, 3/8oz) and the 4” (100mm, 1/2oz). This is an ideal slow sinking lure.

Price: too new www.ejtodd.com.au

Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au

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WATER WOLF HD CAMERA

TT’S ARROW MICRO JIGS

The design of the TT Lures Arrow Jig is based on an arrow squid, complete with a quality silicone skirt for added realism and movement.

Balanced for casting and designed for vertical jigging, the Arrow Jig is a versatile presentation. Its skirt creates a seductive horizontal sink and triggers strikes on the drop, coming to life on a slow lift and adding to the profile size, without the additional weight of a larger jig, when retrieved aggressively or at speed.

The quality components and hand painted finish, realistic 3D eye, silicone skirt and chemically sharpened, heavyduty Mustad hooks stand the Arrow Jig apart from others and it is dynamite on a wide range of inshore and offshore reefies, tuna, trevally, kingfish, snapper, jewfish, fingermark, cobia, amberjack, samsonfish and more. It’s available in 40g and 60g weights in 5 colours.

Price: SRP $15.95 (40g) / $17.95 (60g) www.ttlures.com.au

visit www.tacklejunkie.fish for the latest tackle news - AS IT HAPPENS! JANUARY 2015

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What’s New FISHING

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PRINCETON TEC BYTE LIGHT

Princeton Tec’s high powered headtorch, the Byte, is compact enough to go anywhere at anytime. It’s the musthave product for those summer night fishing sessions.

The Byte can pack a powerful punch thanks to a white Maxbright 70 lumen LED that will light up your path for up to 96 hours.

The softer side of Byte comes in the form of a red Ultrabright LED to ensure your night vision will never be compromised.

This neat little gadget is IPX4 water resistant and will fit into any tackle box. It’s the perfect answer for when you need a bit of extra light on the boat.

This clever range is equipped with a battery lockout, asymmetrical single arm bracket, easily accessible battery door enclosure, and large push button switch, all at a mere 64g.

With 2 AAA alkaline batteries included, the Princeton Tec Byte range is available in black, red or white.

Price: RRP $34.95 www.outdooragencies.com.au

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STORM SO-RUN

The Storm So-Run Heavy Minnow is a weighted casting lure designed to give you the extra distance you require when targeting fish busting bait on the surface or just prospecting by making long casts and covering water.

Featuring a heavy-duty internal wire construction and VMC treble hooks, the Storm So-Run Heavy Minnow is equipped for battle right out of the pack and won’t let you down with poor quality terminal tackle.

The extra weight will allow the angler to cast it out to a school of busting fish, let it sink and flutter through the school or spin it back fast in order to trigger a vicious reaction bite.

Finished in a range of holographic baitfish inspired patterns. The Storm SoRun Heavy Minnow is available now in 9 and 11cm lengths and comes in weights of 28 and 42g respectively.

Price: from RRP $21.95 www.rapala.com.au

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MUSTAD HD MEGA-BAIT

If you fish big soft plastics and need a big weedless hook, then the Mustad HD Mega-Bait Hook in size 12/0 might be just the thing to make those bigger soft plastics weedless.

Made with Mustad’s uncompromising quality, this UltraPoint hook is slimmer and chemically sharpened to provide the best penetration of any worm hook this size on the market.

This hook will find its way into even the boniest of jaws.

Nor-tempered for brute strength, the HD Mega-Bait is a no compromise hook that will allow you to fish to the limits of your tackle and put the breaks on big adversaries without bend-outs.

Coming in packs of three, these extremely sharp, wide-gape worm hooks open the door for anglers wanting to target bigger fish in snaggy environments.

Dont miss out on grabbing a pack for summer.

Price: RRP $14.95 www.wilsonfishing.com

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TONIC YOURANIUM

Tonic Polarised Eyewear, the new leader in high quality fishing sunglasses, is proud to announce the release of the new YouRanium style.

Developed with Brendan Wing of YouFishTV and named by the YouFishTV fan base, the YouRanium features a custom-designed adjustable nose bridge that is fully integrated into the frame. While the frame is a standard fit, the adjustable nose bridge can be used to suit people with broken, low or wide nose bridges.

The curvature at the front of the YouRanium has been designed to follow the brow to reduce light coming in from the top. The arms have been designed with extended temples to follow and snugly fit the wearer’s head. The YouRanium guarantees a comfortable and stylish look.

Tonic’s scratch resistant glass lenses are just 1.8 mm thick, making them 30% lighter than regular glass and feature boutique polarising filter systems and anti-reflective coatings.

Tonic Polarised Eyewear comes in eight wraparound styles and a variety of lens types to suit different situations.

Price: RRP $259 www.toniceyewear.com.au

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Anglers looking for reliability and value have always trusted the Pflueger Echelon. Now available in 4 light/ medium spin combos, the Echelon combines a 6+1 bearings, graphite body reel with multi-disc drag system and graphite rod with split grip cork handle. It’s precise and easy to use in any conditions.

Finished in classic Echelon red, the new Echelon spin combos are ideal for light and light medium fishing, both lure and bait.

There are 4 models in the current range: ECHSP662L - 30 (1.95m/6’6”, 2 piece, 2-4kg, Light, 30 SZ); ECHSP662M - 35 (1.95m/6’6” 2 piece, 3-6kg, Medium, 35 SZ); ECHSP702L - 35 (2.10m/7’0’’ 2 piece, 2-4kg, Light, 35 SZ); ECHSP702M - 40 (2.10m/7’0’’ 2 piece, 3-6kg, Medium, 40 SZ).

Price: RRP $139.95 www.pflueger.com.au

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JANUARY 2015

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ECHELON SPIN COMBO

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DIAMOND FC LEADER

With the all new Samaki Diamond FC you wont have to worry about your leader laying on the surface for every predator to see as it swims by, your leader rubbing past submerged structure and snapping or feeling it stretch under pressure from your catch as it gets longer.

Diamond FC has a high refractive index, meaning it’s practically invisible to predators, whether it’s saltwater or freshwater. The versatility of Diamond FC will amaze you, not only is it perfect for river fishing for trout or dam fishing for bass or barra but it also diversifies to inshore reef fishing for snapper and many other species. With extreme knot strength and excellent abrasion resistance Diamond FC will deliver maximum performance.

Diamond FC ensures maximum performance and is available in 4lb, 6lb, 8lb, 10lb, 14lb, 16lb, 20lb and 30lb with spool sizes of 100m and 70m.

Price: RRP $24.99 www.samaki.com.au

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TESTED: Omoto Severo 5000H – Very dependable If you are a big game fisher who loves heavy drags and going head-to-head with big fish, then don’t stop reading because the Omoto Severo is one fishing reel that will truly appeal to your fishing desires.

This is one serious piece of fishing gear, and when I say serious, I’m talking about 15kg+ of multi-disc carbon fibre drag, which is strong enough to put the hurt on any fish.

Picking up the Omoto Reel for the first time, I instantly realised this was no ordinary spin reel. The sheer weight and build of the reel screamed power and strength and most importantly sustainability. Let’s face it, there are plenty of low to mid priced spin reels out there on the market that can pull similar amounts of drag but when put through constant heavy strain not only do integral components begin to fail but drags begin to get very mushy and sticky.

When fighting big fish, this is the last thing you want as a smooth consistent drag not only lends itself to less bust offs and pulled hooks but also a much more pleasurable fight for the fisher connected to the other end. If you have ever found yourself two days into an extended fishing trip where everything is 20kg+ and pulls like a freight train then you will understand what I am talking about.

It’s under these conditions when reels like the Omoto Severo 5000H show not only their superiority, but sustainability, especially when you are catching big fish after big fish without any relief.

Before I get knee deep into the specifics of the Severo, I’ll first give you an idea of the type of fishing conditions it has been tested under. Firstly, upon arrival some 3 months ago the Severo matched to the Omoto GT jig 550 has been thrown into the deep end both

For Spanish this size, it’s definitely a case of bringing a bazooka to a gunfight. However, you could catch them all day on this reel and it would barely raise a sweat. This reel is built for longevity and dependability. trolling and jigging for thug species such as big GT and Spanish mackerel off my home waters of Bowen.

My first encounter with the reel was a hot jigging session for big Spanish mackerel under the lights of the Abbott Point coal-loading Jetty. Pre setting the drag to 13kg (about my maximum before I get pulled out of the boat), I had intentionally gone for the ‘locked drags, hang on’ approach to really test whether the reel performed just as powerfully as it looked and most importantly, how smooth it was under heavy drag pressures.

The first fish was only a 15kg puppy and barely even tested the reel’s limits, however the next string of fish went 24, 25, 28 and 31kg respectively, which began to see the reel really begin to work with some solid runs and drag burning action. Under this heavy load, I was impressed with the smoothness of the drag, especially the lack of stickiness under heavy strain. There were no signs of mushiness in the drag and the reel felt as smooth as the first drop of the day.

Since this initial trip, the Omoto Severo has landed over 30 Spanish mackerel within a period of two months with no sign of any of the above issues of component failure and the drag integrity is still like new, even though it has been fished to its limits. Let’s face it though, Spanish mackerel are not the most powerful fish out there and if there is a fish out there that’ll put a reel and its drag to its limits, it’s giant trevally.

There is little in the sea that can destroy a reel like a big session on serious giant trevally (GT) and it’s for this reason that it can be an expensive sport.

This would be the true test of the Omoto Severo and to be frank, it has to this day been able to stand up to and withstand the punishment these car door-sized brutes have thrown at it.

Whilst the power of the reel is impressive when battling GTs, it is more about the reels ability to withstand an absolute punishment fish after fish without any sign of loss of drag or component integrity. Where other mid priced reels have failed or fallen, the Severo has remained strong and in my opinion is one of those reels that not only has the ability to stand up to big fish but do it season after season.

To understand the Severo 5000H’s strength and endurance, you only have to look at its construction. The reel is constructed from a whole piece 6061 – T6 marine grade aluminium and also utilises a corrosion resistant coating process.

The Severo also comes standard with an oversized super strong power handle and knob, which is often an additional extra most serious big spinner fishers buy separately. There is little chance of this handle breaking and if you think breaking handles is an unimaginable possibility, then think again! Big fish and big drags can do serious damage at times.

Whilst the outer skin is tough as nails, the inside includes stainless steel gears, stainless steel spool shaft and 14+1 stainless steel bearings. The 5000H also has an impressive high-speed 6.1:1 retrieve and when combined with spool size, this reel can return your jig at serious speeds. Like other more notable higher priced big fish spin reels the Omoto Severo has a floating shaft which translates basically into the fact that when this reel is loaded up to a big fish, there is no friction between the shaft and pinion, which means virtually no wear or resistance. This is the downfall of many a spin reel when fished against big fish with big drags as often the shaft and pinion are connected and when the reel is fully loaded significant wear takes place.

Both the inside and outside are super tough, but it’s the drag construction which is really worth a mention. As mentioned before, the Omoto Severo utilises multidisc carbon fibre drag components, which would be expected from a big fish spinner, however it’s the way this system

Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au

applies an even tension across the spool that makes it so effective.

Whilst often hard to notice on most reels, when you are hooked up to a big fish under heavy drag, it is considerably noticeable and one of the reasons why it is so smooth.

I have to be honest, I was really surprised at the performance of this reel and it is definitely a workhorse that can withstand plenty of punishment and big fish. When first reading about it online it was described as one of those reels you would find on

Top: The Omoto Severo 5000H. Take note of the super tough whole piece CNC machine cut 6061 T6 aluminium body and the insides are even tougher. This reel is a true big fish workhorse. Left: When pushed to its limits on multiple captures big GT like this one, the Severo 5000H has offered a consistent smooth drag and little heat build up even under maximum load. Right: The T bar Portable Fishing Gimble is an awesome addition to the Omoto Combo and allows you to get heaps of leverage on the fish. It also fits snugly on the end of your rod and doesn’t require being belted in. It’s definitely one of my favourite pieces of jigging gear.

One other unique feature worth mentioning is the pre set knob situated above the standard drag setting knob.

This allows you to remove the spool without having to reset you drag, so if you need to do a quick change over of spools because a big GT has just stripped 150 yards off you and buried you in the reef you can do so without having to take the time to reset your drag again to your desired levels.

If I were to point out a negative of this reel, then it would have to be its weight.

The Severo 5000H comes in at around 900g, which makes it a pretty heavy reel and for a small bloke like myself it can be hard to jig with, however I guess to make it so strong something must be compromised.

a charter boat which has been used and abused for years and still operates like the day it came out of the box.

Retailing around $780, it’s not a cheap reel but it’s not a cheaply made reel either, and when you look at its capability compared to others on the market it’s pretty good value for money and also comes with a 5-year Australian warranty through JRoc Tackle.

Whilst I have tested it thoroughly on northern species, it would be perfect for those in the south chasing big kingfish, amberjack and tuna. Put simply, if you are a fisher who demands big drags to land big fish time and time again and want a reel that is straight forward and dependable, then make sure you check it out! – Dan Kaggelis

visit www.tacklejunkie.fish for the latest tackle news - AS IT HAPPENS! JANUARY 2015

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Exceptional fishing with a capital E FMG

Peter Jung pjung@fishingmonthly.com.au

I have been lucky enough to experience some amazing angling destinations in my lifetime: the runoff at Shady Camp in the Northern Territory, Seven Spirit Bay, also in the NT, various locations on the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers, and some sensational places around the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. All have provided me with lasting memories and endless fishing stories for around the campfire. I am now living in Queensland and it has some stunning places to fish, and I was able to visit one of them recently.

South East Queensland is littered with stocked impoundments, which are the basis of the freshwater fishery in this part of the state. In 2011 and 2012, the area was hit by rain events and flooding, causing nearly all of these impoundments to overflow. This sent huge amounts of water and a lot of stocked fish into the systems below. Although many fish didn’t survive, those that did have created some spectacular fishing.

The first systems that come to mind are the Boyne River near Gladstone and the Kolan near Bundaberg for their barramundi, and the Brisbane River near Bris-Vegas for its bass and yellowbelly. These fish have been pillaged and plundered in many ways, but these destinations will still provide the opportunity to catch a fish of a lifetime in an extraordinary location.

I am, however, not writing about any of those fisheries. I was lucky enough

By this I mean that not only is the fishing exceptional, but also how you get there and where you are is equally amazing. SB (just to give it a name) lived up to this.

It took us approximately 45 minutes to wind our

had never really produced a lot of fish. This sounded like a challenge to me, so I tied on my favourite purple Impact Tackle spinnerbait and headed down to the water.

My first impression of the waterway didn’t change.

The author’s first bass for the weekend. It was a sign of the quality fishing that was to follow. way from the highway into where we camped. We drove through some relatively open areas that eventually gave way to a large group of ranges covered in black boys and gumtrees, with a track leading down to the water. You definitely needed a 4WD, and at one stage I was questioning whether any water would be at the end of it all. We haven’t had a great deal of rain in recent times and the countryside was very dry and dusty. As we negotiated the final descent into the valley, we got our first glimpse of the water.

Maybe not an oasis in the true sense of the word, but a surprisingly large pool of water that looked truly fishy.

The anticipation of what was to come was very high.

After picking a suitable spot to camp, we got to work setting up. Now I am the first to admit that camping is not my forte and the boys did a super job of putting together a simple but great

I couldn’t see. It was on my third cast that the bump turned into a solid hookup and a mid-30cm bass did its best to wrap me in the tree and the nearby boulders.

It is always exciting to get a first fish for a trip, even moreso when it is in the first 5 minutes.

After a few pictures it was time to see if there were any more fish around. The next 20 minutes produced 5 bass from in and around the same snag. SB was already looking like it was going to be something special.

It is at this point I would love to take you through a blow-by-blow account of the 70+ fish we caught over the next day and a half. As good as that would be, I thought it best to talk about the lures, techniques, and streamcraft

The deep pools produced some fantastic fish, like this one that smashed an Impact Tackle S-Baitz.

I walked to the head of the pool and found clean, deep water with plenty of structure in the form of large boulders and fallen timber. It was a large piece of timber that I decided my first cast would be around.

The beauty of a spinnerbait is that you can throw them over and around structure, knowing that in most cases it will bounce its way through without hanging up. They are great for exploring new water and they catch fish.

The first couple of casts didn’t produce anything, maybe a bump from what I assumed was a tree branch

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camp. A tarp tied off to one of the vehicles and held up by poles with enough room underneath for 5 swags and a camp kitchen — fantastic! If the truth were told, I was sent to off to fish, as my help was deemed unnecessary…

I set about rigging up and checking out the pool below camp. According to Brett, it

that enabled us to have a weekend of fishing that I will never forget.

LURES AND TECHNIQUES Spinnerbaits I use spinnerbaits as a searching lure. They tend not to snag, cast well and if you buy better quality designs, they spin and flash as soon as they hit the water, making them very attractive to any fish in the area. I prefer smaller profile styles, but don’t be afraid to change it up, as you never know what more flash and a slower retrieve may get you.

GEAR Due to the remoteness of the location you cannot take the entire tackle shop with you. It’s great to have all your favourite things, but not so great when you have to lug it everywhere. A wise man once said to me, “Pack everything you want and divide it by 10.”

The gear I took was as follows: • Small backpack.

• 2 medium tackle trays containing the lures mentioned in the article.

• 1 x 3-5kg baitcast outfit (20lb main line, 10-14lb leader) • 1 x 2-5kg spin outfit (6lb main line, 10lb leader) • Braid scissors • Pliers • Sun protection • Sunglasses • Other essentials are good quality footwear, insect repellent and plenty of water.

All the fish caught were in great condition. to gain private access to another waterway that also had a similar injection of fish into what was already a very special fishery. Thank you to Brett and Nicholas for allowing me to tag along and put these words together.

The key thing about any of these destinations is that they are the full package.

Aiden had a fantastic last morning casting a surface walker around. It was fun to catch them and great to let them go.

It wasn’t hard to find prime surface fishing locations.

Some quality brands are Impact Tackle S-Baitz, Bassman, Tackle Tactics Vortex and Outlaw Spinnerbaits.

As stated, the key to a good spinnerbait is that it must spin as soon as it’s in the water; the first 3 or 4 winds of the reel are vital and if it’s not spinning you are reducing your chances of catching a fish. Cast them over and around structure, vary the retrieve speeds, let them sink into the deeper sections (super slow roll in

deep water) and their flash and vibration will catch fish.

There is nothing better than bumping a spinnerbait over a log and having a fish smash it when it drops over the other side.

Don’t forget to add a stinger hook if needed, as they do make a big difference at times.

Vibration baits Again, these are a searching style lure. Their initial popularity came through the introduction of Jackall lures in Australia.

The TN60 changed the way anglers targeted our native species and they are also great to explore new country or test areas you may have already covered with a spinnerbait or the like.

You do need to retrieve them more quickly, so any fish in the area needs to make a decision — do I eat this or not — so they spark a reaction bite that is generally pretty violent and a great feeling for the angler.

Soft vibes/blades Soft vibes and blades come into their own in the deeper pools. When cast out and allowed to drop down through the water column under minimum line pressure until they hit the bottom, you then slowly hop the lure back to your feet. They can be deadly and are a musthave in your tackle box. The boys took full advantage of this in a number of the pools, with multiple hookups resulting at times.

Hardbody lures Australian-made hardbody lures are a forgotten fishing tool for many anglers. There is an amazing group of very talented lure makers here in Australia, who produce exceptional lures for targeting our native species.

Stephen Booth and Marc Ainsworth gave me a master

of the day provide a prime opportunity to target bass on surface lures. They seem happier to venture further away from their hiding places and have no dramas smashing anything they believe might be food.

The highly visual aspect of this type of fishing is very rewarding, because even the missed bites put a huge smile on your face.

There are a number of different styles of surface lures that are effective in their own right. They are a blooping style or cup-faced

popper, a walk-the-dog style, and a surface walker. The cup faced and walking lures are the easiest to use, while the walk-the-dog action requires a little practice to perfect.

Our first morning at SB was particularly memorable as the surface fishing was best I have ever experienced.

Nicholas and I fished together, both casting my new favourite surface walker, the Shinmushi by DUO lures. In the early morning light we cast over submerged boulders, rock shelves, fallen timber and along weed

We caught plenty of golden perch; this one was kind enough to sit there for a photo.

Golden perch just love a hardbody lure. class earlier this year on the Murray River on how to fish them. It gave me a fantastic insight into how valuable they can be.

Of most importance is to choose a lure that will get to your desired depth, and ensure you retrieve it at a constant speed. You will be surprised at where you can cast them and still have them jump and bump their way out. This is generally when a fish will latch on. They definitely have a place in this gorge country water and I have battle scars on some lures to prove it.

Soft plastics Soft plastics are another great alternative. It is

generally more a finesse style of fishing, which I must say wasn’t required on our trip. I suggest that a weedless rig would be best to avoid unseen snags, and that this may be a good option if you have fished a spot heavily over a couple of days. Use a 1/8oz or lighter jighead to allow for a more natural presentation, and try a curly tail or paddle tail plastic to have the lure working as soon as it hits the water. The fish definitely learn that some thing is going on and this more finesse presentation may well be enough to catch you a few.

Surface lures

The low light periods

SB had plenty of obvious structure and it all held fish. It was just a matter of getting that lure in the right place.

edges. These are prime areas to catch fish on the surface and SB’s bass were happy to oblige and really did explode all over these lures.

The peace and serenity of where we were was definitely broken, not only by the violent attack of the fish on the lures, but by the laughter and screaming of 2 anglers having the time of their lives. The bite dropped off as the shadows of the morning were replaced by the sunshine of another beautiful day, but it had been a memorable start.

STREAMCRAFT One of the keys to fishing any river or creek successfully is to understand where, when and why the fish may be in a particular To page 87

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From page 85

place at a particular time.

Even though we were fishing a waterway that has minimal fishing pressure,

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Nicholas with a nice silver perch. These were the surprise packets for the trip. They hit and fought hard.

you best access to cast to where the fish will be. It is invaluable when fishing a waterway for the first time.

Although it is easy to get excited about fishing somewhere new, it is important to take some time and look at the area you are about to fish. The obvious thing to look for is structure in the water. This may be weed beds, rocks, dropoffs or fallen trees. The less obvious thing is shade. When the sun is high in the sky, fish love the protection a bit of shade offers; add a weed bed or the like and the fish are likely to be there.

You then need to look at where the best vantage points may be to cast to these areas. There are a few things to consider while doing this. Firstly, how you want to present your lure.

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Surface fishing tends to put a smile on your face, especially when a quality fish like this takes a liking to your Shinmushi surface walker.

shade to light, you want that lure coming out the shallows or from the shade, so your vantage point needs to allow you to do this.

Second is to look at where you can access safely and with a minimum of fuss.

The last thing you want to do is hurt yourself or get to a point where you can’t go any further and have to back track. Take a little time to think and look before you fish and the rewards will certainly come your way.

CONCLUSION I have deliberately not provided a lot of detail about where SB is. We had permission from the landowners to gain access and appreciate and thank them for allowing us to do so. Unfortunately, not everybody does the right thing and this means getting access to places like this may be lost forever.

So if you are fortunate enough to find an area like this, leave it cleaner than you found it, abide by any landowner requests, and most of all respectfully enjoy where you are and what your doing.

JANUARY 2015

87

Success with trolling lures TOOWOOMBA

Jason Ehrlich fishability1@bigpond.com

Last year raced past and we are already welcoming 2015.

The summer months and temperatures are well and truly here, which can make for some uncomfortable fishing during the heat of the day. This brings me to fish handling during the hot months. This time of year can produce some exceptional fishing and anglers will catch well over their bag limit and fish need to be released.

you’ll feel the significant temperature change. The cooler water can be around a metre deep in bigger bodies of water. Keeping fish in livewells which are filled with this warm water can be a death sentence, as can be swimming them beside the boat for extended periods prior to release.

Coming from the cool water below and then experiencing the hot water on top can be worse than taking the fish right out of the water to remove the hooks prior to release. A healthy fish will shoot off to the deeper water and be fine. A struggling fish is

Trolling will produce fish around most of the lakes this month. Bass, golden perch, cod and barramundi are all on the hit list.

Freshwater fish usually release quite well after having been out of the water for photographs and measuring. In summer, we get a blanket of hot water sitting on top of the cooler water below. If you jump into a pool, creek or dam,

better off speared down to the cooler temperatures than being dragged around in the hot water.

When dealing with fish in the boat, try to avoid having them contact any hot surfaces. The sun makes dark carpet and the sides of a

SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND CRESSBROOK CLOSEST TOWNS: TOOWOOMBA, CROWS NEST The fishing at Lake Cressbrook has been slow for most anglers. Some days the bass fire up and chew a bit better than others, but most of the time they

are hard to tempt. The most reliable way to catch them has been to troll diving lures.

This approach covers plenty of water, which seems to be the best method at this time of year when the schools break up and spread out. Most of the action will take place in water over 7m deep, and the fish

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boat really hot, as your bare feet would know. Wet the area down to cool it off and protect the slime of the fish if they must be laid down. A wet towel is a good option.

In my old boat we used to carry a lucky stuffed toy to use as a sponge to cool the deck down before bringing big barra and cod on board.

Smaller fish can be easily handled without having to put them down once netted.

The tight mesh style or rubber nets are ideal for protecting the slime on the fish. I love my Berkley net, as it can be whipped through the water more easily than those made out of shade cloth style material. The rubber in the Berkley nets is gentle on the fish and you won’t need to worry about hooks burying into it.

We need to look after our fish and see them swim away with the best chance of survival. It doesn’t look good for us if fish are helplessly dying on the surface. Learn to care for your catch when keeping it, but also exercise care when releasing it.

On the fishing scene, some of the lakes are going off. The golden perch are running hot at the moment and there are great numbers of Murray cod being caught on the dams west of the range. The rivers and creeks are also firing, so we are in for some great summer action.

The weatherman isn’t predicting any big rainfall events, so if this is the case the lakes, rivers and creeks will remain clear, but levels will be falling. Remember this when boating, because

there will be new hazards as the levels drop. It amazes me to see water skiers and jet skis without sounders to give them depth indicators racing over the top of water only 1-2m deep. What’s even worse is they are sometimes doing it in a paddock full of submerged trees or stumps.

Some of the lakes now have restricted speed zones

in the timber because of this behaviour, which I think is a good idea. It’s a shame we need them, as a lot of anglers know how to navigate through the channels in the sticks. I guess going slow is better than having to save someone’s life when they come unstuck.

On a positive note, it’s a new year and the fish are

chewing. Study up on what areas are performing well and you should be able to score plenty of fish over the next couple of months. Bass, barra, golden perch and Murray cod should all be going off somewhere around the state. Stay safe on the road and in the water. Until next month, buckled rods from the Colonel!

can even be caught out in the middle of the dam where they will suspend.

Choosing a lure that dives to the same depth as the suspending fish is the secret. Usually the fish will be holding at 6-10m. Pick the right lure and you’ll be in with a good chance. Lures like the Poltergeist 50mm Crazy Deep work well and are

available at plenty of stores.

Smak Lures are another great option, as they have models to suit different depths. The Blitz Baga and Golden Child are two great performers on Cressbrook. Smak Lures are similar to timber-made lures in that they have no rattles, and I believe it is why they perform so well. Locally made timber lures like Little

Rippas, Kezza Freaks and the Kezza Mud Mouse also work well on the Cressy bass.

You can source these lures from the local tackle stores at Highfields and Toowoomba.

The bass will be scattered all over the dam, but pay particular attention to the water between the boat ramps and the buoy line at the tower.

The opposite banks are also

worth a shot. There will be bass scattered all over the lake and the fish can turn up from one end to the other, so be prepared to cover a bit of water and keep an eye on the sounder to see where most of the life is.

Lure casters will do it tough unless they find a tighter bunch of bass.

DAMS AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC Atkinson 56 55 48 41 36 Awoonga 93 92 91 89 96 Bjelke-Petersen 63 62 58 52 52 Boondooma 72 72 70 67 69 Borumba 98 99 98 94 94 Burdekin Falls 94 91 85 78 72 Callide 60 58 56 54 74 Cania 89 87 85 83 88 Clarendon 65 62 55 46 41 Clarrie Hall n/a 98 n/a n/a 92 Cooby n/a 67 71 63 76 Coolmunda 48 47 44 39 36 Copeton 32 33 30 28 25 Cressbrook n/a 92 90 88 92 Dyer/Bill Gunn 66 63 58 52 47 Eungella 99 99 98 95 90 Fairbairn 48 45 44 37 39 Glenlyon 37 37 34 32 26 Hinze 88 88 87 85 83

JANUARY 2015

13

15

Weipa

17

28

34

18

Toowoomba

BRISBANE 27

21

23 Impoundment Dams 1 Tinaroo Falls Dam 2 Peter Faust Dam 3 Burdekin Falls Dam 4 Eungella Dam 5 Teemburra Dam 6 Kinchant Dam 7 Cania Dam 8 Lake Monduran 9 Isis Balancing Storage 10 Wuruma Dam 11 Lenthalls Dam 12 Boondooma Dam 13 Bjelke-Petersen Dam 14 Lake MacDonald 15 Gordonbrook Dam 16 Borumba Dam 17 Somerset Dam 18 Wivenhoe Dam 19 Pindari Dam 20 Copeton Dam 21 Moogerah Dam 22 Maroon Dam 23 Leslie Dam 24 Connolly Dam 25 Coolmunda Dam 26 Clarrie Hall Dam (NSW) 27 Hinze Dam 28 Lake Cressbrook 29 Callide Dam 30 Lake Awoonga 31 Lake Samsonvale 32 Fairbairn Dam 33 Koombooloomba Dam 34 Cooby Dam

Gold Coast

22

24 25 Cairns 1

26

19 20

33

Townsville 2

3 4

Proserpine 6 Mackay

5

32

Rockhampton

Emerald 29

Gladstone

30

7

8

10

Bundaberg 9 11

Highlighted dams are covered in this issue

DAM LEVEL Report       

Gympie

12

Maryborough

Roma

BRISBANE

To page 89

For fortnightly updates Julius 67 65 61 57 60  Kinchant 99 98 96 86 73 Koombooloomba 73 59 35 25 21  Leslie 36 37 33 31 25  Macdonald 95 97 75 62 61  Maroon 91 92 91 87 90  Monduran/Fred Haigh 84 84 82 80 80  Moogerah 91 87 89 81 80  North Pine/Samsonval 70 69 67 63 62  Peter Faust/Proserpine 93 93 91 87 86 Pindari 16 17 15 13 12  Somerset 97 99 98 97 97  Storm King 59 n/a n/a n/a n/a  Teemburra 101 101 101 96 91  Tinaroo 85 83 77 71 66 Toonumbar 94 n/a 99 92 88  Wivenhoe 86 86 84 81 80  Wuruma 78 78 76 75 81

on Sunwater dams visit www.sunwater.com.au



This symbol

indicates that a

Stocked Impoundment Permit is required to fish these dams.

All figures are % readings Current as of 16/12/14

When the action is hot, golden perch fire right up. Expect double hook-ups when you find the right lures for the job.

From page 88

These fish will chew on reaction style lures though.

Tailspinners, blade baits and Jackall Mask Vibes would be my first pick. If the bass tend to follow the lure to the boat, then try switching to a subtle action lure like a 3” paddle tail soft plastic rigged on a 1/2oz jighead.

The entry fee at the boom gate has been removed, but the 8 knot speed limit still applies. Hours for boating and day use of the recreation

area are 6.00am-8.00pm.

For all your supplies, expert advice and to check on the boating restrictions, call in at Fish ’n’ Bits in Alderley Street, Toowoomba, or give them a ring on (07) 4636 6850. The boys at the store all compete in bass tournaments and really know their stuff.

SOMERSET

CLOSEST TOWNS: ESK, KILCOY The action at Somerset will be slow for some. Lure casting is pretty tough, with

DARLING DOWNS GRANITE BELT REGION COOBY CLOSET TOWNS: HIGHFIELDS, TOOWOOMBA Cooby has finally fired up and the golden perch are coming out to play. Trolling, casting, jigging lures and bait fishing are all taking their share. Plenty of goldens have been caught from the buoyed area and steep rock wall up towards the dam wall over the last month. Darker lures seem to be the go and trolling 3-5m depth lures should produce fish in the mornings and afternoons. During the middle of the day, the fishing tends to slow down somewhat, but you can still score by jigging dark coloured blades or bait fishing with live shrimp or frozen saltwater yabbies.

The action should only get better this month as Cooby golden perch tend to fire up a little later in the year than those in the southern lakes.

Take a mix of bait and lures, look where the other boats and kayaks are, and you will soon see where the action is taking place. There is always the chance of a monster Murray cod too, so be prepared, as most stories of these big brutes hooked in Cooby end in tragedy.

Cooby is an electric motoronly dam and is well suited to kayaks and canoes. The concrete boat ramp is on a shallow angle when the dam is full and can be slippery

in places, but a big electricpowered boat can still be launched with care. Outboard motors can be left on the boat, but must not be used.

Live shrimp and saltwater yabbies can be purchased from Highfields Bait and Tackle on the New England Highway in Highfields. Call in and see Doug and check out the great range of fishing gear, kayaks and accessories he has on display.

LESLIE CLOSEST TOWN: WARWICK Trolling, casting and bait fishing will produce heaps of golden perch and Murray cod this month. Make sure you check the size of your Murray cod quickly and get the fish back in the water in healthy condition if it is undersized.

There have been plenty of smaller models around, so things are certainly shaping up for the future if everyone does the right thing by these little tackers. The Murray cod size limit in Queensland is a minimum of 60cm and maximum of 110cm, with a bag limit of 2.

The goldens have been turning up all over the dam.

Fish are coming from 4-12m of water on various depth lures.

Trolling is very popular and it is best to follow the course of the creek bed drop-offs or target submerged structure in over 4m of water. Strong action lures like the 80mm

the fish spread out more and tricky to get a bite from.

Tighter bunches of bass may respond well to soft plastics and Jackall Mask Vibes. The key to catching bass at this time of year is to keep the boat moving. Fish in front of your direction of travel or slow troll sinking lures using the electric motor. It seems when you sit still you need to wait until the fish move away from your boat and decide to bite.

Trolling lures will be a great option. Deep diving Poltergeist, Kezza Mud Mouse and Oar Gee Pee-Wee are ideal to attract the goldens in the murky water of Leslie Dam. Hopping blades and lipless crankbaits across the rocky bottom areas will certainly provoke a strike from a golden perch. Soft lipless baits have a bigger profile and can entice the crunching bite of a Murray cod from the same area.

Last month there were some bigger cod caught casting spinnerbaits around the rocky structure, so keep this in mind for January as well.

Bait fishos will score on live shrimp and saltwater yabbies fished in 5-8m of water. Try a new spot if you haven’t had any luck after 10 minutes, and just keep moving until you find a sweet spot.

Baits should be fished straight below the boat using a running sinker on top of the hook, or a paternoster rig with the sinker on the bottom and the hook positioned about 40cm above on a dropper loop. Fishing vertically like this will ensure you feel the bites when the fish start tapping away.

For any tips and gear for fishing Leslie Dam or the Warwick area, call in and see the guys at Warwick Outdoor and Sports in Palmerin Street, Warwick. The store stocks a great range of bait and freshwater gear that is well suited to catching our Australian natives.

COOLMUNDA CLOSEST TOWN: INGLEWOOD. Coolmunda went nuts in

lures that reach the depth of fish on the sounder will put quite a few in the boat this month. Quality bass and golden perch will fall for trolled lures. Try the Crazy Deep 50mm Poltergeist, Blitz Baga and Golden Child in black, purple or natural colours. It certainly pays to have a selection of lures and colours and alternate between them, as one will often be a standout performer.

The bass should be holding around the flats south of Kirkleigh down to Bay 13.

Golden perch will be mixed in with the bass on the flats, but thicker up in the timber north of Kirkleigh. Here they will sit on shallower flats, around the trees, and close to the dropoffs of creek and river channels. Choose lures to suit the depth and if you are dragging the bottom too much, shorten up your line. Lures like the Golden Child, Smak 16, Smak 12 and Poltergeist 50mm are ideal in the timber where the productive water is likely to be shallower than in the basin of the lake.

Golden perch will congregate in schools around dropoffs and over submerged structure. If schools are found, they can be caught in bulk numbers by jigging lipless crankbaits or small blades around 1/8-1/4oz. If last year

is anything to go by, there could be insane numbers.

Good numbers of golden perch can be encountered at this time of year. If you manage to catch heaps, take only what you need and get the others back into the cooler, deeper water as fast as possible. Somerset can get some scorching surface temperatures at this time of year, which rolls released fish if they are in poor shape when they go back in.

MOOGERAH CLOSEST TOWNS: BOONAH, ARATULA The bass fishing seems to be a bit tougher at the moment.

This is likely to be due to the fish scattering through the dam. Some reasonable schools should still be found in the timbered areas. Look for the bass across flats and close to dropoffs in the timber.

The majority of fish will hold in 7-10m of water.

Once located, try a mix of offerings to see what the fish prefer. Tailspinners, blades, Mask Vibes, small profiled spinnerbaits and soft plastics can all be tossed at the fish to see which lure style produces the desired reaction.

Trolling will be worth a shot, but I haven’t heard any reports to confirm what depth to be running lures at. I’d suggest starting out with some

lures capable of reaching 7-10m. The timber will hold fish, but could claim a few lures. Take a lure retriever!

MAROON CLOSEST TOWNS: BOONAH, BEAUDESERT Maroon has been fishing quite well, with plenty of bass and golden perch taking lures. The bass have been coming from all over the dam. Early and late in the day are the times to throw surface lures and suspending hardbodies around the shallow weed beds.

As the day heats up, the fish will retreat back into the weed and venture deeper. Try small spinnerbaits, blades, beetle spins and soft plastics fished closely to the tapering weed, concentrating on the weed edges and pockets.

Some quality schooling bass have been caught in the past months. Keep an eye out for these fish around the points and at the start of the timber. If they are found on the sounder, they should be suckers for blade baits and tail spinners.

Golden perch are worth chasing in the timber, around the edges of the lake. With the warmer days, try fishing a bit deeper and slow rolling spinnerbaits and blades through 3-5m of water.

Quality Murray cod will be one of the many fish keen to pounce on lures this month. This Coolmunda fish ate a trolled 80mm Poltergeist. the latter part of last year.

There were a couple of crazy months before a quieter spell in December. The action should fire up once again and this will see plenty of golden perch and the occasional Murray cod boated.

Trolling is the easiest way to take part in this action, with both cod and yellowbelly a chance. Working 4-6m lures close to the creek bed drop-off should see you in with a good show. You can start trolling in front of the boat ramp as soon as you see the first drop-off, which is less than 100m out.

From here, head to the left or right and follow the edge where the water drops away.

There are a few snags on the old creek edge and these

are likely places to find both golden perch and big cod. The goldens can also be caught out in the middle of the creek channel when they are more actively roaming about.

Try trolling lures in a mix of colours, as this can certainly make a difference.

The green Kezza Mud Mouse was slaying the fish last year, and so too was the 80mm Poltergeist in R4 (red stripe).

You can never have enough lures and when the action is slow, keep changing until you find what the fish want.

On a trip last year, we caught fish on every lure we tried up until about 9.30am.

After that, the next 10 bites all came on the same lure, even though we had two others in

the water.

The Coolmunda Caravan Park is only around a kilometre from the lake. The park is just off the Cunningham Highway, but far enough away from the noise of trucks to get a good night’s sleep. It offers camping sites, cabins, caravan facilities, tennis courts, a swimming pool, barbecue shelter and a camp kitchen. The park now has an extra 2 wheelchairfriendly cabins to add to their older ones. Camping is also available near the boat ramp, with toilets and hot showers to make your stay more comfortable. To take advantage of this and the great fishing opportunities in the lake and the river below, give the park a call on (07) 4652 4171.

JANUARY 2015

89

WIDE BAY AND BURNETT REGION BOONDOOMA CLOSEST TOWNS: PROSTON, KINGAROY Trolling hardbodies will be the go over the coming month. Bass and golden perch will be keen to pounce on trolled lures as they are spread out through the middle reaches of the lake. Medium running lures like the Smak 12 will be ideal. The fish are usually higher in the water column, even when they are found out in the middle in deep water. The deeper areas are most likely to hold bass, and golden perch generally come from closer to the banks and points.

Hopping lipless crankbaits and blades on top of The Islands in the second basin may also produce. The bass schools have been holding in this area and it is normally just a case of figuring out how deep to fish for them. At times they will be close to the bottom in 15m of water and on other occasions they can be several metres off the bottom. Higher suspended fish would be worth targeting with tailspinners as well.

In the Stuart timber, there will be a good

chance of some bigger bass on spinner-baits. Provided rain runoff doesn’t dirty the water in the area, the bass will be holding off the edges around the deeper trees. Try fishing in over 4m of water.

Stopping big bass in tight timbered country can be a lot of fun.

Boondooma is a great place to camp right near the water and sit by the fire while enjoying the view. You could also stay in more style and comfort by booking into one of the cabins overlooking the dam.

The kiosk at the main office does hot food and other basic items. For campsites, cabins and bunkhouse rooms call Corey and Niki on (07) 4168 9694.

BJELKE CLOSEST TOWNS: MURGON, GOOMERI Trolling will be the way to get into the golden perch and small bass action. The fish are likely to be holding in shallower water and lures that run to 5m are ideal.

The Smak 16 and Brolga are good choices for this dam when the fish are higher in the water column. Try fishing the steeper banks on the eastern side of the dam below the wineries, the narrow area near Bass Point,

WHITSUNDAY REGION PROSERPINE CLOSEST TOWNS: PROSERPINE, AIRLIE BEACH. There are a few options

if you are considering chasing the big barra in Lake Proserpine this month.

Trolling the basin can be the easiest way to connect

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JANUARY 2015

or any ridges holding fish in the middle of the dam.

Live baits of worms and shrimp, or even frozen saltwater yabbies, can produce a few fish in the same areas. When the fish are so spread out, it’s hard to beat the results from trolling though.

For help catching Bjelke and Boondooma fish, call into your local Bass 2 Barra store. You can see Matthew at Kingaroy or Dylan in Dalby, and the boys will have you all geared up and ready for action in no time. Bass 2 Barra stores stock an awesome range of gear suited to chasing our freshwater fish, and the boys have all the knowledge to

guide you on how to use it.

The Yalakool kiosk is all set up with a great range of tackle if you don’t happen to have the right lure or lose one. Be sure to call in and check it out.

MONDURAN CLOSEST TOWN: GIN GIN The barra action has picked up a little again at Mondy. The fish are now taking plastics as well as hardbodies and there have even been a few caught trolling in the basin.

Plastics like the 4.5” PowerBait Rib Shad, 4.8” Keitech and Z-Man SwimmerZ 4” will all catch fish when rigged on jigheads of up to 3/8oz

for the shallows and 1/2oz for deeper water. These baits can also be rigged weedless on a TT Snake Head, which is ideal around weed or snags.

Hardbodies are still popular and producing fish. Lures around 100mm in length, which are fairly neutral in their buoyancy, are great. There are plenty to pick from including the Jackall Hank Tune Squirrel, Halco Hamma, Yo Zuri Crystal Minnow and Sebile Koolie Minnow.

You can have all the right lures ready for action, but unless you’re in the right spot it just won’t happen.

Barra have been holding in particular areas, so make sure you grab a dam map and check them out. Bird Bay, Insane Bay, Pig Pen Bay and The Rainforest at the first cut-through have all produced over the last month.

The shallows will fish well early and late in the day. Concentrate on any laydowns or developing weed beds. As the day heats up, the barra are likely to retreat to the comfort of deeper water. At this time of day, target them around the spindly trees standing in over 2m of water.

The tackle store in Gin Gin, Foxies, stocks a

to an oversized barramundi.

Hooking fish here, you stand a good chance of landing them in the open water.

Trolling within a couple of kilometres of the buoy line at the wall should see you in the right area. Look for other boats, as the barra trolling can be quite popular at this time of year. If you are joining in, fit in with the pattern the other guys are using, or give them enough room to avoid tangles and arguments. Fish can be caught right through the day, but they do tend to go deeper during the daylight hours and rise to feed in short windows throughout the day. Early morning and dusk are the prime times, and if you are lucky enough to time your trip a few days either side of a full moon, good action can be experienced through the night.

Deep divers are ideal in most circumstances, but as the light fades it can be worth running a shallower offering as well. The 8m Crazy Deep Scorpion, 80mm Poltergeist and similar lures capable of diving deep are good options at most times. At night, some anglers have a lot of success on big shallow runners like the 2m version of the Laser Pro 190.

There are still plenty of barra spread out through the back of the dam in the timber. During the day, try fishing a little deeper around

the trees lining the creek channels. Slow floating hardbodies are ideal here, as they can be worked down into the guts of big trees and allowed to slowly rise before being cranked down again. When it is hot and sunny, it’s likely you’ll find the barra here.

Early in the morning, late in the afternoon and at night, the barra will frequent the points as they move around. Casting soft plastics and hardbodies to the points behind the timber and working them back will see some rod jarring strikes and

singing braid as the fish tear off. Soft plastics like Slick Rigs, Z-Man SwimmerZ and the new PowerBait 4.5” Rib Shad are ideal. If you prefer hardbodies, try shallow divers like a 1m Laser Pro 120, B52 or the Bomber Long A if fishing shallower water. You can also work deeper on the points as well, with lures like the Halco Hamma and Rapala X-Rap. If you have a sideimaging sounder, you should be able to set it to shoot up to 20m out to the sides of the boat to see when the barra are cruising past. If

Keeping golden perch in a livewell may be a bad idea this month, unless you cool the water with a frozen water bottle first. Hot water holds less oxygen and rolls healthy fish quickly.

range of effective barra lures. The store will mail order and you can check it out online at www. barratackle.com.au. Be sure to call in and get directions to some of the best barra fishing in the area, or pick up one of the detailed maps.

Accommodation can be booked through Lake Monduran Kiosk and Tackle Shop. They look after all the cabins, houses, powered and unpowered camp sites, as well as house boats and boat hire. You can also make bookings for Guide Lines fishing charters through the kiosk on (07) 4157 3881. I usually stay at the Gin Gin Hotel, which is about 20 minutes from the boat ramp. The rooms are very affordable and pretty basic, but you can get a great feed and cold beer.

To make a booking call (07) 4157 2106.

Jamie Bein runs Lake Monduran Barra Charters and fishes that dam more than anyone I know. His regular visits ensure he has a good understanding of what’s going on.

Contact Jamie on his mobile (0407) 434 446, or through his website www.lakemonduranbarra charters.com you’re not getting bites and not seeing fish, it’s time to move on after you’ve given the spot a chance.

If you are heading out to the dam, make sure you call in at Proserpine Bait and Tackle. The store is on the highway through Proserpine and stocks all the barra gear you could possibly need. The guys will be able to send you in the right direction and help with nailing the lake’s big fish. Lindsay Dobe the store owner runs charters on the lake, and bookings can be made on (07) 4945 4641.

Casting for bass may be tougher this month, due to the fish being more scattered. Trolling will produce, but there should still be some concentrations of fish around for the lure casters.

Take a closer look at impoundment barra BRISBANE

Wayne Kampe wkff@aapt.net.au

In last month’s issue I discussed the need to use a 10wt fly outfit with both a floating and intermediate sink rate line to maximise chances of catching a big impoundment barramundi on fly tackle.

The two fly line concept sees the floating line and a floating fly such as a Crease Fly, Gartside Gurgler or big Dahlberg Diver – all on 3/0 hooks – through the rod guides when the light is non-existent or well down.

Barra love to feed at night and having them whack at a surface offering is mighty exciting if not somewhat unnerving.

When using the dry fly technique, the idea is to work the fly gently with a couple of tweaks, give it a chance to sit a bit and then give it some more tweaks. Pushing the rod purposely towards the fly as it comes to rest will ease just a small amount of slack into the system, which allows easier hook ups. I like to wiggle my dry flies every 10 seconds or so to attract a fish.

If using the wet fly and

That big horse of a fish fell for one of the author’s rough and ready red and purple wet flies when night fishing. intermediate line, then it’s wise to use a dark coloured fly (dark red and purple is a great colour) so it stands out against any ambient light from the sky. Small tweaks and twitches are the key to success and don’t be surprised if a fish grabs the fly just as it’s about to come out of water right by the side of the boat.

Long casts are not required at night as a boat sitting quite still – with sounder off and no bumping or noise within – is not going to frighten fish. Be ready, that’s my advice.

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PLAYING FISH ON FLY GEAR The clue, whether using a sinking of surface fly, is to carefully select the correct spot to fish well before dark and locate the boat so a hooked fish cannot get into any timber within about 40m from the boat. If hard cover is further away that’s even better, but 40m clearance can usually work so long as the angler is not afraid to test gear to the max to stop a big fish in its tracks. By this I don’t mean high sticking

the rod and hoping things hold together. There are plenty of fly rod catchable fish this can work on, but barra are not among them. I am referring to holding the rod very low and to the side while using it as a lever with the butt section really doing a lot of the work. At the same time, the drag (which should already be quite tight) can be locked further with the hand to keep the fish in check.

POSITIONING THE BOAT Let’s now talk about locating the boat. To me, this means keeping it perfectly positioned via a weed anchor (such as a small brick or other weight) in a place where barra should pass in their evening travels. Weed edges, points, channels; all are perfect especially if, during the last of the light, a fish is already taken or a bit of surface action is apparent nearby.

The anchor rope can have a float on it so it can be jettisoned immediately if a powerful fish is obligingly heading away from cover and needs to be chased somewhat. If the fish is heading into cover, the anchor will hold the boat so it cannot be towed. Most

times, fish are just too big and powerful! Remember that night fishing requires patience; barra have a definite bite period and whether it’s sooner or later in the night only hindsight will reveal the exact time.

Normally, if a few whacks or boofs are being heard action shouldn’t be far away.

LEADER TACTICS A word on leaders. I didn’t expand on leaders last issue but my view is that the chosen leader should be able to turn over a large bulky fly tied on a 4/0 hook with ease.

That leaves us with options of a store bought model, a twisted home-made job constructed from 40lb leader material or (as I use) single sections of Penn 10X or similar material connected to be less than 3m in over all length so joiner knots are away from the tip runner.

I opt for 1m of 60lb, 50cm of 40lb, the same of 30lb and a final 40cm of 40lb fluorocarbon tippet to prevent the fly from being chafed or gill raked off.

Why the 30lb? If a big fish bolts into hard cover, it’s far better to break the leader than the fly line. This system has worked for me plenty of times.

BEWARE THE TIMBERED FLATS How to avoid break offs in the first place comes down to choosing exactly the right place to fish and this does requires some thought. In any barra impoundment, there are plenty of enticing looking flats covered in timber. We know barra live there; they often boof happily when feeding and another angler will happily regale you with the tale of the big one he lost in that tiger country but, trust me on this, where that timber is thick is no place for the fly rod. You will get a hook up, sure, but the connection will be brief.

Once a fish takes the fly line around a tree you can kiss it goodbye. If, however, there is an open bay or point adjoining that timbered flat, I’d make it a first choice place to test the fly rodding skills. Small bays or point between sections of timber, creek edges without timber or even sections of weed beds adjoining open water are all prime fly rod spots.

In all, taking a barra on fly is very achievable in many of our impoundments. They won’t fight any less than their salt water counterparts but isn’t that part of the fun when tackling these iconic sports fish?

Fish Tail stainless steel support for maximum strength.

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Model No ................... 6000C8 Line Cap .............. 500m – 7KG Suits Rods ................ 3.7 – 4m

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LIA S AUSTRA ALVEY REEL GOODNA QLD 4300 5 P.O Box 10 .com.au www.alvey OR VISIT

QF MM ay1

Laser cut Stainless steel Handle plate.

JANUARY 2015

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Cooking

Raw fish the Melanesian way BRISBANE

Lynn Bain

Pronounced kokonda, but spelt as kokoda, without the ‘n’ as Fijians sometimes do this is the Fijian version of the dish ceviche (coconut fish salad).

There are many variations of the ingredients including using peeled prawns instead of fish cubes. Called Ota ‘ika or the variation ‘poisson cru’ in

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Tahiti they’ll use raw tuna as the fish hero of the dish. The Catalan version, Esqueixada, uses black olives. Other regional variations may include the use of a popular local herb, such as basil. The Hawaiian ‘poke’ uses oils and soy sauce. Tonga’s ‘ota ika’, the Cook Islands’ ‘ita mata’ and the Easter Islands’ ceviche de pescado are all local variations.

This dish is also known as numus, especially when prepared with trevally.

Add the ingredients one by one across the top of the marinated fish cubes.

Add chilli and salt to suit your taste.

JANUARY 2015

Central and South Americans also call it ceviche and may even serve it on tostadas in Mexico.

Spanish Mackerel (walu) is the preference species of many Fijians for kokoda.

Plenty of countries use wahoo and mahi mahi as options. The fish is marinated overnight in lemon/lime juice; a minimum marinading time is generally considered to be about three hours. The citrus denatures the fish and turns it white.

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An alternative is to soak the fish overnight in a mix of white vinegar and water; rinse the vinegar off of the fish cubes after the marination is completed. Some people don’t like the effect on the fish of vinegar, if it is too strong it can make the fish rubbery, hence the idea of watering it down. My advice is to stick to the bush lemon or lime option for your first attempt; you can experiment after that.

Pour the coconut cream over all of the ingredients.

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Kokoda ready to serve.

The ingredients: cubed marinated raw fish in the large tray, chopped chili, salt (optional) and diced tomato, white onion (or red or brown onion), green spring onion (shallots) and chopped green capsicum. You can use either green or yellow capsicum as well as or instead of the red capsicum.

And coconut cream squeezed from the brown coconut – it takes a lot of coconuts to make a sufficient quantity of cream (about 10 coconuts)

Mix all the ingredients together.

Tech Tricks

Ensuring a waterproof wiring connection BRISBANE

Gordon Macdonald masterbaitertackle@hotmail.com

While wiring is essential in your boat to transmit power to electronics, navigation lights, bilge pumps and numerous other 12V powered devices, it can also provide a lot of headaches when it fails.

Being out on the water a long way from port and having the sounder shut

down just as you are honing in on your favourite patch of ground for the early morning snapper bite is extremely frustrating. Going out without navigation lights working is not only illegal, but also dangerous. A bilge pump will not work without power, and this could be extremely hazardous if you copped a wave when crossing a bar. While all these can be fixed in the long term, the immediate inconvenience or danger is best avoided.

Wiring is essential to provide power from the 12V battery to many devices on your boat.

There are often numerous connections required to join all this together throughout the length of the boat and the switch panels. When the wiring is initially installed, either by boat shop mechanics or home handymen, it will be completed to a standard to work at the time it is done. However, it can lack

the durability to withstand bouncing and jarring, or the effects of saltwater, therefore connections will often fail down the track, usually at the most inconvenient time.

Either the connection will come loose and break the electrical circuit, or water corrodes the join.

There are pre-made waterproof connectors available at chandlery shops in a couple of sizes and these are great for the task.

At a couple of dollars each

though, it can get a little expensive when doing a larger job like completely rewiring a boat. When fitting out my last boat over a decade ago, I ran out of these connectors and made up my own version to finish a wiring job late one night before a trip.

A few weeks ago I had to replace a smashed navigational light and noticed my handiwork, which was still as good as the day I did it, so I’ve decided

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For this project you require some hot melt glue sticks, aluminium monofilament crimps (probably 1.3mm-1.5mm) and some 5mm heat shrink (black and red if you want to match it to your negative and positive wires). Tools that will make the task easier are a wire stripper, swaging tool, cigarette lighter (or other flame), wire cutters and a paint stripper gun. You can do it without these tools, but they make it a lot easier and quicker.

A wire stripper gun is around $10 from Bunnings and makes removing the plastic coating off an array of wire sizes a lot easier. It you don’t have one, then you could use a boxcutter blade, knife, scissors, or sidecutters to remove the coating.

to share it with you. I have used this system several times over the last decade when fitting new sounders and bilge pumps, and none of these have ever failed due to bad connections. Each connection is waterproof, strong and fairly low profile, ideal for tucking away into tight spaces. Many serious anglers will already have most of the tools and pieces to make these connectors on hand, especially if you are into game fishing.

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Position the wire in the appropriate slot in the wire stripper, with around 5mm protruding past the blades.

Squeeze the handle and it will remove the plastic outer coating.

Do the same with the other section of wiring that you want to join.

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Cut a section of heat shrink around 2cm long and slide this over 1 wire and up out of the way. Your 2 pieces of wire will go inside the oval crimp, 1 from each side.

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Put the wire inside the crimp with 1 on each side as shown. It doesn’t matter if the wires are of different types or sizes — this connection will still work well without the need for soldering.

Place a crimp in the appropriate slot in the swaging tool as shown, so the pressure will be applied from the wide side of the oval crimp and the 2 wires are crushed together. You may need to move the crimp into the next smallest slot and give it another squeeze to make it totally secure.

You could use a good electrical wire crimper or even try crushing the crimp with a pair of pliers if you don’t have a swaging tool.

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Crimp the entire length of the aluminium crimp to provide the best connection between the 2 wires. If your new light, sounder, bilge pump or other device is now hard wired to the battery, you can test your connection before going further, however, I have never had one that wasn’t working once secured with my swaging tool.

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Using a cigarette lighter or other flame, soften the end of the hot melt glue stick. These glue sticks are only a couple of dollars for 10 or more from a craft or hardware shop and you can do a heap of connections with one stick.

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Coat the entire connection with the hot melt glue. If need be, wet your fingers to avoid the molten glue sticking and shape the glue around the connection.

Slide the heat shrink back down the wire so it covers the entire connection. Use the paint stripper gun or a good hair dryer to make the heat shrink contract.

You could also use a naked flame (such as the lighter), but don’t hold the flame directly on the heat shrink. Just pass the heat shrink through the flame quickly so that you get the heat without burning it.

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When completed, the heat shrink will constrict tightly around the wire and crimped connection, and a little glue will have been squeezed out each end to create a totally waterproof wiring connection which will last an extremely long time.

JANUARY 2015

93

The Bimini Twist BRISBANE

Kim Bain

The bimini twist creates a ‘double line’ at the end of the angler’s main line. It is generally accepted that the bimini will provide a knot with 90-95% of the

original line strength of the main line.

One of the most popular applications of double line is to create a stronger knot connection to a leader where you might tie a knot like an Albright. The bimini is good for both braid and mono-type mainlines.

spin down over the original twists

twelve twists

Knees can be inserted for extra torsion

A.

B.

half hitch around one leg

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Double the line over about an arm span in length and do 12 twists.

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Put both feet and both knees inside the double’s loop – and hold the 12 twists above your knees; now move the knees apart and force each leg of the loop apart and hold the tag end angled downwards so that you spin the tag end down spiralling downwards over the first 12 twists as you widen your legs.

half hitch around the other leg half hitch around both legs

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Once you get the tag end spiralled all the way down to the end of the ‘knot’ thus far, place your finger tip(s) on the bottom of the twists to hold\clamp the twists in place. Then ‘throw’ a half hitch around one leg of the double line.

triple inner loop hitch

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Next do a half hitch around the other leg of the double.

snug tight and trim

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Finally do a triple inside loop hitch.

JANUARY 2015

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Pull the knot snug and trim the tag end.

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Now half hitch both legs together.

QR CODE

We know that the bimini twist isn’t the easiest knot to learn from scratch - or maybe even from these wonderful diagrams. It’s actually very easy to tie once you see how it’s done.

So we’ve trolled YouTube for a good video that shows you how to do it and you can watch it by scanning this QR code with your smartphone.

Watch it, try it and integrate the Bimini into your rigging - you will be happy that you did.

If you don’t have a smartphone, just search ‘bimini twist” in YouTube. There’s a heap of videos in there.

Beat the blues: Post Christmas Dudd’s road trip I have a love-hate relationship with a lot of things; boats, fishing, fish, cast nets, yabby pumps, soft plastics, but Christmas would have to be top of the list.

I’m not sure if the hate side of Christmas has come about because of years of not getting the present I was hoping for (see above note on boats), or because of the multiple other impacts Christmas has on my life. I mean, forget getting away for a decent fishing trip anytime between late October and early January. The endless list of functions that I have to go to would make Prince Harry feel like a good lie down. On his own I mean. If that’s possible.

Every man and his dog and his dog’s friends and even some of his dog’s distant cousins on his mother’s side wants to have some sort of knees up (again, come on, no association there with Prince Harry intended) because they once went to school with you for a couple of days back in 1960s, and they feel that this Christmas is just the time to have that long talked about (by them) catch up. Why I don’t just say sorry, can’t make it, I’m going fishing I can’t tell you.

Probably because of the free party pies and sausage rolls and dingo dicks with tomato sauce

that they always seem to have at those parties. Sometimes I can even strike it lucky with something battered and oily at a party. Again, no reference to Harry intended.

And once you get through those before-Christmas days, you have to get through the day itself. Unless I’m organised and have pressies ready to go (these are pretty much secondhand ones that I’ve tried and don’t like, especially jocks) the days just before Christmas are spent in my idea of hell.

That is walking through tens of thousands of sweating, talking, barging, pushing, wandering, rude people trying to get what they want, right now. And that’s just midnight mass. Don’t even start me on shopping.

So the hate part of Christmas is easy to imagine.

On the plus side, each day leading up to and past Chrissie gets us closer to the annual Dudds trip to Somewhere in Central Queensland. Where we go usually depends on how many fish we caught last year, how many crabs we caught, how many props were busted, and of course, whether we’re allowed back into that particular town because Pommers verbally abused the shopkeeper/ publican/real estate agent/

postman/milkman/neighbour/ neighbour’s neighbour/ neighbour’s neighbour’s dog after a few too many cans having been smashed.

And the best part of the trip to somewhere in Central Queensland is the journey

there. Not having a boat for the last few years means I’ve been able to drive up with Doughers and Boobies, while we spend four to six hours taking the personalities, spending and drinking habits of the other non present Dudds to absolute

pieces. It’s generally half a day of rude, crude and uncalled for hilarity as we rip those absent friends to pieces, like only true mates can do. It’s the best part of a great week that I will have to miss this year because I’ll have to tow my

own boat up on my own.

Unless I give it away for Chrissy of course. Wonder whether Doughers wants a little boat this Chrissy. Nice thought. Boobs and I will have another absent Dudd to discuss if that works out…

n o e b o t t Wan f o r e v o C e th ? y l h t n o M Fishing

WIN A POWER-POLE MICRO ANCHOR FROM

24 PAGE Melbourne Boat Show feature

Do you love your monthly issue of Fishing Monthly?

Do you think it’s about time you were on the cover of it?

Well, we think that too and are offering readers the chance to do just that. The March, April and May issues of Queensland, NSW and Victoria/Tasmania FMs will all feature readers’ pics on the front covers.

And there’s no reason why it can’t be you...

Techniques Make mine a mullet Baiting river blackfish • Blue Rock bassin’ • DIY kayak wheels

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See pages 22 · 27

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June, 2014

2014 Melbourne Boat Show • Explore Australia Expo •

NEW COMP! Fishing Monthly G R O U P

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FIND THE SPECIALTYFISHING.COM.AU .COM.AUU LOGO COMPETITION ITION

Entry is simple. Email us your cover-worthy pic. Remember, though, that it needs to be the right composition and resolution to work. After that, it just needs to get through the Grumpy Old Man committee (Steve Morgan) and then BOOM, you’re the latest cover model.

Be creative - we like images that aren’t just ‘person holding fish’.

• • • • • • •

Other parameters of which you need to take note: Portrait format (turn camera on its side).

Leave enough room for a magazine masthead at the top of the image.

Shoot in the highest resolution your camera can take.

Use fill-in flash to help remove any shadows under caps or biminis.

Live fish look way better than dead ones.

Any fish must be legally captured (within season/size limits). iPhone pics aren’t going to cut it!

Head not too high in the shot to allow for Masthead Portrait format showing focus area

And then email your image to: frontcovercomp@fishingmonthly.com.au with a description of the what/when/where/how of the capture.

Be sure to include your details, too, because we’ll post out a mounted copy of the winning covers to the entrant.

THAT will be going straight to the Pool Room, we bet.

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95

Subaru Forester 2.5 Petrol Auto THE FRUIT Among notable features for the 2.5i–L included a leather wrapped wheel, fog lights, 17” alloy wheels, dual zone air conditioning, cruise control and a reversing camera linked to an 11cm wide information screen, which allowed an on-going assessment of fuel use plus stereo system information.

The screen, when compared to some competitors in the Subaru’s price range – $36k+

BRISBANE

Wayne Kampe wkff@aapt.net.au

It’s been a while since I’ve test driven a Forester and I’ll admit to being the poorer for the situation. With the head spinning onset of so many SUVs gracing our roads it’s easy to forget that the all wheel drive Subaru Forester has been there and done it long before many of the current flock arrived from overseas.

True, some of the newer SUVs might have more upmarket infotainment systems, they might sit higher, sport larger screens in the dash but when it comes to road holding capability, levels of build quality, sound insulation and a feeling of balance and laid back ease of driving, the Forester is still very capable of holding its own.

ALL WHEEL DRIVE ALL THE WAY The Japanese-made Subaru Forester has always been an all wheel drive proposition. Some makers these days offer either two or all wheel drive – based primarily on front wheel drive – Subaru have steadfastly remained with their trade mark all wheel drive system in the Forester. This means there is no sensation of torque feedback from the front wheels when the Forester’s 126 KW horizontally opposed fuel injected four cylinder engine is pumping the ponies. Instead there’s merely a feeling of controlled acceleration thanks to the inherent smoothness and lack of vibration from the Subaru’s boxer engine.

The engine is very low in the engine bay when compared to the usual in line 4 or V6 power plants, which contributes greatly to the Forester’s low centre of gravity. Not surprisingly, all Subaru’s are acclaimed for their stability and all round excellent handling; so much so that many awards have come their way in serious competition.

For the average driver these attributes come down to sheer driving pleasure, the little things that make one vehicle so much better to drive than the next. And it’s in ease of driving and the enjoyment of the experience where the Subaru outshines many rivals.

SIX SPEED AUTO The 2014 Forester 2.5i L as reviewed, with its 2.5L petrol engine, featured a seamless six speed CVT unit; with the manual Forester being equipped with a 2.0L engine by way of comparison. The auto was very slick although steering column paddles are there for the driver who likes to select ratios; my feeling is that most drivers won’t bother.

A quick word on 96

JANUARY 2015

Above: With rear seats down the Forester will carry plenty of luggage or camping gear. Right: Even quite large items can be secured within the Forester’s door pockets.

Below left: Subtle tonings, neat finish, and everything easy to find are hallmarks of the Forester’s dash layout. Below right: The Forester’s dash screen – smaller than some, but does the job.

Constantly Variable Transmission (CCVT) units. Many modern SUV’s are equipped with these seamless auto units. Some cars, unfortunately seem to suffer from a little miss match between CVT gearing and engine with the result that the engine has to work mighty hard, and with some excessive noise, to keep things up and running.

This situation has seen the somewhat cheeky term ‘Buzz Box’ being coined and cheerfully applied to some cars – not the Forester.

With a useful 235Nm of torque on tap both the wagon’s CVT unit and engine are always doing it easy. When the Forester’s tacho needle moves up the dial it does so somewhat sedately without engine revs drowning out all else – Subaru have effectively taken the buzz out of the box! In fact the lack of under bonnet and road noise intrusion is an impressive feature of the Forester.

The Forester’s 2.5L petrol engine is quite understressed too, with 100km/h highway cruising seeing only 1700rpm on the tachometer. A supple suspension consisting

of McPherson struts up front, a double wishbone independent set up at the rear, was easily capable of ironing out prominent speed bumps in car parks plus ripples and bumps on the open road encountered at speed.

Off road work is optimised by the Forester’s X Mode controlled speed program, which uses the ABS system to maintain a selected speed (up to 40km/h) when going down steep inclines or in really rough going.

– was somewhat small.

Electric windows, height and reach adjustment for the steering wheel, iPod streaming plus a voice active Bluetooth connectivity system were also standard fare, as were stereo audio controls for the excellent 6 speaker sound system.

I found the Subaru’s interior to be well finished albeit somewhat subdued.

However, night driving aesthetics – with emphasis on illumination of major dials and gauges in a subtle rather

At the Logan River boat ramp the launch was easy, the Forester’s all wheel drive a boon when the boat was later retrieved at low tide. than eye catching manner – were very good. Headlights were also bright and well focussed. The 2.5i-L’s fabric seats were comfortable, quite roomy and that ample head and leg room are certainly a bonus. The reclining rear seat, in particular, was very well cushioned and a deep floor depth was very noticeable.

Storage was in plentiful supply throughout the cabin with large door pockets up front, a rear map pocket plus a flip down centre storage bin in the console ready for action.

The rear luggage compartment was somewhat shallow although quite reasonable at almost 450L capacity. Note that the rear seats have a 60/40 split fold capability to provide extra cargo area. Rear loading is simple thanks to a lower than usual loading lip and a wide uplifting door. On the topic of doors both driver and passengers will enjoy the way in which the Forester’s doors open almost at right angles to the main body of the car for ease of access and departure.

There’s no denying that the 2014 Subaru Forester has a quite purposeful look about it.

GROUND CLEARANCE A BONUS The Forester is also blessed with svelte lines based on smooth rather than boxy styling and with an overall ground clearance of some 220mm all round has ground clearance approaching that of several of today’s larger 4x4 wagons.

The Forester’s fuel capacity is 60L and it has a smart fuel saving auto on/ off engine system, which automatically turns the engine off at traffic lights, yet the moment the driver’s foot disengages the brake or touches the accelerator pedal the engine restarts instantly.

The system takes a little bit to become accustomed to and is totally driver activated. I saw no reason to disengage it and was happy with the 10.5L per 100km fuel consumption achieved during 500km+ of mainly city driving.

Fellow small boat owners are going to be happy with the Forester’s towing capacity rating of 750kg unbraked, 1500kg for a braked trailer. The Kampe fishing team towed the TABS 4300 Bullshark with its 40hp E-Tec on a few local fishing forays and were mighty grateful for the Forester’s all wheel drive capability during a low tide retrieval at a muddy ramp on the Logan River. The rear wheels were in the slush, the front ones on the clean section of ramp and we had a perfect lift off. The mud cabs were nice, too.

In all, the Subaru Forester has a lot going for it. It’s a great all rounder with many things done very well but with handling and road manners as really outstanding attributes. As a family RV/people mover it also shines, and there’s no doubt the full time all wheel drive system would be very handy around boat ramps or on forest tracks.

Safety is paramount with a 5 star ANCAP rating, ABS and EBD also standard.

The reviewed Forester was provided by Keystar Auto World of Rothwell. Retail price of the 2.5 petrol auto was $36,879 with Keystar offering free window tinting as a bonus for the New Year. Warranty is three years with unlimited kilometres while Data Dot anti theft protection comes standard.

Seafood galore at Barracrab Caravan Park office is a well set up and very large camp kitchen for visitor’s use, a licensed bar area, beer garden with an adjoining dining room and a great view of the sea. Outside the dining and beer garden there’s an interesting camp oven cooking area for winter months.

FINE DINING A SPECIALTY For those looking for more conventional tucker the kitchen servicing the dining area provides an excellent menu with really good tucker like tender steaks, choice cuts of meat, barra burgers, and other succulent dishes. Plus, who could forget, oodles of local sea food. Fresh fish, crab and tasty salad, just the ticket for a warm summer day while enjoying a stay in pleasant surrounds.

BRISBANE

Wayne Kampe wkff@aapt.net.au

In this issue, the spotlight shines on Clairview. You haven’t heard of Clairview?

This small but picturesque coastal locality is situated between Marlborough and Sarina and the Barracrab Caravan Park is right on the water, so close that you could virtually fish from some sites!

Getting there involves travel on the Bruce Highway.

Travelling south from Sarina around 90km of travel will see the Clairview turnoff in view just as you notice the fabulous stretch of ocean on the left. If travelling north from Rockhampton, around 220km of travel should see the dreary roadside scrub replaced with some of the prettiest blue water you could hope to see as the car rounds a bend. Clairview’s just there on the right.

The caravan park, aptly named Barracrab, is in the

The beautiful blue water has moved out somewhat with the tide’s retreat but the golden sand fringing the shore at Clairview still remains. hands of Mark and Kathryn these days, very experienced caravan and camp grounds proprietors with ample experience of making travellers feel very welcome and very much at home. Mind you, when surveying the view

of the sea at high tide, looking at the pretty beaches and the off shore islands in the distance it certainly won’t take long to feel very comfortable at Clairview. Also, fishing at high tide along the Clairview beach can also make you feel very comfortable if a fat grunter, mangrove jack, flathead or salmon grabs a bait or lure.

On a personal note, I have a bit of a ‘thing’ about Clairview. Many times during our trips north each year in quest of barra and other big biters, I’d round the bend on the M1 at Clairview and be mesmerised by the vista of blue water with an island not far away in the background.

I’d always vowed to one day drive in and see if there was

as well and with ongoing expansion and improvements all round even more grassed areas should come on line once the wet season kicks in.

OTHER ATTRACTIONS Visitors all have access to the barbecues on site, the camp kitchen, the very clean amenities, the chance to just relax and enjoy a cold drink or well turned out meal with that great ocean view pleasing the eye while relaxing.

Fishing is pretty laid back in this neck of the woods.

There are several creeks in the area in which to catch a barra, crab, salmon (threadfin and blue) mangrove jack or grunter. Cattle Creek, Clairview Creek and Sandfly Creek are all handy with their high tide access for small

Visitors who choose to stay in a cabin at Barracrab have plenty of options. a camping ground to possibly review so last November on our trip back from Proserpine’s Peter Faust dam I drove in, and there it was! And what a beautiful caravan park it is.

A LOOK AT BARRACRAB Over all the Clairview camping area takes in some 4ha. Located at No. 1 Colonial Drive, Clairview, there are ample directions to Barracrab from the turnoff on the M1.

There’s a rail line to cross and once the vehicle’s in Colonial Drive the Park’s entrance cannot be missed.

There’s a long driveway leading to the main office with its general store, kiosk, bait and tackle outlet, which is at BCF prices. Also adjoining the

Features within the camping ground include both powered and unpowered sites along with air conditioned cabins. Cabin occupancy varies; some will sleep up to 4 while others, being set up for groups and the like, can cater for up to 8. The selection is widened even further by some cabins that are set up with queen sized beds plus en suites; in all there is a fair selection on hand.

There are also several rows of dongas on site to provide even more choice for visitors. Those among us that enjoy camping will find there’s plenty of shaded spots to set up camp in, a fair amount of grassed area

craft and there is a boat ramp at the end of Colonial Drive at Sandfly Creek. It’s wise to plan fishing around full tide for ease of access to and from the fishing areas.

In all, Barracrab is more than a name, it’s a way of life up here and with the local creeks, plus Flock Pigeon Island just off the coast to the east, the keen angler should not have to work too hard to score either fish or crab while relaxing in a very pleasant environment.

Mark and Katherine can be contacted on 0(7) 4956 0190. If planning a visit in winter, it’s best to book early as the grey nomads love this place.

HAIL DAMAGED CARAVAN? Top: Rows of dongas are on hand at Barracrab to cater for really big events.

Above: Although a tad dry during my visit in late October last year there was still ample shaded sites on hand.

Right: Enjoying a meal by the beach is a handy feature of Barracrab Caravan Park.

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JANUARY 2015

97

News Cracked the 20 years It was bound to happen. Last month we provided information on a fish that had been out for the longest time. At that time, the longest time out was 18.8 years.

Just a few weeks later we cracked the 20 year barrier!

Young Zack Wilkinson was fishing the Tinaroo Barra Bash when he landed a 123cm and 20.9kg barramundi. It just so happens the fish was tagged with number Z94056 and had been tagged back in 1994. That was over 20 years ago (7,313 days) and 7 years before Zack was born. Zack also thought it was pretty cool that the tag number started with Z, the same as his name. Guess it was meant to be!

It’s worth mentioning that fish can be kept over the maximum legal size in Lake Tinaroo.

Kept it in the family Over 20 years ago it was not common to catch a golden snapper (fingermark) in the Gladstone area. In recent times catches have improved to such an extent that some fishers actually target them.

Each year at the Boyne Tannum Hookup fishing competition the Gladstone Sportfishing Club run a live weigh in section and more and more golden snapper are brought in to the Hookup headquarters at Bray Park on the Boyne River.

Fish are measured, tagged, kept in a display tank for a while, and then released at the ramp. Naturally, golden snapper, mangrove jack and barred javelin (grunter) in the display tank attract a lot of attention.

One golden snapper tagged in 2013 and another in 2014 were recently recaptured. What makes the recaptures interesting was that, even thought the fish were tagged a year apart, both fish were recaptured within a few weeks, in the same place 12km from where they were tagged, by members of the same family!

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JANUARY 2015

The rise of the lure on snapper fishing Lures have long been a dominant method of fishing for species such as flathead and barramundi but for many species this isn’t the case. Over the next two issues we dig into the database to compare the trends across four regularly targeted species.

The first species examined was snapper.

Snapper is a species regularly targeted for the dinner table and the traditional method of catching them has always been bait. While the trend for snapper has remained dominant in bait, the trend started to turn in 2014 with lures closing the gap.

An interesting side note being that the average size of snapper on lures is

100mm larger than those caught on bait.

Does this mean that lures are catching bigger snapper? That might be the case but when you dig into the data there is an alternate explanation.

Historically ANSA fishers have tagged those snapper that they don’t want to keep, usually those below legal size.

When plotted on a map,

some differences become obvious, the areas targeted using lures is wider, extending further into Moreton Bay and the estuaries. This indicates those using lures are being a bit more adventurous, where as bait fishers tend to grounds they know deliver results.

Digging a bit further, what is actually happening is generational change.

Almost all the tagging on lure is being done by the Suntaggers who are younger and focused on fishing for catch and release, where as the bait fishers are more reflective of traditional fishers.

Another statistic to consider is catch rates.

During 2013 twice as many fish were caught on bait per day fished then lures.

During 2014 those rates have become equal and in the later part of 2014 lures have pulled ahead. This is definitely a key factor in the rising use of lures.

So where is this trend going? It’s a little early to call but with generational change sweeping through the trend towards lures will continue.

Barra catch rates down in Central Queensland The 2014 barramundi season has now ended.

For the Fitzroy River and Gladstone we have just completed a comparison of what we predicted back in 2013 with what was

observed in 2014, made our predictions for 2015 and a preliminary prediction for 2016. The last few years have been good for the local barramundi fisheries but the next 2 years will be

a lot tougher.

In 2015 we will see catch rates for legal length barramundi down 30-50% in both Rockhampton and Gladstone.

You can download the

report “Looking into the Crystal Bowl – November 2014 – Barramundi Fitzroy River and Gladstone Review of 2014 season Predictions for 2015 season” from www.crystal-bowl.com.au.

The rise of the lure on yellowfin bream Yellowfin bream is a really good species to contrast with snapper as they are also a key table fish. One difference though is bream have been part of the tournament scene for some time and the lure tactics for bream are well understood.

That doesn’t seem to have made a difference to the general methods used for bream.

So why haven’t yellowfin bream gone the way of snapper in 2014 as a generational trend?

When we look at the

traditional ANSA fishers, 15% of bream have been taken on lures this year.

In Suntaggers where the younger guys fishing lures dominate, the rate jumps to 57%. However, the lure fishing Suntaggers represent less than 10% of the total bream catch.

Catch rates probably have something to do with that.

When using bait, the average catch rates are 3 times higher per day than lures among traditional ANSA fishers.

Even amongst the Suntaggers

who target bream on lures the catch rates are less than half the rate per day for bait.

On numbers, it’s half the work to get your bag on bait, though there are guys who fish lures that would debate that. The fact is, catch rates play a big part in the trend towards lures. When lure catch rates start to match or beat bait, things change. That hasn’t happened yet for bream.

As the younger fishers start to represent a larger proportion of the catch

it’s almost certain that the trend will look something like snapper, but this trend still has a couple of years to run at least, before it hits that mark. While the competition scene has hit on lures as the way to go, so far the mainstream find them more of a novelty rather than a reliable method to catch fish.

So what happens when lures catch up to bait? That will be the subject of the next issue as we look at two other species that are a bit further along the trend.

HAWK FISHING • FIND-A-WORD COMPETITION

Pick a Perch

AUSTRALIAN

GOLDEN

PEARL

BARBER

GURNARD

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JUNGLE

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CRESCENT

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SEA

ESTUARY

NILE

SILVER

GIANT

OCEAN

SPANGLED

GLASSY

ORANGE

WHITE

Name Address

P/Code Phone (day):

The first correct entry at the end of each month will win a Hawk Fishing cap, Hawk Fishing line, Hawk HB Lure, assorted Panther Martin lures and 3 packets of Youvella chemically sharpened hooks.

SEND ENTRIES TO:

QLD Hawk Tournament Competition PO box 3172, Loganholme Qld 4129 QLD DECEMBER 2014

FINS SCALES & TALES by A. Both

SUBSCRIBER PRIZE The subscriber prize winner for October was R Askew of The Gap, who won a Boatcatch prize valued at $549.

All subscribers are entered in the monthly subscriber prize draws. Prize delivery takes up to 8 weeks. – QFM

BARRA COUNTRY by Brett Currie

BITE ME by Trisha Mason

GEORGE & NEV by Michael Hardy

ts! kuctso• Vu epc c• h ideo New rod eviews

• Indepth R

FIND-A-WORD WINNER Congratulations to Jason Nock of Kallangur, who was last month’s winner of the Hawk Tournament Find-a-Word Competition!

Monthly winners receive Hawk Tournament Tested Bayer Perlon IGFA line, assorted Panther Martin lures, Youvella hooks and a keyring. Prize delivery can take 8 weeks. – QFM 3

• DECEMBER 2010

JANUARY 2015

99

BREAM N OPE CLASSIC The biggest teams BREAM event on the ABT calendar hit the iconic Sydney Harbour for the Bluefin Boats/ Mercury BREAM Classic Open (11-12 November), with Team Elite Tournament Tackle/ TT Lures (Scott Butler and James Howarth)

The Butler did it River, the BREAM Classic Open saw anglers from across Australia do battle for the title of Australia’s number one bream team.

Compiling a 10/10, 6.92kg two-day bag to secure the win Butler and Howarth fished to their strengths to catch their limit each day.

Fishing a boat hull and marina pattern each day the pair fished a hardbody

one the pair struck early picking up a 34cm fish to open their account. With one in the well, Butler and Howarth then worked their way progressively through adjacent marinas, in the process filling their bag in relatively quick time.

“We hit a flat spot after a while then started up the Mercury and moved to crank boats hulls east of Cockatoo Island,”

N TEAM CHAMPIO

James Howarth and Scott Butler with the fruits of two successful days breaming Sydney Harbour.

Photo courtesy of lureandfly.com.

said Butler.

The approach paid dividends with the pair catching three upgrades in as many cast, the standout fish (1.1kg) proving to be their kicker fish for the day.

“There were plenty of fish but they were sitting reasonable deep and weren’t super aggressive

WINNING TACKLE SCOTT BUTLER Rod:...........Lox 610 Ambassador and Loshi 7023 Line:........................................................... 4lb PE Leader:....................................... 4lb fluorocarbon Lures: Zipbaits Tiny (silver shad, bluegill,.

silver trout, keimura, and UV glow),.

with trebles upsized to size 12 claiming the event win over the talent-laden 72 angler field.

The curtain raiser to the 13 Fishing BREAM Grand Final on the Hawkesbury

approach, with a Zipbaits Tiny crankbait (Scott) and Ecogear SX40LC crankbait (James) the standout lures.

Starting at Balmain Marina first up on day

Crankbaits and soft plastics were the gun lures for event winners Team Elite Tournament Tackle/TT Lures.

Photo courtesy of lureandfly.com.

Big fish prevailed at Sydney, as Michael Colotouros from 3rd placed Team 13 Fishing/Sunline shows.

Photo courtesy of lureandfly.com.

Zipbaits Tiny

Rigged and ready to hit the tournament trailer the Bluefin prize boat on offer was a fitting reward for one of the most hotly contested events of the year.

Photo courtesy of lureandfly.com.

Twitch and pause

retrieve lure under boat hull and along edge

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JANUARY 2015

WINNING WAYS

BREA CLASSIC M OPEN

Cranking boat hulls between the Gladesville Bridge and Cockatoo Island, Butler and Howarth timed the wind and tide right to get the best lure presentation. They also pinpointed exactly where the fish were holding on the boat hulls and rotated spots to manage their fish and get the bigger ones to bite.

Butler and Howarth were all smiles with their Bluefin/Mercury/Haswing/ Power-Pole Micro Anchor prize boat. Photo courtesy of lureandfly.com.

WINNING TACKLE JAMES HOWARTH Rod:..............................Nordic Stage Areal 7’ Pro Reel:........................................ Daiwa Steez 2004 Line:....................... 4lb Yamatoyo Spinning fluoro Lures:.............Ecogear SX40 LC (bluegill colour),

retro-fitted with size 12 Decoy trebles when it came to eating the Zip Bait and Ecogear.

You had to use a stop-start retrieve to temp them to eat it,” said Butler.

The horses for course approach delivered Butler and Howarth a 3.74kg bag for the session and had them sitting in first place heading into day two.

Heading off in the lead on the final morning the pair once again started off with their marina pattern, and with good result, catching their bag within an hour.

“They bit their heads off early then shut down.

So we called it quits and headed back to the boats

that produced for us on the first day,” said Butler.

While the boat hulls produced, it was as much about their fish

CE 2ND PLA

For event runners up Peter Macor and Bernard Kong from Team ABU Garcia/ Berkley/wwwlureandfly. com it was close but no cigar with the pair weighing in the heaviest bag for the tournament on the final day to almost claim the event win.

Fishing east of the Sydney Harbour Bridge the pair dug deep to catch their fish each day, fishing

picked up was a 32cm, and in the end I think it was this fish that gave us enough weight to grab the win,” said Butler.

Day two was definitely the standout when it came to activity, with the pair catching 30-40 fish for the day in comparison to 20 fish on the first day.

“On the first day you really had to work the lure to get the fish to eat it, on the second day the fish were more abundant and more willing to eat the

OVERALL RESULTS PLACE TEAM FISH WEIGHT (KG) PAYOUT 1................. Elite Tournament Tackle/TT Lures . ...... 10/10.............6.92...................Bluefin Boat + prize pack 2 Abu Garcia/Berkley/Lureandfly.com 10/10 6.54 2 x Austackle Rods/

Shimano Reels 3................. Team 13 Fishing/Sunline....................... 10/10.............6.40...................2 x Spotters sunglasses 4................. Hobie Fishing/TT Lures......................... 10/10.............6.17...................2 x Shimano rods 5................. Fishing Station...................................... 10/10.............5.79 6................. 13 Fishing 2.......................................... 10/10.............5.60 7................. Franklin Services/Shimano................... 10/10.............5.51 8................. Berkley.................................................. 10/10.............5.49 9................. Cronulla Slipway/Gamakatsu............... 10/10.............5.44 10............... Triton Boats........................................... 10/10.............5.33

Blading Down Deep a deepwater blade approach to fill their limit.

“We fished around the Kirribilli area and focused on the 40-45ft depth range with broken structure on the bottom,” said Peter Macor.

With the bream sitting tight to the bottom as their target they’d sink their blades to the bottom before stating a dead slow lift, drop, sit, retrieve.

“It was really important to give the lure a long pause and let it sit on the bottom,” said Macor.

Rotating between two lures, a 30mm Berkley Big Eye Blade (nugget colour), and a 40mm Berkley Power Blade (assassin colour), the pair caught their limit early each day.

“Day one was definitely

management as anything.

“We’d catch a fish from an area then leave it alone to recover, before returning to hit it again.

Most times we’d catch another fish when we came back,” said Butler.

With upgrades to show for their rotational approach the pair made one more pit stop on their way to the finish line.

Hitting a spot upriver that would deliver one final upgrade.

“The last fish we

the quietest, we caught around 9 fish in total, day two in contrast was completely different, I think because we moved around a lot more and covered plenty of ground,” said Macor.

Catching around 20 fish for the session on day two the pair’s approached involved being on the move, and focusing their efforts on the eddy side of the moving water.

“The fish were definitely concentrated in these spots and eager to bite. I just wish we’d worked this out a day earlier,” said Macor.

Weighing in a 3.78kg limit on the final day the pair charged through from 10th place to finish 2nd and claim a podium finish. – ABT

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Country Fishing Classics Catch and release plus deadweight sections - “No live well required”

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 Dates and Locations: Round 3: Round 4: Grand Final:

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BP Dam (Murgon) Paradise Dam (Biggenden) BP Dam (Murgon)

Peter Macor and Bernard Kong fish blades down deep east of the Harbour Bridge to claim second.

17th – 18th Jan 2015 28th Feb – 1st Mar 2015 18th – 19th April 2015

*Early bird rate applies to entries received 4 weeks prior to event date

Family affordable!

Single Round: Seniors $30 (Early Bird $25) Grand Final: Seniors $40 (Early Bird $35)

Photo courtesy of lureandfly.com.

lure without the need to work it and tease them,” explained Butler.

Weighing in a 3.18kg limit on the final day to claim victory Butler and Howarth secured themselves a new tournament-ready boat package.

The duel owners of a new $30,000 tournament rig their prize included a Bluefin 455 Tournament Drifter Pro fitted with a 60hp Mercury 4-stroke outboard, 80lb cable steer Haswing Cayman electric motor and Power-Pole Micro Anchor (supplied

by Hobie).

Juniors: (16 & under) $10 Juniors: (16 & under) $15

Mailing Address: PO Box 3473, LOGANHOLME QLD 4129 Fax: (07) 3806 3031 Email: info@countryfc.com.au www.countryfc.com.au JANUARY 2015

101

INAL RAND F G M A E BR ABT and AFC stalwart Kris Hickson claimed the only bream trophy that he was missing with the Taree tournament pro coming from behind on the final day to secure victory in

Hickson hauls to victory search of upgrades.

“It was slow and methodical fishing in the racks. I’d drop the Z-Man next to the poles then slowly drag and draw it across the bottom,” said Kris.

The location and technique produced two important upgrades, including a 41, and

WINNING TACKLE WHARVES/BOATS/PONTOON OUTFIT Rod:........................ Daiwa.Commander.662ULXS Reel:.......................................... Daiwa.Sol.II.2004 Line:.................................. 10lb.Daiwa.Shinobi.PE Leader:....................................... 6lb.Sunline.Kong Lures:......... OSP.Dolive.Craw.rigged.on.a.1/28oz. . .

TT.jighead,.2.1/2”.Z-Man.Grubz. . .(gudgeon.colour).rigged.on.a.1/16oz.TT.jighead the 13 Fishing BREAM Grand Final on Sydney’s Hawkesbury River.

Fishing a multi location approach to catch his fish each day Hickson started day one fishing the Pittwater flats, unfortunately with little return.

“I picked up one legal then pulled the pin and went and hit boats and wharfs,” said Hickson.

Hickson’s move was spot on and he soon had his full limit, the majority coming on a sinked and hopped OSP Dolive Craw rigged on a 1/28oz TT jighead.

With the pattern waning Hickson spent some time fishing rock walls before moving to Porto Bay racks in

R N BOATE CHAMPIO

had him sitting in 4th place at the end of the first day.

Hitting the Box Head washes to start day two, his start was equally underwhelming as day one, and with nothing to show for his efforts he moved into calmer water to throw topwaters.

“It was quiet all round, for me anyway, so I moved to the racks that worked the day before,” said Hickson.

His approach paid dividends with Hickson putting four fish in the well.

“There was hairy moments where I could have easily lost fish. It was whiteknuckle rack fishing at its very best,” said Kris.

One more legal and two Kris.Hickson.finally.holds.the.Grand.Final.Trophy.aloft.

Callum.Dowell.and.Kris.Hickson.with.their.

Grand.Final.winning.day.three.bag.

upgrades from a series of rocky banks followed later in the session and saw Kris weigh in a 3.01kg limit and had him sitting in 2nd place heading into the 3rd and final day.

Heading off on day two Kris was confident that he had milked his day one and day two spot of all their fish and as a result he was going to have to find fresh spots and fresh fish to give the event a shake.

“Ross (sitting in 1st place) and I both knew we needed to find some new water,” said Kris.

Great minds think alike and both anglers found

themselves start their day in the same spot, Pittwater Flats, followed by Brisbane Waters. Hoping to catch a bag at Brisbane Waters, Kris was soon disappointed and with none in the well he pulled the pin and hit the racks.

While far from red hot it did get his bag started and with two in the well and the clock saying 12pm he started up his Mercury and made a run to Berowra.

“I fished a run of wharves but it was too windy to fish it properly. I decided to give it one more pass and on the first cast I pulled a fish,” said Kris.

Nothing then followed until he made one final cast on the last wharf.

WINNING WAYS Hickson.managed.and.varied.his.use.of. locations,.lures.and.techniques.to.stay.on.the. fish.over.three.long.days.of.competition.

BOATER RESULTS PLACE TEAM FISH WEIGHT(KG) PAYOUT 1................. Kristoffer HICKSON ............................. 15/15 ............10.40 ................Yamaha SHO Motor 2................. Ross CANNIZZARO ............................. 13/15 ............10.35 ................Motorguide bow-mount electric motor 3................. Chris WRIGHT ..................................... 14/15 ............9.93 ..................Shimano reel and prizepack 4................. Russell BABEKUHL ............................. 15/15 ............9.56 ..................Damiki lure prizepack 5................. Geoffrey BORG .................................... 15/15 ............9.08 ..................Shimano rod 6................. Tony THORLEY .................................... 15/15 ............8.87 7................. Scott BUTLER...................................... 15/15 ............8.45 8................. Chris SEETO ........................................ 15/15 ............8.43 9................. Michael COLOTOUROS ...................... 15/15 ............8.24 10............... Steve NEDESKI.................................... 14/15 ............7.92

Kris.Hickson.won.a.Yamaha.SHO.outboard. valued.at.$25,000.for.his.Grand.Final.win.

Ross rallies for second ER CE BOAT 2ND PLA Sydney breamer Ross Cannizzaro came close to claiming victory, with the multiple event winner’s failure to weigh in a full limit on the first day in the end coming home to hurt him on the final day.

Fishing the washes at Box Head, Baranjoey and Lion Island first up on day one Ross hooked plenty of fish.

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JANUARY 2015

“I got dusted by a lot of fish, both by bream and by fish that weren’t bream,” said Ross.

With a lot of frustration to show for his efforts Ross changed location and moving to Brooklyn and Mooney to fish natural rock walls.

“The Berkley 3B crank in mutt colour was the standout lure,” said Ross.

Filling out his limit proved difficult and with only three fish in his well, and a 4th that died on him he retreated to Pittwater in search of a couple to close out his bag. Despite all his best efforts he couldn’t find the last two for his limit.

Hitting the washes at Barenjoey first up on day two Ross found little joy, and soon made a move, a big move upriver to Berowra and hopefully some active fish.

Fishing secondary points and drop-offs, Ross’ move was soon rewarded, filling his bag, and catching a series of upgrades from boat hulls in the area.

“You needed to get your lure right in the zone to get their attention, once you did they ate it with aggression. You just needed to make sure you were methodical in your presentation,” said Ross.

The technique involved

Ross.Cannizzaro.came.close.to.claiming.victory.on.his.home.water.

“The last ditch cast was when we picked fish number five, a 32cm,” said Kris.

With an hour long run back to the check-in Hickson decided to call it a day, and headed back. A flat battery had him scrambling for his jumper leads, but he was soon moving and on his way.

“We made good time

Scan this QR code to watch an interview with Kris Hickson and Callum Dowell.

so we stopped at Cowan to check on the fish and fill the livewell with fresh water,” said Kris.

With time to use, Kris’ non-boater Callum Dowell started casting at a near by rockwall. The pit stop paid

2 1/2” Z-Man Grubz bloodworm colour

2 1/2” Z-Man Grubz gudgeon colour

WINNING TACKLE RACK OUTFIT Rod:.............................. 6’4”.Black.Label.641.LXS Reel:................................ Daiwa.Ballistic.2500.EX Line:..................................... 15.Daiwa.Shinobi.PE Leader:....................................... 8lb.Sunline.Kong Lures:....2.1/2”.Z-Man.Grubz.(bloodworm.colour). . . rigged.on.a.1/16oz.TT.jighead N.b Hickson added Pro Cure Scent (squid) often to his lures

OSP Dolive Craw

Twitch and drop

off with Callum picking up two upgrades. With two ‘just legal’ fish gone from their

limit the pair high tailed it back to the finish line.

Waiting in line to weigh his bag Kris had little idea of his bag weight.

“I though I may have had 2.7-2.8kg, so when 3.26kg flashed up on the screen I was stunned,” said Kris.

The weight proved to be just enough (50g) to deliver Hickson his maiden

BREAM GRAND F INAL Grand Final win, a long over due victory, and a fitting reward for one of the most talented anglers on the ABT angler roster.

Dowell dominates for win N CHAMPIO ER T A O NON-B Western Australia’s Callum Dowell reined supreme at the 13 Fishing Grand Final with the 13 Fishing sponsored angler securing victory in the biggest event on the bream tournament calendar.

Fishing with Kris Hickson on day one and three, and Mark Healy on day two Dowell fished a soft plastic approach each day to catch his fish.

Day one saw the newly crowned GF champ fishing a combination of flats, rock walls, and racks with Berkley Power Hawgs and Crabbies.

“While we caught fish in a lot of places it was the racks where we got the bigger fish,” said Callum.

Day two began with a point approach with Callum and Mark fishing the swell dominated points on the seaward side of the event arena.

“It was definitely an early morning bite. We caught all our fish in the first 45 minutes, then it shut down for us,” said Callum.

The early flurry resulted in a 2.65kg limit and had Callum sitting in 1st place heading in to the final day.

Running and gunning with Kris Hickson on the final day the pair struggled for most of it, fishing flats and racks until

Callum.Dowell.travelled.all.the.way. from.WA.to.fish.the.Grand.Final.

12pm for little return before making a move to Berowra as a bit of a Hail Mary.

“We hit a run of docks and pulled two fish to finish our limit, then we headed back down to Pittwater, making a quick stop at Cowan on the way,” said Callum.

The quick stop was when Callum struck gold picking up two quick fish, and upgrades that boosted his bag, and boosted it enough to ultimately claim

the event win.

“It was a nervous moment waiting for those fish to hit the scales. To see the winning weight come up when they did was mind blowing,” said Callum.

For his victory Callum won a 115hp Mercury 4-stroke outboard, the latest generation 4-stroke from Mercury, and the perfect motor to get him on the tournament trail as a boater in 2015.

NON-BOATER RESULTS PLACE TEAM FISH WEIGHT(KG) PAYOUT 1..............Callum DOWELL................ 15/15 ......... 9.95....................Mercury 115hp 4-stroke motor 2..............Beau RILEY ....................... 15/15 ......... 9.75....................Motorguide transom-mount electric motor 3..............Robert KNEESHAW ........... 15/15 ......... 9.51....................Austackle rod and lure prize pack 4..............Daniel BONACCORSO ...... 15/15 ......... 9.06....................Damiki lure prize pack 5..............Craig ELLIS........................ 15/15 ......... 8.64....................Shimano rod 6..............Zac O’SULLIVAN ............... 14/15 ......... 8.48 7..............Brad ROBERTS ................. 13/15 ......... 8.01 8..............Rebecca FAZIO ................. 15/15 ......... 7.97 9..............Tanya KONSUL.................. 15/15 ......... 7.91 10............John GALEA ...................... 13/15 ......... 7.70

sinking a reverse rigged 2 1/2” Berkley Gulp Crabby in camo down the rocky shore, then hoping it off the edge of the drop-off into the deeper water where the current was pushing.

The bite hit its peak

late in the session (1pm) and delivered Ross a 4.11kg limit for the session.

Heading off in 4th place on day three Ross knew he needed a heavy bag to catch the leaders, and was banking on a repeat of his big fish

day two to get the job done.

Once again he started at the washes, before moving upriver to Berowra.

Ross’ wishes for a hot bite were answered and he had his bag by 9.30am, and a total of six upgrades by the

end of the session.

“I gave it everything, and put together the heaviest bag (3.26kg) I could. In the end however it came down to not catching my full bag on the first day,” said a resigned Ross Cannizzaro.

Anglers.from.across.Australia.made.their. way.to.the.shores.of.the.Hawkesbury.River. for.the.biggest.bream.event.of.year.

JANUARY 2015

103

Good vibrations for Hobie winner

REAM HOBIE B INAL GRAND F The 2014 Hobie Kayak Bream Series National Championship presented

by Daiwa held at South Yunderup, WA saw 48 of Australia’s best kayak anglers tussle for the prized title as the Hobie Kayak Australian Champion.

After a second solid day of action on the water, Chris Burbidge from Ferntree Gully in Victoria was crowned top honours.

The day started at 6am on the Murray River, an hour earlier than day one.

The Power-Pole starting line looked amazing in the overcast, early, morning light as anglers jostled for positions to take advantage of the crucial hours of fishing at the start of the day.

Daniel Brown from Taree in NSW sat nervously on the starting line at the top of

Our.2014.Hobie.bream.Grand.Final.podium.finishers! the Lowrance Leader board with his 2.34kg bag giving him a slight 370g lead over his nearest rival. Western Australia’s Brett Ozanne started the day in second on

1.87kg and eventual winner Chris Burbidge sat in third position on 1.67kg.

The field of excited anglers pedalled off on the final day of the Australian

Championship to execute the plans of attack that they had adjusted after the previous day’s fishing fishing. Some headed further afield but in the same direction as the day

before, others stayed closer to the event site and many headed off to completely new locations. It was common for competitors to have covered more than 15km in the session with one Hobie kayaker pedalling his Hobie Pro Angler 12 over 25km on the day.

As the grand finalists worked the early hours, the weather conditions had deteriorated from the day before. Rain squalls, accompanied by wind gusts of up to 25km/h and sudden cold snaps hit the arena. When the sun did break through around mid-morning, the cloud layer dissipated and the UV levels soared as the heat intensified.

When the fronts passed and the wind subsided, the waves began a more rhythmic pattern out on the inlet. The rivers were covered in light ripples and glassy water glistened in the protected areas of the rivers and canals.

For many, the fish refused

OVERALL RESULTS ANGLER

HOME STATE WEIGHT

Chris Burbidge ......... VIC .......................... 3.27kg Brett Ozanne ............ WA .......................... 3.12kg Michael Maas ........... QLD......................... 3.06kg Shane Owens ........... WA .......................... 3.06kg Clark Wilson ............. VIC .......................... 2.77kg Stewart Dunn............ NSW........................ 2.71kg Matt Petrie ................ VIC .......................... 2.60kg John Sorrell .............. WA .......................... 2.50kg Jim Barrie ................. NSW........................ 2.44kg Justin Dingwall ......... VIC .......................... 2.41kg

The.snaggy.setting.of.the.Murray.River.was.fantastic.lure.casting.territory.and. even.the.interstate.angers.found.their.feet.in.its.twiggy.maze.of.structure.

to strike early in the morning, including top 10 positioned anglers who became panicky as fish resisted their presentations. Most anglers thought that the bream would show their most aggressive nature early but some more technical-based predictions suggested that the best bite time would be from 11am12pm. This is exactly what day one leader Daniel Brown was hoping for at 11am, when he had caught plenty of under sized fish but had no legals in his livewell.

All over the arena the situation varied but the black bream in the upper Murray River where Burbidge had ventured where taking lures through most of the day and a lot of anglers who headed in that direction came home with full bags. It was the same direction that a pod of dolphins, which frequent the river, also chose to head to as they passed through the field of anglers as the tournament kicked off. They were heading back past the Daiwa Event Site at 1pm striking fish, making the water boil, in amongst the snags and riverbanks on the way back through to the inlet.

The dolphins knew where the fish were and the best times to target them.

When the anglers returned to the Atomic Launch Site, many were happy with their bags, some just happy not to have come home empty handed 2 days straight and others were excited about their prospects. Daniel Brown was dejected as he pedalled to shore with no fish in his well; the day one leader and two times champion was out of the running for a spot on the podium.

Burbidge bumps for win

ABT, PO Box 7196, LOGANHOLME, QLD 4129 Alternatively you can download an entry form from www.abt.org.au At any time you can call ABT on (07) 3387 0888 for help with your entry during business hours.

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JANUARY 2015

Burbidge stood at the Berkely Bump Tub watching as angler after angler went up on stage.

Finally, it was his turn to walk down the green carpet of the Rhino-Rack Runway and up the stairs and onto the stage in front of the 200 strong crowd gathered to watch a Hobie Tournament weigh-in.

Burbidge was the second last angler to weigh-in his bag of 3 fish and was excited as he took over the ‘Hot Seat’, (the seat on the stage reserved for the current leader as the weigh-in progressed). He remained reserved, but with nervous anticipation he looked on as Brett Ozanne came up on stage for the final weigh-in of the tournament.

When Ozanne came to the scales he needed a bag weight on the day of 1.4kg to take the title. His 3 bream,

mostly taken in the canal just 1.2km west of the Daiwa Event Site, fell just short at 1.25kg and Burbidge pumped his fist in the air, ecstatic with his victory. After a great year on the water including 3 tournament victories, the 2014 Hobie Kayak Bream Series Australian Championship title was now rightfully his.

After the presentation of the championship trophy in front of a large crowd of onlookers Burbidge offered his thoughts on his performance and on the tournament.

“To make it to the Grand Final I had a few performances I was pretty happy with; I won 3 tournaments this year, Paynesville, Lake Tyers and Nelson, the very first round at the beginning of the year,” he said.

“When the tournament

here got off to a start on Saturday, I had a pretty good day, I didn’t think I had done enough but I ended up in 3rd place. I just did what I know to do around structure, which is to use deep diving hardbodies and little 40mm vibes.”

“Today I started off with exactly the same lures and all I was getting were those spangled grunter or whatever they are called. I got about 15 of those and I thought, ‘This area’s not working now’. My first fish didn’t come until about 9.30 or 10 o’clock so I was starting to hit the panic button. My finger was sort of on it. So I went well

N CHAMPIO

up the river and ended up putting on a purple vibe, just in desperation. About 3 casts later I was into me first fish and it just went on from there and I kept doing that all day. Slow rolling it, fishing structure, fishing drop offs. It didn’t matter what I was casting at I was hooking fish. I only got busted off once today, so I was pretty happy with that.

But the vibe did the job for me again; it turned out to be just a fantastic day.”

WINNING TACKLE Rod.................................................. Duff.H2O.7ft Reel....................................... Daiwa.Luvias.2004 Braid..................................................Sunline.8lb Leader..............................................FC.Rock.6lb

Consistency paid for Ozanne’s second 2ND PLA CE

After a brilliant 2 days of fishing, 2nd place in the Hobie Kayak Bream Series Australian Championship went to exceptional Western Australian angler Brett Ozanne, who maintained a constant position.

“I came into today quietly confident, I suppose.

I knew it was going to be tough today but I thought that local knowledge would come into play and the local guys would get a bag and some of the east coast guys would have a bit of a struggle to get 3 fish. But with guys of the calibre of Chris Burbidge, they can

always pull one out of the bag and they did,” he said.

“I’m absolutely pumped with the whole weekend. I pre-fished pretty extensively and I was fairly confident coming into the comp and wasn’t really thinking about really competing against anyone but myself. I had nothing to lose and it came off, 2 full bags, which were

puffing up all over the sand, so I could see them. I worked the Atomic Crank over the flats, I kicked up a bity of dirt with it, here and there, to get the fishes’ attention and then I gave it a pause and a twitch and they jumped all over it. That pretty much worked all weekend. It was just a matter of finding the fish in the canal and when I did

TACKLE USED: 2ND PLACE Rod...................................... Nitro.Vapor.6ft,.6ft.6” Reel..........Shimano.Stradic.Ci4+,.Rarenium.Ci4+ Braid............................................... Daiwa.sensor Leader........................................................ 6lb.FC

The.2014.Hobie.Bream.Grand.Final.saw.48.anglers.hit.the. water,.all.wanting.to.take.out.this.year’s.trophy..

really what I wanted to get, two full bags. I was absolutely stoked.”

“I basically used the same technique all weekend.

I found fish on the little shallow flats on the canal system where there was a clear layer of sand over a dirty layer and they were

they were really flighty, even when I stood up in the Hobie they would get spooked. I just found a couple of really good patches and probably pulled most of my fish from one 50m stretch. That fished pretty well all weekend until it shut down about 10.30.”

“I went into the flats in

HOBIE B R GRAND F EAM INAL the canals this morning chucking an Atomic Crank, my last ghost gill Atomic Crank after yesterday snapping the bib off one on a fish and losing one to a little chopper tailor. I came up to my flat at the end of a jetty, and pegged it under the jetty and got a fish. I couldn’t turn the PA back in time; I free-spooled and lost the lure. Devastated, I tied on a Muddy Prawn, but I just wasn’t feeling it.

I came back to that jetty probably 40 minutes later only to find that Atomic Crank of mine floating on the surface under the jetty. I couldn’t believe it and what was even better, I caught my last two fish on that Atomic Crank.

“I’m absolutely stoked I came 2nd. Better than I could have hoped and to do it for WA, I’m absolutely rapt”.

Maas amasses third podium 3RD PLA CE

Third place went to Queenslander Michael Maas from North Gold Coast.

“It is a bit different coming

here so I wasn’t expecting to catch my bag each day. But I sort of just fished it the way I do back home and it paid off. I pitched 2.5” Damiki D Grub on 3lb leader into the trees, into the timber. There’s just that much structure here you miss a fish on one and you just go to the next one and pitch away again and you just keep getting them. I got 20 legal fish on the final day,

but the day before I only got 5,” he said.

“I was 7th coming into the final day and getting a podium finish is just unbelievable. I loved coming here with all the timber and the river. I love fishing all of the natural structure, back at home too. It reminded me of a place I love to fish at home, Jumpinpin, with all its timber and mangroves. I had to adjust, a

little bit, to the fact that there was no real tide. Being from Queensland we get 2m tides, so there’s a bit of a difference.

But I just downsized the plastic and downsized the jighead and it just worked.”

“Hobie events in Australia are awesome. I fish the boating events and the kayak events but I think the kayak events might be up above the boating events at the moment, the way

Getting.set.for.another.day.on.the.water. after.some.Murray.River.black.bream.. they are run and the way they are organised. The guys just do an awesome job and the venue

here for this championship was awesome, what else can I say. I just loved being here.”

Double win for Hog’s Breath Boss Hog big bream For the first time in the championships two anglers brought fish to the scales that weighed in at exactly the same weight. On day one Daniel Brown from Taree in NSW brought in the largest fish of the day coming with a 1.06kg ‘keg’, which he pulled in from the lower reaches of the Murray River. On day two Jim Barrie from the NSW South Coast town of Nowra caught another ‘bag kicker’ in the upper reaches of the estuary also weighing 1.06kg.

“I caught him down river just sitting on a snag on one of the points of the islands. I threw into the snag and I was lucky that he hit it hard and I locked him in,” Daniel said. “Luckily, he ran straight out towards the yak instead of turning back. I fought him under the yak and I was stoked when I managed to pull

JIM BARRIE’S BIG BREAM TACKLE Rod.......................Daiwa.Battler.Kung.Fu.Prancer Reel....................................... Daiwa.Certate.1003 Line.......................................... Castaway.PE.10lb Leader............................................... FC.Rock.6lb Lure.................................................. Cranka.Crab

The.2014.Hobie.Bream.Grand.Final.couldn’t.have.gone.ahead. without.the.help.from.its.generous.sponsors. him on board my Hobie,” Daniel said.

Jim Barrie caught his

bream in a different location and setting entirely.

“I was working a 100m

DANIAL BROWN’S BIG BREAM TACKLE Rod...................................Daiwa.Black.Label.6’1” Reel................................................ Daiwa.Certate Line................................................... 10lb.Shinobi Leader........................................................ 4lb.FC Lure.......................Z. Man. Grubz. 2.5“. Bloodworm.. . ......................................... on.a.1/28oz.Jighead

open bank with no structure about 10km up river from the start. After casting the lure, it hit the bottom, I gave the reel one slow crank and the fish gulped it,” Jim said.

“I could tell, compared to all of the fish I had caught over the weekend, that it was a solid bream. It put up a fair fight but thankfully it was already in the open. When I pulled him aboard, I knew

I had a big chance for the Boss Hog Big Bream”.

A total of 144 black bream were caught in the Murray and Serpentine River systems over the weekend. The total catch weight of the fish was 68.83kg and the average fish weight amounted to 478g. Not a bad weekend fishing for anglers, who for the most part were fishing in tough conditions, in unfamiliar territory and without the assistance of a pre-fish in the area.

Matt Williams and the team from Getaway Outdoors did an absolutely brilliant job providing dealer support and providing the breakfasts, lunches, drinks

and snack packs for everyone one involved in the tournament. Thankyou also for assisting Hobie Cat Australasia in getting this excellent tournament to be such a momentous occasion for the competing anglers and for the followers of the sport of kayak fishing in Australia.

The Hobie Kayak Bream Series Grand Final could not have gone ahead without the great support of our generous sponsors Daiwa, Berkley, Atomic, Lowrance, Rhino-Rack, Strike Pro, Austackle, TT Lures, Yamatoyo, Ecogear, Power-Pole and Hog’s Breath Cafe . – Hobie Australasia JANUARY 2015

105

TOUR BARRA The 2014 Rapala BARRA Tour was one for the ages, highlighted by good angler attendance and red-hot fishing across all 3 events.

The BARRA Tour visited the quality impoundments of Teemburra Dam, Kinchant Dam and Peter Faust Dam to determine which team would take out top honors. In the end, it was a tight race that went down to the wire with 8 teams in contention right up until the final session. Let’s take a look at the winners of each event and who took out the 2014 Team of the Year.

N.S BLACK HOLE TEEMBURRA DAM EVENING EVENT Team BTD Lures (Benn Durkin and Matt McArthur)

2014 Rapala BARRA Tour compiled a 10/10, 763cm total to secure out the first event of the 2014 Rapala BARRA Tour, the N.S Black Hole Teemburra Dam evening event. McArthur, a 35 year old Sarina local who works as a serviceman and an Emergency Service Officer in the local mines teamed with Durkin, a 35 year old cane harvest operator, to make the best possible start to the 2014 Rapala BARRA Tour.

Team BTD identified several spots during the pre-fish including a number of upgrade locations that held bigger fish.

McArthur explains the team’s key location and approach.

“We opted to fish a long shallow lily pad point which was surrounded by heavy standing timber, on the south western side of the dam. The point had a consistent amount of wind and current blowing

up onto it and around the surrounding area. There was immense amount of bait in and around the target zones and a steady to continuous amount of barra flooding through,” he said. “We fished the area opposite to most, placing the boat on the point in just 4ft of water and casting our lures into the wind. We opted to use Samaki Vibelicious in gold glitter and lime orange colours and 110mm and 130mm Sqidgy Slick Rigs in black and gold. On both the Samaki vibelicious and the Sqidgy Slick Rigs we retro fitted them with Gamakatsu Treble 14, size 4 for the Samaki Vibes and size 2 for the Sqidgy Slick Rigs.

We combined the Slick Rig and Gamakatsu trebles with the ultra tough TT Area 51 jighead in 1oz and 3/4oz. We decided on the Gamakatsu treble for

N CHAMPIO Teemburra, as the fish class was a little bit smaller and we preferred the better penetration on hook set with the Gamakatsu.”

Due to the heavy timber in the location and small area around the boat, BTD Lures

Matt McArthur with one of the many beautifully coloured barra taken from Teemburra in the first round.

WINNING WAYS “In my opinion, the best key points you can have before entering any tournament is to have a belief in yourself, your partner and your pre-fish results. With a good attitude and confidence in you ability, the results will come.

Finally, I believe that you need a good vibe on the boat, and having fun is a must to enjoy your fishing because winning is not everything.”

WINNING TACKLE Rods:........... G Loomis SJR 844 IMX spin stick, G Loomis CBR 756 casting rod, G Loomis CR 724 IMX casting rod, Temple Fork signature series SWS 764 7’6” 6-12lb Reels:.......... Daiwa Certate 3000, Daiwa Tatula type R 100 H Line:............ S.A.S Tasline all white 30lb braid line, Sunline Super Braid 5 Leader:........ YGK Galis 60lb fluorocarbon leader, Jinki Plus 80lb Terminal:..... TT Area 51 jigheads, Lethal lures Magnum Hypo head weedless rig Lures:.......... Squidgy Slick Rigs 100mm/130mm sizes black & gold colour,Samaki Vibelicious 100mm vibes, Smith Saruna 147, BTD hand made timber lures

were limited to 3 main casting angles. Casting their lures into 10ft of water, the team would slow roll and hop their presentations back to the boat.

The barramundi, which were identified as travelling with the current, were attacking the lures in about 5-6ft of water.

Given the rough country the team employed a no holds

barred approach to hooking and landing barramundi.

“We needed a heavyhanded approach with the fish as the strike area and first jump zone was at the edge of the arena near the boat.

So we fought the fish like a pair of American Bass pros on steroids, as it was extremely important to win the battle at

the first jump. We successfully did this with half the fish we caught and luckily it was enough,” McArthur said.

Ultimately, 22 of the 28 teams landed fish at the Teemburra event. An impressive 128 barramundi were recorded in total, with an average size of 73.27cm. These figures illustrate a dramatic increase in the overall number of barramundi and average size since 2013, and earmark Teemburra as a premier barramundi impoundment.

BIG BARRA The event Big Barra was caught in the second session by Red Rockets and measured a whopping 118cm.

Rapala Kinchant Dam Night Championship Team BTD Lures (Benn Durkin and Matt McArthur) backed up their great start to the 2014 Rapala BARRA Tour with victory at the following event, the Rapala Kinchant Dam Night Championship. The team had taken victory at the same event in 2013, and demonstrated their knowledge and experience of Kinchant Dam by compiling a remarkable 5/5, 560cm total.

McArthur explains the team’s key location and approach.

“After winning the Kinchant Night Championship last year we knew that we would have to have another big bag to try and go back to back winners. We thought that we would need to have over 5m of fish to be in with a chance.

Despite having several hot spots up our sleeve, we again concentrated on last year’s winning location, which surprisingly we had to ourselves,” he said. “The location is a great big fish area and has a constant flow of current, bait and fish on it throughout the different bite times – ideal for what we were looking for. The area we targeted was the underwater ridges and edges of a creek like 106

JANUARY 2015

WINNING WAYS Experience on Kinchant Dam and choice of location were the key factors in the team’s victory.

Benn Durkin with 122cm of prime Kinchant barramundi, one of two. Benn Durkin of Team BTD Lures took this behemoth. area well away from the weed edges that surrounded the dam. We knew from years of experience on the dam that in the 16 hours that lay ahead we should definitely get our limit, which hopefully would have some meter+ fish amongst the mix.”

The team both started with the trusted 130mm Squidgy Slick Rig in black and gold colour rigged with full weight Area 51 jigheads combined with an Owner ST66TN treble. They were rewarded early with a 119cm barramundi hitting the deck and giving the team the start they were looking for.

The team knew that they would need to present different lures to secure the bites on offer and identified key tidal bite times where the

barramundi were receptive.

Using a number of homemade lures (BTD Lures by Benn Durkin), specifically the BTD General in the standard

bib and the deep, the team went about adding to their catch sheet.

“Matt and I have been developing some new barra lures over the last few years.

The bibs were ideal for triggering bites off the deep edges throughout the night,” Durkin explained.

Team BTD Lures continued through the session landing several mid-90cm barramundi and, all importantly, larger upgrades including a 122cm model caught on a hand-crafted 20ft General in white chartreuse back. This was backed up with a 114cm fish at 2am and a 107cm fish with an hour to go in the session.

WINNING TACKLE Rods:........... G. Loomis SJR 844 IMX spin stick, G. Loomis CBR 756 casting rod, G. Loomis CR 724 IMX casting rod, Temple Fork signature series SWS 764 7’6” 6-12lb, G. Loomis 6’6” IMX 10-20lb casting rod Reels:.......... Daiwa Certate 3000, Daiwa Tatula type R 100 H, Daiwa Tatula 100 Line:............ S.A.S Tasline all white 30lb braid line, Sunline Super Braid 5, Suffix 832 30lb Leader:........ YGK Galis 60lb fluorocarbon leader, Jinki Plus 80lb Terminal:..... TT Area 51 jigheads, Lethal lures Magnum Hypo head weedless rig Lures:.......... Squidgy slick rigs 100mm/130mm sizes black & gold colour, Samaki Vibelicious 100mm vibes, Smith Saruna 147, BTD hand made timber lures

“After the 122cm we truly felt we had a good chance of a back to back win, and with Benn running hot we were pretty pumped up. I managed to upgrade several 90cm fish to just under the 1m mark and threw in a good barra with an hour to go to amass a massive bag that kept us on track for the Team of the Year trophy,” McArthur said.

In the end, Kinchant Dam produced the goods with 21 of 26 teams catching barramundi during the tournament. In total 89 fish were recorded for an 8406 cm total. The average fish size was a staggering 94.45cm, showcasing the number and quality of barramundi available at this Mackay hotspot.

BIG BARRA The event Big Barra was a tie that needed to be decided by a count back.

Ultimately, the 122cm barramundi for Team Toray took out the win.

The lure used was a 130 mm Squidgy Slick Rig in black gold colour (tail dyed orange) fitted with a belly stinger hook.

Lucky Craft Peter Faust Dam Evening Event Team Bass Mafia/Rapala (Jon Millard and Ethan Farrell) took out the final event of the 2014 Rapala

BARRA Tour at Peter Faust Dam. The team compiled a 9/10, 884cm total to comprehensively

WINNING WAYS “The key was to move around and adapt to the conditions. Sitting and targeting solely one area wasn’t delivering the results necessary to finish in the placing’s.”

take the win by over 300cm. The team were well placed after the first session, but it was their 5/5, 515cm total in a tough session two that saw them decimate their fellow teams.

Jon Millard, a 30 year old refrigerator mechanic and Ethan Farrell, a 23 year old engineering student,

Overall Tour Big Barra The overall biggest barramundi caught on the 2014 BARRA Tour was a 122cm fish caught

by Neil Wilson at the Rapala Kinchant Dam Night Championship.

This was the first of 3 122cm barramundi caught during the BARRA Tour, with the others caught at Kinchant Dam and Peter Faust.

Team BTD Lures kindly donated a hand carved, boxed set of 3 lures to the winner in recognition of the largest overall fish caught during the 2014 Rapala BARRA Tour.

of what Matt and I have achieved since returning to the ABT circuit. After having 2 years off with family and financial difficulties we were both looking forward to the challenge. I believe that a steadfast dedication to barra fishing over the years has given us the ability and resolve needed to compete at this level of competition.

It is an honour and a privilege to compete against such great ABT anglers that live and breathe barra fishing. I cannot say enough about the other competitors in the barra scene. These

the time spent on the water barra fishing both social and tournament is always a highlight of the year and remains a key focus. To my wife, I would like to thank you for putting up with my obsession and understanding my drive when it comes to barra fishing, you have always supported my decisions even when they were questionable. Finally I would like to recognise all the dedicated barra anglers who attend the tournaments.

Without your support and attitude these events would not be the great time that they are,” Durkin said.

Jon Millard of team Bass Mafia/Rapala took the spotlight away from Team BTD Lures with the help of his teammate, Ethan Farrel, with cracking fish like this. had good form heading into the Peter Faust event with a win at an invitational event at Peter Faust Dam one month prior.

Millard shared his pre-fish analysis with us.

with the majority being caught from the northern end of the dam. The key areas were weedy points where the team found fish in 15-20ft of water.

“Due to the higher

BARRA TOUR the fish were behaving and identify what lures they would respond to.

“We found that most of the fish were coming in the daylight hours. From sundown to the end of the session it was very much a dead patch for us. In the first session it was a bite every hour. Come the second session when we felt we had the fish figured out, that became a bite every 20 minutes,” Millard said.

The key lures for the team were the ever reliable 130mm Squidgy Slick Rig in black gold colour and the Strike King Shadalicious in a variety of colours. The Squidgy Slick Rig was retro fitted with a TT Area 51 jigheads in 3/4-1oz and VMC treble size 2 6x stinger hook on the belly.

The tail was trimmed to maximise vibration and

WINNING TACKLE Rods:...............................ACM Barracaster and Hinchinbrook, Megabass Reels:..............................Daiwa Tatula, Shimano Calais and Metanium Line:................................Suffix 832 20lb-30lb Leader:............................ YGK Galis 50lb-60lb fluorocarbon leader

RESULTS PLACE/TEAM ANGLERS TOTAL

POINTS BTD Lures..................................... Benn Durkin, Matt McArthur............. 298 Nomad Tackle/Hydrowave........... Ken Elliot, William Rechaird.............. 295 Toray............................................. Geoff Newby, Neil Wilson................. 291 Bass Mafia Outdoors/Rapala....... Jon Millard, Ethan Farrel,.................. 289 Minnkota-Toray............................. Justin Welsh, Cameron Johnson...... 285 Humminbird/EJ Todd.................... Craig Griffiths, Karim DeRidder........ 282 Team Power.................................. Trent Power, Donovan Power........... 278 Lowrance/Edge Rods................... Patrick Morgan, Jarrod Dalton.......... 272 Touchin Cloth............................... Ben Wilcox, Matt Zahl....................... 271 Lowrance-Reidy’s Lures............... Peter Price, Aaron Dial...................... 269

water temperature, the fish were actually sitting off the points rather than holding tight. I believe they were looking for the cooler, more temperate water. Bait and fish would come through at regular intervals,” Millard explained.

The team, by their own admission, weren’t confident heading into the first session, but gradually began to recognise how

dyed chartreuse in colour.

“The retrieve was varied with the Squidgy Slick Rigs but with the Strike King was kept to a slow roll. These lures vibrate at a low speed, which the fish really responded well to,” Millard explained.

BIG BARRA The event Big Barra was a 122cm behemoth caught by Colin Brett of Team Dobyn’s/Lucky Craft.

2014

JAN

TOURNAMENT CALENDAR FEBRUARY

guys are all great people willing to share info and techniques and are the first to help out when needed,” Durkin said.

“After having 2 years off due to financial difficulties, and to come back with our 4 best results over 2 years, I’d have to say I’m pretty proud to achieve these results considering the calibre of anglers on the tour. A massive thanks to my team mate Benn Durkin for coming aboard to make this all possible and also to my family and partner for giving me the time on the water I need to be competitive,” McArthur added.

“I would like to thank my team mate and good friend Matt McArthur for taking the time out away from his family to fish these events. I realise it is a major commitment, both financial and personally, to get away and fish these tournaments.

As we always say we don’t do anything by half, but having fun and enjoying

SEPT JUNE MAY

2014 TEAM OF THE YEAR – BTD LURES (BENN DURKIN AND MATT MCARTHUR) Team BTD Lures (Benn Durkin and Matt McArthur) took out the most prestigious award of the 2014 Rapala BARRA Tour, the overall Team of the Year. BTD Lures put themselves in the box seat from the outset with victories in the first two events at Teemburra and Kinchant Dams. A tougher bite at Peter Faust Dam saw the team fall down the standings after the first session, potentially resulting in the team being overtaken by competitors sitting a mere 4 points behind. However, the team quickly regathered and caught the fish to rocket them into overall third place at the event, and securing the team their first Team of the Year title.

Benn Durkin shared his thoughts on capturing the 2014 TOY title.

“I am very proud

“During the pre-fish, the wind was predominantly blowing from the southeast.

The fish were tending to congregate in one area.

When the event started, the wind swung around and started to blow from the north. In turn the fish spread out and the pattern immediately changed, he explained.”

The team found their fish in a variety of locations,

Jan 10-11

Mackay Tournament Angers Round 4 Barra Teemburra

Geoff Newby 0419 183 188

Feb 7-8

Boondooma Dam Yellowbelly Fishing Comp Boondooma Dam

Terry Allwood 0400 860 122

Feb 21

MAFSA Fund Raising Event Teemburra

Geoff Newby 0419 183 188

Feb 28 Dragon Kayak Carp/Tilapia Eradication Comp

Wyaralong Dam

Lloyd Willmann 0429 614 892 www.lafma.org

May 29-31

King of the Pin Jumpinpin

Don Vogel 0411 958 076

Jun 26-28

VMR Bundaberg Family Fishing Classic Bundaberg www.vmrbundabergfishingclassic.com.au

Graeme Morley 0418 734 825

Sep 19-20

2015 Bowen Family Fishing Classic Bowen bowenfamilyfishingclassic@yahoo.com.au

Russ 0428 776 653 Sharon 0438 701 076

Add your tournament or competition to this list by emailing jthomas@ fishingmonthly.com.au or calling 07 3387 0800 in office hours. Just supply a date, venue, tournament name and a telephone number and contact name.

JANUARY 2015

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Maroon Fishing Classic shows lake’s diversity The second Bluefin Lake Maroon Fishing Classic was held on 14-16 November and attracted 462 competitors, including 130 juniors aged 13 and under.

The competition format catered for the novice to the experienced angler. After the briefing on the Friday night, Tim Morgan was on hand to give a presentation about using lures at Maroon Dam and also how to get the most out of a fish finder.

Leeann Payne followed Tim’s presentation and she discussed knots and rigs to use for live bait. There were many beginner anglers involved in the comp and most opted to use live shrimp as bait.

Competitors picked up some great tips during both of these presentations and everything was then set for a 6am start the following morning.

The hooter signalled the start of the event and the boats, canoes and kayaks moved to

Brad Richey, the owner of Bluefin was on site to congratulate Ashley Scott, the senior lucky draw winner, as the new owner of the Bluefin Tournament Drifter, powered by a Mercury 40hp 4-stroke, on a Dunbier trailer. their chosen fishing spot. There was a large number of fishing craft on the water, but even under fishing pressure, Maroon produced some excellent fishing results. Steven Dickens

landed a 47cm bass to take out the senior bass division and he set a new record in the process. There were a few other records broken too, and all species were landed, except

for the elusive Mary River cod.

Category winners were; And special congratulations to Overall Champion Senior Angler Mal Flesser, who amassed 135.2cm, and Patrick Cooney, who’s bag went 137.3cm and earned him Overall Champion Junior Angler, who had the longest combined totals of all species.

The competition was run in a relaxed, family-friendly environment. On the Saturday night there was a kids’ movie on the big screen, followed by a performance from Stereo Blonde. Stereo Blonde also performed leading up to the major prize draws on the Sunday. It was great to have them as part of the competition weekend. Caterers, David and Sonya Cotelli from CJ’s Pasta were also on site and they did a magnificent job.

The infrastructure that was set up around the competitors enabled everyone to just relax, enjoy some quality time with

CATEGORY WINNERS CATEGORY SENIOR JUNIOR Australian bass................. Steven Dickens (47cm) *New Record............Cooper Temple (41.6cm) Yellowbelly........................ Jamie Brooker (53cm) *New Record..............Jamie Finlay (46.1cm) *New Record Silver perch....................... Claire Batch (44.2cm)....................................Patrick Cooney (36.2cm) Spangled perch................ Anthony Johns (24.3cm) *New Record..........Alex Sawatzki (23.2cm) Eel-tailed catfish............... Neil Cobbin (52.5cm).....................................Paddy O’Toole (51cm)

CASH PRIZES S CASH &&PRIZE AN AN AVAILABLE AVAILABLE TOTO OF ESTIMATED VALUE ESTIMATED VALUE 0O OF $25,000 $25,0 Brei fi Prize ng & Ra ndo Dr nigh aws Frid m regis t 8pm a ay trati t on s ite

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JANUARY 2015

015 FFeebb 220 8tthh SSuunn 8 & & h t h 7 t t 7 SSaat Hoours: CCoommpp. HSat tto a 55aammSmSSuunn a to1100am Major Prize Giveaways boat and freak double agent Kayak

mates or family, and to just focus on the fishing.

There were plenty of prizes on offer, and this year, there were more random give-a-ways spread across the weekend. The comp attracted more sponsors this year, which no doubt added to the overall success of the event. I know it took a few days to sink in for Ashley Scott that he had just picked up a Bluefin Drifter Tournament,

powered by a 40hp Mercury 4-stroke outboard on a Dunbier trailer as the senior lucky door winner. And likewise for Sam Ryan who picked up the Bluefin 3.0 Catfish as the junior lucky door prize.

Bluefin’s contribution to the competition was extremely generous and one that is greatly appreciated. Bluefin will once again be the major sponsor the event in 2015, which will ensure the competition only gets bigger and better. So pencil the dates in now and be a part of the 3rd annual Bluefin Lake Maroon Fishing Classic scheduled for 13-15 November 2015.

During the warmer months, fishing can definitely slow for freshwater impoundments in the middle of the day. This was to be the ideal time to conduct the Abu Garcia & Shakespeare Kids’ Casting Competition.

It proved to be a popular competition, which involved a workshop just prior to the commencement of the competition and allowed all the kids to have a practice round.

Cameron Dixon took out the title of Champion Boy and Jade Matthews won the title of the Champion Girl.

As mentioned, there were also plenty of random draw give-a-ways during the comp, as well as merchandise purchase and early entry random draws. Douglas Cobbin was one of the lucky winners of the early entry draw, picking up an Old Town Vapor 12S Kayak. Tom Edwards was wrapped with his Humminbird 688 Di HD Combo Fish Finder as an early entry prize and so too were Marty Branigan and Milton Peters who both picked up Nordic Stage Favorites fishing rods.

For a full list of the prize winners together with the sponsors’ prizes, go to the Camp Lake Fire or Sports Tuition websites.

Special thank you to all the sponsors who made the event such a success; Bluefin, L. Wilson & Co, Austackle, Rapala, Dunbier, Bush n Beach Fishing Magazine, BLA, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Shakespeare, Nordic Stage, Dunbier, Old Town Canoes & Kayaks, Mercury, Bob Jane T-Marts Mt Ommaney, Damiki, Humminbird, Qld Fishing Monthly, BCF, EvaKool, Coles, Westfield, Westpac, Tackle Land and Barz Optics.

These sponsors contributed to each fish category prize; and in addition to this, some sponsors also contributed to the kids’ sample bags. L. Wilson & Co also provided a substantial amount, including a Wilson Fishing satchel as the bag itself and they contributed; Wilson Slick Back lures, Mustad hooks, Wilson stickers and SureCatch lures. In addition to this the bag also had Berkley soft plastics, a Spin & Turn Spinnerbait, Queensland Fishing Monthly magazine, Bush n Beach Fishing Magazine and Bush n Beach Fishing sticker, a Westpac pencil and a Sports Tuition $30 voucher.

It made for some very happy young anglers and for the $15 early entry fee, it was pretty good value!

L. Wilson & Co also provided some lure packs for some novelty catches, which included Elijah Croxford’s 35cm turtle and Donald Osbourne’s massive eel.

Hope to see you at next year’s event. – Steve Wilkes

Wyaralong Dam comp The ‘carp out - natives in’ concept was started by a small group of concerned anglers in the Rathdowney/Beaudesert area to get introduced noxious carp out of the Logan and Albert River systems and replace them with native fish.

Logan & Albert Fish Management Assoc (LAFMA), formally known as Carpbusters, have run seven successful Carp Eradication Competitions from 1998 to 2004. They have removed more than 10 tonne of carp from the rivers and raised approximately $75,000 to purchase fingerlings (Australian bass and Mary River cod) for their native fish stocking program.

With money raised from these competitions, other fundraising efforts in the local community, and some annual funding from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) Recreational Fishing Enhancement Program,

approximately 1 million Australian bass and 46,500 Mary River cod fingerlings have been released into the upper Logan and Albert River systems since 1998.

In 2012, after pressure from the public to get a recreational fishery started in the newly completed Wyaralong Dam (between Beaudesert and Boonah), LAFMA applied to Fisheries to have its stocking permit amended to include Wyaralong Dam. Permission was granted allowing us to stock Bass and Mary River cod. Our fund-raising efforts now had to go up a few gears as MR cod fingerling do not come cheap and we wanted to create a cod fishery for South East Queensland. There were so many bass fisheries already existing that our aim is to create a Mary River cod fishery in Wyaralong, with a back up of Australian bass.

Wyaralong Dam was

built on Teviot Brook, a tributary of the Logan River that is inundated with carp and now tilapia. Damming Teviot Brook at Wyaralong has created a haven for these noxious fish whose numbers appear to have exploded. The purpose of the comp is ‘to kill a few birds with the one stone’ by: (1) raise some funds to stock fingerlings into the dam (2) eradicate some of the pests (3) educate the general public on noxious fish.

LAFMA has run two successful Carp Eradication competitions at the dam and will be running our third, a Carp & Tilapia Eradication competition on Saturday 28 February 2015. All proceeds from the competition purchase bass and Mary River cod fingerlings for the dam.

For more information go to www.lafma.org.

– Lloyd Willmann

THE RECREATIONAL ANGLER’S LINK Christmas is done and dusted so now it’s time to test out all those great presents. Judging by the crowds at BCF and Tackleworld during the silly season, there are lots to test run. Apart from an odd blip in the weather, it has been great for those fishing and crabbing in the bays and estuaries here in the Southeast.

Since all we know is that the election is to be held sometime in the first half of next year, I can probably highlight the 3 individual areas in our Haven proposal over the coming months.

The first one up is Moreton Island and this month has seen quite a few community meetings on the island. Local communities and businesses are feeling the impacts from the wholesale removal of the local spawning stock of summer whiting in the last couple of months. This is their first spawning for the season with the second due early in the New Year, sadly the numbers left for that event will be severely diminished along our foreshores.

As mentioned last month, fisheries managers do not have the tools to measure or manage localised depletion. To add salt to the wounds the whiting netted by the beach gillnetters did not generally appear in the numbers they should have in local markets. The bulk was sent directly to Sydney markets and what little was to be found here was being sold at up to $48/kg for fillets, well out of reach of the average family.

We have been meeting with various sitting and potential Queensland politicians to explain the rationale behind our proposal and to this date they appear to have been supportive of the reasonable and conservative approach that we are suggesting.

NSW has 30 recreational fishing havens and has had the opportunity to invest in some fairly rigorous studies. The NSW Department of Primary

Industries commissioned a report on the Lake Tuross Recreational Fishing Haven estuary pre and post Haven declaration.

The Tuross Lake estuary was zoned a ‘Recreational Fishing Haven’ (RFH) following community consultation. There was an important need to assess whether the recreational

productive recreational fishery in the Tuross Lake estuary.

Comparisons made between the two separate daytime, boatbased, recreational fishing surveys indicate that the post-RFH recreational fishery was very different to the fishery that had existed prior to the implementation of the RFH. We documented statistically significant increases in

KEY MESSAGES

• MBMP is 3400km2, we are asking for 115km2 or 3%.

• Mostly the haven areas are only 400m out from the low water line.

• There are approx. 405,000 recreational fishers in the Moreton Bay Catchment.

• We are NOT asking for access to existing green zones in this proposal.

• Fish caught in the haven area is generally not supplying the local markets.

• 3% of what is caught for commercial sale in MBMP (excluding trawl) is only $207,000.

• Last year, $1.9 million Recreational Use Fee was collected in the Moreton Bay Catchment.

• We are not suggesting a buyback but an offset proposal with FRDC (Fisheries Research Development Corporation) to benefit the commercial sector. fisheries in this RFH were improving and providing better quality recreational fishing. This report focuses on comparisons made between two separate daytime, boatbased, recreational fishing surveys of the Tuross Lake estuary. The first annual survey was done during the pre-RFH period (March 1999-February 2000) and the second annual survey was done during the post-RFH period (December 2003-November 2004). These annual surveys provide a snapshot of the recreational fishery before RFH implementation and after RFH implementation.

The two recreational fishing surveys provide evidence of a relatively

and cephalopods was recorded during the post-RFH survey year. The recreational harvest of dusky flathead and sand whiting (number and weight), yellow fin bream (number only) and sand mullet (weight only) had increased significantly during the post-RFH survey year; Fishing effort (number of boat trips) increased significantly by about 25.2% during the post- RFH survey

year. Significant harvest rate differences between corresponding seasons in the two survey years were detected.

These significant differences in seasonal harvest rates between survey years indicate that major changes have occurred in the fishery since the pre-RFH survey period.

This report bodes well for the future of Moreton Bay Recreational Fishing Haven.

– Judy Lynne

recreational harvest for some prized recreational species.

Overall, the indicators of recreational fishing quality that we examined indicated that the post-RFH fishery had improved in many ways since the pre-RFH survey period.

A significant increase, by weight (41.6%), in the annual harvest of fish, crabs

www.sunfishqld.com.au

Email: judylynne@sunfishqld.com.au

JANUARY 2015

109

What’s New BOATING

1

YAMAHA END OF AN ERA

Yamaha Motor Australia announces the end of the legendary V4 Saltwater Series 115C and 130B outboard motors in Australia. These trusted outboards have been powering Australian boaters for almost 3 decades and are well recognised for their performance and have an enviable reputation for reliability and durability forged in one of the harshest saltwater markets in the world.

These engines will no longer be part of Yamaha’s range in the Australian market once the remaining units are sold.

The V4 Saltwater series of engines were introduced in the 1980s and have always been hugely popular in Australia.

Complimenting boats in the 5-6m range, V4 saltwater series engines can be found on many of the classic hulls from that era and today.

Both the 115C and 130B Saltwater Series engines will still receive full technical back up from Yamaha’s nationwide network of authorised dealerships as well as a full range of spare parts to keep these engines running long into the future. – Yamaha Motor Australia

2

2014 OCEANIA GRAND PRIX

Yamaha’s 2014 Oceania Marine Technician Grand Prix has been run and won.

The Yamaha technician GP is a training and skills contest where the best technicians from all over Australia and New Zealand come to compete. Competitors are put through a series of challenges to test their knowledge and skill in a simulated workshop environment.

This year, Brendan Irvine from Leon and Paul Savages Streaker Boats, Bayswater, Victoria excelled in this gruelling event, earning the title of best Yamaha Marine Technician, 2014.

Back for a third year and qualifying highest in his region, Brendan competed against another 7 finalists from around Australia and New Zealand at Yamaha’s Marine Training Headquarters in Brisbane.

Utilising his past experience from previous GP events and the enhancement of his skills through Yamaha’s Technical Academy training, Brendan held off a very formidable runner up in Tony Powell from Telfer Marine, Rotorua, New Zealand. – Yamaha Motor Australia

3

MOTORGUIDE XI5

MotorGuide’s new Xi5 wireless trolling motor has been a double bonus for Brian Everingham, helping him defeat his opponents... and entertain his kids.

Brian, one of Australia’s leading tournament fishers has found the Xi5 to be “excellent” for both its technological advances and its super quiet operation.

“I’ve had the Xi5 for several months now and I’ve used it in all sorts of conditions and it’s great. I’m really happy with it,” said Brian.

And why wouldn’t he be? The Xi5 has been designed to exceed expectations. It’s reliable every day and durable over the long haul. It’s backed by a lifetime warranty and it is wireless capable right out of the box.

“I can pre-fish an area the day before and save it to memory, so when the contest starts the motor will take me to exactly the same spot. You can drop right on top of the school of fish you want. – Mercury Marine

4

NEW A-SALT MIXING UNIT

The New A-Salt Mixing Unit has been purposely designed to dispense the SaltAway Concentrate formula. Designed for ease of use with a new throttle type control valve to switch from ‘off’ to ‘rinse’ to ‘Salt-Away’ and will handle high Australian and New Zealand water pressures.

No competitor’s dispenser on the market is the same as Salt-Attack’s. The receptacle holds 100mL and has been tested to withstand water pressure up to 120psi.

Ideal for outboard flushing with our Deluxe Muffs and you can wash down by adding our spray gun. The Salt-Away concentration is required for Outboard and Jetski engine flushes and most Inboard flushes.

To flush your engine, put 40-60mL (min 1/2-3/4 cup) of Salt-Away concentrate into A mixer cup for up to 90hp motor, and for 90300hp use 80mL (full cup), and use to wash boat, trailer, fishing and diving gear. Follow engine flush instructions included or visit web site www.salt-away.com.au. – Salt-Away

5

Navico, the world’s largest manufacturer of marine electronics and parent company to the Lowrance, Simrad and B&G brands, has announced the launch of its newest brand, GoFree.

Designed to deliver content and services to consumers in the way they have come to expect from modern electronics, the GoFree brand for use with Lowrance, Simrad and B&G Multifunction Displays (MFDs), as well as mobile devices, gives boaters access to what they want, when and where they want it.

GoFree products include all existing Insight charts, Insight Genesis personalised mapping service with Social Map community data sharing, BioBase aquatic map Software as a Service (SaaS), the online GoFree Shop which offers content from Jeppesen, NV Charts and more, wireless telematics solutions and the GoFree family of mobile apps for iOS and Android products.

For more information on GoFree, the GoFree Shop, the GoFree App or the entire line of Navico marine electronics, please contact 1300 NAVICO in Australia and 0800 4 NAVICO in New Zealand. – Navico

6

JANUARY 2015

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NAVICO – GOFREE

4

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MERCURY 75TH ANNIVERSARY

For 75 years Mercury has maintained an unmatched record of leadership, innovation and service – inventing, designing, building and perfecting the very best marine propulsion systems in the world.

Now everyone is invited to join the celebrations. To help mark Mercury Marine’s rich history, a limited edition 75th Anniversary range of Mercury Apparel is now available including hats, t-shirts, hoodies and fleeces.

All items are covered by a 14-day replacement or refund policy, as long as the returned items are in original condition.

The unique 75th Anniversary range is only available while stocks last, so go online and visit the Mercury Dockstore at www. mercurydockstore.com.au where you’ll be able to see the full range of Mercury merchandise.

Coming soon to the Mercury Dockstore: Mercury Racing apparel! Perform at your best and look great doing it.

For media enquiries contact Jonathan Revitt on (08) 8267 6888. – Mercury Marine

Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au

110

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111

Select the right sounder BRISBANE

Nabeel Issa

So how do you pick the right sounder for your boat? There are heaps of different options available on the market now. Advances in sonar

to read the screen from your position as you are driving or as you are fishing, without having to squint or get right up to the screen. It’s true what they say, bigger is better – always go the biggest screen you can afford.

SONAR FEATURES There are quite a few

better detail and the ability to scan further distances than a 7” square screen would.

TOUCH SCREEN The last few years has seen the introduction of touch screen sounders.

Available across a number of different brands, at first I was a bit reserved about a

A 7” screen is the perfect size for kayaks – big enough without being cumbersome. technology the last few years have been incredible and now many of the ‘top end’ features are available in budget priced units.

Of course more options mean it can be tricky to decide on which sounder to get so hopefully this article can help make things a little clearer and get you picking the best sounder for your needs.

SCREEN SIZE Firstly the best way to narrow down the options is to decide on which screen size you need. Everyone has their own fishing styles so it’s important to pick something that will help you the most.

Generally sounders come in sizes ranging from 3” up to 12”. Boat size shouldn’t have a great deal of influence on this decision. What’s important is to make sure that the screen will be big enough to show you what you need.

For example, if you like to run split screens, a larger screen will be necessary.

Ideally you will be able

different sonar options available, as I have mentioned in previous articles such as traditional 2D sonar, down scan, side scan, chirp etc, and each has their advantages. It pays to do your research on these and work out which will benefit you the most.

Lowrance HDS Units give you the option to chop and change. You can start with a basic Fish Finder/ Chartplotter unit and as you save a bit more money you can add features, such as side scan and chirp, whichever is applicable to your style of fishing.

If side scan is your thing, look for a sounder with a wide screen. A wide screen will allow you to show more detail on your image, as opposed to a square shaped screen. When side scanning, you want to be using the whole width of the screen, not necessarily the height.

To put it in perspective, a 7” wide rectangle screen is going to give you much

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touch screen sounder on a boat. My thoughts were that they would be difficult to use in wet weather, with messy fingers, bait etc. This was based on my experiences of trying to use my iPhone with wet fingers in the rain.

When first purchasing my HDS Touch however, I was pleasantly surprised at how responsive the touch screen actually is. One of my first outings was in the rain and I didn’t have any problems at all navigating the screen. They are designed for the harsh marine environment and so if you are worried

Top: Having a 4-way split screen is a great benefit of a larger screen.

Above: A wider screen will allow you to cover a greater area but still keep a crystal clear image.

Photo courtesy of Lee Parkhouse (Simrad NSS12).

about it being hard to use, don’t stress!

Touch screen sounders make life a lot easier.

Navigating through menus, entering GPS Coordinates

shares information such as waypoints and trails, which is helpful when you have a separate sounder mounted on the front casting deck.

Some sounders will also

standard bracket so the RAM bracket worked well for my set up. I also use one for my front mounted sounder to lift the sounder higher to make it easier to read while standing

From 3-12” screens, there is a sounder to suit everyone’s budget. and scrolling around the screen is just a touch away and far quicker and easier than having to use the keypad arrows to go back and forth to select the desired option – anyone who has put in a bunch of GPS coordinates this way will know what I mean!

MULTIPLE UNITS If you like running multiple units on your boat, it’s worth checking if the sounders you purchase will be able to ‘talk’ to each other.

Lowrance HDS units are able to share all sonar data when you connect the 2 via an Ethernet cable. This allows you to view your down scan and side scan on more than 1 unit in the boat.

Likewise, it also

share GPS Maps; this will save you having to purchase 2 map cards.

MOUNTING OPTIONS Depending on what sort of boat set up you have, there are multiple ways to mount your sounder. Sounders will come standard with a bracket that can be fixed down to any flat surface and is how most anglers mount theirs.

If you are like me and prefer to be able to swing the unit around, there are a plethora of aftermarket brackets and mounts available that you can use. I have my sounder on a RAM bracket that I have fixed down into the gunnel of my boat. I don’t have a wide enough flat spot to mount the

and fishing.

The RAM bracket mounts also work well on kayaks. Space is generally hard to come by on a kayak so having your sounder mounted on the bracket gives you the option to move it around. A 4, 5 and 7” sized screen tends to be the pick for kayak anglers, any bigger and they can start to get in the way.

So hopefully those few topics will get you thinking about your next purchase and give you a bit of insight into deciding which unit will be best suited for you. Find something that’s within your budget, do some research and most importantly put in the time to learn how to use it.

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Karee Marine’s Nitro Z6 Mercury Verado spinning the prop.

While the Z6 is an entrylevel rig, it’s by no means

BRISBANE

Wayne Kampe wkff@aapt.net.au

The US-made line of Nitro boats are well known in Australian sportfishing circles.

Sleek, very streamlined and fast, Nitro are one of several bass boats renowned for their low profile, impressive rooster tail wakes when under way, and their almost pontoonlike stability at rest.

Designed basically as smooth water craft, these low slung performanceoriented rigs were initially designed for the niche US bass fishing competition market, where getting to the chosen hotspot is everything, because 10 minutes extra fishing time can make or break a tournament win. Not surprisingly, the popularity of impoundment and other smooth water fishing competitions in Australia has seen Nitro boats well received here.

It’s a fact of life that Nitro have chalked up a lot of runs with their ‘Z’ series boats, which range from their entry level Z6 (maximum power 115hp), through to the bells-and-whistles Z21 flagship with a 300hp

short of desirable features, as I was to find after a morning aboard new owner Shaun Barker’s Z6 in the Jumpinpin

TECHNICAL INFORMATION Length:.............................................................5.28m Beam:...............................................................2.29m Length on trailer:.............................................. 7.1m Hull construction:.................................... Fibreglass Weight hull:......................................................589kg Deadrise:........................................... 15° at transom Fuel capacity:......................................................83L Persons:..................................................................3 Recommended power:................................... 115hp Engine fitted:.....Mercury 115 Pro XS Optimax 2-stroke Towing:....6 or big 4 cylinder family sedan or wagon

The Nitro doing what it does best: travelling fast. Note the manner in which spray is thrown well away from the hull.

With almost half of the Z6 devoted to a forward casting deck, there’s ample room for a couple of anglers to work comfortably.

Shaun at the wheel of his Nitro Z6. Note the plush bucket seats, plus the casting deck aft.

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area. With a 115hp Mercury Optimax Pro XS on the transom, I expected Shaun’s boat to be quick, but what also pleasantly surprised me was the way the 5.28m Nitro handled some of the chop we encountered during our test morning.

With its 650mm exterior side height, 500mm interior depth, and 12° hull V section aft, the Nitro Z6 is basically a smooth water craft, but once the rig was up and planing we could stretch its legs and have a lot of fun with the Opti’s willing performance and an acceptably smooth ride.

With a length of 5.20m, a beam of 2.29m, and a hull weight of 589kg, the Z6 is

02

both a solidly stable rig at rest plus very beamy — the latter attribute being a big plus when a couple of anglers are standing to work on one of the rig’s casting decks. Linking that work room, plus inherent stability, to the Nitro Z6’s on-board features, attention to detail in finish plus overall high comfort levels are what makes it such a winner.

Incidentally, both the massive front casting deck and deck aft of the central seating are covered in hookless carpet to avoid hassles with needle sharp trebles. I wish I had that in my boats!

That’s a tiny glimpse of what the Nitro Z6 is

about; let’s take a more in depth look.

SPORTFISHING LAYOUT Up front, a 54lb Minn Kota sits at the ready for

when it’s time to come off the plane and start fishing. Paired alloy side hatches within the front deck are ready for gear storage, such as a spare seat ready to slip into the deck

The Z6’s large under-deck rod locker could also be used for wet storage as it is fully drained.

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The Nitro’s 121L live well aft comes with an aerator and pump-out capacity.

spigot adjacent to the Minn Kota’s foot pedal. An underfloor battery charger was standard fitment to service the electric’s battery. Tie down straps for rigged rods were provided to port on the front casting deck, while the large fore/aft locker with its alloy hatch located centrally within the deck was designed to accommodate several rods up to 2m or more. Both butts and tips are fully protected below the floor.

This locker is also drained, so it could be used for a host of other functions (obviously without rods in situ!), including wet gear storage or even the catch.

A 40L icebox was located under the carpeted, drinkholder-equipped step leading from the seating area to the forward casting deck. A

handy feature, that.

Seating aft of the Z6’s twin windscreen consoles consisted of 3 well-formed bucket seats, each with storage underneath. Nitro have obviously done some serious work to get this ‘one size fits all’ seating just right, as Sean’s a pretty big bloke.

Despite initial concerns, he advised me he was quite comfy at the helm. As someone a little challenged for size, all helm areas seem to suit me fine, but I did appreciate the legroom under the skipper’s console, plus easy reach of the sidemounted engine controls while at the wheel.

The Z6’s dash layout was compact, very tidy, and easily managed, with an array of gauges set each side of the Lowrance Mark-5x

The Nitro’s multi-purpose side storage compartments up front now come with alloy hatches for longevity.

Pro sounder, which is a standard fitting. Gauges to port consisted of trim and tacho, while to starboard were speedometer and fuel. Switches were lower and each side of the sports style wheel that is linked to hydraulic steering. A master switch and ignition key lay to port, with others set up for the live well pump, bilge pump and aerator to starboard. Sean’s keen on his fishing, maybe even some competition work, so had a Lowrance HDS-9 fitted to the starboard side of the Nitro’s helm console as an adjunct to the Mark-5x Pro unit.

With storage areas under all 3 central seats, twin side hatches aft were equipped with handy lift-out boxes that were slotted to accommodate tackle trays, while a 121L divider-equipped live well was set up centrally. This area also served as a casting platform for an angler.

Rounding up transom features was a boarding ladder set to port of the engine. A very svelte finish, sparkling gel coat, and attention to detail everywhere characterised the Z6.

UP ON THE PLANE With the (maximum power) 115hp Mercury Optimax DFI 2-stroke on the Nitro’s transom and a relatively low hull weight of just 589kg, it would be entirely reasonable to expect sparkling performance, and let me assure you there were no disappointments! With Sean and I aboard and 83L of fuel under the floor, the 12° V hull lifted somewhat under power from the 1.5L 3 cylinder engine, then dropped neatly onto the plane as speed increased.

Easing back, I noted the hull remaining on the plane at 13 knots with 2600rpm on the tacho. At 3000rpm we had 21 knots recorded, 4000rpm was 28 knots, 5000rpm showed

40 knots, and 5600rpm an eye-watering 45 knots. We struck some chop in the main channel near Crusoe Island, but with the Nitro up and humming, the ride was hardly what one could call bumpy. It was good to see

make fishing as easy as possible. With the thrilling performance, a gentle ride in conditions the craft is designed for, tremendous stability, plus virtually all features a competition or otherwise dedicated angler

worked perfectly for solo launch and retrieval. Supplied

by Karee Marine the rig (minus the Lowrance HDS-9) would come home for $44,500.

Karee can be contacted on (07) 3875 1600 or on the net at www.kareemarine.com.au

Recommended power, the 115hp Mercury Optimax Pro XS, was a good match. the spray flicking off to the side too.

The trick with this sort of hull in less than smooth conditions is to get up on the plane and just go, aiming to keep the hull high and moving swiftly. In smooth water it’s go for broke, which these rigs are very, very good at! Rooster tails are all part of the fun.

I found the Z6 was quite lively in turns without any sideslip or other unwanted traits, and a real pleasure to drive. Trim was important as there could be a little porpoising if trimmed excessively, but as the rig was instantly responsive to trim input, it could be swiftly corrected.

FISHABILITY AND SUMMING UP The Nitro Z6’s job description is to get to spots quickly, and once there

Lift-out boxes are a feature of the Nitro’s aft platform; note the slots for tackle trays. might desire, the Z6 will fulfil all requirements admirably.

Nitro have earned a reputation as a high performance rig, and the Z6 certainly carries on the tradition. The reviewed craft was carried on a Dunbier skid and roller trailer, which

• Quoted performance figures have been supplied by the writer in good faith. Performance of individual boat/motor/ trailer packages may differ due to variations in engine installations, propellers, hull configurations, options, hull loading and trailer specifications.

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REBEL AUTO REPAIRS WEIPA 27 Iraci Ave, Weipa Phone: 07 4069 7708

THE BOAT CHANDLERY BUDDINA 12 Orana St Buddina 4575 Phone: 07 5444 8625 or 0402 105 502

BUTLERS MARINE SERVICE BUNDABERG 1 Collins St Bundaberg East 4670 Phone: 07 4152 5660

SEA ADEX CAPALABA 2/82 Redland Bay Rd Capalaba 4157 Mobile: 0414 821 448

GOLD COAST BOAT WORX Unit 1/10 Pacific Ave, Miami 4220 Phone: 07 5572 0639

STEVE FLEETWOOD MARINE GLADSTONE 10 Morgan St Gladstone 4680 Phone: 07 4972 9463

BOATIES WAREHOUSE MARYBROUGH 21 Ellena St Marybrough 4650 Phone: 07 4122 4819 or 0423 219 717

TWEED TACKLE AND MARINE 47 Greenway Drive, Tweed Head South 2486 Phone: 07 5523 3535

DEALER ENQUIRIES WELCOME

RELEASED

60HP $6500

*These prices at participating stores. Additional installation costs may apply.

KINGAROY GREAT OUTDOOR AND MARINE 1 Ivens St Kingaroy 4610 Phone: 07 4163 6333 BONZA AUTOMOTIVE 45 ARNOLD ST, AEROGLEN 4870 Phone: 07 4058 2776

BBB MARINE AND WELDING SERVICES PADGET/MACKAY 81 Archibald St Padget via Mackay 4740 Phone: 07 4952 1412 GATEWAY BAIT AND TACKLE BRIBIE ISLAND / PACIFIC BLUE MOBILE MARINE 1383 Bribie Island Rd Ningi 4511 Phone: 07 5429 8825 or 0417 027 086

JANUARY 2015

115

Bluefin Wrangler 620 BRISBANE

Wayne Kampe wkff@aapt.net.au

The Wrangler 620 is the largest boat currently manufactured by Bluefin Boats. A massive all-plate alloy centre console featuring a raised foredeck and a powerfully built T-Top complete with rod holders, this is undoubtedly an offshore warrior with some serious attitude.

a substantial lift in the craft’s sheer line offers a great work area thanks to a side height of 730mm. Paired storage hatches are located within the deck, while a seat spigot provided some flexibility in seating arrangements. This is in addition to the bench style helm seating, with an additional seat being an option.

A large divider-equipped and plumbed live well was set into the rear of the casting deck. This could also be utilised as an additional storage

TECHNICAL INFORMATION Length:.............................................................6.23m Beam:...............................................................2.30m Length on trailer:..............................................8.1m Height on trailer:...............................................3.2m Hull construction:.......................4mm plate bottom,.

3mm topsides Deadrise:............................................................. 23° Fuel:................................................................... 175L Engines:....................................................130-175hp Engine fitted:.......................... 150 Mercury 4-stroke Persons:..................................................................6 Towing:.. Family six wagon, or large 4WD ute or wagon And yet it’s certainly an eye-catching craft. Even sitting quietly at the water’s edge at Southport, the Wrangler 620 created quite a stir. Heads turned on shore; other boaters just stared. In her deep grey/ black livery with contrasting wrap and numbers, it’s just that sort of craft.

GENERAL LAYOUT With 3mm sides and 4mm bottom plate construction ensuring strength and longevity, this centre console sports huge amounts of fishing room within its overall length of 6.23m and beam of 2.3m.

Up front, aft of the big anchor well and solid bow rail, a raised deck area well protected by

area. As elsewhere within the Wrangler, all floor areas were covered with hookless carpet, which offered sure footing and was a pleasure to stand on.

With its massive overhead framework, the console was equipped with a windscreen, 4 side grab rails, and featured a set of rod holders on its rearmost lip. Despite its height, rods could still be easily reached. Storage was provided on 2 levels within the centre console, with a hatch cover providing weatherproof storage for a central compartment.

Instruments on the dash area were well laid out, with a Lowrance HDS12 unit to port,

and a soft lined compartment set to starboard. For easy use by the skipper, the big Lowrance interfaced with the Mercury 150 powerplant in the usual manner.

On a lower level on the dash area were 2 banks of switches, the craft’s 3-spoke steering wheel, ignition switch, plus engine controls.

Paired drink holders were lower again, and in a handy position for use by skipper and first mate while seated on a well-padded storage box with a fore/aft backrest. An icebox was set up aft of the helm seat.

The manufacturers were generous with the hookless carpet throughout.

AN ANGLERORIENTATED COCKPIT The Wrangler’s cockpit work area was also well designed for the utmost in angler comfort. Decks atop gunwales were around 300mm wide and featured SeaDek inserts as a comfy calm water seat. The 640mm-high interior sides also incorporated rod racks, offering full tip protection within tubes set into the side of the craft for 3 rods

BOAT LIGHT KIT • Run for 12 hours and still start your motor • Hook up bait and tie knots with ease • Never replace a bulb - Virtually indestructible • Fully waterproof (they will run under water) IP68 • No stumbling around the boat

• Rig up quickly and safely • Lights up all your wells • 12v easy to fit DIY, • Commercial quality product • 50,000 hour life span

L SPECIAR OFFE E 8 METR t kit h

Boat lig

169

$

NOW BLUE AND WHITE - DUEL COLOUR LEDS

www.korrlighting.com.au For further product information and purchase details

116

JANUARY 2015

A lot of heads turned to admire the Wrangler 620’s fine lines when resting on the beach at Southport.

per side. Paired rod holders were also set into gunwales, while another couple of rod holders graced the craft’s aft bait station. While the cockpit floor was not self-draining, any water finding its way aboard would be directed to a sump aft to be swiftly pumped overboard.

Transom features included hatches for battery and fuel filter access, a 30L plumbed live bait tank to starboard, a lockable entry door to port that converted to a ramp to haul in a big fish, while a folddown boarding ladder was set immediately aft.

MERCURY 150 NOT MAX POWER The well performing 150hp Mercury 4-stroke outboard — set on a full width pod — was not top power. Interestingly, Bluefin has allocated 175hp as a top weight in order to cater for twin rigs. That said, the 150 Mercury made easy work of powering the boat with 3 aboard. These big block engines have been very well received since their release last year, and as the saying goes, there’s no replacement for displacement.

The Merc’ 150, so quiet at idle, easily pushed the Wrangler’s 960kg 23° deep vee hull onto the plane at a mere 10 knots at 2000rpm.

At 3000rpm the Lowrance recorded 18 knots, 4000rpm saw 26.5 knots, 5000 had 38 knots, and wideopen throttle of 5800rpm a blistering 42 knots. All speeds were recorded with 3 aboard and a half

Besides being a great place to fish, the Wrangler’s forward casting deck also featured twin hatches and a large live well. tank (175L) of fuel under the floor.

With fingertip-light hydraulic steering and plenty of get-up-and-go from the Mercury, the Wrangler was such a pleasure to drive it was hard to fend off the other folk who wanted a crack at

extremely quiet, yet the rig was covering a lot of ground in a very fuel-efficient manner.

Test runs within the Southport Broadwater and on the Seaway gave a strong indication of the craft’s potential as an offshore rig.

Featuring Bluefin’s Eziride

Although not top power, the 150 Mercury 4-stoke certainly made easy work of powering the big Wrangler. the helm! I found cruising at around 3500rpm to be really great. At those revs, around 23 knots, the Mercury was

hull, the big Wrangler simply couldn’t be made to pound or wallop when crossing wash or coming off waves

in the Seaway entrance. The hull’s design ensured a very sea-kindly ride at all times and a quiet one at that, thanks no doubt to the amount of foam fill below the floor and strong sections of cross ribs and longitudinal bracing.

Not surprisingly, with such high sides and that large sheer line lift within the bow area, there was very little water making a nuisance of itself when travelling fast in choppy conditions. It’s important to remember that open boats always have the potential to get a bit wet at times, but in my view it would only be with the Wrangler travelling across big chop or solid wave action

with wind on the quarter that there would be any need for a spray jacket.

FISHABILITY AND SUMMING UP Purpose-built as a fishing rig, the Wrangler 620 has great potential. Rated for up to 6 anglers, I’d see 4 fishing it easily, maybe even 6 in the right conditions given the 2 work areas both up front and aft of the centre console. Those aboard would find plenty of room for tackle boxes and the like within storage areas,

there’s a bait tank aft, a big fish box up front, and lots of side height to ensure comfort when offshore. With its large pressings and massive spray chines, the plate hull featured impressive stability at rest and would no doubt endear itself to anglers fishing wide.

Surprisingly, there were no side pockets within the cockpit area, but on the credit side was the fact that rods could be stored in complete safety thanks to the built-in tubes within the sides, and

Compact yet very functional best describes the Wrangler’s helm set up.

Features such as the Wrangler’s spray chine and belowwater pressings are easily seen in this launch image.

Safe storage for valuable rods is going to be a selling point with this craft.

the fact that the cockpit sides were also soft lined with hookless carpet.

In summing up the 620 Wrangler and 150 Mercury package, I saw it as a really well put together offshore rig with a lot of workroom and plenty of comfort for those aboard. Seating options are available for anglers wanting to take out a few people at a time, and it’s a topic Bluefin will discuss.

I found the overall finish and fitout to be exceptionally good. Welds were visible but very neat, with the standard of paint finish and upholstery work of the highest quality.

Pride of ownership would be a big plus with this craft.

Options on the test rig included the vinyl wrap, folding ladder, Lowrance HDS 12, and raised front casting deck. The reviewed craft, on a custom Bluefin trailer, is available as a package, and Bluefin Boats can be contacted on (07) 5571 5277 or at www.bluefinboats.com. au for a dealer nearest you.

• Quoted performance figures have been supplied by the writer in good faith.

Performance of individual boat/motor/ trailer packages may differ due to variations in engine installations, propellers, hull configurations, options, hull loading and trailer specifications.

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JANUARY 2015

117

This section in QLD Fishing Monthly consolidates the trades and services in your area that are relevant to your fishing and boating. Whether you’re a local looking for more options or a travelling angler fishing around the state, this guide will direct you to reputable businesses in the area you’re searching.

SUNSHINE COAST

MACKAY / WHITSUNDAYS

Promote your Sunny Coast boat hire business here! For as little as $15 per month.

Phone (07) 3387 0800 Email ads@fishingmonthly.com.au

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Boat Licencing GOLD COAST

Bait & Tackle GOLD COAST

CLA SSE AVAIL S OVEABLE WEE R KEN DS

BEST LURE RANGE THE Fishing GOLDON COAST

Oceanic Boat Trailers (07) 5597 0577 Seatrail Trailers www.seatrailqld.com.au Tinnie Tosser (07) 5498 7339

www.bundallmarinecentre.com.au

5504 7446

Bundall Marine Centre

No.1 Ashmore Rd, Bundall

TOP BRANDS • TOP SERVICE • GREAT PRICES

INSIDE SPORTY’S WAREHOUSE

07 5526 2786

Marine Trailers

Sea-Link Special Trailers (07) 3881 3568

0422 198 651

Marine Electronics

MAIL ORDERS

WELCOME

32 Straithaid Rd BUNDALL 4217 QLD

MARINE ELECTRONICS

Marine Mechanics

SALES • REPAIRS • INSTALLATIONS

GOLD COAST

ONSITE AND MOBILE INSTALLATIONS

• Sounders • GPS • Electric Motors • Marine Radios and accessories • Stereos • Televisions • Radar Units • Autopilots

SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND Tackle Warehouse Brisbane (07) 3398 6500 BCF www.bcf.com.au Victoria Point Bait and Tackle (07) 3820 9581

• Sales • Service • Spare Parts • Warranty and Insurance work * REPOWER SPECIALISTS *

Spinnaker Sound Chandlery Ningi (07) 5497 6007 FTO Tackle Outlet Brisbane 0416 017 094

Unit 4/1440 New Cleveland Road Capalaba www.trymax.com.au PHONE: 07 3245 3633

www.runawaybaymarineservice.com.au

Boat Hire – House 2/247 Bayveiw St Runaway Bay GEOFF NEWMAN PH 55774411

GOLD COAST

Great family and fishing boats!

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Boat Modifications and Repairs

FLUSH YOUR ENGINE WITH

Bundall Marine Centre – Servicing all makes and models. MOBILE SERVICE AVAILABLE (07) 5504 7446

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Whitewater Marine (07) 5532 4402

SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND Brisbane Yamaha (07) 3888 1727

CORROSION CONTROL SALT REMOVING TREATMENT

WARNING!

Northside Marine (07) 3265 8029 Coastal Powerboats (07) 5568 0904

+ 07 5502 6200 + houseboat.net.au

Capalaba Boat Centre 04011 728 379 Holt Marine (07) 3353 1928 Cunninghams Marine (07) 3284 8805

CENTRAL QUEENSLAND

Caloundra Marine (07) 5491 1944

Lake Monduran House Boat www.lakemonduranhouseboathire.com.au

Bribie Boat Sales (07) 3408 0055

NORTH BRISBANE

Boat Hire – Trailer

Reef Marine Mackay (07) 4957 3521

GOLD COAST

Boat Mechanics – Mobile

Walk on/off, or tow away Fish finder/gps, marine radio, all safety gear Half day, full day, and overnight rates True locals with great advice www.goldcoastboathire.com.au 20 Georgia St, Coombabah 0432 710 892 Boab Boat Hire - 1300 002 622

9 out 10 engines fail from salt corrosion

Coorparoo Marine (07) 3397 4141

BRISBANE

ACT NOW AND PROTECT YOUR VALUABLE BOAT, ENGINE, TRAILER, FISHING AND DIVE GEAR. SALT-AWAY IS A MUST FOR:

ENGINE FLUSHING JETSKIS TRAILERS

FREECALL For more info

WASHING BOATS FISHING & DIVE GEAR

1800 091 172

VISIT www.salt-away.com.au

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SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND

Rod and Reel Repair

Marine Outboard Wreckers

D&H REEL REPAIRS

SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND

ce Reel Performan

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Servicin Phone/Fax: 07 3372 2740 or major b g all call Duncan on 0439 717 839 rands Email: dhreelrepairs@bigpond.com Drag upgrades available • Rod repairs • Mail orders welcome

20 Wrights Place Labrador Qld 4215 website www.brumbsmarine.com.au email brumbsmarine@bigpond.com

www.reelrepairs.com.au North Queensland 110 Sherbrooke Rd, Willawong Qld 4110

Aluminium fabrication • Steel fabrication • Boat repairs Boat modifications • Aluminium sales

JT Reel Repairs, Mackay 0427 552 485 or (07) 4955 2485

CUSTOM MARINE WELDING & ELECTRICAL

Marine and Auto Electricial n All types of Welding n Stainless Steel n Aluminium n Mild Steel n Boats Repaired n Fuel & Water Tanks n Canopies n Bow and Stern Rails n Custom Vehicle Tool Boxes

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North Queensland Outboard Wreckers Townsville 1800 812 748

Shed 1 281 Jacobs Well Road Behind GEM Service Station, Alberton 4207

Advertise here - $90 + GST for 6 months Email: ads@fishingmonthly.com.au

Phone 3807 7846

Mob 0427 142 201 Fax 3807 2468

www.custommarinewelding.com.au Online Tackle Products

Bluewater Windscreens Brisbane (07) 3382 7883 ASM Mobile Welding Brisbane 0409 624 402

She Left Camera Sunglasses www.hdvcs.com.au

Marine Windows and Doors Brisbane (07) 3284 5088

U-Make-Em Sort Plastics www.u-make-emsoftplastics.com.au

Small Craft Electrics (mobile) 0408 063 064 Boat Collar (07) 5441 3636

Marine Transport

CMC Marine Sales 0409 910 808

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Boat Painting Holiday Accommodation

BRISBANE

• • • • • • • • •

Spray painting Re-sprays Fairing Paint protection Touch ups Repairs New or old Anti-fouling Fiberglass repairs

BOAT TRANSPORT AUSTRALIA WIDE FROM A TINNY TO 50 FEET WEEKLY SERVICE BRISBANE TO CAIRNS

Professional paint jobs made to last.

all!

No job too big or too sm

0433 356 620

SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND Hemingways on Tin Can Bay (07) 3219 9376 Bribie Island Real Estate (07) 3408 1006

MORETON ISLAND

DJ Freight Marine Transport 0418 793 357 0427 341 076 contact@djfreight.com.au

Shed 3 Redland City Marina 100 Beveridge Road Thornlands 4146 Qld

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• • • • • • • • •

Spray painting Re-sprays Fairing Paint protection Touch ups Repairs New or old Anti-fouling Fiberglass repairs

Canopies Bimini tops Cockpit covers Front and side clears Full boat covers Upholstery Pontoon carpet ... and more!

OVER 15 YEARS EXPERIENCE

FRASER ISLAND

Fraser Island Fishing Units INDIAN HEAD

Martin Costello 0434 615 936 www.mobilemarinecanopies.com

Professional paint jobs made to last.

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Shed 3 Redland City Marina 100 Beveridge Road Thornlands 4146 Qld

WWW.BRISBANEBOATPAINTING.COM.AU

For bookings or enquiries contact: Cliff Andreassen 07 5449 9346 or 0428 712 283

SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND Rowland Street Boat Trimmers Springwood (07) 3208 9511

A FISHO’S DREAM

Brisbane Yamaha (07) 3888 1727

bearfish@bigpond.com

Rays Canvas & Marine Caboolture (07) 5499 4911 Affordable Boat Covers Gold Coast 0419 424 587

Waddy Lodge on Fraser 0414 516 364

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BURDEKIN

CENTRAL QUEENSLAND

t Stanag a y ta s to g in k o o L

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Fully setup fishing accommodation

Call Von 07 4937 3145 Stanage Bay Marine and Accommodation w w w.stan a g eb ay. co m COOKTOWN

Advertise here - $195 + GST for 6 months Email: ads@fishingmonthly.com.au

JC’s Fishing Charters 0438 753 382 Fairdinkum Fishing Charters Townsville (07) 4751 5324 Cairns Reef Charter Services 1800 119 044 Cairns Charter Boat 0427 533 081

BRISBANE

Cairns Fishing Charters 0427 400 027

Frenzy Charters Brisbane (07) 3209 4576 Tom Cat Charters (07) 3820 8794

Fishing Guides

Moreton Island Fishing Charters 0413 128 056 Brisbane Fishing Charters 0427 026 510

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John Gooding Outlaw Charters 0418 738 750

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Odyssey Charters Deep Sea Fishing (07) 5478 1109 Smithy’s Fishing Charters Sunshine Coast 0407 574 868 Top Catch Charters Sunshine Coast 0429 013 012 Fish n Crab Charters Mooloolaba 0412 155 814 Offshore Reef and Game Fishing 0413 485 402 Sunshine Coast Fishing Charters (07) 5500 0671 Fishing Offshore Noosa 0418 889 956

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Noosa Fishing Charters (07) 5665 8170 Hervey Bay Fishing Charters (07) 4125 3958 Incredible Charters 1300 655 818

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Lake Monduran Barra Charters 0407 434 446

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Fish Taxiderist www.fishtaxidery.net.au or 0428 544 841

Yallakool Caravan Park on Bjelke-Petersen Dam (07) 4168 4746 Lake Boondooma Caravan Park (07) 4168 9694

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0407 627 852

Fishing on TV

Lake Cressbrook Regional Council 131 872 Yallakool Park and Kiosk on Bjelke-Petersen Dam (07) 4168 4746

Charter Boats

CENTRAL QUEENSLAND Bite Me Fishing Charters Yeppoon 0419 029 397 Ultimate Sportfishing Charters 0450 753 726

NORTHERN NSW Evans Head Deep Sea Fishing Charters 0428 828 835 Reel Time Fishing Charters 0428 231 962

GOLD COAST True Blue Fishing Gold Coast (07) 5510 9622

MV Capricorn Star 0408 755 201 Mikat Cruises Fishing Charters 0427 125 727 Bundaberg Fishing Charters 0429 017 217

BK’s Gold Coast Fishing Charters 0414 293 034

Coral Coast Game Fishing 0447 347 437

My Charter Boat Tweed Heads 0407 347 446

MV James Cook (1770) (07) 4974 9422

RU4 Reel Tweed Heads 0449 903 366

Norval Reef Charters 1800 771 234

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Iluka Fishing Charters Gladstone 0414 940 911

Fish The Deep Charters 0416 224 412 Paradise Fishing Charters 0403 531 428 Gold Coast Fishing Charters 0411 605 090

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Hooker 1 Charters Gold Coast (07) 5528 6469

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Sea Probe Fishing Charters 0400 312 330

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Coastal Sports Fishing Charters Gold Coast 0412 691 929

Action Charters Mackay 0417 452 346

Gone Fishing Charters Gold Coast (07) 5529 7833

Fishing Charters Townsville 0403 386 722

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DVD’S -

Series 2 through 8

$19.95 each GST INC. - with FREE P&H

1800 228 244

Available in 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 & 50 lb in Hi Viz Lime Green

NEW MERCRUISER 4.5L STERNDRIVE

Get the purpose-built powerhouse behind you.

The next generation 4.5L. A high-torque, lightweight V6 sterndrive that delivers V8 performance. Designed specifically for marine use – with innovations like a rear-facing throttle body that directs noise away from the helm for quieter cruising. Adaptive Speed Control maintains rpm regardless of load or condition.

It’s good to have Mercury behind you.

See your authorised Mercury Marine Dealer today.

RUNAWAY BAY RUNAWAY BAY MARINE SERVICE

BRISBANE HOLT MARINE

BRISBANE SOUTH SPRINGWOOD MARINE

HERVEY BAY BAY CITY MARINE

2/247 Bayview Street Runaway Bay Phone: (07) 55774411 Fax: (07) 55775158 Email: info@marinesport.com.au

3475 Pacific Hwy Springwood Phone: (07) 3297 8200 | Fax: (07) 3297 8290 Email: michaelb@springwoodmarine.com.au Website: www.springwoodmarine.com.au

BRISBANE SOUTH MANLY HARBOUR MARINE

25 Queens Rd Everton Park Phone: (07) 3353 1928 | Fax: (07) 3353 4548 Email: info@holtmarine.com.au Website: www.holtmarine.com.au

82 Dayman Street Urangan Hervey Bay Phone: (07) 4128 9944 Fax: (07) 4125 2350 Email: sales@baycitymarine.com.au Website: www.baycitymarine.com.au

570 Royal Esplanade Manly Phone: (07) 3893 2199 Fax: (07) 3893 2188 Email: info@manlyharbourmarine.com.au Website: www.manlyharbourmarine.com.au

AIRLIE BEACH / WHITSUNDAY WHITSUNDAY OUTBOARD CENTRE

BRISBANE SOUTH COORPAROO MARINE

BOWEN REIBEL MARINE

57 Cavendish Rd Coorparoo Phone: (07) 3397 4141 Fax: (07) 3397 6339 Email: info@coorparoomarine.com.au Website: www.coorparoomarine.com.au

1 William Murray Dr Cannonvale Phone: (07) 4946 7286 Fax: (07) 4946 7848 Email: woc@whitsundayoutboardcentre.com.au

34 Don St Bowen Phone: (07) 4786 2944 Fax: (07) 4786 6606 Email: remarine@bigpond.net.au

Black Pete Marine Pty Ltd PO Box 3094, Allambie, NSW 2100 blkpete@bigpond.net.au www.blackpete.com.au | 02 9905 7888

UNthiNk

everything you know about 75-115hp FourStrokes.

Unbridled power, unexpectedly compact, uncompromising reliability, unbelievably fuel efficient.

Mercury’s all new 75-115hp FourStroke Range. Unlike anything the world has ever seen.

Better fuel efficiency and more range than ever before 115hp crUiSe Speed FUel eFFicieNcy vS. cUrreNt FoUrStroke aNd optimax

115hp FoUrStroke FUel eFFicieNcy vS 115hp optimax 5.10

340 330

4.25

310

km/l

g/kWh

320

300 290

3.40 2.55 1.70

280 0.85

Mercury’s new 115hp FourStroke delivers up to 14% better cruise speed economy.

BSFC dyno testing; data is an average of 60%-80% rated engine speed based on standard ICOMIA emissions test.

unthink.mercurymarine.com.au

new mercury 115hp fourstroke

72.42

64.37

56.33

48.28

40.23

32.19

0.0 24.14

new mercury 2.1L 115hp

16.09

previous mercury mercury optimax fourstroke 1.7L 115hp

8.05

260

0.0

270

km/h

115hp optimax

Mercury’s new 115hp FourStroke delivers up to 63% better fuel efficiency at cruise vs. the 115hp OptiMax with a slight top speed advantage.

Test conducted on a 1775 Lund aluminium boat.