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30 years of Qld Fishing Monthly Tips to turn your results around • Taking on topwater thrills • Schoolies on spoons • DIY: Lipless Doc

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the years. There are too many to list here, but you know who you are. We are sure you’ll enjoy Bob Thornton’s chat to two of our longest serving contributors inside. GONE FISHING DAY GREAT We hope that you all got involved in Gone Fishing Day. It’s important to make time for your passions in a world that seems to get busier and busier, and what better excuse to go fishing than on our National Day. Plenty of people who got involved and registered on the website won some great prizes, and there’s no better way for the angling community to display a show of strength than the massive participation we experienced on the day. Thank you, Aussie anglers! You can search the hashtag #gonefishingday to see all of the awesome images from the event.

AUST

Schoolies on spoons Tips to turn your results around 30 years of Qld Fishing Monthly DIY lure making: Lipless Doc

the company – there’ll be a very interesting article about what went on when the courts decide just how naughty the alleged offender was. Other challenges have involved digital disruption from social media and the inability of Australia Post to have any sort of consistency in their delivery. We apologise to any subscribers who have been affected by this. Regardless, Fishing Monthly is still producing quality magazines for thousands of keen anglers all over the east coast. We reckon that in the modern time of information overload and social media clutter, there’s still something special about getting a magazine and sitting back to relax, knowing that 100% of the content is about the sport that we love. So we’ll keep doing it as long as you want us to! A special thanks to all of the staff and writers who have worked for and with us over

REGULAR FEATURES Back to Basics 16 Camping and 4WD 80 Cooking 88 Dam Levels 74 Freshwater 74 Fun Page 79 Junior Northern 73 Junior Southern 51 Politics and Fishing 36 Sheik of the Creek 104 Sunfish 81 Tech Tricks 18 Tournament News 89 Track my fish 86 Trades and Services 102 What’s New Fishing 98 What’s New Boating 108

co-owner Jim Bren retire, at which point I bought the magazine with Production Manager Matthew Drinkall and sales manager, Robyn Lawrie. Matt’s job was to take the magazine from cut-andpaste to digital. He did that job perfectly, and to this day he has never missed a print deadline. Over the years we have also renovated the Australian Fishing Trade Association’s magazine, and produce this behind-the-scenes publication to this day. We were also involved in the first 10 years of the Australian Fishing Championships TV show, which is also still running today and just filmed its 13th season, in Queensland, last month. It hasn’t all been smooth sailing though. We published a free title called Boating Queensland, which didn’t pay its way and we axed it after a couple of years. And more recently a whole lot of money went missing from

ION

Whitsundays 62 Ayr 64 Townsville 65 Hinchinbrook 67 Lucinda 66 Cairns 68 Cairns NFZ 69 Port Douglas 68 Cooktown 70 Cape York 70 Weipa 71 TNQ Freshwater 72

30 YEARS AND COUNTING Little did I know, while handwriting my first article for South Queensland Fishing Monthly in 1987, that I’d be typing an editorial for that very same publication 30 years on. But that’s what I’m doing right now. And what an amazing 30 years it’s been. Under the guidance and assistance of founders, expatriate Kiwi Michael Airey and Jim Bren, I turned my marine science training into practical publishing and business skills that I still use to this day. Mike’s main lessons revolved around making sure that the writers wrote to the reader and not to impress other writers. This still rings true. In 1999, Mike encouraged me to start Australian Bass Tournaments to help advance the industry. ABT is still innovating today. 2000 saw Mike and

TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND

From the Editor’s Desk...

Rainbow Beach 53 Hervey Bay 52 Fraser Island 53 Bundaberg 56 Lake Monduran 54 Yeppoon 56 Gladstone 55 Rockhampton 57 Mackay 58

CENTRAL QUEENSLAND

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school mackerel

Schoolies on spoons MORETON BAY

Spero Kartanos

Some people will tell you there are no fish in Moreton Bay, but I disagree – it’s not hard to catch a feed when you know how, and have the time to be there on good fishing days. This is particularly true with such a reliable species as the school mackerel. Unlike spotted mackerel, schoolies don’t feed on the surface very

this is with a paravane or a diving board. Lots of anglers who read my Moreton Bay reports (www.reports. fishingmonthly.com.au) see all my photos of schoolies caught trolling, and ask how and where to catch them using this method. I get asked how to attach the line to the board and to the spoon, what fishing gear I use, the time of year, tides and times. So far I have been just emailing people back with advice, or replying on the forum,

grow up to a metre but are most commonly caught at around 35-80cm. The minimum legal size for schoolies in Queensland is 50cm, and they have an in-possession limit of 10. These fish are around the same size as spotted mackerel, and to the untrained eye the two species can look similar, however, school mackerel have larger and fewer spots, which are often poorly defined in adults. These bronze-grey blotches are distributed haphazardly and can extend all the way down to the fish’s belly. Spotted mackerel, on the other hand, have smaller and more numerous spots, which usually extend no further than two thirds of the way down the

Trolling at 6 knots with the Penn Squall 20 and Mariner rod bent over, ready for a strike. since almost the beginning of time, catching Spanish mackerel, tuna, kingfish

like the consistency of the pros who we’d see methodically going up

plane with a keel, while trolling boards look like a mini surfboard and

Using a lure cam revealed that most hits come from the side rather than from behind the jig.

All geared up and ready for a school mackerel trolling session. often (I have seen them on the surface maybe five times in 40 years). What this means is that to catch them, you need to get your lure down to where the fish are. The best way to do

but I have decided to write a complete article to cover everything. SPOTTIES AND SCHOOLIES School mackerel, also called doggy mackerel, can

fish’s side. Another difference is that a school mackerel’s first dorsal fin is black with some areas of white, whereas a spotted mackerel’s dorsal fin is blue when it first comes out of the water. LEARNING CURVE Pro fishermen have been trolling for pelagics

and other sought-after species. When I lived in Victoria decades ago, ‘couta fishing was big business, and I can still remember the pros trolling with large Smith jigs with two hooks attached, and catching thousands of fish. The old method for catching school mackerel in Moreton Bay was to anchor up or drift where you thought they were, or where you saw the pros targeting them, and throw out a pilly and wait. We had some success, but nothing

and down, pulling in one schoolie after another. We found out they were paravaning, and decided to try it. For this type of fishing you can use either paravanes or trolling boards – they’re similar, and are designed to do the same thing. Both have holes at each end, so you can attach the mainline to one end and the leader to the other. The difference between the trolling boards and paravanes is that paravanes are shaped like a paper

have no keel. Whichever one you use (I strongly recommend diving boards for this) the idea is to tie it on above your spoon and troll it. The shape of the paravane or trolling board causes it to quickly dive down, and either shimmy or sway from side to side. It drags your spoon down behind it, and its large profile provides an additional visual attractant to predators prowling below. Once we decided to try paravaning, we went out and bought our first

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The trusty old Halco spoon is a very effective lure for these fish.

school mackerel trolling boards, grabbed some 3” Halco and Makka spoons, and off we went. In the early days our results were terrible – we ended up with spinning diving boards and lots of tangles. We had no choice but to use trial and error until, but after

many unfruitful days, we figured out the technique and achieved very good results. The good catches have continued to this day. GEARING UP If you want to catch schoolies this way, the first thing you should do is find a

good quality trolling board. We use the 50cm and 60cm Yamashita boards, but the Delta brand boards and the orange tuna boards work as well. More local stores are starting to stock trolling boards, so they shouldn’t be too hard to get. Over all the years I’ve fished in the bay, I’ve found the best spoons to use are

line to the blunt end of the trolling board in its middle hole, with a little notch cut in the plastic so the line doesn’t slip with a locked blood knot, and connect this to a large swivel. From this I attach 15ft of 40-50lb line to the spoon. You can expect to get snipped off on occasion at the swivel, but spoons aren’t too expensive

Paravaning Rig 25-30lb line

looking for surface bait balls to cast to, and you have the trolling boards out, you can catch a spotty where you’d least expect it. FINDING THE SCHOOLIES I started mackerel fishing in Moreton Bay around 40 years ago, and we fished for years around the ring netters, who were catching

don’t lose as much gear because your lines are less likely to cross when you get a fish. You really don’t want crossed lines, because the mackerel’s razor-sharp teeth always tend to find the other trolling line, and there goes your expensive trolling board. If you find yourself catching grinner after

Attach line to middle hole. Make a little notch in the plastic so the line doesn’t slip.

Paravane 10ft

15ft

Large snap Swivel

Spoon 40-50lb line

Position the towing eye halfway along the slot.

The author about to unhook a hungry schoolie. They aren’t always big but the action can be thick and fast.

the 3” Halco or Makka spoons and the old style Halco Smith Jigs. I prefer white, but I’ve also found that pink, red and silver catch fish on their day. The speed for trolling them is between 5 to 7 knots. The rig I use consists of a 20-30lb main line connected to the pointed end of the trolling board with a large snap swivel. I then tie a 10ft length of 30-50lb

so that’s no great loss. I use overhead reels for trolling, with 10-12kg rods. I normally have two running at the back of the boat – one at about 20m and one 30m back (I have even seen pro fishermen catching mackerel in the motor wash). Having your lures at different distances helps in two ways. Firstly, you can see what depth they are at, and secondly you

Large swivel

40-50lb line

grinner, that means you are too shallow or you have your board too far back. The depth the boards dive to are between 12-18ft depending on your speed and distance behind the boat. Trolling can also work very well for spotted mackerel, especially on the days when the spotties are not feeding aggressively on the surface. When you are travelling at 5-6 knots

tonnes of spotted mackerel a year. They were true gentlemen and I have to say I miss them. Surprisingly, we recreational anglers still caught as many mackerel as we wanted, despite the pros – the schools were that thick. Back when the netters were around, the school mackerel season was different. These fish were To page 12

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NOVEMBER 2017

Change it up – tips to turn your results around BRISBANE

Sean Thompson

We all know that at times the fish just don’t appear to be there, or they simply won’t bite. Sometimes anglers fish on regardless in the hopes that fish will

happening. They’ll use this information in an endeavour to change it up, trying a new lure, bait or location, or simply a different time. It’s these anglers who can turn their results around, most of the time. To start off, being well prepared for a fishing session

A move of less than 100m in a river can put you onto big whiting like this. arrive or the magic bite switch will be turned on any minute, because a fish prediction calendar tells them it will be. Other times the fishing action might be hot to trot, but for some reason you miss out. Some anglers might simply dismiss this as pot luck. The thinking angler will instead turn their mind to the environment around them. They’ll use all their senses and modern technology and think about what’s happening, or perhaps not

or trip can mean a number of things and be the difference between the dreaded ‘donut’ and a good session. Not only will you start the session with more confidence, but if the going gets tough, you’ll have the tackle, know-how and tools to change things up. Check out Figure 1 for a checklist of things to prepare. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? While it’s one thing to be prepared and have plenty of options up your sleeve, it’s another to know what

you’re doing wrong in the first place. Asking yourself the simple question ‘what am I doing wrong’ is critical to turning your results around. In fact, sometimes the fish may be biting their heads off, but just not on your baits and lures! There is normally a reason and you want to work it out fast before the fish move on. Let’s consider a couple of scenarios and investigate the sort of questions you can ask yourself to determine what you are doing wrong before exploring how you can change things up. While it might not seem it at the time, if others are catching fish and you aren’t this is a lot better than the fish not biting at all. This is because you can go through a process of elimination to work out what you’re doing wrong, what they’re doing right or if the successful angler’s fishing spot is different in some way. Figure 2 is a checklist of things to ask yourself when others are catching fish but you aren’t. Other times while fishing by yourself in an area, or even with others about, you might find the fish aren’t biting or just don’t seem to be there. In addition to the questions mentioned above, there are a few other questions you can ask to determine why the fish aren’t there before you change location. Check this list questions out in Figure 3. CHANGING IT UP Once you’ve asked yourself these questions and worked out what you might be doing wrong, or what others are doing right, you’re ready to change things up. That is, you’re ready to fine-tune your methods, ready to make a move or, in

FIG. 1 BEING PREPARED • Have a target species in mind – know their best season, preferred baits, lures, best feeding times and preferred locations. • Study the area you are going to fish using maps, Google Earth, by seeking local knowledge and by ‘reading’ the water you’re going to fish before you fish it. • Get up-to-date reports from reliable sources. • Keep a fishing diary – study your past trips at this or similar locations from your paper diary or your GPS marks, and name you GPS marks according to date and species. • Don’t take shortcuts – don’t fish the water closest to the track down to the beach, lake or boat ramp just because it’s easier. • Take the right tackle – if you’re in a boat or 4WD take advantage of it by taking extra rods and reels and rig them up with different lures or rigs. • Be mobile if you’re on foot – have enough gear to have options, but not too much to weigh you down. A couple of shoulder bags are perfect for this and you don’t have to keep walking back for your gear. • Take spare rigs – soft plastic anglers can pre-rig some jigheads with different colours on various weight jigheads and bait anglers can wrap spare rigs around a piece of pool noodle. the worst case, come back another time. If the fish are biting, obviously it pays to persist in the area. That doesn’t mean you keep doing what you’re doing if it isn’t working. Try and work out why others are catching fish and you can’t. If you can’t, try something different anyway. If you work out that successful anglers nearby are fishing different water to you (in colour or surface or underwater features), it might be time for a move. If there is no room within a courteous distance from other angler(s), then look for that same structure elsewhere. For example, on a recent trip to Fraser Island, my mates and I were targeting different areas for flathead around one of the creeks on the western side. We were fishing the usual haunts – creek mouths, drop-offs, back-eddies and entrances to drains – and drawing a blank. Then one of the boys landed a number of fish in quick succession in some tannin-stained water. This flicked the switch for

FIG. 2 MISSING OUT ON BITING FISH • Are they casting further or closer to the shore or structure than you? • Are they using a different bait or lure? • Is the colour of the water that they’re fishing different in any way, such as a tea tree coloured patch of water in front of a creek on estuary flats? • Have you transferred any unnatural smells like sunscreen, cigarettes or grease onto your bait or line? • If you’re bait fishing, are you pulling the hooks on the fish by not giving the fish enough line to run and hook themselves? • Are the other anglers using a fish attracting scent on their bait/lure? • If around a bridge or jetty at night, is there more or less light on the water in front of them, or are they at the boundary of the light? • Is your leader too heavy, or are they using braid rather than monofilament lines? • Are they fishing the edge of a drop-off or close to some other structure like fallen trees? • Check your sounder/sidescan – are the fish or the bait sitting under them and not you? • Is the surface of the water they are fishing different in any way, (e.g. it has a white water cover if you are beach fishing?) • Are they using a different retrieve? • Are they fishing on the shady side of a river or estuary during the middle of a sunny day (which provides fish with cover)? • Are you spooking the fish in some way? Are you banging around in the boat, splashing around in the water or have you waded too close to the fish? • Are successful lure anglers nearby fishing around old boats or structure covered in growth while you are fishing around new boats or structure with no growth? • Are they using some attractant on their rig, like red tubing for whiting, or charging up fluoro beads at night above the hook? • Are you anchored over structure on a reef rather than up-current of it and so your baits are being carried past the structure by the current? • Are you using too much lead, or is your trace too short and thus presenting your bait unnaturally? 14

NOVEMBER 2017

us and as good as our spots were, we found the baitfish and the fish. They had taken cover out of the very clear water as the sun got higher in the sky. We moved and sure enough caught fish in similar spots.

on the estuary flats, as they can catch everything from whiting to bream to bigger fish like grunter and flathead. Big fish will also still take small lures. If you’re lure fishing, apply one of the many

A move from a pumping surf beach to inside an estuary mouth can pay dividends. Another option to change your results is to use some berley. You can do this from a boat, the beach, a lake or even from estuary flats. Use it liberally but don’t overfeed them and you should bring the fish to you. A great little trick to fire the fish up without overfeeding them is this mixture; fill a large bucket 1/3 full with sand then add a 300g packet of unprocessed bran, water and 100ml of tuna oil. Mix this concoction up and disperse a handful or two at a time. It will bring baitfish and the fish to you without overfeeding them. If you don’t have access to this, cut up some pilchards in small pieces and mix it with sand. This is a great option off the beach. A change of lure colour can also turn things around. In very clear water, use light greens, blues and whites. In dark water use bright or very dark lures to create a silhouette effect. Changing your lure size can also help at times. I love using small soft plastics on light jigheads

great scents on the market, like Pro-Cure, Squidgies S Factor or Ultrabite (to name a few). I apply scents to my plastics and hardbodies every 8-10 casts and I find I catch more fish after reapplying a scent. Whether it’s the scent or my confidence, it works. Another mistake anglers can make is that if they have caught a few fish in an area they are loathe to move even if the action slows down. When I’m fishing the flats or in a boat looking for whiting or flathead and I’m no longer catching fish, I will fan a few casts in the area before moving on. Importantly, don’t just fish ‘no man’s land’ or water with no structure when you move; be patient and move to the next likely bit of structure. You may have the advantage of technology like a GPS/sounder. If your location is devoid of bait or fish, move! Look for bait or fish on the sounder and then start fishing again. Be sure you don’t spook the fish by motoring over the spots you’re about to fish. Off the beach, a move to the next gutter or a gutter

closer to other structure like a river entrance can pay dividends. If you don’t have a 4WD, or the beach doesn’t allow them, a ‘fat-wheeled’ beach bike can be a great option to move from gutter to gutter. Another good option can be a move off the beach in very big seas to inside a calmer estuary

the shallows can make the mistake of using the same rod and action in deeper water. In deeper water, you need to change things up a bit by changing your lure action and rod for deeper water jigging. You want to use a lift and drop technique rather than cast and retrieve the lure from a distance for

Shoulder bags on the flats allow you to be mobile and give you plenty of tackle options. mouth where the bait – and the fish chasing them – can turn up and produce surprising captures. CHANGE YOUR TECHNIQUE Sometimes a change of technique can be enough to turn your results around. This can be anything from a subtle change in your retrieve in the same spot or trying a different technique altogether. For example, when chasing flathead if the fish are spread out, it can be a good idea to troll lures to cover more ground. On the other hand, if you’re trolling with little success and perhaps catching too much floating weed, a change to drifting with bait could be in order. If the fishing is still tough, you might decide to anchor up next to known flathead structure, like a creek entrance on the falling tide or the edge of oyster racks, and berley the fish to you. Alternatively the fish might be in very shallow water where the water is draining off the flats or further up an estuary that is only accessible on foot or kayak at low tide. On these occasions you want to hop out of the boat and walk the shore throwing soft plastics or vibes to likelylooking areas. An area even reasonably experienced anglers can overlook is the action of their rod on the lure. Anglers who usually fish softer or fast action rods for flathead in

flathead. You also want to use a stiffer or fast action rod. Softer rods will absorb your lift and drop technique and not impart the same action as a stiffer rod. Snapper, particularly in big bays, like Moreton Bay in Queensland, are another species where a change of technique can put you onto fish. A great technique is to fish for snapper with lightly weighted soft plastics during the slow stage of the tide about 1-1 1/2 hours either side of the tide change.

techniques even during the middle of the day. Another option is to change your target species. If you’re fishing off the beach with gang pilchards and getting bites but keep missing the fish, check your bait. If you find the stomach region or middle third of your bait is missing, this can often mean bream are attacking your bait. Changing over to a 1/0 suicide hook with pilchard pieces can turn a frustrating session into a productive one with a few bream from the beach. Another example could be changing from chasing reef species at dawn, to trolling for some pelagic fish once the sun is well and truly up. Here you might move to find some bait schools on the sounder or chase working birds. USING YOUR SENSES In trying to understand what you’re doing wrong, you want to use your senses to understand what is happening around you. If you see a flock of terns smashing baitfish a few hundred metres away, head over there in your boat or to the nearest gutter on the beach. In an estuary, if you spot scattering baitfish nearby, throw a cast there

Fishing with drones and slide baits for fish like Spanish mackerel has gained popularity in recent years for a change to regular beach fishing tactics.

Small light coloured lures are a good option in clear and sandy shallow water, even for bigger fish. tops of which are exposed. These rocks also absorb heat. Flathead will lie in the vicinity of these rocks. USING THE WIND As an angler, I have a bit

very calm to chase whiting, flathead, bream and other species on plastics and bait. RETURN AT A DIFFERENT TIME Sometimes after you’ve

tried many of the options above and moved around, you might realise the fish just aren’t there. You might want to pack up and head for home; if you do, make a note of the time, tide, moon phase, water colour and temperature (or beach conditions) and weather in your fishing diary. This way you can return at a different time or tide and change things up that way. Before a fishing trip, do your homework and prepare. If things don’t go to plan, try to work out why and be ready to mix things up to turn your results around. For more tips, tricks, reports and giveaways, jump on my Facebook page Ontour Fishing Australia. Until next time – bag your mates, not your limit!

FIG. 3 FISH AREN’T THERE OR AREN’T BITING • Is the water too calm or clear to provide protection for baitfish or their predators? • Is the water too discoloured from a recent flood? • What stage of the tide is it? Is there enough current to bring your target species on the bite? • If you’re trolling or throwing lures, are they being fouled by weed? • Check your bait presentation; is your bait in a clump on the shank of the hook or lying naturally on the hook? • Is there some form of structure to attract the fish or bait around where you are fishing or are you in ‘no man’s land?’ • What is the water temperature? Is it too hot or cold for your target species? • Is there something that could be putting the fish off, like swimmers, jetskis or boats roaring over your spot? • If on a lake, is the wind pushing dead insects and other food across the surface to the other side of the lake? • If you’re fishing off the beach, does your gutter have enough water? • Is it so bright and sunny that the fish have moved to deeper water? • Is your sinker size too big and making your bait look unnatural? • Are you making sure your lure is hitting the bottom if you’re trolling or casting for flathead? • Is the location regularly commercially fished?

A change to a shorter, sharper lift and drop technique with small plastics can be the trick when bream outnumber flathead in your target area. Outside that period the tidal run becomes too fast to drift plastics down naturally, so we change over to trolling deep diving lures over the same spot. Provided there aren’t many other boats around spooking the fish and there are fish and bait on the sounder, you can catch snapper with these

flats in winter or early spring you might notice the water temperature is lower than usual. This can call for a change of location to look for warming water which might spark fish like flathead or whiting into biting. You should then use the research of the area you did before the trip, or your local knowledge, and move to slightly warmer water. This might be in a shallow, dark muddy bottom (black mud insulates heat) or around patches of rocks, the

straight away as it generally means a bigger predator like a mulloway, trevally or flathead is causing them to flee. Likewise, if you see trout jumping on the surface, get a cast over there ASAP. It’s more subtle, but you can also use your sense of touch to help find fish. That is, if you are wading the

of a love-hate relationship with the wind. When it blows too hard you can’t get out in the boat and it turns the beach into a washing machine. If it’s too light, the fish might move off to deeper water for cover or the beach can become a mill pond and hard to find a fish. A good medium is a light breeze of 5-10 knots, so there is at least some ripple or swell on the water. That said, if the wind is blowing hard where you’re fishing, all is not lost. Use it to your advantage and get upwind from where you want to cast; cast with the wind to be able to throw longer casts. Alternatively, work out the direction of the wind and fish the lee or calm side of a headland, bay or anything that provides some protection from the wind. On Fraser Island, if the big southeasterlies blow up during tailor season, we’ll head off to the western side of the island where it can be

The author and his son threw out a pilchard berley when things were slow, resulting in this lovely flathead off the beach. NOVEMBER 2017

Team Samurai takes Open win

THE FUTURE IS HERE Self-contained Electric Outboards

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Visit www.abt.org.au for entry forms. For general enquiries phone ABT on (07) 3387 0888. 92

NOVEMBER 2017

Team Samurai Reaction (Tristan Taylor and Dave McKenzie) once again showed that they’re the kings of the Open with the breaming duo securing a wire-to-wire victory in the Mercury Queensland BREAM Open. With strong wind preventing the field from fishing Moreton Bay for the entire tournament, anglers fished Moreton Bay on day one, the Brisbane River on day two, and the Gold Coast on day three. “It was a real challenge for our teams this year. We haven’t had too many opens where we haven’t been able to fish the bay, so to throw them a curve ball of three different venues was something that the teams perhaps weren’t prepared for,” explained Tournament Director Simon Goldsmith. The teams rose to the challenge, and none more so than event winners Taylor and McKenzie who claimed their 4th Mercury Open victory. With the bay open on day one, Team Samurai Reaction headed south hitting the southern bay islands that have served them so well for many years. “Our go-to spots (Peel, Coochie, Macleay, Goat, and Bird islands) down south were primed to fire. We had a run-in tide and plenty of wind, so we expected the bream to be there ready to move up onto the flooded shallows to feed,” explained Taylor. Any that’s how it played out with Taylor and McKenzie throwing a combination of mid and deep running Atomic Hardz Crank 38s across the flooded flats and working them back to the boat with a slow retrieve, with the occasional pause to spice things up. “We’d always worked our cranks with a constant slow roll retrieve then in the Gold Coast BREAM Qualifier a couple of months ago I did the occasional pause and it seemed to entice the bream to bite more than a constant roll,” explained Taylor. The new addition to their retrieve paid off with the pair catching approximately 45 fish for the day and weighing in a 5/5, 3.85kg bag to keep a 30g lead over Team Bush n’ Beach/Atomic (Anthony Wishey and Lex Irwin) in 2nd place. With the bay shut on day two and the teams confined to the Brisbane River, Taylor and McKenzie fished the Luggage Point wastewater outlet, a location that they hadn’t fished much. By end of the day it would become one of their new favourite bream haunts.

Dave McKenzie and Tristan Taylor with some of their winning fish. “It’s a spot that has plenty of structure and current so we fished it by throwing heavy Cranka Crabs into the structure. Then we let it waft and move around with the current and hopefully into the path of a waiting bream,” explained Taylor. The spot delivered the pair a limit in an hour with no real big ones. That, however, was about to change. “I was a little bit done with the spot and was ready to move and go looking for upgrades, but Dave wanted to give it just a little bit longer to see if it had any more to offer,” explained Taylor. Dave’s thinking paid off and ten minutes later he boated a 34cm fork length bream. “That kept us interested and we stayed, and from then on we picked up a fish about every ten minutes,” explained Taylor. The pair continued to upgrade throughout the session and put together a 5/5, 4.07kg limit that would extend their lead heading

into the third and final day of competition. “It was a pretty amazing spot. It must be a staging spot that the fish hold and feed on as they move in and out of the river. The fish never seemed to run out; it must be a location that reloads with fish throughout the day,” explained Taylor. Extending their lead to nearly 1kg Taylor and McKenzie were in two minds about what lay ahead for the final day. “While the bags from the Goldy nine times out of ten will be smaller than the bay, there’s always a chance of a 3kg+ bag being caught, and we’ve seen that of late in some of the events, so we knew we still had to catch a decent bag and we couldn’t just rely on our lead to get us through,” explained Taylor. Fishing the main river pontoons with Heavy Cranka Crabs, the pair tried to extract some of the big bream that hold on the current-influenced floating

structures. With little return for their efforts they then moved to the bridges littered along the Nerang River and threw a mixture of different baits to catch their fish. “It was a real all-sorts kind of day with the fish in our bag coming on a crank, topwater, Cranka Crab, Ecogearaqua, and Gulp,” explained Taylor. Their junk fishing approach was spot on to get the job done with the Samurai Reaction pair delivering a 5/5, 2.38kg limit to scales at the Cleveland Caravan, Camping, Boating and 4x4 Expo weigh-in to secure the win. “We’re very much known for catching fish in the bay, so to win this event fishing three different locations is very rewarding,” explained Taylor. With four Mercury Queensland BREAM Open titles to their name, who can dispute Taylor and McKenzie’s reputation as the kings of the Open?

RESULTS – BOATERS Place

Anglers

Fish

Weight (kg) Payout

1 2 3 4 5 5 5 8 9

Samurai Reaction: Tristan Taylor and David McKenzie 15/15 10.30 Pontoon 21: Denis Metzdorf and Khoi Pham 15/15 9.41 Atomic: Aaron Sharp and Steve Eldred 15/15 8.76 Bush ‘n Beach/Atomic: Anthony Wishey and Lex Irwin 15/15 8.25 Sniper: Luke Rogan and Tyson Hayes 15/15 7.15 Daiwa/TT Lures: Grayson Fong and Michael Thompson 15/15 6.23 Diztek.com.au: Darren Borg and Chris Goulding 9/15 4.29 Loves Brimz: Paul Pollock and Justin Thompson 7/15 3.45 Fishing Monthly: Steve Morgan and Nicholle Smith 5/15 2.41 For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au

$2,000 $1,200

Top two placing for Team Pontoon 21 Team Pontoon 21 (Denis Metzdorf and Khoi Pham) showed their wares in a talent-stacked Open field with the Brisbane breamers compiling a 15/15, 9.41kg three-day limit to claim the runner-up title at the Mercury presented event. Kicking off their tournament fishing the rockwalls at the Port of Brisbane, Metzdorf and Pham opted for a soft approach throwing a jighead rigged Pontoon 21 Pillo tight to the wall then rolling down the slop. “We’d cast so tight to the wall that you’d often get snagged. We’d then slow roll the plastic down the face of the wall and the bites would

come anywhere from 0.5-1m down,” explained Metzdorf. The approach saw the pair fill their limit by 7.45am. This was followed by an endless supply of upgrades. “We would have caught over 50 fish for the day. It was one of the most insane days of bream fishing we’ve ever experienced,” explained Metzdorf. Weighing in a 5/5, 3.77kg limit, the pair sat in 2nd place heading into day two, 80g behind leaders Taylor and McKenzie. While Metzdorf and Pham fished the Brisbane River on day one, their productive honey hole sat just outside the day two event boundary.

WINNING TACKLE Rod: Samurai Reaction 201 Reel: Megabass Idaten Racing Condition Line: 10lb Unitika PE Leader: 6lb Unitika Aiger flurocarbon Lure: Atomic Hardz Crank 38 (mid and deep) with upgraded trebles (size 12 Gamakatsu Wide Gap), Heavy Cranka Crab, Ecogearaqua Bream Prawn, Gulp.

Unperturbed by this fact, the pair started day two fishing the many posts scattered throughout the river and the sunken wall at Pinkenba. “We picked up fish throughout the session, then as the day wore on we moved downriver and fished the rockwalls that were down the seaward boundary,” explained Metzdorf. Catching a dozen fish for the session on a combination of Pontoon 21 Pillo soft plastics and Pontoon 21 Crackjack hardbodies, the pair weighed in a 3.21kg limit to move them up into 2nd place from 3rd. With the floating structures of the Gold Coast in their sights on day three, the Pontoon 21 pair fished tuned Pontoon 21 CrackJack jerkbaits around boat hulls and pontoons in the Nerang River and Broadwater to catch their fish. “We’d take a CrackJack, detune it so it swam to the side when retrieved, then twitched and paused it along and under the boats and pontoons to draw a

Steve Eldred and Aaron Sharp were as consistent as always in the Open, finishing third.

Atomic Hardz Crank 38

Weedy bottom

Rocky bottom

PRESEN TED BY

Denis Metzdorf and Khoi Pham from Team Pontoon 21 finished second in the Mercury presented event. response from the fish,” explained Metzdorf. The aggressive pushtheir-buttons nature of the presentation delivered the pair the second heaviest limit for the day, but they had to work for it. “We didn’t get the final fish of our limit until about five minutes before the end of the session – it was a real grind,” explained Metzdorf. Weighing in a 2.43kg limit the pair finished the event with a 15/15, 9.41kg total to claim 2nd and their best result to date in the Mercury Queensland BREAM Open. ABT would like to thank all competing anglers, Mercury Marine, Australia Events, and the Cleveland Caravan, Camping, Boating and 4x4 Expo for making the 2017 Queensland BREAM Open a success. To see all the video action from the event, including on-water catches and angler interviews, visit the event’s playlist on the ABT Tournaments YouTube channel. – ABT

Some of the winning tackle from Team Samurai Reaction.

Cranka Crab

The winners explain to the media how they secured their fourth Queensland Open win. NOVEMBER 2017

Sea Jay 4.88 Avenger Sports with 75hp Yamaha - SC

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SPECIFICATIONS Bottom sheet.. 3.0mm Side sheet....... 3.0mm Beam................ 2.30m Depth................ 1.22m Floor ribs................ 12 Capacity..... 5 persons Hull weight....... 435kg Rec hp.................... 70 Max hp................... 90 Max motor.........175kg 114

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There’s no denying that Bundaberg’s Sea Jay make a great-looking boat. Every time we upload a video-test to social media, there are plenty of people commenting that a Sea Jay is their dream rig. Luckily, the boats are built to last and perform their duties nicely. The 4.88 Avenger Sports that Garry Fitzgerald turned up with at the boat ramp at Cleveland was no exception. Garry is the National Sales Manager on the brand and had borrowed the rig from long time Sea Jay dealer, Stones Corner Marine in Brisbane. As it was fitted with one of the new F75 Yamahas, Willie Lee from Yamaha was there, too. Yamaha is proud of this motor (which is based on the F90) and Yamaha is always keen to see how their product performs on local hulls. And as a spectator commented as we were preparing the rig

s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au

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get to remote campsites and tote all of the gear that you need to make the trip comfortable. Available through the Sea Jay dealer network, the company has a reputation of being easy to deal with when ordering options and

FMG

however this hull was cradled on a Redco from Stones Corner. As tested, the package we took for a run weighed in at $34,500, although BMT packages start from the low $30Ks. For more information

PERFORMANCE

Main: We call it the ‘Sea Jay Curse’ at Fishing Monthly. The Bay flattens out and the wind stops whenever we go to test a Sea Jay. If you’re an angler, then you may think this is a good thing, but it doesn’t let you get a feel for the hull in the rough. Above: The southeast corner of Peel Island is a pretty part of Moreton Bay and offers a variety of options for the angler and the boat tester. for launch, it looks “mint!” Although there’s only 5hp difference between the 70 and 75hp Yamahas, there’s nearly 50kg weight difference. The 70 is a 1.0L outboard and the 75 is the same platform as the F90 and has a 1.8L capacity. With a less beamy boat, this may be a problem, but the 2.3m of width at the back of the Sea Jay holds the weight with ease. And the 90hp version would also legally fit on this hull. Apart from the weight, the main difference between the two motors is torque in the mid-range. Some dealers will tell you that “there’s no replacement for displacement”, and the capacity of this engine can definitely be felt as the hammers go down.

Having virtually no weight in the boat apart from some safety gear and the occupants (i.e., no trolling motor, batteries or fishing tackle) also helped this rig jump up and out of the hole. In fact, I think that some extra weight in the hull would make it more stable at rest, as it was so light that it would rock from chine to chine at rest. Nothing that a full tank of fuel and a MotorGuide wouldn’t sort out. Of course, the 75 Yamaha was super efficient, getting over 3km/L of fuel at a cruising speed of 43km/h at 4000 rpm. From a fishing point of view, the world is your oyster with the Adrenaline hull – there’s mountains of space inside it to accommodate

three anglers comfortably, or a boat load of camping gear. It’d definitely be a great ‘weekend’ boat to

RPM............ km/h.................. L/h................ km/L idle.................... 4.................. 1.3....................3.0 1000.................. 5.................. 1.9....................2.6 2000.................10.................. 4.5....................2.2 3000................ 26.................. 8.4....................3.0 4000................ 43.................13.2....................3.3 5000................ 57................... 22....................2.6 5700................ 67................ 30.3....................2.2 customisation for your rig. They’re big enough to build you the boat you want quickly and small enough to still listen to their customers. Sea Jay can supply trailers for all of their boats,

about this rig or the rest of the Sea Jay range, call into Stones Corner Marine at 117 Old Cleveland Road, Stones Corner, visit their website at www. stonescornermarine.com.au, or call (07) 3397 9766.

Yamaha’s F75 is substantially heavier than their F70 (by around 44kg), but offers nearly double the displacement (1.8L versus 1.0L) and plenty of torque. The 2.30m beam holds the motor easily and it sits under the transom’s maximum weight threshold by 7kg.

Top: Here’s the best of both worlds – an anchor box and an electric motor plate. Great for the bait fisher and lure caster. Above: With a full height transom and motor well, there’s room to fish in the port and starboard transom corners.

You want plenty of flat, open deck space? You’ve come to the right place!

With several seat-mounting options, you can set up the seats to suit the sort of fishing that you’re likely to do. Half-pockets at the rear of the aft of the casting deck offer some gear storage.

Top: The Avenger hulls have a reputation for being beamy – you can see just how beamy they are in this pic from above. Left and Right: The small casting deck up front has a couple of storage compartments. Anglers fitting a bow-mounted electric will often mount the batteries here to reduce bow lift.

We love that there’s a small, waterproof compartment for your valuables. Also, there’s plenty of space to bracket mount a large fish finder. The grab rails complete this practical console.

The helm is comfortable and you can rest your arm on the gunwale while using the throttle.

Top: Wide gunwales all round offer plenty of places to mount rod holders. Above: Yes, the Avenger 4.88 will turn heads at the ramp, with its Yamaha paint matching, wide beam and shallow draft, it’ll be easy for the family to get on board, too. NOVEMBER 2017

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Advertorial

Pro+ heads west When the legends at Deeper contacted and asked me if I’d be interested in trying one of their wireless fish finders, I couldn’t reply fast enough with a giant “Yes!” Spending so much of my time either walking the banks of small freshwater rivers and streams or fishing Copeton or Pindari dams out of my kayak, a device like the Deeper Pro+ could really take my own understanding of the waterways to a new level. The ability to see, in real time, what was hiding amongst the snags or just how deep certain holes are is something most people would not have access to – particularly in the rivers, which are just too small for someone to put a boat in and map with a traditional hard mounted sounder. Imagine the amount of anglers over the years who have wandered the same tracks as I do casting, without really knowing what laid beneath the surface. I’d now have a big advantage – the Deeper Pro+. After a few weeks of me harassing the postie each day, the package finally arrived. I couldn’t wait to get out on the water and test its capabilities.

positive, I must say I was a little sceptical on just how much I would use it and how much of a difference it would make, but I can tell you all I was pleasantly surprised. GETTING CONNECTED Connecting the Deeper unit to my phone was fairly easy and it wasn’t long before they were talking to each other and was ready to show me what lurked beneath the surface. I’m not sure on what kind of a range it has as far as how far I could cast it and have it still work, but the

sunlight periods so you can get the most out of your unit. The classic screen that is default has what Deeper calls a carbon background and shows the best overall colours. It wasn’t too bad on the battery life of my phone either – I thought it might drain it very quickly, but it was a nice surprise when it lasted for ages. TURNING FISH FOUND INTO FISH CAUGHT My brother and I are not the most technical guys in the world, and neither of us have a lot of experience with sounders, but it wasn’t long after the unit was in the water that we got the hang of what was what. We could see the snags, see the fish and were racing each other to get a cast in the right place. Some of what we thought were fish were probably snags and some of what we thought were snags turned out to be cod, but we weren’t complaining! SUMMARY Even after a short time using the Deeper, I could see why some guys I know love theirs and also why it has won so many awards all over the place, including the John Dunphy

A screenshot from the author’s phone showing the different textures of bottom, depths of water and most importantly, the fish!

Here you can see a few fish hunting close to each other just in front of a bank of weed.

The tabs at the top of screen make it very easy to switch screens and get the information you need.

I ended up going fishing the same day it arrived! Even if it was winter and freezing cold, I wanted to catch some cod using my new toy. With my younger brother tagging along, I headed for a local hole that had produced fish in the past, but we hadn’t really been able to unlock its full potential since we were just guessing where the deeper holes were and fishing only the snags we could see. Even though the idea of the Deeper was really exciting and the talk about it was so

whole time I’ve used it the connection has stayed very strong. This might have been tested if I was casting further. The Deeper unit turns itself on as soon as it hits the water and you only need a smartphone with WiFi – it doesn’t need an internet or phone signal, and won’t chew your valuable data. VIEWING WHAT’S DOWN THERE Once you’re connected, you can change the view settings depending on if you’re fishing day or night, or even just different

Award for Innovation from the AFTA Trade Show on the Gold Coast last year. They’re easy to use, totally portable and most importantly, made it easier for me and my little brother to catch fish. With Christmas approaching quickly, I’d have no problems recommending the Deeper sounder as a great gift. Anglers are notoriously hard to buy presents for, but this one is a real winner and won’t break the bank. Adam Townsend

Cod on! A beast of a wild fish that was identified on the author’s phone while scanning the hole in the river.

The Deeper unit comes with a bright orange case so it’s easy to see in the water. The author was a little worried a cod might eat it though…

Ready for action! The unit is very light and easy to cast on the author’s Dusk rod that he normally carries as a spare anyway.

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More than just a sounder, the Deeper Pro+ can also give you up to date weather and barometer information.